Writing Summary

Writing Strategies

Planning Guide

Planning Guide: foundation work for writing

writing pyramid

Before your pen touches the paper (or fingers touch the keyboard) do the foundation work:

brainstorm
organize thoughts
write a rough draft
edit 1
redraft
edit 2
write a final draft

Focus Topic

Focusing Your Topic: detecting a reasonable amount as a topic

magnifying glass

Focusing Steps

Take a broad subject and narrow it.
Determine your research question (controlling idea)
Create your thesis sentence (topic + controlling idea)

Topic-Thesis

Topic Thesis: creating your thesis sentence

Also, creating a topic sentence (same process)

Sherlock with magnifying glass

Your thesis sentence:

focuses and directs the essay
includes the topic and your attitude or opinion about it
includes a statement (not a question)
appears at the end of the introduction (usually, but may be anywhere within the introduction)

It never:

announces itself "I'm going to talk about . . ."
personalizes "I think . . ." or " I believe . . ."
questions "Is English hard to learn?"

Introductions

Introductions: writing four types

Four Types of Introductions
funnel
dramatic
quotation
turn about

Practice

An introductions should:

introduce the topic
indicate how the topic is going to be developed. (cause-effect, reasons, examples -- Will it classify, describe, narrate or explain?)
contain a thesis statement
be inviting and entice the reader to continue after reading the first sentence

Spatial Organization

QTVR support is gone!

Spatial Organization: narrating your story effectively

focused (zoom) to large picture
large picture to focused (zoom)
left to right
low to high
room to room

VR Example

Add entertainment to your writing by considering:

how you will reveal details,
the order in which we reveal them
the descriptiveness used for details

Plagiarism & Fair Use

Copyright, Ethics & Fair Use: giving credit to other people's work

Strategies:

generate your own work whenever possible
if you need to use work, ask for permission to use it
give credit to the source with a citation

Fair Use Practice

Fair Use Practice: determining what is or isn't copyrighted

Which are examples of work protected by copyright?

grafitti
phone conversations
notes

Plagiarism

Plagiarism: strategies for avoiding plagiarism

Plagiarist

Plagiarism is using the ideas and writings of others and representing them as your own.

Strategies for avoiding plagiarism:

Quote it.
Paraphrase it.
Cite it.

Plag Examples

Plagiarism Examples: identifying plagiarized work

word for word
minor rephrasing
borrowed ideas
spellings from other dialects
sudden style switch
second-hand data

"I Smell a Rat!"

Identifying plagiarized work isn't so hard. See if you can "smell a rat".

Citing Sources

Citing Your Sources: What is MLA Style?

Author?

Remember:

Your instructor does not expect you to be the genius who creates all original ideas.
When putting together (synthesizing) other people's ideas in your work, give the people credit by citing their work.
Choose a style (MLA, Chicago Manual of Style, Associated Press, etc.) and consistently use it.

DragDrop-Practices