Basics of WritingENGLISH 101

INVENTION STRATEGIES

• Free writing • Blind writing• Listing• Mapping• Questions• Double Entry Listing

FREEWRITING

• Write without stopping for five or ten minutes. It is usually helpful to have the topic heading or a focusing phrases or sentence in front of you, just to keep on track. But what is most important is NOT to edit. Ignore mistakes; ignore false starts—just keep writing.

BLIND WRITINGGo to a computer, turn off the monitor, and type. Keeping the topic in front of you with a post it works well.

LISTINGTalk aloud about the assignment and list ideas, phrases, and such. In another column on the page, associate items on the list with each other. Gradually, a structure for the paper will emerge.

MAPPINGMapping is a graphical, nonlinear version of listing. As you talk about an assignment, write down key words. Start with the general topic, the broadest key word for the topic. From there add other key words, linking them to each other or to the general topic as seems most appropriate. Just discussing how to draw the map may allow you to think about relationships between ideas, relative weight of ideas, and relevancy of ideas.

HDWDWWHow Does Who Do What and WhyBasically, this is a variation on asking the traditional 6 journalistic questions (where, when, why, who, what, how). Start with the general topic at the top of the page; then draw a column for WHO, a column for DOES WHAT, and a column for WHY. Under each column list ideas related to those sub-areas.

DOUBLE ENTRY LISTINGEssentially, this is just a double-column format that helps writers think about oppositions. In the left hand column you may put major points; in the right-hand column, you’d put down either related points or opposing points. This technique is very good for comparison/contrast papers and for “rebut and argument” papers.

RHETORICAL STRATEGIES IN COMPOSITION

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Develop one primary strategy in a writing, or include a combination to develop an idea.

ARGUMENTATIONConvince others through reasoning. Are you trying to explain aspects of a particular subject, and are you trying to advocate a specific opinion on this subject or issue in your essay?

CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSISAnalyze why something happens and describe the consequences of a string of events. Are you examining past events or their outcomes? Is your purpose to inform, speculate, or argue about why an identifiable fact happens the way it does?

COMPARISON AND CONTRASTDiscuss similarities and differences. Does your essay contain two or more related subjects? Are you evaluating or analyzing two or more people, places, processes, events, or things? Do you need to establish the similarities and differences between two or more elements?

DEFINITIONProvide the meaning of terms you use. Who is your audience? Does your essay focus on any abstract, specialized, or new terms that need further explanation so your readers understand your point? Does any important word in your essay have many meanings and need to be need to be clarified?

DESCRIPTION

Detail sensory perceptions of a person, place, or thing. Does a person, place, or object play a prominent role in your essay? Would the tone, pacing, or overall purpose of your essay benefit from sensory details?The primary purpose of descriptive writing is to describe a person, place, or thing in such a way that a picture is formed in the reader's mind. It does not tell the reader that the flower is beautiful; it shows them the flower is beautiful.

DIVISION AND CLASSIFICATIONDivide a whole into parts or sort related items into categories. Are you trying to explain a broad and complicated subject? Would it benefit your essay to reduce this subject to more manageable parts to focus your discussion?

EXEMPLIFICATIONProvide examples or cases in point. Are there examples - facts, statistics, cases in point, personal experiences, interview quotations - that you could add to help you achieve the purpose of your essay?

DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH EXAMPLE

• Gregory is my beautiful gray Persian cat. He walks with pride and grace, performing a dance of disdain as he slowly lifts and lowers each paw with the delicacy of a ballet dancer. His pride, however, does not extend to his appearance, for he spends most of his time indoors watching television and growing fat. He enjoys TV commercials, especially those for Meow Mix and 9 Lives. His familiarity with cat food commercials has led him to reject generic brands of cat food in favor of only the most expensive brands. Gregory is as finicky about visitors as he is about what he eats, befriending some and repelling others. He may snuggle up against your ankle, begging to be petted, or he may imitate a skunk and stain your favorite trousers. Gregory does not do this to establish his territory, as many cat experts think, but to humiliate me because he is jealous of my friends. After my guests have fled, I look at the old fleabag snoozing and smiling to himself in front of the television set, and I have to forgive him for his obnoxious, but endearing, habits.

NARRATION

Narration is a situational account that includes conflict.Are you trying to report or recount an anecdote, an experience, or an event? Does any part of your essay include the telling of a story (either something that happened to you or to a person you include in your essay)?Narration is the ONLY part of a composition that may be first person.

PROCESS ANALYSISExplain how to do something or how something happens. Would any portion of your essay be more clear if you included concrete directions about a certain process? Are there any processes that readers would like to understand better? Are you evaluating any processes?

COMPOSING THE ESSAY

SENTENCE TO PARAGRAPH TO ESSAY

SENTENCE = a grammatical unit that is structurally independent and has a subject that is expressed or, as in imperative sentences, understood and a predicate that contains at least one finite verb

PARAGRAPH = a distinct division of written or printed matter that begins on a new, usually indented line, consists of one or more sentences, and typically deals with a single thought or topic or quotes one speaker's continuous words

ESSAY = a short literary composition on a single subject, usually presenting the personal view of the author

DEVELOPING A TOPIC AND A THESIS STATEMENT

General or specific topic is provided for each assignment. Student abides by all instruction to complete the essay.

THESIS STATEMENT = • tells the reader how the writer interprets the significance of the subject matter under

discussion

• is a road map for the paper; tells the reader what to expect from the rest of the paper

• directly answers the question asked of you

• makes a claim that others might dispute

• is usually a single sentence somewhere in the first paragraph that presents an argument to the reader

• result of a lengthy thought process

EVOLUTION OF THE THESIS

• Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn is a great American novel.

• In Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain develops a contrast between life on the river and life on the shore.

• Through its contrasting river and shore scenes, Twain's Huckleberry Finn suggests that to find the true expression of American democratic ideals, one must leave "civilized" society and go back to nature.

STUDENT WORK

• This is my favorite class.• Better –• Even Better –

HABITS TO AVOID IN ACADEMIC WRITING

• Contractions• Beginning a clause with “There are,” “There is,” or “It is”• Beginning the concluding sentence of a paragraph or a conclusion with the words “in conclusion”• Shifts in verb tense and person• Superfluous, wordy phrases (redundancy) such as “for all intents and purposes”• Unnecessary repetition

TWO-POINT PARAGRAPH DEVELOPMENT

• Topic Sentence

• Introduce topic one

• Comment upon topic in two or three sentences.

• Transition into topic two

• Comment upon topic in two or three sentences.

• Concluding Sentence

ESSAY FORMAT

• Introduction• Body Paragraph Topic sentence Introduce point one and develop Introduce point two and develop Concluding sentence• Body Paragraph (repeat above format as often as necessary to meet the required length)• Conclusion

COMPOSITION TITLES

• Title all prompts and essays creatively and originally. • The title MAY NOT be the name of the literary work. • Use capital letters for only the first letters of the words; do not capitalize the articles (a, an, the) and small prepositions (two letters) in titles unless the words are the first words of the titles. • Punctuate titles of literary works within an essay correctly. Italicize or underline the titles of long works (novels, plays); quote the titles of short works (poems, essays). • Center, but do not underline, the title. Exception: Titles literary works in essay titles are punctuated.  

EXAMPLE TITLES

Symbolism of the Landscape in Wuthering HeightsHistorical Importance of “The Recessional”Understanding Thematic ImportanceStreet-Wise Angels and Book-Smart DemonsVoices WithinThe Ominous Warning in 1984 and Brave New World

COMMON GRAMMAR MISTAKES

• Subject-verb agreement• Pronoun-antecedent agreement• Incorrect pronoun case• Run on sentence / fused sentence• Fragment• Comma splice• Parallelism • Passive Voice• Ambiguous Pronoun Reference

• a lot• aspect, factor• get, gets, got• good• happy• interesting• okay

• say, says, said• sort of, kind of (for somewhat)• stuff• thing• very

VAGUE WORDS NOT TO USE IN ACADEMIC WRITING

PRONOUN REFERENCE

Specify meanings of pronouns, especially “which,” “this,” “that,” “those,” “these,” “it.”Place a noun between “this,” “that,” “those,” “these” + a verb. Use “that,” “which,” “who,” and “whom” correctlyWho: subjective, refers to peopleWhom: objective, refers to peopleWhich: refers to nonessential things (uses a comma)That: refers to essential things

VERB TENSE (SHIFTS)Maintain a consistent verb tense.Write about literature in the present tense.Write about history in the past tense.

PERSON (SHIFTS)Use third person to analyze literature.Use first person only when writing a personal narrative.Never use first person in a literary analysis.NEVER USE SECOND PERSON in an academic paper.

CHOICE OF VERBS Do not use a “be” verb (am, is, are, was, were, be, being, been) if you can use another word in the place of it. Use an action verb such as the following in the place of the vague “be”:acknowledges adds admits agreesargues asserts believes commentscompares confirms contends declaresdenies dispute emphasizes endorsesgrants illustrates implies insistsnotes observes points out reasonsrefutes rejects reports respondssuggests thinks writes

COLLOQUIAL LANGUAGEConversational language is not always incorrect. It is mostly unsuitable for formal writing because it is too familiar and trite. Use direct language instead.

blow money—spend money break—unfortunate busted—caught catch some z’s—sleepcheap—inexpensive cinch—easycop out—quit cop—police officerdown in the dumps—depressed figured out—decidedgoof off—waste time gross—disgustinggypped—cheated hang in—perseverehanging around—associate hassle—bother hit the books—study pinch pennies—save moneypretty good—acceptable pumped up—excitedput down—insult rub the wrong way—irritate

CONCISENESSBrevity of expression aids emphasis no matter what the sentence structure. Unnecessary words detract from necessary words. They clutter sentences and obscure ideas.

at all times always at this point in time now, todaybecause of the fact that because before long sooncall your attention to remind you by means of bycome in contact with meet destroyed by fire burneddue to the fact that because during the time that whilefor the purpose of for I would appreciate it if pleasein a hasty manner hastily in order to toin order to utilize to use in the direction of towardin spite of the fact that although, though in the event that ifin the final analysis—finally in view of the fact that, -> becausefor the reason that because of an indefinite nature indefiniteone of the things one point prior to beforesubsequent to after there is no doubt no doubt/doubtlessuntil such time as until with the exception exceptwould seem to be, is an example of is

REDUNDANCYEliminate needless repetition of words or ideas.

1:00 am in the morning basic essentialsblue in color circle aroundclose proximity consensus of opinioncooperate together fellow colleaguesfinal outcome important essentialsinexperienced novice large in sizenew beginnings puzzling in naturerepeat again round in shapesquare in shape surrounding circumstancesthe future to come transparently cleartrue facts two in numberwidow woman

TRITE EXPRESSIONS / SLANG / CLICHESDo not use trite/cliche (those phases that are dull due to overuse) or slang expressions (coined words and standard words used to mean something other than their standard definition) in writing unless you are using them to make a point. Make every effort to use original phrases. Use of clichés shows your audience that you have little ability to think for yourself.

add insult to injury after all is said and done almighty dollaras luck would have it better late than never bite the bulletbreakneck speed burn the midnight oil busy as a beeby the same token cool, calm, collected cut a long story shortdead as a doornail depths of despair diamond in the rougheasier said than done eat like a bird / pig face the musicfat as a cow fate worse than death few and far betweenfood for thought from rags to richesgentle/meek as a lambgoes without saying great minds think alike hard as a rockheavy as lead hit the nail on the head hour of needin this day and age it dawned on me ladder of successlast but not least leave no stone unturned light as day

long arm of the law method in his madness needle in a haystackno place like home point with pride poor but honestripe old age sadder but wiser shadow of a doubtsharp as a marble sharp as a tack shoulder the burdensing like a bird skinny as a rail slow as molassessneaking suspicion sober as a judge stand in awestands to reason strong as an ox tried and trueup the creek wee small hours went the extra milewhite as snow wise as an owl word to the wisework like a dog

birdbrain—unintelligent blow the whistle—tell blow top—lose temperblue/bummed—sad broke—out of money bum—doesn’t workchewed out—scolded chicken—coward chick—girlchow—food cool—good crashed—sleptcreep—obnoxious ditch—leave dude—boydukes—fists dumbbell—stupid floored—surprisedflunked—failed grand—thousand jerk—foolish personkick the bucket—die kids—children kiss off—brush offkook—crazy person loaded—drugged neat—greatoff the rocker—insane rat race—job market ripped off—stolenritzy—classy sharp—smart shrink—psychiatristsweet talk—persuadewheels—car

DELETE THE FOLLOWING PHRASES

I believe I feelI figure I meanI think in a very real sensein as a matter of fact in factin my opinion it seems thatthe point that I am trying to make type of, kind of what I mean to say is

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