BTOFF

Brainstorming, Thesis Statement, Outline, First Draft, Final Revision

NOTE: The BTOFF concept was originally developed by Prof. Mike Hickey – Poet Populist of Seattle, WA (2009-2010). Broken down by Prof. Rebecca McCarthy.

Brainstorming

• Brainstorming = Invention

– Here we come up with topics for invention (Topoi in Greek), and they include these categories:

• Description, narration, example, process, cause and effect, as well as compare and contrast – topic (Topoi) essays.

• We have to decide the best way to reach our audience make them Identify with what we have to say!

Techniques:

•Free-writing •Listing•Clustering•Invention•Generating ideas

Thesis statement

The Thesis Statement – Invention continued

– The thesis statement is connected to the appeal of Logos – (Greek for logic)

– what does the author want to say and why!

• A thesis statement is an argument, but it is not:– A question.– A fact.

• The thesis statement comes mostly at the end of your introductory paragraph, after the “hook” (how you get your audience interested), the “frame” the topoi used to present your point, then the thesis.

•What is the point you are trying to make?

•Why should the point be important to your audience?

•How will you make your point?

Hook

Frame

Thesis

The Outline • Outline = Arrangement– how do you wish to order your

essay? What comes first?– How will you get your audience

to identify with what you have to say?• Logos (will you use logic to get

the audience’s attention?)

• Ethos (will you convince your audience to agree with you because of your character?)

• Pathos (will you appeal to your audience’s emotional space?)

• Will you use all of these aspects at different moments, and how? Where?

•Introduction•Hook = ___________________.•Frame = __________________.•Thesis = __________________.

•Body•Paragraph 1

•Topic sentence ________•Examples•Story

•Paragraph 2 •Topic sentence ________

•Examples•Story

•Paragraph 3•Topic sentence ________

•Examples•Story

•Conclusion•Restatement of thesis•Tie up loose ends•Summarize idea/text

Three Common Types of Arrangement

• Chronological (time)

– Tell your story from A to B.

– walk your reader through your tale in chronological time.

• Emphatic Order– Order

points from the least to the most important.

– Lead your reader up a hill to a climax of a strong appeal!

• Refuting order– Make your

point.

– Explain why someone would disagree with the point.

– Then demonstrate how and why the critics are wrong and why you are right!

First Draft

• Write your essay out - don’t worry about grammar, or mistakes, but let the information flow.

• This is where you are telling the story to a friend – unedited delivery.

Final Revision

• You may have more than one final draft. However, this is where you clean up your writing.

• Edit for form: – Do you have a clear introduction (a hook, frame and

thesis?)– Do you have 3 strong body paragraphs that all include

a topic sentence and “evidence” or examples?– Do you have a conclusion that restates your thesis

statement, ties up loose ends, and recaps your essay?

Final Revision Continued

• Edit for technical issues:– Check spelling– Grammar– Punctuation– Correct paper form and presentation– Correct quotations and citations– Do a final spell check

Final Revision Continued

• Find a reader before you turn it in:– “peer review” is important because we are our

own worse editors! It is hard to see your own mistakes.

• You cannot find a reader? Read your paper out loud!– By reading your paper out loud, and reading what

is there and not what you think is there, you can find many mistakes.

Final Considerations• Never assume that your potential audience (reader) knows

what you are writing about! You must show him or her. Be specific in your writing. Instead of saying: “she was upset with what her company was doing,” try: “She was upset at her company for firing people based on their gender and race.”

• Show not Tell – be specific. If you tell your reader that the sky is “blue,” show them. For example: “The sky had a strange blue color, the same color as the ocean at Key West in Florida – a kind of aqua blue only found in the tropics.”

• Avoid sweeping generalities. Do not use the following words: everyone, all, always, and absolutely– “rarely is everyone always and absolutely onboard with all I have to say.”

Know Thy Audience• The Communication Theorist Kenneth Burke

states that we work to identify our cause with an audience, to gain their approval. You are working towards Identification with your audience.

• Figure out who your audience might be, and the best way to get them to identify with you. Is it through an emotional appeal (Pathos)? Logic (logos)? A call to character (ethos)? Is it all of these appeals somehow? (likely, yes).