PRE-WRITING AND OUTLINING

ICS 139w08/08/2011

Syllabus now available

http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jwross/courses/ics139w/

What is prewriting?• First stage of the writing process

1. prewriting2. drafting3. revising4. editing5. publishing

• Prewriting is about figuring out what to write

Why prewrite?

Methods for prewriting

1. Brainstorming2. Looping (freewriting)3. Mind-mapping4. Outlining

Brainstorming• Goal: get as many ideas on paper as possible

• generate first, filter later

• Start with a blank page and write down anything• Don’t worry if it’s a good idea or not, just get it down

• Once finished, review for good ideas

Brainstorming Exercise• Individually, brainstorm as many ideas for technological

“systems” as you can• Topics for Assignment 2• Can be familiar or unfamiliar• Software

• an application, a website, a game, etc • Hardware

• the newest gadget or device, etc • More abstract "system”

• a network protocol, a socio-technical system, etc

Share with a neighbor!

Pitfalls of Brainstorming• Group vs. individual brainstorming sessions

• Nominal groups > collocated groups

• Fear of evaluation• Limited communication channels (blocking)• Free riding

Looping (freewriting)• Write down all your thoughts on a subject

• generate first, filter later

• Good for coming up with interesting ideas

• This is prewriting – do not turn in something like this!• stream-of-consciousness not very effective for technical writing

Mind-mapping• A way of generating ideas and beginning to organize them

1. Start with a topic / important word2. Write other important words around it3. Connect related items4. Repeat

Group mind-mapping: Facebook

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MindMapGuidlines.svg

Outlines• A sequential summary of the document• Can be formal or informal

• Can outline at multiple levels of detail• section-level, paragraph-level, sentence-level

I. Topic 1A. Item 1

i. detailii. detail

B. Item 2II. Topic 2

A. Item 1…

Topic 1 1) idea 1 2) idea 2 -- question ? potential answer - other ideaTopic 2 …

Structure and Organization• Intro – Body – Conclusion• 5-paragraph essay• Others?

• Structure recurses!• Can have intro, body, conclusion at all levels

• Jump to locations in expository writing• Table of Contents

• Make point first in persuasive writing• Or build to a conclusion

• No one correct structure

Example Outlines: Expository writing • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet

• Automatically-generated outline• What does this outline tell us about the structure?

• http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/08/creative-commons-images-and-you.ars

Example Outlines: Technical Documentation• Documentation

• http://developer.android.com/guide/index.html

• Tutorials• http://guides.rubyonrails.org/getting_started.html

• APIs• http://download.oracle.com/javase/6/docs/api/

Example Outlines: Research Papers• http://chi2012.acm.org/chi2012archivalformat_final.doc

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/1054972.1055017• http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/587078.587080

Standard Format:1. Abstract2. Introduction3. Related Work4. Method5. Results

6. Discussion7. Future Work8. Conclusion9. References

Example Outlines: Computer Code!

Headings and Titles• Outlines Section Headings

• allows for quick navigation• helps the reader stay situated• breaks up the paper

• Titles• Not always necessary in papers• Required for some cases

• e.g., web site titles• Informative and engaging: it’s what people judge your paper by!

• full-sentence titles

Stress-free Outlining Be comfortable

• Doesn’t have to be perfect initially • Can outline and change things around without committing

Not a required formal step, but is very helpful• Can outline almost anything (emails, etc)• Solution for being understood even while nervous

• Outline can be understood without having to “write” • (without worrying about the grammar or style elements)• If understandable, then you’ve already solved half the problem

Homework for Wednesday• Decide on a system for Assignment 2

• (can use an example from our in-class brainstorming)• non-specific Facebook is off limits

• Bring in a clean outline (hard copy) for peer editing• should outline at least to the paragraph level• does not need to be formal, but should be readable

• Remember to check the assignment instructions!• http://www.ics.uci.edu/~jwross/courses/ics139w/assignment2.html

BREAK!

Peer Editing• Practice editing papers and responding to others’ writing

• Multiple eyes catch multiple problems

• Get comfortable sharing work with others

Giving Good Feedback• First rule: be honest and kind

• “looks okay” doesn’t help anyone• If you react to a paper or something feels wrong, point it out

• Mutual Respect• Constructive criticism about the text, not the author• Be pleasant, helpful, and professional

• Also give feedback on writing strengths!

Giving Good Feedback• Pretend you are the target reader

• e.g.: you are the hiring manager; you are a new system user; etc.• Don’t rely on your own knowledge or context!

• Give suggestions for fixes and improvements• Try and figure out WHY something this wrong

• Don’t just look for grammar – editing != proofreading• Also check organization, argument effectiveness, etc.

• Editing tips apply • read aloud, look things up, etc

Using Peer Editing• Pay attention to the feedback from others!

• No one (not even Joel or Dmitri) will catch everything• edit and edit again; iterate and iterate again

Peer-Editing: Resumes and Cover Letters

• Exchange and edit Resumes/Cover Letters• Use worksheet as a guide

• Exchange with at least two (2) classmates• Can also ask Joel or Dmitri to edit, but need two others

• You will need to turn your edit sheets on Wednesday • (you can use the comments for editing before then)

Closing

• Resumes due Tuesday Midnight to EEE Dropbox• (EEE so you can read my comments!)• Bring your editing sheets to class on Wednesday to turn in

• Wednesday: bring complete outline for Assignment 2 for peer-editing• hard copy so we can see what edits have been made to it.