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THE STAGES OF THE WRITING PROCESS ENGL 1301 Composition I Dr. R. Ramos Revised 10/29/2014

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STAGE ONE: INVENTION & PREWRITING 3-Step Process: LOOK at the topic. Note: a topic will always be a NOUN (person, place, thing, or idea, no matter how complicated it sounds). THINK about all the things that some to mind when you think about the topic. VOMIT those things thatre in your mind onto a sheet of paper FAST! Prewriting Strategies: Freewriting Brainstorm/List Cluster/Idea Map

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FREEWRITING Topic blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

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BRAINSTORM/LIST Topic Blah

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CLUSTER/IDEA MAPPING

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FINDING YOUR THESIS Whatever you chose as your Prewriting strategy, you can use Freewriting, Cluster, or Brainstorm to explore your beliefs and opinions as a way of coming up with your thesis, if you dont have one already. A thesis is simply your topic plus your opinion of the topic.

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STAGE TWO: ARRANGEMENT In Arrangement, you organize your ideas into a plan that you use as a roadmap for your Drafting. This stage is an important bridge between Prewriting and Drafting, and the two forms you use to organize your Prewriting are Spider Cluster and Outline. Arrangement strategies: Spider cluster Formal outline

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EXAMPLE OF A SPIDER CLUSTER

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EXAMPLE OF A FORMAL OUTLINE Thesis: Ice cream has great flavors. I. Vanilla A. Sweet B. Creamy C. Good with everything II. Chocolate A. Varieties milk or dark B. Dark rich and bitter C. Good with coffee III. Pistachio A. Green B. Nutty C. Good by itself Conclusion: Restate Thesis

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STAGE THREE: DRAFTING Now that you have your ideas nicely organized into thesis, sub- topics, and supporting details, use your Arrangement as a checklist to write your Rough Draft, which is the end-product of the Drafting stage of the Writing Process. In the Drafting stage, you turn your Arrangement into sentences and paragraphs. IMPORANT NOTE: At this stage, dont worry about grammar yet; thats a later step.

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PICTORIAL REPRESENTATION OF THE 5-PARAGRAPH ESSAY

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8 STRATEGIES TO START AN INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH THESIS: Ice cream has great flavors. Here are possible first sentences in that essays Intro: 1.HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: You give a brief history of the topic. Example: Ice cream was once a dessert only eaten by the very rich in eighteenth century France. 2.ANECDOTE/ PERSONAL STORY: You give a brief personal story. Example: When I was four years old, I had my first taste of ice cream. 3.QUESTION: You ask a question. Example: Why is ice cream so popular? 4.QUOTATION: You quote somebody. Example: My mother always said, Ice cream makes you fat. 5.DEFINITION: You define an important word. Example: Ice cream is just frozen cream, milk, and sugar. 6.CONTRADICTION: You state the opposite (the contradiction) of your thesis. Example: Some people think ice cream is bad for you. 7.FACT/STATISTIC: You give an important fact about the topic. Example: Some ice cream prices range from $2.00 a pint to $8.00 a pint. 8.SURPRISING TRIVIA: You give a piece of trivia. Example: Ice cream can be of any flavor, including jalapeo pepper and yam.

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6 STRATEGIES TO WRITE A CONCLUSION First, restate your thesis. Then do any one or more of the strategies listed below: Restate an important idea 1.Example: As youve probably noticed, pistachio is my favorite flavor. Give advice/ call to action 2.Example: You should go and buy ice cream. Predict the future 3.Example: Ice cream will continue to be a popular dessert for a very long time. Quote somebody 4.Example: As my mother always said, You can live without ice cream! Ask a question 5.Example: Who doesnt like ice cream? Restate part of your Introduction 6.Example: Ive had many opportunities to eat all kinds of ice cream.

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STAGE FOUR: REVISION & EDITING 3 Tasks in Revision: Make sure your draft followed your Arrangement Add additional details if draft is too short Delete and replace irrelevant details 3 Tasks in Editing Correct stylistic & grammatical errors Correct errors in manuscript style Have a person review your EDITED Rough Draft = Peer Review Final Result = Final Draft

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DIFFERENT KINDS OF ESSAY STRUCTURES Question: What happened? = Answer: Narration Q: What does it look, sound, smell, feel, taste like? = A: Description Q: How is that done or made? = A: Process Q: What are its characteristics? = A: Division (also known as Analysis) Q: What are the similarities and/or the differences between these two related persons, places, things, or ideas? = A: Comparison and Contrast Q: What are the different kinds of that category of person, place, thing, or idea? = A: Classification with Exemplification Q: What causes that and/or the consequences of that? = A: Cause and Effect essay. Q: Why is this right and that wrong? What proof do I have to defend my belief? = A: Argument essay.