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Print Number: O1 Print Year: 2015Brief Contents Preface for instructors xi Introduction for Students xvii Acknowledgments xv Writing as Communication and Expression 1 1 Freewriting: Thoughts into Words 5. 5 Building an Essay: Concepts and skills 77 2. Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw 6 Writing fora Purpose: Essay Strategls and Materials 17 structures 97 3 Developing Powerful Paragraphs: A 7 The Revision Process: Refining Your structure for ideas 35 Work 129 4 Crafting Purposeful Paragraphs: Strategies & The Editing Process: Polishing Your and Patterns 57 Work 145 Building a Strong Foundation 159 9 Overview of Parts of Speech: A Crash 15 Fixing Fragments: Editing incomplete Course 163 ideas. 267 10 Simple Sentence Structure: The Basic 16 Modifiers: Expanding and Adding to Construction Unit 179 sentences 21 11 Using Commas Correctly: Working within 17 Sentence Types: Creating Variety 291 the Sentence 199 18 Nouns: The Stuff That Everything Is Made 12 Compound Sentence Structure: Key to Of 301 ‘Understanding Punctuation 211 19 Pronouns: Stand-ins for Nouns 313 13 Catching Run-ons: Using Sentence 20 Verbs: The Action That Is in Every Structure Tools to Fix rors 231 sentence 323 14 Complex Sentence structure: The Final 21. Adjectives and Adverbs: Words That Add Pieces ofthe Puzzle 243 More 339 A Handbook of Sentence Mechanics and Academic Conventions 347 22 AGuide to Punctuation Patterns 349 24 Tips on Language and Style 389 23. Research Skills for Quoting, Paraphrasing, 25 _An Overview of Vocabulary Skills 403 and Citing Sources 363 Building Reading Skills the Hands-on Way 421 26 Building Reading Skils 423 Selected Readings 439 Appendixes 525 Act. Ways of Leaming, Challenges, and the Resource Pages Brain 525 R-1_ Pronoun Types in Context: Whose Watch ‘8-2 Grammar and Usage Tips for ESL students Isit?_ 545 and Others 528 2 Helping Verbs and irregular Verbs 546 ‘8-3 Employment Document Skil for R3 Common Prepositions 548 Success 534 R4 Conjunction Families 548 Glossary 539 Index 549Contents Preface for Instructors xi ‘Acknowledgments xv Introduction for Students ull @ Writing as Communication and Expression 1 Writing Is a Way of Speaking with a Pen, Keyboard, Keypad... 1 ‘The Writing Process: A Less Stressful Way to Write 2 warn by Doig! Stages ofthe writing Process 3 Fluency and Accuracy: A Journey in Two Directions 3 11 Freewriting: Thoughts into Words 5 ‘The Magic of Freewriting 5 Freewriting in Action 6 Realy Check Freewrting 6 Freewnting ist 7 Flowing tines 7 AFreewriting How-To Guide 8 Freemrtng Guidlines 8 Freewriting as a Tool 10 Finding Peats of Descrintve magery 10 Froewnting for Academic ideas 14 Freewriting Prompts 15 ‘xplring Optimum Condon for Freewrting 16 Reflecting on Your Learning Process. 16 2 Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materials 17 Brainstorming Fresh Ideas 17 Planning Ahead: Understanding Your Assignment 18 Realty Check: Brainstorming Works! 18 ‘kills for Effective Brainstorming 20 Cultivating he Brainstorm Mind 20, Principles of BRAINStorming 20, Asking the Right Questions 21 Brainstorming Tools for Your Learning Preferences 22 Raindropping Jotting Thoughts on aPage 22 From Ramdrops to Glouds: Orgenizing Your RAWNGrops. 22 Generating eas by Listing 23 (Organizing Your Brainstorm Uist. 23 Moving rom List to Qutine 24 Creating Outne Boxes for Visual and Hands-on Learners. 24 Freewriting asa Brainstorming Tool 25 ‘mining the Deeper Levels 26 Organizing a Freewriten Brainstorm 27 Brainstorming with idea Webs 27 ‘organizing Your idea web 28 Brainstorming with Stonboards 29 Moving from Sterybosrd toText 29 ‘Aucitory Brainstorming 30 ‘Arranging Your ucltory dees 31 From Brainstorm to Outline 31 ‘writing from Your Outine 34 Retlecting on Your Learning Process 34 3 Developing Powerful Paragraphs: A Structure for ideas 35 ‘The Power of the Paragraph 36 Realty Check: The importance ofa Paragraph 37 ‘The Shape ofthe Paragraoh 37 ‘The structure of the Paragraph 37 ‘Opening Paragraph 38 Placement ofthe Topic Sentence 38 Supporting the Main wa ofa Paragraph 39 Developing Main dees with Details 40 Closing a Paragraph 42 Revising Skills for Strong Paragraphs 44 Ideas Unite! Creating a UniedParagreph 44 ‘creating an organized Flow of Wess 46 ‘creating a Cohesive Paragraph 48 ‘connections and Transitions between Sentences ‘and ieas. 48 ‘creating a Consistent Paragraph 50 Paral! Structures in Paragraphs 50 consistent Language, Ste, and Tone 51 Paragraph Breaks in Longer Writing 52 Paragraph Breaks ina Student Fsssy 52 Reflecting on Your Learning Process sé4 Crafting Purposeful Paragraphs: Strategies and Patterns 57 Introduction to Rhetorical Modes 57 Using Perareph Development Patterns fora Purpose 58 Foal Check Wringin the Modes. 58 Strategy: Narrate 59 Structure ofa Narative Paragraph 59 Strategies for fective Narration 60 iter Tips 60 Strategy: Describe 60 Structure ofa Descrntive Paragraph 61 strategies foc Effective Deseriion 61 Wer Tips 62 Strategy: Classify 63 Stuetre of Classfiation Paragraph 68 Sirotegis for fective Classification 45 wotersTos 65 Strategy: Define 65 Structure of Defiton Paragraph 66 Strategies for fective Definitions 66 wters'Tps. 67 Strategy: Explain a Process 67 Structure of Process Paragraph 68 Strtepies for fective Process Expanations 6 ters Ts 68 Strategy: Trace Cause and effect 69 Struture of Cause and eet Paragraph 69 ‘Strategies for Cause and effect Anahsis 70 iter Tips. 70 Strategy: Compare and Contrast 71 Structure of @ Compare and Contrast Paragraph 74 Strategies for Effective Comparson and Contrast 72 wWoters"Tips. 73 Strategy: Persuade 73 Structure of Persuesve Paragraph 74 Stretegles for fective Persuasion 74 Woters"Tps. 7 Combining Patterns of Development 75, Relecting on Your Learning Process. 78 5 Building an Essay: Concepts and skills 77 What Is an Essay? 77 How Can Essay Skil Be Used in Real Life? 78 How Does an Essay Convey ideas? 78 ‘An Bxample of ssay Structure 78 Realty hock: The Procass of Auikling an Essay 2 Constructing an Essay 82 How ot stat? 82 Organizing Ideas inthe Early Stages 83 Forming a Thesis Statement: Your Point “in a Nutshell” ‘What Makes a Thesis Statement? &3 Previewing Main lies: The Essay Mop 84 Lumiting Your Tess Statement 8 83 conens Qi stetching outa Working Thesis @5 Pacing You Tosi tatorent in You ESsay_ 85. Crafting an eye-opening introduction 87 Examples of nreductionStateges. 87 Inco Svatgis to Use with auton 89 Developing Body Paragraphs: Chunks of Related ‘ideas 90 Bulcng Paragraph Development and Support 90 ‘Tracking with Topic Sentences: Keeping Your Reader Oriented 91 Tonic Sentences Nood Not ADD? 92 Leading Readers with Transitions 92 ‘Wrapping Up with Your Conclusion: “So What?” 93 sing tong ConcusonStateles $3 brampls of Concusionstateses 94 Concusion Patterns to Ave 95. Refecting on Your Learning Process 96 6 writing for a Purpose: Essay Strategies and Structures 97 Different Essays for Different Purposes 98 Realty Check: writing in Different Genres 98 writing About Your Life: The Narrative 98 choosing aTopic. 98 Drafting Narative Essay 99 Thinking (and writing) Critcallyin This Genre. 99 Guidelines for Narrative Essay Structure 99 ‘Observing Your World: The Descriptive Essay 103 Choosing aTopic 103 Drafting Descrintwe Essay 103, Thinking (and writing Crically in This Genre. 108 Guidelines for Descriptive Essay Structure 108 Interacting with Other writers: Summary and Response 106 Choosing atopic. 108 Dratinga Summary and Response Essay 106 Thinking (and writing crcl in This Genre. 107 Guidelines for summary and Response Essay Stucure 108 Taking a Stand: The Argument Essay 111 Choosing aTopic. 111 Drafting an Argument Essay 112 Thinking (and Writing) Critclly in This Genre. 112 Guidelines for Argument Essay Structure 114 ‘Analyzing similarities and Differences: Compare and Contrast Essays 118 choosing atopic. 118 Drafting a Compare and Contrast Essay 118 Thinking (and writing Critcally inThis Genre. 119 Guidelines for compare and Contrast essay Stucture 119 ‘Making Judgments: The Evaluative Essay 123 Choosing aTopic 123 Drafting an Evaluative Essay 123, Thinking (and Writing Cicily in This Genre 124 Guidelines for Evaluative Essay Structure 124 Reflecting on Your Leaning Process 128Contents 7 The Revision Process: Refining Your Work 129 What Is Revision All About? 129 Realty Check: The Revision Process 130, Revising with Feedback from Classmates 130 ssontals of Peer Review 130 What Makes wring Workshops Work? 131 ow to Take and Give Citcism na Postive way) 131 Workshopping a Paper 132 Revising on Your Own 135 Seven Steps to Revising 136 ‘Student Example: Lys Revision Process 138 U's Resins with the Seven Stops 140 Reflecting on Your Leaning Process 148 8 The Editing Process: Polishing Your Work: 145 ‘The Power of Polishing Your Work 145 Developing Editing Skills 146 Realty Check: The Power of Editing 147 Using ting Tools. 148 Proofreading: The Final Polish 149 Using Ecting Symbols 151 Guided Practice with Editing Skills 152 ‘Knowing What to Look For, and How to Fix it 157 [A Side-by-Side Approach to Edlting 158 Reflecting on Your Learning Process 158 oO Building a Strong Foundation 159 Building a House—and a Sentence 159 Sentence Types as Structures: Simple, Compound, and Complex 160 9 Overview of Parts of Speech: A Crash Course 163 Parts of Speech: Dresser Drawers for Words 163 Nuts n Bolts of Parts of Speech 164 Leary Doing Word Match—were Does This Wor Belong? 168 Nouns 168 Pronouns. 167 eras 149 Adjectives. 171 pavers 172 Prepositions 173 Conrctions 178 Imerjectins 174 Wow! More About inerectonst Coot 174 arcles 175 How Can There G0 More to Say about @One-Lotor Were?) 178 Hands-on Review What Have You Leamed about ars of speech? 177 Fetectng on Your Leamang Process. 178 10 simple Sentence Structure: The Basic Construction Unit 179 ‘Nuts n Bolts of simple Sentences 179 ‘Adding to he Bare Bones of Simple Sentences 160 ocogniing Simple Sentence Patorns 180 Lear by Doing! The Human Simple Sentence 181 Digging Deeper: Getting to Know the Simple ‘Sentence 182 ning the Subjctofthe Sentence 182 Simple versus Complete sunjects 183 Compound subjects 183 Pronouns as Subjects 183 ‘multple-word subjects 184 ase subjects! 184 Finding te Verb ofthe Sentence 185 The Main Sentence Verb 185 ‘compound eros 185 What fs Not the Main Sentence Verb? 186 Recognizing the Predicate 187 Prepositional Phrases inthe Sentence Mix 188 Deceotive Postion of Prepositions 188 Prepostiona Phrases Stuck Between Subject and verb 188 sentences Starting with There 189 ero wefore subject for style 190 Focus on Writing and Editing: Subject-Ver Agreement 191 Buldng Eting Skis: Practice wth a Paragraph 194 \wting in Daly Lite: Practice with Workplace Email 196 In your own writing Working withthe Real Thing 197 Hands-on Review: What Have You Leamed,.about Simple Sentence Stucture? 197 Reflecting on Your Learning Process. 198 11 using Commas Correctly: Working within the Sentence 199 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Commas within the simple Sentence 200 Learn by Doingt Comma Rythms 200 ‘Three Ways to Use Commas ina Simple Sentence 200 Digging Deeper: Commas within Sentence Structure 201 ‘Commas tthe Ena of itroductory Phrases. 201 ‘Commas ina ustof tems 202 ‘Brown sh, Black Shoe: Avoiding Faulty Parallelism 203 ‘commas on Each Side ofan Appositve 205 ‘han Do You Not Need a comma? 206iting in Dal tte Practice with an insurance Claim Form 206 InYour Own wing Working with the Real Thing 208, Hands-on Review: What Have You Leamed..about Commas within the Simple sentence? 209 Reflecting on Your Learning Process 210 12 Compound Sentence Structure: Key to Understanding Punctuation 211 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Compound Sentences 211 Tree ways to Create Compound Sentences 212 Learn by Ooingt The Human Compound Sentence 212 Joining More Than Two Simple Sentences 213, Digging Deeper: Compound Sentences and Punctuation 213 Joining Sentences with @ Comma and @ Coordinating Conjunction (Fansovs) 214 waiters’ Tips fr Working withthe FANBOYS Gonjunctions 216 Too Many "and's"? 216 FANBOYS Conjunctons Joining Words and Phrases. 217 Joining Sentences with a Semicolon ) 217 Joining Sentonces with a Semicolon and an Adverbial ‘conjunction 218, Punctuating Aaverbial Conjunctions. 219 ‘choosing Compound Punctuation Patterns. 221 Punctuation n Simple versus Compound Sentences 222 Focus on Writing and Editing 224 Paragraph Fowr Developing Awareness. 224 Find Your Own Punctuation “Code” 724 Learn by Doing Walking and Talking Punctuation 225 Bling sting Skis: Practice with a Paragraph 226 iting in Daly Life: Practice with a Work Report. 227 Inyour own writing Working withthe ResI Thing 228 Hands-on Review What Have You Learned. 2bout Compouned Sentence Structure? 229 ‘Reflecting on Your Learning Process 230 13 catching Run-ons: Using Sentence ‘Structure Tools to Fix Errors 231 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Run-ons and Comma Splices 231 ‘Common Methods for Fixing @Rur-on Sentence 232 Learn by Doing! Running On: Stop Sign Eating 233, Digging Deeper: Using Punctuation Strategies to Edit 233, Long Runon Sentences. 234 xing On-and-on Rurrons 234 Fraing Fused Sentences 235, ‘comma Spice Ertors 236 fing Comma spice Errors. 237 ‘More Tips on Catching the stopery Comma spice 237 Wing in Daly Life: Practice wth a Cover Letter 239 In your own writing: working withthe Real Thing. 241 Hands-on Review: What Have You Learned. about Run-ons and Comma Spices? 241 Refecing on Your Learning Process 242 contents iy 14 complex Sentence Structure: The Final Pieces of the Puzzle 243 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Complex Sentences 244 Three Kinds of Dependent Clauses. 224 Learn by Doing! The Human Complex Sentence 245 Digging Deeper: Subordinate Clauses 246 Punctuating Subordinate Clauses 248 Red Flags in Suborinate cause Punctuation 249 Digging Deeper: Relative Clauses 250 Punctuating Relatve Clauses 252 Which oe Tat? 254 Digging Deeper: Noun Clauses 255, Using the “This Thing” Test 256 PPunctuating Noun Clauses 257 Focus on Writing and Editing 258 Paragraph Flow: Bulling Awareness 259 Building Eting kis: Practice with a Paragraph 260 \Witing in Daly tite: Practice witha Formal Lettr 262 In Your own writing: Working withthe Real Thing. 263 Hands-on Review: What Have You Learned, .out Compe. Sentence Stucture? 264 Reflecting on Your Leaning Process 266 15 Fixing Fragments: Editing Incomplete Ideas 267 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Sentence Fragments 267 Fragmented Forms and Quick Fixes 268 Missing Person Fragments 268 Iutssing am) Action Fragments. 268 Dependent Fragments. 269 Aided nfo Fragments 270 Sentence Stopper Fragments 271 Learn by Doing! Shattering Sentences into Fragments 271 Digging Deeper: Mining for Fragments 273 Identiying Fragments by Ear and Eye 273 Style Fragments versus Problem Fragments. 273 Recognizing and Repairing Fragment Types. 273 tng in Daly tite: Practice with a Memo. 277 In Your Own Writing: Working withthe Real Thing, 278 Hands-on Review What Have You Learned. about Fragments? 278 Reflecting on Your Leaning Process 280 16 Modifiers: Expanding and Adding to Sentences 281 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Modifying Sentences 281 ‘jective Phrases Mody Nouns. 282 ‘AdverD Phrases Mody Verbs 282 Prepositonal Phrases Are Modifies, Too 282 \Verb Forms tke Partcipal Phrases Can also Become Modifiers 283 Present Participa Phrases Use ng to Describe Something 283Contents ‘Pest Partcpial Phrases Uso -od to Describe 284 Punctuation of Particplal Phrases 284 Sentence Apposiives Add Exrainfo. 785 Punctuation of Appostives. 285 ‘Absolute Phrases Ave Absolutely Great Modifiers 285 ‘Punctuation and Placement of Absolute Pvases 286 Learn by Doing! The Cumulative Sentence 286 Digging Deeper: When the Modifier Messes with the ‘Meaning 287 Misplaced Modifiers. 237 Dangling Modifiers. 287 \Watng in Daly Life: Practice witha Short Workplace Report 289 In Your owm Writing: Working wth the Real Thing 290 Reflecting on Your Leaning recess 290 17 Sentence Types: Creating Variety 291 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Sentence Types 291 eam by Ooi! Combining Sentence Types. 292 Digging Deeper: Sentence Types and Sentence Variety 293 CCompour-complex Sentences 298, Sentence ype Recognition 294 The importance of Sentence Variety 295, Creating Sentence Tpes through Coordination and subordination 296 Coordination 295 ‘subordination 296 Cooraination and Subornation in One Sentence 297 wing in ai Lite: Practie witha Progress Note 298 in Your Own Writing: Working with the Real Ting. 299 Rieting on Your Leaning Procass. 300 18 Nouns: The stuff That Everything Is Made Of 301 ‘Nuts ‘n Bolts of Nouns 301 ‘Noun Signals: Noun onthe Way 202 Digging Deeper: Helpful Noun Patterns for Writers 303, Singular Nouns 203 Plural Nouns: Regulr and regular Pattems 303 guar Plural Nouns. 304 The Silent or Forgotten -s 304 ‘regular Pura Nouns 305 Noncount Nouns: Popcorn versus Chips 207 Possesive Nouns and the Misunderstood apostrophe) 309 Singular Possessive Nouns 309 Plural Possessive Nouns 309 Plural or Passessive? 310 Tic Possessive apostrophes 371 In Your Owm writing: Working wth the Real thing, 312 Reflecting on Your Leaning Process 312 19 Pronouns: Stand-ins for Nouns 313 Nuts’n Bolts of Pronouns 313 Digging Deeper: Helpful Pronoun Patterns for Writers 318 Subject and Object Pronouns J versus me) 315 Possesve Pronouns. 316 IndefinteProneune. 317 Pronaun Agreement 317 Pronoun Reference 318 Person end Number 320 in Your Own wring: Working withthe Rea Thing, 322 Reflecting on Your Leaming Process. 322 20 verbs: The Action That /s in Every Sentence 323 Nuts ‘n Bolts of verbs 323 eed Forms 323 conjugating verbs 328 Main verbs 224 Hebingverds 325 Lam by Doing! verb Charades 327 Digging Deeper: Helpful verb Patterns for writers, 328, ‘Verb Endings and Speling Patterns 328 informal uses fHeping and Be Verbs. 328 Subject verb Agreement 229 “Dh Ad for Reguar Fast Tense Verbs. 329 regular Pst Tense verbs. 329 ast resent Tense Shits 231 “he Past Partie Form 382 base Form ater othe Helbig Verbs (votes, Sem-modes ‘d00) 303 Verbs and Time: Present and Past Perfect Aspect 336 ‘Actve and Passhe Voice: He Was Arestod 236 In Your an Wrting Working withthe Real Thing. 337 Reflecting on Your Learning Process. 338 21 adjectives and Adverbs: Words That Add More 339 Nuts 'n Bolts of Adjectives 339 Digging Deeper: Helpful Adjective Patterns for writers. 340 Acjecthes for Academic Use 241 Comparatveacectves. 342 Punctuation between Adjectives. 342 Nuts'n Bolts of Adverbs 343, Digging Deeper: Helpful Adverb Patterns for Writers 344 Comparative Acverbs 345 in Your Own wring Working With he Rea Thing, 346 Reflecting on Your Leaing Process. 246cones QO A Handbook of Sentence Mechanics and Academic Conventions 347 22 A Guide to Punctuation Patterns 349 Using Punctuation to End a Sentence 349 Most Sentnces End with a edod. 249 ‘What about Ending with a Question Mark? 349 Take Core When Ending with an Exclamation Poin! 350, Using Punctuation within a Sentence 350 Using Commas ina Sentence 350 Comma atthe End ofan mtedictory Phrase 350 Commas “ackng" Phrases into aSentence 351 Commas “acking” Aopostive Words and Phrases into @ ‘Sentence 351 ‘Commas Separating nems na Series 351 Commas beeen Mire Than One Adjective 52 Commi before a Coordinating Coniunction FANBOYS) 952 Commas with Dependent Clauses 352 Commas between City and State. or City/State/Provine and Country 354 Commas Separating Numbersina Date 358 Comma ate averb introducing a Quotation 354 How Not to Use aComma ina Sentence 354 Using semicolon 355 ‘Somicolors Grouping ners in aUst_385 ‘Semicolon Connecting Two or More Complete ideas 355 Using a Colon: Two Eyes Looking Forward 356 Colon introducing st tems, Examples, or eas 356 Colon introducing Quotation or Dalgue 356 How Notto Use @ Caton 357 Using a Dash—with care 357 ‘A Single Dash o Add iformation 357 Two Dashes to Cash n and out ofa Sentence 357 Dashes to Enclose Phrases Linked by Commas 357 Dashes to Coney roken or tarrpted Speech 258 Dash cashes Avoid 258 Using Parentheses (To Enclose Extra Information) 358 Using the Apostrophe 358, Using Apastropnes to Ferm Possessie Nouns. 358, Winere Not to Use an Aposrophe 359 Using Apostropes for Contractions 359 Using Apostrones with Letters and Numbers 389 Using Quotation Marks for Spoken Words and Specific Language 360 Using quotation Marks for Dalogue 260 Using Quotation Marks to Signal Nonstandard Uses. 361 Using Punctuation with Quotaion Marks 361 Using Quotation Marks around Atle Ties 362 23 Research Skills for Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Citing Sources 363 Welcome to the World of Research 363 Using Reliable Sources 363, Keeping Track of What You Borrow 364 ‘Avoiding Plagiarism Like the Plague 365, ‘Quoting Exact Words from a Source 368 Using Quotations in Your Essay 368, Quoting from a Source 368 Punctuation with Quotations 370, ‘Shortening or Claiyng Quotations 371 Paraphrasing: Saying It Your Own Way 372 ‘Academic Paraphrasing 373, Paraphrase Boundary Zones 374 Peraptrasing versus Summarizing 375, Citing Your Sources 375 MUA Gtation style 376 What to ite (and How Often) 376 in-text Parenthetica Citations 377 Tie Formats for Sources. 381 ‘The Final works CkedLst 382 Examples of MLA Works Cited Formats 363 Format ofthe Works Ched Page 385, ‘AResearched Argument Essay In MLA Style 385 24 Tips on Language and Style 389 Rules and Conventions—"with a Certain Degree of Elasticity" 389 ‘Academic Language Use 389 Register audience and Purpose 390, Dialect Forms and “Standard” writen English 390 Formal wrting Slang. and other Language Choices 391 ‘Conversational versus Academic or Professional Tone 394 (nine and Text message influences on How Ute 392 ‘Gender and Language in the Not-So-New Millennium 362 Culture and Language in the academic Conversation 394 Academic Style 394 Objective and Subjective Writing 394 Caty 395 Keep it Simple 395 Be specie 396 Mow We Say Tings: Academic Usage 396 Cliché, Mked Metaphors, and Overused Phases. 397 ‘Strong ver Usage 398 Passive Voie and Academic Stile 398 Pale Suctures in Academic Style 399 ‘Connections That Make Sense 400 Repetition: Dramatic or Distracting 401 Format and Presentation 401 Numbers in Academic Style 401 Developing Awareness of Style, Tone, and Your Own Voice 402EW coven 25 An Overview of Vocabulary Skills 403 Skills for Working with Words 403, Investgating the Parts of aword 403 ‘Roots: The Home Base ofthe Word 403 Prefixes: Word Beginnings 405 ‘ures: word Endings. 406 Using a Dictionary for Speling and Vocabulary 408 Working withthe Dictionary in Your wating 402 Homophones and other confused Words 411 ‘Not Quite Homophones 411 ‘skills for Working with Vocabulary 414 Using Context Clues: How Words Relate to What's around Them 415 ‘Asking what Really Means 417 Learning Specialized vocabulary 418 Building vocabulary: Strategies for Different styles. 419 Remembering New Words‘Tips and Tricks. 419 @ Building Reading Skills the Hands-on Way 421 Getting Ready to Read 421 Previewing Your Reading 421 FLASHES Pre-Reading Checklist 422 26 Building Reading Skills 423 How to Bea Strong Reader 423 Effective Reatng Techniques 423, Aanclfctive Academic Roading Process 427 Pre-Reading Strategies That Can Save Your Day (and Your Grade) 428 Reflecting on Your Preview 429 ‘Successful Strategies to Use As You Read 430 Skimming for airs fye View «30 Reacing Closely 130 Details ofthe Close Read 430 Fining the Maindea 433, Topic Sentences and mat eas 433 ‘Thesis Statements and Main ideas 434 ‘Implied Main teas 433 Finding Supporting Ideas. 436 Pinpoiting Mai ideas in Technical Documents 437 Effective Post-Reading Strategies and Skills 438 Selected Readings 439 ‘Academic Textbook Selections 439 US History 439 ‘Howard Zi, A People's History ofthe United States 1492- Present” 439 Psychology Human Series 445 Stephen A. Maisto, Mark Gala, and Gerad. Connors, "Dr Useand Abuse” 445 @ Appendixes 525 A-1_ Ways of Learning, Challenges, and the Brain 525 A-2 Grammar and Usage Tips for ESL Students and Others 528 A-3 Employment Document Skills for Success 534 Environmental Science 452 ‘Norman Myers and Scott E.Spcolmen, “vironmental sues ‘and Solutions: Cimate Change” 452 ‘Thematic Readings 459 Challenging entities 459 ‘Alice Walk, “Beauty: When the Other Dancer's the Sel” 459 Roberto Santiago, “Black and Latino” 466 Student Author: Molle McGaughey, “Experience as a Hard oF ‘hearing Stent” 470 ‘communicating Cultures 74 [Georgiana Lincoln, “Lack of True American Indian History in Textbooks" 474 Debora Tannen, “CrossTalk: Women and Men Tang” 479 ‘Student Author lake Refer, “Theater and Lite and beat Revising the Laramie Project” 488 suring Conflets 38 ‘Michele Alexande, Locked Out of America" 488 tn Filey, “ields of Combat: understanding PTSD among Veterans of raq and afghanistan” 495 ‘Student author Kin Allon, “The Purple Dress” 500 Responding toMedia 508 ‘Amanda Moutinh, “sping Social Change trough Hip op" 508 ‘ula Blunm, “Seventeen Magazine: Give Gils mages of Real iis” 511 ‘Student Author: Annette Mil, “The Efects of Violent Pastime” 515 ‘Student author: Adan Holguin Lopez “The effect on the Bain Video Games” 520 Glossary 539 Resource Pages 545 et Pronoun Types in Content Whose Watch sf? 545, 2 Hoping Verbs and regular Verbs. S46 3 Common Prepositions 548 Fe Conunction Families $3 Index 549Preface for Instructors What Is This Book About? Building Writing Skils the Hands-on Way is a student-friendly, developmental English textbook centered on building students’ fluency in academic and real-world writing. Rich swith multisensory exercises that activate multiple learning styles, this book covers the basic skills that lead to proficiency, while addressing the widely expressed need for a new ‘way to reach a diverse population of learners. Why Is It Needed? ‘Today's techno-literate, multitasking, visual, and auditory students learn differently, and instructors often experience challenges in creating an engaging, inclusive academic setting. ‘The rescarch and personal teaching experience behind this book show that students respond _most positively o an encouraging approach to their writing, grounded in respect for their intelligence and experience. Students learn better in an environment that helps them dis- cover—visually and clearly through a hands-on presentation of concepts—the structure of, the sentence, the patterns behind different punctuation techniques, and logical ways to cor- rect errors. Ths isthe environment Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way creates. How Can | Use It? Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way takes an innovative pedagogical approach to teaching basic writing skillsby integrating a kinesthetic learning component proven highly effective with students from a range of backgrounds. It teaches academic writing from the ‘ground up, sharing with students not just the structures and the concepts involved in effective writing, but also the skills for and benefits of using them in their academic, per- sonal, and professional lives. The text is organized into the following parts: ‘ Part I: Writing as Communication and Expression covers the writing process in action, using a variety of student-friendly methods to teach the skills involved. It builds from paragraph development to essay writing, with the goal of fully pre paring students for the next steps in college composition. This section demystifies the writing process by relating its steps to examples, illustrations, and metaphors students can easily understand. + Part II: Building a Strong Foundation lays the groundwork students need to develop, and revise their writing atthe sentence evel. The core chapters progress from parts of speech and simple sentences to competence in sentence structure and punctuation. Additional chapters provide thorough grammar instruction thats easy to teach and to learn, Instructors can link the writing generated in Part Ito the hands-on editing skills covered in this section, using a side-by-side approach to make students revi- sion work truly meaningful. ‘* Part IIl: A Handbook of Sentence Mechanics and Academic Conventions gathers the conventions of punctuation into a student-friendly punctuation guide and an introduction to the basic elements of style. A practical chapter covers basicresearch skills, including quoting, paraphrasing, and citing sources using MLA style, with clear explanations and examples. A final chapter provides resources for vocabulary “The material took a hands (on approach to get myself and the other students out of our seats and practicing some new methods and things that helped achieve a higher rate of learning. Other textbooks that | usually read are comprehensible and {ull of knowledge, but not as engaging... found that hhaving fun while learning new things was the best way 10 go, opposed to sitting, reading, and listening to lecture.” —Steohen eradiey, student Alms ‘community otegeBED tae “The reading section] is probably my favorite part Of this text [ove how it teaches students to be critical readers. | think the selections are right on target, ‘and / love that the selections are diverse and from other disciplines.” Waly Goodson, Northeast 'Masissipi Community College building, a popular request from students and an important clement for integrated reading and writing courses. + Part IV: Building Reading Skills the Hands-on Way teaches students the vital con- nection between writing and reading, thus strengthening their skills in both contexts. ‘The final section features a collection of academically focused readings and high- quality student essays, fully supported by critical thinking questions and engaging writing prompts, ‘* Appendix addresses additional instructional needs, including information on learn- ing styles and brain-compatible learning, grammar issues geared toward the needs of ESL students, and models for employment documents. ‘This book has been specifically designed to help instructors overcome the challenges of teaching so much in so litle time. The structure is dynamic and flexible enough to be used in a variety of courses. For example: « In sentence-level writing courses, instructors can teach the comprehensive core chapters of Part Il and assign additional grammar chapters as needed. © In paragraph-level writing courses, instructors can teach Part I, focusing on para- graph development chapters, and assign foundational Part II chapters as needed, ‘ In essay-level writing courses, instructors can teach Part I chapters on freewriting, and brainstorming, essay development, and revising and editing, They can addition- ally assign the research chapter in Part II, which inchudes coverage of MLA style and a complete, level-appropriate student essay example. © In technical composition courses, instructors can focus on Part II core chapters (including workplace-oriented "Writing in Daily Life” sections) and relevant sections of Part l, with annotated workplace document models provided in the Appendix and online. © In Integrated Reading and Writing (IRW) courses, instructors can incorporate read- ingand vocabulary skills from Part IV at each stage of the writing development process. «In Accelerated Learning Program (ALP) courses, instructors can focus on Part I essay-level sections in composition class, with in-depth time on Part II sentence- level skills and Parts If and IV and reading techniques for the developmental cohort. Because the lessons are designed with student-friendly explanations and plentiful online suppor, instructors can assign additional coverage for groups or individuals to learn on their own, How Does This Book Address Multiple Learning Styles? ‘The growing body of research on learning styles and brain-compatible learning shows that multisensory hands-on activities are an extremely useful learning tool for many students, When information enters the brain along multiple sensory pathways, it is pro- cessed, retained, and recalled more effectively. This concept also holds true for methods that engage students’ interest, link material to personal meaning, stimulate energy and laughter, and involve cooperative learning. With hands-on activities that reach multiple learning styles, students discover that learning about writing can be creative, fun, and invigorating, This book utilizs the combined input of visual, auditory, tactile, and kines: thetic techniques to help students build their writing skills ‘© Learn By Doing! activities and action shots offer students access to grammatical concepts in a body-and-movement-centered format that crosses over the “print bar rier” raised by reading-based instructional methods. With engaging, low-pressure practice, the written mode becomes more familiar and less intimidating, encourag- ing students to gain ownership of their learning process.‘© Practice Exercises give students the chance to exten- sively practice the covered material in a variety of contexts and in a multitude of ways. Because practice exercises appear throughout the lessons—as well as at the end of sections and chapters—students learn in a more integrated, engaged way. © Hands-on Review: What Have You Learned? sections provide a checklist and fill-in-the-blank end-of-chapter review to reinforce student learning. ‘* Reflections on Your Learning Process, appearing at the ‘end of each chapter, incorporate brain-based learning theory to guide students in focusing on their learning process, integrating what they have learned, and follow: ing up on any questions. + Learning Tips offer useful hints on brain-compatible learning and suggestions for a range of learning pref- ‘erences. More than standard annotations, these tips are linked to specific content material and help students develop successful learning strategies as they move through the text. © ‘The Annotated Instructor's Edition provides theoreti cal concepts and detailed modeling techniques to sup- port instructors new to the kinesthetic learning approach. Preface QUE cr ‘leer te pecan et Reng em meted ovo hs pss nt aks ily cn hp of et Dencaton hw of on ring 1 east atresia) Whee comma as wih oh {ery tema po pte fom och fa pba 1 Wenge pei ap seni fn fan her UME 12.5 wing ing Pin Ann “The author thoroughly ‘covers the topic and offers Focusing on Positive Patterns Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way also focuses on the vital importance of a positive approach to language, learning, and teaching error correction within a logical progression of sentence structures and grammatical patterns. Students observe and notice language fist. * ‘The conversational tone of the book blends a relaxed, slightly ireverent informality ‘with the highest academic standard of instruction, This tone fosters a high comfort level and sense of rapport: students receive the information they need in a format they can absorb and enjoy. * Nuts’n Bolts sections introduce the basic concepts and patterns of language, serving asa review or refresher for more advanced students. Instructors can focus on these sections to give an overview of subject matter when time is limited. ‘* Digging Deeper sections explore the concepts in more depth, with practice activi- ties and online resources. Concepts are explained starting with structural patterns, rather than error correction, to build language context for writing and editing skills. Celebrating Diversity The rich, expressive writing in this text represents the voices of diversity. As students see wide-ranging realities reflected, they are encouraged to articulate their own experiences, learn about the experiences of others, and connect these experiences in their writing. + Diverse content themes draw on topics of high interest and relevance to adult earn- crs, including the often-neglected domains of rural, western, and Native American life. Chapters are not focused on one central theme; however, “currents” of related ‘material running through the chapters help students build schema and connect ideas. ‘© High-quality student writing conveys powerful stories, which are nourishing to read and full ofcreativity. Students have the chance to learn from others experiences—and their own, as they write about them. plenty of activities to reinforce leaming. The variety of activity is also important; it's not just exercise after exercise as you see in many texts." Ronald Peacock, Edgecombe ‘community cotege “The author continues to use a tone that engages student readers...and keeps them reading So they can find ways to ‘beat the system.’ Wien the text refers to academic or grammatical ‘les, the explanations are accurate and the coverage Is complete.” Kathleen Mecann Kier, At, Proof Land English, Genesee community cotegepreface ansirming i te most lenge sage of ewig roca ore Comngup sino era th now ‘acy wha rw en rou wi eo he tering Yu avo fas tow duis sate Ast wre mye, sehr at she [eats tg about raestcering ee aero wong ram. one of my fate ways 0 basen 0 Way rege myo et mya coe a meh or pecans Tike tosteen atm ope een se wrt reopen may + Reality Check sections feature observations and learn- ing tips from real students, which foster confidence and a sense of community among learners from a vari- ety of backgrounds. A positive approach to language diversity when dis- ‘cussing dialect forms and ESL students’ language pat- terns explains why errors may occur, with respect for the speakers and their language backgrounds. This approach treats academic language as an “additive” form, and helps students build skills for their own analysis of linguistic patterns, How Does This Book Help Students Transfer Skills to “Real” Writing? Another vital component ofthis text is an in-depth, practical focus on transferring skills from sentence-level practice to “real” writing, Sentence-level skills are integrated into stu- dents’ own writing with specific, scaffolded guidance for lasting retention of the concepts. «© Building Editing Skills sections contain care fully sequenced activites that help students develop editing techniques while working with the chapter concepts. Students learn to read like an editor and build a repertoire of specific methods to help them zoom in on different error patterns. © In Your Own Writing—Working with the Real Thing sections zoom back out to the “big picture” and guide students in the transfer of sentence-level skills to their works in progress. “This process integrates skills and gives students ie a sense of purpose, along with a chance to exer- ‘cise creativity and share ideas. This opportunity toapply sentence level skills to the student’ owa writing in a meaningful way is essential to the success of basic skills instruction. _ ‘© Writing im Daily Life sections give students = practice editing a personal, workplace, or Su Ee technical document, applying thet editing skills in the context of their lives beyond the classroom, How Does the Online Teaching Program Help Students Learn? Building Writing Skils the Hands-on Way's technology package provides comprehensive tools and resources to help students—and instructors!—succeed: © Aplia for Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way offers instruction, practice, and immediate feedback to help developmental students master their basic writ- ing and grammar skills. Add, drop, mix and match chapters and lessons, or opt for the Individualized Study Path (ISP), which assesses students’ skills through acomprehensive diagnostic and generates a list of assignments tailored to each stu- dent's needs. This Aplia option also introduces Author’s Corner, a special interactive feature in each chapter that gives students an opportunity to practice lesson skills with authentic writing from diverse literary sources. © MindTap for Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way is a personalized teach- ing experience with relevant assignments that guide students to analyze, apply, and improve thinking, allowing instructors to measure skills and outcomes with ease + Personalized ‘Teaching: Adopt a Learning Path that is built with key student objec- tives. Control what students see and when they see it. Use it as-is or match to your syllabus exactly. Hide, rearrange, add and create your own content. + Guide Students: Provide a unique learning path of relevant readings, multimedia and activities that move students up the learning taxonomy from basic knowledge and comprehension to analysis and application. + Promote Better Outcomes: Empower instructors and motivate students with ana- Iytics and reports that provide a snapshot of class progress, time in course, engage- ‘ment and completion rates. ‘© Cognero is Cengage Learnings flexible, online system that gives instructors the freedom toauthor, edit, and manage test-bank content from multiple Cengage Learning solutions. © Instructor Companion Site offers instructors a wide array of helpful teaching tools, specially designed by the author to address the needs of a variety of instructors and course structures, including edditional hands-on exercises with example photos and helpful tips, sample syllabi for a variety of courses, and information for facilitating brain-based and kinesthetic learning in the classroom. Acknowledgments First, to Kris Kraly of San Juan College, whose wisdom, ideas, and dry humor helped cstablish the foundation for this book—thank you! As it has taken an international com- ‘munity to support this project from idea to production, my gratitude is too big to express within this limited word count. To those who have so generously offered ideas, support, hard work, free printers, spaces to work in, though you may not see your name individu- ally listed here, please know I am grateful with all my heart. Enormous gratitude goes out to the many fine people at Cengage who brought this project into being, starting with Leslie Taggart, who directed me to Annie Todd, whose clear-sighted vision, productive ‘imagination, and practical guidance made the book a reality. Marita Sermolins taught me to write, edt, and stay on schedule inthe publishing world, Grateful thanks to the current production team, led by the brilliant Andrew Rawson. Brittany Miller carried me down the ladder from my swamp of mixed metaphors, slashing three hundred pages to bring the book down to length, and Liza Neustaetter’s competent, insightful diligence brought the book into being. Kathy Smith provided copyediting expertise and training; Courtney ‘Triola produced a mountain of vocabulary definitions. Thanks to Ann Hoffman and staff, ‘who have diplomatically managed the complex permissions process; and for knowledge- able, enthusiastic marketing work under the astute guidance of Necco McKinley. ‘At San Juan College, birthplace of this project, I have so many to thank for 50 much: Assistant VP Lisa Wilson, who in her 2002 role of Title III coordinator suggested I pilot a developmental writing skills companion course, where the workbook version of this project took shape; all my colleagues, so much a part of me and this text that I hardly know where we begin and end—in particular Vicki Holmsten (who suggested I share my ideas at TYCA in 2003), Traci HalesVass, Kimberly Mathis (source of the Brown Shoe, Acknowedgments EXAcknowledgments Black Shoe parallelism story), Eric Bateman, inny Moore, Will Gray, Chris Strouthopou- los (experiential learning expert), Danielle Sullivan (hands-on creative force); Lorraine ‘Manavi (Navajo language instructor); Pete Kinnas, Reading experts Sharon Brown, Col- lege Success guru; Writing Center tutor (and editor) Scott Lumbard; computer wizard Don Allen; ceramicists Trevor, Cole, and Don Ellis, source of fragments; Blake Barnett, Kerry Meier, Tony Otero, George Golombowski, Tom Burns, and Ray John, of trades, technology, and energy programs, who still laugh about our cross-disciplinary hands- (on collaborations. I learned so much working with ASL interpreter Josie Culpepper and Kendra in our conference triads. Gratitude always to Timothy and Karen Benally for col- legal sustenance as writers and for the peaceful time in Red Valley. Deep appreciation to former VP of Learning Mike Tacha for supporting the ideas of this project from the start, ‘making possible a 16,000 mile sabbatical road trip, during which I received shelter, ideas, and encouragement from so many. Many thanks to Tom and Karen Raymond of Oglala ‘Tribal College in Pine Ridge for friendship, welcome, and calling an informal focus group of instructors who helped to guide the direction of this book. [also owe thanks for memo- rable meetings with hands-on teaching giants Jeff Anderson, in San Antonio, and Nancy ‘Mack, in Pisqua, Ohio, both of whom helped me to sharpen my intentions and start the real work, Judy Willis’ expertise on brain-based learning in action also pointed the way. My grad school experience at NAU opened my mind to language learning, starting ‘with Ryan Slims powerful descriptive essay in the Writing Center. Mentors Doug Biber and Randi Reppen employed meas a research assistant when I couldnt stop asking questions in ‘grammar class. Mary McGroarty offered encouragement and direction from my first col- lege visit, as did other life-changing NAU faculty with special thanks for Fredericka Stoller’s comments “Who?” and “What?” over loose pronouns in my papers, which I have passed ‘on (along with the story of how I used to roll my eyes in response) to another generation of students, Brilliant fellow grad students Sarah (Jasper) Noreen, source of clapping com- ‘mas with appositives, and Robin (Nitzky) Persiani, sharing her verb-adverb charade game “Dancing Wildly” opened up the possibilities of hands-on learning with English students. am forever indebted to my friend and inspiration Barbara Ras (then of North Point Press) for welcoming me into the editorial world, and to editing mentor Amy Einsohn for teach- ing me about copyediting, life, commas, and so on. Colleagues at conferences including TYCA, NADE, NISOD, CCC, and NCTE ATEG have inspired and taught me volumes (with special thanks to Kelly Allen for the paragraph-coloring idea), along with the incred- ible support team of the Text and Academic Authors’ Association (TAA)—without whom this project would never have reached the proposal stage! Deep appreciation to Martha Kolln for offering to read chapters I had learned to write from her grammar books. My colleagues, chair Evan Oakley, and library staf at Aims Community College have provided lifelines of support and encouragement, with creative hands-on teaching ideas and feed- back from Lynne Mora, Meg Spencer, Amy Lowe, and Kendra Griffin, 1 don't know how to thank my family enough for practical support and love: my father, Eugene Victor Walter, who imbued a love of research, books, and bad jokes; my mother, Ruth Ice, who taught (and is still teaching) me to write, work, and live; my sister Claudia for creative guidance, and Fred Rush for focused time on the project; my brother, lan, for insight and logistics, including transport of a Subordinating See-saw plank to the “Keep ‘Teaching Weird” TYCA conference in Austin; my sister Natasha, Mietek, and my niece Gioia for sup- port and clothing; my sister Xania, brother-in-law Sasha, and nieces Oksana and Tatiana for textbook contributions and love; Eric Segal and Anne Wright for loyal family supports Lucille and Herbert Cohen for stepping in when we needed it most. Krista Deal taught me so ‘much about lif, the universe, and everything, Never-ending gratitude goes out to my lifelong friends and creative companions: Janet Papo Hanrahan, Gillian Clarke, Ky Hote, Patty Pee- bles, Pamela Powell, Kiki Zeldes, Laurel Turk, Alice Cozzolino, Amy Pulley, Melinda Costello, Cassie Scott, Viki Sparks, Ty Crow, and other wonderful friends. In Colorado, Orly Hersh,Acnowledsmonts QUE ‘Tony Crank, and their creative family have shaped my life in so many ways, including leading ‘me to my partner: through these years of constant work, Denny has brought tea and books by Thoreau and Basho, been sounding board and springboard, counselor and cheerleader— thank you, D, for such love. Thanks to Blake for being a constant source of generational information, and to the whole extended family for putting up with requests for sentences at holiday dinners and reunions, especially Nick Fasano, ghostwriter extraordinaire, and Bev and Steve, a steady, loving source of support and pottery pre-fragments For photos of hands-on activities, much appreciation to Tony Bennett of SJC, and to Kellie Sapp, student photographer (and now instructor!) at Aims, for their generosity and imagination in taking on these projects. Thanks to Audrey Wick’ students at Blinn College and Julie Kratts at Cowley County Community College for enthusiastically con- tributing photos and writing as wel. am most grateful to all my students and friends who have generously participated in this project, and who have provided the inspiration, moti- vation, and content for the book. From my earliest ESL students at Sacramentos Asian Resources and Cosumnes River College Eldorado Center, to my first comp students at NAU and through the enlightening years at SJC (with deepest thanks to Charles, Joaquin, ‘era, Blanca, Maritza, and so many other students whose suggestions and creativ- ity educated me), to the amazing, generous students at Aims (writers, models, activity testers)—you have taught me what I need to know and what needs to be in this book. I thank you all for being the soul of my writing process. Special thanks to our articulate Advisory Board of reviewers for insightful, positive sup- port throughout: Advisory Board Corts Harrell, NorthWest Ackansas Community College Jule Kratt, Cowley County Community College Laura LaPlai, Gaston College Aileen Gum, San Diego City College Grateful appreciation to the many instructors who provided feedback: Reviewers ‘Mark Alves, Montgomery College ‘Ana Arrendondo, Richard J. Daley College Elizabeth Barnes, Daytona State College Craig Bartholomaus, Metropolitan Community College- Penn Valley Annie Burns, Meridian Community College Dorothy Chase, College of Southern Nevada Sandra Chumchal, Blinn College Judy Covington, Trident Technical College ‘Michelle Cristiani, Portland Community College Brenna Dugan, Owens Community College Christi Duque, Tarrant County College ‘Tyson Dutton, Chemeketa Community College Jacquelyn Gaiters-Jordan, Pikes Peak Community College Lilian Gamble, Delgado Community College Molly Goodson, Northeast Mississippi Community College Kendra Haggard, Northeastern State University Beth Hammett, College of the Mainland Michael Held, Richard J. Daley College Catherine Higdon, Tarrant County College Northwest Kathleen Klaiber, Genesee Community College Carol Kushner, Dutchess Community College Kerry Lane, Joliet Junior College Paulette Longmore, Essex County College ‘Anna McKennon, Fullerton College lizabeth Mills Teagarden, Central Piedmont Community College Peter Monck, Miami Dade College Christopher Morelock, Walters State Community College Virginia Nugent, Miami Dade College Ellen Olmstead, Montgomery College Shelley Palmer, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Ronald Peacock, Edgecombe Community College Carole Quine, Baltimore City Community College Jessica Rabin, Anne Arundel Community College Gordon Richiusa, Saddleback Community College Shaheen Sayeed, Moraine Valley Community College Jennifer Schaefer, Lord Fairfax Community College Michelle Van de Sande, Arapahoe Community College Michelle Zollars, Patrick Henry Community CollegeIntroduction for Students Welcome to Building Writing Skills the Hands-on Way! ‘When I first envisioned this book, Twas in an airplane, high above the clouds in a pure blue sky. I pictured the book asa clear, aqua-emerald pool students could dive into. The project itself has become more like an ocean liner, but as I've done these years of writing, revising, and editing, I've held on to the image of the clear, sunlit pool. T wanted to take the “grr” out of grammar, to make it accessible and fun. My own teachers, and my students, showed me the way, and I wanted to pass it on. So, welcome—this book is for you! Speaking of YOU, you'll notice that the tone of this book is informal and friendly. use the pronoun “you” (yes, that’s a pronoun!) to address you, the student, as reader. The informal tone I use here is intended to make the book easy to read and yours to use. AS you go through the text, you'll find lots of information about academic language and tone, pointing out the customs and conventions of communicating in academia. ‘The hands-on way is the heart of this book. Throughout the text you'll find activities that invite you to learn by doing, a.k.a. kinesthetic learning (like the video game Kinect), “These activities will help you to connect—to connect with ideas about grammar, to con- nect parts of the linguistic system in your brain, to connect with other human beings in the study of communication, ‘That's what academic writing is, as unfamiliar as it may seem: another form of com munication, Td like to ask you to trust your speaking voice (or for Deaf students, your signing voice) as your own way of expressing yourself. Once you get ideas on paper or screen, you can shape them, revise them, edit them—because as you are voicing ideas, you will also be learning the skills to work with your writing. Al languages are welcome here, in this pool of knowledge about writing. All lan- ‘guages are equally worthy of respect, as long as they are doing their job. You may be coming to this class with some anxiety or concern, or perhaps with memories of bad experiences. Try to let yourself start fresh and believe you can, ‘You may be an ESL student, or a signer of ASL. You may be a Generation 1.5 student, with family roots in other languages, other cultures. You may be Generation Native, with roots that go deep in the earth of this continent, and equally deep and complex relation- ships with language. Perhaps you are a speaker of Black English (respectably called African, American Vernacular English by linguists) or of other established, creative dialect forms. Or, you may be someone without any language background other than English, but who finds academic English a litle foreign. Welcome to this book—you all have so much to offer. ‘As your formal understanding of language catches up with your innate intelli- ‘gence, you may find yourself out of breath at times, tongue-tied or confused. Try to be patient with yourself and with your classmates (and instructor). Your brain will atch up as long as you give it lots of help: practice, study, attention, and care. ‘One more thought, for those who can: Please mess up this book! Mark it up, high- light, write in the margins if possible. Bookmark pages, decorate with bright sticky notes, make the text your own, You will learn faster and remember longer if you do. ‘Most important, I want to say thank you. I appreciate the trust you are extending by opening these pages and reading these words. I hope I can do you justice—educational justice—by offering skills you can use on the path to your own success and future dreams, —Jenia Walter, AuthorWriting as Communication and Expression Writing Is a Way of Speaking with a Pen, Keyboard, Keypad Al of us havea voice—something to say—that fs special and unique to offer the world. We share our gifs in ots of ways: in our relationships incur wor, in our creativity We all have stores to tel: where we've come fom, what we've been though, and winere we cream of going. Some stories are painful and others joyful, but all are important to tell. Although there are many ways to share our experiences, written language is especially important. ting leaves a record: t's something we can shape and improve unt we are expressing what we want to say just the way we mean it. We can't do that wit spoken word. na conversation or even a speech, we cat say, "Walt—cross that out—go back a step—fet me tlt his way We can mess with writing and rearrange it. Noone can say something exacty the way you can, and what you have to say matters Writing is your own power. Some of you may lok foward to writing to having the luxury of ime and space to express yours. But many of you may have given up that fee dom, or feltit was taken from you. iveit another chance. lust open te fist chapter on amEMD vas | writing as communication and expression ‘reewriting and dare to put some thoughts on paper. It may fee! awkward, but keep trying. ‘Take the chance to see what writing is ike when it’s just yours—not judged by others, not ‘even read by others if you don’t choose to share. Come back to it at different times and places, just for a few minutes, and see where you end up. This book will offer you ways to work with your writing, using hands-on techniques ‘to climb over the print barrier that may have stopped you In the past. tt will also help ‘you to create a solid foundation for academic success. You will learn to write strong. paragraphs and essays, with a clear understanding of academically correct grammar and usage. However, to start out, you have to take that first step. Put pen to paper, or fingers. to keys, and write! The Writing Process: A Less Stressful Way to Write ‘When | (the author of this book) was in college, | didn’t know the term the writing process (which means approaching a writing project one step ata time, rather than thinking a Paper has to be finished and correct on your first try). | struggled to get things right the first time (usually alone, in the middle of the night). Then, in the midst of an all-nighter working with two others on a group project, my classmate, Barb Fontaine, clued me in—thank you, Barb, wherever you are! She took our group's brainstormed ideas, left blanks where we couldn't think of the right words, and kept writing until we had @ rough draft to work with. Then she went back and started filling in the gaps, and to my surprise, our writing began to take shape. BBy this point, | knew how to help. My editing gears kicked in and | took the next shift, making corrections and polishing the wording, Next, we read the draft aloud and made more changes. We ended up witha pretty solid paper to turnin the next day, and we ‘even gota few hours of sleep. After that, writing projects became much less stressful forme. ‘Over time, I learned that the writing process is not a straight line from start to finish. It’s recursive—you can go back and revisit, or repeat, any stage along the way. In general, though, we can approach the process in an order that tends to be more productive or effi- cient. imagine yourself working at each of these stages, starting with the big picture and later focusing on the small stuff. ‘Stages of the writing process: 1 Brainstorm ideas. 1 Plan your writing. 1 organize your ideas. 1 write a rough draft. 1D Revise your writing, focusing on the ideas and how they connect and flow. 11 Edit your writing, focusing on grammar and usage. 10 Proofread your writing, zooming in on the small spelling and typing errors.PART! | Writing as Communication and expression IEW Een ad Construct the stages of the writing process hands-on. Colored cards representing each stage provide a visual sense of the process. Arranging the stages in order kinesthetically helps to bring the concepts to life unser FIGURE 1.1 Stages of the writing process. © Visualize yourself engaged in each stage of the process. How do brainstorming, planning, and organizing help you prepare to write a rough draft? Why does it ‘make the most sense to focus on the big stuff (drafting and revising) before the small stuff (editing and proofreading)? Notice how you can revisit any stage at any time. Ifyou go back and do more brain storming to add ideas, for example, then you'll need to revise sections of your draft again to be sure the new ideas make sense and flow well. «© List the stages of the writing process in your notes, and if possible, eave the cards taped toa wall asa reminder: You don't have to get it perfect the first time—writing can be a process! Fluency and Accuracy: A Journey in Two Directions Wherever you are, that’s where you start. Each individual is at a different place with his or her writing, Each of us has aifferent strengths, and all of us—and | ‘mean all—can improve in some ways. Think of writing as a magical journey, because you get to travel in two directions at once, ariving at the same destination, Fluency. Part ofthe writers journey isin the rection of fluency. Uke the word fluid or the concept of being fluent in aifferent lan- {uages, this rection has to do with fiow It takes a special skill to put words together so your thoughts make sense and readers can follow your ideas, Ths ski's gained primary by practice: writing a lot. Certain exercises can increase your fluency, just 2s training can increase your ability to run a long distance race. But mostly, writing fluency improves with more writing. Imagine if you didn’t speak for a few years and then tied to hold a conversation. You'd bea lite rusty at first! So keep the wheels moving as you travel inthe direction of fluency. FIGURE 1.2 Fluency and Accuracy in a Writer's ProcessERB east! | writing as communication and expression © Accuracy. As you journey toward fluency, you can also travel toward accuracy. Starting wherever you are, you can focus on improving the skills you use to express your ideas, ‘The more exact you can be in your choice of words, and the more clearly and grammati- cally you can put those words together, the better you'll be able to communicate, Accu- racy takes lots of practice, too, but creative techniques can make the leaming process more fun, Fluency and accuracy are both essential to strong writing. You may have perfect gram- ‘mar skills but still not be fluent in English. The reverse is also true: you may express your self powerfully, but you may make errors that interfere with your readers’ understanding of your ideas. Regardless of where you start, with practice, your skils will develop along each arc of the circle, meeting in your writing. ‘© Part 1 ofthis book focuses on fluency: generating ideas and expressing them in different forms to join the academic conversation. ‘© Part Il focuses on accuracy: forming words and sentences and putting them together with academically correct grammar and usage ‘The two parts of the book can be used side by side as you travel through the semes- ter. Write, and then work with your writing, Revise and edit to clarify your meaning, Polish your language so it clearly reflects what you want to say. Writing, as a way of speaking, offers the unique opportunity to shape your words and ideas before, during, and after the process of sharing them.Freewriting: Thoughts into Words You're About to Learn. How to use freewriting techniques to strengthen your connection between thoughts and written words How to use freewriting to add vivid descriptive details and imagery to your writing How to use freewriting as a tool to develop, express, and clarify ideas in your academic work How can freewriting help me with my academic work? | expect to get down to business in my college classes, and freewriting seems more like playing around with words. This chapter will show you how playing around with words can actually help you to get down to business in your writing. The freewriting process strengthens your ability to express ideas in written form. Like the vital warm-ups players do before sports to loosen their muscles, freewriting makes your thinking more flexible. If ‘you're not someone who has liked writing in the past, freewriting can open up an enjoyable, safe place to express thoughts, without pressure or judgment—just for yourself, Freewriting sleting your imagination flow: letting the words in your head just hit your Paper without much thought. Wit freewriting there are no rules or guidelines, you get to Play by your ow rules. You choose the topic, setting, and the drection ofthe story. These are usually the easiest works to write because not very often in school or inthe real world do you get to freely exoress your opinion. I's always “write this way" or “write about ths. PeayEBD 4871 writing as communication and Expression Freewiiting allows a person to let go of any hung up emotions and turns them into words, | believe relieving stress, expressing hapainess or other emotions. 'd suggest to anyone: {reewritng to just let the brain and hand go. Don’t think about it, write what interests you. Aspen Sanders, Nursing major Freewriting means writing without stopping to think. The simple flow of pen across the page or fingers across the Keys moves our thoughts past the blocks that many writers run into as they try to express their ideas. With practice, freewriting does more than get us past our blocks, It also strengthens the connection between ideas in our minds and words in written form, According to brain research on creativity, freewriting stimulates alpha waves, the wavelength associated with dreaming. This dreamlike state provides access to creative language and images, as well as ideas. For centuries, authors have used freewriting as a literary technique. Siream of con- sciousness writing allows readers to see inside the mind of a character or narrator. ‘This technique simulates the free flow of ideas in our minds, with all our fragmented thoughts, run-on impressions, and vivid imagery. Here isa short example of stream of consciousness writing from Toni Morrison’ Pulit- zet Prize-winning novel, Beloved, She uses this technique to convey the inner thoughts of her characters, scarred by memories of slavery, in a house haunted by a child-ghost |lam Beloved and she is mine. | see her take flowers away from leaves she puts ‘them in 2 round basket the leaves are not for her she fils the basket she opens the grass | would help her but the clouds are in the way how can I say things that are pictures | am not separate from her there is no place where | stop her face is my own and | want to be there in the place where her face fs and to be looking at it too. ‘Source: Morison Ton. 1987, 200), Beloved. New York: Random House, 210. Freewriting in Action The following freewriting activities will allow you to step out ofthe box and focus on the power of language, without worrying about punctuation mistakes, grammar errors, or incomplete ideas. Start with a lis, as simple and free from pressure as a shopping list or any jotted-down collection of words. iz writit Freewriting is an amazing process when you have no idea of how you should start your essay. Abello Asgedor, Paycholgy/criminal sti major Freewnting is an escape from the rel word The paper is your canvas, on which you can write and be enyone you want. Your ony limitation is your imagination. Whatever ison my mind that day i ‘hat | rite about. Freevrtng helps me fe! heard : Amanda ons, Musing major For me reewritng sa way to express thoughts felngs, and actions wie practicing in actual writing. Personal fel teres a lot more fteedom in writing that way than when i’ topic-based or ‘assigned... You're not tying to make aword count or anytng—you Just j Et reno, Chemical eneera maior 3CHAPTER 1 | Freewriting: Thoughts into Words Freewriting List «© Pass an object or objects (such as a pine cone or colorful beads) around the room s0 everyone can look at each object closely and handle it. All objects should end up in a place where everyone can see them. © Choose one object to focus on and list whatever words come into your mind for two minutes, without stopping. If you draw a blank, write the name of your object, or repeat the word you just wrote until you come up with another word. Keep the pen. moving, but dor't rush. Using a pine cone as an example, you may end up with a list of words like brown, sharp, pointy, tree forest, and maybe a few phrases like smells good or reminds me of holidays. Its okay to go off on sidetracks and see where you end up! ‘© Keep in mind these guidelines: + Dont slow down to think about spelling or grammar. + Dont stop to cross things out + Do feel free to shorten words or leave blanks. + Do feel free to write whatever comes into your head. © Afier two minutes, stop writing, Read through your list. You don't have to read it to anyone else. (If you do decide to read it, you can skip over anything you dontt want to share.) Dontt judge yourself by how many words you have or what you've written. Whatever you freewrite is fine! Green pear neckiace stringy playing round rolling colorful playful shiny small rolling light beads green ary Jewelry fun necklace string necklace neck circle kids wear circumference “Aomeste Miler usc cation major Flowing Lines After you've experimented with alist, try freewriting lines that flow across the page. Write without stopping to think, but without hurrying, Record whatever comes to your mind, as best you can, skipping from one thought to the next if you need to, Freeing must be fee! As yu read the exampesin tis chapter, keep in rind at your feouniing doesr't howe to lok ike anyone ses Every freewritesuniou.EMD ak) | writing 2s communication and Expression ‘ First, go back and read through your list. This time, underline a few words that interest you, that you like the sound of, or that have some special meaning to you. Don't think too much about this process—just underline whatever catches your eye, ‘© Now, choose one of your underlined words—again without too much thinking—and ‘rite it atthe top ofa clear space on your paper. ‘© Write for four minutes, focusing on this word or line, letting your thoughts flow across the page. Your words might create a story or express thoughts, or they might ‘urn into a poem or a song. They might come out as nonsense. Follow your thoughts and just try to keep up, without judging. Don't worry about spelling, grammar, or punctuation, and dont stop to reread as you go. ‘© After four minutes, finish your thought and stop writing, You can come back to a freewrite later if you want to continue with an idea. Put the date atthe top and save ‘what you've written, What you see now may look strange or meaningless—but you'll be surprised at what you discover when you read it over later. Here is Patty’ freewriting example, starting from one of the words she underlined in herlist. Friends ‘We were friends, best frends. No expectations, no games. Just friends, A relationship ‘built over 20 years, since | was in junior high and | trusted him with my life, But he was holding on to his with every ounce of energy he had and | was throwing mine away with every hit | took. He suffered melanoma skin cancer and | suffered drug addiction. For 3 realy intense years the 2 of us traveled back and forth to U of A and sat through many ‘chemo treatments rite here at the cancer center in town, We always talked about which Cone of us would go first, we cried alot and we prayed. We were eachothers strength. Willard didnt make it, he past away on my birthday. | had been clean 3 months. We smiled before he lft. miss him Paty Tafa Sool Work maior Patty traveled a long way between an underlined word and this powerful memory. But that’s what freewriting can do. It frees up our minds and opens us up to important stories, memories, and ideas that may be hard to express or are locked away out of reach. So, if you can, let the thoughts out. You can decide what to do with them, and no one has to sce them but you. If you dont have any interest in unlocking doors, focus on the pres- ent. Either way, with every word, you strengthen the connection between your brain and ‘your written ideas, A Freewriting How-to Guide All you need to freewrite is something to write on and something to write with (if you are computer friendly, the two can be combined). Experiment to find the ways you enjoy most and that are most productive. Some people prefer to write on their own, but many find that writing with a friend or a group encourages their practice. Freewriting Guidelines © Choose writing materials thet work for you; many freewriters keep a separate journal. For a class with scheduled assignments, a three-ring binder can be helpful.CHAPTER 1 | Freewriting: Thoughts into words QC ‘Visual thinkers may prefer an unlined pad so they can free-draw as well as freewrite. Add concert tickets, photos, or other mementos—whatever ‘makes the journal yours, Ifyou find that you enjoy freewriting on the computer, use a special folder or flash drive to save your work in one place. ‘© Make time to write every day. Grab five or ten minutes whenever you can—in the parking lot, fon the bus across town, or on your break at work. Ifyou don't have your journal, write in the notes section of your smartphone or on a paper bag. Aim for daily writing, but don't stress if you hhave to miss a day here or there. Remember that the more you write, the stronger your writing will get ‘* Note the date at the beginning of every entry (and the location, if you write in dif- ferent places). Looking back over your work can be fascinating, especially after time has passed. You may discover lines or sections that you can use in other writing assignments ‘© Write without stopping for a given period of time. If you are writing on your own, find five or ten minutes to write or type your thoughts. You can start with a topic or a “prompt” (an opening line) or just write about your day. Ifyou get involved, keep going, and always feel free to come back toa freewrite later. « Listen to what your mind is saying, and write down what it tells you. Don't censor or correct, but simply get the words down. Skip from one thought to another or write sentences that don't make sense or aren't even complete sentences. If the flow of ideas dries up, repeat the same words you just wrote or go back to your topic. Eventually, something new will occur to you. ‘© Don’t worry about spelling or grammar as you freewrite. If you end up with words, or ideas you want to use in another piece of writing, you can work with them later. Dorit cross out, delete, or change things. The most interesting wording, or a whole new idea, can come from a typo or a misspelled word. ‘ Think of freewriting as a chance to clear out your brain, making room for fresh ideas. Dor't try to control what comes out or make it look “good” The minute you start to worry about looking good, you lose the freedom of freewriting. ‘© Keep yourself safe. Writing freely can bring up memories, vulnerable emotions, and fears. As the writer, you always get to choose your level of depth. Only go as far as you are comfortable. Keep in mind that this writing is just for you. Reading freewriting in a group where you feel safe can be a positive, rewarding experience. However, you as the writer must choose what to share and in what situations. Take chances only as you feel comfortable, Soe the end fhe chapter for and respect the chances that others in your group take as well exampes cl sarngines or Everyone's freewriting is unique, from person to person and from day to day. Here "pom slorg wh sogestons for are three examples, all based on the opening prompt “I remember...” pase nineteen | remember the frst day of school mainly high school. The fst night ofthe fist day (of schoo! was probably the most exciting night in my if, the thought ofall that coo! stuff ‘you got for school, clothes, new shoes, new bagpack, and can't wait to see all the other Bs that you had a crush on the last school year. And wondering which one think have a chance to date, And maybe wondering how | would do this year. Entering the schoolET mcr! writing as communication and Expression ‘smeling the smell of everyone's new clothes and cologne, perfume, and hair products. floating around the building and admiring all your friends’ cool new stu. After noticing, all others stuff you can't but notice how shiny the newy waxed floors and the smell of clean floors. ody Bena, Welding major | remember riding the horse bareback out to the far pasture and lying back with my hhead on her butt while the rain started coming down sprinkling across my face, it was one (of those warm afternoon rain showers that turned almost instantly into a massive thunder storm. | sat up and saw my grandpa standing on the back porch waving his arms frant- cally and the rain started coming down and pelting my head and back and the lightning, started dancing around inthe sky all around me. The horse, Breeze, nickered and we took off forthe bar, | could barely hold on. “Sharon Clayton, Psychology maar | rememiver a time in my life wien | did not care about anything, | did not care about my family, my friends, my job ... | cared about nothing other than partying and “having fun.” It took me a long time to reprioritize my lfe and develop the skils to see what my behavior and my selfishness was doing to everyone around me, and myselt.| remember being “that guy” who no one trusted and everyone prayed for (though not in a good way... they prayed that would see the error in my way). Idon't remember at what point | woke up and said, ‘What the heck am | doing” All| know fs that it happened and | have been a lot happier, healthier, and proud ever since. Since then | pay attention to choices: ‘and sometimes find that | take a ite longer in critically dissecting each choice to make ‘ure I choose the right one. | have to tell myself, "Man, you got one life... make the rest of this one the best you can.” David Chavez Business Administration major Freewriting as a Tool In addition to making your personal writing stronger and sharper, freewriting can serve as 4 powerful, multi-functional too for your academic work. You can use it to generate ideas and also to clarify ideas once you have them. You can also pluck vivid descriptive images from feeewriting to use in academic pieces. Finding Pearls of Descriptive Imagery ‘When you are writing an essay or report, your mind is tightly focused, and it may be hard to-access the creative imagery that makes a piece so interesting to read. Taking some time to write freely can get the flow going. You may be able to find a pearl in your freewrite: a few fresh words or an image to weave into your formal writing assignment, owen EG et | ' :CHAPTER 1 | Freewriting: Thoughts Into Words Just as pearls are formed in the gooey, not-very-attractive innards of a mollusk shell, descriptive pearls can be found in the muck and goo of our freewriting. Ifyou try to make your freewrite pretty, anticipating the pearl, you may get an imitation, but you may lose that free flow of ideas that produces amazing, unexpected images. Let yourself write freely, and have faith that, eventually, you'll come upon the surprise of a perfect pearl. (Clear, precise details are essential in all kinds of academic and professional writing, Images «an help readers understand a concept or idea in powerful ways. For example, the image of an orchestra playing many parts at once can be used as an analogy to explain complex aspects of brain function, An analogy from the sports world can vividly illustrate a legal concept. ‘The following examples use imagery to describe a significant place. As you read, highlight the sensory images you find—descriptions that use sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste to bring a scene to life. Then experiment by reading the writing without them. Notice what effects the images, textures, and scents add. ‘The city has different cultures from around the world its a big melting pot mixed ith alot of goodness in it You can walk to the different boroughs in New York andit’ like Visiting a diferent country every time. | can walk through Brookiyn and think rm walking down a downtown plaza in the Caribbean. Different aromas of curry, garlic and jerk spices ‘can over take you in a flash and the bright colors you see used in decorating the business and the people wear can transplant you to an island in a moment with the beat ofa steel ‘drum. Continue traveling a few miles anc the smells of oven baked pizza with fresh maz~ zarella, oregano and sauce can make you drown in your own salva Martin Lopez, Occupational Safety maior | enjoyed the time | got to sit back on my porch by the river when the sky was cov- ered in luty dark, gloomy, and grim clouds lke at @ cemetery on Halloween night with the smell of rai in the future. The water and wind moved in sync just lke tango dancing it was beautiful, the way the white caps moved with the one right next to the other, util reaching the shore sending it back out to the open once more. The storm causing the pas- sionate dance under the big blue canvas was filed with dreams. storm never frightened me but only taught me to see the beauty within. Ashe Price Psychology major ‘Writers can take a piece of freewriting and polish it into a paragraph fora descriptive essay. r, they can pull out one or two descriptive words, phrases, or sentences to add to an essay draft they have already created. As you use freewriting to develop descriptive imagery: © Remind yourself to be specific. Get in the habit of painting on the page what you— ‘and no one else but you—can see in your mind’s eye. If you're writing the word car, ask yourself what you see: arusty 1970 Ford Pintowith a dented gas tank, smoking as t scrapes down the pot- holed alt road a shiny black Cadillac Escalade, purring and sleek as a black catin sunlight’ + Be specific about the nouns (people, places, and things) that you are writing about: 1970 Ford Pinto, gas tank, dirt road + Add adjectives to describe those nouns vividly: rusty, pot-holed In freewriting it’ allright to get carried away. Infact, its expected and encouraged! You can prune back your descriptions later; grow wild images first © Use active verbs: Instead of writing that you “went” somewhere, try using more descriptive verbs that show action more clearly: + Did you walk, run, jog, stumble, race, drive, cruise, wind your way there? Your choices of specific, active verbs can add enormous power to your writing.PART | writing as Communication and Expression © Add adverbs to provide more precision for your verbs— bravely, warily, or wearily? + Vividly specific adverbs can bring verbs into focus; sprinkling them into your free ‘write can give you spicy options to choose from later. « Set the freewrite aside for a while, if you can. Ifyou look at it too soon, you may not be able to view your creativity with clear perspective. When you come back to the freewrite later, highlight details and images that you can use in your formal writing, ‘Then experiment with weaving a few of these images into an essay. You'll need to ‘make adjustments and polish the wording so they fit in well, © Decide which details to use and which to weed out. For example: + Ina freewrite about the basketball game where Monica saw her high school crush after ten years, she included lots of specific details about the car she drove: | parked my worn old brown 1987 Corolla with the dent: in the side at: the curb and slammed the passenger door that always sticks, id you walk hesitantly, For the purpose of her essay, which described how much her life had changed since high school, she didn't needa full sentence of details about the car. Justa detail or two pulled from the freewrite allow the reader to picture her, the old car, and the scene: | parked my worn old Corolla at the cur and slammed the sticky passenger door Shay freewrate to generate vivid details for a persuasive essay about drunk driving penalties. She described a driver who had been arrested: swaying and reeking of the eight beers he had drunk atthe topless bar; huddled mis- cerably behind his steering wheel where he had been pulled over, blue lights ashing, facing the wrong way on the wrong side of the highway She didnit need every detail of this image to make her point. However, she could weave the phrase swaying and reeking of the eight beers he had drunk into her description of the arrest, which brought the scene to life in a convincing way. «+ In.a report to a nursing supervisor on a patient’ condition, Dan was looking for a word or two to describe a patient’ facial pallor, so he freewrote and came up with several related adjectives describing the patient’ face: ghostly white pallor, ashen, deeply lined, extremely pale, veins like rivers of ice From this list he could select one of two of the most accurate and appropriate words or phrases to add to his report. * When you use this technique, be sure to save extra details and freewrites that you dor't choose this time round; you may be able to use them in the future. Here is an example of Allisors process of adding details to a descriptive essay about the land she and her partner purchased after saving for twenty years First, read this excerpt from, her essay draft before she freewrote. Can you picture this place or why its important to her? “Turing let forthe fina time you see a long country dit road, At the end ofthis road isa river At the beginning of our lot, the part right by the gravel road, you see a {eld of dafodis, peonies and davies you walk beyond the flo nto the woods, you see trees of all kinds. Some are newly growing, others are straight and tall There is carpet of pine needles on the ground. Alison Hendcks, Veterinary Techoology majorCHAPTER 1 | Freewriting: Thoughts into Words Allison then did some freewriting to generate descriptive details, answering questions she asked herself about how things looked in her mind's eye and trying to paint the images ‘on the page. When she was finished, she reread and highlighted her added images. Turing et or the nal time, you see a ong country dit oad. At the end of is road's iver its ang Saale organ the Wind, Ag Brown Wate hot (ook ike ausy Bueket bur Quiet and Seren. You can see lo this by only moving in a circle. tthe begining of ou tthe par right by he gravel roa, you se a fled of daffodils They are Bright aeRO The peonies are Hark red) ke ESA Spied BOG, ood lke a mother’s blood ata birth the blood of fe, that’s how hard we've werked for his land, and ayliis in 6 6 EBIFSO HG FAINBOW. If you walk beyond the field, into the woods, you see trees of al kinds, pl 08K, maple aid Walnlt. some are roniy growing, They e Sug 1 FESh he suight others ae staight and aly chili OF the 8k. There isa carpet of pine needies on the ground They flake YoU feel as if you are walking on a cushion of air Allison chose several of her highlighted images and descriptions to weave into her essay, selecting the ones most vivid in her mind’s eye, while keeping the focus on what she ‘wanted to express. Here's an excerpt from her next essay draft. Notice which details came from her freewriting, how she's woven them in, and which details she's chosen to leave out. Itis springtime, a warm sunny day, lazy as a sloth. At the beginning of our lot, the part right by the gravel road, you see a fed of detfodis that are bright as lemons, peonies that are as dark red as fresh spilled blood and dayilies inal of the colors of the rainbow. f you walk beyond the field, into the woods, you see trees of all Kinds, pine, oak, maple and walnut. Some are newiy growing, struggling to reach the sunlight; others are straight and tall, reaching for the sky. There is a carpet of pine needies on the: {round that make you fee! as i you are walking on a cushion of at, aed Freewrite about a place (or a person) that is special to you. Start with a basic writ- ten sketch, Then, using techniques from: this chapter, go all out adding sensory details ‘and comparison images. Read through your freewrite and highlight or underline the ‘added descriptions. Select the images you like best and delete any that you feel don't contribute to your writing. Rewrite the final version and compare it with your origi- inal. What do the descriptive images add to your writing? Did you find any pearls in this process?PART | Wi iting as Communication and Expression ‘On Your Own ‘Take apiece of formal writing you have done (or a draft in progress) and focus on adding more descriptive details, using the freewriting techniques inthis section to add sensory details and vivid imagery. Alternatively, choose a piece of workplace or technical writing that requires accurate description, and use frewriting techniques to add precise, specific details. Enjoy your results! Freewriting for Academic Ideas In addition to generating descriptive imagery for your papers, freewriting can help you to express academic ideas clearly. The dream part of your mind has a lotto offer the more analytical side of your brain. To get clear on your thoughts, try starting with a line like: "What I want to say is “Lwant to write about (Orask yourself a question and then answer it in freewrits “What am T trying to say?” “What is the point of this reading?” “What was that lecture about today?” Here's an excerpt from Kevin's freewriting about a physics lab earlier in the day. questions? We all have them. Some are more important than others. What about the questions that cant be answered no matter how you think about it or how hard you think about it. Sometimes | catch myself asking me these questions that are impossible to answer, Have you ever stopped to think about how the simplest things work? Today in physics we did a lab on magnetic fields and how magnets cause certain objects and make ‘them in alignment to the magnetic field and thats what causes It to attract to the magnet ‘what | couldn't get my mind around was what this alignment was or how it existed when there is no way to see I. “Kevin Dubon Architecture major You can also use freewriting to clarify your position or to express the different views in an argument. You can start with a general line like: “Some say...? “Most people believe...” Or, you can freewrite ftom different positions, either as an observer or as if each view is your own. “Some people think...” ‘Others think...” “Thelieve...” Gena ee) Freewriting can help you to infuse your academic writing with a more lively, original voice. Sentences tend to make more sense ifthey come from your heart as well as your rmind—and its harder to get lost when you're expressing something in your own natural way. Try this experiment to compare te “voice” in your freewriting to your more formal ‘academic style.CHAPTER 1 | Freewriting: Thoughts into Words + Ina freewrite, use your own speaking voice and personal style to express an idea ona specific academic topic, asin the previous example on Kevin's physics lab. Don't worry about spelling or grammar, and use informal language and style as much as you like. + Then write about the same idea in a more formal academic style, choosing your words carefully and checking grammar as you go. + Make a note of how long you spent on the freewritten version, compared to the more formal one. + Read aloud and compare the two pieces. What are the differences? Which do you like better, and why? Share both versions with an outside listener and get his or her feedback as wel. + Try taking the freewritten version and polishing it up to academic standards, without losing your personal voice, Read it aloud and see what you think of the results. ‘on Your own Choose a piece of writing in progress (for this class or another subject), or an assignment _you need to start. Select ane specific concept or part to focus on and use freewriting tech- niques from this section to write about the ideas. Then polish part o al ofthe freewriting to include in your more formal piece. Share the before and after drafts with an outside reader to see how your idea comes across in each version. As you write, you may discover what you believe, or understand an issue more clearly than you did before. You might even change your position or gain insight into opposing views. Don't try to control the direction of your freewrite. Let your thoughts guide you: they may take you in directions you never expected. Freewriting Prompts Freewriting can be as simple as reflecting on your day. However, a prompt or opening line can jump-start your process or take you to a different level of thought or memory. Here is a selection of prompts gathered from a wide range of freewriting sources, including students’ suggestions. Be sure to add your own favorites to thelist. Dont spend too much time deciding which prompt to start from—grab one and go! ‘© Start with “I remember...” and keep coming back to this line, Try alternating with “Tdonit remember...” ‘© Takealline from a newspaper, book, poem, or song, Use it as your first line and repeat itwhenever you get stuck. © Ifyouare a visual thinker, focus on a photograph or piece of artwork; then freewrite. Use the ttle or a description of the visual as your opening line. © Describe aplace you love, with all the details It could bea tree you climbed asa child, the garage where you worked on cars, or a place by the river. Use all your senses, ‘© Write about the stars or the daytime sky. Look atthe sky from all angles, including upside down. ‘© Write about food. Choose a specific food and write from its name. Or start with “Teat..2 ‘© Write about a specific vehicle: your first car, your dream car, or your worst ride «© Write about how you cope with stress and survival in day-to-day life. ‘© Freewrite a letter (not to be sent) to someone you love or to someone with whom you hhave unresolved business. Or, write a letter to someone in the future or from the past. © Take a walk, observing everything around you closely. Ifyou like, imagine you are an animal and use your senses as the animal might. Then describe your walkPART | wr ing as Communication and Expression Exploring Optimum Conditions for Freewriting If youtd like to take your explorations even further, try out different places and times to ‘write, as wel as different materials. Notice how each affects the flow of your writing. © Compare freewriting on the computer and on paper. Ifyou usually write with a pen, trya pencil, or experiment with colored pens. If you write on lined paper, try a blank sketch pad, ‘© Try writing at different times: first thing in the morning, just before you fall asleep at night, or during a quick break at work. Keep a small notepad handy to scribble your thoughts. © Experiment with writing in different environments: with different kinds of music; in a coffee shop. library, or bookstore; in the waiting area at appointments. Try writing in different forms of transportation (but not while driving!). Freewrite in a place that feels special or meaningful to you. Write outside, returning to one special place over time and observing the seasonal changes. Reflecting on Your Learning Process Before you move on. take a few minutes to reflect on what you've learned about freewriting. ‘What have you learned about... © How to use freewriting techniques to strengthen the connection between your thoughts and written words? ‘» How to use freewriting to add vivid descriptive details and imagery to your writing? ‘* How to use freewriting as a tool to develop, express, and clarify ideas in your academic work? 2 What was clear to you in this chapter—or easy to learn? 7 What was “muddy” in this chapter—or the most challenging parts for you? Reflect on your personal learning process. What worked well for your style or preferences? What learning strategies, tips, or techniques did you find helpful? Make ‘anote of them, and of anything else you learned in this chapter that you would like to remember. Be sure to check out any questions with classmates and your instructor. If something is unclear to you, take a chance and bring it up. The responses you get may reveal things you never expected!Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materials You're About to Learn. How to break down the parts ofa writing task and develop brainstorming goals How to generate and explore ideas using brainstorming tools How to orgenize brainstormed ideas for use in a writing assignment I like the idea of brainstorming, but | get stuck when | try it. Sometimes I draw a diagram with bubbles, but don’t know what to put in them, or if | draw an idea web, I'm not sure what to do with it next. Brainstorming techniques have a lot to offer writers, but they can be overwhelm: Ing, Walking through the procedures with some guidance can be helpful at first. This ‘chapter will take you through the idea generation process step by step, so you can. decide which methods work best for you and learn how to use them effectively. You will also learn about handy methods for organizing the ideas you've generated so you can use them in your writing So you've got your new assignment, of youre choosing a topic. You sit with a blank page or screen in front of you and stare ... maybe doodle... check your phone... stare some more. What’ going on in your brain a this stage can be imagined as the clouds gathering before a much-needed storm. Ideas generate electrical charges—and the tension builds—unti at oNPART! | Writing as Communication and Expression last, the clouds burst and rain begins to fall. The ideas begin to land on your paper, one by ‘one and then in an increasing downpour. This is your brainstorm, Fortunately, we can harvest the new growth that follows this rich rain of ideas. Brain- storming techniques free up our minds to generate ideas when we need them. Then we need to figure out how to channel all those thoughts so that we can pick out the ones that are ‘useful, make connections between related ideas, and organize them to use in our writing, Brainstorming is used by professionals in many fields—from advertising to research and engineering—in high-stakes projects such as inventing a new product, discovering a ccure for cancer, or developing a more efficient energy source. The kind of brainstorming a writer uses can be thought of as invention as well—coming up with new ideas and ways to express them. We can use brainstorming techniques such as freewriting, listing, idea ‘webs, and storyboards at any stage of writing. Often called prewriting, these techniques are important for generating ideas during the stages of thought and invention that occur before formal drafting begins. For a brainstorm to be effective, pay attention to what comes before and after the storm of ideas. «© Before: Understand the writing task or assignment and the goals of a brainstorm. * Afier: Select, organize, and develop ideas from the brainstorm, Planning Ahead: Understanding Your Assignment Before you brainstorm, you almost always have a writing task in mind. It may be the flicker of an idea or an assignment for a semester-long project, but each brainstorm takes place for a purpose. For academic writing tasks, understanding your assignment and set- ting brainstorming goals help you to generate the material you need. Brainstorming Works! Brainstorming is the most challenging stage of the writing process for me. Coming up with something original without knowing, exactly what the end product will ook lke is terifying. You have to push those doubts aside. Just write anything, anything at all. The greatest thing about brainstorming is, there are no wrong answers ‘AS long as | have started, 'm winning. Stal own, information ManagementCreative writing major ‘One of my favorite ways to brainstorm is to visually imagine ‘my topic to get myself involved as much as | possibly can. at times. ‘like to sketch out my topic even ifi’s the worst drawings. Ina way it makes me more involved. Miguel Rees Architectural Management major tase ‘The way | brainstorm depends on if | know the topic | want to ‘write about. I | know, I ust freewrite for an amount of time, usually ‘about ten minutes, Once get started it just doesn’t stop. Other ways, | brainstorm, for topis 'm not sure about, are mind mapping, asking. {riends, and cleaning... Most people think in the shower, but | think best wiien doing dishes. Something about doing dishes gets my mind flowing and ideas pop into my head. fe martinez. Pre Prarmacy majorCHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing ideas: Your naw materials @EE Your instructor gives you an assignment for a piece of writing. What do you do? Start by looking through the assignment sheet carefully, focusing on the details one by cone. If your instructor gives an assignment verbally, take notes in as much detail as you can, Check with the instructor to be sure you haven't missed any parts, Break down the assignment. © Highlight or underline the main points necessary for successful completion of the task. © Look up any vocabulary youre not sure about, making notes on the assignment. Be sure to ask for clarification if there is anything you don't understand. (Check your understanding of assignment expectations by asking yourself these questions. ‘© What is the purpose of the assignment? Do you clearly understand the purpose of ‘what you are going to be writing? What message do you need to get across, and why? © Whois your audience? Are you expected to address specified group ofreadersin your ‘writing? Ifnot, do you have a clear idea of whom you will address as your audience? ‘© What is your topic? Is your topic specifically assigned, or do you have choices? + Specific assignments include terms like required, mandatory, needs to be, must. + Assignments with choices include terms like open, optional, up to you, either. .. of ‘you may choose/select. If you are choosing your own topic, what are the guidelines? ‘Are there any off-limi ? Look for warning words like do not, off limits, and unacceptable, © Does the assignment require a specific structure? Do you need an introduction, ody, and conclusion? A thesis statement? Are there other requirements, such as including a paragraph on opposing views in a persuasive essay? «© Istheassignment broken down into different parts? For example, isthe paperaone- paragraph summary with a multi-paragraph response, ora report with subheadings? (Check for this practical information and ask if parts are not clear to you. ‘© Assignment schedule: Whats the due date? Are there deadlines for stages along the ‘way: a proposal, research, drafts, an introduction; or workshops, tutoring sessions, ‘conferences? ‘© Length: Is there a desired number of pages, number of paragraphs, or word count? If no specifics are given, is there a minimum or maximum length? ‘© Materials to turn in: Are you expected to turn in only your final draft, or should you include prewriting, notes, sources? © Format: Should the paper be word processed, otis a handwritten paper all right? Is a certain format, like MLA style, required? © Use of sources: Are outside sources required? If so, is there a minimum, maximum, or specific number of sources expected? Do you need to use MLA style to cite your sources? ‘What do you need to do? Once you have wrapped your mind around the assignment expectations, break down instructions to figure out what you need to accomplish. © Zoom in on words telling you what to do. + Look for action verbs in the imperative form: write, analyze, persuade + Focus on directive phrases: you should, you must, be sure to + Check for words telling you what you must or must not do: always, never, do not ‘Ays bring your assignment Information with you to conferences with your instructor orto work with a tutor or study group be sxe to check with your instructor ifyovre not sure about a topic cholo if you charge topics after you ave startedBETD e571 | writing as communication and expression ‘This section covers concepis and brine frefectvebaistring Spee brainstorming teehiques are scr ater te chapter, sone th svategis for organizing does. © Look for different parts within the assignment, instructing you to complete more than one task. + Check for more than one action verb directing you to do different things: sum- ‘marize and respond, compare and contrast + Watch for words that add more tasks: also, and, as well as, along with, after + Notice any order of tasks: before you do X, or do not do X until Get in the habit of working through these steps on your own, or with classmates or a tutor. They will become a natural part of your academic process over time. Skills for Effective Brainstorming You may be eager to dive in and start brainstorming, and at any point, you should fel free to jump right into the process. However, there is one important preliminary step that can help make your idea generation more effective: get clear on the goal of your brainstorm. If you can picture where you are heading, your focus will be stronger and the material you produce will be easier to use, Before you start brainstorming, use the flowchart in Figure 2.1 to ask yourself afew questions. Cultivating the Brainstorm Mind Your thoughts are new, created by you. No one can express an idea in the exact way you can. Effective brainstorming can help you to produce fresh, original writing that is fun and interesting for others to read. For most writers, relaxing the mind produces more creative results than does concen- trating in a fixated way on the process. Pay attention to the conditions that make you feel most creative, « Listening to music, taking a walk or a run, or doing something meditative (rom sew. ing to playing golf) may free up your thought process, © Ideas may emerge in dreams or when you first awaken from sleep. © Many people report that water—whether it’ a taking a shower, sitting by a fountain, ‘or walking by a river or the ocean—stimulates creative ideas. ‘What works for you? If you start to notice when, where, and how you come up with creative ideas, you can pay special attention to the thoughts that emerge while you're in the zone. Scribble them down while they're fresh; you'll save yourself alot of time trying. to recreate them later. Principles of BRAINstorming ‘Whatever brainstorming techniques you choose, your approach and the questions you ask will dramatically affect the results. Learn to turn on the switch to your brainstorm mind for maximum flow of ideas. Whether you are brainstorming alone or with a partner or group, stay true to these four principles commonly held by brainstormers across every discipline and profession. ‘Think of them as RAI © Record ail ideas without criticizing or discarding any. Write everything down to crystallize ideas on the page where you can later work with them. Welcome whatever you come up with; censoring one idea may mean missing out on a related idea that you can use.CHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw materials EEE ‘© Add as many ideas as you can, Encourage the flow of ideas by getting down as many as possible as fast as possible. Dorit spend too long reflecting at this stage. For nov, your task is to generate material. «= Invent and imagine. Trust and follow coincidences and con- nectionsin your invention process. Even the most advanced eyed eee os physicists and inventorsbelievein the power of dreamsand (RE aay ‘imagination in leading the way into new discoveries, or out ae ofa stuck place. Peed ‘© Note connections and further thoughts. As you pour ‘ideas onto the page, connect them, combine them, orimprove them, with that same light touch. Dont take away from what you have, but add to it if new thoughts occur to you. eta As you brainstorm, don't let yourself worry about material in your writing? whether you are conducting a successful procedure. Brain- storming is really an internal process. As words land on the page, ideas are coming together in your brain. What you see is, not the finished product, simply the materials you will use to get there Asking the Right Questions For a brainstorm to be successful, you need to be able to ask yourself questions to draw out the ideas. Depending on the needs of your brainstorm, your exact questions will vary. © Who? In a narrative, a persuasive essay, or any paper focused on people (or other beings), who are you writing about? Who are the actors and who is affected by events? ‘© What? What is your topic about? What ideas, subject areas, events, or contro versies are involved? Describe events using all of your senses. List important information about concepts. © When? When do events involved in your topic take place? Are you includ- jing any flashbacks or flash-forward scenes? Consider how you might make transitions from one time period to another. © Where? Where do events take place? Where are any people you write about located, or from originally? Where are the locations of any scenes you are including? Describe them using sensory details and images. '* How? How do actions and events take place? Describe ‘how actions happen (speed? emotional aspects?) and hhow events change overtime. Explore frequency &8 GUE 2.1 picture Your Assignment end Brainstorm Goals PS ae ae Derr brainstorm. Refer back to your paPART | writing as Communication and expression ‘well—how often do actions and events happen? How do frequency, speed, duration, or changes affect the outcomes? ‘© Why? Why do people act and things happen as they do? Wiky are people or events significant? Why do they matter enough to write about? Brainstorming Tools for Your Learning Preferences ‘Writers with different learning styles use a variety of brainstorming techniques to generate ideas. Try out these methods and find the ones that are most productive for you. ‘© During the brainstorm: Feel free to write anything that comes into your head. Once you've completed your brainstorm, you can censor anything that is too personal. Try not to censor before words reach the paper or you may miss out on connections that could lead to useful ideas, After the brainstorm: After the free flow of a brainstorm, you will ideally end up with a flood of ideas. Knowing how to work with these ideas is essential to the suc- cess of your writing project. For each ofthe brainstorming methods that follow, you'll find specific suggestions for ways to organize and develop the ideas you've generated. Raindropping: Jotting Thoughts on a Page Imagine your ideas as RAINdrops falling. Jot down anything, that occurs to you on your topic, and let the ideas land any- ‘where on the page. If you already have some sense of how your ideas are con- nected, you can cluster related thoughts together on the page into “clouds” as you brainstorm. If you aren't sure yet, when you are done raindropping you can look over your brainstorm ‘and connect related ideas by circling them and linking them in a web, or listing related ideas together in groups. Figure 2.2 shows an example of raindropping for Jaime's ‘essay on parenting a child with autism. Jaime says her brain- storming is “a very random jumble scribbled on a piece of FIGURE 2.2 An Example of Raindropping to Brainstorm Paper...no one but me could decode it. Thad a lot of trouble ‘eas getting a ton of ideas organized in some semblance of order” aime Schroeder veterinary Technology major From Raindrops to Clouds: Organizing Your RAINdrops ‘When your page is covered with ideas, you can look at them and consider which ones are connected. Figure 2.3 shows how Jaime organized her brainstorm into related “clouds” of ideas, removing a few that didn't relate to her focus and adding others as they occurred to her. ‘© Once you have grouped your related ideas, you can decide the order in which you ‘would like to write about them in your essay. «© Try numbering your clusters of ideas to help determine the order. + Which information needs to come first? ‘+ What should go last? + Which order of ideas flows best? + Which order is the most interesting to read? + Which order makes the most sense? + Which order allows your points to make the strongest impact?CHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing ideas: Your Raw Materials FIGURE 2.3 Clustering RAINdrops into Clouds FIGURE 2.4 An Example of Listing as a Brainstorm Jaime Schroeder, Veterinary Technology major Technique ‘When you've chosen a rough sequence for your ideas, you can organize them into outline form (see the example in the “From Brainstorm to Outline” section at the end of this chapter). You should feel free to move ideas around as you develop your plan further. Generating Ideas by Listing As in the second stage of raindropping, many writers start their brainstorm by listing ideas. This list should be free flowing, staying true to the principles of bRAINstorming. Don't stop to think too much, and dont censor yourself or cross anything out, You never know when one goofy thought will lead to the best idea you've had yet. Figure 2.4 shows a brainstorm list that Lily first-generation college student, used to ‘generate ideas for an essay on the topic of challenges she has overcome. ‘Organizing Your Brainstorm List When you've generated a number of ideas, read through your list. Organize related ideas by rewriting them together in groups, or give similar ideas the same number, symbol, or colored highlighting, For example, if you're brainstorming on the topic of texting and driving, all the list items related to the risks involved could be num- bered “1” or color-coded red. Items discussing current laws might be a “2” or yellow highlighted. After you've sorted list items into related categories, zoom in on ideas that seem unre- lated or unnecessary. ‘Then, if you're absolutely sure an idea can be set aside, cross it out ‘with one thin line (so you can still see it if you want to use it after all).ETD ean71 | writing as communication ana expression ‘Moving from List to Outline A few easy steps will take you from listing ideas to organizing them in outline form. See tne“rom srensorm to Outre” Rearrange your listed ideas in the order you want to write about them. secon aca eae «Add more details as they occur to you. ‘© Number your ideas to create a more formal outline. Keep in mind that you can change the order of your outline as you develop your topic. Creating Outline Boxes for Visual and Hands-on Learners If you are a visual or hands-on learner, try putting ideas in boxes to represent future paragraphs, ‘© Use index cards or draw boxes on pieces of paper (see Figure 2.5) and then write ‘one group of related ideas in each box. + As you go, think about the main idea of each box. «+ For sub-ideas that are related to a main idea, indent them about half an inch to the right, under the main idea. '® Move your cards around (cutting out your boxes if you've drawn several on one sheet of paper), so you can sce the future “paragraphs” in different sequences. Con- sider which order is most logical for your topic and how the ideas flow best from one to the next. '» Use colored sticky notes for your “boxes? if you prefer, or scrap paper and tape, and stick them toa wall where you can move them around to try different patterns of organization. Figure 2.5 shows an example of the first two paragraphs of the essay “Succeeding on ‘Your Own? outlined in box style. FIGURE 2.5 Brainstorm Box OutlineCHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Weas: Your Raw Materials Freewriting as a Brainstorming Tool Freewriting serves as an excellent brainstorming tool to generate ideas for a specific purpose You can freewrite to brainstorm topic ideas or to come up with details. A freewriting brainstorm can help if you'e stuck at some point in your drafting process—when you don't know how to star, or to express a tricky concept. ‘To start off your brainstorm, choose an opening word or line. This may be: © Your topic ‘An idea related to your topic ‘An image or memory you have in your mind related to your topic '® Any opening that helps you to express your thoughts, such as “Lwant to know more about. “What I don't know about is. If you are new to freewriting: Your goal is to write without stopping or thinking too much, fora given period of time such as five, ten, or twenty minutes. Write down whatever comes to mind, without worrying about spelling, grammar, or punctuation, Dorit censor ‘yourself or cross things ont. Ifthe flow of ideas slows down, repeat the last word you wrote, go back to your opening line, or write something like “I don't know what to write” until a new thought takes over Here is an example excerpt from an academic freewrite Kaitlin used to prepare for her history final, ‘The Guban Missile Crisis was lke a gant time bomb waiting to explode, or at least this is wnat it ft keto the people ving atthe time. Tis crisis was caused by ‘8 number of reasons. t started, in a sense, when Fidel Castro took control of Cuba, Relations between the US. and the USS. were very tense because those two countries were inthe middle ofthe “Cold War", as it was called. These tensions were partially due to the fact the U.S. was @ liberal capitalist and the US SR. was communist, ‘These two systems were opposite and therefore conflicted. Castro was a Marist, ‘0 he had the backing ofthe US's enemy, the USSR. The US. did not agree with ‘castro being in charge of Cuba because he was communist and also because Cuba was s0 close tothe American border. There were some people who thought that the US. was going to invade Cuba in an attempt to take Castro out of control. Because ofthese ideas, the USSR. decided to send nuclear missiles to Cuba and Fidel Castro ‘as defense against the U.S. Of course the US. relly fet targeted by having nuclear missile that were under communist control and that these missiles were extremely close to the US. This caused extreme tensions tha led tothe US. and the USSR. ‘almost declaring a nuclear war on each other. Thankful, negotiations were mage and ‘there was no nuclear war as some had thought would happen Kaiti miler, Orchestra Herp majorPART | Writing as Communication and Expression ‘Mining the Deeper Levels ‘To brainstorm material for academic work, you can freewrite starting from a word or line generated in a previous freewrite (often known as looping). This process can help you to access hidden knowledge, or to bring new ideas to light. If you imagine your search for ideas as mining—digging deeper into your understanding of a topic—then looping can bea way of reaching down into the earth, discovering the rare minerals and gems hidden from view. Here’s how to conduct a looping process: '* Start with a freewrite on a topic you're working with (about four to seven minutes). ‘© When time is up, stop and reread what you've written. Then underline words and phrases that draw your attention. «+ If you're trying to access ideas for a creative project, let yourself underline, almost randomly, whatever words interest you. + Foran academic brainstorm, underline ideas that are central or related to what you are trying to express + If you are focusing on clarifying a specific concept, underline new insights, intriguing ideas, or thoughts that seem to be getting closer to understanding + Usea colored pen to highlight the underlined words that seem most useful '* Next, choose one of the highlighted words, phrases, or sentences that draws your attention most to lead you deeper into the area you want to explore, Write the chosen. ‘word or line at the top of your paper. ‘© Freewrite again, jumping off from this new starting line (seven to ten minutes or more). ‘© Read what you've written, noticing whether the new level has produced insights, images, or clarity about a fuzzy idea. Repeat the previous steps as many times as you find useful, In Kaitlin’ previous freewrite on the Cuban missile crisis, she underlined words and phrases that seemed most important, and then chose one underlined phrase, “relations between the US and the USSR’ as a focus for her looping process. Relations between the US. and USSR. had been bad, or atleast not good, ever since the founding and creation... since the founding and creation of the USSR,, also known as the Soviet Union. These relations were not as tense in the early 20° Century; however, they increasingly grew after World War Il They grew some much that they in fact turned into a war known as the “Cold War. The Cold War was not fought directly (on Russia's or America's soil, ut rather throughout the world. Both the US. and the USSR were trying to spread their influence throughout the world. When one country gained more influence than the other, the other country would panic, in a sense, and {ty to gain lost ground, whether by force or diplomacy. Kalin ler, Orchestra Harp majorCHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materials, Organizing a Freewritten Brainstorm What do I do with all these words? Because freewriting comes out in such different forms, there are many ways to work with the words and ideas your brainstorm produces. © Use freewriting to create a rough draft. Sometimes you can shape a long freewrite into a complete rough draft of a paragraph or even an essay. Feel free to mark up the freewrite, using arrows to move things arounds adding, cutting, and editing: and ‘then polishing the language for a more academic tone. © Use freewritten material in other writing, With shorter freewrites, select words, phrases, or sentences to work into your more formal writing, adjusting and polishing so they fit well. «List freewritten ideas to create an outline. If you are working with a more ran- ‘dom collection of thoughts, underline useful ideas and then group them with other related thoughts (see the section on “Generating Ideas by Listing”). Then, organize ‘them into an outline showing the order in which you will write about your ideas. Brainstorming with Idea Webs Another popular brainstorming method is to put ideas on the page visually in “bubbles” ‘The concept behind idea webs—also known as rind maps, cloud diagrams, clusters, and the bubble method—is to circle brainstormed words and use web lines to link related ideas. ‘To create an idea web, make sure you have plenty of space on a large piece of paper. If you end up needing more space, tape additional paper to the edges. Give your ideas lots ‘of room to expand! «© Start by drawing a circle or “bubble” in the center of the page. Write your topic in the circle. If you are brainstorming for a topic idea, write a nutshell version of your assignment in the center. If you'te in search of more details, examples, or evidence, or you're trying to clarify an idea, put the focus of your brainstorm in the central bubble. © Next, write down another idea related to the first one, and circle it. Draw a line linking the central circle to this new idea. Focus on the new idea, and when related ‘thoughts occur to you, write them down, circle them, and draw lines linking them to the idea they are connected to (see Figure 2.6), © Then, make more bubbles. When you run out of thoughts to add to the first bubble, ‘or when you have a new thought, go back to the central bubble and draw another line with a bubble at the end of it. Write a new idea in this circle, Brainstorm related ideas and link them to this bubble, and 0 on, Eventually, you will end up with a web of connected ideas. In Amy’ idea web on the topic of pitbulls (see Figure 2.6), zoom in on the central bubble, her photo of pit bull, and trace the web lines to each of the surrounding bubbles. ‘The main ideas radiating from the center are: Owners, Dog attacks, Dog fighting, and Breed-specific legislation. The ideas surrounding each bubble were generated from these four topic areas, (Once you have woven your web, you can connect your ideas in visual ways. ‘© Draw arrows from one circle tothe next, showing the rough order you plan to follow as you put the ideas into essay paragraphs. «© Trace over circles in color, using the same colors for related ideas, to make the ‘connections stand out in your mind. (In Figure 2.6, Amy has used a white font for ideas in each bubble, blue for main ideas related to each bubble, and green for sub-ideas.)23 Writing es Communication and Expression * Good * Love and care for animal ad ‘Neglect + No training + Upset community +n tum ask for ban on breed victims “Emotionally hurt * affald of dog + Dog owners | ‘al time “Fees NAL * Michael Vick + Dog kiling + Dogs become afraic ‘Trained by humans to fight + Pitaulls ‘Not only animal to attack ‘+ Out of 300 attacks only 100 by pit bulls += Pit Bull Definition ‘any dog that looks lke one + Moce dog king FIGURE 2.6 Example of an idea Web (using a computer template) Amy Ramirez, Sociology major tearing Tp: wren youre woring Label the ines linking your circles with certain kinds of information, such as “pros” vith an overload of information ara youre nt sue how to organize it Visual mbois anc coiorsmay hep «Add symbols to relate different concepts. For example, Amy might draw a small You ran process how difaront square next to ideas related to breed.-specific legislation, a heart over personal stories ideas together. about dogs, and an X over bubbles related to abuse. Organizing Your idea Web Afier you have generated a web of ideas and can see how they are all connected, what steps ‘can you take next? If you are narrowing down your topic, you can use your web to help you decide which aspects to focus on and how to organize your paper. Looking at your ‘web, consider the following: '* Which ideas generated the most material? ‘© Which ideas interest you most to write about? ‘© Which ideas meet the goals of your assignment? For example, in the idea web shown in Figure 2.6 on pit bulls and breed-specific leg- islation, the assignment is an argument essay. The idea web raises a number of important points. Which ones can the writer back up with evidence? Which are most interesting for her to pursue further? Which will help her to meet the goals ofthe assignment?CHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materials Ordering the ideas in your web. Number the bubbles to show the order in which you plan to write about your ideas, with #1 as the first main idea, #2 the next, and so on. ‘Within one cluster of bubbles, you can use 1a, 1b, le, to organize sub-ideas in the order in which you think you'll write about them. Dorit hesitate to cross out, change numbering, ‘make a colorful mess; long as your mind can follow i, it will serve as an excellent map! ‘To create an outline from your web, you can organize the numbered ideas in a list, starting with 1, 2, 3, and so on for the main circles, with sub-ideas like 1a, 1b, 1c tucked below each main idea. The ideas in ths list will become paragraphs or parts of paragraphs in your essay. (See the “From Brainstorm to Outline” section in this chapter) AAs you put your brainstormed ideas in order, focus on your purpose as well as your organization. For example, Amy might look at her list and ask herself, “Is my point really about breed-specific legislation, ori it the negative stereotypes about pit bulls?” She has a chance to consider her thesis before committing paragraphs to paper. Brainstorming with Storyboards Storyboards—used for brainstorming in areas as diverse as film, web design, advertising, and business—create a visual map of ideas, with separate panels that can be organized in a logical sequence. You don't have to be skilled at freehand drawing to use the storyboard technique; stick figures, rough sketches, and keywords are just as useful. ‘Think of your topic as a comic strip. Sketch each main idea in a separate square or panel so you can play with the order, edding and removing ideas. Then talk about your drawings to translate your images into words, which can be written down ata later time. Here are some basic suggestions for brainstorming with a storyboard (see Figure 2.7 for an example). ‘© Use index cards (or squares of paper) as your story panels so you can easily move them around. Sticky notes or scrap paper and tape can be stuck to a wall for easy ‘viewing and rearranging. «© Start by getting a mental picture of your writing task, and set up @ rough number of, blank cards or panels to represent ideas, paragraphs, or sections of your paper. '* Brainstorm ideas for your topic, noting separate ideas on new cards. Try a rough sketch for each idea, or simple stick figures and labels. '* Organize your cards so related ideas are close to each other after you've got all of your main ideas down. © Work with sequence: what might come first, last, or in between, in your story? © Consider what might be missing and add cards as needed. (Do you have a conclusion card? Is there a big gap between one section and another?) If you decide to take a card out of the sequence, save it in a separate pile in case you need it later. ‘© Keep in mind that you can continue to change the order and add cards as your ideas, evolve. « Take the useful next step of telling the story displayed in your storyboard. If you're ‘working with others, describe the ideas in each panel. This will help later in the writ- ing stage, when all you need to do is write down these “told” ideas. If you're working ‘on your own, tell the story ofthe drawings to yourself and write down your thoughts. ‘Moving from Storyboard to Text (Once you have jotted down your ideas, you can rearrange the panels ofa storyboard until you create a logical sequence. ‘hen you can develop a written outline by listing the points from the storyboard. (See the "From Brainstorm to Outline” section in this chapter for an example.) If you dont find a formal outline helpful, write your draft directly from your storyboard.EDD Pact | writing 2s communication and expression Intxo : - | | nornoee | ‘Does HORN oy Omr @ clncntw || 3 ‘OTHER VIEWS YEANBUTT OST OIANGE SYSTEM "NO GANG! $4008 -ocam stax ww sNorAu Du=Auconoucs |] “ALCOHOL ADDICTION SOWMATTY | Conclusion We oh. ker 1 -ueoranaser voc? coma eee a0 ne SS, care tu FIGURE 2.7 A Storyboard for a Persuasive Essay on DUI Penalties, Ifyou get stuck writing your ideas, go back to your storyboard. Write down the ideas {in each panel just as you would explain them out loud. You can polish the wording later, ‘once your thoughts are in writing. Auditory Brainstorming For some writers, visual and written brainstorming just don't work. If your learning style is auditory, expressing thoughts out loud may be the way to go. © Ifyou have teachers, tutors, or friends to work with, you can talk through your ideas and ask them to take notes for you. © If you are working alone, try either audio or video recording yourself. Voice recog- nition software (now available within Microsoft Word) can transcribe your speech. Cell phone voicemail and old-fashioned tape recorders are an option for those of us with no access toa smartphone. ‘© Try conducting your brainstorm in an interview format, with leading questions like “Tell me mote about. ” or “What are your reasons for believing, Ask‘CHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materiais EJ “What's your point?” and “What details support this point?” Use who, what, when, — erds‘tee coring cevees ee where, how, and why questions to spur ideas. fines alice « Later, listen to your recorded brainstorm and make written notes on your ideas. If vod innor-hans oo ass. you dort like hearing your own voice, remind yourself that you are honoring your "01d Yo.gts or asnarohone natural learning tye inthe service of academic succes! Seaton cen eerie ‘Arranging Your Auditory ideas After your auditory brainstorm, you may feel flooded by all the material you have gener- ated. However, you can arrange your ideas just as if you had brainstormed on paper. « Listen to your ideas and make rough notes. © Then group, number, or color code related ideas. Set aside thoughts that arent rel- ‘evant or necessary for your writing task. Add new ideas that arise. © Ifyou find hands-on strategies helpful, write your ideas on cards or sticky notes, or ccut up your notes into separate ideas. Organize your ideas on a flat surface or stick them to wall to put them in a logical order for your essay. © Once you have arranged your ideas in order, you can transfer them to a written out- line. Try reading your outline aloud, or have it read back to you, so you can hear how well it flows. If you notice something that needs changing, make adjustments and then listen to your new version aloud. Geen ee Use one ofthe brainstorming techniques in the previous sections to generate ideas for a topic. + First, makesure youcan picture your assignment and the goal ofyour brainstorm. «Then, select a brainstorming method that appeals to your learning preferences. Go through the process shown in the section you've chosen. ‘+ When you are finished, follow the sections guidelines for organizing your ideas. ‘Consider how the brainstorming method you've selected works for you Ist effective for your learning preferences? Why or why not? What do you find frustrating or dif- ficult? What do you think might be helpful to you in future brainstorms? Make some notes for yourself on what works. on Your own. Go through a paper in progress, or one you have written. Focus on an academic concept that you would like to explore in more depth. Use the looping technique described in the “Freewriting asa Brainstorm Too?” section to go to.a deeper level. Then, experiment with including useful parts of your freewrite in your paper. hare your results with classmates. What worked well, and what did not? How could you use this technique in future writing situations? From Brainstorm to Outline ‘Moving from brainstorming to academic writing can be a challenging process. Specific ‘methods for grouping and arranging ideas have been suggested following each brain- storming method. Once ideas are in order, a formal outline can help to keep ideas orga- nized and on track. Keep in mind that an outline is a support, not a cage, for your ideas. You are free to change it as your ideas change.PART Writing as Communication and Expression A formal outline uses numbering and lettering to organize main ideas and the smaller sub-ideas that go along with each main idea. This pattern starts with capital Roman numer- als (I, Il, II) and goes down (in importance) to capital letters (A, B, C), then to Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), lowercase letters (a, b,c), and sometimes to small Roman numerals (isi, ii). Each level of sub-ideas is indented or tucked ina little further to the right. ‘A formal outline forthe essay “Succeeding on Our Own’ follows. |. introduction ‘A. Attention to topic: background 1, Home not safe a. Mother in jail . Fought with grandfather 2. Living on my own, learning the hard way ‘Work and bill, bad relationships . Having a child on my own 8 Thesis statement: The challenges | overcame made me the strong person | am today, a role model for my daughter. M. Body |A. Dropped out of high schoo! to work ful time, but knew there was more for me. 1. Promoted and successful in my job 2. Wanted to be a role model for my daughter a, The moment realize it i. Signed up for GED Prep class 8 Passed GED, enrolled in college (challenging but determined) 1. No financial ald support 1a. No support from parents i. system failed me 2, Worked fulltime, took too many classes 3, Mad at the world!CHAPTER 2 | Generating and Organizing Ideas: Your Raw Materials . Persevered despite challenges 1. Found childcare support on campus 2. EDGE found me {, Tutors, computer lab b. Counselors Workshops and field trips 3. Things started to get better 1. Warming up and making connections 11. Met new people—humor as survival strategy 2, Realized other people's suuggles; we're alin it together E, Taking classes, discovering interests 1. Painting as a hobby—relaxing, expressive 2, Taking care of people—PTA program 8. Satisfying to help others—as no one helped me . Prerequisites (A&P twice), hard work ©. Accepted into program! 4. Building confidence in internship i. Mutual respect with patients li, Knew how to work with people tH, Concusion ‘A. “1am independent” quote on mitror (transition) 8. Graduation morning 1. Saw myself reflected in miro, in my daughter's eyes AND eyes of classmates and instructors 2. Restate thesis from my new perspective 2. Strong, capable, and independent . Made it on my own BUT discovered not alone 3. My goals 2. Teach my daughter strength and independence . Always be therefor her . Closing thought: can pass om these gits to her because of what ve been through and survived—stronger and wiserBEZD 2871 | writing 2s communication and expression ating utr Seot Lumber es ‘uote the poet will staré “A ters one who. cies "AS you make choice. you stenathen yout ta eral thinking sis, wich in ‘umm strengthens your writing, Notice that you don't need to write entire sentences in this type of outline, just short phrases for each idea. Use the outline as a tool, and unless the outline itself isa formal assignment, don't stress about getting the levels and numbering exactly right, An outline’s job is to help you! writing from Your Outline ‘When you're ready to start writing, follow the order you have set up in your outline, writ- ing about each point in turn. Fill in details and add transitions leading from one idea to the next. Make changes as needed. Feel free to leave gaps to fil in later. Eventually you will end up with a rough draft! ‘Then, inthe revision stages, you are still free to rearrange the order of ideas, cutting some out and adding others in, as you research and learn more, get input from others, and reflect on your work. You are the author, the ‘one in charge of this process. You are free to make changes—and to return to the brain- storming stage to add and clarify ideas—whenever you like. Puke ad Before you move on, take a few minutes to reflect on what you've learned about generating ‘and organizing ideas. ‘What have you learned about... ‘© How to break down the parts ofa writing task and develop brainstorming goals? © How to generate and explore ideas using brainstorming tools? «© How to organize brainstormed ideas for use in a writing assignment? 2 What was clear to you in this chapter—or easy to learn? ? What was “muddy” in this chapter—or the most challenging parts for you? Reflect on your personal learning process. What worked well for your learning style or preferences? What learning strategies, tips, or techniques did you find helpful? Makea note of them, and of anything else you learned in this chapter that you would like to remember. Be sure to check out any questions with classmates and your instructor. As this ‘chapter reminds us, ask and you shall receive!Developing Powerful Paragraphs: A Structure for Ideas You're About to Learn... } How to compose a powerful paragraph for academic work or dally fe > How to create a strong paragraph opening and topic sentence, well-developed support, and an effective ending > How to revise a paragraph so that is unified, organized, cohesive, and consistent > How to break up a longer piece of writing into separate paragraphs for new ideas oe 1'm in a college writing course. How can a chapter on paragraphs help me with my academic work Whether we realize it or not, paragraph structure reveals an individual's academic writing skills more dramatically than anything else. Readers notice whether a writer thas shaped his or her writing into paragraph “chunks” of related ideas, and how well crafted each of those chunks are. Paragraphs are the building blocks of longer pieces of writing, so they need to be soli. Strong paragraphs are also important on their own, and they are necessary to ‘success in homework and on exam questions for college classes. In the workplace or daily life, a paragraph with a clear focus and support can make all the difference in receiving a positive response, whether you are filing out a scholarship form, ‘an employment application, an accident report, or an insurance claim. Effectively \written paragraphs can contribute to your health, your wealth, and many of your achieverents!PART! | writing as Communication and expression The Power of the Paragraph Freewriting gives us creative access to language, and brainstorming helps us generate ideas. In academic writing, we need a corral to hold our free, sometimes wild thoughts, so that we can organize them to convey them clearly to our readers. Paragraph structure provides us with a predictable, orderly shape for our written ideas. ‘The next time you're listening to a conversation, observe how a speaker moves from ‘one idea to the next. A gesture or a change in tone lets listeners know that the speaker is moving on, making a new point, or returning to a previous thought. When a speaker jumps ahead to an unrelated thought and listeners don't get these signals, they might Taugh and shake their heads. Some inner police officer wants to blow a whistle, saying, “Slow down!” “Use your turn signals!” In written language, where we don't have the advantage of body language cues, we use ‘words and structure to let our readers know, “New idea! Change coming!” The paragraph break signals a new thought. Paragraphs can hold many different kinds of information, as the examples in Box 3.1 demonstrate. Examples of Paragraphs for Different Purposes Paragraph from a News Article ‘A women who admitted to police she drank wine before getting behind the whee! of 3 ‘ear was taken into custody on suspicion of vehicular assault nd driving under the inluence after the car she was operating slammed into and critically inured @ pedestrian crossing a Greeley street early Thursday morning. Source: Poh Jeson.Uan. 1, 2010, "Pedestrian in Crieal Condition eter Crash” Greeley Tbune: A Paragraph from a Technical Document DYNAMIC STABILIZER AND DE-STATICIZER The M97XE's exclusive visoous-damped Dynamic Stabilizer maintains a uniform distance between the cartridge and the record under dificult playing conditions, such as those caused by warped records or mismatched tonearm mass. \When such stabilization isnot required, the stablizor canbe locked into its up positon, which canimprove sound quality under idea! playing conditions. Source: Shure, ne. (2013)."M97xE Aucoptile Prono Cartridge" instructions Pamphlet. Nes, Paragraph from a Popular Novel ‘A plercing, bloodcurding shriek spit the silence—the book was screaming! Harry ‘snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and an, one high, unbroken, earspltting note. He stumbled backward and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Panickng, he heard footsteps coming dow the corridor outside—stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf he ran for it: He passed Fich in the doorway; Fileh’s pale, wild eyes looked straight trough Fi, {and Harry sipped under Filch’s outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks stil ringing in his ears. ‘Source: Rowing... (1997), Hany Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, New York: Scholastic, 206, Flip through a couple of college textbooks, focusing on paragraphs. What kinds of para- graph structure do you notice?CHAPTER 3 | Developing Powerful Paragraphs: A Structure for Ideas. Ronee When frst st down write an essay nave think about how it il be broken down. A paper is ikea large machine, and each of the peagrapns ae the smal cogs and gears. Tee alla eof: ferent, butin the end they work tgether a @ whale. < aay Dery Eh ma al | advise students to be consistent in keeping ideas ne paragraph connected tothe man point so they don't get of the path In ad tion to that professors always like parerepns tat ae well organized Denning wth te topic sentence Aways pay attention to the engin Because you dnt wet tobe to short but ot oolong ether. ese an gil ecagrig er ‘writing 2 paragraph is one ofthe challenges faced by students because of the flow of words. “Practice makes perfect.” Always. g0 for help in building your writing. | encourage students to be focused on writing because the more you write, the more you will learn new things. “Hams Monemed, nursing mor The Shape of the Paragraph All paragraphs contain a group of ideas that are related to each other. These “containers” can have noticeably different structures, depending on their purpose. For example: ‘© News articles may use short, one- or two-sentence paragraphs to hold readers’ atten- tion while conveying a variety of facts. ‘© Technical writing may contain concise, straightforward paragraphs with no extra details to provide information without distraction. ‘© Novels may include long paragraphs filled with rich, detailed description intended to entertain readers. The Structure of the Paragraph Paragraphs serve many important purposes. For student writers, what makes a strong paragraph? Let’ analyze the composition of a traditional academic paragraph. ‘© Paragraph opening: The top of a burger bun is lightly toasted, sprinkled with seeds, attractive, and appetizing. In an academic paragraph, the opening sentences invite us into the paragraph with an appealing topic sentence that lets us recognize the main {dea that the paragraph covers. I’shard to consume a burger in an organized way without the bun to hang on to! ‘© Support and development of ideas: Below the bun is the meat (or veggie burger) of an academic paragraph. Biting into a bun and finding nothing to sink our teeth into is disappointing: in an academic paragraph we expect more. We need support for the paragraph’s main idea, in the form of the tasty details, descriptions, facts, examples, and explanations. ‘© Paragraph ending: The bottom part of the bun doesnt get as ‘much attention as the top, but consider its vital role in your sandwich. Without the bottom half ofthe bun, the whole burger falls apart. The same is true with a paragraph: it needs some sort of closure, wrap-up, or transition to the next point, tohold your” gigyRE 3.11 Paragraph structure: The Burger {ideas together and keep readers on track. ‘MetaphorLEARHUNG TP: na longer piece ct writing reader can oten skim through, eadng ust he topic sentences end get the mein points of a whole artic or essay. ‘A paragraph in an essay may gin ‘th a ansiton werd or prase ‘tat eacs rears ito te new paragraph. Soe examples inthis chapter's secton on "Paragraph ‘reas in Longer wring” PARTI | Writing as Communication and Expression Opening a Paragraph In college writing, most academic paragraphs open with a topic sentence. This key sen- tence weaves together the following threads: {© The purpose ofthe paragraph (what the paragraph is about) «© “The main idea of the paragraph (the point of the parageaph, and why it matters) ‘© The relationship ofthe paragraph to the overall topic (fit is part ofan essay, how the point ofthe paragraph tes in to the essays central idea) “The topic sentence announces what’ to come without drawing attention to itself, A topic sentence never says: “The main idea of this paragraph is...” But that’s what the sentence lets readers know. Because it stands out, a topic sentence should be com- posed of strong, clear writing that draws readers’ attention. It sums up what the paragraph contains, asin this example froma research psychologists book on the effects of divorce. Adolescence is a period of grave risk for children in divorced families; those ‘who entered adolescence in the immediate wake of their parents’ divorces had a ‘particularly hard time, The young people told us time and again how much they needed a family structure, how much they wanted to be protected, and how much they yeamed {or clear guidelines for moral behavior. They told us they needed more encouragement ‘rom patents in the complicated process of growing up and that, failing to getit, they ‘were seduced by the voices ofthe street. Feeling abandoned at this critical time in their ves, they were haunted by inner doubts and uncertainties about the future. An alarming number of teenagers felt abandoned, physically and emotionally. ‘Source. Walrstin uct, and Sandra Blakestoe. (1985). From Second Chances: Men, Women, ‘ad Charen a Decade After Divorce. Tleknor& Feids Houghton Nin, 299, Notice how the paragraphis first sentence gives you a strong sense of the idea the author wants to convey. The rest of the paragraph provides details and examples backing up thisidea. A topic sentence introduces the main point of the paragraph, but it doesn't go into details. That’ the job of the supporting sentences that follow. Placement of the Topic Sentence For strong college writing, the topic sentence almost always appears at or near the begin- ning of a paragraph, letting readers know what will follow. ‘A few exceptions to this format include the following ' Starting a paragraph with a topic sentence might interfere with the flow from the previous paragraph or seem repetitive ifthe main idea follows clearly. ‘© Occasionally. a reader might want to start with details and lead up to the main point in a sentence at the end of a paragraph, © In professional writers’ work, topic sentences are often implied rather than directly stated, Readers figure out the main idea themselves rather than finding it summed up in a sentence,