PRIMER PARCIAL

COMPOSITION
Definition
 An objective type of writing
 Written in an impersonal way, don’t give your opinion
 An intellectual creation
 In the form of a brief essay
 A piece of writing
 The different parts that something is made of
 They way in which the different parts are organized
 Short text written as a school exercise
 A type of text
 A complete text
 Merriam Webster: an intellectual creation such as a piece of writing. Especially:
a school exercise in the form of a brief essay
 Oxford: the different parts that something is made of; the way in which the
different parts are organized. A short text that is written as a school exercise

Basic elements
A composition has two basic elements:

1. Aesthetics: a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art and
taste. Critical reflection on art, culture and nature. The composition has to be
beautiful to capture the attention of the reader
2. Creativity: the phenomenon whereby a person creates something new that has
some kind of value. The writer has to create something new, of their own

LITERATURE
Definition
 Pieces of writing that are valued as a work of art
 Writings having excellence of form or expression and expressing ideas of
permanent or universal interest
 Writing that possesses certain value
o E.g: novels, plays, poems

General classification
1. Fiction: based on the writer’s imagination
2. Non-fiction: based on facts that can be proved in real life
STRUCTURE OF A PARAGRAPH
 No more than 10 lines (even if it is hand-written)
 First line indented (blank space at the beginning of the paragraph, 5 spaces)
 Arial 12 or TNR 12
 Spacing 1.5
 Justified text
 1 or 2 lines per sentence: 1 idea = 1 sentence
 Scheme:
 Topic sentence: main idea of the paragraph. We can use a question or exclamation
in a topic sentence
 Supporting sentences: they complete the main idea and give details
 Concluding sentence: concludes the main idea

OUTLINE OF A COMPOSITION
1. Topic: established in the course
2. Title: short, creative, striking, big words capitalized, no period at the end, 8 to 10
words
3. Body: topic sentence and concluding sentence. First part we work on the
composition
4. Conclusion: topic sentence and concluding sentence
5. Introduction: topic sentence and concluding sentence

UNDERSTANDING THE WRITING PROCESS

 When you look at a book, you do not see the process the writer used to make it
 What you see in print might not be much like the first plan for the book
 The author might have rewritten many times the text
 The writing process is often divided into five or six stages
 Most writers go back and forth through these stages
 There is no one correct way to write

THE WRITING PROCESS

 This process is a series of steps that allows a composition, or any type of writing, to
be complete

WRITING STEPS
 Prewriting, drafting, writing, revising, editing and publishing

Prewriting
 Think about a topic
 Brainstorming and planning
  Organizing all of my ideas

Drafting
 Putting thoughts on paper
 Is making the outline (topic and concluding sentences)

Writing
 Completing the process with supporting sentences

Revising
 Reworking the organization and details (format)

Editing
 Reviewing and correcting spelling, grammar, capitalization and punctuation

Publishing
 Sharing final version of the writing

WRITING THE COMPOSITION

 It includes: topic sentences, supporting sentences and concluding sentences
 The parts of the composition are not identified anymore, unlike the outline, even
though, they ALL have to be included
 The paragraphs take the correct order:
1. Introduction: synthesis of what we wrote, that’s why it’s written lastly
2. Body
3. Conclusion

THEORIES OF THE WRITING PROCESS

 The theories of the writing process represent a group of creation strategies, that
makes the writer COMPETENT
 o Competent is having enough skill or knowledge to do something well or to
the necessary standard

TWO ELEMENTS OF THE CYCLIC PROCESS OF

WRITING
 The writing process is cyclic because we go back and forth with the writing steps
- Empathy: to consider the reader’s existence
o Empathy is the ability to understand another person’s feelings or experience
- To give a structure to the writing process

THREE MAIN THEORIES OF THE WRITING

PROCESS
 Cognitive linguistics, social linguistics and textual linguistics

Cognitive linguistics
 By Rohman and Wlecke
 Cognitive because it is connected with mental processes of understanding
 Steps:
- Pre-writing (drafting)
- Writing
- Proofreading

Social linguistics
 By Flowers and Hayes
 Social because it is connected with society and the way it is organized
 Steps:
- Topic
- Audience (social part of the theory)
- Intentions (purpose)

Textual linguistics
 By Van Dijk
 The most complete theory
 Steps:
- Planning
- Organizing (the ideas)
- Writing
- Revising
- Reading
- Writing (the final draft)
TOPICS TO AVOID WITH FREE TOPICS
 Religion
 Politics
 Sports