59

Unit 9 - Generating and Organizing Ideas

Objectives

- Generating ideas (F2F & HUST_LMS)

- Organizing ideas (F2F)

9.1. Methods of generating ideas (f2f)

Before you can start writing down your ideas in a formal essay you need to first of call come up with
them.  Below you will find ways of generating ideas.  Note that, at university, most of what you write
about will not come from your head but will rather come from other texts about the subjects on which
you will be writing.  Even here, however, you need to generate ideas so that you will know what to
research and what angle you would like to take on a task.

Brainstorming

This is a technique with which you are probably already familiar.  What you write should only be
words or possibly short phrases and at this stage you shouldn’t worry whether they are relevant or
whether you actually know enough to write a decent sentence. The main purpose of brainstorming is
to let ideas flow freely without worrying about how much you know or don’t know.

Speed Writing

Normally, when you are writing your essays you are trying to think of what to say and then as you are
writing it you are worrying about spelling and grammar. Trying to do too much at once, especially
worrying about rules of grammar and spelling, does not help you to be creative.

Sleeping on It!

Writing in an exam situation is quite unusual. Normally you will have many days to do a written
assignment.

As soon as you are assigned a task you should do the followings:

- Analyze it, memorize it or write it on a small piece of paper and carry it around with you.
- When you are sitting on a bus, waiting for a lecture to begin, walking in the street etc. you can be
thinking of how you will tackle the task.
- Carrying a small notebook around with you in which you can jot down ideas may be useful.
- We solve many of our problems in our sleep by dreaming about them. 
- You could try thinking about your task while lying in bed about to fall asleep. 
- You may find that when you wake up in the morning you have found an interesting way of
approaching the task you have been assigned.

Reading ‘round’ the topic

At university whatever you are asked to write about will probably be based on some text you are
dealing with in class.  Even if you have already read the text, read it again with the specific task you
have been asked to do, in mind.  Also consult other texts

“Introduction to BA. in English for Science and Technology”

HUST-SOFL, Vietnam
 60

Using questions

By asking specific questions and then coming up with the answers to them you will gather a lot of
information and ideas about your topic. Below you will find 20 questions that you can ask of any
subject.  Note that to answer the questions you may need to think about how you will interpret them. 
Some of the questions can easily be applied to some subjects but it is difficult to see how they can be
applied to others.

Discussion

Talk to other people.  If a whole class of students must write about the same topic it may be a good
idea if some of them get together and discuss the topic.  Hearing other people’s point of view and
having to express your own will help you become clear about what you believe and don’t believe. 

Drawing or looking at pictures

If you are a visual learner who is good at drawing you may find drawing pictures more useful than
brainstorming with words as described above.  Draw what you feel about the topic and then describe
in words what you have drawn.  Alternatively, you could simply look at photographs/pictures that
others have produced

Visualization

This technique will be demonstrated by your teacher.  You basically try to forget everything else and
imagine yourself in a particular situation. 

Role Playing

Either on your own or with the help of a friend, act out being in a particular situation and be aware of
what you are feeling and doing.  Role playing a situation will help you focus on details.

(Adapted from O'Regan, 2002)

“Introduction to BA. in English for Science and Technology”

HUST-SOFL, Vietnam
 61

9.2. Methods of organizing ideas (f2f)

Read the leaflet of organizing your writing below.

“Introduction to BA. in English for Science and Technology”

HUST-SOFL, Vietnam
 62

Task 9.2. Based on the ideas for your group presentation, organize them using one of the methods
mentioned in the leaflet above. Write your answer below.

References
O'Regan, D. (2002). Generating Ideas. Retrieved September 2, 2019 from

http://home.ku.edu.tr/~doregan/Writing/GeneratingIdeas.html.

National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana, Illinoise. (2018). Organizing your

Writing. Retrieved September 2, 2019 from

http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/DayonWriting/OrganizingYourWriting.pdf.

Preparation for Unit 10 – Time Management Skills

Do activities in Unit 10 in f2f and on LMS classes.

“Introduction to BA. in English for Science and Technology”

HUST-SOFL, Vietnam