WRITING PROCESS

You will need your notebook I will begin to check your notes starting Thursday for credit. Please make sure to label your notes.

What Is Your Writing Process?

Write out the process which you go through to create an essay. Be detailed in your response with respect to each step of the process. There are no wrong answers.

Prewriting
What is the writers role?

Writers consider what they already know and need to know in order to guide the exploration of a topic. Writers consider their purposes and goals for writing, identify possible audiences, and understand how genre guides decision making. Writers generate, select, connect, and organize information ideas.

Prewriting Techniques

Bubble Clusters Topic of essay in the center bubble, 3 surrounding bubbles for topic sentences, 2 or 3 bubbles per topic sentence for concrete details (at least 5 words) Spider Diagram- center box for thesis statement, 3 boxes for topic sentences, 2 or 3 boxes per topic sentence for concrete details (at least five words) Column- Thesis sentence at top. Three topic sentences beneath. Concrete details in columns beneath each topic sentence (at least 5 words) Outline- I. Thesis 1. Topic Sentence A. concrete detail Line Cluster-Write thesis statement. List any/all ideas relevant to thesis. Cluster ideas into three groups. Create topic sentence for each group.

Drafting
What is the writers role? Writers generate texts to develop points within the preliminary organizational structure. Writers make stylistic choices with language to achieve intended effects. Writers become familiar with the intended audience.

Drafting the Introductory Paragraph

The introductory paragraph grabs the readers attention, tells the reader what they will be reading for the remainder of the essay. Requirements: -Introductory paragraph includes the thesis AT THE END OF THE FIRST PARAGRAPH. -THESIS= Subject + Opinion -The thesis is the writers way of telling the reader what they will be reading. Interesting ways to begin your draft: -anecdotes (short stories that make a point) -inspirational quotes -startling facts/statistics

Drafting the Body Paragraph

Explores a specific portion of the overall topic of the essay
Requirements: -transition sentence -concrete details (statements which cannot be argued) -commentary (opinion) -use of figurative language to engage reader -proper use of diction to allow the flow of the paper to be easily read.

Drafting the Concluding Paragraph

The concluding paragraph ties up all loose ends of the essay Requirements: -transition sentence -restatement of the thesis (do not rewrite the thesis verbatim) -does NOT include any new information

Revision

NOT editing Re-seeing the text Worth 30 points for Writing Wednesdays Techniques:
Add spider-leg sentences to develop ideas more completely (trait of ideas). Apply story surgery where whole chunks of text are cut, added, and rearranged to improve the flow of ideas (trait of organization). Vary sentence beginnings (trait of sentence fluency). Strike through dinky words and replace them with stronger words (trait of word choice).

Editing

Pick up a dictionary. Check any words that may look misspelled. Double check possible homonyms. Take a look at your punctuation. Are commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes, and periods in proper places? Are all sentence beginnings capitalized? What about proper nouns?

Peer Response

Writers seek response from peers and the teacher to guide choices in revision. Writers evaluate the response and make the appropriate revision choices. Writers listen to the writing of others and offer suggestions, share techniques and strategies, and encourage the writers.

Peer Response
When reading someones paper, ask questions. If one of their points needs further explanation, provide suggestions. Look at sentence fluency. Are there variations in the sentence structure? Does each sentence begin with the same word? What are your overall thoughts of the paper? Are you confused, informed, delighted, puzzled? Provide this feedback to the writer.

Final Draft/Publishing
Writers create a publishable text that is properly formatted for the appropriate genre and engages an audience. Writers explore publication opportunities to share their work with an appropriate audience.

Final Draft/Publishing
Proper MLA format Header Heading Title Double-spaced Times New Roman 12 pt. font 1 margins