Easy Writing Skills: Step-by-Step Guide PDF

Easy Writing Skills STEP-BY-STEP Master High-Frequency Skills for Writing Proﬁciency—FAST! Ann Longknife, Ph.D., and K.D. Sullivan New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. ISBN: 978-0-07-177452-9 MHID: 0-07-177452-1 The material in this eBook also appears in the print version of this title: ISBN: 978-0-07-177451-2, MHID: 0-07-177451-3. All trademarks are trademarks of their respective owners. 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Contents Acknowledgments vii Introduction ix 1 The Foundation 1 Reasons for Writing 2 Parts of an Essay 4 Next Steps 5 2 Getting Started Step 1: Narrow Your Focus and Determine Your Thesis Statement 7 Your First Free Writing 8 Research 11 Your Second Free Writing 16 Your Thesis Statement 18 Next Steps 20 3 Methods of Development Step 2: Choose Your Method of Development 21 Narration 23 Description 25 Process 26 Comparison/Contrast 28 Cause and Effect 30 Argument/Persuasion 31 Transitions 34 iii iv Contents Fallacies 35 Method Examples 36 Next Steps 38 4 Form a Plan: Outlines Step 3: Develop Your Outline 39 Formal Topic Outline 41 Sentence Outline 43 1-2-3 Outline 43 In-Class Essay Exam 45 Next Steps 46 5 Craft Your First Draft Step 4: Write Your First Draft 47 Title 49 Introductory Paragraph 50 Developmental Paragraphs 53 Concluding Paragraph 55 Next Steps 56 6 Your Writer’s Toolbox: Sentences Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 1 57 Parts of Speech 58 Sentences 59 Key Problem Areas 62 Parallel Phrasing 64 Next Steps 66 7 Your Writer’s Toolbox: Mechanics Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 2 67 Spelling 69 Key Punctuation 69 More on Punctuation 73 Grammar 75 Next Steps 80 8 Your Writer’s Toolbox: Style Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 3 81 Guidelines for Stronger Writing 83 Giving Your Writing Extra Flair 88 Language to Avoid: Wordiness and Redundancy 88 Gender-Free Writing 90 Twelve Tips for Compelling Writing 91 Next Steps 92 Contents v 9 Your Final Draft Checklist Step 6: Revise and Finalize 93 The Revision Process 94 The Review Process 96 Three-Stage Review Checklist 96 Next Steps 100 10 A Final Look Step 7: Proofread 101 The Value of Proofreading 102 What Is Proofreading? 103 Checking the Three Cs 104 Proofread in Stages 105 A Final Word 106 11 A Finished Assignment: From Beginning to End 107 First Free Writing 108 Research 109 Second Free Writing 110 Outline 111 First Draft 111 Preparing for the Final Draft 113 Final Polished Essay 114 Next Steps 116 Appendix A: Checklists for Speciﬁc Essay Types 117 Appendix B: Grammar and Usage Glossary of Terms 123 Appendix C: Useful Word Lists 126 Appendix D: Writing, Grammar, and Word References 137 Appendix E: Proofreading in Stages 138 Appendix F: Before and After Examples 141 Answer Key 149 Index 159 This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments We’d like to thank Grace Freedson, our diligent literary agent, for her con- tinued support, for her creative thinking, and for keeping us in mind for great projects; the entire McGraw-Hill editorial team for their guidance and dedication to high quality, with an extra thank-you to Andrea Coens for her superb copyediting expertise; and a special thank-you to Casey Dyson for his incredibly valuable insights and contributions. vii This page intentionally left blank Introduction “I can’t believe it,” moaned Jean. “The first week of school and I’ve already been assigned an essay. There goes my grade—I’ve never been good at writ- ing essays.” Jean is not the only student to feel this way. Most do. But wait! This dif- ficulty can be overcome. Though writing is easier for some than others, it’s important to know that anyone can write well! It takes planning and hard work, but writing is a skill, and like any other skill it involves learning the steps, learning how to apply those steps—and lots of practice. We take you, step-by-step, through the writing process: from generation of ideas, through organization of those ideas, to production of a finished essay, you will improve your ability to think, to reason, and to communicate. When you learn a new computer program or work to improve an athletic skill, you learn one step at a time and then build on and practice what you’ve learned to get better and better. You can use the same process to proudly climb the ladder to success and produce a well-written essay. It takes certain steps to produce an effective essay, but it takes a solid foundation before you can get to the finished product. After all, you don’t want to fall down and hurt yourself. So, we’ll give you a good grip on each step, telling you what you need to know and what you need to do, so you can climb each step without slipping. During the climb, we’ll also give you some tools to help you along the way. An essay is a short piece of writing that develops a point in a clear, well- developed manner. You might want to describe how exotic you found Thai- land, what you enjoyed about the book you read, or why one computer is better than another. Whatever the point you want to make, you want to logi- cally and clearly lead your reader to understand your point. ix x Introduction One reason for writing an essay, of course, is because your teacher has assigned one. You’ll write lots of essays during your school years. Knowing how to write an effective essay will get you better grades. Beyond better grades, in all aspects of your life—work, volunteering, school—learning, decision making, and communicating are important. The real value of learning to organize is that it can help you think more clearly and present your ideas in a way that a reader can understand more readily. This applies to many types of communicating—perhaps at work to suggest a better way to perform a task, or in a letter to an editor debating a point. Even if it’s in the form of an e-mail, you still want it well organized. To help you get from the ground where you are standing to the top of the ladder—a well-written, finished essay—we’ll provide you with the tools you need and show you, step-by-step, how to achieve your goal. We do not intend to make this a grammar book. We do include information that makes a dif- ference in how well you’re understood. Therefore, each chapter is a step up the ladder or a tool to help you in getting to the top. Chapter 1, The Foundation. The foundation of the writing process is knowing what an essay is, what it aims to do, and how to put it together effectively. This chapter discusses reasons for writing and the basic terms and concepts you’ll need in beginning the writing process. It gives you a solid foundation on which to stand as you climb the ladder of writing an A+ essay. Chapter 2, Getting Started, Step 1: Narrow Your Focus and Determine Your Thesis Statement. Often, the hardest part of any assignment is getting started. This first step teaches you valuable ways to narrow your focus in choosing the subject of your essay and how to develop an effective thesis statement. Chapter 3, Methods of Development, Step 2: Choose Your Method of Development. Depending on the result you hope to achieve, you can use various methods of writing called methods of development. This step explains the various ways you can present your ideas, why each method is valuable, and which method is most ideal depending on whether your goal is to inform, to explain, or to persuade your reader. Chapter 4, Form a Plan: Outlines, Step 3: Develop Your Outline. Once you have chosen a topic and method of development for an essay, you need a plan—an outline—so you can present your ideas clearly. This step helps you organize your ideas using one of three outline styles and introduces the easy 1-2-3 method of planning an essay. Introduction xi Chapter 5, Craft Your First Draft, Step 4: Write Your First Draft. The standard essay consists of these required elements: title, an intro- ductory paragraph—ending in a clear thesis statement—three develop- mental paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. Having taken the steps to this point, next comes a big step up, as you take the information you’ve gathered to develop the key essay elements and produce a working draft that you can then craft into a finished essay. Chapter 6, Your Writer’s Toolbox: Sentences, Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 1. Part of the process of refining your first draft is to examine each word, sentence, and paragraph to ensure what you’ve written is correct, clear, concise, and compelling. Chapters 6, 7, and 8 aren’t steps up, but in them are the tools you’ll need to help refine your writing. Review the information in these chapters in advance of sit- ting down to prepare your final draft. In this chapter you’ll learn how to develop well-crafted sentences and how to avoid possible errors. Chapter 7, Your Writer’s Toolbox: Mechanics, Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 2. This is your second set of tools. In this chap- ter we take a brief look at spelling, punctuation, and grammar and how some simple rules can ensure that your sentences are written correctly. Chapter 8, Your Writer’s Toolbox: Style, Step 5: Prepare for Your Final Draft, Part 3. This third set of tools helps you elevate your writ- ing to a higher level. Style is the combination of the words you use and the way you put them together. Just as we dress in our own style, we write in our own style. In this chapter, you’ll learn some of the “tools of the trade” to give your writing flair, as well as language to avoid and tips for writing that grabs the reader’s attention. Chapter 9, Your Final Draft Checklist, Step 6: Revise and Final- ize. Now that you are equipped with all the tools you need to create a well-written, effective, engaging essay and have worked your way up the ladder one step at a time... you’re almost at the top. In this chapter you’ll learn how to revise your first draft—putting all the steps to use— and write a final draft that showcases both your ideas and your writing skill. Chapter 10, A Final Look, Step 7: Proofread. You now have a well- thought-out, well-constructed, quality essay, and it’s been hard work. There’s just one more thing to do before you turn it in—proofread. Any time you are writing where it matters how you and your writing are per- ceived, proofreading is essential. This chapter—your last step—teaches xii Introduction you quick and easy ways to proofread your work like a professional, giv- ing your essay the polish and finishing touches it needs to be first class. Chapter 11, A Finished Assignment: From Beginning to End. If you’ve followed the steps up the ladder we’ve presented in this book, you’re at the top. Congratulations! Here we show you an example of a finished assignment from beginning to end. It takes you through each step, so you can see what we did, how we executed each step, and what we finally produced. Appendixes. The appendixes give you some extra help in the form of checklists for specific essay situations, such as book reports, standardized test essays, and college application essays (Appendix A); a grammar and usage glossary of terms (Appendix B); useful word lists (Appendix C); further suggested resources for improved writing, grammar, and word usage (Appendix D); tips on proofreading in stages (Appendix E); and before-and-after writing examples (Appendix F). Answer Key. This section provides you with all the answers to the prac- tice sessions in the book. For each step and each tool, we’ll tell you What You Need to Know and What You Need to Do, and we’ll provide examples and practice exercises, as well as tips and hints, in the form of Remember, Extra Help, Alert, and What if... sidebars to help and encourage you along the way. When you follow the steps in this book, you will have all you need to produce a first-class essay, one that speaks to its audience, has something to say, clearly makes a point, and makes it well. More important, you will have made great strides in learning how to organize your thoughts around a single point and how to express those thoughts clearly and effectively. Have fun! 1 The Foundation A+ Essay Step 7 Proofread Step 6 Revise and ﬁnalize Step 5 Prepare for your ﬁnal draft Step 4 Write your ﬁrst draft Step 3 Develop your outline Step 2 Choose your method of development Step 1 Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Foundation 1 2 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step This book takes you, step-by-step, through the writing process, from gener- ating ideas, through organizing those ideas, and finally to producing a superb finished essay. Throughout the book we will teach you one skill at a time and then build on that skill to move you up the ladder to your goal. What is the foundation? It’s knowing what an essay is, what it aims to do, and how to put it together. When you have a solid foundation to begin the writing process, you build confidence for each of the following steps. Let’s start with a stable foundation so your ladder doesn’t wobble. We use the following terms throughout the book: Prompt. A question or instruction, in the form of a word, sentence, phrase, or idea, that is the subject of your assignment. Thesis statement. A sentence, usually at the end of your introductory paragraph, that sets up the whole essay; it has a subject and a controlling idea. Subject. What your paper will be discussing. Controlling idea. The stance you will be taking on the subject. Topic sentence. A sentence, usually the first in a developmental paragraph, that presents the point you plan to develop in that paragraph. Introductory paragraph. The first paragraph in your essay. Developmental paragraphs. Three to five paragraphs that develop the points of your essay. Conclusion/concluding paragraph. The last paragraph of the essay. Reasons for Writing Let’s face it, in most cases, you don’t write for yourself—you write for an audience. You need to know what they know and what references and images will appeal to them. Consider the following when establishing who your readers or audience will be: Whom do you most want to reach? Are they likely to be sympathetic or unsympathetic to your views? How are your readers different from you or similar to you in terms of age, education, region, gender, ethnic and cultural heritage, political ideology, and other factors? The Foundation 3 What, if anything, do you want your audience to do as a result of what you write? How can you make clear what exactly you want to happen? What You Need to Know Essays are written for three major reasons: To inform To explain To persuade Depending on the result you hope to achieve, you can use various meth- ods of writing—called methods of development—which we will cover in the following chapters: Narration tells a story. Description presents a picture. Process tells how to do something or shows how something works. Comparison/Contrast shows similarities and differences between two or more things. Cause and Effect examines how one thing leads to another. Argument/Persuasion aims to convince the readers. So how do you know which method of development to use for your essay? It depends on your goal. To Inform You want to share your knowledge with the readers. Use Narration (a Story). You have information that you merely want to share with your readers. For example, you might want to tell what happened on your trip to Hawaii or to France. You will need to make a point, such as how wonderful or unusual your experience was. Use Description. You might want to describe the beach at Waikiki or Parisian architecture so your friend will drool in envy. 4 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step To Explain You want to make a more specific point and help your readers understand what you are discussing. Use one of these three major techniques. Use Process. In process you want to show readers how easily or effectively they can complete the process or understand why the process works the way it does. Use Comparison/Contrast. Comparison compares things that are simi- lar. Contrast indicates how things are different. Generally these are devel- oped in the same essay to show the readers which of the two objects, ideas, or topics is being discussed is better. Use Cause and Effect. In cause and effect you want your readers to see how one thing caused another and know why this matters. To Persuade (Sometimes Called Argument) You want to present a position and convince your readers that it is reason- able and that they should take some action. Use Argument/Persuasion. The difference between these is that per- suasion appeals more to emotion and argument more to logic. Most writers, however, use both. Parts of an Essay No matter which method of development you choose, every essay has five parts, each with a specific function in the essay: The title gets the readers’ attention and gives a clue as to what the essay will be about. The introductory paragraph grabs the readers’ interest and sets up your subject. The thesis statement contains the subject of the essay and the controlling idea (what you plan to say about that subject) and is usually the last sentence in the introductory paragraph. The Foundation 5 The developmental paragraphs develop the points of your essay. Each starts with a topic sentence that sets up the point to be developed in that paragraph. The conclusion reinforces or summarizes your point in a final paragraph. What You Need to Do In order to develop and write a top-notch essay you should include all of the following steps. Depending on the time you have to write—briefly in class or at length at home—some steps may be combined or abbreviated. On some level, however, it’s important to complete each of them. Once you have been assigned or have chosen your prompt—the general subject of your essay—you will: Step 1: Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Step 2: Choose your method of development Step 3: Develop your outline Step 4: Write your first draft Step 5: Prepare for your final draft Step 6: Revise and finalize your essay Step 7: Proofread your essay Next Steps Now that you have the foundation for writing an effective essay, we’ll begin the steps up the ladder—beginning with “Getting Started.” This page intentionally left blank 2 Getting Started Step 1: Narrow Your Focus and Determine Your Thesis Statement A+ Essay Step 7 Proofread Step 6 Revise and ﬁnalize Step 5 Prepare for your ﬁnal draft Step 4 Write your ﬁrst draft Step 3 Develop your outline Step 2 Choose your method of development Step 1 Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Foundation 7 8 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Often, the hardest part of any assignment is getting started. In this chapter, we’ll present an example essay, but the approach can apply to any topic. Let’s say your assignment is to write an essay of 500 to 650 words on the prompt Going green is important. You are to discuss some aspect of improving our environment. You think, “All I know about going green is a song by Kermit the frog.” This chapter introduces four tasks that will get you on your way to a successful essay. Covered in This Chapter □ Your ﬁrst free writing. Free writing is a method to help you decide what you want to write about. □ Research. Use research to help determine a direction and narrow down your topic. □ Your second free writing. A second free writing helps you deter- mine more of what you know, what interests you, and what you want to write about, focusing on your subject. □ Your thesis statement. A thesis statement is one sentence that sets the foundation on which you will build the whole essay. It usually is the last sentence in your introductory paragraph. Your First Free Writing Free writing is a method to help you choose a specific topic for your essay. What You Need to Know Actually, you’d be surprised at what you already know. We all have informa- tion stored in our subconscious, but we can’t always readily access it. For example, say you’re trying to remember the name of your fourth-grade art teacher. The harder you try, the farther away it gets. Then you quit trying, wake up the next morning, and think, “Of course. Her name was Ms. Bell.” It was in your subconscious all the time, and it just needed to be brought to the surface. Building on this concept, Peter Elbow, professor and renowned author of several books on writing and writing theory, introduced the idea of free Getting Started 9 writing. This technique acknowledges the advantage of using the subcon- scious as an aid to writing. His theory is that if we can cancel out our con- scious mind, we will be able to access all the wonderful information we have in our subconscious. Before you begin to write, however, you can add some tools to the mix to make your free writing more useful. For example, add to your collection of information on your prompt of Going green is important: You’ve probably heard things about ecology on TV—and stored it some- where in the recesses of your mind. You can talk to people—classmates, parents, other adults—with infor- mation and opinions on the topic. You could read articles on “green” online. Then, armed with both conscious and subconscious information, you have a place to start. What You Need to Do The technique of free writing requires you to do only three things: Set a timer or alarm. Sit down at your computer with no noise. Write without stopping. Set the alarm for 10 minutes. Then start typing. Type anything at all that comes to mind. Keep going, without stopping, until the alarm goes off. Don’t worry about grammar or even making sense. The whole idea is to not think—just type and see what comes of it. P Remember Whatever you do, don’t stop writing during the 10 minutes—no mat- ter what you write. What if... You can’t think of anything to say? Repeat the last word until words ﬂow again. 10 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Your first free writing on Going green is important might look like this (par- ticularly if your automatic spell-check is off). First Free Writing Example I don’t see why I hve to do a paper on green thins, except for money of course and I guess I also like green grass and I would hate to live where there was no gren grass. I can’t make grasss but maybe I might be able to do something to make things better. I know my parents recycle all the garbage and I wonder where all that garbage goes but I’d still be happier if I didn’t have to writ ethis dumb paper. Peter, my best friend doesn’t have any trouble writing papers. I did like that rticle I read about doing little things that make a difference. But it’s the big companies that need to clear up their act Ugh, all of this stuff will need some research. I could even go to the library and hang out with some friends. We always have a good time when I go there there, there, their. Mark has been volunteering for beach cleanup I could talk to him. Results of First Free Writing If you have enough time in your schedule, don’t read your writing now— wait for a day, or at least a few hours. Then go back and take a look at what you wrote. Ask yourself: Is there one idea that stands out? Yes. I kept mentioning doing something to make things better. Is there something I want to know more about? Yes. Why bother with recycling? How much good does all this work actually do? Does all that careful recycling actually do some good? I don’t know, and I want to find out. Where does it all go, how is it put back to use, and how much difference does it make? Getting Started 11 Extra Help If you don’t have time to let your free writing rest, look over your writing and see if you can pull out three points to develop. Or, if you have an in-class essay, stop and think before you write. Then list three points you can cover. The pause gives you time to settle; the three points give you a direction. Research The next step in the process is to conduct more research to help you deter- mine your direction. What You Need to Know Your first free writing should help you form a focus on what part of Going green is important might interest you and what you want to write about. Conducting research will help narrow your focus even more. Following are some items to consider during your research: Determine the question you will be answering in your essay. Identify the main concepts or keywords in your question. Use those keywords to search indexes of encyclopedias and online resources. Record the bibliography information for each resource from which you use information. Evaluate what you find. If you have too much information, you may need to narrow or even broaden your subject. What You Need to Do It’s now time to research different aspects of your prompt subject, with the goal of choosing the specific topic for your essay. Some possible topics to explore include: What we all can do for our school, neighborhood, or city The benefits of recycling How we can conserve resources 12 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Once you’ve identified a topic of interest, you can concentrate on the research. Fortunately you have a wealth of research at your fingertips: You have the Internet. You can use your favorite search engine to dis- cover sources of information. Alert If you type in “going green,” you’ll get more hits than you’ll ever need, so you may have to try different keywords to narrow down your search. In selecting articles, we are usually drawn to ones with titles we like. Not always scientiﬁc, but fun. Check online encyclopedias—but not simply Wikipedia, which is not always accurate. Alert Though Wikipedia is a popular online resource, do not consider it a reliable resource, as it is not always accurate. Generally, URLs ending in.edu are more reliable. Talk to people you know and respect. For this topic, you could visit a recycling center or a volunteer group actually working at keeping our planet green. Don’t forget the library. You might already go there to meet friends, but it also contains a wealth of knowledge. Your best friends at the library are the reference librarians. They can often point you in a direction you would never know existed. Never be shy about asking them for help— that’s why they are there. Taking Notes Note-taking methods vary, and you should choose what is most comfortable and effective for you. The keys are to: Get down enough information to help you recall the major points of the research. Put the information in a form in which you are most likely to use the research in your essay. Getting Started 13 Label each note with the author’s name and the title; the page number(s), or links that the note comes from; a subject heading or theme; and the type of note it is—quotation, paraphrase, summary, your own comment. Once you have gathered your research information and sources, make a folder on your computer or keep note cards with all the information noted here. This helps organize your material later when you will need a list of these references at the end of your essay. Give Credit Where It Is Due Be sure to give credit to outside sources. Using someone else’s words without credit is plagiarism and is considered cheating. You don’t want to lose all your hard work, which will happen if you plagiarize. The list of sources is generally provided in the form of a bibliography where you list all of the pertinent source information. There are different forms and amounts of information required for different resources—books, magazines, TV, and so on. Most often they are listed alphabetically by the author’s last name. Here are a few examples: For a book: Piles, Dirth, Compost from the Bottom Up. San Francisco: Nature Press, 2010. For an encyclopedia or dictionary: “environmentalism.” Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 13th ed. 2003. For a magazine or newspaper article: Johnson, Anna. “A Legacy of Going Green.” Time Magazine Dec. 28, 2011. For a website or web page: Hartman, Jay. “Save Trees by Reading Ebooks.” Jan. 19, 2011. www.untreedreads.com. Check a reference book or style manual to see different accepted styles. An especially good reference is The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors, and Publishers, 16th ed., The University of Chi- cago Press, 2010. Your teacher may provide you with a model to follow as well. 14 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step You can also use brief source credits within the text. Proper style for these would be to surround quoted material in quotation marks, followed by parentheses containing the author’s last name and the page number of the source that is fully referenced in your bibliography. For example: “Homeowners use up to 10 times more toxic chemicals per acre than farmers.” (Wray, 25) What if... After you’ve gathered all this information, you feel overwhelmed? Believe it or not, that’s great! It’s always better to have too much information than not enough. Cluster Your Information Now that you have a mass of information... what do you do with it? You use it to help narrow down the focus of your subject—to choose a specific idea for your essay. One way to generate ideas and group them for good organiza- tion is to “cluster” them. One method for clustering your ideas is to sort them in a document, either on paper or on the computer: Start by typing the main subject at the top. Then type a list of as many ideas as you can think of related to your subject. You may take these ideas from information you already know or information you gather in your research. Next, take a look at the items and see which ones seem to go together. As you look at the items, you will begin to see patterns. Move similar items into groups and give each group a word or phrase that describes them. Finally, look at the groups and see if there is one set that really grabs your attention. The following clustering example begins with a random list of ideas and questions about cleaning up the environment. Looking at the list, certain patterns emerge. Some of the topics are general in nature and some can be grouped by location—home, school, outdoors, and so on. Getting Started 15 In this example, a student might decide that what’s most interesting, most attention grabbing for the teacher, and most directly related to the student’s life is writing about how each individual can make a difference at home and at school. Therefore, some of the topics in the “general” category and those in the “home” and “school” categories would be most worthwhile to further research and use as key points of the essay. Unsorted list Subject: Improving Our Environment I like green areas recycling where does garbage go? biggest polluters—people, schools, companies, government? clean beaches why bother? use of fertilizing chemicals on farms turn off water while brushing your teeth use less gas, so less pollution use less heat and air conditioning use only one paper towel to dry hands buy household cleaning items with fewer hazardous materials copy and print on both sides of paper install a low-ﬂow shower head use solar power for heating and cooling reuse items like bags and containers when possible Sorted List Improving Our Environment Car: use less gas, so less pollution General (I can do): reuse items like bags and containers when possible 16 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step General (I’m interested): where does garbage go? General (I’m interested): why bother? General: biggest polluters—people, schools, companies, government? General: I like green areas General: recycling Home (I can do): use less heat and air conditioning Home and ofﬁce: use solar power for heating and cooling Home and school (I can do): use only one paper towel to dry hands Home, school, ofﬁce (I can do): turn off water while brushing your teeth Home: buy household cleaning items with fewer hazardous materials Home: install a low-ﬂow shower head Ofﬁce or school: copy and print on both sides of paper Outdoors (I’d like these): clean beaches Outdoors: use of fertilizing chemicals on farms Go through this process as many times as you like to help narrow down your areas of interest and choose your specific topic. Your Second Free Writing Now it’s time to move up the ladder to the next step—your second free writing. What You Need to Know You have much more information now and will be able to more clearly see what you know. Conducting a second free writing allows you—consciously and unconsciously—to incorporate: What you initially knew The research you’ve gathered Facts and impressions you have developed through your research Getting Started 17 All of this brings you closer to narrowing your broad subject to a specific topic on which to base your essay. What You Need to Do The same techniques apply in your second free writing as in your first free writing, except for a slightly longer time: Set the timer or alarm again, this time for 15 minutes. Sit down at your computer with no noise. Write—without stopping. Again, if possible, when you’re finished, let your writing rest for a day or so. This time you’ll be amazed at how much your ideas have developed and how much more information-packed your second free writing is, because of the research you did. As you sort through your ideas in the second free writ- ing, the direction of your essay will become clearer. Second Free Writing Example I read a lot of stuff about going green but the article that I really liked was the guy came up with some neat ideas about turnign the water off when you brush your teeth. And using one paper towel in the restroom instead of two. And it seems to me that if I keep looking I’ll ﬁnd all kinds of things that I never thought of. and I’m not sure that I want to do all those things. it seems that things are getting so complicated complicated complicated, but I guess doing something is better than doing nohthitng, but diong nothing eseems so much easier but that won’t get me anywhere. I’ve got to ﬁgure out what to do. oh, another thing that I read is how much we can make a difference at school in the differ- ent ways we do things. that’s something I’d deﬁnitely be interested in, because there’s a lot of waste in schools. Notice that in this second free writing there is new information, such as “the article that I really liked was the guy came up with some neat ideas 18 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step about turning the water off when you brush your teeth,” and your impres- sions and interests, such as “I’ve got to figure out what to do.” Your Thesis Statement Armed with all the information you’ve gathered from your research and free writing, you are now ready for the next step—forming a working thesis statement. This will serve as the foundation for your essay. What You Need to Know What exactly is a thesis statement? It is one sentence that sets the founda- tion on which you will build the whole essay. An effective thesis statement includes and accomplishes two things: It introduces the subject, which signals the reader what you will be writ- ing about. It sets the controlling idea, the position you will be taking in your paper. It is an idea that needs to be proved or explained. Extra Help The thesis statement is usually the last sentence in your introductory paragraph. What You Need to Do To write an effective thesis statement, keep the following in mind: The thesis statement cannot be a question because then your essay would not develop an idea but would only answer the question. Instead of asking, “Why is going green important?” you can change it to, “Going green is important.” Now, this statement can and needs to be explained. The thesis statement cannot be a fact because a fact does not need to be explained. The fact “Recycling saves one million dollars a month” is either true or not, but it does not need to be explained. Getting Started 19 Let’s say you’ve chosen to discuss how individuals can help make our planet greener. In your thesis statement, the subject will relate to making our planet greener, and the controlling idea is how we can do that. P Remember A good thesis statement always has both the subject and the control- ling idea to guide both readers and the writer. In some cases your teacher may ask you to list the points you are going to cover in the essay in your thesis statement. For example, using the broad theme Going green is important, you can be more specific in your topic with “Individuals can help make our planet greener at school, at home, and in our community.” In this thesis statement, the readers know exactly what you will discuss in your essay. Alert You can take a more subtle approach if you don’t want to telegraph the whole essay and want, instead, to keep the readers more in suspense. The danger here is that if you don’t list your points up front, you might get off-topic. Of course, use the style your teacher requests. What if... After you have ﬁnished the paper, or even while you’re working on it, you decide that the thesis needs to be changed? That’s perfectly all right. You just need to be sure that your paper and your thesis are in sync and prove what they set out to prove. Practice Thesis Statements The better you can identify subjects and controlling ideas in thesis state- ments, the easier it will be for you to write effective ones. Following are five thesis statements. Underline the subject and write S above it. Then under- line the controlling idea and write C over it. See the Answer Key at the end of this book for the correct answers. 1. Recycling can make a real difference. 2. Going green really starts at home. 20 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step 3. Recycling seems to be a good idea. 4. One person can do a lot to make a difference. 5. More Kermits can make a greener planet. Next Steps You’ve taken the first key steps to creating a successful essay. You’ve expressed your ideas in free writings, researched your topic, and developed your the- sis statement. Now you’re ready to take the next step of determining your method of development—how you will present your ideas. 3 Methods of Development Step 2: Choose Your Method of Development A+ Essay Step 7 Proofread Step 6 Revise and ﬁnalize Step 5 Prepare for your ﬁnal draft Step 4 Write your ﬁrst draft Step 3 Develop your outline Step 2 Choose your method of development Step 1 Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Foundation 21 22 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Now that you know how to get started on your essay, choose your topic, and write your thesis statement, you are ready to choose how to develop your idea. Depending on the result you hope to achieve, you can use various methods of writing called methods of development. In this chapter, we’ll look at some of the more common methods of development. The method of development you choose depends on the ultimate goal for your essay and determines the approach you take in writing your essay. Covered in This Chapter □ Narration. Tells a story. □ Description. Paints a picture. □ Process. Tells how to do something or understand how something works. □ Comparison/contrast. Shows how alike or unlike things are. □ Cause and effect. Examines how one thing leads to another. □ Argument/persuasion. Aims to convince the reader. □ Transitions. Connect a train of thought. □ Fallacies. Are misleading notions. □ Method examples. Show how each of these approaches works. Six Methods of Development Narration. An account of events, most often told in chronological order, to make a specific point. Description. An account that creates a vivid mental image. Process. Follows a series of steps, in chronological order, detailing how to do something or helping the readers understand how something works. Comparison/Contrast. Shows how alike or unlike things are; compari- son examines how two or more things are similar, and contrast examines how two or more things are different. Cause and Effect. Cause is the reason an event took place; effect is the result of an event. Cause leads to effect. Argument/Persuasion. Makes a strong claim on a debatable topic, sup- ported by facts, examples, and opinions; argument generally relies more on logic, while persuasion uses more emotion. Most essays contain both. P Remember The goal of every essay is to make a point and provide insight for the reader. “No insight, no essay.” Methods of Development 23 Every method of development needs to include these elements: An understanding of what the particular method requires A thesis statement that establishes the topic and your point Adherence to the method you’ve chosen P Remember Whether the topic and method of development are assigned to you or you choose them, keep in mind what you’re trying to accomplish. When you’re clear about the direction, purpose, and point of your essay, it is easier to stick to your topic, as well as the format, and you can more effectively present your ideas to your readers. Let’s look at how each of these methods can lead to an effective essay. We’ll continue with our “going green” topic and write an introductory para- graph for each method of development. Notice how the essay changes as we alter the thesis statement to fit each method. Extra Help An introductory paragraph uses one of these methods: Asks an intriguing question Uses a startling fact Uses a quote Tells a story You can read about introductory paragraphs in Chapter 5. Definition: Narration is an account of events, most often told in chronological order, to make a specific point. Narration Most people like a good story, but narrative essays go beyond that. They tell a story to make a point, which is generally established as the controlling idea in your thesis statement. 24 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Using our previous thesis statement, “Individuals can help make our planet greener,” you might want to tell how you came to that conclusion in a narration essay. You could start with this introductory paragraph that tells a story. Note that the last sentence in this example is your thesis statement. I’d never taken much notice of recycling and trash in our community. Then I met some people who volunteered in several campaigns to “go green.” They talked me into helping with a beach cleanup project. That experience really opened my eyes to what individuals can do to improve our environment. That’s a good beginning and it seems to lead naturally into telling the story of what happened at the beach. It’s best to stay in chronological order (time order) so your readers don’t get lost; however, just listing the events in order will not necessarily hold the readers’ interest. Action and conflict add that interest to your story. Action gets the readers involved. Rather than: We all started picking up the trash on the beach. Put the readers there: As we bent and rose, we looked like waves rising and falling on the beach. Now the readers have a picture, so they’re more engaged in the story. Conflict also adds interest. Rather than: As we were working, we saw some people leave trash on the beach. Show your reaction: When we saw some people leaving trash on the beach, it bothered us, so we asked them to pick it up, and they put their trash in our bags. Methods of Development 25 Telling how you feel will make the readers feel more a part of the story, and they will want to know what happens next. Now you have your readers’ attention, and you can go on to tell what hap- pened next and what you learned along the way. Finally, you can close your essay with how you’ve become involved in cleaning up trash and how you personally have helped make ours a greener planet. Definition: A description is an account that creates a vivid mental image. Description Sometimes almost an entire essay can be made up of descriptions. Often descriptions enliven other writing when used as a part of other methods of development. Description can enhance any writing: fiction, history, biog- raphy, even technical writing. The purpose is to let the readers see exactly what you are saying. Description will help you drive home your points viv- idly. The most effective way to show your readers what you’re talking about is to use language and images that relate to the five senses (sight, taste, hear- ing, feel, smell). For example, if you want to share the horror of what has happened to our planet, you might describe the scene that led you to that conclusion. You could start: I ﬂew back to Texas to visit some of my cousins. We had played together con- stantly while growing up, and I was looking forward to some more good times. We’d had so much fun over the years at the old creek and I couldn’t wait to feel that cool water again on my back. When I suggested going there, the cousins grinned and, reluctantly, said okay. I couldn’t believe how such a beautiful spot had been destroyed. Now you would vividly describe what you saw, what made it so awful to you, and how that affected you. Your aim is to horrify the readers and show why you’ve become so involved in green projects. 26 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Your next paragraph, with an opening topic sentence that ties into your thesis statement, might be: Remembering what used to be made it even worse. Once pecan and oak trees shaded the area. Now I saw only tangled brown bushes, with tufts that looked as if an animal had left its fur there. The buttercups and even the dandelions were gone too. The wind used to sigh through the trees, but no more—no more trees. What used to be grassy banks had become slicky mud, more like oil than ground. I wanted to cry. I asked my cousins “How could this happen?” They only shrugged and took me farther beyond the creek. You want the readers to be there by your side. Good description lets the readers share your vision. To reinforce the direction of your essay, you might end the essay with this final sentence. The horror I saw in Texas motivated me to become involved in proj- ects to clean up and prevent this kind of destruction. The goal is to motivate your readers to get involved also. Definition: Process follows a series of steps, in chronological order, to help the readers understand how something works or how to do something. Process We constantly perform processes. Fixing our breakfast, preparing for school or work, and researching online are all processes. Although the basic format for most process essays—often referred to as process papers—is the same, there are slight differences in writing an essay either to understand how something works or to explain or teach how to do something. Let’s take a look at these separately. Methods of Development 27 Using the thesis statement, “Computers have some special features that make writing easier,” we’ll present two paragraphs that illustrate the difference. Understand a Process The Find and Replace feature in word-processing programs is invaluable in keep- ing details in a document consistent. As you work, you’ll come across details that seem inconsistent—a spelling difference here, a heading style there, a capi- tal letter someplace else—and you’ll want to make sure that item is treated the same throughout your document. For example, you might realize that some- times you used email, and sometimes e-mail, and you prefer email. With the Find and Replace feature, you can search, in seconds, for the tiniest detail in the longest document and then replace any incorrect usage with what you prefer. With this feature, you can just type in what you’re looking for and what you’d like to replace it with. You can make the substitution on a case-by-case basis or with a single click of Replace All. This feature also offers several choices of what to look for and how to reﬁne your search. With all of these options, the Find and Replace feature can help ensure accuracy and consistency throughout your document. Explain a Process The Find and Replace feature in word-processing programs is invaluable in keep- ing details in a document consistent. As you work, you’ll come across details that seem inconsistent—a spelling difference here, a heading style there, a capi- tal letter someplace else—and you’ll want to make sure that item is treated the same throughout your document. With the Find and Replace feature, you can search, in seconds, for the tiniest detail in the longest document and then replace any incorrect usage with what you prefer. For example, you might real- ize that sometimes you used email, and sometimes e-mail, and you prefer email. Follow this process to make them all consistent as email: Press Ctrl+H and the Find and Replace dialog box will appear. In the Find what: ﬁeld, type in what you’re looking for—in this case, e-mail. 28 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step In the Replace with: ﬁeld, type in what you’d like to replace it with—in this case, email. To make the substitution on a case-by-case basis, click on the Next button, and when you are taken to each occurrence of e-mail, click on the Replace button. To change all occurrences of e-mail to email at once, click on the Replace All button (but be leery of this choice as it may change items you didn’t intend to change). The Find and Replace feature can help ensure accuracy and consistency through- out your document. Alert In an essay intended to teach the readers precisely how to perform a process, remember to be complete. Often, when you know something very well, you will leave out steps and, therefore, the process will not work for your readers. The most important process papers you write will probably be those in a business or work environment, where it is important that a task be per- formed properly. Learning to write an effective process paper will be valu- able throughout your life. Definition: Comparison examines how two or more things are simi- lar. Contrast examines how two or more things are different. Comparison/Contrast Teachers assign a comparison/contrast essay for a variety of subjects. You may be comparing the merits of buying a Mac or a PC, which college to attend, two poems, or where to go on vacation. Almost always, you are trying to decide which option better fits your needs or requirements. Alert Be careful to compare things that are actually comparable. There is not much to compare between bananas and Facebook. Methods of Development 29 Often ideas become clearer when they are presented and analyzed based on how they relate to one another. Comparison and contrast allow a writer to explore the ways in which ideas are related. Often, comparison and contrast are used in the same essay. As an example, a possible introduction and thesis statement might be: I’ve become so much more aware of ecology since I ﬁrst noticed the mounds of garbage outside the mall stores late one night. I checked Google and discovered how much the United States is actually doing to correct the nation’s bad habits. The other day, however, I read an article about what Sweden is doing to “be green.” We could learn some valuable techniques by looking at what they are doing. Alert Be sure that after you’ve compared and contrasted you’ve actually made a point. It’s not enough to show the differences—you need to let the readers know why it matters to them. Block and Alternating Methods There are two primary techniques to use in a comparison/contrast essay— the block method and the alternating method. As an example, let’s compare and contrast two books, The Old Man and the Sea and The Life of Pi. What does an 85-year-old Cuban man have in common with a 14-year-old Indian boy? Not much you’d say. But you’d be only half-right. Both of them went through life-changing events. Following Santiago and Pi through their adventures shows us how perseverance can conquer adversity. Though the characters are very different, both books discuss the same thing—how we can conquer our fears. 30 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Using the block method in your developmental paragraphs (discussed further in Chapter 5), begin by discussing one book and three key points about that book, for example: Age The ordeal The outcome In the next paragraph you would do the same for the other book. In the third developmental paragraph, you’d show how these factors impacted the characters. Alert With the block method, be careful to cover the same points for each item being compared or contrasted. The block method forces the readers to keep track of the items in the previous paragraph. For many, a clearer method is the alternating method. With this technique, you alternate your information within paragraphs. For example, your first developmental paragraph would discuss how age con- tributed to Santiago’s situation and then Pi’s situation, Santiago’s ordeal and then Pi’s ordeal, and finally the importance of the outcomes. Your conclu- sion to either method shows what the readers can learn by reading these two books. Definition: A cause is the reason an event took place. An effect is the result of an event. Cause leads to effect. Cause and Effect A cause-and-effect essay explains why something happened. Cause examines why actions, events, or conditions exist, while effect looks at the consequences. In many situations we question what happened or what to do. Why did Scott stop dating Jeannie? What will happen if I join a soccer team, on top of my already packed schedule? Will I benefit from getting a part-time job? By choosing cause and effect as our method of development for discussing the green theme, our introductory paragraph might look like this: Methods of Development 31 I threw the can in the trash. My mother had taught me to be neat and pick up after myself. But my friend Marsha yelled at me, “What are you doing, don’t you know you need to recycle those cans? Why do you want to mess up our planet?” Frankly, I just hadn’t thought about it. Since then, I’ve learned ways I can contribute to making our planet greener and healthier. Next you discuss what we are doing now to reverse the negative trend of trashing our planet and show what the projected results would be. This takes some research, but the aim is to show how much cleaner our environment will be if we act now. Alert Be careful to not attribute an effect to the wrong cause. If a person is failing a course and is always late to class, it’s easy to say, “He’s always late and that’s why he’s failing.” Actually, he might be failing simply because he doesn’t do the work and he is often late because his ride is usually late. Remember to stay focused on your main point throughout your essay. Ask yourself, why are you telling your readers these facts? You might want to warn them of a danger (increasing garbage is a danger to our planet). Or you might want to show how doing something produces consequences. In the thesis statement mentioned previously, you’re telling your readers these facts because you want them to take some action. Definition: An argument/persuasion essay makes a strong claim on a debatable topic, supported by facts, examples, and opinions. Argument generally relies more on logic, while persuasion uses more emotion. Most essays contain both. Argument/Persuasion To many people the word argument means loud voices, insults, and dishar- mony. In developing an essay, however, it means constructing logical evi- 32 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step dence to convince the readers to accept an opinion, take some action, or do both. Remember, when writing an argument/persuasion essay, presume that the readers do not agree with you. Argument/persuasion as a method of development has three ultimate aims: To stir the readers to action To change the readers’ minds To help the readers understand your point of view Rosie ﬁxed a marvelous meal for us last night: roasted chicken, fresh corn, and green beans. I commented on how tasty everything was. She said, “That’s because all the ingredients are organic.” She went on to explain not only how organic food tastes better but how going organic is better for our planet. She had some pretty convincing arguments about why buying organic can be so beneﬁcial. Good arguments rest on a clear, logical foundation (argument); however, logic alone does not generally convince readers. It helps to include some emotional appeal (persuasion) to stir the readers and get them involved. Just as logic benefits from an emotional appeal, an emotional appeal should be substantiated by solid evidence. An argument, then, consists of a conclusion you want to support, your reasons for that conclusion, and the evidence that supports your reasons. Extra Help The opinions of authorities add weight to your argument. Use quotes from well-known and acknowledged experts—people and written material—to support your claims. The first step in developing an argument essay is to find a topic that has two sides, preferably a topic that interests you and one that you can research. Your thesis statement, as always, will signal your direction, but you need to be careful that you do not alienate your readers. Asserting a thesis state- ment and backing it up with reasons, evidence, and the emotional appeal Methods of Development 33 are key pieces in an argument/persuasion essay, but they are not enough. You need to also acknowledge your readers’ possible objections to your point of view—called counterclaims—and answer those objections. Otherwise, readers may be less likely to consider your opinion. since they feel you didn’t consider theirs. A thesis statement such as the following won’t be very effective, or create interest in what you have to say. Obviously, everyone should actively recycle. If something really is obvious, you don’t need to argue for it. Also, the word everyone is seldom successful. If your readers are not one of everyone, you will alienate them and they won’t read on. If your readers don’t agree with you, then they may feel you’re questioning their intelligence. A better thesis statement could be: Recycling can be worth the effort. Even if the readers don’t agree, they would probably read on to see what you have to say. In developing the body of an argument/persuasion essay, you could start each paragraph with a counterclaim, such as: Many people claim it takes too much time to recycle. To refute this claim, you might counter with: It doesn’t take that much time to recycle if you’re well organized. Your conclusion, then, should reiterate your position in a positive way. It takes less time than you think to recycle, and the rewards are great for everyone. Although it takes a little time and some effort, the benefits of learning to argue effectively can be beneficial in clarifying your thoughts. Looking at both sides of an issue can provide more insight and broaden your view of the subject. 34 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step If you have been clear, positive, and logical; have appealed to your read- ers’ emotions; and have backed up your opinion with the opinions of authori- ties, your readers should understand your side, even if they haven’t changed their minds. Extra Help Although most essays have a clear method of development, they can use elements from other methods. A process paper may use descrip- tion to make explaining a step more vivid, or a persuasive paper may use a story (narration) to make a point. Remember to primarily stick to the method you’ve chosen. Transitions One device that helps your readers follow a train of thought is the use of transitions. Transitions provide the glue that holds an essay together. They help readers clearly follow what you have to say and consist mainly of the following: Connective words and phrases Repeated keywords Pronouns and demonstrative adjectives Parallelism Without transitions, readers can easily become lost, but be careful not to overuse transitions; you don’t need one in every sentence. Use transitions to join complex ideas or to give structure to a long paragraph. Connective Words and Phrases Use connective words and phrases to show relationships. Something as sim- ple as too, then, but, however, on the other hand, yet, because, after, as a result, also, besides, while, and next can move your essay along. I like Facebook because it gives me a way to make friends around the world. As a result of my having a Facebook account, I was invited to visit a friend in France. Methods of Development 35 Repeated Keywords To keep the readers on track, it can help to repeat keywords. You have to be careful, though, not to overdo it or you will lose your readers. Being intelligent is rewarding. Being popular is fun. Being both is a great combination. Pronouns and Demonstrative Adjectives Pronouns stand in for nouns and, so, prevent the monotony of repeating those nouns. Demonstrative adjectives (this, that, these, those) also help hook ideas together. I always have great thoughts, but these never seem to be available for an exam. Parallelism With pronouns and demonstrative adjectives, you need to be sure the refer- ence is clear and that the replacement agrees in number and gender with the noun. If you say, “Paul waited, but when Tommy was late he got upset,” it’s not clear who is upset. It is clearer to say “Paul waited, but he got upset when Tommy was late.” Fallacies A major danger in writing (and thinking) occurs when you fall prey to what are termed logical fallacies. There are eight commonly accepted logical fallacies: Hasty Generalization. Drawing a conclusion from too little evidence. (The teenagers I work with do as little as possible, so I know that young people aren’t hard workers.) Stereotyping. Attaching supposed characteristics to a group. (Surfers are all irresponsible.) 36 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Either/Or. Assertions that only two options exist. (Either you buy a car or you can’t go to the school across town.) Begging the Question. Arguing that a claim is true by repeating that claim in other words. (You should drive 65 miles per hour on the freeway because that is what the law says, and the law is the law.) Ad Hominem. Attacking the person rather than the position. (Dianne’s new business idea will never work because she never got a college degree.) Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc. Claiming that one thing caused another thing when there may be no connection. (I fell asleep doing my home- work, so homework makes people sleepy.) Faulty Analogy. Assuming that if one thing resembles another, conclu- sions made on one apply to the other. (Well, the plane model worked in the wind tunnel, so that plane will fly.) Slippery Slope. Pretending that one thing inevitably leads to another. (We can’t reduce our military budget. The whole world will think we are a weak country.) It’s important to avoid these fallacies, since they considerably weaken your effectiveness. Method Examples Choosing your method of development allows you to more clearly see your goal: a well-written, first-class essay. Your method also helps you shape your thesis statement. Following are examples of how one fact can be used to create different thesis statements depending on the direction you want your essay to take. We’ll start with a fact (which cannot be a thesis statement because there is no controlling idea). Then, you’ll see how, with a little tweaking, you can create an appropriate thesis statement for each method of development. Fact: I went to Disneyland last weekend. Narration. Tell the story of what happened and how it was unexpected. We had an unexpected adventure when we went to Disneyland. Methods of Development 37 Description. Pick three sights and show how they were unexpected. Disneyland presents so many unexpected sights. Comparison/Contrast. Pick three things and show how they were and how they have changed, and why that matters to you. Disneyland has certainly changed since I ﬁrst went there ﬁve years ago. Cause and Effect. Tell how Disneyland’s methods have caused these changes. Disneyland has changed the way most theme parks operate. Process. Show what you need to do. With a little careful planning, you can make your trip to Disneyland successful. Argument/Persuasion. Be aware and mention why some think the trip is not beneficial and then show how these objections might be incorrect. Although some may not agree, the cost of a trip to Disneyland can be well worth it. Practice Methods of Development To check how well you can identify the various methods of development, identify which type of essay each of these thesis statements sets up (narra- tion, description, process, comparison/contrast, cause and effect, or argu- ment/persuasion), and underline the key word(s) in each that lead(s) to your decision. See the Answer Key at the end of this book for the correct answers. 1. It’s difﬁcult to decide which type of exercise program is best. 2. Schools should do more to develop students’ physical development. 3. I will always remember the sights and sounds of my ﬁrst baseball game. 4. Exercising can change your life in more ways than one. 38 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step 5. By learning these simple steps, you too can develop an effective exercise program. 6. I discovered that playing sports involves more than skill. Next Steps As you can see, the goal of your essay influences which method of develop- ment you use. The deciding factors remain—what do you want to achieve and how can you best do so? Appendix A: Checklists for Specific Essay Types will help you not only with the methods of development described here but also with essays that focus on particular themes, including book reports, standardized test essays, and college application essays. Once you’ve decided which method fits your needs, you’re ready to take the next step—creating an outline for your essay. 4 Form a Plan: Outlines Step 3: Develop Your Outline A+ Essay Step 7 Proofread Step 6 Revise and ﬁnalize Step 5 Prepare for your ﬁnal draft Step 4 Write your ﬁrst draft Step 3 Develop your outline Step 2 Choose your method of development Step 1 Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Foundation 39 40 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Once you have chosen a topic and method of development for an essay, you’re ready to write, right? Not quite yet. You need a plan—an outline—so you can present your ideas clearly and coherently. This chapter discusses all three outline forms and how they help bring your ideas together to create the first draft of your essay. Covered in This Chapter □ Formal topic outline. Uses key words or phrases to list the progres- sion of your essay. □ Sentence outline. Lists the key points and the topic sentences for the developmental paragraphs of your essay. □ 1-2-3 outline. Includes the thesis statement and three key points to discuss. □ In-class essay exam. Uses an abbreviated 1-2-3 process to organize your answers. What You Need to Know An outline indicates your plan for showing: Your thesis statement The three main points of your essay The details supporting those points There are three types of outlines: Formal topic Sentence 1-2-3 Often teachers require an outline to be handed in with the essay. They generally want a formal topic or a sentence outline showing each step you took to develop the essay. But, even if not required by the teacher, a good outline will keep you on track and make the whole writing process easier. Also, learning to outline your ideas, whether for a paper, for a talk, or just to get your ideas in order, will be a valuable asset both in school and in other areas of your life. Form a Plan: Outlines 41 What You Need to Do At first, developing an outline may be somewhat difficult, but the process becomes easier the more you do it. Sorting out your ideas and then re- sorting them and organizing them into the most effective format takes time and thought. Once you have completed your free writing, conducted your research, and determined the approach (method of development) for your essay, use the clustering technique discussed in Chapter 2 to go through your notes and see how ideas cluster. Then, do it again. This will help you discover the main idea you want to discuss, which then becomes your thesis statement. Next you can group your supporting information under the following major outline divisions. Remember, your thesis statement is always the key starting place for your essay—and your outline. Extra Help The most common way to organize details in an essay is chronological order, but other ways to consider are: Order of importance. Either from least important details leading to most important or most important details to less important. The latter has greater impact. Cause and effect. Describing the cause of a problem and the effects that resulted from the problem. Order of location. Arranging details in the order in which you encounter them, such as describing the paintings in a room in a museum from left to right. Formal Topic Outline A formal topic outline uses keywords or phrases to list the progression of your essay. Formal topic outlines are rarely used for a writer’s own purposes, but since they often are requested by teachers, it’s worthwhile to know what they are and how they should be presented. A standard formal topic outline takes this form: I. Introduction II. 1st Point A. Supporting details for 1st point 1. Supporting details for A a. Supporting detail for A.1 b. Supporting detail for A.1 42 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step 2. Further supporting details for A a. Supporting detail for A.2 b. Supporting detail for A.2 3. Further supporting details for A B. Further supporting details for 1st point III. 2nd Point The most important items you are covering in your paper are those at the far left of your outline. In the previous example, these would be the Intro- duction, 1st Point, 2nd Point, and so on. Alert For each 1 you need a 2, and for each A you need a B. If there is only one item, there’s no need to make a numbered or lettered entry—as in II.A.3. in our formal topic outline example (no a. or b. needed, because only one point is made). Let’s take a look at an actual formal topic outline. Say the prompt given by the teacher is “Should physical education be mandatory in school?” Your thesis statement might be “PE should be mandatory in school,” which would be stated at the end of your introductory paragraph. A portion of your for- mal topic outline would look like this: I. Introduction II. Mental benefits of PE A. Rests mind 1. Opens mind a. Absorbs more b. Retains more 2. Brings relief a. Rests b. Time to understand B. Future benefits This outline would certainly be sufficient, but you would still have to come up with topic sentences and more information. Form a Plan: Outlines 43 Sentence Outline A more complete outline, and often a more useful one, is the sentence out- line. Creating it takes a little longer, but when you’re finished, it almost writes the paper for you—almost. Here is an example of a sentence outline, using the same thesis statement as earlier, “PE should be mandatory in school.” I. Introduction II. PE offers some real benefits beyond exercise. A. Taking a break can clear the mind. 1. A rested mind can absorb more. 2. A rested mind can also retain more. B. Exercising the body brings relief to the whole system. 1. Exercise helps renew attention. 2. Exercise gives time to understand. III. PE offers benefits in the future also. Notice that in the formal topic outline, there are no periods, because the items are not sentences. The sentences in your sentence outline are the topic sentences for the paragraphs of your essay. (See Chapter 5 for more on topic sentences.) Extra Help A topic sentence, usually the ﬁrst sentence in each developmental paragraph, has the same structure as the thesis statement. It requires a subject and a controlling idea, which you will develop in that para- graph. So, the thesis statement gives the subject and controlling idea for the whole essay, while the topic sentence gives the subject and con- trolling idea for each developmental paragraph. 1-2-3 Outline Often, a formal topic or sentence outline is not appropriate for your needs. Three situations where a formal topic or sentence outline might not be needed are: An outline is not required. You have to write an essay in class or under exam conditions. You feel you know what you want to say and don’t need an outline. 44 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Even in these situations, you still need some kind of plan to organize your thoughts. This is where an informal outline, called the 1-2-3 outline, can be your best choice. The process of building the 1-2-3 outline is invalu- able for both in-class essays and those you do outside of class, and it will give you the foundation for your first draft. In-Class Essays These can be daunting. You haven’t had time to think about the subject and you may feel you don’t even know what you do, in fact, know. Remember, everyone else is in the same place. The worst thing you can do is start writ- ing immediately. Take a few minutes to go over the ideas in your mind. Then see if you can come up with three things to discuss in your essay. Write them down. That’s important; you think you’ll remember, but actually see- ing those ideas will keep you on track. With those three ideas, you’ve just developed an abbreviated 1-2-3 outline, and it will give you the direction for what you want to say. Let’s look at our PE question, “Should PE be mandatory in school?” You decide the answer is that it should be mandatory in school. You could write down your thesis statement, “PE can be very beneficial to most students” and these three points: 1. Relax mind 2. Relax body 3. Future beneﬁts Now you’re ready to write a coherent essay because you know where you’re going. At-Home Essays When your essay is a homework assignment (rather than an in-class assign- ment) you have more time to carefully develop and write your essay, but usu- ally not as much time as you want. This is where the 1-2-3 process can help you make the best use of your time. Start with your thesis statement and think of three things that will prove your assertion. Then, list the topic sentences you will use to develop each idea. Often that can be enough to get you started. You can go a step further, Form a Plan: Outlines 45 and list the three points you want to make in each paragraph. You’ll wind up with something like this: PE can be beneﬁcial for most students. (thesis statement) PE has certain physical beneﬁts. (topic sentence for 1st developmental paragraph) PE also has mental beneﬁts. (topic sentence for 2nd developmental paragraph) PE, moreover, has future beneﬁts. (topic sentence for 3rd develop- mental paragraph) In-Class Essay Exam It is important to realize that an essay exam is not an essay. In an essay exam you are required to answer a question. Answer the question in the first sen- tence and list the three points you will use to develop your answer. When you answer the question in the first sentence, the teacher sees that you know the answer. In the rest of the answer, you develop the three points you’ve listed, and you’re almost through. A final sentence ends the answer. Whether your answer needs to be one paragraph or several, the format would be the same. What if... Instead of presenting you with a question the teacher tells you to dis- cuss a topic, such as “Discuss the symbolism in Hemingway’s ‘Hills Like White Elephants’?” Turn the topic/prompt into a question: “How does Hemingway use symbolism in this story?” Your ﬁrst sentence might be: Hemingway uses symbolism in “Hills Like White Elephants” to show the state of the world, the problem for the man, and the prob- lem for the woman. Now you have a clear structure to write a clear answer. 46 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step Practice Outlines Now that you’ve learned how to start with an outline and develop an essay— or a paragraph—let’s practice creating a brief 1-2-3 outline. Read the nar- ration paragraph here and fill in the blanks in the outline template that follows. See the Answer Key at the end of this book for one possible result. I’ll always remember Amsterdam. My Mom and I spent three days in Amsterdam and did most of the tourist things. We visited the Van Gogh Museum and were quite impressed. We stopped at shops and headed to the Anne Frank House. Seeing that was a remarkable expe- rience. But what happened next was more memorable. As we walked, my Mom tripped and fell into the canal. And she doesn’t swim. For- tunately, I do. I jumped in, grabbed her by the shoulders, and swam her back to the wall, where several people helped us out of the water. Mom said she was very, very glad I had been there to save her life. I. (topic sentence) A. (1st point) B. (2nd point) C. (3rd point) II. (conclusion) Next Steps Now that you have learned how to create an effective outline, let’s start using it to actually write an essay. The next step is your first draft. 5 Craft Your First Draft Step 4: Write Your First Draft A+ Essay Step 7 Proofread Step 6 Revise and ﬁnalize Step 5 Prepare for your ﬁnal draft Step 4 Write your ﬁrst draft Step 3 Develop your outline Step 2 Choose your method of development Step 1 Narrow your focus and determine your thesis statement Foundation 47 48 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step If you’ve followed the previous steps in this book, you know how to choose a topic to discuss, decide on the method of development for your essay, and develop an outline. Next comes the fun part—writing your first draft. In this chapter you’ll learn to effectively develop each key element of your essay. Covered in This Chapter □ Title. Here is the ﬁrst chance to grab your readers’ attention. □ Introductory paragraph. This paragraph introduces your topic, sets the tone for the essay, and ends with your thesis statement. □ Developmental paragraphs. These paragraphs in the body of your essay lay out and support your key points and begin with a clear topic sentence that conveys the idea of its paragraph. □ Concluding paragraph. This paragraph ends the essay with your ultimate goal achieved or question answered. What You Need to Know The standard essay assigned in many classes is generally five paragraphs (approximately 500 words) long and consists of these elements: Title. Designed to capture the readers’ attention Introductory paragraph. Three to five sentences ending in a clear the- sis statement Three developmental paragraphs. Each with a clear topic sentence and three points, with two to three sentences per point and a concluding sentence Concluding paragraph. Two to three sentences wrapping up your ideas, restating your thesis statement in a new way, giving a brief sum- mary, leaving your readers something to think about, or calling your readers to an action Alert The number of sentences noted in the previous list for developmental paragraphs may seem like a lot. It’s perfectly acceptable to make your point effectively with fewer sentences, as long as you have no mini- mum word count requirement. However, most essays assigned in class do have a required minimum word count—and the teachers do count the words. Using the formula shown will usually bring you to the 500–1,000 word count. Craft Your First Draft 49 What You Need to Do Now the fun part. Since you will be rewriting this essay in a final draft later, for this first draft you can write quickly and not worry about how smooth or how complete your paper is. The important thing is to get your ideas down so you can see them and, later, improve on them. Once you have done this, you will be much more relaxed and not as nervous about the assignment, since you’ve already got some ideas. In this chapter, we’re going to build a first draft, using the 1-2-3 process. We’ll continue with the topic of whether PE should be mandatory or is valu- able in school, using the thesis statement and three points we established in the previous chapter: PE can be beneﬁcial for most students. Physical Mental Future Since we’re advocating action or trying to change our readers’ minds, this will be an argument/persuasion essay. Title Titles matter. Readers see them first, and they often buy a book or read an article—print or electronic—if the title catches their attention. What You Need to Know Publishers have teams of people working weeks, sometimes months, to come up with the best title for a book. That’s great for them, but you won’t have that kind of time, nor are you trying to sell a book to millions of readers. So don’t worry about finding the perfect title. Do give it a fair amount of thought, though, so you choose a title that captures both your readers’ atten- tion and the essence of what your essay is about. 50 Easy Writing Skills Step-by-Step What You Need to Do To produce a good title: Find the common theme in the essay. If you write an essay about Hawaii, but the main focus of the essay is surfing in Hawaii, then “Surf Hawaii” would be an appropriate name. Keep the title succinct. You have about three seconds to capture the readers’ attention, so a title of two to five words is ideal. Keep the title relevant. The title should accurately reflect what the paper is about. Choose a title that fits the tone of your paper. If it’s a humorous essay, then a light and funny title would be a good choice. Do not give away too much or the readers may not read on. “Float- ing in Hawaii” is more intriguing than “What I Learned on My Trip to Hawaii.” Avoid being too general. “There Is a Lot to See at the Mall” is too broad. Better would be, “The Surprising Mall.” Extra Help The title stands alone. Do not use it to start the essay. And consider writing your title last, after you’ve fully developed your essay and what you want to say. Introductory Paragraph The introductory paragraph is generally three to five sentences. It lays the foundation for the developmental and concluding paragraphs that follow. What You Need to Know Similar to the goal of a good title, your introductory paragraph needs to grab readers’ attention so they will want to read on. And though you know your teacher will read on, an effective introductory paragraph will engage both your teacher and an audience, and your readers will tend to be more open to what you have to say in the rest of the essay. Craft Your First Draft 51 Extra Help Like the title, some people write their introductory paragraph (or the introduction to a book) last, but you’ll need at least a working thesis statement to give direction to your essay. What You Need to Do If you begin an essay with, “In this paper I am going to write about...,” you’ve already bored your readers and they won’t want to go on. In this example, to get the readers on our side, we’ll start the introductory para- graph with a story that many readers will identify with, a story that is sui

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