Part Three
Chapter 16
Techniques for Writing
Writing is a way of discovering ideas as well as a way of
Inside This Chapter
expressing them. Therefore, few writers are able to make their
Begin here to navigate through each
ideas and words work together perfectly on the first try. Most
section.
writers produce several drafts, or experimental versions, of a piece
of writing before arriving at a final draft. As you write your drafts
1. Your Writing
and move toward a final one for each of your writing projects, you
2. Limiting a Topic
3. Writing Topic Sentences for
will be examining your own thoughts and developing skills for
Paragraphs
expressing them. Chapter 16 offers some techniques and tools for
4. Giving Examples and
use along the way. You will learn to
Explanations
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•
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explore topics by freewriting and clustering.
limit topics and use topic sentences.
clarify points through the use of examples and specific
language.
highlight organization with paragraph breaks and
transitional words.
keep your reader with you by writing thesis statements and
conclusions.
gain perspective by giving and receiving peer responses.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Using Specific Language
Making Paragraph Breaks
Using Transitional Expressions
Writing Thesis Statements for
Essays
Writing Conclusions for
Paragraphs and Essays
Giving and Receiving Peer
Responses
Fun With Grammar: Discovering
Standards: What's Good Writing
Return to Your Writing
Techniques for Writing: Your Writing
Think of an activity that you enjoy when you have time off from work and school.
What is it and what do you like about it? Don't write anything for a minute—just
picture yourself enjoying this activity. Now check the time and give yourself five
minutes for each of the following steps.
1. Write down everything that comes into your head about this leisure time activity.
Write fast; try to capture every thought that comes to mind. Don't stop to erase
anything or think. For example, a student whose topic is scuba diving starts this way:
Scuba diving is exciting you're in a whole new world underwater. Like like
outer space. Cant here anything exept my own breathe . .
Notice that he hasn't stopped to correct spelling or punctuation.
If your mind goes blank, just write your last phrase over and over until new words
come. You can wander off your topic and say outrageous things. Just write nonstop
for five minutes.
Now shake your wrists and relax before going on to the next step.
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2. Write the name of your leisure time activity in the center of a blank page and then
think of words or phrases (no sentences) that are keys to your thoughts about this
topic. Whenever a word comes into your mind, jot it quickly on the page. Surround
your topic with these words. When several thoughts are related to each other, put
them together in a cluster, and when a completely new thought comes, put it on
another part of the page.
For example, the student interested in scuba diving starts this way:
There are two rules: a) Don't try to write out each thought; just jot down a phrase
quickly and see what comes next. b) Don't reject any thoughts; they are all potentially
useful. When you are finished, check to see that related thoughts are close together in
clusters. Move any that need to be closer to each other.
Freewriting (step 1) and clustering (step 2) are ways of discovering what you want
to say and getting the writing process started. If your teacher or study group would
like you to develop this exercise into a longer paragraph or essay, apply the
techniques in this chapter to develop the ideas you've uncovered here.
Click here for an example of freewriting and click here for an example of clustering.
For further information about freewriting, clustering, and other forms of
brainstorming use the icon to the right
Techniques for Writing: Limiting a Topic
Once you have explored your ideas on a topic through freewriting or clustering (see
Your Writing) you are in a position to select which ideas you'd like to develop. That
means shifting your focus from the broad view to a narrower one. If you've been
exploring a topic in freewriting, you can circle one or two sentences or phrases and
put the rest aside. If you've been clustering, you can circle some clusters for focus and
ignore the others. There are three steps in limiting your topic:
1. Look for connections among the ideas you have recorded.
2. Let some ideas go for now.
3. Find a phrase that shows the connection among the ones you keep.
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The clustering sample below shows how a student moved from a starting topic,
football, to a limited one: the role that football has played in my education.
Apply this technique to your writing: Study your freewriting or your clustering for
ideas that are connected. If there are several connections, pick the one that interests
you the most. Circle the items you've chosen. Write a phrase that identifies your new
limited topic.
Techniques for Writing: Writing Topic
Sentences for Paragraphs
A paragraph is a sequence of sentences that cooperate in supporting one main point.
Sometimes that point is so obvious that it doesn't need to be stated, but often a
paragraph begins with a topic sentence that states the main point directly. Before you
can write a topic sentence, you must decide what you want to say and what you don't
want to say in your paragraph. In other words, you must first explore your starting
topic and then select your limited topic. The next step is to make a statement about the
limited topic. Keep these points in mind:
1. A starting topic is usually broad, stimulating many ideas.
2. A limited topic is narrow, connecting a few selected ideas.
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3. A topic sentence makes a statement about the limited topic.
For example, study this progression:
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Starting topic: Football
Limited topic: The role that football has played in my education
Topic sentence: If it hadn't been for football, I might never have taken school
seriously.
Note: A topic sentence is always a complete sentence expressing an idea about the
limited topic. It is not a title (What football means to me), or an explanation of the
writer's plan (I am going to tell you about the role football played in my education.)
The more clearly it focuses the reader's attention on the points covered by the
paragraph that the writer wants to make, the better.
Exercise A: For each limited topic below, select the two items that could serve as
topic sentences.
Limited topic: how to train a cat.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
This paragraph is about how to train a cat.
Before a cat learns anything, it first teaches its owner a lesson in humility.
Everything you wouldn't have thought to ask about training a cat.
Training a cat takes physical stamina.
Animal training is a complicated subject.
Limited topic: changes in patients as they settle into convalescent homes
1. Americans are learning how to grow old gracefully.
2. The outside world seems to shrink when seen through the window of a
convalescent home.
3. Closing up a home and moving to a small room can make even an extrovert
turn inward.
4. It is important to look at the changes in patients' attitudes as they settle into
convalescent homes.
5. The increasing delight in daily conversation as patients become accustomed to
life in a convalescent home.
Limited topic: scuba diving
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
The excitement of scuba diving.
My childhood fascination with scuba diving.
It is very interesting to experience scuba diving.
The sport of scuba diving has always excited me.
Since I was a child, I've been fascinated by scuba diving.
Answer:
HOW TO TRAIN A CAT:"
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Possible topic sentences are #2 and #4. (#1 merely announces the writer's plan, #3
is a title and not a complete sentence, and #5 is too general.)
"CHANGES IN PATIENTS:"
Possible topic sentences are #2 & #3. (#1 is too general, not mentioning
convalescent home, #4 relies too heavily on the vague word, "important," and #5 is
not a complete sentence.)
"SCUBA DIVING:"
Possible topic sentences are #4 and #5. (#1 and #2 are not complete sentences and
#3 relies on the vague word "interesting.")
Techniques for Writing: Giving Examples and
Explanations
Giving examples and explanations helps your reader understand what has led you to a
conclusion. Whenever you're writing, imagine a reader asking constantly, "What
makes you say that?" "What do you mean?" If you heard that question in
conversation, you'd probably answer, "Well, for instance. . . " and then you would
give an example. You need to give examples in writing, too. Here are some statements
that could lead readers to ask those questions:
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•
Fruit is good for you.
People who live together fight sometimes.
Reading enriches your life.
An example may offer further information, a general statement to a specific, or tell a
story. Its purpose is to tie your idea to other ideas that everyone recognizes, proving
that you know what you're talking about and encouraging your readers to stay on the
path of your thought.
Exercise A
Exercise B
Apply this technique to your writing: Look at the topic sentence you've written
about your leisure time activity. Support that main idea with examples and
explanations.
Techniques for Writing: Giving Examples and
Explanations
Exercise A: Support each statement below with examples and explanations,
adding one more item to each column.
Statement: Fruit is good for you
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Examples of good fruit
Explanations with further information
a. apples
a. contain roughage which helps to clean digestive system
b.
b.
Statement: People who live together fight sometimes.
Examples of
Explanations with specific details
things
they fight over
a. money
a. My roommate and I can't agree about how to divide the heating bill. She uses
more than half our heat by sleeping with the windows open.
b.
b.
Statement: Reading enriches your life.
Examples of
Explanations with stories
ways this works
a. by broadening
your range of
experience
a. Rita has never met an Indian, and until last summer, she'd never been out of
Ohio. But last spring she read Black Elk Speaks and began to see that Black
Elk's visions could help her understand her own life better. When she traveled
across South Dakota last summer. . . .
b.
b.
Answers for the above exercise may vary. Please compare yours with those of other
students. Your teacher may ask you to print out this exercise for class discussion.
Techniques for Writing: Giving Examples and
Explanations
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Exercise B: Add one sentence to each item below, giving examples to clarify the
words in italics. You may want to do this exercise with a partner or group.
1. I miss my family, but I know that when they join me here, I will be able to give
them the very best.
2. When you move to a new city, you will have to make many adjustments.
3. People shovel all sorts of things into their pockets without stopping to evaluate
what they really need.
4. It was hard for me to get an education because of my family's demands on my time.
5. Progress involves taking risks.
Answers for the above exercise may vary. Please compare yours with those of other
students. Your teacher may ask you to print out this exercise for class discussion.
Techniques for Writing: Using Specific
Language
General language describes large categories. Specific language describes small
categories or individual things and actions. In the diagram below, notice how the
language becomes more specific as your attention moves down the scale from general
towards specific.
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Exercise A: Identify the most specific word or phrase in each group by clicking on
it. Compare your response to the computer's response by clicking the "answer"
buttton.
1. hammer | tool | hardware
hammer
2. gems | diamonds | jewelry
diamonds
3. washing machine | electrical appliance | household convenience
w ashing machine
4. difficulties of the first year in college | problems in college | overscheduling the
first year of college
overscheduling the first year of college
5. buying a car | undertaking a major financial committment | accepting a burden of
independent life
buying a car
Writing has to strike a balance between specific and general language. Often a topic
sentence uses more general language than the sentences that support the topic
sentence:
Topic sentence: The sociable old moviehouse may be a thing of the past.
First supporting sentence: The jokes in the ticket line and the smell of popcorn are
no longer able to lure people away from the comforts of the home VCR. . . .
Specific details that refer to the five senses (like the smell of popcorn) convey ideas
vividly. The five senses are sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch (including motion),
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and they form the basis for most of our thoughts about the world. If you refer to
senses in your writing, you help readers to form an appropriate base on which to build
their understanding of the ideas you're discussing. That makes your job of
communicating and persuading much easier. Compare these two sentences:
The dean is in a bad mood today.
The dean is mumbling as he brushes past us in the hall and doesn't even nod when we
greet him.
The second sentence contains sound, sight, and motion details, and allows readers to
come to their own conclusions about the dean's mood.
Exercise B
Exercise C
Techniques for Writing: Using Specific
Language
Exercise B: When you click on each "sentence" button a sentence will appear in
the text area that can be greatly improved with the use of specific details. Highlight
and replace the words in ALL CAPS with appropriate details.
1.
Charlie IS TIRED.
2.
Gabriela IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CHILD IN THE FAMILY.
3.
Our motorcycle WAS SPEEDING DOWN THE ROAD.
4.
The air in the subw ays IS STALE.
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5.
Lois w alked CLUMSILY.
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