The 4-Step Writing Process - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

The 4-Step Writing Process

Analyze Your Purpose

Identify Your AudienceBrainstorm for Things to Say

Put Ideas in Logical ContainersMake an Outline

EditRe-WriteProof

Fill in the Gaps of the OutlineCome up with Rough Draft

Planning

Arranging

Revising

DraftingSlide2

Clustering

Hand/Mind

Fast

No lost thoughts

No mistakes

Spelling, punctuation grammar don’t matter

Why Cluster?

Creative

2 minutes

Easy

Not logical

All ideas at onceSlide3

A Technical Cluster Sketch

Introduction

Recommendation

Results

Pine Valley

Pollution Potentially High

City Water Study

Methods

Expensive to Drill

Bruce’s Basin

Large Factory Plans to Drill Wells

Local Opposition

CriteriaSlide4

A Legal Cluster Sketch

Statute

3 recent cases

Client’s failure to report 2008

Ambiguities

This year’s trouble

New quarterly reporting

No state income tax

Income tax reportingSlide5

An Idea Tree

City Water Study

Introduction

Results

Recommendation

Criteria

Methods

Pine Valley

Bruce’s Basin

Aquifer

Pollution potentially high

Local opposition

Aquifer slow to change

Large factory plant to drill wells

Expensive to drillSlide6

Building Better ParagraphsSlide7

Introductory Paragraphs

Like roadmaps, they give your readers an overview of your document.Slide8

What is this?

Why am I reading it?

What do you want me to do?They do this by answering 3 questions:Slide9

Set the context

State why the main idea is important

State your thesis/claim

You answer by doing the following:Slide10

Forecasting Your Opening

First, I will define key terms for my argument, and then I will provide some background of the situation. Next, I will outline the important positions of the argument and explain why I support one of these positions. Lastly, I will consider opposing positions and discuss why these positions are outdated. I will conclude with some ideas for taking action and possible directions for future research.Slide11

Forecasting Your Opening

In deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.Slide12

Other Effective Ways of Opening

With a quotationWith an anecdote

With a questionWith a startling statementSlide13

Elements of Good Paragraphs

UnityCoherenceAdequate DevelopmentSlide14

Paragraph Unity

Includes a clearly stated topic sentence.

Creates unity by making all the other sentences logically related to the topic sentence.Slide15

Announcing Main idea in Topic Sentence

Our friendship was the source of much happinessand many memories. We danced and snapped our fingers simultaneously to the tunes of Lenny

Kravitz and Sheryl Crow. We sweated together in the sweltering summer sun, trying to win thechampionship for our softball team. I recall the

taste of pepperoni and sausage pizza as we discussed the highlights of our team’s victory. Once we even became attracted to the same person, but luckily we were able to share his

friendship.Slide16

Or getting your sentences to hold hands with each other by:

Paragraph CoherenceSlide17

Repeating Key Terms

Restating or

repeating key words helps make paragraphs coherent by reminding the reader what the topic is.Repetition is not redundancy, which is the unnecessary, unconscious and distracting repetition of material.Slide18

An Example of Repetition

In deciding this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court

will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court

determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.Slide19

Using Pronouns and Synonyms

In deciding

this case, a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide its scope.Slide20

Pronouns as Cohesive Devices

A weasel is wild. Who knows what he

thinks? He sleeps in his undergroundden, his tail draped over

his nose.Sometimes he lives in his den for two days

without leaving. Outside, he stalks rabbits,mice, muskrats, and birds, killing morebodies than

he can eat warm, and oftendragging the carcasses home.Annie DillardSlide21

Using Parallel Grammatical Construction

In deciding this case,

a court will consider three issues. First, a court will determine whether the statute applies. If it does not, the court will then determine

whether the Oregon Wilderness Watchers had an easement. If the court determines that an easement had been created, the court will then decide the scope of the easement.Slide22

Expressions like

however

, therefore, in contrast,

meanwhile, indeed,

at first, finally, and so forth create specific connections between sentences.

Use Transitional Words and PhrasesSlide23

Paragraph Development:

Moving from general to specific information

General Information: topic sentence

Focusing direction of paper:

tellingGetting more specific: showing

Supporting details: data

Conclusions & Brief Wrap UpAlso called warrantSlide24

Revising for Clarity, Conciseness, and EmphasisSlide25

Use Active Voice

Sentences: Subject Verb Object

Active Voice: Actor --->Action--->Acted Upon Sidney Lumet directed

The Verdict. I wrote the essay. I am writing the essay. I will write the essay. Slide26

Passive Voice

Sentences: Subject

Verb ObjectPassive Voice: Acted Upon <---

Action <---ActorThe Verdict was directed by Sidney Lumet.

The essay was written by me.The essay is being written by me.The essay will be written by me.

Slide27

Why Avoid the Passive?

Passive takes more words.Passive is not the way we normally speak.Passive is harder to remember and follow.Passive is impersonal and hides the actor of the sentence. Slide28

When You Want the Passive1. When the agent is clear from the context.

Students are required to take both writing courses.Slide29

When You Want the Passive

2. When the agent is unknown.

2. The comet was first referred to in an ancient Egyptian text.(We don’t know who wrote the text.)Slide30

When You Want the Passive

3. When the agent is less important than the action.

3. The documents were hand-delivered this morning.

3. The crystals were mixed in the lab.Slide31

When You Want the Passive

4. When a reference to the agent is embarrassing, dangerous, or inappropriate.

4. Incorrect data were recorded for the flow rate.Slide32

When You Want the Passive

5. When you want to help your readers move smoothly from one sentence to the next.

5. We must decide whether to improve business writing across the whole curriculum. This decision familiar information

will be influenced passive verb by the value we give to better communication.Slide33

BE LEERY OF FORMS OF THE VERB “TO BE.”

Avoid the Hamlet syndrome: using too many forms of “to be.”

Use active verbs instead of “is.”Slide34

Examples of

“To Be”:

The surgeon is in vigorousopposition to the procedure.The surgeon

vigorouslyopposes the procedure.Slide35

More Examples of “To Be”

They are still of the firm belief

that the advertising is misleading to consumers.They remain convinced that the advertising misleads consumers.Slide36

Avoid Nominalizations

Nominalizations are verbs made into nouns and adjectives ending in:

ion, ence, ance

, ity, ure, ery:

There was an affirmative decision for program expansion. The director

decided to expand the program.Slide37

Avoid Nominalizations for 3 Reasons

1) They create surplus words.

2) They require a form of “to be”—an empty verb.3) They make your writing abstract, indirect, and difficult.Slide38

More Nominalizations

The success of the project depends on the effectiveness of cost controls.

Feels passive. Why?

We will succeed with this project if we can control costs.Slide39

More

NominalizationsWeak: One

requirement for the installation of a new gate will be the relocation of the security office.

Improved: To install the new gate, we will have to relocate the security office.Slide40

More Nominalizations

Weak: Proper protection

for fiber is essential due to the difficulty of splicing the cable.Improved: Fiber must be protected due to the difficulty of splicing the cable.Slide41

Use Subjects to Name the Characters in Your Story.

Here’s a fairy tale with a moral:1a) Once upon a time, as a walk through the woods was taking place on the part of Little Red Riding Hood,

the Wolf’s jump out from behind a tree occurred, causing her fright.Slide42

Use Subjects to Name the Characters in Your Story.

1b) Once upon a time, Little Red Riding Hood was walking through the woods, when the Wolf jumped out from behind a tree and frightened her.Slide43

What’s Wrong with this Sentence?

Subjecta

walk through the woodsthe wolf’s jump out from behind a tree

Verbwas taking place

occurredSlide44

Improved

SubjectLittle Red Riding Hood

The WolfVerb

was walkingjumpedSlide45

The 7 Word Rule

Ignoring introductory phrases, underline the first 7 words in each sentence.Look for 2 things:

Those underlined words contain abstract nounsYou have to read at least six or seven words before you get to a verb.Slide46

The 7 Word Rule

3. If you find sentences like that:Decide who your cast of characters really are, particularly flesh and blood ones

Find the actions those characters performIf the actions are nominalizations, change them back into verbs.Make the characters the subjects of those verbs.Slide47

Do exercises on applying 7-word rule and passive voiceSlide48

Keeping Identical Ideas Parallel

Poor

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and the press is required to be unfettered. Improved

The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press.Slide49

Parallel Structure

Parallel Words: The jury weighed the evidence carefully, skillfully, and wisely

.Parallel Phrases: Domestic violence causes suffering not only to the victim of the attack but also to any children in the home.

Parallel Clauses: I’d like to settle the case after Ron does the voire dire but before

Tom gives the opening statement.Slide50

Parallel Structure

Unparallel: Our present system is costing us profits and reduces our productivity.Parallel:

Our present system is costing us profits and reducing our productivitySlide51

Parallel Structure

Unparallel: The client should follow her attorney’s advice; do not change her testimony.

Parallel: The client should follow her attorney’s advice and should not change her testimony.Slide52

Eliminating Surplus Words and Phrases

Be on the lookout for:

Meaningless WordsInefficient PhrasesStrings of Prepositional PhrasesSlide53

Delete Words that Repeat the Meaning of Other Words

Full and complete

Hopes and desiresHope and trustFirst and foremostTrue and accurateAny and allVarious and sundry

Basic and fundamental Slide54

Delete Meaningless Words

Some words are verbal tics that we use like throat clearing. Kind of basically

Actually generally Really practically Certain incredible Various awesome

VirtuallySlide55

Delete Meaningless Words

Productivity actually depends on certain factors that basically involve psychology more than any particular technology.

Productivity depends on psychology more than on technology.Slide56

Delete Meaningless Words

In my personal opinion, it is necessary that we should not ignore the opportunity to think over each and every suggestion offered.

We should consider each suggestion.Slide57

There are many difficult and demanding

scenes in this film by Lina Wertmuller, Swept Away (1975), which give the movie

an operatic quality.Lina Wertmuller’s Swept Away (1975) is a demanding, operatic film.Slide58

INEFFICIENT PHRASES

Inefficient Phrases

Efficient Equivalentsfor the sum of for

in the event that ifprior to the start of beforeConsensus of opinion consensusat this point in time now

due to the fact that becauseat an early date soon (or a specific date)at the present time nowin view of the fact that since, because

until such time as whenwe are of the opinion we believewith reference to aboutas a result of becauseSlide59

Strings of Prepositional Phrases

Too many prepositional phrases obscure the point of the sentence or force the reader to absorb too many points. Slide60

Working Words vs. Glue Words

Working Words 

Carry the meaning of sentence Glue Words  hold working words together to form proper, grammatical sentence.Slide61

Working Words vs. Glue Words

Example: The working words carry the meaning of the sentence.

Working, words, carry, meaning, sentence  working words

The, the, of , the  glue wordsSlide62

1

A Method to Excise Too

Many Glue WordsCircle the prepositionsCircle the “is” forms

Ask where’s the action? Who is kicking whom?Put the kicking action into a simple active verb.Mark off the sentence’s basic rhythmic units with a slash (/)

1 Lanham, Richard. Revising ProseSlide63

Example

In response to the issue of equality for educational and occupational mobility, it is my belief that a system of inequality exists in the school system.Slide64

The Sentence Diagrammed

In response/ to the issue/

of equality/ for educational and occupational mobility/ it is my belief that a system

of gender inequality exists/ in the school system.Slide65

Revised After Excising Prepositional Strings and Finding Active Verb

I believe that gender inequality exists in the schools. (9 words instead of 26)