WRITING:WRITING:A TOOL TO EXPRESS A TOOL TO EXPRESS

YOUR KNOWLEDGEYOUR KNOWLEDGE

FUNDADESARROLLO, FUNDADESARROLLO,

February, 2007February, 2007

BEATRIZ MANRIQUE U.BEATRIZ MANRIQUE U.

THE SECOND STAGE OF

THE PROCESS

WORKING WORKING WITH THE WITH THE

FIRST STEP OF FIRST STEP OF THE PROCESSTHE PROCESS

PRE – WRITINGPRE – WRITING

• a. PURPOSE OF YOUR WRITING

• b. POSSIBLE AUDIENCE/READERS

POSSIBLE AUDIENCEPOSSIBLE AUDIENCE:Who will read my paper?

My teachers/colleagues?

Specialists?

Other students?

BASIC PURPOSESa. Explain (educate,

inform)b. Persuade (convince/

change reader's mind)c. Entertain (amuse)

WRITING AND REWRITING

Through: reviewing, replanning, revising…

OBJECTIVE:OBJECTIVE:

Write

first draft

• PRODUCE IDEASPRODUCE IDEAS

• LIMIT YOUR THEMELIMIT YOUR THEME

EXAMPLEEXAMPLE1. 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. 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 without pause for five minutes. For example, I started writing about what to teach in this course:

• As writing is an ability which is developed by practicing, it is necessary to satrt the course making sure the students has understood that thay have to dedicta time at home to practice and study the subjetc. It is also necessary to make clear they need to bring their written amterial to be corrceted in class by other class mates as well as by the teacher.

2. Write the name of your leisure time activity in the centre 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.

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.

• Once you have explored your ideas on a topic Once you have explored your ideas on a topic through free writing or clustering you are in a through free writing or clustering you are in a position to select which ideas you'd like to develop. position to select which ideas you'd like to develop. That means shifting your focus from the broad view That means shifting your focus from the broad view to a narrower one. If you've been exploring a topic in to a narrower one. If you've been exploring a topic in free writing, you can circle one or two sentences or free writing, you can circle one or two sentences or phrases and put the rest aside. If you've been phrases and put the rest aside. If you've been clustering, you can circle some clusters for focus and clustering, you can circle some clusters for focus and ignore the others. There are three steps in limiting ignore the others. There are three steps in limiting your topic: your topic:

1.1. Look for connections among the ideas you have Look for connections among the ideas you have recorded. recorded.

2.2. Let some ideas go for now. Let some ideas go for now. 3.3. Find a phrase that shows the connection among the Find a phrase that shows the connection among the

ones you keep.ones you keep.

DRAFT SHOULD REFLECT PURPOSE

ANDAUDIENCE

WRITING DRAFT:WRITING DRAFT:

FOCUSES PRIMARILY

ON WHATWHAT THE WRITER

WANTS TO SAY.

Exercise A

1. For each limited topic below, select the two items that could serve as topic sentences.

A. Limited topic: how to train a cat. • 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.

Exercise AB. Limited topic: changes in patients as they

settle into convalescent homes:• Americans are learning how to grow old

gracefully. • The outside world seems to shrink when seen

through the window of a convalescent home. • Closing up a home and moving to a small room

can make even an extrovert turn inward. • It is important to look at the changes in patients'

attitudes as they settle into convalescent homes. • The increasing delight in daily conversation as

patients become accustomed to life in a convalescent home.

• Choosing a topic sentence helps Choosing a topic sentence helps to focus the topic still further. to focus the topic still further.

• The topic sentence acts as a tool The topic sentence acts as a tool for organizing the rest of the for organizing the rest of the paragraphparagraph.

DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING:DISCUSS THE FOLLOWING:

READ THE FOLLOWING TSREAD THE FOLLOWING TS::• My high school football coach transformed My high school football coach transformed

a sport into a powerful mental discipline. a sport into a powerful mental discipline.

• The lessons I learned from playing high The lessons I learned from playing high school football prepared me for the school football prepared me for the challenges of college. challenges of college.

• If it hadn't been for football, I might never If it hadn't been for football, I might never have taken school seriously.have taken school seriously.

Exercise B

• Apply this technique to your writing: Study a limited topic you have chosen as a result of free writing or clustering on a topic of your choice. What statement can you make about that topic? Write a topic sentence that could introduce a paragraph on that limited topic.

REWRITING:REWRITING:

FOCUSES PRIMARILY

ON HOWHOW TO SAY IT EFFECTIVELY.

DECIDE ON POINTS LIKE (1):DECIDE ON POINTS LIKE (1):

• Am I sharing my ideas clearly enough with my readers?

• Have I missed important points of information?

• Have I omitted a line of argument?• Is the vocabulary right?

DECIDE ON POINTS LIKE (2):DECIDE ON POINTS LIKE (2):

• Are some sentences too repetitive?

• Do I need to rearrange any of the paragraphs?

• Are the links clearly shown?