Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic Introduction What to write about, and why? Generating...
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Transcript of Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic Introduction What to write about, and why? Generating...
Prewriting: Choosing a Subject and a Topic
Introduction
What to write about, and why?
Generating ideas
Narrowing your topic
Evaluating your topic
Writing a topic statement
Your Turn 1: Generate ideas and narrow a topic
Your Turn 2: Evaluate a topic and write a topic statement
Introduction Mari is writing a paper for English class when a friend asks her
What are you
writing about?
Okay, but what
about dogs?
Mari and her friend have just talked about both the subject and the topic of her writing.
DogsI’m writing about how to choose the right dog as a
pet.
IntroductionSubjects are broad and general, and can often be described in one or two words.
Why humans should continue to explore space
Space
Topics are narrower, focused subcategories of the subject.
History
Auto Racing
Family
African American soldiers in the Civil War
The growth of NASCAR’s popularity
My family’s best day ever
What to write about, and why?How do you choose a subject and topic for your writing? Your subject and topic can depend on
Purpose: convince my friends to volunteer
at the local animal shelter
+ Form: an article on the school Web site
Topic: why being an animal shelter
volunteer is right for you
• what you want to accomplish in your writing—your purpose
• the type of writing you want to create—your form
Subject: Ballet
Notice how your topic can be influenced by the form in which you plan to write.
What to write about, and why?
Descriptive essayCostumes for
The Nutcracker
Personal narrativeThe first time I saw a ballet performance
Informative reportThe history of our local
ballet company
Persuasive speechBallet dancers are
athletes, too
Generating ideas
Once you have a purpose and a form in mind for your writing, think of a subject and a topic by
• talking with a partner about things that interest you
• using a search engine to discover new topics
• paging through a newspaper or news magazine
• creating a cluster diagram to explore ideas
Generating ideas
Here’s how one student writer, Monica, used a cluster diagram to explore ideas for an informative essay about environmental problems.
airpollution
waterpollution
loss ofanimalhabitat
how you canhelp the
environmentEnvironmental
Problems
Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.
Narrowing your topic
Too broad!Topic: water pollution:
Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.
Narrowing your topic
Topic: water pollution:
1. Sources of water pollution
Narrower topics
Too broad!
Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.
Narrowing your topic
Topic: water pollution:
1. Sources of water pollution
2. Effects of water pollution
Narrower topics
Too broad!
Effects of water pollution
Is the topic you’ve chosen focused enough? You might need to narrow your topic so that you can cover it effectively in the space of your essay.
Narrowing your topic
Topic: water pollution:
1. Sources of water pollution
2.
3. Reducing water pollution
Narrower topics
Too broad!
Once you’ve got a focused topic, do a quick check before you start to write. Evaluate the topic by asking
Evaluating your topic
• Will this topic interest my readers?
• How much do I already know about this topic?
• Can I find additional information about this topic?
• Does this topic fit my purpose for writing?
yes, definitely
quite a bit
There should be a lot of information on it.
yes
Topic: Reducing water pollution
Write out a topic statement, one or two sentences that state your topic clearly. Use this topic statement to help you focus as you continue the prewriting process.
Writing a topic statement
Water pollution is an ongoing problem that affects all types of life. However, each individual can help protect water by doing a few small things to improve the environment.
Remember that the writing process is not a one-way street. You can always narrow, revise, or even change your topic later, if necessary.
Your Turn 1: Generate ideas and narrow a topic
Choose one of the following subjects or a subject of your own. Create a cluster diagram to break down the broad subject into possible topics. Make sure that you finish with at least one topic that is narrow enough for a school essay.
Wildlife Current events Sports
Hobbies Travel Health
Choose a subject and a topic for one of the following projects. Evaluate your topic with the evaluation questions below. Finish by writing a topic statement.
• Project 1: an entertaining story for children
• Project 2: a how-to article for the local newspaper
Evaluation questions: • Will this topic interest my readers? • How much do I already know about this topic?• Can I find additional information about this topic?• Does my topic fit my purpose for writing?
Your Turn 2: Evaluate a topic andwrite a topic statement
The End