Prewriting Worksheet By: - Writing Tutors · PDF filePrewriting Worksheet By: _____ Section I...

Prewriting Worksheet

By: _________________________________________________

Section I – About You

Prewriting for a college essays involves gathering information that can be used to strengthen the essay and then organizing that information so that it is easier to use. Read each of the prewriting steps below and then write your responses.

1. Your Personality – Imagine that you are revealing your innermost self to someone. What adjectives would you use to describe yourself? What would you reveal about your dreams, passions, and aspirations? What would you say about your values and viewpoints? Describe yourself below. Use extra paper, if necessary.

What five adjectives best describe you? Why?

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2._______________________________________________________________________________

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What are you most passionate about? Why?

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What five things do you want to accomplish most in your life? Why?

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What are your five strongest values or beliefs?

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2._______________________________________________________________________________

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3._______________________________________________________________________________

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2. Your Relationships - Talk to people who know you well, and ask them to describe you. Include your parents, adult guardians, family members, friends, and teachers. Then, use the following chart to write down what you learned. Use extra paper, if necessary.

Name: Relationship (parent, friend, teacher, etc.):

Comments:

3.Your Experiences – Recall the best, worst, most exciting, and most challenging moments of your life. Remember the events and places that have played major roles in your life. Be descriptive. Include key details. Don’t self-edit. Write it as you know it. Use extra paper, if necessary.

List the five most exciting experiences of your life and what made them exciting:

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Describe the five worst experiences of your life:

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List the five most memorable places you have visited and explain why they were memorable.

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Section II – Make Connections

In Section I of this worksheet you recalled, collected, and wrote down information about yourself. You may not realize it, but nearly everything you have done in your life has been determined by your personality, your relationships, and your experiences; in other words, all the things you wrote about in Section I. A great college essays reveals a student’s ability to make reasonable connections between the various aspects of his or her life. Carefully review each of the lists that you made in Section I of this worksheet. Then use the following charts to identify ways in which your personality, relationships, and experiences have shaped your life. Finally, write a story about yourself, your beliefs and your relationships.

A: Successes

B: Failures

C: Great Experiences

D: Books

E: Life Lessons

F. A Story about Me

Now that you have identified ways in which your personality, relationships, and experiences have shaped your life, it’s time to use that information to write about yourself. In the space that follows, write a short story about an important event in your life. Use the “Making Connections” charts to help you focus on experiences, people, and ideas that are related to that event. Use extra paper, if necessary.

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Section III – Getting Organized

By now you’ve got a pretty good idea about the people and experience that have shaped your life and about how your beliefs and aspirations have contributed to your successes, and yes, your failures. Now it’s time to start organizing that information. Many writers use outlines to put their information into a clear and easy to follow format.

Earlier, you learned that there are three types of college essay questions: “You”, “Creative”, and “Why Us”. Each type of essay requires a different type of outline. However, all three types of outlines should lead to an essay that includes three basic elements:

• A strong opening in which you grab the reader’s attention. Why should s/he keep reading?

• A “core” containing the essay’s key ideas and examples to support them

• A closing to remember that ties the essay together and answers the question: What lesson was learned?

You will learn more about these basic elements later. Use the following guides to help you write outlines for the three types of college essays.

“You” Essay Outline

Essay prompt:

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A great “You” essay is built around a strong personal anecdote. An anecdote is an interesting and emotionally compelling story about something that happened to you. An anecdote opens by setting the scene (for example: a description of the place where most of the action described in the anecdote occurs).

Star t your out l ine wi th a s c ene s e t t e r .

I. Opening:

• Scene Setter:_________________________________________________________________

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The core of your essay will contain the anecdote’s key details. Your outline should include several paragraphs containing these details. Remember to start each paragraph with a transition sentence that helps readers move smoothly from one part of the essay to the next.

II. Core Paragraph

• Transition/Opening Sentence:___________________________________________.

• Detail 1:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 2:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 3:____________________________________________________.

III. Core Paragraph II:

• Transition/Opening Sentence:_________________________________.

• Detail 1:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 2:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 3:____________________________________________________.

IV. Core Paragraph III:

• Transition/Opening Sentence:_________________________________.

• Detail 1:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 2:____________________________________________________.

• Detail 3:____________________________________________________.

Your closing paragraph should leave your readers satisfied, excited, and thoroughly interested in getting to know you. A strong closing involves an action or realization that takes place in a specific location. This closing scene ties together the essay’s key details. The essay should end with a “kicker”: a clever, emotional, or thought-provoking sentence.

V. Closing paragraph:

• Closing scene:______________________________________________________________________

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• Realization:________________________________________________________________

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• Kicker:___________________________________________________________________

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“Creative” Essay Outline

Essay prompt:

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A “Creative” essay reveals the students ideas, ambitions, values, and other aspects of his or her personality. “Creative” essays allow students to show their ability to think imaginatively. They may require a student to discuss a favorite book, describe a solution to a problem, or just write about whatever comes to mind. Like the “You” essay, a great “Creative” essay may be built around an anecdote. However, in a “Creative” essay, the emphasis is on ideas and not events

Star t your out l ine wi th a s c ene s e t t e r or thes i s that o f f e r s a so lu t ion to a prob l em des c r ibed in the e s say prompt ( fo r example , your r e sponse to the ques t ion : “I f you cou ld be any animal , what would you be and why?”) .

I. Opening:

• Scene setter/thesis ________________________________________________________

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The core of your essay will contain an thorough explanation of the answers or ideas expressed in your opening. Your outline should include several paragraphs containing these ideas and details that support those ideas. Remember to start each paragraph with a transition sentence that helps readers move smoothly from one part of the essay to the next.

II. Core Paragraph

• Transition/Idea Sentence:___________________________________________.

• Supporting detail 1:____________________________________________________.




• Transition/Idea Sentence:_________________________________.









The closing paragraph of a “Creative” essay should bring together the essays key ideas into a single, cogent argument supporting the introductory thesis. The essay should end with a “kicker”: a clever or thought-provoking sentence that leaves little doubt about the strong intellect and deep creativity of the student.


• Closing statement _________________________________________________________

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• Kicker:___________________________________________________________________

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“Why Us” Essay Outline

Essay prompt:

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In a “Why Us” essay, a student explains why he or she chose a certain school or career. These essays require that a student express a deep knowledge about the school or career and so the essay outline should emphasize the expression of that knowledge. “A Why Us” essay must also make a compelling argument for why a given school or career is the best choice for the student.

Star t your out l ine by d i s cuss ing why a par t i cu lar s choo l o r care er i s a t t ra c t iv e to you . You may use an anecdo t e about the s choo l o r care er or take a more d i r e c t approach in which you s imply s ta t e thre e or four r easons fo r your cho i c e ( example : Columbia Univer s i t y ’ s ou ts tanding program in ra t iona l metaphys i c s i s a no-bra iner fo r any s tudent wish ing to g e t l ead ing edge t ra in ing in h igh- l ev e l , l og i c -based exis t en t ia l ph i lo sophy . )

I. Opening:

• Scene setter/reasons ________________________________________________________

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The core of your essay should contain a thorough explanation of the ideas expressed in your opening. It should include several paragraphs containing these ideas and details that support those ideas. Remember to start each paragraph with a transition sentence that helps readers move smoothly from one part of the essay to the next.

II. Core Paragraph

• Transition/Idea Sentence:___________________________________________.














The essay’s closing should make a strong final argument linking the student’s ideas about the school or career with the student’s fitness for that school or career.


• Closing argument _________________________________________________________

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