30 Steering Clear of Plagarism
poliricians and his[Orians have learned Have more fairh in your abiliry [0
succeed on your own Even if you came inro college as a less-rhan-confidenr
wrirer you srill have rhings ro say You also have language wirh which [0
express yourself People will recognize your voice and come [0 respecr your
earnesr efforrs [0 make i r srronger
Theyll also quickly dereer if youre lip-syncing someone elses rune
Donr fool yourself in[O believing orherwise or pur your college career ar rhe
mercy of a Google search rhar mighr rum up half your paper on a highshy
schoolers home page Borrowing from whar orhers have wrirren because
youre insecure or desperare is n(ver rhe answer- ir can only aggravare a
problem If you wish your senrences were more eloquenr or smoorh spend
some rime in your local wriring cenrer or review Parr 2 Shaping Lanshy
guage If youre confused abour how to incorporare language from sources
in[O your wriring youll find ample guidance in Chaprers 24-25 If you are
unsure abour an assignmenr irself or maybe life go see your insrruc[Or or
an academic counselor
Welc ome
T b c llIn ~1 ~ III ~Id 1 IIi~ bull an I I t J(-tWl_~fmul IUIfI~~ tbt J L - 1 111 ~TllIII~t II 1a 1dn l-tae ~ fIi almllil- 1br ( 1 dI dnshydd-o bullbull ka b(IIIampIm ~lqmiddotI ~IIllmlflllW4l11 tv1 lh l~CtnI l ald lb ~ IIIIrlt_ lnII n lu to- r ~ ~I h h c-M I middotr~ lID middotrLfla l ~ -I pH1I l h tIOH II artdtt1 p r l It kt _~ bar ~ JdctltoIID middot11 l~ubull ~ aikmlt 111 ~~ p bull y ~ oIbt UIIIk l
l wu~nlOIksM II~ (ltt bull J~
1r 7I~tgtk I ~ c_k it l1 tf 1m middotI tDI bullbull H I4t =Lli rn l ( IIJ _4m r
klll ktnn I~ f-m mIlIJnb fIIob~ kIIIaf-d~ Ju I 1cL k U rrc- ~hJt a r 1111 IampKJlh cbt-I I n Q ~811~ _ gt - fuu l t~ e-anw h ~1( ltl~O _ d~
rro1ltli_-d Jl~
(JHDW t GET STAATID fIII~C4 fOl 81 _ 1m Acc 1- Prop_
Figure 41 You can read more abour effons ro promore honesry on college
campuses ar ltllIrpIaIJuem iuntlmiddotgritylltggt Find our your own school s policies
on scholasric inregriry How does ir define pitlgia-isJI1 coflwio17 or scholastic dishonesty Does your school have an honor code ~ I ~J
j
Creating a Structure
mulrimedia projecr youll need ro
Wharever you are crearing wherher irs a simple argumenr or a complex
find a srrucrure---a parrern of organizashy
tion thar makes your marerials cohere Simply pur a successful srrucrure
helps you decide what goes where Rcader~ will depend on your organizarion
ro move rhem from poinr ro point in rheir reading wherher you are leading
rhem along srraighr parhs (as in mosr repons or narrar ives) or suggesring
rh ar rhey blaze trails of rheir own (as in a Web sire or Wiki)
Sa Understanding Structure
You donr have ro invenr rhe organizarion of a paper a resume a repon or
anorher projecr every rime yo u begin a new one Insread you can look ro
models for principles of organizarion and design and rhen modifY rhem ro
fir your wriring siruarion In fact rhe besr way ro undersrand srruerure is
to examine how ir works in differen r si ruarions (See Figure 51)
Look for structures in models Begin a projecr by examining sucshy
cessful examples of rhe kind of wriring you hope ro produce Such models will usually rell you whar elemenrs should be included in a paper or a projecr
and how rhey mighr be arranged Some types of wriring arc rigidly organized
For example look ar rhe model business lerrers resumes and newslel(ers in
Chaprer 16 and rhe model research papers in Chaprers 27 and 28 Alrhough
these forms allow considerable variarion cerrain elemenrs musr be in place
before readers will recognize rhem For example a research paper needs a
ride an absrracr or inrroducrion headings a conclusion and a bibliography
Figure 51 Frank O
G lhrys Guggenheim
M useum Bilbao (Spain)
has been hailed as a
triumph of conremporary
archirec rure Irs unusual
srrucrure borh challenges
and delighrs visirors Bur
would such a strucrure
work well for a bank o r
shopping maW
I
31
________________________ ___
32 33 I Creating a Structure
Other rypes of writing may have fewer specific requirements but they also have strucrures you can imitate For example a news stOry rypically opens with a summary of facts answering the questions who what where when and how The story is arranged so that it can be CUt to fit the available space in the paper (or time on the air) so its final paragraphs will offer less crucial (but more detailed) information than its earlier ones Brochures and
Web sites vary in structure even more than news articles But both forms are designed to present information clearly and compellingly
To uain yourself to SpOt suucrural elements look for the characteristic ways in which any rype of text
D begins and ends
bull arranges its information (see Section 5-3)
o separa tes its information (for example with headlines headings lines spaces boxes)
connects its information (with transitional words and phrases bullets numbered lists) and
bull highlights its information (with special language typefaces pull
shy_- Qoo- __shy-~~------shy--_ _- ------_J _ __shy
~- === - _ ~~==- -~---a_-_
~~~~_ __ --- __
_ co_
S~SbrJmiddot MllIbullmiddot
__shy___ -- ---=shy--_-- ==-=- -- -shy=-_ shy---middotmiddot~-I-_ -
fM- _ 1Io__ __ lt_tolt _ ---- -__ - __ ____ _shy
Figure 52 Here is a template available in the
Project Gallery of Microsoft Word for a
newslerrer Would you be able on your own to
create the structural elements in this
newslerrer tirle head ings body What
wouldnt you be able ro manage so easily
quotes color)
Study the strategies authors use in telling stOries or making arguments Look at how instructions are given in textshybooks and owners manuals Study visual texts and Web sites to appreciate why information is placed where it is Make yourshyself conscious of the design in even the most ordinary forms of writing-in email messagesin memos in movie reviews Then transfer what youve learned to your own projects
2 Use dont abuse temshyplates A template is a graphic model or pattern offered to
writers to suggest what the shape of a project might be Some of these templates are no more than fill-in-the-blank forms others may be complex ready-made designs for reportS
_IIte I
II
II
t rll
~ Understanding Structure
or multimedia presentations You can find such templates right in your word processor or presentation sofrware In Microsoft Word for example a range of templates is available under the File menu in the Project Gallery (See Figures 52 and 53) or right off the ribbon in Office 2007 Ifyou own Office you can download even more templates from Microsoft Office Online
ll Jn middot II Ilt ny
~e~1wpicnn
fmeOf )lOU Can-gt ~ lh~~
rroI thlt tl(JoS
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~r~~Ja~~n~Itb~~
OucIl 11lmcrbcollt
atlClltorTIJ IIA~~ok
(lUOl 11lmJ htWf~~d bull
acl tcrn ~ne3J1~
Sir---middot
htvili)JlericK loCuld apptar ~r 1M ~oIofitJUterm piIpf1
Hmiddot l ll iJ~JH
~u~~s bwgt~ II-Pfleltll Gffuy loloefp~II eastf~~lItoIb~f1tol~PllPef Adltha~me ~IOOrlDoaNlle
IQI~_ ~C_ ) a_ai1IogtOCO-~I~WT
~-oAII- _ rlaquofEd tt blOIb -
_ (poooI bull q ~~er
-~ middot~111_ 00- - rJI ~ J ~
U -c (f UUII
I IrlfROOOCTIO H
IT CHAP 1fR iAIIIE OR IN IOU 1
m (HAp re A H~ 09 lAIN rm t
IV ~rllR rlAIlE Oq ~IHII)U J
V CHAPTE R NU~E OR lJIIIN IDE A II
VI CPT R NAe ORIMIH l[Ek )
JIIP PIoU 0
5E LECUO elEl IOCR-fHY
Oltt-fIoT -
IllUSTRA1 1lJ ~
II IlLU STR~TO t
III II -I)51IU T(l N )
I IWJ SlRAU)tl 4 0
V ILLU SlRAH m ~ 0
middot ~ ~rIT middotH~
TABd l 0
II IaE2
III fA8U ~ o
IV fA Bl E
V TIl eUS
Tmiddot ~middotmiddot ~ J- bullbull bullshy
lMlISlltAPII1IJIIP~1S ~ lbr ap tOOl ~ m~htftoModoD
Figure 53 Here are the templates
for a report available in the Project
Gallery of Microsoft Word They
offer enough structure [0 ger you started but provide no details
about arrangi ng the content of the
work Whar e1emenrs of [his
templ ate might not be useful [0
you writing a conventional report
34 bull Creating a Structure
A template shows yo u both what elements a project should include ~lncl how those elements can be arra nged Quite often yo ull be ofre red a range or options for each rype of writing you want to do Ckl11pia tes in rhe Microsoft
Gallery incl ude letters reS ljTll CS brochures newsleuers and mo re) Bec3usl
th ese patterns work electro nica lly they can a lso in cl ud( prokssion aliy
des igned graphics in full color which yo u ca n incorporlte in YOllr own docshy
umcllts So a template provides a rich rype of suucrure one that helps you
see the relatio nsh ip between words an d design in many kinds of documcnls
Even so yo u sti ll must provide th e content an d internal trucru re in
many of these templares Working with a tem plate of a lette r for example
yo u must decide how to organ ize marerial in the body of rhe lener givi ng the
material some logical s[[ucture (Sec Section 5a-3) Yo u also Wltlnt to bt Sllre
that the pattern of a template doesnt determin e what you end lip wri ting
Presentation software for example such as PowerPoint or KYnore has beell
roundly criticized fo r standardizing the routine of oral presentatio ns D iffnshy
ent people using these powerful llmiddotmplates (ld up producing rcporrs th at
seem remarkably p redictable and struourally si milar You can avoid having
yo ur project scm like a s[[uctural clone by thinking deeply abo ut the logic
of organization and then modifying the template to suit your own p urpose
t 3 Arrange information strategically Yo u don t need spccifi( modshy
els or templates to provid e guidelines for organization You can figure our I
structure just by considering in whar order the elemenrs of you r projcCl Ileed
to appear At least six possibilities J1lay compe te for yo ur a[[cnrion
Logical order You ll wa llt lJl llerial to follow a pa ttern that see ms
coheren t to your readers For ins tance you may decide to presenr in fo rshy
m ati on inductively (from particular cases to general concl us io n) o r
deductively (fro m general principles to particular cases) Even rhe simshy
ple division of a top ic into its parts can represent a logical orde r
Hierarchical order In m any cases youlJ need to arrange m are ri al
from most to leas t impo rtant o r vice versa Thar sequence represem5 l
hierarchy or ranking E~pecially impo rtant in electto ni c envi tonm ents
are hierarchi cal structures that break a topic or a concepr down from its
most general form (a Web sire ho me page) to more complex or detailed
subtopics In building a Web si te yo ud want to map out a hierarchi cal
structure to keep track of what information goes where
Chronological order 111 some cases a paper or project will fo ll ow a
sequence A narrative mighr m ove from hegi nnin to end a holv to
essay might move th ro ugh a sequence of stages slep Olle step 1110 step three and so on Order defined by genre In many cases th e strucrure of your writi ng
is decided hy precedent or profession al guidelines Lab reportS rtsearch
35Creating an Outline
reports resumes and scholarship applications have structures dictated
by co nventions that you alter at your own risk Order of importance or significance Yo ull often have to decide what
in format ion gets priority and where such prioriry information is posishy
rioned In some papers especially in arguments you may wanr ro m ake
your best points last so that readers will remember rhern In news sto ries
and on Web sites the m ost imporrant information usually comes ti rst
Order of interest Depending o n you r writing siruati on you m ay
need to consider how ro keep readers inre resred in your work T har
may mean forgoing the most logica l arrangement in o rder to present an
appealing or especially strong open ing section or page
T hese general principles of organ ization a re helpful in many cases but
yo u m ay recall more detailed patterns of organ ization such as process comshy
parison co ntrast cause-and- effect and problemsoluri l11 Fach of these
structu res may provide the organ izatio n for an entire essay or a single parashy
graph We outli ne several of these patterns in Section 1 d and provide modshy
els of them in Seerion 12b on structuting paragraphs
5b Creating an Outline
Many of us need a vis ual aid of some kind to help us imagine th form a
paper or project even a relatively small one m igh t take Some writers usc
diagrams or eve n clustering to give shape to their ideas (Sce Secrion 3a-2 )
But fo r m any others the bes t rool remains the outline wheth er its just a
scratch outline or a formal o ne generated by a wo rd-p rocessing program
~ Create a scratch outline Put yo ur thesis at the top of your page if
you already have one Then list any major points youve btcn considering for
the paper either as phrases or briefsentences H eres whar yo u mighr come up
with initially for a paper about changes in the way people are buying music
Thesis D ownloadi ng m usic over rhe Web will change ou r music-buying
habits fo rever
_ CDs an d tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song mJsic sites
have caught on _ College kids pioneered th e shari ng of music elec[[on ica lly of ~I l
illegally _ Musi c companies havent been able to co ntrol dec[[onic distribushy
tion of music fd es _ Electronic files downloaded ftom the Web can be used in many dil~
ferent wys burned o n CDs uploackd on COll1 puters ere
36 37 Creating a Structure
- Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music podcasts and video easy and convenient
- People dont wam Q buy songs in albums packaged by music
compames
- Why buy a whole CD when you juSt wam (Q listen w one or two good songs)
In this hm scratch the headings are just a random list of ideas You
could then modify or rearrange the items w pull out your main ideas and
subordinate other material panicularly any that might serve as illusrrations
and evidence Of course some poims might be dropped emirely Weve
boldfaced the key poims in this revised version of the initial scratch outline
Thesis Downloading music over the Web will change our music-buying
habits forever
- Music companies havent been able to control electronic distrishybution of music files - College kids pioneered the sharing of music electronically often
illegally
- People dont wam w buy music in albums packaged by music
companies - Why buy a whole CD when you JUSt wam w listen w one or tvvo
good songs -CDs and tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song music
sites have caught on - Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music easy and
convenient - Elecrronic files downloaded from the Web can be used the way
music lovers wam burned on CDs uploaded on computers etc
2 Make a formal sentence outline Some profess ionals recomshy
mend a formal or full semence outline because it compels a writer w think
a subject thwugh systematically and logically In a formal outline stateshymems are expressed in parallel semences with poims and subpoints careshy
fully arranged indemed and aligned The various numbers and leHers are also formatted-I A 1 a 1) a) (I) (a)-w indicate th e descending levels of
each poim and subpoint At every level (except the statemem of the thesis)
you need at least two poims Most word processors include auwmatic outlining functions that may
help you organize a project Almost any documem can be viewed in outline fo rm just by selecting th at option In outline view you can move items around easily w tryout differem arrangemems and panerns
Following is the general structure of a formal outline followed by a samshyple outline of a paper on artwork in prehiswric caves
Sl Framework of a Formal Outline
Creating an Outline
THESIS STATE THE THESIS FULLY AS A COMPLETE SENTENCE
l State the first major point in a complete semence A Give the first subpoim of l
1 This point develops subpoim A 2 This point develops subpoint A
B Give the second subpoint of I 1 This point develops subpoim B 2 This point develops subpoint B 3 This poim develops subpoim B
C Give the third subpoint (and so on) II State the second major poim in a sentence parallel in structure w the
first major point
Thesis Experts regard recently discovered wall paintings in the Chauvet cave as significant because the paintings challenge the history ofEuropean art and
reveal a surprising natural environment
1 Chauvet cave an challenges the history of early European art
A Chauvet an is older than work at Lascaux 1 Chauvet paimings are 30000 years old or older
2 Paimings at Lascaux are only 14000 years old B The paimings at Chauvet are bolder than those at Lascaux
1 Chauvet paimings show srronger line and more color comrast
than paimings at Lascaux 2 Chauvet drawings show greater depth and perspective
II Chauvet an reveals a surprising natural environment A Chauvet includes more images than later sites B Chauvet shows animals nOt previously seen in anciem art of that
regIOn 1 Art shows rhinos elephants owls 2 An includes an unknown humanbison figure
C Chauvet portrays rypes of animals differem from other sites
1 At Chauvet predawry animals dominate
2 At Lascaux game animals are featured III Chauvet encourages us to see prehiswric life as more artistically and
socially complex than expertS previously imagined
39
6 Drafting
Many monrhs before new auromobiles are inrroduced ro the public handshybuilt prorotypes are run thousands of miles on test tracks and isolated rural highways ro determine how well they work in real-world conditions You might think of a first draft of YOUt written work as the prorotype for your project-a rough item but one ready ro be examined by you your peers
and your editors Will it stand up
6a Gathering Materials
Once youve chosen a subject and a structure for a project youll usually have legwork to do before you can prepare a draft For some projects this work will involve plenty of reading and research-inquiries youll likely pursue in a library and online (See Chapter 22 on finding information) Or you might have ro develop a series of argumenrs to support the position staked out by your thesis (See Part 4 on writing argumenrs)
Dont think of such work as being something you do before you write You are already engaged in the writing process as you gather materials and take notes So the better your notes and summaties are (see Chapter 24) or the more carefully you record your impressions or keep track ofyour sources the sooner you will be able to produce a working prototype for your project
Pacing Yourself
~CO~
6b Getting Started Wltfl ~jt
Even ptofessional writers agree that serring those first words down on paper PODCAST
may be the hardest pan of any writing project and you may have the same problern wh ether youre preparing a term paper a resume or a new Web
page Begin by choosing a place to work and getting it organized find a SpOt away from distractions and near the rools youll need Then gather your materials and equipmenr (legal pad laprop books and so on) and adjust your chair and the light Try ro establish the same place to use every time you work on a project If possible set a regular time to write preferably when you are freshest and most creative
Establish goals and incentives to keep yourself working If youre a proshycrasti na tOr (and who isnt at times ) negot iate terms of engagement Agree thar you wont leave the room unri you get two pages written or promise yourself a movie if you fini sh your first draft by 5 PM To make progress dont agonize over your opening seerion or expect perfecrion at rllC start friting a first paragraph can be excruciating but you can waste a lot of time polishing it instead of JUSt moving ahead If you ncmt like yol[ start-up work lower your standards and go on You can revise everyshything later
As you write dont be shy about using material you generated ar earlier stages in the composing process For exa mple you might pull an entire paragraph from a successful freewriting exercise Copy and paste it inro your draft
Sometimes youll have a flash of insight about your ropic or think of a great image you might use When that happens dont be distracred or spend an hour searching for the perfect picmre on the Inrernet Instead write down your ideas in a journal or lea ve a voice message on your phone or PDA so you dont forget them-and then press on with the main task
Perhaps most importantly dont criticize or edit your work early on by complaining I hate this or This is awful Give yourself credit for having launched the ptoject And dont srop to correct your grammar and polish your senrence strucmre Save editing for later If you bog down in details early in the work you may lose your momentum
6c Pacing Yourself
W hen youre wo rking on a writing projecr draft a plan for managing your time Begin by breaki ng your work into manageable chunks so that you can set goals Instead of wa iting until you hwe time ro tackle the enrire project
Figure 61 Pro[Qtypes of possible future vehicles often appear at aU[Q shows
[Q test consumer reactions-rypically years before they manufacture the
prodLcL If consumer reaction is hostile rhe project may be cancelled or
heavily modified JUSt as you might redo a paper after showing it [Q your
readers In what other areas might you encounter pro[Qtypes and what has
yom reaction [Q them been
38
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
________________________ ___
32 33 I Creating a Structure
Other rypes of writing may have fewer specific requirements but they also have strucrures you can imitate For example a news stOry rypically opens with a summary of facts answering the questions who what where when and how The story is arranged so that it can be CUt to fit the available space in the paper (or time on the air) so its final paragraphs will offer less crucial (but more detailed) information than its earlier ones Brochures and
Web sites vary in structure even more than news articles But both forms are designed to present information clearly and compellingly
To uain yourself to SpOt suucrural elements look for the characteristic ways in which any rype of text
D begins and ends
bull arranges its information (see Section 5-3)
o separa tes its information (for example with headlines headings lines spaces boxes)
connects its information (with transitional words and phrases bullets numbered lists) and
bull highlights its information (with special language typefaces pull
shy_- Qoo- __shy-~~------shy--_ _- ------_J _ __shy
~- === - _ ~~==- -~---a_-_
~~~~_ __ --- __
_ co_
S~SbrJmiddot MllIbullmiddot
__shy___ -- ---=shy--_-- ==-=- -- -shy=-_ shy---middotmiddot~-I-_ -
fM- _ 1Io__ __ lt_tolt _ ---- -__ - __ ____ _shy
Figure 52 Here is a template available in the
Project Gallery of Microsoft Word for a
newslerrer Would you be able on your own to
create the structural elements in this
newslerrer tirle head ings body What
wouldnt you be able ro manage so easily
quotes color)
Study the strategies authors use in telling stOries or making arguments Look at how instructions are given in textshybooks and owners manuals Study visual texts and Web sites to appreciate why information is placed where it is Make yourshyself conscious of the design in even the most ordinary forms of writing-in email messagesin memos in movie reviews Then transfer what youve learned to your own projects
2 Use dont abuse temshyplates A template is a graphic model or pattern offered to
writers to suggest what the shape of a project might be Some of these templates are no more than fill-in-the-blank forms others may be complex ready-made designs for reportS
_IIte I
II
II
t rll
~ Understanding Structure
or multimedia presentations You can find such templates right in your word processor or presentation sofrware In Microsoft Word for example a range of templates is available under the File menu in the Project Gallery (See Figures 52 and 53) or right off the ribbon in Office 2007 Ifyou own Office you can download even more templates from Microsoft Office Online
ll Jn middot II Ilt ny
~e~1wpicnn
fmeOf )lOU Can-gt ~ lh~~
rroI thlt tl(JoS
0gt
~r~~Ja~~n~Itb~~
OucIl 11lmcrbcollt
atlClltorTIJ IIA~~ok
(lUOl 11lmJ htWf~~d bull
acl tcrn ~ne3J1~
Sir---middot
htvili)JlericK loCuld apptar ~r 1M ~oIofitJUterm piIpf1
Hmiddot l ll iJ~JH
~u~~s bwgt~ II-Pfleltll Gffuy loloefp~II eastf~~lItoIb~f1tol~PllPef Adltha~me ~IOOrlDoaNlle
IQI~_ ~C_ ) a_ai1IogtOCO-~I~WT
~-oAII- _ rlaquofEd tt blOIb -
_ (poooI bull q ~~er
-~ middot~111_ 00- - rJI ~ J ~
U -c (f UUII
I IrlfROOOCTIO H
IT CHAP 1fR iAIIIE OR IN IOU 1
m (HAp re A H~ 09 lAIN rm t
IV ~rllR rlAIlE Oq ~IHII)U J
V CHAPTE R NU~E OR lJIIIN IDE A II
VI CPT R NAe ORIMIH l[Ek )
JIIP PIoU 0
5E LECUO elEl IOCR-fHY
Oltt-fIoT -
IllUSTRA1 1lJ ~
II IlLU STR~TO t
III II -I)51IU T(l N )
I IWJ SlRAU)tl 4 0
V ILLU SlRAH m ~ 0
middot ~ ~rIT middotH~
TABd l 0
II IaE2
III fA8U ~ o
IV fA Bl E
V TIl eUS
Tmiddot ~middotmiddot ~ J- bullbull bullshy
lMlISlltAPII1IJIIP~1S ~ lbr ap tOOl ~ m~htftoModoD
Figure 53 Here are the templates
for a report available in the Project
Gallery of Microsoft Word They
offer enough structure [0 ger you started but provide no details
about arrangi ng the content of the
work Whar e1emenrs of [his
templ ate might not be useful [0
you writing a conventional report
34 bull Creating a Structure
A template shows yo u both what elements a project should include ~lncl how those elements can be arra nged Quite often yo ull be ofre red a range or options for each rype of writing you want to do Ckl11pia tes in rhe Microsoft
Gallery incl ude letters reS ljTll CS brochures newsleuers and mo re) Bec3usl
th ese patterns work electro nica lly they can a lso in cl ud( prokssion aliy
des igned graphics in full color which yo u ca n incorporlte in YOllr own docshy
umcllts So a template provides a rich rype of suucrure one that helps you
see the relatio nsh ip between words an d design in many kinds of documcnls
Even so yo u sti ll must provide th e content an d internal trucru re in
many of these templares Working with a tem plate of a lette r for example
yo u must decide how to organ ize marerial in the body of rhe lener givi ng the
material some logical s[[ucture (Sec Section 5a-3) Yo u also Wltlnt to bt Sllre
that the pattern of a template doesnt determin e what you end lip wri ting
Presentation software for example such as PowerPoint or KYnore has beell
roundly criticized fo r standardizing the routine of oral presentatio ns D iffnshy
ent people using these powerful llmiddotmplates (ld up producing rcporrs th at
seem remarkably p redictable and struourally si milar You can avoid having
yo ur project scm like a s[[uctural clone by thinking deeply abo ut the logic
of organization and then modifying the template to suit your own p urpose
t 3 Arrange information strategically Yo u don t need spccifi( modshy
els or templates to provid e guidelines for organization You can figure our I
structure just by considering in whar order the elemenrs of you r projcCl Ileed
to appear At least six possibilities J1lay compe te for yo ur a[[cnrion
Logical order You ll wa llt lJl llerial to follow a pa ttern that see ms
coheren t to your readers For ins tance you may decide to presenr in fo rshy
m ati on inductively (from particular cases to general concl us io n) o r
deductively (fro m general principles to particular cases) Even rhe simshy
ple division of a top ic into its parts can represent a logical orde r
Hierarchical order In m any cases youlJ need to arrange m are ri al
from most to leas t impo rtant o r vice versa Thar sequence represem5 l
hierarchy or ranking E~pecially impo rtant in electto ni c envi tonm ents
are hierarchi cal structures that break a topic or a concepr down from its
most general form (a Web sire ho me page) to more complex or detailed
subtopics In building a Web si te yo ud want to map out a hierarchi cal
structure to keep track of what information goes where
Chronological order 111 some cases a paper or project will fo ll ow a
sequence A narrative mighr m ove from hegi nnin to end a holv to
essay might move th ro ugh a sequence of stages slep Olle step 1110 step three and so on Order defined by genre In many cases th e strucrure of your writi ng
is decided hy precedent or profession al guidelines Lab reportS rtsearch
35Creating an Outline
reports resumes and scholarship applications have structures dictated
by co nventions that you alter at your own risk Order of importance or significance Yo ull often have to decide what
in format ion gets priority and where such prioriry information is posishy
rioned In some papers especially in arguments you may wanr ro m ake
your best points last so that readers will remember rhern In news sto ries
and on Web sites the m ost imporrant information usually comes ti rst
Order of interest Depending o n you r writing siruati on you m ay
need to consider how ro keep readers inre resred in your work T har
may mean forgoing the most logica l arrangement in o rder to present an
appealing or especially strong open ing section or page
T hese general principles of organ ization a re helpful in many cases but
yo u m ay recall more detailed patterns of organ ization such as process comshy
parison co ntrast cause-and- effect and problemsoluri l11 Fach of these
structu res may provide the organ izatio n for an entire essay or a single parashy
graph We outli ne several of these patterns in Section 1 d and provide modshy
els of them in Seerion 12b on structuting paragraphs
5b Creating an Outline
Many of us need a vis ual aid of some kind to help us imagine th form a
paper or project even a relatively small one m igh t take Some writers usc
diagrams or eve n clustering to give shape to their ideas (Sce Secrion 3a-2 )
But fo r m any others the bes t rool remains the outline wheth er its just a
scratch outline or a formal o ne generated by a wo rd-p rocessing program
~ Create a scratch outline Put yo ur thesis at the top of your page if
you already have one Then list any major points youve btcn considering for
the paper either as phrases or briefsentences H eres whar yo u mighr come up
with initially for a paper about changes in the way people are buying music
Thesis D ownloadi ng m usic over rhe Web will change ou r music-buying
habits fo rever
_ CDs an d tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song mJsic sites
have caught on _ College kids pioneered th e shari ng of music elec[[on ica lly of ~I l
illegally _ Musi c companies havent been able to co ntrol dec[[onic distribushy
tion of music fd es _ Electronic files downloaded ftom the Web can be used in many dil~
ferent wys burned o n CDs uploackd on COll1 puters ere
36 37 Creating a Structure
- Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music podcasts and video easy and convenient
- People dont wam Q buy songs in albums packaged by music
compames
- Why buy a whole CD when you juSt wam (Q listen w one or two good songs)
In this hm scratch the headings are just a random list of ideas You
could then modify or rearrange the items w pull out your main ideas and
subordinate other material panicularly any that might serve as illusrrations
and evidence Of course some poims might be dropped emirely Weve
boldfaced the key poims in this revised version of the initial scratch outline
Thesis Downloading music over the Web will change our music-buying
habits forever
- Music companies havent been able to control electronic distrishybution of music files - College kids pioneered the sharing of music electronically often
illegally
- People dont wam w buy music in albums packaged by music
companies - Why buy a whole CD when you JUSt wam w listen w one or tvvo
good songs -CDs and tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song music
sites have caught on - Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music easy and
convenient - Elecrronic files downloaded from the Web can be used the way
music lovers wam burned on CDs uploaded on computers etc
2 Make a formal sentence outline Some profess ionals recomshy
mend a formal or full semence outline because it compels a writer w think
a subject thwugh systematically and logically In a formal outline stateshymems are expressed in parallel semences with poims and subpoints careshy
fully arranged indemed and aligned The various numbers and leHers are also formatted-I A 1 a 1) a) (I) (a)-w indicate th e descending levels of
each poim and subpoint At every level (except the statemem of the thesis)
you need at least two poims Most word processors include auwmatic outlining functions that may
help you organize a project Almost any documem can be viewed in outline fo rm just by selecting th at option In outline view you can move items around easily w tryout differem arrangemems and panerns
Following is the general structure of a formal outline followed by a samshyple outline of a paper on artwork in prehiswric caves
Sl Framework of a Formal Outline
Creating an Outline
THESIS STATE THE THESIS FULLY AS A COMPLETE SENTENCE
l State the first major point in a complete semence A Give the first subpoim of l
1 This point develops subpoim A 2 This point develops subpoint A
B Give the second subpoint of I 1 This point develops subpoim B 2 This point develops subpoint B 3 This poim develops subpoim B
C Give the third subpoint (and so on) II State the second major poim in a sentence parallel in structure w the
first major point
Thesis Experts regard recently discovered wall paintings in the Chauvet cave as significant because the paintings challenge the history ofEuropean art and
reveal a surprising natural environment
1 Chauvet cave an challenges the history of early European art
A Chauvet an is older than work at Lascaux 1 Chauvet paimings are 30000 years old or older
2 Paimings at Lascaux are only 14000 years old B The paimings at Chauvet are bolder than those at Lascaux
1 Chauvet paimings show srronger line and more color comrast
than paimings at Lascaux 2 Chauvet drawings show greater depth and perspective
II Chauvet an reveals a surprising natural environment A Chauvet includes more images than later sites B Chauvet shows animals nOt previously seen in anciem art of that
regIOn 1 Art shows rhinos elephants owls 2 An includes an unknown humanbison figure
C Chauvet portrays rypes of animals differem from other sites
1 At Chauvet predawry animals dominate
2 At Lascaux game animals are featured III Chauvet encourages us to see prehiswric life as more artistically and
socially complex than expertS previously imagined
39
6 Drafting
Many monrhs before new auromobiles are inrroduced ro the public handshybuilt prorotypes are run thousands of miles on test tracks and isolated rural highways ro determine how well they work in real-world conditions You might think of a first draft of YOUt written work as the prorotype for your project-a rough item but one ready ro be examined by you your peers
and your editors Will it stand up
6a Gathering Materials
Once youve chosen a subject and a structure for a project youll usually have legwork to do before you can prepare a draft For some projects this work will involve plenty of reading and research-inquiries youll likely pursue in a library and online (See Chapter 22 on finding information) Or you might have ro develop a series of argumenrs to support the position staked out by your thesis (See Part 4 on writing argumenrs)
Dont think of such work as being something you do before you write You are already engaged in the writing process as you gather materials and take notes So the better your notes and summaties are (see Chapter 24) or the more carefully you record your impressions or keep track ofyour sources the sooner you will be able to produce a working prototype for your project
Pacing Yourself
~CO~
6b Getting Started Wltfl ~jt
Even ptofessional writers agree that serring those first words down on paper PODCAST
may be the hardest pan of any writing project and you may have the same problern wh ether youre preparing a term paper a resume or a new Web
page Begin by choosing a place to work and getting it organized find a SpOt away from distractions and near the rools youll need Then gather your materials and equipmenr (legal pad laprop books and so on) and adjust your chair and the light Try ro establish the same place to use every time you work on a project If possible set a regular time to write preferably when you are freshest and most creative
Establish goals and incentives to keep yourself working If youre a proshycrasti na tOr (and who isnt at times ) negot iate terms of engagement Agree thar you wont leave the room unri you get two pages written or promise yourself a movie if you fini sh your first draft by 5 PM To make progress dont agonize over your opening seerion or expect perfecrion at rllC start friting a first paragraph can be excruciating but you can waste a lot of time polishing it instead of JUSt moving ahead If you ncmt like yol[ start-up work lower your standards and go on You can revise everyshything later
As you write dont be shy about using material you generated ar earlier stages in the composing process For exa mple you might pull an entire paragraph from a successful freewriting exercise Copy and paste it inro your draft
Sometimes youll have a flash of insight about your ropic or think of a great image you might use When that happens dont be distracred or spend an hour searching for the perfect picmre on the Inrernet Instead write down your ideas in a journal or lea ve a voice message on your phone or PDA so you dont forget them-and then press on with the main task
Perhaps most importantly dont criticize or edit your work early on by complaining I hate this or This is awful Give yourself credit for having launched the ptoject And dont srop to correct your grammar and polish your senrence strucmre Save editing for later If you bog down in details early in the work you may lose your momentum
6c Pacing Yourself
W hen youre wo rking on a writing projecr draft a plan for managing your time Begin by breaki ng your work into manageable chunks so that you can set goals Instead of wa iting until you hwe time ro tackle the enrire project
Figure 61 Pro[Qtypes of possible future vehicles often appear at aU[Q shows
[Q test consumer reactions-rypically years before they manufacture the
prodLcL If consumer reaction is hostile rhe project may be cancelled or
heavily modified JUSt as you might redo a paper after showing it [Q your
readers In what other areas might you encounter pro[Qtypes and what has
yom reaction [Q them been
38
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
34 bull Creating a Structure
A template shows yo u both what elements a project should include ~lncl how those elements can be arra nged Quite often yo ull be ofre red a range or options for each rype of writing you want to do Ckl11pia tes in rhe Microsoft
Gallery incl ude letters reS ljTll CS brochures newsleuers and mo re) Bec3usl
th ese patterns work electro nica lly they can a lso in cl ud( prokssion aliy
des igned graphics in full color which yo u ca n incorporlte in YOllr own docshy
umcllts So a template provides a rich rype of suucrure one that helps you
see the relatio nsh ip between words an d design in many kinds of documcnls
Even so yo u sti ll must provide th e content an d internal trucru re in
many of these templares Working with a tem plate of a lette r for example
yo u must decide how to organ ize marerial in the body of rhe lener givi ng the
material some logical s[[ucture (Sec Section 5a-3) Yo u also Wltlnt to bt Sllre
that the pattern of a template doesnt determin e what you end lip wri ting
Presentation software for example such as PowerPoint or KYnore has beell
roundly criticized fo r standardizing the routine of oral presentatio ns D iffnshy
ent people using these powerful llmiddotmplates (ld up producing rcporrs th at
seem remarkably p redictable and struourally si milar You can avoid having
yo ur project scm like a s[[uctural clone by thinking deeply abo ut the logic
of organization and then modifying the template to suit your own p urpose
t 3 Arrange information strategically Yo u don t need spccifi( modshy
els or templates to provid e guidelines for organization You can figure our I
structure just by considering in whar order the elemenrs of you r projcCl Ileed
to appear At least six possibilities J1lay compe te for yo ur a[[cnrion
Logical order You ll wa llt lJl llerial to follow a pa ttern that see ms
coheren t to your readers For ins tance you may decide to presenr in fo rshy
m ati on inductively (from particular cases to general concl us io n) o r
deductively (fro m general principles to particular cases) Even rhe simshy
ple division of a top ic into its parts can represent a logical orde r
Hierarchical order In m any cases youlJ need to arrange m are ri al
from most to leas t impo rtant o r vice versa Thar sequence represem5 l
hierarchy or ranking E~pecially impo rtant in electto ni c envi tonm ents
are hierarchi cal structures that break a topic or a concepr down from its
most general form (a Web sire ho me page) to more complex or detailed
subtopics In building a Web si te yo ud want to map out a hierarchi cal
structure to keep track of what information goes where
Chronological order 111 some cases a paper or project will fo ll ow a
sequence A narrative mighr m ove from hegi nnin to end a holv to
essay might move th ro ugh a sequence of stages slep Olle step 1110 step three and so on Order defined by genre In many cases th e strucrure of your writi ng
is decided hy precedent or profession al guidelines Lab reportS rtsearch
35Creating an Outline
reports resumes and scholarship applications have structures dictated
by co nventions that you alter at your own risk Order of importance or significance Yo ull often have to decide what
in format ion gets priority and where such prioriry information is posishy
rioned In some papers especially in arguments you may wanr ro m ake
your best points last so that readers will remember rhern In news sto ries
and on Web sites the m ost imporrant information usually comes ti rst
Order of interest Depending o n you r writing siruati on you m ay
need to consider how ro keep readers inre resred in your work T har
may mean forgoing the most logica l arrangement in o rder to present an
appealing or especially strong open ing section or page
T hese general principles of organ ization a re helpful in many cases but
yo u m ay recall more detailed patterns of organ ization such as process comshy
parison co ntrast cause-and- effect and problemsoluri l11 Fach of these
structu res may provide the organ izatio n for an entire essay or a single parashy
graph We outli ne several of these patterns in Section 1 d and provide modshy
els of them in Seerion 12b on structuting paragraphs
5b Creating an Outline
Many of us need a vis ual aid of some kind to help us imagine th form a
paper or project even a relatively small one m igh t take Some writers usc
diagrams or eve n clustering to give shape to their ideas (Sce Secrion 3a-2 )
But fo r m any others the bes t rool remains the outline wheth er its just a
scratch outline or a formal o ne generated by a wo rd-p rocessing program
~ Create a scratch outline Put yo ur thesis at the top of your page if
you already have one Then list any major points youve btcn considering for
the paper either as phrases or briefsentences H eres whar yo u mighr come up
with initially for a paper about changes in the way people are buying music
Thesis D ownloadi ng m usic over rhe Web will change ou r music-buying
habits fo rever
_ CDs an d tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song mJsic sites
have caught on _ College kids pioneered th e shari ng of music elec[[on ica lly of ~I l
illegally _ Musi c companies havent been able to co ntrol dec[[onic distribushy
tion of music fd es _ Electronic files downloaded ftom the Web can be used in many dil~
ferent wys burned o n CDs uploackd on COll1 puters ere
36 37 Creating a Structure
- Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music podcasts and video easy and convenient
- People dont wam Q buy songs in albums packaged by music
compames
- Why buy a whole CD when you juSt wam (Q listen w one or two good songs)
In this hm scratch the headings are just a random list of ideas You
could then modify or rearrange the items w pull out your main ideas and
subordinate other material panicularly any that might serve as illusrrations
and evidence Of course some poims might be dropped emirely Weve
boldfaced the key poims in this revised version of the initial scratch outline
Thesis Downloading music over the Web will change our music-buying
habits forever
- Music companies havent been able to control electronic distrishybution of music files - College kids pioneered the sharing of music electronically often
illegally
- People dont wam w buy music in albums packaged by music
companies - Why buy a whole CD when you JUSt wam w listen w one or tvvo
good songs -CDs and tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song music
sites have caught on - Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music easy and
convenient - Elecrronic files downloaded from the Web can be used the way
music lovers wam burned on CDs uploaded on computers etc
2 Make a formal sentence outline Some profess ionals recomshy
mend a formal or full semence outline because it compels a writer w think
a subject thwugh systematically and logically In a formal outline stateshymems are expressed in parallel semences with poims and subpoints careshy
fully arranged indemed and aligned The various numbers and leHers are also formatted-I A 1 a 1) a) (I) (a)-w indicate th e descending levels of
each poim and subpoint At every level (except the statemem of the thesis)
you need at least two poims Most word processors include auwmatic outlining functions that may
help you organize a project Almost any documem can be viewed in outline fo rm just by selecting th at option In outline view you can move items around easily w tryout differem arrangemems and panerns
Following is the general structure of a formal outline followed by a samshyple outline of a paper on artwork in prehiswric caves
Sl Framework of a Formal Outline
Creating an Outline
THESIS STATE THE THESIS FULLY AS A COMPLETE SENTENCE
l State the first major point in a complete semence A Give the first subpoim of l
1 This point develops subpoim A 2 This point develops subpoint A
B Give the second subpoint of I 1 This point develops subpoim B 2 This point develops subpoint B 3 This poim develops subpoim B
C Give the third subpoint (and so on) II State the second major poim in a sentence parallel in structure w the
first major point
Thesis Experts regard recently discovered wall paintings in the Chauvet cave as significant because the paintings challenge the history ofEuropean art and
reveal a surprising natural environment
1 Chauvet cave an challenges the history of early European art
A Chauvet an is older than work at Lascaux 1 Chauvet paimings are 30000 years old or older
2 Paimings at Lascaux are only 14000 years old B The paimings at Chauvet are bolder than those at Lascaux
1 Chauvet paimings show srronger line and more color comrast
than paimings at Lascaux 2 Chauvet drawings show greater depth and perspective
II Chauvet an reveals a surprising natural environment A Chauvet includes more images than later sites B Chauvet shows animals nOt previously seen in anciem art of that
regIOn 1 Art shows rhinos elephants owls 2 An includes an unknown humanbison figure
C Chauvet portrays rypes of animals differem from other sites
1 At Chauvet predawry animals dominate
2 At Lascaux game animals are featured III Chauvet encourages us to see prehiswric life as more artistically and
socially complex than expertS previously imagined
39
6 Drafting
Many monrhs before new auromobiles are inrroduced ro the public handshybuilt prorotypes are run thousands of miles on test tracks and isolated rural highways ro determine how well they work in real-world conditions You might think of a first draft of YOUt written work as the prorotype for your project-a rough item but one ready ro be examined by you your peers
and your editors Will it stand up
6a Gathering Materials
Once youve chosen a subject and a structure for a project youll usually have legwork to do before you can prepare a draft For some projects this work will involve plenty of reading and research-inquiries youll likely pursue in a library and online (See Chapter 22 on finding information) Or you might have ro develop a series of argumenrs to support the position staked out by your thesis (See Part 4 on writing argumenrs)
Dont think of such work as being something you do before you write You are already engaged in the writing process as you gather materials and take notes So the better your notes and summaties are (see Chapter 24) or the more carefully you record your impressions or keep track ofyour sources the sooner you will be able to produce a working prototype for your project
Pacing Yourself
~CO~
6b Getting Started Wltfl ~jt
Even ptofessional writers agree that serring those first words down on paper PODCAST
may be the hardest pan of any writing project and you may have the same problern wh ether youre preparing a term paper a resume or a new Web
page Begin by choosing a place to work and getting it organized find a SpOt away from distractions and near the rools youll need Then gather your materials and equipmenr (legal pad laprop books and so on) and adjust your chair and the light Try ro establish the same place to use every time you work on a project If possible set a regular time to write preferably when you are freshest and most creative
Establish goals and incentives to keep yourself working If youre a proshycrasti na tOr (and who isnt at times ) negot iate terms of engagement Agree thar you wont leave the room unri you get two pages written or promise yourself a movie if you fini sh your first draft by 5 PM To make progress dont agonize over your opening seerion or expect perfecrion at rllC start friting a first paragraph can be excruciating but you can waste a lot of time polishing it instead of JUSt moving ahead If you ncmt like yol[ start-up work lower your standards and go on You can revise everyshything later
As you write dont be shy about using material you generated ar earlier stages in the composing process For exa mple you might pull an entire paragraph from a successful freewriting exercise Copy and paste it inro your draft
Sometimes youll have a flash of insight about your ropic or think of a great image you might use When that happens dont be distracred or spend an hour searching for the perfect picmre on the Inrernet Instead write down your ideas in a journal or lea ve a voice message on your phone or PDA so you dont forget them-and then press on with the main task
Perhaps most importantly dont criticize or edit your work early on by complaining I hate this or This is awful Give yourself credit for having launched the ptoject And dont srop to correct your grammar and polish your senrence strucmre Save editing for later If you bog down in details early in the work you may lose your momentum
6c Pacing Yourself
W hen youre wo rking on a writing projecr draft a plan for managing your time Begin by breaki ng your work into manageable chunks so that you can set goals Instead of wa iting until you hwe time ro tackle the enrire project
Figure 61 Pro[Qtypes of possible future vehicles often appear at aU[Q shows
[Q test consumer reactions-rypically years before they manufacture the
prodLcL If consumer reaction is hostile rhe project may be cancelled or
heavily modified JUSt as you might redo a paper after showing it [Q your
readers In what other areas might you encounter pro[Qtypes and what has
yom reaction [Q them been
38
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
36 37 Creating a Structure
- Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music podcasts and video easy and convenient
- People dont wam Q buy songs in albums packaged by music
compames
- Why buy a whole CD when you juSt wam (Q listen w one or two good songs)
In this hm scratch the headings are just a random list of ideas You
could then modify or rearrange the items w pull out your main ideas and
subordinate other material panicularly any that might serve as illusrrations
and evidence Of course some poims might be dropped emirely Weve
boldfaced the key poims in this revised version of the initial scratch outline
Thesis Downloading music over the Web will change our music-buying
habits forever
- Music companies havent been able to control electronic distrishybution of music files - College kids pioneered the sharing of music electronically often
illegally
- People dont wam w buy music in albums packaged by music
companies - Why buy a whole CD when you JUSt wam w listen w one or tvvo
good songs -CDs and tapes wont last long now that pay-by-the-song music
sites have caught on - Devices like Apples iPod make downloading music easy and
convenient - Elecrronic files downloaded from the Web can be used the way
music lovers wam burned on CDs uploaded on computers etc
2 Make a formal sentence outline Some profess ionals recomshy
mend a formal or full semence outline because it compels a writer w think
a subject thwugh systematically and logically In a formal outline stateshymems are expressed in parallel semences with poims and subpoints careshy
fully arranged indemed and aligned The various numbers and leHers are also formatted-I A 1 a 1) a) (I) (a)-w indicate th e descending levels of
each poim and subpoint At every level (except the statemem of the thesis)
you need at least two poims Most word processors include auwmatic outlining functions that may
help you organize a project Almost any documem can be viewed in outline fo rm just by selecting th at option In outline view you can move items around easily w tryout differem arrangemems and panerns
Following is the general structure of a formal outline followed by a samshyple outline of a paper on artwork in prehiswric caves
Sl Framework of a Formal Outline
Creating an Outline
THESIS STATE THE THESIS FULLY AS A COMPLETE SENTENCE
l State the first major point in a complete semence A Give the first subpoim of l
1 This point develops subpoim A 2 This point develops subpoint A
B Give the second subpoint of I 1 This point develops subpoim B 2 This point develops subpoint B 3 This poim develops subpoim B
C Give the third subpoint (and so on) II State the second major poim in a sentence parallel in structure w the
first major point
Thesis Experts regard recently discovered wall paintings in the Chauvet cave as significant because the paintings challenge the history ofEuropean art and
reveal a surprising natural environment
1 Chauvet cave an challenges the history of early European art
A Chauvet an is older than work at Lascaux 1 Chauvet paimings are 30000 years old or older
2 Paimings at Lascaux are only 14000 years old B The paimings at Chauvet are bolder than those at Lascaux
1 Chauvet paimings show srronger line and more color comrast
than paimings at Lascaux 2 Chauvet drawings show greater depth and perspective
II Chauvet an reveals a surprising natural environment A Chauvet includes more images than later sites B Chauvet shows animals nOt previously seen in anciem art of that
regIOn 1 Art shows rhinos elephants owls 2 An includes an unknown humanbison figure
C Chauvet portrays rypes of animals differem from other sites
1 At Chauvet predawry animals dominate
2 At Lascaux game animals are featured III Chauvet encourages us to see prehiswric life as more artistically and
socially complex than expertS previously imagined
39
6 Drafting
Many monrhs before new auromobiles are inrroduced ro the public handshybuilt prorotypes are run thousands of miles on test tracks and isolated rural highways ro determine how well they work in real-world conditions You might think of a first draft of YOUt written work as the prorotype for your project-a rough item but one ready ro be examined by you your peers
and your editors Will it stand up
6a Gathering Materials
Once youve chosen a subject and a structure for a project youll usually have legwork to do before you can prepare a draft For some projects this work will involve plenty of reading and research-inquiries youll likely pursue in a library and online (See Chapter 22 on finding information) Or you might have ro develop a series of argumenrs to support the position staked out by your thesis (See Part 4 on writing argumenrs)
Dont think of such work as being something you do before you write You are already engaged in the writing process as you gather materials and take notes So the better your notes and summaties are (see Chapter 24) or the more carefully you record your impressions or keep track ofyour sources the sooner you will be able to produce a working prototype for your project
Pacing Yourself
~CO~
6b Getting Started Wltfl ~jt
Even ptofessional writers agree that serring those first words down on paper PODCAST
may be the hardest pan of any writing project and you may have the same problern wh ether youre preparing a term paper a resume or a new Web
page Begin by choosing a place to work and getting it organized find a SpOt away from distractions and near the rools youll need Then gather your materials and equipmenr (legal pad laprop books and so on) and adjust your chair and the light Try ro establish the same place to use every time you work on a project If possible set a regular time to write preferably when you are freshest and most creative
Establish goals and incentives to keep yourself working If youre a proshycrasti na tOr (and who isnt at times ) negot iate terms of engagement Agree thar you wont leave the room unri you get two pages written or promise yourself a movie if you fini sh your first draft by 5 PM To make progress dont agonize over your opening seerion or expect perfecrion at rllC start friting a first paragraph can be excruciating but you can waste a lot of time polishing it instead of JUSt moving ahead If you ncmt like yol[ start-up work lower your standards and go on You can revise everyshything later
As you write dont be shy about using material you generated ar earlier stages in the composing process For exa mple you might pull an entire paragraph from a successful freewriting exercise Copy and paste it inro your draft
Sometimes youll have a flash of insight about your ropic or think of a great image you might use When that happens dont be distracred or spend an hour searching for the perfect picmre on the Inrernet Instead write down your ideas in a journal or lea ve a voice message on your phone or PDA so you dont forget them-and then press on with the main task
Perhaps most importantly dont criticize or edit your work early on by complaining I hate this or This is awful Give yourself credit for having launched the ptoject And dont srop to correct your grammar and polish your senrence strucmre Save editing for later If you bog down in details early in the work you may lose your momentum
6c Pacing Yourself
W hen youre wo rking on a writing projecr draft a plan for managing your time Begin by breaki ng your work into manageable chunks so that you can set goals Instead of wa iting until you hwe time ro tackle the enrire project
Figure 61 Pro[Qtypes of possible future vehicles often appear at aU[Q shows
[Q test consumer reactions-rypically years before they manufacture the
prodLcL If consumer reaction is hostile rhe project may be cancelled or
heavily modified JUSt as you might redo a paper after showing it [Q your
readers In what other areas might you encounter pro[Qtypes and what has
yom reaction [Q them been
38
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
39
6 Drafting
Many monrhs before new auromobiles are inrroduced ro the public handshybuilt prorotypes are run thousands of miles on test tracks and isolated rural highways ro determine how well they work in real-world conditions You might think of a first draft of YOUt written work as the prorotype for your project-a rough item but one ready ro be examined by you your peers
and your editors Will it stand up
6a Gathering Materials
Once youve chosen a subject and a structure for a project youll usually have legwork to do before you can prepare a draft For some projects this work will involve plenty of reading and research-inquiries youll likely pursue in a library and online (See Chapter 22 on finding information) Or you might have ro develop a series of argumenrs to support the position staked out by your thesis (See Part 4 on writing argumenrs)
Dont think of such work as being something you do before you write You are already engaged in the writing process as you gather materials and take notes So the better your notes and summaties are (see Chapter 24) or the more carefully you record your impressions or keep track ofyour sources the sooner you will be able to produce a working prototype for your project
Pacing Yourself
~CO~
6b Getting Started Wltfl ~jt
Even ptofessional writers agree that serring those first words down on paper PODCAST
may be the hardest pan of any writing project and you may have the same problern wh ether youre preparing a term paper a resume or a new Web
page Begin by choosing a place to work and getting it organized find a SpOt away from distractions and near the rools youll need Then gather your materials and equipmenr (legal pad laprop books and so on) and adjust your chair and the light Try ro establish the same place to use every time you work on a project If possible set a regular time to write preferably when you are freshest and most creative
Establish goals and incentives to keep yourself working If youre a proshycrasti na tOr (and who isnt at times ) negot iate terms of engagement Agree thar you wont leave the room unri you get two pages written or promise yourself a movie if you fini sh your first draft by 5 PM To make progress dont agonize over your opening seerion or expect perfecrion at rllC start friting a first paragraph can be excruciating but you can waste a lot of time polishing it instead of JUSt moving ahead If you ncmt like yol[ start-up work lower your standards and go on You can revise everyshything later
As you write dont be shy about using material you generated ar earlier stages in the composing process For exa mple you might pull an entire paragraph from a successful freewriting exercise Copy and paste it inro your draft
Sometimes youll have a flash of insight about your ropic or think of a great image you might use When that happens dont be distracred or spend an hour searching for the perfect picmre on the Inrernet Instead write down your ideas in a journal or lea ve a voice message on your phone or PDA so you dont forget them-and then press on with the main task
Perhaps most importantly dont criticize or edit your work early on by complaining I hate this or This is awful Give yourself credit for having launched the ptoject And dont srop to correct your grammar and polish your senrence strucmre Save editing for later If you bog down in details early in the work you may lose your momentum
6c Pacing Yourself
W hen youre wo rking on a writing projecr draft a plan for managing your time Begin by breaki ng your work into manageable chunks so that you can set goals Instead of wa iting until you hwe time ro tackle the enrire project
Figure 61 Pro[Qtypes of possible future vehicles often appear at aU[Q shows
[Q test consumer reactions-rypically years before they manufacture the
prodLcL If consumer reaction is hostile rhe project may be cancelled or
heavily modified JUSt as you might redo a paper after showing it [Q your
readers In what other areas might you encounter pro[Qtypes and what has
yom reaction [Q them been
38
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
4
ad agr
apos
art
awk
cap
case
coh
cs
dm (or dang)
Ifrag
lita Ie
mm
num
p
~
no
~
Drafting40
at once look at your schedule and try to complete one or twO segments at a
sitting
As you are making real progress take occasional breaks to allow your
ideas to gel or incubate When youre stuck for a idea or an example get up
and have a snack or run an errand A solution may su rface while youre away
from your desk Take longer breaks between drafts to give you rself time to
mull over what youve written But dont let time off for thinking turn into
procrastination While downtime can be important writing is your real job
especially when deadlines are getting short When yo u are losing concentrashy
tion reread whatever yo uve produced perhaps making a few minor
changes then starr writing again
If youre having major problems at the outset decide whether you
might be writing a discovery draft rather than a true draft A discovery
draft is like an extended freewrite written more for yourself than for an
audience Such a draft can help you generate ideas bu t it will probably
require thorough revision before you can send it around for peer comshy
ments Quite often you may realize that the concluding paragraph of a
discovery draft contains the subject you really wane (or ought) to write
abour See w ha t happens if you make that material the first paragraph of
your second drafr
In the same way you might need to sketch out several rough versions of
a Web page design or a brochure before committing yourself to a fully elabshy
orated version Consider that artists do the same thing when they prepare
pencil sketches or models before beginning a work (See Figure 62)
Figure 62 In 1482 Leonardo da Vinci won a commiss ion to produce rhe largest horse ever cast in bronze He produced a ~~ clay model desrroyed by French~Jr invaders in 1499 Leonardos grand vision was not realized
I - l~ until 1999 This image from Smithsonian magazine~~ I ~ f
) ~ 1 (Seprember 1999) shows d ~ workers in New York creating~II~ I rhe full-sized figure from a ~Y l (
~ smaller master model In what sit uarions have you created a model or protorype before beginning a major project
Evaluating a Draft
6d Evaluating a Draft
If you can answer yes to the following questions youll know you have a satshy
isfactOry draft or version of your project one that reflects a good-faith effort
on your part and one that is ready to be reviewed by a colleague instructOr
or tu tOr
bull Does the draft reflect a substantial investment of time and effort A solid first draft or protorype should show that you have made
a serious attempt to meet an assignment If a draft or protorype is no
more than a hurried effort you cant expect other readers to spend time
responding to ir
bull Is the draft fairly complete A solid first draft should have almost all
its elements in place (For a research paper this would include most of
the references on the Works Cited or References page) Brilliant first
paragraphs with the notation more to follow dont qualify-nor do
Web links that lead nowhere
Is the draft readable Whether youre showing your draft to an
instructor a boss or a group of other writers be sure its finish ed
enough to read or use easily This requires that a paper be neat doubleshy
spaced and printed dark enough co read (You shouldnt ask anyone
outside your family co read a handwritten draft ) A PowerPoint presenshy
tation should work when you project it a resume should be formatted
completely JUSt as if yo u were about to send it our
e-Tips You may want to create separate files for each version of a project that
you are developing Just save each new version of the file as you are writing it numbering the versions so youll always know which file is your latest Argldoc Arg2doc Or use the versions command under File to let Word manage this task for you And remember always to back up your important files in different places if possible
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