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Patterns for College Writing Chapter 2, developing a thesis - Coggle…
Patterns for College Writing Chapter 2
Understanding Your Assignment
invention/ prewriting
this the an important, and frequently neglected, part of the writing process
during this stage one discovers what interests them about the subject as they consider what ideas to develop in the essay
Most writing in college begins as an assignment
before beginning work one should know what the assignment calls for
Finding something to say
Brainstorming and journaling are useful tools for generating ideas
Brainstorming
brainstorming is a way of discovering ideas about your topic
brainstorming can be dome in groups or indibidually
it can be organized or messy as long as you write it down
Journaling
Journal writing can be a useful source of ideas at any stage of the writing process
Journaling is most frequently done when there is no project in mind
many writers keep a journal so that they can jot down experiences or instances that they have observed so that they can write about it later
Moving from Subject to Topic
some assignments begin as broad areas of interest or concern
general subjects need to be narrowed to specific topics
questions for probing and freewriting help to narrow a general subject into a specific one
Questions for probing
One way to move from a general subject to a specific topic is to examine your subject by asking a series of questions about it.
these are useful because they reflect how the mind operates
after probing is complete one needs to come up with possible topics
Freewriting
freewriting can be used at any stage of the writing process
freewriting is most useful in narrowing general subjects
freewriting is throwing down your ideas for a set time
after this is accomplished then shape your words into an essay
focused freewriting or looping is when one writes in increasing intensity, and it often yields a large amount of useful information
Understanding Thesis and Support
once ideas have been grouped a thesis needs to be considered
a thesis is the main idea of the essay
thesis and support is central to college writing
essays will have several paragraphs that will introduce and support the thesis
this structure is held together by the thesis
the thesis is the central idea of the essay
Setting limits
one needs to consider these things before writing
Purpose
this also limits what you say and how it is said
purpose of writing can be classified according to your relationship with the audience
expressive writing conveys personal feelings to the audience
informative writing informs the readers about something
persuasive writing attempts to persuade the readers of something
Audience
there needs to be an intended audience for the paper to be effective
in school, one's audience is usually the instructor
if one finds that their audience can't be categorized due to diversity write points that will appeal to a variety of readers
if should also be considered how much your audience knows about the topic
Length
this is often specified by the instructor
length determines how deeply the topic can be discussed
if there is no limit to length then consider how the nature of the assignment suggests a paper's length
Occasion
refers to the situation that leads someone to write about a topic.
the occasion is usually a specific assignment
every writing assignment, in and out of school, requires an occasion
occasion suggests
how much information the piece of writing includes
your purpose
knowledge
what you know about a subject determines what you can say about it
different kinds of knowledge are required for different kinds of writing
defining the thesis statement
a thesis statement is an announcement of your intent
a statement of fact cannot be an essay
a judgement can be an effective thesis
what a good thesis does
for writers
it helps writers plan an essay
it helps writers organize ideas in an essay
it helps writers unify all the ideas in an essay
for readers
it identifies the main idea of an essay
it guides readers through an essay
it clarifies the subject and the focus of an essay
deciding on a thesis
no rules determine when a thesis is drafted
writing allows you to discover new ideas, and as a result you will move in unanticipated directions
thesis statements developed near the beginning are tentative
stating your thesis
it is good to include a one -sentence statement of the thesis early in the essay
an effective thesis
clearly expresses the essay's main idea
it doesn't state the topic but indicates what will be said about the topic
communicates the essay's purpose
the thesis should communicate whatever purpose the essay has to the readers
the thesis can be expressive, informative, or persuasive
is clearly worded
the thesis should speak for itself
it should be a straightforward and accurate indication of what follows and not mislead the readers
it should not make promises that the essay isn't going to keep
implying a thesis
an implied thesis conveys an essay's main focus but it does not do so explicitly
this is sometimes preferred because an implied thesis is more subtle than a stated one
in college writing the thesis should be clearly stated so as to avoid miscommunication
Grouping ideas
once enough material has been generated for the essay ideas need to be grouped into collections that go together
the best writing tools for grouping are clustering and outlining
Outlining
informal outlining can be a follow up or alternative to clustering
informal outlines do not include all the major divisions and subdivisions of your essay the way formal outlines do
they only suggest the general shape of your essay
they are often a list of major points presented in a tentative order
however, they do sometimes include supporting points
Clustering
Clustering or mapping is a way of visually arranging ideas so that they be distinguished at a glance
it also helps with narrowing ideas even further
Clustering is synonymous with mind mapping
developing a thesis