English Quarter 3 -Identifying the Writing Process

Outlining

After brainstorming, an outline can help you organize your thoughts. Outlines show how ideas connect and help you determine the order in which to present them. For an informative essay, an outline helps keep track of important details about the topic. Here are some advantages of creating an outline: helps you organize your ideas presents your ideas in a logical form shows the relationship among ideas creates an ordered overview of your writing To create an outline, first determine your essay's purpose, audience, and topic. Next, brainstorm ideas for your written piece. Then begin organizing by grouping related ideas together.

Drafting, Reviewing, and Revising

After outlining, the next step is creating a draft. A draft is the first version of an essay. When writing a first draft, effective paragraph writing skills are important. An effective paragraph should include these elements: Unity: The paragraph should have a single focus. Coherence: Coherence makes the paragraph understandable. Sticking to the same idea throughout the paragraph helps create coherence. You can also use the same keywords in more than one sentence. Using parallel structure for each sentence improves coherence. Topic sentence: The topic sentence states the paragraph's main idea. It is often the paragraph's first sentence. Appropriate development: Make sure the topic is discussed thoroughly throughout the paragraph

Analysis Essays

An analysis essay closely examines another piece of writing or data. In English classes, this type of essay is often used to examine pieces of fiction or poems. Here are some sample writing prompts: How does the story demonstrate the theme of "the importance of finding yourself"? How do the characters in the two stories convey a message?

Informative Essays

An informative essay provides details about a topic. Here are some sample writing prompts for an informative essay: How did an invention change your life? What is diversity?

Elements of an Outline

An outline has four main elements: Parallelism: Each heading and subheading should have parallel structure, which involves using the same grammatical elements and word patterns. Coordination: The information in each heading should have the same importance. The same goes for the subheadings. Subordination: Heading information should be more general, while information in subheadings should be more specific. Division: Each heading should have two or more subheadings.

Focus on Language

Before proofreading and publishing, it's important to review the language in your essay. Let's look at some important grammatical rules. Clauses and Phrases A clause is a group of words that contain a subject and a verb. In the following example, the subject is bolded and the verb is underlined. Bob ate the granola bar A phrase is a group of words without a subject-verb component. It functions as a single part of speech. In the example below, all the words work together to form a noun phrase. my best friend

Prewriting

During the prewriting stage, brainstorm to identify the essay's type, purpose, audience, and point of view. Many writers use a graphic organizer to identify the key elements of their essays. Based on the writing prompt in the previous section, you know that you'll be writing an informative essay. You'll define and explain the topic of "change." Take a closer look at how you can begin brainstorming for your essay.

Purpose

Every type of essay has a clear purpose. Common types of purpose include the following: to persuade to inform to entertain to express feelings

Narrative Essays

In a narrative essay, the writer tells a story, often about a personal experience. These essays allow writers to express themselves and use their creativity. Take a look at these sample prompts for a narrative essay: Write a story about a time you learned something new about yourself. Write a narrative about a time you made a new friend.

Persuasive Essays

In a persuasive essay, the writer takes a stand on a topic and uses evidence to convince the reader to agree with that stand. These essays are also called argumentative essays. Here are some sample writing prompts: Which type of animal makes the best pet? Should students have a shorter school day?

Research Essays

In a research essay, the writer presents factual information about a topic gathered from reliable resources. Consider these sample writing prompts for a research essay: Why do we need sleep? How do black holes form in space?

Essay Structure

Remember to structure your informative essay clearly. Include an introductory paragraph, a body paragraph, and a concluding paragraph. Introductory paragraph: Your introductory paragraph should hook the reader within the first few sentences and provide background information on the topic. It should also include your thesis statement, which is the essay's main idea. Body paragraph: In the body, include supporting details for your thesis statement. The body paragraph should have a clear topic sentence, evidence to support the main idea, and a summary that explains the evidence. Concluding paragraph: The concluding paragraph should restate your main idea or thesis statement and summarize the supporting details and examples from the essay's body.

Proofreading and Publishing

The final two steps of the writing process are proofreading and publishing. During the proofreading step, edit your essay again for the following items: Grammar: Is it correct? Check for dangling modifiers and correct use of clauses and phrases. Spelling: Are the words spelled correctly? Did you use vivid language? Punctuation: Did you punctuate each sentence correctly? Is your capitalization correct? The final step is publishing. Your essay is completed and ready to submit to your teacher, supervisor, or readers. The publishing step includes all the revisions you have completed.

Brainstorming

The next step is brainstorming. Brainstorming is the process of writing down your ideas before writing the actual essay. Most writers find it helpful to use graphic organizers to arrange their ideas. Examples of common graphic organizers are webs, diagrams, and lists. To begin brainstorming, ask yourself some prewriting questions: Who or what is the essay about? What types of details do I want to include? When did the event or topic take place? Where did the event or topic take place? Why did I decide to write about this topic? How do I feel about the topic?

Revising

The next step is revising. During this step, you'll expand on your topic and make corrections. A good revision strategy is peer review. Ask another student to review your essay and suggest changes to improve it. If a peer isn't available, go through the essay on your own and look for areas that need revisions. Ask yourself these questions: How could this paragraph flow better? Could I change the language to make it more interesting for the reader?

A Sample Outline

The outline is different for each type of essay. A general outline for creating an informative essay includes these elements: Introductory Paragraph hook background information main idea Body Paragraph supporting idea evidence summary of evidence Concluding Paragraph restate the main idea connect to the introductory paragraph provide a summary

Audience

Think of your audience as your readers. The audience for an academic essay usually includes peers and teachers. Determining your audience will help you write the essay in a way that they'll understand. Ask yourself the following questions to determine your audience and what they might know about the topic: Who are the readers I'm trying to reach? If readers have no knowledge of or interest in the topic, how can I get their attention? Will the audience agree with my point of view? What will I do if the audience doesn't agree with my point of view?

Reviewing

When your draft is complete, review it to add details and make sure it flows well. Here are some items to check: Essay structure: Did you include all parts of your outline? Clarification of ideas: Did you explain your topic in enough detail? Do your ideas flow smoothly within each paragraph and from paragraph to paragraph?

Point of View

Writers use these points of view: First person: The narrator is involved in the story and tells his or her own version of events. Second person: The narrator tells a story by speaking directly to the reader. Third person: The narrator describes the events without being involved in the story.