Quiz: The Writing Process

Many instructors ask students to paraphrase and summarize sources used in an essay more often than quoting sources. Why?

A lot of direct quotes can confuse the reader, and paraphrasing and summarizing lets the author's own voice guide the discussion.

What advantages are there to creating a mind map as part of your prewriting strategy?

A mind map can help you connect lots of different ideas about a single topic.

What do we call it when an instructor explains the purpose of the assignment and gives its parameters (such as word or page count, types of sources, etc.), and provides the criteria for grading?

An assignment prompt

Your classmate Lily is struggling with writing her introduction. Which of the following should you advise her to include?

An overview of the problem or issue her paper discusses.

Which of these working thesis statements do you evaluate to be stronger, and why? The American character has weakened because it lacks the qualities that George Washington believed were essential to the stability and success of the United States of America. Three of the qualities are morality, unity, and patriotism. While the Merlin of the popular Arthurian legends is certainly fictional, historical records suggest that he was based on a composite of three real men: King Aelfred of Britain, his advisor Ethelfred, and a mysterious traveler of the time whose name is unknown.

B, because its claim is narrow and provable by research.

Spencer has been assigned a paper differentiating between communism as it was applied in the Soviet Union and China. What type of essay structure would be MOST appropriate for this assignment?

Comparative Essay

After brainstorming, Tomas feels completely stuck on actually producing his first draft. What is the BEST technique he could use to get his first draft on paper?

Finding a template for his essay structure that he could use to fill in the ideas he has

After doing all of your prewriting, brainstorming, and research, you find that you don't feel very motivated to write your first draft. What is an exercise that would be the MOST helpful to help you write your first draft?

Give yourself to write something terrible and messy. It's important to just start writing!

Ella received an essay assignment from her American Studies professor. The prompt question is long and detailed. She is unsure exactly what is being asked and doesn't know how to proceed with choosing a topic. What resource will be the MOST helpful to her at this stage of the assignment?

Her instructor

Your classmate Xuan isn't sure how to write an effective conclusion. What should you tell her?

Here, include a re-statement of your essay's main idea.

Silas has to write a paper about the life cycle of penguins for his Wildlife Studies class. Which questions could he ask himself to help him effectively narrow his topic?

Is there a specific species or region of penguin I can focus on?

Why is it important to add your own explanation of the source material (quotes and/or paraphrased evidence) that you use in your paper?

It can clarify the purpose for the evidence.

Manuel is working to better understand the writing process. Which of the following should he remember?

It's best to start the first draft as soon as possible after getting the assignment.

If you are somewhere in the drafting process and not sure what to do, which of these activities are most likely to help you?

Looking for evidence and evaluating your overall argument

Molly is unsure where to start researching after receiving an essay assignment in her British Literature class. Her professor did not include research and source requirements in the essay prompt. Which option would be the BEST next step in her research process?

She should talk to her professor to clarify what type of sources and research the professor expects.

You have just begun the drafting process and you are struggling to come up with an effective introduction. What should you do to use your drafting time more effectively?

Start with one the sections in the body of your essay.

Which of the following is the most effective thesis statement?

The problem of homeless youth can best be solved by private charities

Which of the following is true about the different essay structures, such as analytical, argumentative, and cause and effect?

These structure types all share similar qualities of academic writing, but they differ according to the purpose of the essay.

Your peer Craig has written the following working thesis: "Loggers and colonists are destroying acres of our natural rainforests, despite these facts: many species of medicinal plants are becoming extinct, they are destroying the habitats of thousands of species of rainforest animals, and they are disrupting the life of the indigenous people who live there." What revisions would you suggest, if any, to strengthen this working thesis?

This is a great topic, but I don't see that you have a claim. This paper will read like a report.

Andrew just completed an outline with one-word headings for each of his body paragraphs. What is the best next step he could take next to take his outline closer to a first draft?

Write subtopic ideas and quotes or passages he might use under each of his body paragraph headings

Gita has created a color-coded list as an outline for her paper. Is this outline likely to lead to a strong research essay or not?

Yes, because an outline can take many forms; its main purpose is to provide structure from which an author can build a draft.

When Dan received his essay topic, the Salem Witch Trials, he began scribbling notes in felt-tip marker on a bunch of paper towels he had handy. Some of his notes are about these trials, but some are about Massachusetts history in general, and some are about the Wiccan religion. Do you think Dan has spent his time well or not?

Yes, because prewriting is messy and non-linear, and we cannot always predict where prewriting will end up.

Does the following sentence belong in the body of a strong academic essay? Why or why not? "Furthermore, tenure does not always protect good teachers: a Teacher of the Year in Texas was laid off in 2009 due to budget cuts (Hampton 46)."

Yes, this is a good piece of evidence with an effective introduction that shows what the evidence is helping to prove.

What's the most effective advice for a student who has written the following passage? Not everyone thinks that school vouchers are a good idea. "These vouchers are the worst idea to ever come through this state. They will ruin the democratic process" (Smith 33). "Vouchers mean that school districts can no longer predict the flow of money and resources and that affects kids directly" (Garcias 199).

You need to provide context for your quotes so we know why you're including them.

Your paper is on the topic of death and dying in Shakespeare's plays, and you have seen most of his tragedies in London. How can you best draw on this experience to use in your research paper?

Your experience can frame your paper--short personal stories are good attention-grabbers in introductions, for example--but they shouldn't be the bulk of your proof.

You should embrace the concept of an ugly first draft because

an ugly first draft takes the pressure off and makes writing less difficult.

Prewriting has no set structure or organization because

it helps you generate ideas and overcome writer's block.

For a paper on the Civil War, your professor has requested that you use two primary sources. Which of the following could you use as a primary source?

letters from soldiers who fought in the Civil War

Darnell is writing a paper about climate change for his biology course and starts by freewriting for ten minutes. When he stops, he has a full page of notes and thoughts about climate change research and tidbits of things he's read about and heard related to the Great Barrier Reef, the loss of animal habitats, the decline in bee populations, ocean waste, vegan diets, pollution, fracking, and more. What should his next steps be?

look over his list and find the things that sound more interesting or that he has strong feelings about.

Gavin created a cluster map, or "bubble cloud," about his topic. He also wrote a list of questions about it. Gavin is

prewriting.

If you are working to define the context of your essay, or, in other words, to find out why you're writing in the first place, you are

trying to better understand the essay's rhetorical situation.