Chapter 3.

Writing is a "Process" that turns into a "Product"

"Process" concerns the steps you take to actually write a paper. What do you actually do to get started? How do you organize your ideas? Why do you make changes along the way as you write? Thinking of writing as a process is important because writing is actually a complex activity. Even professional writers rarely sit down at a keyboard and write out an article beginning to end without stopping along the way to revise portions they have drafted, to move ideas around, or to revise their opening and thesis. Professionals and students alike often say they only realized what they wanted to say after they started to write. This is why many instructors see writing as a way to learn. Many writing instructors ask you to submit a draft for review before submitting a final paper. To roughly paraphrase a famous poem, you learn by doing what you have to do. Prewriting: this stage takes the most time. This is where you do your research. If you don't know how to begin, you can take advantage of the Library Resource Center on your campus. Make sure you keep track of the books that you read the online sources that you access. Then, discuss what you read, see, and hear. Talking with others about your ideas is a good way to begin to achieve clarity. Listening to others helps you understand what points need special attention. Discussion also helps writers realize that their own ideas are often best presented in relation to the ideas of others. Brainstorm. Jot down your thoughts as they come to mind. Just write away, not worrying at first about how those ideas fit together. (This is often called "free writing.") Once you've written a number of notes or short blocks of sentences, pause and read them over. Take note of anything that stands out as particularly important to you. Also consider how parts of your scattered notes might eventually fit together or how they might end up in a sequence in the paper you'll get to later on. Ask and respond in writing to "what," "why," and "how" questions. Good questions prompt productive writing sessions. Again, "what" questions will lead to descriptions or summaries; "why" and "how" questions will lead you to analyses and explanations. Construct your own "what," "why," and "how" questions and then start answering them. Make an informal outline so you can organize all of the research you have done.

3.1 What's Different about College Writing?

Academic writing refers to writing produced in a college environment. Often this is writing that responds to other writing—to the ideas or controversies that you'll read about. While this definition sounds simple, academic writing may be very different from other types of writing you have done in the past. Every assignment in every course is unique in some ways, so don't think of writing as a fixed form you need to learn. When you first get a writing assignment, pay attention first to keywords for how to approach the writing. These will also suggest how you may structure and develop your paper. Look for terms like these in the assignment: Summarize. To restate in your own words the main point or points of another's work. Define. To describe, explore, or characterize a keyword, idea, or phenomenon. Classify. To group individual items by their shared characteristics, separate from other groups of items. Compare/contrast. To explore significant likenesses and differences between two or more subjects. Analyze. To break something down, a phenomenon, or an idea into its parts and explain how those parts fit or work together. Argue. To state a claim and support it with reasons and evidence. Synthesize. To pull together varied pieces or ideas from two or more sources. Note how this list is similar to the words used in examination questions that involve writing. This overlap is not a coincidence—essay exams are an abbreviated form of academic writing such as a class paper. Sometimes the key words listed don't actually appear in the written assignment, but they are usually implied by the questions given in the assignment. "What," "why," and "how" are common question words that require a certain kind of response. Look back at the keywords listed and think about which approaches relate to "what," "why," and "how" questions. "What" questions usually prompt the writing of summaries, definitions, classifications, and sometimes compare-and-contrast essays "Why" and "how" questions typically prompt analysis, argument, and synthesis essays. Successful academic writing starts with recognizing what the instructor is requesting, or what you are required to do. So pay close attention to the assignment. Sometimes the essential information about an assignment is conveyed through class discussions, however, so be sure to listen for the keywords that will help you understand what the instructor expects. If you feel the assignment does not give you a sense of direction, seek clarification.

Forms of Citation

GMC Online Campus courses use a variety of MLA and APA citation. You should check the course syllabus and/or the assignment rubric to see what form of citation is required. If you cannot find it, please check with your instructors about the preferred form of citation. The form of citation differs from one course to another. No one standard is used in all academic papers. Review the GMC Citation Management Library Guide for further information on citations: (http://gmcga.libguides.com/citationmanagement). Writing in Online Courses Online instruction is becoming more and more common. All the principles discussed in this chapter apply also in online writing—and many aspects are even more important in an online course. In most online courses, almost everything depends on written communication. Discussion is generally written rather than spoken. Questions and clarifications take shape in writing. Feedback on assignments is given in writing. To succeed in online writing, apply the same writing process as fully and thoughtfully as with an essay or paper for any course. Key Takeaways A writing course is central to all students' success in many of their future courses. Writing is a process that involves a number of steps; the product will not be good if one does not allow time for the process. Seek feedback from classmates, tutors, and instructors during the writing process. Revision is not the same thing as editing. Many resources are available to college writers. Words and ideas from sources must be documented in a form recommended by the instructor.

How Can I Make the "Process" Work for Me?

No single set of steps automatically works best for everyone when writing a paper, but writers have found a number of steps helpful. Your job is to try out ways that your instructor suggests and discover what works for you. As you'll see in the following list, the process starts before you write a word. Generally there are three stages in the writing process: Preparing before drafting (thinking, brainstorming, planning, reading, researching, outlining, sketching, etc.)—sometimes called "prewriting" (although you are usually still writing something at this stage, even if only jotting notes). This step should take 85% of the total time you spend writing your paper. Writing the first draft - this step should take 1% of the total time you spend writing your paper. Revising and editing - this step should take up to 14% of the total time you spend writing your paper.

Plagiarism - and How to Avoid It

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged use of material from a source. At the most obvious level, plagiarism involves using someone else's words and ideas as if they were your own. There's not much to say about copying another person's work: it's cheating, pure and simple. But plagiarism is not always so simple. Notice that our definition of plagiarism involves "words and ideas." Let's break that down a little further. Review the following GMC Library Guides on Plagiarism: http://gmcga.libguides.com/plagiarism http://gmcga.libguides.com/copyright/plagiarism Words. Copying the words of another is clearly wrong. If you use another's words, those words must be in quotation marks, and you must tell your reader where those words came from. But it is not enough to make a few surface changes in wording. You can't just change some words and call the material yours; close, extended paraphrase is not acceptable. For example, compare the two passages that follow. The first comes from Murder Most Foul, a book by Karen Halttunen on changing ideas about murder in nineteenth-century America; the second is a close paraphrase of the same passage: The new murder narratives were overwhelmingly secular works, written by a diverse array of printers, hack writers, sentimental poets, lawyers, and even murderers themselves, who were displacing the clergy as the dominant interpreters of the crime. The murder stories that were developing were almost always secular works that were written by many different sorts of people. Printers, hack writers, poets, attorneys, and sometimes even the criminals themselves were writing murder stories. They were the new interpreters of the crime, replacing religious leaders who had held that role before. It is easy to see that the writer of the second version has closely followed the ideas and even echoed some words of the original. This is a serious form of plagiarism. Even if this writer were to acknowledge the author, there would still be a problem. To simply cite the source at the end would not excuse using so much of the original source. Ideas. Ideas are also a form of intellectual property. Consider this third version of the previous passage: At one time, religious leaders shaped the way the public thought about murder. But in nineteenth-century America, this changed. Society's attitudes were influenced more and more by secular writers. This version summarizes the original. That is, it states the main idea in compressed form in language that does not come from the original. But it could still be seen as plagiarism if the source is not cited. This example probably makes you wonder if you can write anything without citing a source. To help you sort out what ideas need to be cited and what not, think about these principles: Common knowledge. There is no need to cite common knowledge. Common knowledge does not mean knowledge everyone has. It means knowledge that everyone can easily access. For example, most people do not know the date of George Washington's death, but everyone can easily find that information. If the information or idea can be found in multiple sources and the information or idea remains constant from source to source, it can be considered common knowledge. This is one reason so much research is usually done for college writing—the more sources you read, the more easily you can sort out what is common knowledge: if you see an uncited idea in multiple sources, then you can feel secure that idea is common knowledge. Distinct contributions. One does need to cite ideas that are distinct contributions. A distinct contribution need not be a discovery from the work of one person. It need only be an insight that is not commonly expressed (not found in multiple sources) and not universally agreed upon. Disputable figures. Always remember that numbers are only as good as the sources they come from. If you use numbers like attendance figures, unemployment rates, or demographic profiles—or any statistics at all—always cite your source of those numbers. If your instructor does not know the source you used, you will not get much credit for the information you have collected. Everything said previously about using sources applies to all forms of sources. Some students mistakenly believe that material from the Web, for example, need not be cited. Or that an idea from an instructor's lecture is automatically common property. You must evaluate all sources in the same way and cite them as necessary.

What's the Difference Between Revising and Editing?

Revising a draft usually involves significant changes including the following: Making organizational changes like the reordering of paragraphs (don't forget that new transitions will be needed when you move paragraphs) Making sure the thesis is clear with strong supporting points Cutting material that is unnecessary or irrelevant Adding new points to strengthen or clarify the presentation Next: Edit and proofread Editing and proofreading a draft involve these steps: Careful spell-checking. This includes checking the spelling of names and checking for words that are easily confused such as there, their, they're, and its, it's. Your spell-checker can't help with these. You also can't trust what a "grammar checker" (like the one built into the Microsoft Word spell-checker) tells you - computers are still a long way from being able to fix your writing for you! Attention to sentence-level issues. Be especially attentive to sentence run-on sentences, fragments, subject-verb agreement, punctuation, and pronoun referents. College instructors assume you will take the time to edit and proofread your essay. A misspelled word or an incomplete sentence may signal a lack of concern on your part. Since it is often hard to find small errors in our own writing, always print out a draft well before you need to turn it in. Ask a classmate or a friend to review it and mark any word or sentence that seems "off" in any way. Remember to get started on a writing assignment early so that you complete the first draft well before the due date, allowing you needed time for genuine revision and careful editing.

3.3 Giving In-Class Speeches

Some of your classes will require you to get up in front of the class and give a speech. One good thing to know is that you can use all of the advice you learned about writing essays because it also applies to writing speeches. Here are some reminders: Even oral presentations needs a clear point, or thesis, and supporting points. Make sure you know what you want your talk to accomplish. Are you trying to inform, persuade, or entertain your audience? Make sure your information is organized, that you have a strong point and enough supporting evidence. For a 5 minute speech, you need approximately 650 words. If you make a Power Point or other visual aid to go along with your speech make sure it is easy to follow. Use easy to read fonts. Don't crowd each slide with too much information. Don't read directly from your slides. Proofread carefully to catch any mistakes. Make sure you prepare your notes and that they are easy for you to follow. Sometimes, the best prep for a speech is a minimal outline that contains all of your talking points in the order you want to present them. Most importantly - practice, practice, practice! You can record yourself, practice your speech in front of a friend, a family member, a classmate, a pet, or even in front of the mirror. The more you practice, the more comfortable you will feel. What if your instructor makes you speak on the spot without any preparation? You can still organize your thoughts quickly by putting them in a framework. Sometimes this is called "thinking on your feet (or toes)." So if you can remember the acronym TOES as a framework, you can quickly organize your thoughts. Topic, Opinion, Evidence, reState. T: Clearly state the TOPIC O: State your OPINION or why you hold that point of view E: Give EVIDENCE or EXAMPLES to back up your point of view S: Say it again, or re-STATE your opinion of that topic Key Takeaways Oral presentations need a clear point, or thesis, and supporting points. Make sure you know what you want the talk to accomplish. Prepare your visual aids properly. Practice, practice, practice. If you have to give a speech without time to prepare for it, remember TOES.

3.4 Library Orientation

The Georgia Military College (GMC) Library supports students and faculty by providing access to library services through its collections and arrangements with community resources consistent with the degrees offered by this two-year, liberal arts junior college. The mission of the GMC Library is to ensure that students, faculty, and staff have access to and are able to be effective users of information. The GMC Library will provide current, unbiased materials on the level of its reading public, will make available to all students, faculty, and staff the resources of the library, will assist in the use of these materials, will provide access to materials not located in the library, and will provide opportunities designed to foster lifelong learning. The print collection in the Sibley-Cone Library contains over 36,000 volumes. The full-text, electronic books available online add an additional 90,000 academic titles. The periodical collection includes journals, magazines, and newspapers principally in online databases. Database collections include GALILEO, Gale, ABC-CLIO, Facts-on-File, and JSTOR. GMC students, faculty, and staff can remotely access GMC's electronic resources 24 hours a day, 7 days a week from any computer with Internet access using the current database password. The GMC Library Homepage (http://web.gmc.cc.ga.us/sscenter/elibrary/library.html) and Library Guides (http://gmcga.libguides.com/c.php?g=407&p=1452) provide links to library resources, services, and contact information for all campus libraries. For assistance from the GMC Library staff, call, email, or visit your campus library. For research questions, the library offers Ask A Librarian chat service on the Library Guides as well as through the Ask A Question (http://web.gmc.cc.ga.us/sscenter/elibrary/lib_help.html) form on the library homepage. GMC Library Guides for PER 101 can be accessed at: http://gmcga.libguides.com/PER101.

3.2 How Can I Become a Better Writer?

When you begin an essay, first title the paper to identify your topic. This may sound obvious, but it needs to be said. Some students think of a paper as an exercise and write something like "Assignment 2: History 101" on the title page. Such a title gives no idea about how you are approaching the assignment or your topic. Your title should prepare your reader for what your paper is about or what you will argue. (With essays, always consider your reader as an educated adult interested in your topic. An essay is not a letter written to your instructor.) *Note: at this point you should save your essay on a flash drive or another device where you can easily find it. Save it with a unique identifier like the title of your paper and add a number. For example: Why the Words Was Not New first draft. This will make it easier to find your essay when you are ready to print it out or to upload it to Turn-it-in. Here is more information about essay titles. Compare the following: Incorrect: Assignment 2: History 101 Correct: Why the New World Was Not "New" Incorrect: Catcher in the Rye Correct: Family Relationships in Catcher in the Rye It is obvious which of these two titles begins to prepare your reader for the paper itself. After you have a title, you can write your Introduction. In your introduction, define your topic and establish your approach or sense of purpose. Think of your introduction as an extension of your title. Build from a thesis or a clearly stated sense of purpose. Many college assignments require you to make some form of an argument. To do that, you generally start with a statement that needs to be supported and build from there. Your thesis is that statement; it is a guiding assertion for the paper. Be clear in your own mind of the difference between your topic and your thesis. The topic is what your paper is about; the thesis is what you argue about the topic. Some assignments do not require an explicit argument and thesis, but even then you should make clear at the beginning your main emphasis, your purpose, or your most important idea. Most importantly, develop your paper. This is the most crucial part of the assignment. You'll win the day with detailed explanations and well-presented evidence—not big generalizations. For example, anyone can write something broad (and bland) like "The constitutional separation of church and state is a good thing for America"—but what do you really mean by that? Specifically? Are you talking about banning "Christmas trees" from government property—or calling them "holiday trees" instead? Are you arguing for eliminating the tax-free status of religious organizations? Are you saying that American laws should never be based on moral values? The more you really dig into your topic—the more time you spend thinking about the specifics of what you really want to argue and developing specific examples and reasons for your argument—the more developed your paper will be. Remember, those grand generalizations we all like to make ("America is the land of the free") actually don't mean much at all until we develop the idea in specifics. (Free to do what? No laws? No restrictions like speed limits? Freedom not to pay any taxes? Free food for all? What do you really mean when you say American is the land of the "free"?) Integrate—do not just "plug in"—quotations, graphs, and illustrations. As you outline or sketch out your material, you will think things like "this quotation can go here" or "I can put that graph there." Remember that a quotation, graph, or illustration does not make a point for you. You make the point first and then use such material to help back it up. Using a quotation, a graph, or an illustration involves more than simply sticking it into the paper. Always lead into such material. Make sure the reader understands why you are using it and how it fits in at that place in your presentation. Build clear transitions at the beginning of every paragraph to link from one idea to another. A good paper is more than a list of good ideas. It should also show how the ideas fit together. As you write the first sentence of any paragraph, have a clear sense of what the prior paragraph was about. Think of the first sentence in any paragraph as a kind of bridge for the reader from what came before. Document your sources appropriately. If your paper involves research of any kind, indicate clearly the use you make of outside sources. If you have used those sources well, there is no reason to hide them. Careful research and the thoughtful application of the ideas and evidence of others is part of what college instructors value. (We address specifics about documentation later on.)