Unit 1 terms

concluding sentence

It pulls together or summarizes the main idea of the paragraph, usually in a single sentence. The concluding sentence also provides a definite ending point for the paragraph.

topic outline

a plan for--or a summary of--a writing project or speech.

strategies

a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim.

formatting

ensures that the features of the document are consistent in appearance, purpose, and order.

effectiveness

logical flow of ideas and is cohesive. This means it holds together well because there are links between sentences and paragraphs

main ideas

main point of a speech or piece of writing.

writing process

phases of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing.

graphic organizer

visual and graphic display that depicts the relationships between facts, terms, and or ideas within a learning task.

clincher

"settle and argument" or "finalize a deal." end of an essay

What are the four ways of arranging ideas?

-chronologically (this order presents the events as they happen in time) -spatially (this order describes objects according to their location) -logically (this order relates to a particular item or group) -importance (this order gives details from least importance to greatest importance to just the opposite.)

What are the modes of writing?

-expressive (personal narrative) -expository (informative essay, descriptive essay, cause/effect essay, compare/contrast essay) -functional (business letter) -persuasive (persuasive research paper) -literary response (book review) -research (research paper)

What can you do at the revision stage?

-improve paragraphs -implement self evaluation and peer evaluation -check content and structure -make sure language is specific and descriptive -check unity and coherence -check style and tone

five-paragraph essay

A five-paragraph essay must contain an introductory paragraph , three body paragraphs , and a concluding paragraph.

specific details

A frequent mistake in writing is failing to provide specific examples, evidence, or details to support an idea or thesis.

lead

A lead paragraph (also called a lead or lede) in journalism and sometimes other kinds of literature is the opening (leading) paragraph of an article, essay, news story or book chapter.

topic sentence

Each body paragraph should include a well-developed topic sentence with transitional phrases that relates to the thesis statement and blueprint.

blueprint

If you are writing an essay with three distinct areas, you should mention all three areas in your thesis statement. This is referred to as your blueprint. A writer uses the blueprint thesis to define the structure of his final piece of essay. It is a writer's plan, which enables the writer to avoid unnecessary rewritings of a single piece of material. (For a five paragraph essay, this is a statement that identifies three specific areas of support/illustration/expansion for the thesis statement.)

reworded thesis

Make sure the restatement looks and sounds different from the thesis.

mechanics

Mechanics are the conventions of print that do not exist in oral language, including spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphs.

thesis statement

Much like a topic sentence in a paragraph, the thesis statement will state the purpose or position of the essay.

concluding paragraph

The concluding paragraph should begin with a restatement of the thesis. The final two or three sentences should state the theme of the essay (what we should learn from reading this essay). The final sentence in your essay should be a clincher sentence.

attention getter

The first few sentences should gain your reader's attention. These are called attention getters.

introductory paragraph

The first few sentences should gain your reader's attention. These are called attention getters. They may also answer "why" you are writing the essay. You could use an anecdote, startling statistics, personal experience, rhetorical question, or quote.

body paragraphs

These paragraphs develop specific details and explanations about the general topics you identified in the introductory paragraph.

background information

This is where you would include information about the author, title, and genre if you are writing about a piece of literature.

traits of writing

Trait 1: Ideas and Content - Strong writing presents a clear focus or message. The writing contains specific ideas and details that support the focus. Trait 2: Organization - Effective writing creates a meaningful whole - with interesting beginning, middle, and ending parts. The supporting details are arranged in the best order. Trait 3: Voice - Writing that has voice reflects the writer's personality. It is engaging and appropriate for the audience. Trait 4: Word Choice - Good writing contains strong words, including specific nouns, verbs, and modifiers (adjective and adverbs). Word choice helps deliver a clear message. Trait 5: Sentence Fluency - Effective writing flows smoothly from sentence to sentence. None of the sentences causes the reader to stumble or become confused. Trait 6: Conventions - Strong writing follows the rules for punctuation, capitalization, spelling, and grammar. It is carefully edited to be error free. Trait 7: Presentation - An effective final copy looks neat and follows the proper guidelines for fonts, heading, margins, indenting, and spacing.

transitional phrases

Transitions are words and phrases that provide a connection between ideas, sentences and paragraphs. Transitions help to make a piece of writing flow better.

genre

a category of artistic composition, as in music or literature, characterized by similarities in form, style, or subject matter.

clarity

clearness or lucidity as to perception or understanding

supporting details

follow each topic sentence. Supporting details may include examples, explanations, incidents, facts, statistics, quotes, etc. Each supporting details should relate to the topic sentence.

writer

have a special power. This power enables the writer to communicate knowledge to the world. The writer is able to move ideas into action.

revising

includes evaluating and refining the rough draft for clarity and effectiveness.

editing

includes proofreading and correcting the draft for conventions.

prewriting

includes using strategies to generate, plan, and organize ideas for specific purposes.

drafting

incorporates prewriting activities to create a first draft containing necessary elements for a specific purpose.

voice

individual writing style of an author, a combination of idiotypical usage of syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, dialogue, etc., within a given body of text (or across several works).

publishing

involves formatting and presenting a final product for the intended audience.

purpose

purpose of writing can be to inform or explain, to persuade, to amuse or entertain, to narrate, or to describe

proofreading

read (printer's proofs or other written or printed material) and mark any errors.

audience

refers to the listeners or spectators at a speech or performance, or the intended readership for a piece of writing.

rough draft

stage of essay writing that occurs between outlining and essay editing

conventions

such as spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and grammar help make a student's essay clear and understandable.