Ccontents: 1.The Writing Process 2.The First and Second Steps
in Writing
3.The Third Step in Writing
4.The Fourth Step in Writing
5.Four Bases for Revising Writing 6.Paragraph Development
Vary Your Sentences:
Revise by Beginning with a Special
Opening Word or Phrase
-ed word
Tired from a long day of
work, Sharon fell asleep on the sofa.
-ing word
Using a thick towel, Mel
dried his hair quickly.
-ly word
Reluctantly, I agreed to
rewrite the paper.
to word group
To get to the church on
time, you must leave now.
Prepositional
phrase
With Fred's help, Martha
planted the evergreen shrubs.
Revise by
Placing Adjectives or Verbs in a Series
Adjective
The black, smeary
newsprint rubbed off on my new butcher-block table.
Verbs
The quarterback
fumbled the ball, recovered it, and sighed
with relief.
Four Bases for Revising Writing
Four Steps
→→→→→→→→→→→→→ Four Bases
1. If you
make one point and stick
you writing will have unity.
to that point.
2. If you back up
the point with
you writing will have support.
specific evidence.
3. If you organize
and connect
you writing will have coherence.
4.
If you write clear, error-free
your writing will demonstrate effective
sentences.
sentence skills.
Bases
1: Checking for Unity
To
check a paper for unity, ask yourself these questions:
1.
Is there a clear opening statement of the point of the
paper?
2. Is all the material on
target in support of the opening point?
Bases
2: Checking for Support
To
check a paper for unity, ask yourself these questions:
1.
Is there specific evidence to support the opening
point ?
2. Is there enough
specific evidence?
Bases 3:
Checking for Coherence
To check a paper for unity, ask
yourself these questions:
1.
Does the paper have a clear method of organization ?
2. Are transitions and other
connecting words used to tie the material together?
Bases
4: Checking for Sentence
Skills
Are fragments eliminated?
Run-ons eliminated? Correct verb form?
Subject and verb agreement?
Faulty parallelism and faulty modifiers eliminated?
Needless words eliminated? Effective word choices?
Paragraph
Development
Providing
Examples: In our
daily conversations, we often provide examples-that is,
details, particulars, specific instances-to explain
statements that we make.
Statement
Examples
The A&P was crowded today.
There were at least four carts waiting at each of
the checkout counters, and it took me forty-five
minutes to get through a line.
The corduroy shirt I bought is
When I washed it, the colors began to fade, one
poorly made.
button cracked and another fell off, a shoulder
sea, opened, and the sleeves shrank almost two
inches.
My son Peter is unreliable.
If I depend on him to turn off a pot of beans in
ten minutes, the family is likely to eat burned
beans. If I ask him to turn down the thermostat
before he goes to bed, the heat is likely to stay
on all night.
Paragraphs to
look:
Topic Sentence
Office
Politics
Office politics is a destructive game played by several
types of people. For instance, two supervisors may get into
a conflict over how to do a certain job. Instead of working
out an agreement like adults, they carry on a power struggle
that turns the poor employees under them into human
Ping-Pong balls being swatted between two angry players.
Another common example of office politics is the ambitious
worker who takes credit for other people's ideas. He or she
will chat in a "friendly" fashion with inexperienced
employees, getting their ideas about how to run the office
more smoothly. Next thing you know, Mr. or Ms. idea-Stealer
is having a closed-door session with the boss and getting
promotion points for his or her "wonderful creativity." Yet
another illustration of office politics is the spy. This
employee acts very buddy-buddy with other workers, often
dropping little comments about things he or she
doesn't like in the workplace. The spy encourages people to
talk about their problems at work, how they don't like their
boss, the pay, and the working conditions. Then the spy goes
straight back and repeats all he or she has heard to the
boss, and the employees get blamed for their "poor
attitude." A final example of office politics is people who
gossip. Too often, office politics can turn a perfectly fine
work situation into a stressful one.
Explaining a
Process
Every
day we perform many activities that are processes-that
is, series of steps carried out in a definite order. Many of
these processes are familiar and automatic: for example,
tying shoelaces, changing bed linen, using a vending
machine, and starting a car. We are thus seldom aware of the
sequence of steps making up each activity. In other cases,
such as when we are asked for directions to a
particular place, or when we try to read and follow the
directions for a new table game, we may be painfully
conscious of the whole series of steps involved in the
process.
Paragraphs
to look:
How to Break Up a Relationship
When it comes to breaking off a relationship, I try to
follow the golden rule I learned as a child in Sunday
school. I try to treat others the way I would want to be
treated myself. First, I try not to break up with a
boyfriend until I'm sure the relationship can't be saved. I
tell my boyfriend if one of his behaviors is bothering me,
and I try to work out conflicts before they get out of hand.
Even if he chooses not to change his behavior, at least I
have given him a chance. If nothing else, giving a boyfriend
a chance to change makes me feel less guilty about breaking
up. Once it's clear that a break up is inevitable, I try to
tell him as quickly and kindly as I can . There is no point
in hurting someone unnecessarily, so I try to be firm but
kind. I let him know that he's a great person and I still
care for him, but I'm no longer in love with him and I'm not
interested in continuing the relationship. Even though
following this process may take longer than the cruel and
quick method, the results are worth it. I feel good about
myself, and I've managed to remain friends with many of my
ex-boyfriends.
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