Writing the First Draft - 1. Purpose: Get your ideas on paper
- 2. Getting Started:
- a. Freewrite or write a discovery draft
- b. Use a formal outline
- c. Break essay into parts and write the
- different parts separately starting with
- the easiest section
- d. Do not concentrate on mechanics and
- organization – leave that to revision stage.
- e. As you use an idea from your sources put reference in
- parenthesis immediately (Brown 45)
- 3. Format: write on one side, every other line, with margins
Revision - Inexperienced writers do little more than refine word choices, correct grammatical or mechanical errors
- Revision – “re-vision” to see again with fresh eyes; to revise you need to evaluate, change and reevaluate your draft. Decide whether to write an entirely new draft or revise the one you have (Troyka 57, 58)
- Be systematic – don’t evaluate at random;
- a. begin with overall organization
- b. then move on its paragraphs
- c. then to its sentences
- d. then to its word choice
Examine your draft globally - Is the thesis clearly stated?
- Is the supporting evidence sufficient?
- Is the paper logically organized? The role of unity and coherence (Troyka 61)
- Does the introduction arouse interest and prepare readers for what follows?
- Does the conclusion leave readers with a strong final impression, question or challenge?
- Are any sections off-topic or redundant?
- (Connelly 127)
Consider your paper with a “reader’s eye” - Are your readers likely to be receptive, indifferent, or hostile to your views? What details will arouse interest or defend your thesis?
- Do you expect reader objections? Do you anticipate differing opinions?
- Do your readers need any additional background info to appreciate your views? Are there any misunderstandings or misconceptions that should be clarified or dispelled? Do terms or concepts require definitions?
- Will readers respond favourably to the style and tone of your paper?
Analyze Your Critical Thinking - Distinguish Fact from Opinion
- A fact is a verifiable statement that something is true or that something has occurred.
- An opinion is a conclusion or belief that can never be substantiated beyond any doubt and is, therefore, debatable. An opinion may be supported or unsupported.
- (Kirsner & Mandell 57)
- The more reliable the supporting evidence – examples, statistics, or expert testimony - the more willing readers will be to accept a statement. No matter what kind of evidence writers use, it must be
- - accurate
- - sufficient
- - representative
- - relevant (Kirsner & Mandell 56)
Analyze Your Critical Thinking: Common Errors in Critical Thinking - Ignoring the Role of Coincidence
- Hasty Generalizations or Jumping to Conclusions
- Relying on Anecdotal Evidence
- Mistaking Time Relationships for Cause and Effect
- Making Faulty Comparisons or Analogies
- Assuming Trends will Continue, Making “Slippery Slope” Judgments
- False Dilemmas
- Relying on False Authorities, Attacking Personalities, Guilt by Association
- Using Circular Reasoning (Begging the Question)
- Making Emotional or Irrelevant Statements (Red Herring)
- Equivocation
- Argument to Ignorance
- Appealing to People’s Prejudice (Connelly 51-8; Kirszner & Mandell 59-61)
Revise Organization - When satisfied that draft expresses the meaning that you want to get across to your reader, check organization
- Is your organizational plan appropriate for your thesis and purpose?
- Do you provide transitions and connecting ideas?
- What should you add so that audience can better follow your train of thought?
- What should be eliminated to clarify meaning?
- What should you move that is out of place, or should be grouped elsewhere?
- Does each paragraph have a main idea that relates to the thesis, and does all material in paragraph support it?
Revise Organization (cont) - Read essay out loud. What ideas or facts are missing, poorly stated, or repetitive?
- Examine the Thesis – does essay have one or is it just a collection of facts? Where have you placed the thesis? Is that the best place for it?
- Review Topic Sentences and Controlling Ideas for each paragraph. Do all paragraphs support the thesis? Do all ideas, support relate to the thesis?
- Review sequence of paragraphs – from general to specific; specific to general, chronological, spatial?
- Revise introduction – does it limit the topic, give adequate background, and address reader concerns?
- Revise conclusion
- Revise supporting paragraphs is evidence easy to follow? Are there clear transitions between ideas and between paragraphs? Should some paragraphs be broken up and others joined?
Revise Style - Style, tone, voice, attitude and liveliness, or lack thereof are created by author’s choice and use of words, the length and complexity of sentences, and reader-based expression; Five ways to improve your writing style:
- 1.Move from writer-based prose to reader-based prose
- 2. Add your own voice
- 3. Stress verbs rather than nouns
- 4. Eliminate ineffective language
- 5. Eliminate sexist language (Kennedy 64)
Editing - Read paper out loud to catch glaring errors
- The reread line by line, sentence by sentence
- - check for correct usage,
- - punctuation,
- - spelling,
- - mechanics,
- - manuscript form, (see pg 72 of text)
- - typos.
Proofreading - This concerns itself with the finished product – for accuracy and neatness
- Make a last check for errors in text – mechanics and typos
- Use appropriate format
- Read line by line - look for letters accidentally omitted, inserted, inverted; indentations omitted, created incorrectly, and check the reference list closely.
- One technique:
- a. use a ruler under each line to prevent yourself from looking
- beyond that line
- b. reading backwards (from the last line to the first) sentence by
- sentence to prevent yourself from being distracted by the
- content of the paper.
- c. proofreading the final draft aloud to yourself or friend so that
- you can hear the errors that slipped past your eyes. (Troyka 64)
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