DRAPES – A Writing Method

Developed by Geri Berger

Presented by Steve Barrish

DRAPES is
a writing system which
helps students develop
effective and creative
writing.
DRAPES means:
• D = Dialogue
• R = Rhetorical Question
• A = Analogy
• P = Personal Experience
• E = Example
• S = Statistics
How do I
use When writing
a paragraph,
DRAPES?
try to use 3 or
4 elements
(parts) of
DRAPES.
Let’s take
Let’s look at
a closer excerpts from
look: a paper
about,
“Teens
An Excerpt is a Deserving a
sentence from
the entire essay. Summer
Break.”
Dialogu
e Is the active
use of
quoting
what
someone
said.
Example:

My child psychologist, Dr. Ida

Knoe, explained, “Children
work extremely hard in school
all year; they deserve a
summer break.”
Rhetorical Question
Asks a
question
(of the reader)
about the
topic.
Exampl
e:
Do you know
how many
weeks of
vacation we
have on the
calendar?
 The active use
Analogy of simile. It is
an attempt to
liken one
thing to
another thing.
 Example:
Don’t you think that going to
school all year without a long
break would be like mom or
dad working all year and not
having a vacation?
 Personal Experience

Insert 2 or 3 sentences with

dialogue or a short little story
about a real (can be made
up) experience.
 Example:
For instance, my friend
Mary went to a school last
year where they did not
have any breaks what-so-
ever. As a result, she
cracked up and needed to
be put into a mental
institution because she
buckled under the stress!
 (Give an) Example

Write an
example that
seems to
reflect or echo
real research
and
investigation.
Example:

Doctors all agree, the need

for a summer break for
youngsters is essential for
quality time with family and
friends.
 Inserting
numbers or
Statistics percentages
(however
made up
they may
be)
Example:

75% of all Florida

teens voted on a
recent survey,
“Yes!” for
summer fun.