HO8 A Brainstorming Exercise with the Journalist’s Six Questions

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DIRECTIONS: Study the following pages to see how one writer uses the journalist’s six

questions generate ideas and organize them to create an outline and write an article or

essay.

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WHAT?

pollution and the many kinds …

land / air / ocean / sea / river / lake / pond / puddle / noise

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WHO?

local citizens / tourists / other visitors

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WHEN?

everyday / every other day / each week / monthly / annually / nighttime / daytime /

weekends / weekdays

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WHERE?

global / eastern hemisphere/ Asia/ Japan / Okinawa / Naha / neighborhood / bus

stop / parks / parking lots

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WHY?


unconcerned about the environment / unconcerned about the beauty of nature /

unconcerned about fellow citizens

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HOW?

casual abandonment of soda cans / abandoning cars / cigarette butts / used diapers /

leaving trash on the beach

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 Creating a Thesis

Ideas are formless and exist in our minds. Speaking and writing gives our ideas form. Once
our ideas have taken shape on paper, we can then begin persuading someone of
something—our thoughts, perceptions, attitudes or beliefs. These ideas, perceptions,
attitudes or beliefs are what we call subjects or subject matter. A thesis sentence, thus,
contains a subject and also expresses our feelings about that subject. In other words, a thesis
sentence has a subject and a verb.
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Begin writing with a subject in mind. Ask yourself what subject you want to focus on. As an
example, you might want to discuss the effects of pollution? This is a subject that people
discuss throughout the world and who also have strong opinions about. There are many
kinds of pollution: land, sea, air, noise. So, is pollution itself a subject you can write about, or
should you try to narrow the subject to a particular kind. If so, you should ask more questions.
What kind of pollution and where? How about land pollution on Okinawa? If you feel
strongly about with this subject, write it down somewhere to remind yourself at times of the
subject matter that you’ll write about.
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Subject: Land polluters in Okinawa.
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In order to go beyond seeing the difference between subjects and simple assertions, you
should try to say something about your subject that no one would dispute. That is, you should
try to communicate a fact about the subject.
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Assertion: Land polluters in Okinawa are damaging the island.
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It is very easy to show evidence of land pollution throughout Okinawa that is affecting the
beauty of the island. As you know, a thesis sentence will encourage argument. When you
say something critical about a subject, you are actually clarifying your position on a subject
—as if to say that you are for or against something or someone. Whenever opinions
expressed about subjects become debatable, we refer to these subjects as issues. To some
people, pollution on Okinawa is a serious issue. So, to create a good thesis sentence, you
must say something critical about the subject—thereby communicating the position you
take on the issue.
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Thesis: Land polluters should be jailed to prevent further harm to the environment.
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Selecting Useful Ideas & Dropping Un-useful Ideas

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1. Consider the many ideas you have generated from the brainstorming. Ask the following

simple questions:

a. Are all of these ideas useful to the position you now have taken on the subject—

pollution?

b. Can you ignore some of the ideas?

c. Can you choose only those ideas related to the particular subject that you are

interested in?

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2. Select only the ideas in the brainstorming exercise that relate to and support your thesis—

your position.

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3. Use these ideas to help develop an outline of the problem that pollution on Okinawa

creates for people and the environment. These ideas will serve as examples you can expand

on in the essay itself.

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 Creating an Outline

The outline should reflect the essay that you will write. As with essays, outlines contain an

introduction, body and conclusion. The following outline is as an example of what an essay

on pollution might look like.

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I. Introduction

a. Thesis: The only way to prevent damage to the Okinawan environment is to put

polluters in jail.

b. citizens and visitors respecting the land

c. leaving empty cans around

d. abandoning cars, trucks etc..

e. treating the land as a garbage dump

II. Body: high school kids

a. leaving behind waste while waiting for the bus

b. leaving behind used soda cans

III. Body: adults

a. abandoning a car

b. policemen inspecting the abandoned vehicle

c. white Toyota sedan and black Mazda van

IV. Conclusion

a. Okinawa becoming a national garbage dump

b. polluters threatening the beauty of the island

c. catching and prosecuting criminal polluters

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Example Essay with One Source

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The following draft is a possible model of how to develop an essay from an outline. Included
for your convenience are labels for each paragraph that should not appear in the essay
itself. Use the labels and comments in parentheses throughout as guides. Do not use these
sorts of labels in your own essays.
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Introduction: (State your thesis) – The only way to prevent more damage to the
Okinawan environment is to put polluters in jail. (Briefly define the problem) – Many people
on Okinawa, from local citizens and to foreign visitors, do not respect this beautiful land. They
leave their empty cans of soda pop, tea, or iced coffee in public. They abandon their cars,
trucks, scooters, or bicycles in often remote and sometimes obvious public places. Too many
people tend to treat the land of Okinawa as one large garbage dump. According to Taro
Yamada, “Okinawa itself has become a place where people feel free to drop their litter
anywhere, anytime” (Yamada, 2006, p. 2).
Body: (Cite and discuss a specific example of the kind of behavior that you’ve
described in the introduction) – Yesterday, for example, I saw a high school kid finish off a
one-liter bottle of Aquarius, set it on the ledge of a brick wall at a bus stop, then walk away
from it as he entered the bus. Later that same day, I saw another student set a can of Coca
Cola and an unfinished sandwich from Family Mart on the curb and then walk away. Maybe
he expected other people waiting at the bus stop to clean up his mess.
Body: (Cite and discuss another specific example). Four weeks ago as I was sitting on
my balcony enjoying the beautiful view, I noticed a man park his Jeep along the street just
outside of our apartment house. Yesterday, I noticed the Jeep has not moved. This morning, I
saw two policemen inspecting it and putting stickers on it to alert the owner that he should
move it. I guess that the Jeep will remain in its present place just as long as the white Toyota
sedan and black Mazda van, for almost one year.
Conclusion: (Close your discussion by suggesting some course of action, a solution to
the problem you’ve described.) If local officials continue to give the problem of pollution
and polluters little attention, Okinawa may eventually become a massive garbage dump.
Blatant polluters threaten the beauty of our environment as well as the health and happiness
of all those who call Okinawa home. The police must devote more resources to catching
and prosecuting offenders before they bury this precious Pacific island under a pile of
rubbish.
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Bibliography:
Taro, Y. (2006). “A New Pacific Dump.” Japan Update. Mashiki, Ginowan, Okinawa: Print 21

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