WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN ENGLISH II group B [47153]

Diana Carrascal Tris 2021-22

Steps in the writing process

Pre-writing

 Brainstorming

 Clustering

 Asking Questions

 Determining your Purpose

Planning and Organizing

 Narrowing your topic

- Single Focus
- Significant
- Specific
- Supportable

 Identifying the controlling idea

 Identifying the supporting points

All your supporting points must be:

- Important
- Distinct
- Relevant

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 WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN ENGLISH II group B [47153]
Diana Carrascal Tris 2021-22
• Ordering your ideas

- Logical order
- Chronological order
- Climatic order
- Random order

 Creating an Outline

1. A Beginning — some kind of introduction, telling the reader where they are and what kind of
thing they’re about to read.

2. A Middle — the main bit, where you say what you’re there to say.

3. An End — some kind of winding-up part that lets the reader know that this is actually the end of
the piece (rather than that someone lost the last page).

Writing a Rough Draft

 Develop your main ideas departing from the thesis statement.

 Don’t worry about sentence structure, spelling or grammar.

 But pay attention to the order of your ideas.

 Give more thought to your weaker points and decide if they need rewriting or erasing altogether.

 Pay attention to coherence.

Revising (Paragraph Level: Ideas)

 Unity

Unity means that all your points are related. To check for unity in your paragraph, ask yourself the following

questions:

1. Do all the sentences relate clearly to the topic sentence?

2. Is there any unnecessary repetition?

3. Is each sentence in the correct order in relation to the other sentences?

4. Does each sentence flow smoothly and naturally to the next?

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 WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN ENGLISH II group B [47153]
Diana Carrascal Tris 2021-22
 Sufficient Support and Detail

You should reread your draft and imagine yourself as the audience. Pretend you don’t know
anything about the topic. Ask yourself the following questions:

1. Are there any gaps in information or detail that would help explain a supporting point?

2. If you are using chronological order, are there any gaps in the sequence that need an
additional sentence to complete the time order?

3. If you are using space order, have you mentioned all the things that can create a
complete picture of the space?

4. If you are using climactic order, have you included all the really important details?

5. Are there any details that may distract the audience from the subject?

6. Are all of the details relevant?

 Coherence

Coherence means that all the parts of your paragraph connect to form a whole. For this to happen,
you need a clear plan of arrangement, and you need transitions to connect your ideas. The ideas
and sentences should be in an order that makes sense to the audience. This is how you get your
audience to follow your thinking and reach the impression or conclusion that you want it to reach.

 Revising

 Editing the first Draft

Editing Checklist

 Is your topic interesting and relevant?

 Have you considered your audience?
 Have you made your position clear?
 Do you have one single controlling idea?
 Does your essay follow a logical order?
 Is your meaning clear?
 Are all of the sentences complete?
 Do you have smooth transitions from one idea to another?
 Do the subjects and the verbs agree?
 Do the pronouns agree?
 Is all of the punctuation correct?
 Is the spelling correct?

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 WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN ENGLISH II group B [47153]
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Fine Tuning your Writing

 Paraphrasing

When you paraphrase:

- include all the important main ideas.

- keep the same meaning as the original text.

You can:

- begin the sentence differently.

- change nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives.
- change the sentence structure (i.e., use different types of clauses or
phrases).

 Writing Summaries

Here are the steps you can follow when writing a summary:

1. Read or reread the material you want to summarize.

2. Identify the main controlling idea in the original writing.

3. Identify the main supporting points.

4. Identify key words.

5. Paraphrase key words and the main ideas.

6. Check your sentences against the original writing to make sure you have included all the main
ideas.

7. Check your sentences to make sure you haven’t added any new information.

8. Rewrite your sentences using appropriate transitions to link one idea to another.

Summary Checklist

 Is the summary in your own words?

 Have you used the original words only if there were no other synonyms to choose?

 Did you cite the title and author at the beginning of the summary?

 Have you captured “the essence” of the original material?

 Did you leave out any examples or details that are vital to the main points?

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 WRITTEN EXPRESSION IN ENGLISH II group B [47153]
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Parts of an Essay

 Introduction

In order for people to be interested in reading an essay, the introduction or introductory paragraph
needs to capture their attention. A well-written introductory paragraph with an interesting opening
statement, strong supporting sentences, and a clear thesis statement not only encourages the reader
to continue, but also sets up the rest of the essay.

 Parts of the introduction:

- The hook
- Supporting sentences/background information
- Thesis statement

 Supporting paragraphs (body)

Once the writer has attracted the reader's attention and stated the direction of the essay in the
introduction, it is necessary to provide more information. This is done in the body of the essay. The
body of the essay is the part of the essay where writers expand on all the points made in the
introduction. Generally there are three to five supporting paragraphs, but there can also be more,
depending on the number of points the writer is making.

◦ Transitions between paragraphs

- Repeat key words

- Refer to the idea of the previous paragraph
- Use transitional expressions and sentences

 Conclusion

The conclusion of an essay plays an important role in the effectiveness of the essay as a whole.
Regardless of how well written the introductory and supporting paragraphs are, the essay is
ineffective if the reader does not recognize the end of the essay. It is important that the conclusion
does not add major new ideas to the essay; rather, it should summarize or refer to the main points
already given. Its job is to conclude, not continue, the discussion.

The purpose of a concluding paragraph is:

- To bring the essay to a close

- To reinforce the thesis statement
- To leave the reader with a strong impression

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Sources

Where to find sources:

 Library

 Google Scholar

 Researchgate

 Academia.edu etc.

Resources:

APA https://apastyle.apa.org/
MLA https://www.mla.org/MLA-Style

Reference managers:

the UVa provides an institutional account on Mendeley website