Welcome to Effective Writing for IT Majors Unit 3 Nick Pincumbe

Unit 3 Seminar Agenda Discuss prewriting Discuss strategies for writing thesis statements Discuss how to write a thesis statement for our Process Essay

What is Prewriting? What do you think I mean by “prewriting”? More importantly, WHY do we pre- write? Why is it not a waste of time?

Why We Prewrite The artist and the judge… The artistThe judge Prewriting allows you to let ideas in before you can judge them. This helps you generate ideas to use as content for your essays.

Some Thoughts on Prewriting Getting started is the hardest part for some writers. Prewriting will help you begin any writing assignment without stressing. Prewriting can help you uncover a thesis from a large topic.

Types of Prewriting* 1. Freewriting 2. Brainstorming 3. Bubbling/Mind Mapping/Clustering 4. Listing 5. Outlining *These are all explained in detail in this week’s reading

From Prewriting to Thesis Statement Once we have developed some content through prewriting, we must decide what our position is on that content. What do we think about it? What is our opinion on it?

Thesis Statements Thesis Statement A thesis statement is the main idea of the essay. The thesis statement is the cornerstone of your process essay. It almost always is presented in the introduction—do NOT fall for the temptation of holding it until the conclusion to add to the “suspense.”

Thesis Statements Your thesis is your central idea. The rest of your process essay will describe and teach the process you have chosen. It is important that you write your thesis in the form of a single sentence.

Sample Thesis Statements: What Not to Do! A thesis is NOT a fact: “Last year, three hundred novices became professional essayists in the United States.” A thesis is NOT a question: “Is it important to understand the process of how to become a good writer? A thesis does NOT include a quote or any other cited material: “According to Smith, “the process of becoming a good writer is difficult”. A thesis does NOT reference yourself: “I think that becoming a good writer is easy.”

Sample Thesis Statements: Some Good Examples The process of tying one’s shoes is easy to learn. Learning how to format a hard drive is both easy and fun. It is useful to know how to make a chicken stir-fry.

Unit 3 Work—What’s going on this unit Reading: The process essay (how something is done or how it should be done). Seminar: Prewriting and Thesis Statements (live or in Option 2). Discussion: Choosing a process essay topic. Project: Submit your narrative (Project 3) to the dropbox.