Written and compiled by Miss Dana Shaaban Presented by: Anita J. Ghajar-Selim Supervisor, Writing lab Student Learning Support Center

 The gathering of ideas from your brain onto paper  “Storm” of ideas scattered around in your brain  Thinking about a topic from different angles  Thinking of as many ideas as possible in a short amount of time.

 Write down your ideas so that you don’t forget them.  Write down everything that comes to your mind; don’t worry about sorting out “good” and “bad” ideas.  Don’t worry about spelling or grammar.

 Topic: What would I do with a million dollars? Travel the world Pay debts Give to charity Buy books, clothes, cars etc… Put it in a bank account Buy gifts for people I love

 Like pouring all of your thoughts onto paper  Don’t take your pen off the page; keep writing for the entire time.  Just write about anything. The important thing is to start writing and keep writing!  Don’t try to sort “good” and “bad” ideas.  Don’t worry about spelling and grammar.

 When you have NO idea about the topic  When you have TOO many ideas about the topic ????? ? Maybe I could say this or maybe I could say that… hmmm

 Write about the following topic: Talk about a scary dream you once had. In my dream, I was coming back home from school really late. There were no lights in the street and I could hear the sounds of meowing cats and barking dogs. I walked faster and faster and almost fell into a big puddle of mud. Suddenly I saw a big man with a mask on his face. He told me to give him my money. I threw a rock at him and ran home. When I opened the door I found the man sitting in my favorite chair!

 When you write down words or concepts associated with the topic – any ideas that come into your mind  Another way to organize your ideas.  Start with your topic in the center, and branch out from there with related ideas.  Use words and phrases, not complete sentences.

My Future Family Get married Raise healthy, happy children Make them a priority Education Work Never stop learning Eventually get a PhD Make my children love education Find a good job Use the skills I have learned in as many ways as possible Learn to love whatever work I’m doing

 Used when comparing between two or more objects, events, people, and places.  Useful for compare/contrast essays Differences Similarities

 Let’s say we want to compare Doha to Dubai: DohaDubai Tall buildings Cities in the gulf Lots of construction Big malls Expensive Ruled by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani Independent state Too crowded Ruled by Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum Part of the UAE Not too crowded

 More organized form of pre-writing than the others we discussed.  It can be used after you have generated ideas through brainstorming, free writing, or other pre-writing techniques.  It works well for structured types of writing such as essays.  You can use complete sentences, but you don’t have to.

An outline of a paragraph:  Introduction Topic sentence  Body First supporting detail Second supporting detail Third supporting detail  Conclusion Concluding sentence

 Introduction: Topic Sentence: There are several fun activities people can do in Qatar.  Body 1 st supporting detail: camp in the desert 2 nd supporting detail: go to Sealine beach 3 rd supporting detail: admire art at Islamic Museum  Conclusion: Concluding sentence: These activities are just some ways to have fun in Qatar.

Persuasion Plan

 You can use the following website to help you write a nice outline and put in your thoughts and thesis statement.  ve.aspx?id=722&title= ve.aspx?id=722&title

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