Readers and Writers

 Short essays are written under the pressure of a time limit and average words.  Make a Jot List ▪ A list of points to cover in the essay ▪ Has no conventional form ▪ You can arrange it any way you please  Sketch out Your Paragraphs ▪ Similar to a jot list  Make a Flowchart ▪ A graphic organization of a jot list

 May be a weekend assignment or a research paper completed over several weeks.  Could be as long as 5 to 10 pages  Requires appropriate and accurate documentation  Plan for this type of essay serves as a guide for writing and also for research you need to do before writing

 Start by asking questions that the reader may want answers to  Common sense questions  You will be required to do additional research to answer the questions

 Outline is a summary of what you plan to say in your essay  Tells you what you have to do, where you have to go, and when you have gotten there  Title ▪ Thesis ▪ I. Main Idea ▪ A. Sub Idea  1. Division of sub idea  A. Part of division of sub idea  Outline omits introductory materials, transition, examples, illustrations and details.

 It is an axiom of division that nothing can be dived into fewer than two parts. From this, it follows that under every main idea that has been divided, at least two sub ideas must appear. In other words, for every I there must be at least a II; for every A, at least a B.  Example:  I. The dangerous effects of excessive heat  A. Heat exhaustion  B. Heat stroke  II. The dangerous effects of excessive cold  A. Surface frostbite  B. Bodily numbness

 Don’t make the outline too long.  One page of an outline is the basis for five pages of developed writing. Your aim is to produce a model of the essay that you can inspect for flaws at a glance.  Don’t clutter the sentences of your outline.  Make your entries brief. The idea is to make the outline instantly readable.  Use parallel working for subordinate entries whenever possible.  Parallel entries are easier to read than nonparallel one.  Align the entries properly  Do not allow the second line of an entry to go father toward the left margin than the line above it.

 The topic outline is a series of incomplete sentences that sum up the topic.  Sentence outlines have complete sentences to outline the subject  Which you use depends on your knowledge of the subject you are writing about or how difficult the information is to process.

Readings for Writers

 The primary use of the paragraph is to signal the introduction of a new idea or the further development of an old one.  Secondary use of the paragraph is to add significantly to or elaborate on what has been said in a preceding paragraph.

 Topic sentence  This is the sentence that tells us what the writer intends to propose, argue, or demonstrate.  Implied Topic Sentences ▪ Some paragraphs have an implied topic sentence, also known as a controlling idea

 Good paragraphs are filled with supporting facts, instances, examples, and details. They make a point and then adequately support it.  They do not circle the subject, nor do they repeat at the same level of generality what the writer has already said.

 Some paragraphs begin and end with a generalization. The first generalization is the topic sentence; the second is a summary.

 A single topic sentence can also be developed over the course of two or more paragraphs. This development usually occurs when the topic sentence is to broad or complex to be adequately covered in a single paragraph or when the presentation of supporting details in several paragraphs is more emphatic.  Covering a topic sentence in more than one paragraph allows for a fuller development of the general idea, but it also tempts the writer to stray from the point.  Beginning writers will find it safer to use a separate topic sentence for each paragraph.

 The topic sentence should naturally occupy a prominent position.  First sentence topic sentence is organized from the general to the particular ▪ Idea first followed by the particular  Last sentence topic sentence is organized from the particular to the general ▪ The particular followed by the idea.  Some paragraphs have topic sentences that come second or third. (note: these types of paragraphs are typically found in the middle of an essay) ▪ Initial sentences are used to assure a smooth transition from the preceding paragraph

 Unity  A paragraph is said to have unity when its sentences stick to the topic and do not stray to secondary issues or deal with irrelevancies.  Coherence  A paragraph has coherence when its sentences are logically connected. However, sentences are not automatically linked simply because they follow one after another on the page. Four devices can be used to ensure paragraph coherence: ▪ Transitional words and phrases ▪ Pronoun reference ▪ Repeated key terms ▪ Parallelism

 Transitional words and phrases,  Point out the direction of the paragraph, and are used to link sentences.  They join sentences and, consequently, ideas in clear and logical relationships.  Pronoun reference  A noun is used in one sentence or clause and a pronoun that refers to it is used in the next sentence or clause.  Key terms  These may be repeated throughout the paragraph to link sentences.  Parallelism  Used to ensure coherence, although not nearly so often as any of the other tree devices. The principle behind parallelism is that similar ideas are expressed in structurally similar sentences.

 Completeness  A paragraph is complete when it has provided enough details to support its topic sentence.  A paragraph is incomplete when the topic sentence is not developed or when it is merely extended through repetition.