Prewriting

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Prewriting

• Activities to initiate
• the writing process

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What are prewriting activities?

• Good writers use various prewriting activities to
  come up with better ideas for the writing.
• Prewriting includes such activities as
• Listing
• Mapping
• Cubing
• Questioning
• Brainstorming
• Freewriting
• Nutshelling

What kind of prewriting activity is this one?
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How do writers list topics or ideas?

• Students make up a list of all ideas and topics
  they think might fit the paper.
• As students develop their lists of general
  topics, it is likely that a more specific idea
  will emerge.
• The goal of all prewriting is to generate
  specific details.
• An example ?

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How well can you edit a list?

• Which are not advantages of electric vehicles?
• Costs 25 of gas
• Nearly silent operation
• Fewer miles before recharging
• 4. Environmental friendly, no exhaust gasses
• 5. Higher cost of initial purchase
• 6. Plug in and recharge at home.
• 7. Lower maintenance costs and fewer maintenance
  activities no need to change oil
• 8. Less vehicle speed for the price

Would you buy this electric Mitsubishi car?
Traveling 100 miles on a charge and going 80
mph, it comes out in 2010.
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Here is the list edited of errors

• These are not advantages of electric vehicles?
• Costs 25 of gas
• Nearly silent operation
• Fewer miles before recharging
• 4. Environmental friendly, no exhaust gasses
• 5. Higher cost of initial purchase
• 6. Plug in and recharge at home.
• 7. Lower maintenance costs and fewer maintenance
  activities no need to change oil
• 8. Less speed for the price

The Z20 scooter by EVT America travels 30 miles
on a charge at 45 mph. It costs 2,500.
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How does idea mapping work?

• The writer starts the map or cluster with the
  core topic ?
• Then the writer draws the connected ideas out
  from the center or hub of the map ?
• The writer later uses the good ideas from the map
  in the paper.

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How do writers edit their maps?

• Writers can always adjust their maps.
• For example, which ideas would you change in the
  map at the left?
• Specifically, do you want to be a lion tamer?

?
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What kind of activity is cubing?

• Cubing
• detailed

• Cubing examines a topic from six different sides.
  
• It creates new areas of discussion.
• It can help you determine the most interesting
  aspect of your topic to write about in your paper.

Describe it
Associate it
Analyze it
Compare it
Apply it
?
Argue for it or against it
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For or against dumpster conversions?

• Lets apply the pro/con aspect of cubing.
• London designer Oliver Bishop-Young turns
  dumpsters into swimming pools, skateboard parks,
  and even living space.
• Would you consider swimming, playing, or living
  in a converted dumpster?
• Why or why not?

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How does questioning work?

• Another way to come up with prewriting ideas is
  free questioning.
• In which new way could wood chips possibly be
  used
• __1. To make new boards
• __2. To burn in stoves
• __3. To serve as groundcover
• __4. To form landfill
• __5. To create biofuel

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Heres how questioning works out

• Ideas 1-4 are already at work, but idea 5 is new
• __1. To make new boards
• __2. To burn in stoves
• __3. To serve as groundcover
• __4. To form landfill
• __5. To create biofuel
• UGA scientists have just found that by
  superheating wood chips, the forest byproduct is
  converted into biofuel.

Dr Tom Adams of the UGA biofuel project
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What is brainstorming?

• Writers can brainstorm for ideas by asking
  themselves five basic questions about any topic
• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?

Which TV game show did this man host?
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How does brainstorming work?

• Why did Costco drop while Amazon.com rose?
• US biggest warehouse club Costco warned on that
  its quarterly profit would drop because of
  soaring energy costs and other inflationary
  pressures.
• Amazon.com said that its quarterly earnings more
  than doubled, showing that the online retail
  giant is still able to put up strong sales
  numbers despite the slowing world economy.

What advantage does online shopping offer?
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How does online beat in-store?

• Online shopping advantages
• __1. Costco warehouses must pay more electric
  bills.
• __2. Costco customers must drive their cars to
  the warehouse.
• __3. Amazon.com can offer deals to world
  customers while the dollar is cheap.
• __4. Amazon.com can offer deals like free
  shipping to entice online shoppers.

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Advantages differ from disadvantages

• Online shopping advantages
• __1. Costco warehouses must pay more electric
  bills.
• __2. Costco customers must drive their cars to
  the warehouse.
• _X_3. Amazon.com can offer deals to world
  customers while the dollar is cheap.
• _X_ 4. Amazon.com can offer deals like free
  shipping to entice online shoppers.

Explanation The problems at Costco are not the
real advantages at online.
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In prewriting, what is freewriting?

• To get started on any writing assignment,
  identify your topic and then write down any and
  all ideas that come to mind.
• Without worrying about grammar or spelling or
  even correct wordingjust get the ideas out of
  your head and onto paper!
• When you are finished, read over your freewriting
  and organize your ideas using an outline or a
  graphic organizer like a map or cluster.

Do you associate riding with risk?
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How does freewriting work?

• Looking at the photo at left, what comes to mind?
• Working professionals need cell phones.
• Cell phone usage poses serious health risks.
• Cell phones offer mobile communications.
• College students waste too much time talking on
  cell phones.

It doesnt matter what topics you discuss in
freewriting one or more item will probably be
useful in your paper.
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How freewriting can lead to topics

• Working professionals need cell phones.
• Cell phone usage poses serious health risks.
• Cell phones offer mobile communications.
• College students waste too much time talking on
  cell phones.

• Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University
  of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, warns limit cell
  phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.
• Adults should keep the phone away from the head
  and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset.
• Using cells in public exposes others to the
  phone's electromagnetic fields.

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In prewriting, what is nutshelling?

• After freewriting, find a "one-sentence summary
  that captures the most interesting idea(s) found
  after rereading what was written" (16).
• This "nutshell sentence" can be used as a topic
  sentence, an opening sentence, or a concluding
  sentence in your draft.

What idea does this graphic nutshell?
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Applying Prewriting Activity

• Good writers use various prewriting activities to
  come up with better ideas for the writing.
• Prewriting includes such activities as
• Listing
• Mapping
• Cubing
• Questioning
• Brainstorming
• Freewriting
• Nutshelling

• Now, use a prewriting technique (see list at
  left) to analyze cell phone use
• Working professionals need cell phones.
• Cell phone usage poses serious health risks.
• Cell phones offer mobile communications.
• College students waste too much time talking on
  cell phones.