Step-up-to-Writing

1
Step-up-to-Writing

• Simply one of many ways to approach writing and
  make the process clearer

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Two Kinds of Writing

• Narrative
• Tells a story
• Has a beginning, middle and an end
• Has characters, setting and a plot

• Expository
• Gives information
• Explains, shows, informs, or proves
• Has an introduction, a body and a conclusion
• Has reasons, transitions, and examples

3
Kinds of Sentences

• Topic sentence (and thesis statement)
• Reason / Detail / Fact (RDF)
• The Es Information to back your RDFs
• Concluding sentence

4
Kinds of Sentences

• Green- Topic sentence starts the reader in the
  right direction.
• Yellow - Slow down and give a reason, detail, or
  fact.
• Red - Stop and give an explanation, elaboration,
  or further example.

5
An Elementary Paragraph

• My favorite amusement park is Disneyland. I
  love the rides. Space Mountain and Thunder
  Mountain rollercoasters make my heart race, and I
  like to sing along with Its a Small World. I
  also enjoy the shows. I watch the parade and
  fireworks every time I visit. There is also a
  new Snow White show Id like to see. I love my
  visits to Disneyland.

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Another View
7
Topic Sentence

• The topic sentence is the heart of your
  paragraph.
• It is usually found in the beginning of the
  paragraph.
• It tells the reader what to expect in that
  paragraph provides a focus

8
Sample Topic Sentences

• Rainsford experiences many conflicts in the tale
  The Most Dangerous Game.
• When I was seven I learned a valuable lesson
  about what it means to share.

9
Thesis Statement

• The thesis statement is a kind of topic sentence,
  except it controls a whole essay rather than one
  paragraph
• The purpose is to provide a clear direction for
  the paper

10
Reason/Detail/Fact

• Every topic sentence needs to be supported by at
  least one reason, detail, or fact.
• RDFs are not arguable they are like evidence
  in a trial
• RDFs glue your paragraph together

11
Sample RDFs

• When Rainsford falls in the Caribbean, he fights
  to stay afloat and reach shore. His screams are
  unheard by the yacht, and he struggles to the
  island.
• It all began the day after my birthday. I had
  received a bag of candy and a jump rope. My mom
  specifically told me to share the candy, but I
  was rarely given sugar, and I had no intention of
  complying with her order.

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The Es back up RDFs

• Each reason, fact or detail may be supported with
  an explanation, elaboration, or further evidence.
• The Es are the meat of the paragraph, the part
  that really shows your thinking

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Sample Es

• Because Rainsford fights against the waves and
  the sea, this conflict should be considered an
  external conflict of person vs. nature. The sea
  causes him to struggle, and he fights against it
  to keep his life.
• When I refused to give any candy to my friends,
  who of course all wanted a piece, I quickly found
  that I was alone. All I would get was a stomach
  ache from eating it on my own. So I decided to
  give one piece to each friend in order to get my
  playmates back.

14
Conclusions

• People like clean endings. A paragraph or paper
  should provide a wrap up to what was discussed.
• The conclusion ties the paragraph together.

15
Example Conclusions

• The case of Rainsford falling into the sea shows
  us he has at least one external conflict in The
  Most Dangerous Game. TRANSITION However, this
  is not his only conflict.
• The fact that a little sharing made so many
  people happy, including myself, showed me that
  selfishness wasnt worth it. I may not have been
  happy that my mom was right in telling me to
  share, but I was old enough to see I learned a
  valuable lesson.

16
Sample Paragraph

• Rainsford experiences many conflicts in the tale
  The Most Dangerous Game. When Rainsford falls
  in the Caribbean, he fights to stay afloat and
  reach shore. His screams are unheard by the
  yacht, and he struggles to the island. Because
  Rainsford fights against the waves and the sea,
  this conflict should be considered an external
  conflict of person vs. nature. The sea causes him
  to struggle, and he fights against it to keep his
  life. The case of Rainsford falling into the sea
  shows us he has at least one external conflict in
  The Most Dangerous Game. TRANSITION However,
  this is not his only conflict.

17
Sample Paragraph

• When I was seven I learned a valuable lesson
  about what it means to share. It all began the
  day after my birthday. I had received a bag of
  candy and a jump rope. My mom specifically told
  me to share the candy, but I was rarely given
  sugar, and I had no intention of complying with
  her order. When I refused to give any candy to my
  friends, who of course all wanted a piece, I
  quickly found that I was alone. All I would get
  was a stomach ache from eating it on my own. So I
  decided to give one piece to each friend in order
  to get my playmates back. The fact that a little
  sharing made so many people happy, including
  myself, showed me that selfishness wasnt worth
  it. I may not have been happy that my mom was
  right in telling me to share, but I was old
  enough to see I learned a valuable lesson.