Expository Writing

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Expository Writing

• Lesson Two
• The Six-Step Process
• Dr. M. Connor

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The Six Step Process

• Planning
• Shaping
• Writing
• Revising
• Editing
• Proofreading

prewriting
rewriting
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Prewriting

• Planning and shaping are both steps in
  prewriting.
• They are important in writing a paper.
• During this phase you also come up with a thesis.

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Thesis statement

• Also called
• main idea
• theme
• controlling idea
• At first, you have a working thesis

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Definitions

• Working thesis a statement that, based on
  everything you know of the topic, should prove to
  be a reasonably accurate summary of what you will
  write.
• Final thesis the accurate one-sentence summary
  of your work that will appear in your final draft.

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For week three, we will do quite a bit of work on
thesis and thesis statements. They can be tricky
to do well, so well devote an entire week to
them, and Im sure well get back to them in
future lessons.
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Planning techniques

• Brainstorming
• Clustering
• Hybrid of the two
• The W H Questions (Reporters questions.

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Brainstorming

• Just quickly writing down everything that comes
  to mind on a certain topics.
• It might be a good idea to set yourself a time
  for just writing.
• I will brainstorm on this topic for say,
  five/ten/fifteen minutes.
• I use a kitchen timer to time myself sometimes!

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Clustering

• Example based on rain forest

Alternate medicines
medicine
animals
extinction
plants
exploitation
extinction
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Hybrid

• First you brainstorm a while then see what works
  together

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Reporters Questions

• What
• Why
• Who
• Where
• When
• How

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On the rainforest

• What- rainforest exploitation
• Why - overuse of raw materials
• Who - natives and others
• Where - Brazil
• When - now
• How - how does this happen? Key question that
  will lead me to research

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Shaping

• Once you have a huge mass of materials, you need
  to shape them into something clear.
• I think of this step as making a map.
• Anglo-American expository writing follows a
  specific form.
• This is where outlining skills come in.

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Parts of a paper

• Introduction
• Body
• Reasons
• Examples
• Conclusion

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Introductions

• Smooth me into the paper, grab my interest, make
  me want to read more.
• Techniques
• tell a story
• use a quote
• use a startling fact
• These are easier said than done, so well work on
  them in the future.

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Body

• This is the meat of your paper, the substance.
• You state your reasons, but reasons must be
  backed up with solid examples.
• I use the metaphor of a murder trial. In order
  to convict (convince), you need good, solid,
  tangible evidence.

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Conclusion

• This is more than just a summary. Though you do
  have a summing up of what went before.
• Ease me out. Let me feel, yes, the writer is
  done. Dont leave me looking for the rest of the
  essay.
• Perhaps a call to action? Leave me with a
  thought?

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Outlining

• If youre unfamiliar with the process of
  outlining, visit
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/general/gl_
  outlin.html

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How to shape a paper--logic

• Some papers lend themselves to a certain
  structure
• chronological
• spatial (inside outside, top bottom)
• importance - save the best for last
• people remember what they read last the most, so
  you want to have your most important reason last.
• Also, you want to build up in your paper, not
  start with a bang and then fizzle out!

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Degree of outlining

• The longer more complex the paper, the more
  detailed your outline will be.
• But even for short pieces of writing, its best
  if you do some brief sketch of where youre
  going.
• Shaping also helps you see gaps in your research
  (if needed).
• Research is part of the planning/shaping stage as
  well.

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Writing

• When youve finally got the thesis and the
  outline, and youre read, then write.
• If possible, write the entire paper in one
  sitting. Or write as much as you can.
• Dont go back and rewrite as you write!
• Get it down, then get it right!

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When youre done writing...

• After youve finished writing the first draft,
  put it away. For a class paper, a few days is
  optimal.
• Do this even with exam essays. At the very
  least, take time to do some stretches and deep
  breathing.
• No, your teacher wont mind!

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Rewriting

• Composed of three steps
• Revising
• Editing
• Proofreading
• You may do some of the processes simultaneously,
  but try to break them down one-by-one as well.

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Revising

• This is a form of Re-visioning, or seeing again.
• Look at the BIG structure
• Does the logic hold?
• Do you need to move paragraphs around?
• Do you need to add anything?
• Have you proved your thesis?
• I find its easier to change my thesis than
  rewrite my paper, so thats what I do if I
  havent proven my original thesis. But then Im
  lazy!

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Editing

• This step is the paragraph by paragraph then
  sentence by sentence check for things like
• transitions
• word choice
• correct grammar
• clarity
• all of these will be the subject of a lesson in
  the future, so dont worry if youre weak right
  now.

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Proofreading

• This is the very last step, but dont forget it!
• Read your paper word by word and then read it
  backwards!
• This is an old proofreaders trick. It allows
  you to see words in isolation and better catch
  errors.
• Run spell-check!

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Proofreading points

• If you find yourself having to make major
  revisions in the proofreading stage, it means
  youre messing up either the revising or the
  editing step.
• Mistakes should be easily fixed with a little
  Tipex/Wite-Out and a black pen!
• Dont put 100 of your faith in the grammar check
  program.
• Its simplistic.
• But if it offers a correction, it probably means
  that you are wrong.

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Conclusion
I hope this presentation gives you some
understanding of what teachers will be looking
for in your writing and what will be expected of
you as a writer. Basically, Ive just covered
everything were going to learn this term! In
the following weeks, well go over all of this
material in great detail! Doing all of these
steps, and practicing the skills needed in each,
can help you hone your writing skills. Writing
is an art, but its also a craft, which means it
can be learned and improved.