Unit 1 Pre-Writing: Getting Ready to Write + Practica

Index 

1. Purpose of Writing

• 1.2. Before writing

2. Narrowing Topic
3. Brainstorming

• 3.1. Making a list
• 3.2. Freewriting
• 3.3. Mapping
• 3.4. Editing
• 3.5. Cubing

1.Purpose of Writing 

• It is important to know what you are writing about, because if you don't neither will your reader

1. To Inform - to inform other people about specific topics or things
2. To Persuade - to express strong views about an issue and try to change the reader's mind
3. To express yourself - may choose words or phrases to show off who you are
4. To Entertain - to simply entertain the reader

1.2 Before Writing, it is important to decide on;

• Audience - Who will read your piece of writing? 
• Tone - style or manner of expression
• Purpose - the purpose determines its organisational pattern

Before Writing: - This is called PRE-WRITING

1) Choose a Topic 

2) Collect information about that specific topic 

2 Choosing and narrowing a topic - How to choose a topic for a paragraph

A paragraph is a group of five to ten sentences that give information about a topic. Before you write, you must choose a topic for your paragraph.

• The topic shouldn't be too narrow
• The topic shouldn't be too broad

Pg 5. Ex 1 - Narrowing down to a paragraph topic

Cars

• Why I learnt to drive 
• The best cars in my country 

Festivals

• Best celebration to celebrate 
• The origin of Christmas

My country 

• The weather in my country
• The attractions in my country

Dancing

• Why I love tango
• The importance of dancing

Friends

• Why are friends so important in my life
• The characteristics of being a good friend

3 Brainstorming - a way of gathering ideas about a topic

3.1 Making a List - single words, phrases or sentences

Pg 6.Ex 3

Thing to do at the beach - listing

• Swim
• Play Volleyball
• Workout
• Sunbathe
• Read
• Listen to music
• Eat/Drink
• Have a festival 
• Have a BBQ/dinner
• Hang out with friends 
• Skinny dip

3.2. Freewriting - write about whatever comes to your mind

Pg. 7 Ex 4

Freewriting for 5 minutes- Why I learnt to drive

The reason I learnt to drive was because of the adrenaling that driving can give off. What about adrenaline? well, adrenaline gives off endorphins which makes you happy and it can be quite a relaxing exerpience to learn how to drive. It is quite an important thing anyway, because it gives you this sense of independence and ready to take out the new world. It might make you feel more confident and less scared about the future. and its a good thing to get out of the way at an early age maybe, well for me it was. at 17, I thought it was the right age because I didnt want my parents to take me everywhere all the time, I wanted to start doing things for myself and go out when I wanted to go out, which meant that I didn't need to wait for my parents to be done with work. 

no stopping, no erasing, no going back

3.3. Mapping (also known as clustering) - Write topic in the middle with a circle and then start writing ideas around it.

Pg. 8 Ex 5

3.4. Editing - After gathering ideas, you will have to edit them. To do this, you may need to get rid of some or even add some. 

Pg.9 Ex 6

• Swim  
• Play Volleyball
• Workout
• Sunbathe
• Read
• Listen to music
• Eat/Drink
• Have a festival 
• Have a BBQ/dinner
• Hang out with friends 
• Skinny dip

The reason behind why I chose to get rid of these brainstorming ideas was because they are much less as relative as my other ideas. 

3.5. Cubing - asks you to consider your topic from six sides, or perspectives. By imagining your central idea from the six different points of approach, you might discover new interpretive angles or see more clearly the way different aspects of your question relate to each other. By providing a structural framework, cubing may be a helpful exercise if you prefer linear or organised thinking methods. Write your central topic/question at the top of the page, and allot yourself 3 – 5 minutes to approach the topic with the following six objectives: 

DESCRIBING: Physically describe your topic. What does it look like? What are its parts? COMPARING: How is your topic similar to or different from other topics in the same theme? ASSOCIATING: What other ideas and experiences does your topic make you think of? Why? ANALYSING: How are the different aspects/components of your topic related? 

APPLYING: What uses does your topic have? What other problems can it help explain? 

ARGUING: What arguments can you make in support of or against your topic? 

Reread your six sides to determine which approaches could yield an interesting path to pursue, which might need more research, and which could spark a thesis idea.