The document provides guidance on writing a multi-paragraph how-to essay, including defining the form of a how-to essay, listing the assignment objectives, and offering strategies for pre-writing, drafting, and revising a how-to essay. The assignment asks students to write a multi-paragraph how-to essay explaining a process with clearly stated purpose, list of materials, sequential multi-step directions, illustrations, and appropriate technical terms. Pre-writing strategies include choosing a topic and listing materials and steps. Drafting should include clarifying terms, adding details, and including illustrations. Revision involves adding transitions, upgrading vocabulary, and clarifying instructions.

1. TEXAS WRITING WORKSHOP
How-To-Essay

2. OBJECTIVES
•Write a multi-graph essay to convey
information about a topic that is logically
organized.

3. EXPOSITION: HOW-TO-ESSAY
•Defining the Form-A How –to-Essay is a
written, step by step explanation of how to do or
make something.
•You may use elements of a how-to-essay to write
instructions, technical documents and
explanations.

4. ASSIGNMENT
•Write a multi-graph how-to-essay to convey information about a
process that you know well enough to explain. Your essay
should include:
•A clearly stated purpose that can be fully explained in the
essay.
•A list of materials needed
•Multi-step directions explained in sequential order
•Illustrations that help clarify the directions
•Appropriate technical terms relating to your topic.
•Error-free writing, including correct use of conjunctions
•To preview the criteria on which your how-to-essay may be
judged, see the rubric on page 489.

5. PRE-WRITING/PLANNING
STRATEGIES
•Determine a appropriate topic: think about your
personal interests. Then, list activities you know well in
categories such as sports, assembly and repair, and
cooking. Choose your topic.
•List and itemize: List materials and steps. Use the
chart on pg. 484 as a model, itemize each part, adding
specific details.

6. FIRST THING FIRST
•Organization is the structure a writer chooses to
achieve a desired effect.
•Use chronological, or step by step organization when
you write a how-to essay.
•Directions need to be:
•Clear, well-organized, in order, measurements or ingredients
listed correctly for the reader to successfully complete the
task.

7. CREATE A LIST
•Make a list of all materials or ingredients needed.
•Organize the items in the order that they will used.
•List all of the steps in consecutive order.
•Use numbers and spacing to make the steps easy to
follow.
This will help the reader get their workspace organized
and ready.

8. CLARIFY TERMS AND STEPS
•Look for specialized terms or steps that need an
explanations.
•Make your explanations clear, concise, and easy to
follow.
A step or term may be familiar to you but not the
reader.

9. ONE SIMPLE PLAN
•Use chart on page 485 to organize your
draft.

10. CHECK YOUR ORGANIZATION
•Evaluate your draft for organization.
•Make sure your have included all of the
necessary steps in the order that they will be
used or take place.

11. DRAFTING STRATEGIES
•Add details to ensure precise word choice.
Look for places in your draft that need
elaboration or clarification. Make sure to
add specific words and details to show
how much, how long or how to complete a
step.

12. DRAFTING STRATEGIES
•Include illustrations. To help the readers
follow your directions, you can include
illustrations to clarify steps. Add clear labels
to simple line drawings, photographs or
diagrams to make them most useful. Place
the illustration in the section of your draft that
describes that step.

13. REVISING STRATEGIES
•Insert transitions. Time transitions indicate
sequential order. They include words such as
first, later, next, finally, as well as phrases such as in
about an hour or when the glue has dried. Review
your draft and add transitions, as necessary, to clarify
the order of event and create coherence between
sentences and paragraphs.

14. REVISING STRATEGIES
•Upgrade to technical vocabulary. When explaining a
process, use appropriate technical terms associated
with your topic. For example, an essay about baking
would include the names of specific kitchen utensils.
Review your draft, circling all general terms. Revise
your draft by replacing those words with precise
words that help clarify the process.

15. REVISING STRATEGIES
•Example:
General Technical
Scraping utensil spatula
Mixing utensil whisk, eggbeater