2. Reading & Audience
Instructing students on how to approach a
reading assignment for which they will
write a paper will help the pre-writing
process.
Always consider Audience
4. Freewriting
Freewriting simply means putting your pen to the paper
and writing whatever comes into your head about an
assigned writing topic.
Time yourself for at least five minutes.
Read the topic, think about some ideas and then begin
writing.
Don't worry about grammar or punctuation -- the purpose
of free- writing is to get ideas written out
without worrying about other issues.
The key is to keep writing, even when you are having
difficulty thinking of something to say.
5. Visualization
After you have decided on the experience you will write
about, close your eyes, and try to remember the sensory
details of the experience:
Sight: What did you see during this experience? did the
the people and environment look like? What things were in
the room? People? What did they look like?
Sound: What sounds did you hear? Traffic sounds?
birds? music? What were people saying? Was it silent or
noisy?
Smell: What smells did you smell? Smoke? Cooking
smells/ Perfume? Crayons? Sweat?
Taste: What did your mouth taste like? Mint gum? dry with
fear?
Touch: What did you feel? Stomach ache? Head
ache? Cold or hot?
After you are done imagining all of the senses involved
(this should take from 10-15 minutes) open your eyes, and
do some listing or free-writing about the details you
remember.
6. Listing
Generate a list of all the things you think of related
to your topic.
You can think of your list as a sort of grocery list of
the items that make up your topic.
7. Outlining
Outlining is a good way to organize your ideas. It's best to use an
outline after you've done some freewriting, listing or clustering. It's also
good to use an outline after you've written the first draft to help you
organize your paragraphs and sentences.
EXAMPLE:
Intro and Topic sentence:
Body of paper:
Consequences:
Conclusion
8. Clustering/Webbing
Clustering is another way to record your thoughts and observations for
writing a paragraph or essay
1. First, in a circle near the center of the page, write out the subject of
your essay or paragraph.
2. Then write down other ideas that relate to your central ideas -- use lines
and circles to "map" how the different aspects of your topic will relate to
each other.
9. Cubing
CUBING is a way of getting six different perspectives (like the six
sides of a cube) on your topic and generating some complex claims
and evidence for your paper.
1 Description/Definition: Write 4-5 sentences describing your topic. Define the culture and the time
period and the age on which you want to focus. Define and describe characteristics of your topic.
2 Association: What memories, thoughts, examples, experiences do you have with this specific topic?
Write 4-5 sentences that focus on a vivid memory or example. Use sensory details and dialogue. GET
CONCRETE!
3 Comparison: How is (your focus topic) different from or similar to __________? Compare your focus
topic to something else. Write 4-5 sentences comparing your topic to something related to it.
4 Analysis: Why is it this way? Give some reasons or possible causes for the issue you are discussing.
Give some supporting details, evidence. Are there any controversial debates associated with your topic?
What issues are people concerned with? Write 4-5 sentences answering these questions.
5 Application: What are the results or consequences of this situation? How does this affect individual
people and the society they live in? Write 4-5 sentences.
6 Argumentation: What is your opinion about this situation? Do you have any social criticism or
recommendations for what should be done? How should things change? Or not change? Write 4-5
sentences.
