2. When we write, it becomes clear that the best
practice is to approach the work in smaller
stages, especially if the assignment is particularly
long. Even for short assignments, breaking the
work up into manageable pieces allows the writer
greater flexibility; time to plan, write, and revise;
and an opportunity to edit the work before it is
due. What we know for certain is that the most
effective methodology of writing is Process
Writing.
Note: Much of the material for
this lecture can be found in
your textbook.
4. Your textbook has some excellent
suggestions for beginning the
process of drafting an essay. If you find that
you are having difficulty beginning, take a
look at these suggestions.
Remember that a first draft is NOT a final
draft and may not even resemble your final
draft. In fact, a first draft is designed for
revision. It is your chance to experiment with
what you want to say before you refine your
thoughts.
5. Introductions and conclusions are often the
hardest parts of a paper to write.
In fact, if you feel stumped and just don’t
know how to begin, it is okay to start with the
body of the paper first and then come back to
the introduction.
However, before you try this method, you will
want to make certain that you have a strong
thesis statement so that you know where the
draft is headed.
6. One of the major purposes of an introductory
paragraph is to entice the reader and pull him
or her into the essay.
Your reader wants to be interested in what he
is reading. No one wants to sit through an
essay that offers nothing in the way of
entertainment or interest value.
The process by which you draw the
reader in is sometimes called the “hook.”
There are several strategies that
successful writers use to “hook” their
readers. These include:
7. Stating the thesis directly
◦ This is a common type of opening in which the
writer gives some general background information
and then narrows the focus to a preview of what is
coming up in the draft
Defining difficult or pertinent terms
◦ This kind of introduction works particularly well in
a paper that acquaints the reader with an unfamiliar
topic
Posing a question
◦ A provocative question can
entice the reader into the essay
in search of the answer
8. Using a quote
◦ A beginning quotation, particularly from an
authority in the field, can be an effective
springboard for the ideas that follow
Sharing an anecdote or story
◦ A well-told anecdote or personal experience can
lure readers into the rest of the paper to see what
will happen to the characters in the story
Utilizing a statistic
◦ Sometimes you can jolt the reader
into attention, using content,
language, or statistics that point to
the importance of the topic
9. Note that the thesis
statement does not
necessarily fall at the end of
the first paragraph.
You can sometimes open
with the thesis statement.
Also, especially in longer
essays, the first paragraph
may be used as a way of
introducing background
information or other hook
devises. In this event, the
thesis statement may
actually fall at the end of
Above all, try not to stress about the second paragraph.
the thesis statement; remember
that it is tentative until the paper Your thesis statement is
Is finished. also not limited to one
sentence; at times, you may
opt for two sentences in
order to convey your
complete idea.
10. Conclusions can again pose difficulties for the writer.
We are often taught the five-paragraph essay technique
in grade and secondary schools. This sounds
something like –
◦ tell the reader what you will tell him,
◦ spend three body paragraphs telling him,
◦ and then tell him what you told him.
While this technique is effective in teaching students the
basic structure of how to draft an essay, it does little to
advance student writing beyond the middle school level.
While you certainly do want to reiterate your thesis
statement in your conclusion, it is just too simplistic to
stop there.
Fortunately, there are ways of crafting a conclusion so
that it goes beyond this grade school replica of writing.
11. If you have chosen to open your essay with one
of the hooks listed above, it is effective to
revisit that idea in your conclusion. Come back
to the anecdote, the statistic, or the question
(but be sure you answer the question explicitly
in your conclusion). This type of circular
writing wraps up the essay nicely for the reader
and leaves her with a sense that the essay tied
up any loose ends.
12. It is also effective to
write a call-to-action. This strategy
asks the reader to get involved by
doing something herself to help
solve the problem or advance the
cause.
Pointing out the bigger picture also
asks the reader to picture what the
results might be if nothing is done or
if your suggestions are followed.
These strategies can be combined
so that you, for example, reiterate
the thesis statement, complete the
story you began in the beginning of
the essay, and advocate a call-to-
action that gets the reader involved.
13. The real work of writing or
beginning to draft an essay
can be taken in smaller chunks.
For instance, just as the planning process lies the
groundwork for an effective essay, writing
effective paragraphs breaks the daunting work of
writing an essay into smaller pieces.
It also provides structure for your paper and
works to guide the reader through the text,
providing readability (in computer terminology,
we call this being user-friendly).
But, what constitutes an effective paragraph?
14. There are several characteristics of good
paragraphs. Those characteristics are unity,
effective topic sentences, adequate
development, organization, and coherence.
Unity. A paragraph that has unity develops
one, and only one, key controlling idea. This
means that other ideas that don’t belong to
the paragraph should be omitted or turned
into their own paragraph.
15. A topic sentence states the main or
controlling idea of a paragraph.
This topic sentence is combined with
supporting sentences which further elaborate
on your main point for the paragraph.
Note that the placement of a topic sentence
can vary, depending upon where it works best
in the paragraph you are writing.
16. Underdeveloped paragraphs are
often a problem.
Writers tend to write for the
assignment rather than to inform
the reader of all the details they
need to know in order to fully
understand what they are reading.
The common statement, “it’s all in the details” is
an effective benchmark for developing a
paragraph.
Your text suggests that you can include facts,
figures, thoughts, observations, steps, lists,
examples, and personal experiences to help your
reader better understand your point.
17. An effective paragraph unfolds in a clear
pattern of organization so that the reader can
easily follow the flow of ideas. There are
many ways to organize a paper. Some of the
organizational strategies you might employ
are emphatic order, chronological order,
spatial order, and climactic order, to name a
few.
18. Emphatic order begins with the big moment in
the text and then backtracks to fill in the gaps
created by this type of ordering.
For instance, think of a movie that begins with a
big car crash in which a main character is killed.
The story then backtracks and tells us what
happened before the car crash.
By the time the car crash happens again at the
end of the movie, we not only understand more
about what happened, but we care about the
characters as well.
19. Chronological order simply means telling a
story from start to finish, even if the main
event happens before the end of the story.
This is also an effective way of narrating an
event.
Spatial order is used to describe something in
great detail, especially when you need to
delineate top/bottom, front/back, right/left,
around/through, etc.
20. Climactic order means that the
details of the story build from
the seemingly least important
to the big crescendo at the end
of the paper.
Organization also implies that your reader
can easily follow your train of thought as he
or she progresses through the paper.
21. Students often ask how to achieve a paper
that “flows.”
◦ The answer to that question is “organization and
coherence.”
Coherent writing flows smoothly from one
sentence to the next, one paragraph to the
next, and one idea to the next.
22. The idea is that writers
should provide clues to
their readers as to what
is coming next.
We do this naturally when we speak, backing
up and explaining something better or giving
an example when we see looks of confusion
on our audience’s faces, using transitions to
guide the reader through the story, and
consciously thinking about the structure of
what we are saying.
23. When we write, these same elements are
similarly important.
Connecting words and phrases, or
transitions, clarify relationships between
sentences and give the reader clues as to
what is coming up next.
Your text provides additional information
about sentence-level and
paragraph-level transitions
and a list of common
transitions.
24. *Note that a breakdown
in any one of these
areas can create
breakdowns in other
areas.
For that reason, it is
imperative that you
spend quality time with
your essay to ensure
that you have
addressed each of
these body issues.
25. Hacker, Diana. A Writer’s Reference, Seventh
Ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011.
Reinking, James A. and Robert von der Osten.
Strategies for Successful Writing, Ninth Ed.
Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011.
