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Webster’s new world student writing handbook sharon sorenson
2 / Introduction
• The chapters detailing each method of development and each type of writing
look at
• characteristics of the method and/or type,
• the process for developing the method and/or type, including prewriting,
writing, revising, and proofreading,
• writing samples to illustrate the characteristics and process of the method
and/or type,
• analyses of the writing samples describing their important features.
• For every method of development and, where appropriate, for types of writing,
the book includes six kinds of models to aid writing across the curriculum.
Chapters include at least one in-text model with multiple additional samples
available online at the Web address cited in the chapter. Together, the text and
online sample papers model content appropriate for
English
Social Sciences
Science
Mathematics
Workplace Writing
Technical Writing
• Wherever appropriate, all six samples for a specific kind of writing deal with
the same general topic. The result illustrates how to tailor your writing to a
specific audience.
• The samples may also feature parallel topics to further understanding. For
instance, using the same novel as the subject of a book review, a literary
analysis, a synopsis, and a book report for the major disciplines makes clear
how one kind of writing differs from another.
• The practical, readable writing samples range from single paragraphs to fulllength research papers and address a wide variety of contemporary subjects.
High school and college students have written many of the samples. Teachers
in the respective disciplines agreed to the writing samples’ success.
• The book includes numerous illustrations, examples, notes, hints, and
warnings that help clarify solutions to common writing problems.
• Cross-references within the book emphasize the relationships among the
many facets of writing and help you understand terms or concepts that may
otherwise hinder you.
• Frequent references to online searches and data banks acknowledge the
technical and electronic world in which you work.
As a result of its organization, many cross-references, thorough treatment of each topic,
and multiple models both within its pages and online, this book should meet any need in
any writing situation. I hope you agree. But more importantly, I hope that what you find
in these pages—and on supporting Web pages—improves your writing, in school, on the
job, and in your personal life. When that happens, this book will have met its goal.
S
PA R T I
D
3
BASICS OF GOOD
WRITING
G
ood writing starts with process. So we’ll begin by telling you how to go about
writing. How to get ideas. How to put them together. How to get them on paper.
How to polish them into a fine piece of writing. Those are the four broad steps in
writing anything: prewriting, writing, revising, and proofreading.
• Prewriting: The prewriting process refers to the kinds of things you do to get
ready to write. Helpful hints to suggest how to think. How to plan. How to
make choices. Prewriting prepares you to write freely.
• Writing: Suggestions for writing follow with details about how to use the
building blocks of good writing:
• good sentences
• good paragraphs
• good multi-paragraph papers.
• Revising: Then we help you with probably the toughest part of writing:
polishing your paper. Improving content. Improving structure. Improving
emphasis. Improving continuity.
• Proofreading: Finally, we show you how to eliminate those bothersome
mechanical errors.
Refer to this basics-of-writing section regularly, no matter what you write. In fact,
you can find cross-references to the chapters in this section throughout the book,
suggesting that you use it to supplement the book’s step-by-step processes.
Chapter 1
Prewriting
T
hroughout Parts II and III of this book, you can find series of steps labeled Prewriting. The term generally refers to any kind of activity that helps you loosen
up, think about your topic, focus on purpose, analyze your audience, and otherwise
prepare to write. The prewriting steps vary with the kind of paper you are planning.
Some papers are obviously more complicated than others, and so some steps for getting ready to write are also more complicated. For instance, one paper may require
thorough primary or secondary research, while another may demand nothing more
complicated than selecting and organizing appropriate details. In either case, prewriting activities lay the groundwork for a great paper.
Usually, the prewriting activities help you find a good topic, narrow topics that are too
broad, and look at purpose. You should finish the prewriting activities with at least a
sentence and a list. Or you may have something as formal as a three-part thesis sentence and a fully developed outline. Either way, you’ll have laid the groundwork.
STEP 1: Gathering Thoughts and Information
What we write depends on what we think about. What we think about usually
depends on what has happened to us, perhaps as a result of what we have read,
heard, seen, or done. The first part of prewriting demands that we focus on our
thoughts, perhaps expanding them by seeking additional information. Probably a
dozen or so general activities help in finding a topic, but here we look at the following most common activities:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
reading (specific assignments, general background, and research)
discussion (group and interview)
personal reflection
journal writing
brainstorming
list making
graphic organizers
daily experiences (what you see, hear, and do)
Reading: Specific Assignments. Reading is one way to prepare for writing. Perhaps
you have a reading assignment to which you must respond. Perhaps you are summarizing the assignment, reacting to it, or in some other way showing that you have
Prewriting / 5
read and understood it. The assignment may also be a springboard from which you
can make mental leaps to topics of related but special interest to you.
Reading: General Background. Frequently, however, the reading material is something other than a specific assignment. At one extreme, it may be general, almost
casual reading that merely relates to classroom work and only indirectly applies to
specific daily assignments. This reading material may be in the form of periodical
articles or books, perhaps by authors renowned in their fields. But as these topics
attract your interest, they suggest writing topics.
Reading: Research. General background reading at the other extreme may be so
comprehensive as to be labeled research. Your research may require the use of various periodical indexes, a card or computer catalog, electronic data searches, or any
other of the many guides to sources found in the library or on the Internet. In these
prewriting situations, you are responsible not only for the additional reading but
also for finding the sources.
All these reading activities—specific assignments, general background, and
research—fall in the category of prewriting. The reading keeps your mind active,
introduces new ideas, provides specific information, and helps you think of suitable
writing topics.
Discussion: Group. Prewriting activities may also be oral and include formal or
informal discussion, in class or out. With classmates and friends familiar with the
subject matter, you may discuss not only possible topics for your paper but also its
possible content.
Discussion: Interview. Discussion can also occur in an interview. While the interview may be similar to an informal discussion, it differs in that you will have sought
out the authority with whom you are speaking. His or her comments may become
the basis for your paper. Such discussion results in what we call primary as opposed
to secondary research. [See primary research and secondary research in the Glossary.]
Personal Reflection. Prewriting activities may also be in the form of personal reflection. If it is to result in writing, however, reflection usually needs direction. You can
reflect on all manner of things, but without a general topic of concern or a specific
assignment to address, reflection may be more akin to daydreaming than to prewriting and may never result in writing. Many writers use a variety of means for directing personal reflection, including journal writing, brainstorming, and list making.
Journal Writing. Serious writers frequently keep daily journals. They write about
whatever attracts their attention, seems worthy of note, merits observation. Ironically, they find that the more they record, the more they observe. Thus, they argue,
keeping a journal makes them more observant and helps them generate ideas about
6 / Basics of Good Writing
which to write. The idea of journal writing may suggest a goal of creative writing,
such as short stories or poetry, but that is not necessarily the case. Journalists, copywriters, even students who must respond on a regular basis to written assignments
find that keeping a journal helps them stay in shape, so to speak, to write the most
vigorous articles or papers.
Brainstorming. Brainstorming also helps focus personal reflection. Brainstorming
involves offering ideas freely, without fear of criticism, allowing one idea to suggest another and another. You can brainstorm alone, but obviously the process is
more effective in a group. As one idea generates another idea, you come up with new
approaches to old ideas. The trick to brainstorming effectively is to allow the mind
the freedom to make connections between ideas, no matter how strange the connections may seem at the time.
List Making. As a result of brainstorming, you may be able to generate lists that
suggest writing topics and supporting ideas; however, lists evolve by other means as
well. Generating lists helps you look critically at ideas and their relationships. You
can create all kinds of lists:
•
•
•
•
•
lists of main ideas
lists of supporting details
lists of examples
lists of arguments
lists of reasons
All these topics can be parts of a composition. A list that is revised and arranged
in logical order is, for all practical purposes, an outline. In many of the prewriting
activities in Parts II and III, you find that generating lists is a primary way to pick
out main ideas and then to find appropriate supporting ideas. As a prewriting activity, list making helps you collect your thoughts, plan and arrange them in logical
order, and clarify the direction of your paper. The result is organized, unified writing.
But more on that later. [See Step 7 later in this chapter.]
Graphic Organizers. Some writers work better with graphic organizers than with
lists. Graphic organizers are drawings or maps that show how ideas connect. Using
them will help you generate ideas and begin to put your thoughts on paper. Consider
the example in Figure 1.1.
Daily Experiences: What You See and Hear. Other kinds of prewriting activities
occur almost as a coincidence of living. Sometimes you may be stimulated to write
as a result of something you have seen: a film, an art exhibit, an accident, an animal
in distress, a busy highway, a lonely farm pond, a thoughtful gesture, a construction
site, a rare flower, a criminal act, a rude driver, a mime, a tornado, or a champion
swimmer. For example, a film might have a powerful message that leaves you sad,
Prewriting / 7
FIGURE 1.1
Organizing your
ideas graphically
may help you
generate more
ideas.
setting
character
plot
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author
reputation
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joyful, remorseful, even furious—a feeling that may be worthy of a description, a
comparison-and-contrast, a classification, or a persuasion paper. Television viewing
may evoke a similar kind of reaction. You may react to news commentators and their
methods of reporting the nightly news. You may react to a special report on a world
crisis that evokes empathy and helps you write an opinion paper, or you may react
to a variety show that stimulates your sense of humor and helps you write effective
dialogue.
Daily Experiences: What You Do. Likewise, sometimes you may be stimulated to
write as a result of something you have done: visiting a city dump, watching a track
meet, sitting in the rain, falling out of a boat, suffering from loneliness, facing tragedy, enjoying success, completing a task, dieting, building a hang glider, catching a
big fish, finding a lost wallet, helping a stranger, having an accident, or being friends
with someone special. For instance, sometimes having a conversation with someone
particularly motivating may help you sort through your own feelings enough to react
in written form.
In summary, day-to-day activities, given attention, help you collect thoughts, gather
information, and promote ideas for writing. Doing something as simple as taking an
afternoon walk may suggest a dozen topics about which you can write. For example, children playing in the street invite danger by their behavior. You wonder why
they have nowhere else to play. A driver coasts through a stop sign, neglecting the
clear response that the traffic sign demands. His behavior makes you wonder about
accident causes in your neighborhood. The neighbor’s dog bounces out to wag his
greeting. You wonder how dogs have become the domesticated “man’s best friend.”
Within a few minutes’ walk, you discover three possible topics to explore.
STEP 2: Finding a Topic
After exploring possible subjects by reading, talking, listening, observing, and thinking, choose a topic that is right for you. Perhaps you must tackle an assigned topic;
perhaps you have the freedom to choose anything of interest. Name the topic.
STEP 3: Narrowing the Subject
After choosing a general topic, narrow a subject to suit the length of the paper you
plan to write. Most writers have trouble narrowing a subject sufficiently for full
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