More Specifics on Writing
English Comp 1030/35-Prof. Kiefer
October 23, 2009
Thesis
• The thesis refers to the message, or to the experience that is filtered, narrowed and interpreted by the writer.
• This is the point, the message, or what is being said in the writing.
• Its structure reflects the order we impose on our experiences in shaping what we want to say.
Examples to consider
• If the following sentence occurs in the opening paragraph, what might the writer do to fulfill expectation?
– “People have speculated about the nature of language for a long time.”
• The writer should give examples of the “speculations” and arrange them chronologically because “for a long time” implies a historical context.
Paid political advertising is expensive, deceptive and ineffective in helping to educate voters.
• Expectations are a of a three part argument treating the expense, the deceptive tactics and the ineffectiveness of paid political ads in that order.
– Strategies for different methods of development:
• Statistics on expense
• Examples of deceptive tactics.
• Reasons that the writers believe these are deceptive.
“There are many differences between high school and college.”
• This is a throw away sentence. It is self-evident and that elicits the response, “so what?”
• This would be better if the writer engaged the text more enthusiastically:
– if we knew how many points of contrast we would find.
– what areas of high school and college life we would be reading about
– Why the differences are important.
How can we use this in Analysis?
• Your analysis reveals how writers construct their claims, define their assumptions, examines what kinds of evidence they use and where they place it to signal important subtopics.
Blocking material- a way to organize
• This differs from an outline:
– Draw a picture of what you propose to write guided by questions of your material, audience and purpose.
– Determine how many blocks it will take you to do what you want to do by developing a plan to logically organize your material.
Sentence Combining: Developing an eye and ear for prose rhythms.
• Try combing these sentences into one sentence or more with a pleasing rhythm that allows the reader to remain focused on the main idea:
– The canary flew out the window. The canary is yellow.
– My friends and I enjoy something. We race our bicycles around the paths in the park. Our bicycles are lightweight. Our bicycles are ten-speed. The paths are narrow. The paths are winding.
– The national debt concerns Americans. The national debt grows five hundred dollars every second. The national debt totals nearly six trillion dollars.
FYI--Questions I ask while I assess a paper (in addition to whether the requirements were fulfilled.)
• Was the student committed to the assignment?
• What did the student intend to do? What was the purpose of the writing?
• How did the writer define the audience for the piece?
• How thoroughly did the student probe the subject?
• How are the paragraphs arranged?
• What are the most frequent types of sentences?
• What patterns of errors in spelling, punctuation, grammar and usage does the paper contain? In what contexts do the errors appear? What makes them similar?
Questions to ask before submitting a paper:
• How much time did I spend on this paper?
• After the first evaluation, what did I try to improve or experiments with on this paper? How successful was I? If I had questions about what I was trying to do what are they?
• What are the strengths of my paper? (Place a squiggly line beside the passages you feel are very good.)
• What are the weaknesses, if any, of my paper? (Place an X beside passages you would like me to help you with or would like to revise. Place an X over punctuation, spelling usage where you need help or clarification.)
• What one thing will I do to improve my next piece of writing?
• What grade would I give myself on this composition?
Resource: Lindeman, Erika, A Rhetoric for Writing Teachers, 4th ed., Oxford University Press: New York, NY. 2001
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