Drafting: Linear Composing Strategies

• Using the modes of development as patterns for organizing essays
• Writing from a linear outline
• Reading and Thinking Analytically
• Elements of arguments

Using the Modes of Development as Patterns of Organization for Essays

As we see in Discovery Grove, exploring what we know about a topic often leads us to questions we have or our readers have. One of the ways to move from discovery writing to Planning is by making a list of the questions we want to answer. In planning we gather the data that develops these answers, and we clarify our writing situation, our PLACE. Now, in drafting, we want to organize this data into some kind of pattern of presentation so it will be easy for our readers to understand what we are saying. Sometimes we encounter writing situations where we really have only one central questions to answer, and the pattern of organization is implied in the question. In these cases, the pattern of organization implied by the question can be used to create a linear outline for composing a draft of the paper.

Definition explains a word or concept by explaining what it means. There are three main steps to writing a good definition:

(1) name the term or concept;
(2) place it in a general category;
(3) explain how it differs from other members of the same category.

Often a good definition is further explained by an example, illustration, or case study.

Description uses sensory images to give the reader a mental experience of the topic. In a description, visual details are presented in a spatial sequence:

(1) top to bottom;
(2) bottom to top;
(3) left to right, etc.

Strong descriptions will include more than visual details; they will also include sounds, textures, odors, and tastes. The more senses addressed, the more vivid the description will be.

Example, illustration, or case study shows the reader the topic in specific detail. Examples or case studies dramatize the topic for the reader.If more than one example is given, they are arranged from least important or least dramatic to most important or most dramatic.

Analogy compares objects or ideas that are not usually associated with each other.

Often a writer uses familiar terms to explain an unfamiliar topic or details that may be unfamiliar. For example, when we describe cancer in terms of battle (invasion, treatment strategy, counterattack, victory) we are making an analogy.

Comparison and contrast focuses on similarities and differences respectively.

There are two common methods of organizing a comparison or a contrast paper.

(1) The block pattern presents all the information about subject A first and then all the information about subject B.
(2) The alternating pattern sets up a list of points for comparison or contrast and then moves down this list:

point 1 about A; point 1 about B
point 2 about A; point 2 about B
point 3 about A; point 3 about B, and so on.

Analysis divides a topic into its component parts. There are several types of analyses. Because this is such an important mode of development for academic essays, a PowerPoint presentation is included here to explain "Analytical Writing" in more detail.

Process analysis explains how to do something. The details are the steps of the process presented in the order in which they must be done. A process analysis can also explain how something works by taking the topic apart into its separate components. When we analyze the elements of an argument, we are doing this kind of process analysis.

Causal analysis examines the factors or forces that bring about an event or a situation. It answers the question, "Why?" or "How?" by explaining the reasons. These reasons are often organized in a pattern called a "causal chain."

Effects analysis examines outcomes or consequences that result from the causes. Here the details are presented in the order in which these effects will occur (like a chain reaction) or, if the effects may occur simultaneously or randomly, they may be organized from most signifcant to least significant.

Classification analysis divides a large subject into smaller groups that have similar characteristics. These groupings make the topic easier to study and discuss by organizing the details in a systematic way. The classified ads in the newspaper organize a large number of ads into categories of similar items. The Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicators are another system of classification.So is this list of modes of development.

Some writers like to make an outline to organize their ideas before they begin drafting. Others prefer to write a discovery draft first and then make a descriptive outline to analyze the discovery draft and revise the organization. Still others prefer non-linear composing strategies where they begin with a web, write the separate parts of the paper, and then move these parts around until they arrive at an effective pattern of organization. Here we are going to focus on composing from an outline.

Informal Outline

An informal outline is simply an ordered list of the major parts of the paper. Here is an informal outline for narrative essay:

Introduction:

• describe the situation;
• explain to the reader why the story is relevant to the topic;
• state the thesis.

Body: relate the events of the story in chronological order

• scene 1
• scene 2
• scene 3, and so on....

Conclusion

• restate the thesis by explaining the point of the story or the lesson learned from this experience.
• drive home your purpose with your reader

Formal Outline

A formal outline follows the conventions of content and format that display material in such a way that relationships among ideas are clear and content is orderly. A formal outline can be a topic outline, where each item is a word or phrase; or it can be a sentence outline, where each item is a complete sentence. Never mix single words or prases with complete sentences in a formal outline. Also note, if you have an item I, you must have at least a II also. If you have an A, it must be followed by at least a B.Here is a formal topic outline for an argumentative essay:

I. Introduce the issue

A. Describe the situation
B. Explain the relevance to the reader
C. State the claim

II. State the warrant and present the backing for the warrant

III. Present the support for the claim

A. State reason #1.

1. Present evidence
2. Present counterarguments
3. Present rebuttal

B. State reason #2

1. Present evidence
2. Present counterarguments
3. Present rebuttal

C. State reason #3

1. Present evidence
2. Present counterarguments
3. Present rebuttal

D. State reason #4

1. Present evidence
2. Present counterarguments
3. Present rebuttal

IV.State the outcome of these reasons

A. Explain the consequences.
B. Ask for the readers' support

Creating a draft from an outline

Once the outline is made, the writer begins drafting the introduction. The direction of this drafting is forward--keep pressing ahead. If you come upon a point you are unsure of, write what you know and keep moving ahead. Remember, this is a first draft. You are just trying to get down on paper the gist of your ideas. You can come back later to further develop and revise. Writer's block often develops when we try to write a perfect paper on the first draft. When you do that, you are expecting yourself to compose ideas, revise, and edit all at the same time. But creating and evaluating are contradictory processes that can be at cross purposes--they can block each other. To compose a first draft, you have to set your creative self free to play with ideas as you put them down on the page; tell your judgemental editor self to turn off for awhile. You can wake up the judge when you are ready to come back to the draft as a reader and plan revision. If you do come up against writer's block at this stage, you may want to view the PowerPoint presentation "Blasting through Blocks" and use the strategies described there.

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Reading and Thinking Analytically

As an introduction to the reading process, view the PowerPoint presentation "The Reading Process: Creating Meaning."

Like the writing process, the reading process is an interactive web of activities that involve reading, thinking and writing along each branch of the web.

When you read for discovery you pay attention to what you are thinking as you read and make notes about the meaning you are creating from the words and images on the page. You may explore what you already know about the subject, the author, and the context of the work.

When you are planning reading, you try to get an overview of what you are reading and the purpose of your reading. You select strategies appropriate for your purpose and you may draft a list of questions you hope your reading will answer.

You can make multiple passes at reading a text in the same way you make multiple drafts when you write. On the first reading, you read for the literal meaning, trying to get the gist of what you read. As you re-read, you may question what the author is saying, you may argue with the text, and annotate important ideas and insights that you gain. You may use these ideas as springboards for your own writing or as evidence to support an hypothesis you are researching. You may also analyze how the text works by using a model like P.L.A.C.E. or Toulmin to guide your analysis. Your choice of model will depend on the purpose of your reading.

With each subsequent reading you may find yourself revising and developing in depth your interpretation of the reading. Finally, you may evaluate the overall effectiveness of the text and synthesize this new knowledge with what you already know about the subject.

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Elements of Arguments

In Planning we use P.L.A. C.E. and the Toulmin model to guide our analysis of reading. Here in Drafting, we can use these models to help us construct arguments. Every argument has a P.L.A.C.E., that is, a writing situation the consists of five main elements: purpose, language, audience, context and evidence.

View the Powerpoint presentation on P.L.A.C.E. for Composing Arguments.

Many writers agree that in some way every piece we write is an arugment--that is, impied in the act of writing is the writer's desire to persuade readers of the truth or validity of the work. In this way we could say that every essay is an argument in which the writer presents support or evidence for the thesis or the claim. Some years ago Stephen Toulmin developed a model for analyzing an arugment. Toulmin's model is based on the kinds of dynamics we find in a court of law where evidence is presented to prove a case. Consequently, the terms we find in Toulmin's model resemble courtroom terms: claim, warrant, evidence, rebuttal.

View the PowerPoint presentation on "Constructing Arguments Using the Toulmin  Model."

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