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Laurel-Concord
Public Schools Composition Guidebook
If people cannot write well, and if they cannot think well, others will do their thinking for them. --George Orwell
Co-authored by: Cheryl Kreikemeier, Linda Lofgren, and Kathy Mahannah
Prewriting is the first step in creating an effective paper. Your goal is to select a topic, determine your purpose and audience, and plan your writing. Try the following activities to find a topic worthy of your effort.
*Free Writing: Write nonstop
for 5-10 minutes. Start with a particular topic but feel free to explore
anything that comes to mind.
*Brainstorming: Pose a question
related to a problem and write down all solutions, no matter how unusual.
Evaluate suggestions after all possibilities are identified.
*Listing: Freely list ideas
as they come to mind. Begin with an idea or key word related to your
assignment and simply start listing words both predictable and surprising,
tame and wild, colorful and drab.
*Word Strings: Choose one word
related to your assignment and write another word beginning with the
last letter of the first word that relates to your exercise--however
remotely--and continue until you have created at least ten words.
*Free Association: Write the
first thing that comes to your mind when presented with a word, a
phrase, or an object.
*Sentence Completion: Complete
an open-ended sentence in as many ways as you can.
*Dialogue: Create a dialogue,
related to the assignment, between you and someone you know or between
you and a stranger. *Clustering: Begin the cluster
with one main idea related to your assignment. Expand your cluster
by creating new ideas. Circle each idea and draw a line connecting
it to the closest related idea.
Developing a Writing Plan
Once you have completed the prewriting
activities, you are ready to create a writing plan, a guideline
that will make finishing your assignment easy. Use the following suggestions
to create your plan which can be anything from a brief list of ideas
to a detailed sentence outline.
1. First, find a focus for your paper.
What is it that you want to write about? The focus of your paragraph
or essay determines the support to include in your paper.
2. Narrow your focus to a controlling
idea which will be used as the topic sentence of a paragraph or the
thesis of an essay.
3. List details, facts, and examples
that will support your controlling idea.
4. Review the details to see if an
overall pattern of organization begins to emerge or consider the methods
of organization listed in the guidebook on page eight.
5. Now you're ready to transfer those
wonderful ideas from a plan to a rough draft. Good luck as you begin
your writing adventure.
Your ideas and details are formed
in your mind, and you are eagerly ready to launch into your writing
- great! Now all you have to do is turn the ideas into meaningful
sentences which express your paper's purpose. Next, you will find
a few suggestions on how to make your sentences and paragraphs have
the voice of authority. Good Luck!
All complete sentences consist of CLAUSES.
An INDEPENDENT CLAUSE consists of a subject, a verb, and
a complete thought. A DEPENDENT CLAUSE consists of a subject
and a verb but cannot stand by itself.
INDEPENDENT CLAUSE: Jeff went
hunting by the creek.
DEPENDENT CLAUSE: When the moon
was shining brightly.
Notice that each clause has a subject
and a verb, but the dependent clause cannot stand by itself and still
make sense.
SIMPLE SENTENCE: consists of one
independent clause. The boys traveled the county on bikes.
COMPLEX SENTENCE: consists of one
independent clause and one dependent clause. If the dependent clause
begins the sentence, a comma needs to follow that dependent clause.
If the dependent clause is at the end of the sentence, no comma is
needed.
While
the sale was in progress, the mob attacked the racks of winter clothing. Mary sobbed all night because th girls
were cruel.
COMPOUND SENTENCE: consists of two
or more independent clauses which are joined by a comma and a conjunction
or by a semicolon.
The choir awed the audience with its
sweet harmonies, and the band Blasted the Sousa marches with strong
rhythmic patterns.
COMPOUND‑ COMPLEX SENTENCE:
consists of at least twc independent clauses and at least one dependent
clause. Follow the punctuation rules for complex and compound sentences.
Everyone eagerly awaited Saturday night
because the dance promised to be something spectacular, but the anticipation
ended in heartache and disappointment when the band's plane crashed
in the Rocky Mountains
Even if you have a stunning topic
and detailed support, the impact of your paper is in jeopardy if you
have rotten sentence type variety and sentence beginning variety.
REMEMBER: Begin your sentences
with different parts of speech. Try using nouns, adjectives, gerund
phrases, participial phrases, prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases,
or transitions to add depth and variety to your sentence beginnings.
Sentence Beginning Variety
Participial Phrase: Stumbling after the child, Mary screamed
as the bus screeched to a halt. Prepositional Phrase: After a long day at the office, William
slouched in the recliner with the remote in his hand. Gerund: Laughing wildly caused the teacher
to glare in anger at her class. Nouns: Food, fun, and relaxation are the keys
to any successful vacation. Infinitives: To travel the country on the back of
a Harley was Jim's dream. Adjectives: Hot, sweaty, and thirsty described
the look of Helen after a day of Detassling. Transitions: In addition, the class wanted to scream
for joy at the end of the
Also remember to avoid using all the same type of sentences because paragraphs full of simple sentences can kill the power of the paper. Mix compound and complex sentences amongst the simple sentences.
One more hint, remember that sentences
also need to be different lengths. If you are averaging 6 words per
sentence, try lengthening several of those sentences.
Parallel Structure
Parallel structure helps to create
a flow and rhythm within your sentences and paragraphs. Sentences
need to repeat structure so a sense of rhythm and emphasis is created.
Example: "Ask not what
your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."
-J.F. Kennedy
Example: "I have a dream
that one day my children will be judged not by the color of their
skin but by the content of their character." -Martin
Luther King Jr.
Point of View
Because some of your writing will be
expository in nature and some will be personal in nature, you may
be instructed to write from a third person point of view or from a
first person point of view.
First person pronouns: 1, we,
our, me, my, us, mine, ours
Third person pronouns: He' she,
they, them, their, theirs,his, her
Second person pronouns: You,
your, yours
Avoid second person pronouns unless
directed by your teacher.
Voice
If your writing seems to drag or is
boring, you may have the dreaded PASSIVE VOICE syndrome. If
the subjects of the sentences are being acted upon, then you are using
passive voice. To cure this affliction, rewrite the sentences so the
subject is doing the action.
The difficult mid-term exam was anticipated
by thejunior Chemistry students. (This
sentence is blah because the action is being done to the subject.)
The Chemistry students dreaded the
killer mid-term exam in Chemistry. (Now the subject is doing the action-dreading.)
Style Plus
After surviving English 10, you
become a master with several style rules known as the Terrible 27.
Below is a list of a few of the Terrible 27 style rules that you can
use as a reference.
as far as: Must be followed by “is concerned,” or it is meaningless As far as studying is concerned, I’ve worked hard. Not: As far as studying, I’ve worked hard.
center around: Not possible. You can only center on.
different:
Things are different
from each other.
Don’t write different than.
disinterested/uninterested: These words have different meanings: To be disinterested means to be impartial (meaning you’re interested but your emotions are not involved). If you take no interest, you are uninterested.
due to: Avoid using this phrase because it makes your writing less exact.
feel
bad: If you are sick or unhappy, you feel bad. Not badly.
fewer/less: Fewer refers to numbers, less to amounts. Use fewer when you can count: fewer students, less time, fewer problems, less trouble
imply/infer: To imply means to suggest or indicate; to infer means to draw a conclusion. Are you implying that he can’t be trusted? I didn’t say that; you infered it.
irregardless: Never use it; the “ir” makes it redundant
like/as:
Don’t use like when you mean as or as if. You can avoid wrong usage
if you substitute as though, as if, as, or in the way wherever one of these will make sense in place of like. She acts like a snob. (it is used correctly here) She acts like she thinks she’s a queen. (A substitute would work here so use it: She acts as though she thinks she’s a queen.”)
off:
Always off; never off of.
plus: Do not use in place of and. Don’t say “He was hungry, plus he was penniless.” Save plus for problems in addition.
redundancies: cut any work that repeats the meaning or that pads without adding anything. Each of the italicized words or phrases below is redundant: a distance
of ten yards past
history retreat
back
so: Don’t use it as a substitue for very or terrible.
split infinitive: Don’t put an adverb between the two parts of an infinitive: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||