Class notes ENGLISH Elements of Writing

Descr
ibi
ngaPer
sonalUt
opi
a
 Prwri
ting. Thinkofsomet hingt hatreall
ymat t
erst
oyouaboutl i
feinyour
communi t
y orci t
y,the United Stat
es,ort he world.(
You may wantt o
brai
nstorm about educat ion,envi r
onment ,government,t r
anspor t
ati
on,
male/femaler olesorarttof indaspeci fi
cfocus.)Then,concentr
atingon
yourtopic,imaginetheeutopia,orperfectworl
d,youwouldwantt oseeone
hundred year sf r
om now.Use any comf or
tabl
e prewri
ti
ng technique to
generatedet ai
l
s.

Rel
evantdet
ail
s

 Keepi
ngaWr
it
er'
sjour
nal

Ifyouar en'talr
eadydoi ng so,startkeeping awr i
ter'
sjournal.Usei tto
recor
dt houghts,feel
ings,opinions,andgreatideas-f
orexampl e,thingsthat
bugyou,songl yri
cs,andnot esaboutf amouspeopl eyouwi shyouknew.
Yourjournalcanbesmal lenought ocarryaroundorbi genoughf ordr awing
and pasting i
n cartoonsand phot os.Before you knew it
,you' llhave a
surpr
isi
ngsour cebookofi deasforwr i
ti
ng.

Her
ear
esomesuggest
ionsf
orget
ti
ngst
art
ed.

1
.Makeahabi tofwrit
ingeveryday,anddateyourent
ri
es.Somepeople
l
iketosetaspeci
altimeforwri
ti
ng-other
sli
ketobespontaneousand
wri
tewhenthemood(oranevent)hit
s.

2.Writ
eforyoursel
f-whi
chmaymeanessyandmi
sspel
l
ed.Jour
nal
sdon'
t
have"mi
stakes."

3.Be cr
eative (
even zany)
.Letyouri
nagi
nat
ion go i
n songs,dr
awi
ngs,
movieideas,orpoems.

4.React,ref
lect
,explor
erandom thoughts;Recor
d some response t
o
anyt
hingyouincl
ude(l
i
kequot
ati
on,anad,anewspaperedi
tor
ial
).

 Fr
eewr
it
ing

Tof
reewr
it
e,j
ustl
etyourmi
ndgoandwr
it
e.

1
.Useawat chorclock,setati
meli
mit
(thr
eet
ofi
vemi
nut
esi
sgood)
,and
keepwr
it
ingunt
ilt
het i
me'sup.

2.St
artwi
th a wor
d,phr
ase,or t
opi
cthat
'si
mpor
tantt
o you- l
i
ke

, gymnast
icsorani
mal
right
s.

3.Writ
eanyideas,i
mage,ordetai
lst
hatcometoyou,wit
houtst
oppingt
o
t
hinkaboutgr
ammar,spel
l
ing,orpunct
uat
ionl
.Justl
ett
hewordsf
low.

4.I
fthef
low st
ops,copyt
hel
astwor
dunt
ilsomet
hingnew appear
s,ort
alk
t
oyour
sel
f-I
'
mst
uck
-wh
atc
anI
saya
fte
r"c
omp
eti
ti
on"
-ma
ybema
ybema
ybe"
j
udg
es"
.
..

5.Tovar tfr
eewri
ti
ng,chooseonewor dorphr asefr
om yourf r
eewri
ti
ng,
andusei tasast art
ing poi
ntformor ewrit
ing.Thi
spr ocessiscall
ed
focusedfreewr
iti
ng,orlooping,becauseital
lowsyout omaoea" l
oop"
from whatyou'
veal r
eadywr i
tt
enandt henconti
nuewrit
ing.

 Br
ainst
ormi
ng

Br
ainst
orming generat
es i
deas by f
ree associ
ati
on.You can br
ainst
orm
al
one,wit
hapar tner
,orinagroup.

1.Wri
teanysubj
ect
,wor
d,orphr
aseatt
het
opofasheetofpaper
(ori
nthe
chal
kboar
d).

2.
Jotdownever
yideathatcomestoyourmi
nd.(I
nagr oup,br
ainst
orm out
l
oudandappoi
ntonepersontor
ecordal
loft
heideas.
)

3.Don'
tst
opt
oeval
uat
e;j
ustkeepgoi
ngunt
ilyour
unoutofi
deas.

 Cl
ust
eri
ng

Cluster
ing i
s si
milarto brai
nst
ormi
ng,butitis more vi
sualamd shows
connectionbetweenideas.Li
kebrai
nst
ormi
ng,cl
uster
inggenerall
ybr
eaksa
subjectdowni nt
osmal lerpart
s,soit
'sgoodbothforf i
nding t
opi
csand
gatheri
nginfor
mation.

1
.Begi
nbywr
it
ingasubj
ecti
nthemi
ddl
eofyourpaper
,andci
rcl
eorboxi
t.

2.Aroundthesubject,wri
terel
atedideasthatyout
hinkof,ci
rcl
ethem,and
connectthem wit
hlinestoyoursubject
(andmaybet oeachother)
.

3.Letyournew i
deasl eadtoother
s.Justkeepassoci
ati
ng,ci
rcl
i
ng,and
connect
ingunt
ilyou'
rereadyt
ostop.

Clust
eri
ngisalsocal
ledwebbi
ng.Eventhoughyourclust
erorwebmay
not make compl et
e sense to someone else, you'
ve made t
he
connecti
onsandcanf ol
l
owyourownthi
nking.