Northampton Community College, ENGL101.

1. ACADEMIC
WRITING &
THE WRITING
PROCESS

2. • What is your definition of ‘writing’?
• Here’s another question…
– What makes writing ‘good’?
• Writing is…
– A response
– Linear
– Ongoing/Changes
– Decision Making
– A Process
WHAT IS
WRITING?

3. • In high school…
– You write what you know
• In college…
– You write to find out what you
don’t know.
HOW DO I
WRITE FOR
COLLEGE?

4. • The Title
• Preliminary Remarks
• Audience & Purpose
• The Thesis
• The Introduction
• The Body
• The Conclusion
• The Postscript
ELEMENTS OF
AN ESSAY

5. • Choose a topic.
• Focus your topic.
• Collect your ideas.
• Organize your ideas.
• Write them down onto paper.
• Revise!!!!!
• Turn it in on time.
• Congratulate yourself.
WRITING
ACADEMIC
PAPERS: AN
OVERVIEW

6. THE WRITING
PROCESS

7. • Finding out what you already know,
think, or how you feel about your
chosen topic.
• You may want to do some research
to find out more, or solidify facts
and figures.
• Strategies: Brainstorming
(Clustering, Listing); Freewriting;
Outlining
PREWRITING

8. • Think of an assignment as a
problem to be solved. Write it out in
a single sentence.
• Stop trying. Take a break. Come
back refreshed.
• Free write, brainstorm, outline
• Research what others have said
WRITER’S
BLOCK

9. • Don’t wait until the last minute!
• Establish a schedule that works for
you
• Break down your writing task
• Expect surprises
• Expect to do more than one draft
• Strategies: Taking Notes;
Expanding on an Outline; Writing
paragraphs
DRAFTING

10. • When writing for yourself – don’t
worry
• Personal writing = length
• When writing for others…
– Make sure your points come
across clearly
– What needs work? What still
needs work? What do you need
to say more (or less) of?
ASSESSING
YOUR OWN
WRITING

11. • Purpose
– Why you are writing
• Audience
– Who you are writing to/for
• Genre
– What type of writing are you
doing?
• Stance
– How do you feel about the
topic?
CONSIDER THE
RHETORICAL
SITUATION

12. • Focus
– Thesis
– Introduction & Conclusion
• Support
– Reasons, Evidence
• Organization
• Clarity
REVIEWING
YOUR WRITING

13. • Others can point out problems that
you do not see in your own text
• Answer specific questions you may
have about the audience of your text
GETTING
RESPONSES

14. • Major changes to the essay
• Layered
– Whole-Text
– Details
• Give yourself time to revise
• Sharpen your focus
• Strengthen the argument
• Clarify
• Rewriting – pg. 239
REVISING

15. • Details
– Paragraphs, Sentences, etc.
• Paragraphs
• Sentences
• Words
EDITING

16. • Clean up your work for presentation
• Spell check
• Formatting
PROOFREADING

17. JUST A REMINDER…
Plagiarize and die!
…just kidding. (No, really.)