PURCOM FINALS PREWRITING ACTIVITIES

DOCUMENTED ESSAY - Freewriting, looping, brainstorming, journal

writing, mapping, branching, listening to other
 Research paper, is a piece of writing in which people, and even by surfing the net.
you incorporate information-facts, arguments,
and opinions-from the writings of experts in a
field. * You should likewise consider practicality or the time
 A research paper can be nothing more than a and money that will be needed in pursuing your topic.
report on current thinking in an area, can You should choose your topic based on the purpose, as
illustrate your own thesis, relying on outside well as your target audience. With your chosen general
(secondary) sources for development. topic, a clearly defined purpose, and specific readers in
 The research paper is your synthesis of mind, you can now limit or narrow your general topic
knowledge on a topic: the gathering of data down to a more specific aspect or component. Then,
from many sources to produce a new state your main idea in a thesis statement.
perspective.
You may arrange your details through any of the
 Writing a research paper involves moving
following METHODS:
through several stages and performing several
tasks. DEDUCTIVE: general to specific
 there is a sequence to follow with starting, INDUCTIVE: specific to general
developing, and finishing strategies. SPATIAL: space
CHRONOLOGICAL: time
CLIMATIC: importance of arrangement of details from
THE WRITING PROCESS the least important to the most important

Pre-Writing
Organizing and Designing Another aspect of organization that you should consider
Drafting is to choose the appropriate technique to emphasize
Revising and editing the important idea/s. The five WAYS OF EMPHASIZING
Proofreading THE MOST IMPORTANT IDEA are:

BY POSITION: putting the most important idea or detail

THE ESSAY WRITING AS A PROCESS either in the beginning or end of the essay
BY PROPORTION: giving more space to the most
For you to develop the above skills, you must learn the important idea
systematic approach to writing by understanding BY REPETITION: mentioning the important idea several
writing as a process that involves planning, drafting, times
revising and editing, and writing the final draft. BY PARALLELISM: using similar grammatical structures
BY CLIMACTIC ORDER: placing the most important idea
at the end of the essay
5 SUB-STEPS IN PREPARATION

1) Prewriting – will allow you to formulate new

* Just like any paragraph, an essay consists of the
ideas as well as generate ideas
INTRODUCER, the THESIS STATEMENT, the BODY, and
2) Choosing the topic the TERMINATOR.
3) Limiting the topic
4) Designing INTRODUCER
5) Gathering data  presents the topic to attract the readers’
attention
 shows the organization of ideas and usually
states the thesis statement that expresses the
main idea of the essay
INTRODUCER TECHNIQUES  DESCRIPTION – you may create a picture using
 question images that appeal to the senses through
 personal examples objective or subjective approach.
 facts or statistics  ARGUMENTATION – enable you to persuade or
 current events convince your readers by presenting two sides
 contrast to the main idea of an issue
 firm statement of opinion
 general statement * your essay should end with a clincher or terminator. It
 notable or striking statement is best to connect your terminator with your introducer
 analogy or comparison and thesis statement.
 personal comment
 impressionistic description TECHNIQUES:
 an incident  Recommendation or suggestions
 definition  Challenge
 factual background  Quotation
 anecdotes  Striking question
 dramatic scenes  Restatement of the main idea

THESIS STATEMENT OUTLINE

 functions the way the topic sentence does in a  Consists of the logically arranged major and
paragraph minor topics
 complete sentence with a subject and a  Presented in modern or traditional
predicate that reflects the writer’s attitude  MODERN OUTLINE uses Arabic numbers to
toward the subject indicate the level of subdivision
 generally found in the beginning or  TRADITIONAL OUTLINE uses Roman numbers,
INTRODUCTION, you may sometimes place it in letters of the alphabet, and Arabic numbers
the middle or the end of the essay  Classified into formal and informal on the bases
 may state repeatedly such as two or three times of their format
 you may not express or state the thesis  FORMAL OUTLINE is highly structured with all
statement, may just imply it topics and subtopics properly presented and
labeled
MAIN IDEA  INFORMAL OUTLINE is a list of major topics
 series of paragraphs comprising the body of followed by minor topics
your essay
 these body paragraphs function as developers, DATA GATHERING & DOCUMENTATION
extenders, or amplifiers.  Last sub-step in designing
 DEVELOPERS – support the thesis statement  Read and take down noted from sources
 EXTENDERS – support the developers 3 types: QUOTATION, SUMMARY, PARAPHRASE
 AMPLIFIERS – most specific details that support
the extenders * Printed sources should be supported by interviewing
experts who could provide more information
* The best mode in developing the details to support
the main idea should be based on your PURPOSE SURVEY
 Enable you to describe a certain phenomenon
TYPES OF DISCOURSE  The data you will be using are derived from
(modes of writing based on purpose) materials that you did not originally
 EXPOSITION – used to explain an idea using conceptualize
techniques such as definition, comparison and  Identify your sources through appropriate
contrast, cause and effect, etc. citation
 NARRATION – allows you to tell a story or
enumerate chronological events

DRAFTING
  Second step in writing process
 Will help you address the concern on unity or
oneness in thought
 Based on your supporting details and thesis
statement, you may wrap up your essay in the
conclusion.

REVISION
 Third step in the writing process
 Any first draft will require at least some revision
3 levels:
1. Reassessment of the essay – for its adherence to the
basic principles of effective writing (coherence, unity,
emphasis)
2. Redrafting – delete, add, change
3. Editing – check, discuss, and evaluate

* Once you have already revised the work for content,

you may address editing and proofreading problems
related to CONTENT, STRUCTURE, WORD CHOICE,
GRAMMER, USAGE, and MECHANICS

* You have to ensure that you are well informed about

the typing standards such as FONT TYPE, FONT SIZE,
SPACING, AND MARGINS

* There is no single writer who writes anything great

without rewriting. The old adage is true: WRITING IS
REWRITING (Janeczko, 2003)