Category: The Act of Writing

Classification

Develop one of the following topics into an essay of classification. (See also the guidelines that follow.)

1. Conversations
2. Television commercials
3. Crime
4. Music lovers
5. Wine
6. Martial arts
7. Roommates
8. Bosses
9. Horses
10. Grandparents
11. Education
12. Drugs
13. Novels
14. Lovers
15. Police officers
16. Landlords
17. Slang
18. Marriages
19. Readers
20. Salespersons
21. Handicapped people
22. Parties
23. Families
24. Teachers
25. Success

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in writing your essay of classification.

1. Write a short outline, since the logic of classifying can be difficult. Once you have chosen the principle on which to classify your topic, decide on the categories. Then ask: Do all relate to the same principle? If not, revise. Do any categories overlap? If so, revise. Have you left out an obvious category? Add it.

2. Write your thesis statement.

3. Now arrange the categories in some climactic order that supports your thesis: smallest to largest, least important to most important, worst to best, etc.

4. Write a rapid first draft, double-spaced, not stopping now to revise or edit.

5. When this draft has “cooled off,” look it over. Does it follow the outline? If not, do the changes make sense? Does every part support the thesis? If not, revise.

6. In your second draft sharpen word choice. Add missing IMAGES or examples. Heighten TRANSITIONS. Cut deadwood.

7. Now edit for spelling and grammar, and write the good copy. Save the essay in case your teacher suggests further revision.

Analogy and Related Devices

Choose a topic from items 1-15, or choose a subject from items 16-30 and add an appropriate image to it. Then develop your choice into an extended analogy. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. Music as a drug
2. Prejudice as a wall
3. Human metabolism as fire
4. A career as a mountain to climb
5. Life as a road
6. A library as a brain
7. The playing field as a battlefield
8. The human race as a family
9. Addiction as a crutch
10. A paragraph as an essay in miniature
11. A career as war
12. The beehive as a city
13. Reading as programming a computer
14. A career as marriage
15. Dancing as life
16. Crime as ________________
17. Wealth as ________________
18. A library as ________________
19. Dating as ________________
20. Old age as ________________
21. Our legal system as ________________
22. A doctor as ________________
23. A teacher as ________________
24. Religion as ________________
25. Divorce as ________________
26. Nuclear missiles as ________________
27. Health as ________________
28. School as ________________
29. A book as ________________
30. The planet Earth as ________________

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in writing your essay of analogy.

1. Choose a topic you really like, because motivation is the single greatest factor in good writing.

2. If you complete one of the topics from 16 to 30, be sure to invent an analogy (with two items from different categories), not a comparison and contrast (with two items from the same category). Know which item is your real subject, and which one exists merely to explain the other.

3. Now freewrite on your topic, to achieve the spontaneity and originality that spark a good analogy.

4. Incorporate the best of this freewriting into your first draft. Let the ideas flow, not stopping now to revise or edit.

5. In your next draft add any more points of comparison that come to you (a strong analogy is fully developed). Read your prose aloud to detect awkward passages, and revise. Trim deadwood. Heighten TRANSITIONS.

6. Now edit for things like spelling and grammar.

7. Write and proofread your good copy. Save the essay in case your teacher suggests further revision.

Comparison and Contrast

Compare and/or contrast one of the following pairs. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. A newborn and an elderly person
2. Front-wheel-drive and rear-wheel-drive cars
3. The newspaper and the TV newcast
4. Cats and dogs
5. Renting and owning your home
6. Using credit and using cash
7. Touring bikes and mountain bikes
8. The novel and the short story
9. Any two martial arts
10. The classical music fan and the rock music fan
11. A Canadian city and an American city of the same size
12. A wedding and a funeral
13. Writing on paper and using a word processor
14. Natural and synthetic fabrics
15. The authoritarian parent and the permissive parent
16. Luxury cars and economy cars
17. Speaking and writing
18. Community college and university
19. The analogue watch and the digital watch
20. A team sport and an individual sport
21. Sales tax and income tax
22. Glasses and contact lenses
23. Driving a motorcycle and driving a car
24. Two newspapers(news channels or news sites) that you know
25. Large families and small families

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in writing your essay of comparison and contrast.

1. Spend enough time with the topic list to choose the item that best fits your interest and experience.

2. Draw a line down the middle of a blank page. Now brainstorm: jot down notes for subject “A” on the lefl and for subject “B” on the right. Join related items with lines, then take stock of what you have: Is A better than B? Is it worse? Similar? Opposite? Or what? Express their relationship to each other in a thesis statement.

3. Now choose either “halves” or “separate points” to organize your argument, depending on the nature and size of your subject, then work your notes into a brief outline.

4. Write a rapid first draft, leave extra white space, not stopping now to revise or edit.

5. Later analyze what you have produced. Does it follow your outline? If not, is the new material off-topic, or is it a worthwhile addition, an example of “thinking in writing”? Revise accordingly.

6. In your second draft cut all deadwood. Sharpen word choice. Add any missing examples. Strengthen TRANSITIONS.

7. Test your prose aloud before writing the good copy. Save the essay in case your teacher suggests further revision.

Cause and Effect

Analyze the cause(s) and/or effect(s) of one of the following. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. Marrying as a teenager
2. Use of steroids in sports
3. The high price of housing
4. Being adopted
5. Being a twin
6. Being the oldest, youngest, or middle child of a family
7. Use of the drug “crack”
8. Lying
9. Free trade between Canada and the United States
10. Getting into debt
11. Violence in a particular sport
12. Clearcutting of a forest
13. The housing shortage
14. Drought
15. Private ownership of handguns
16. Hitchhiking
17. Racial discrimination
18. Extensive reading
19. The proliferation of “smart” phones
20. Cheating in school
21. The high price of car insurance
22. The widespread increase in municipal recycling
23. Working while being a student
24. Eating junk food
25. Coffee addiction

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in writing your essay of cause and effect.
1. In the middle of a piece of paper, write the subject you wish to explore in your essay of cause and effect. Near it write many other words that it brings to mind. Connect related items with lines, then use what you see in this cluster outline to focus your argument.

2. Write a first drafl rapidly, leave extra white space, getting it all down without stopping yet to revise.

3. When this version has “cooled off,” analyze it: Have you begun and ended at just the right places in the chain qf causality? If not, cut or add. Have you identified the real causes and the real effects? If not, revise.

4. In your next draft sharpen the TRANSITIONS, using expressions like “since,” “although,” “because,” and “as a result” to clearly signal each step of your logic.

5. Share this draft with a small group of classmates. Revise any places where this audience does not follow your logic.

6. Now edit for things like spelling and grammar, and write your good copy. Proofread. Save the essay on in case your teacher suggests forther revision.

Description

Describe one of the following as vividly as you can.
1. The crowd at a rock concert
2. Cottage country in autumn
3. The kitchen of a fast-food restaurant
4. Your favourite painting or sculpture
5. A factory assembly line
6. A polluted river or lake
7. A building that you love or detest
8. Your room
9. Your pet
10. The subway platform during rush hour
11. A garden in July
12. The midway at night
13. A New Year’s Eve party
14. Your favourite gallery of a local museum
15. A fitness club on a busy day
16. The terminal of an airport
17. A garage sale
18. A nightclub on a Saturday night
19. A hologram
20. A wedding reception
21. The interior of a barn
22. A highrise building under construction
23. The race track on a busy day
24. The interior of a bus station or train station
25. A professional wrestling match

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in the act of writing your description.
1. If you can, take eyewitness notes for your description. If you cannot, at least choose a topic you know well enough to make very specific notes from memory.

2. Look these notes over. What is the dominant impression, your main feeling or idea of the subject? Put it into a sentence (this will be your THESIS, whether or not you will actually state it in the description).

3. With your notes and thesis before you, write a rapid first draft, leave extra white space. Get it all down on paper, rather than stopping now to revise.

4. When your first draft has “cooled off,” look it over. Does every aspect of your description contribute to the main overall effect? If not, revise. Does each word “feel” right? When one does not, consult your thesaurus for another.

5. In the next draft increase the SENSE IMAGES – appeal to sight, hearing, touch, smell, and maybe even taste. Add more TRANSITIONS. Read aloud to detect and revise awkwardnesses hidden to the eye.

6. Finally, look over the spelling and grammar before writing your good copy. Afterward, proofread word by word. Save the essay in case your teacher suggests further revision.

Example

If one of these traditional or popular sayings expresses an important lesson you have learned about life, illustrate it in an essay developed through extensive use of example. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. Experience is the best teacher.
2. Money cannot buy happiness.
3. The best defence is a good offence.
4. You have to like yourself before you can like others.
5. Practice makes perfect.
6. True wealth is measured by what you can do without.
7. If you try to please the world, you will never please yourself.
8. Time is money.
9. Virtue is its own reward.
10. No pain, no gain.
11. Beauty is only skin-deep.
12. Money is the root of all evil.
13. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
14. The more you have, the more you want.
15. Love is blind.

If your answer to one if the following is based on strong experience, support it in an
essay developed through extensive use of example. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
16. The (best/worst) program on television is _______________.
17. _______________ is the best book I’ve ever read.
18. The (best/worst) spectator sport of all is _______________.
19. One kind of music I really detest is _______________.
20. _______________ is the (best/worst) restaurant I’ve ever tried.
21. My favourite newspaper is _______________.
22. _______________ is the most practical computer for my needs.
23. My favourite musician is _______________.
24. The very (best/worst) film I have ever seen is _______________.
25. _______________ is my favourite holiday spot.
26. _______________ is my best subject this term.
27. The radio station I prefer is _______________.
28. _______________ is the best teacher I’ve ever had.
29. The political leader I most admire is _______________.
30. _______________ is my favourite city.

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some ojthese steps in developing your essay through examples (your teacher may suggest which ones).
1. Choose a topic you think you like, and try it out through brainstorming or freewriting. Do you have something to say? Can you supply examples? If not, try another topic.

2. Visualize your audience: What level of language, what TONE, what examples, will communicate with this person or persons?

3. Do a rapid “discovery draft,” leave extra white-space. Do not stop now to fix things like spelling and grammar; just get the material down with pen or keyboard.

4. The next day, look this draft over. Are there enough examples? Or: Is your one long example explained in depth? If not, add more. Does each example support your main point? If not, revise. Are examples in order of increasing importance? If not, consider rearranging to build a climax.

5. Check your second draft for TRANSITIONS, and add if necessary. Test your prose by reading aloud, then revise awkward or unclear passages. Now reach for the dictionary and a grammar book(buttons, menus or tools) if you need them.

6. Proofread your final copy slowly, word by word (if your eyes move too fast, they will “see” what should be there, not necessarily what is there).

Narration

WRITING ABOUT MYSELF
Choose one of these topics as the basis of a narrative about yourself. Tell a good story: give colourful details and all the facts needed to help your reader understand and appreciate the event. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
1. My traffic accident
2. The day I learned to be honest
3. My moment as a sports hero
4. The day I learned to recognize people of the opposite sex as
equals
5. My visit to the dentist
6. My brush with the law
7. An occasion when I surprised myself
8. My first date
9. The day I learned to like (or dislike) school
10. The day I was a victim of prejudice
11. The day I learned to tell the truth
12. The day I got lost
13. The day I realized what career I wanted
14. My escape from another country
15. The day I realized I was an adult

WRITING ABOUT OTHERS
From this list of events, choose one that you witnessed in person. Narrate it, giving colourfulI details and all the facts needed to help your reader understand and appreciate the event. (See also the guidelines that follow.)
16. A brush with death
17. A rescue
18. An incident of sexism
19. A catastrophe
20. An example of charity in action
21. An assault
22. An historical event
23. A major failure of communication
24. An important event in the life of a child
25. An important event in the life of an elderly person
26. A violent incident at a sporting event
27. A practical joke that backfired
28. An alarming mob scene
29. An example of courage in action
30. A success in the life of a teacher

Process in Writing: Guidelines
Follow at least some of these steps in the act of writing your narrative.

1. If you keep a journal, search it for an incident that could develop one of the topics.

2. When you have chosen a topic, free write on it for at least five minutes, never letting your pen(or keyboard) stop. The results will show whether your choice is good. If it is, incorporate the best parts into your first draft. If it is not, try another topic.)

3. Write your first draft rapidly, spilling out the story. Leave room for revision (extra white-space). But do not stop now to fix things like spelling and grammar, for you will lose momentum. Consider narrating in the present tense, making the action seem to happen now.

4. Look over this draft: Does it begin and end at just the right places, narrating the event itself but omitting parts that don’t matter? If you see deadwood, chop it out.

5. In your second draft, add more SENSE IMAGES to heighten the realism. Add more time signals such as “‘first,” “next,” “then,” “suddenly,” and “at last,” to speed up the action.

6. Read a draft to family members, friends, or classmates. Does it sound good? Revise awkward passages. Does it communicate with your AUDIENCE? Revise any part that does not.

7. Finally, edit for spelling, grammar, and other aspects of “correctness” before (re)writing and proofreading the final copy. (Save this version in case your teacher suggests further revision.)