Study Unit

The Writing Process,

Part 1
By
Lisa Rowe Fraustino, Ph.D.
Reviewed by
Tamra Orr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Lisa Rowe Fraustino received her doctorate in English from the State University of New York at Binghamton.
She is a college instructor and a freelance writer and editor. She has published many stories and articles
in national magazines, and has written two young adult novels, Grass and Sky and Ash, both published by
Orchard Books.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Tamra Orr earned a bachelor’s degree in English/secondary education from Ball State University. She is
currently a full-time educational author in the Pacific Northwest. Ms. Orr has written more than 200 nonfiction
books and multiple traditional and online courses in many subjects. She has taught in multiple settings.

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PAGE 3
 INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 2

ASSIGNMENT 1: YOU CAN WRITE! 5

Writing Is Work 5
There’s More Than One Way to Write 6
The Writing Process Varies 8
Good Writers Are Rewriters 8
Writing Is a Way of Thinking 8

ASSIGNMENT 2: THE WRITING PROCESS 10

Prewriting 11
Planning 17
Writing the First Draft 21
Revising and Editing 23
Proofreading 27
Presenting 29

ASSIGNMENT 3: WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH? 33

The Topic Sentence: Stated or Implied 34
Unity: Sticking to a Topic 36
Coherence: Making Sentences Flow 39
Paragraph Structure 41
Paragraph Length 44
KEY POINTS 50
PLAGIARISM 51
EXAMINATION 53
GRADING RUBRIC 56

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Introduction
 INTRODUCTION

NAVIGATING THIS UNIT

Your study materials are designed so that you can take ownership of your educational
goals and schedule and complete your coursework whenever and wherever you can. At
Penn Foster, you won’t study at the same pace as other students in the same program,
but you can reach out to your peers using the online Community. Your study materials are
broken down into small chunks that are easy to handle, and each section is tied directly
to the learning outcomes and objectives. Materials include summaries, reviews, self-checks,
and activities to help you master them!

You’ll find it easiest to study if you follow the plan outlined below.

Look over the contents page to get a general idea of what you’re going to learn
in this study unit.
1

2 Quickly read the pages in Assignment 1. This process is called skimming.

Return to the beginning of Assignment 1. This time, read more closely and pay
careful attention to what you’re reading. Focus on main concepts and definitions.
3

Complete all exercises as you come to them and check your answers with
those provided.
4

When you finish reading Assignment 1, complete any exercises at the end of
the assignment. The exercises aren’t graded; they’re designed to help you test
5

yourself to make sure you understand what you’ve read.

Complete each assignment in this manner; then review the material in

preparation for the examination.
6

When you feel confident that you understand the material, complete the
examination for this study unit.
7

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Introduction
 INTRODUCTION

COURSE MATERIALS

Your Practical English course includes the materials listed below.

l This study unit, The Writing Process, Part 1, which includes

4 All of your assigned readings

4 Self-checks and other exercises that allow you to measure how well you
understand your course material

l The study units The Parts of Speech, Word Usage, Sentence Skills, The Writing
Process, Part 2, and the supplement Winning with Words

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Introduction
 INTRODUCTION

UNIT OBJECTIVES

What will you get from this unit?

Do you send people cards that have pre-written messages to avoid writing your own? Do
you conduct all of your business affairs over the telephone to eliminate the need to write?
Do you avoid pursuing certain jobs that will likely require you to write reports or letters?
If so, is it because you don’t think of yourself as a good writer?

Most people don’t consider themselves as having much writing talent. However, most
people don’t give themselves a chance to be good writers. Most people have misconcep-
tions about how good writers work. In this unit you’ll identify these misconceptions, and
you’ll learn about the writing process, beginning with paragraph composition.

When you complete this unit, you’ll be able to

Write sentences that have effective beginnings, concise wording, parallel

structure, and active voice
1

2 List and describe the stages of the writing process

3 Construct a unified, coherent, and effectively structured paragraph

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Introduction
 ASSIGNMENT 1

YOU CAN WRITE!

ASSignMEnT ObjEcTivES
When you complete Assignment 1, you’ll be able to

1.1 Recognize common misconceptions about writing

Are you afraid to write because you don’t think you’re a good writer? If so, you may
have some misconceptions about the writing process. To find out if you do, read the
pairs of statements in Figure 1. For each pair, place a check mark beside the statement
that you believe to be true.

FIGURE 1—Use this questionnaire to see if you have any misconceptions about writing.

If you checked some of the statements in the first column, you have misconceptions that
cause many people to avoid writing. The statements in the second column are true.
Understanding why they’re true will give you the confidence to express yourself on paper.

WRiTing iS WORk
Writing is hard work, even for good writers. Some people who write well say that it’s easy.
Maybe it is, for a lucky few. However, most people who write well say that they struggle to
transfer their thoughts from mind to paper. They have to think hard to sort out their ideas
and organize them so that a reader will be able to ride the same train of thought.

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Assignment 1
Just because writing is hard work doesn’t mean that it isn’t fun. The work of writing can
be rewarding in much the same way as gardening, putting together a puzzle, planning a
sports strategy, building a birdhouse, or doing any number of other activities that draw on
creative energies.

Writing also has practical rewards that make it well worth the effort. For instance, friends
and relatives may treasure the cards and letters you send, for they can be held in the
hands and reread—unlike phone calls or emails. Whether you have a complaint, a re-
quest, or something else to say, a carefully worded business letter may get better results
than a phone call. On the phone, it’s easy to get off-track and forget what you wanted to
say. If you’ve made your point in writing, the person on the receiving end is less likely to
misinterpret or forget what you said. Finally, the ability to write effectively is one of the
most sought-after job skills. People who write well have more career options and oppor-
tunities for promotion than people who can’t or won’t write.

ThERE’S MORE ThAn OnE WAy TO WRiTE

There are many effective ways to write. Writers are not all alike and thus, they have differ-
ent ways of writing. You may share the common misconception that good writers always
use an outline and stick to it. Actually, few writers are able to organize their thoughts so
quickly and efficiently. Although outlining can be an effective way to approach a writing
project, other ways are also effective.

For instance, Philip gets started by freewriting. He sits down with some paper and a pen
and writes whatever comes to mind about his subject. He doesn’t worry about his writing
hanging together or making sense, because this isn’t going to be the final piece of writing.
Once he has filled a page or two with these random thoughts, he reads through what he
has written, searching for his most specific and interesting ideas on the subject. Those
are the ideas Philip focuses on when he begins writing.

Freewriting is a prewriting exercise in which a person

writes continuously for a set amount of time without
regard to spelling, grammar, or structure. it is often
used as a warm-up practice to generate new ideas.

Liz is what might be called an intuitive writer. She doesn’t use an outline and doesn’t
freewrite to get ideas. Instead, she thinks about a writing project in ways that might not
seem obvious to others. Sometimes she even thinks right until the last possible minute
and finds herself working through the night to meet her deadline.

When Liz is asked to write something about censorship, she quickly realizes that she is
against it, but doesn’t know much more than that. Now that she has to write about it, she
begins noticing relevant details all around her. For instance, she notices a copy of The
Catcher in the Rye on her bookshelf and recalls that it was the object of many censorship

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Assignment 1
attempts. However, she likes the book and thinks it’s honest, so it makes her angry that
anyone would ban it just because the main character swears and criticizes adults for being
phony. Later, when she is listening to music, she thinks about record labeling and how
some parents object to kids having easy access to age-inappropriate song lyrics and
music videos. Maybe those parents have a point, she thinks. She begins to wonder about
who should decide issues like that. Then, flipping through the cable TV channels, Liz
notes the frequency of sex and violence in television shows. Are those shows and their
content really appropriate for all ages? By now, Liz wonders if perhaps censorship is
sometimes necessary.

Then, in the newspaper, Liz notices an article about Mark Twain’s Adventures of
Huckleberry Finn being challenged in a nearby school district because it contains words
that some people regard as racial slurs. Liz is shocked. Are schools still using books that
are flawed by racial prejudice? She is becoming very troubled by now, but she doesn’t sit
right down to write in defense of censorship. First, she asks a respected African-American
teacher what he thinks of the book.

“It’s a great book,” he says. “People don’t like to see or hear a racial slur being used, but
actually the character it’s aimed at is the most admirable human being in the book. The
point is to see beyond the prejudice and bigoted language into the character of the per-
son. This sort of thing should be discussed, not censored.”

Now Liz is truly fascinated by her topic. She interviews other African Americans who have
read Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and uses their opinions to defend the book against
banning. She doesn’t bother with an outline. By now, her ideas have taken fairly clear
shape and she writes with excitement—throughout the night—and without an outline.

When a person begins writing by using everything they

have previously learned about a specific topic, they are
practicing intuitive writing. intuitive writing is a prewrit-
ing exercise that can help a person find a direction for
their work by working from what that writer already
knows about the topic.

Ashley is yet another type of writer. She can’t write until she has read everything she can
get her hands on about the subject. She is the type of person who goes to the library for
one book, ends up browsing in the stacks, and brings home ten books. She goes online
to check one site, and bookmarks a dozen. She can’t help it; she’s fascinated by all kinds
of information. At first, all of this information overwhelms her. There’s so much to write
about. How can she narrow down a topic? As she reads, she analyzes what she’s read-
ing and comes to her own conclusions. Ashley is now ready to write.

Those are only a few of the most common ways to begin writing. If you’re an inexperi-
enced writer, try beginning with an outline. If that doesn’t work for you, feel free to
experiment with different ways of thinking through your ideas. Whatever works for you is
what you should do.

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Assignment 1
ThE WRiTing PROcESS vARiES
The writing process goes to-and-fro and sometimes in circles. There are several stages
in the writing process. However, writers often skip around during each stage, sometimes
sticking at the same stage for a long time, and sometimes going back to the beginning,
and sometimes omitting a stage altogether. Just as there are many ways to approach a
writing project, there are many ways to work through it, and many ways to finish it.

gOOD WRiTERS ARE REWRiTERS

Good writers rewrite until they’re satisfied with their work. You shouldn’t feel pressured
to get every word right the first time. In fact, you shouldn’t feel pressured to get every
sentence or even every idea right in your first draft. The human mind is simply too
complex to expect everything to be perfect in the beginning.

Professional writers say that they often get their best ideas during the third or tenth or
even twentieth revision of a work. Some writers have even thrown away whole books and
started over when they finally figured out what they wanted to do and say. They don’t
consider that a waste of time, however. Writing anything—whether it’s a paragraph, an
essay, or a book—is like walking. You need to take every step in order to reach your
destination.

WRiTing iS A WAy OF Thinking

Good writers often find out what they want to say through the process of writing and
revising. You don’t need to have all your thoughts lined up neatly in your mind before you
write them on paper. Some people can do that, but most people don’t think that way. In
the process of writing down ideas, you get other ideas. In the process of thinking about
those new ideas, you think in ways that you never would have imagined if you hadn’t
been writing. Once you get to that point, you may find that your original idea has changed
completely. You’ve learned something that you didn’t know before. You may have even
changed your mind or, at least, developed a new perspective on the issue.

You can learn to write. Writing is a skill. Basic writing can be learned with study and
practice. Anyone who can read and speak a language can become a competent writer.
All you need are (1) the desire to do so, (2) some lessons in the writing process, and
(3) time to practice.

The goal of this course is to teach you how to become a competent writer. Regardless of
how much or how little talent and facility with language that a person has, anyone can
learn to write better. That’s the objective here.

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Assignment 1
 ASSIGNMENT 1

SELF-CHECK
Indicate whether the following statements are True or False.

_______ 1. You must be born with writing talent; the ability can’t be learned.

_______ 2. Though some people deviate from the norm, there’s only one ideal
way to write.

_______ 3. Good writers sometimes rewrite 20 or 30 times.

_______ 4. Writing is a skill that can be learned with study and practice.

_______ 5. Good writers often find writing a struggle.

_______ 6. It’s common for writers to change their minds about what they want to
say after they get in the middle of a writing project.

Click here to check your answers.

(If you’re reading a printed study unit, please check your answers with those at the end of
this book.)

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Assignment 1
 ASSIGNMENT 2

THE WRITING PROCESS

ASSignMEnT ObjEcTivES
When you complete Assignment 2, you’ll be able to

2.1 Outline the writing process

2.2 Identify and use at least one prewriting activity (such as brainstorming,
webbing, freewriting, researching, and journal keeping) to come up
with your own idea on a given subject

2.3 Create an outline or a map to expand your main idea

2.4 Use your map or outline to create a paragraph with one main idea and
supporting details

2.5 Use the writing process to construct an email

Just as there are many ways to write, there are many ways to describe the process of
writing. In this assignment, we’ll break down the process into these stages:

l Prewriting

l Planning

l Writing the first draft

l Revising and editing

l Proofreading

l Presenting

As we’ve already mentioned, this process isn’t always linear. That is, writers don’t always
include every step or follow each step in order. They may begin writing a first draft without
really knowing what they wish to say, for instance, and then go back and plan the revision
using an outline. They may proofread as they go along and not make a special effort to
do so as a separate step. Or, once they’ve gone through the entire process, they may
decide to discard what they have and start again. For example, this may happen in
business when a proposal is rejected but the company wishes to pursue the project
from another angle.

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Assignment 2
PREWRiTing
The first stage in the writing process is actually prewriting. This is what you do before you
put pen to paper (or, more likely, fingers to keyboard). Prewriting comes even before
planning because you don’t even have anything specific to plan yet. During prewriting,
the first thing to do is to determine your purpose, medium, and audience.

your purpose is the reason you’re writing, and what you

hope to achieve with your final work.
your medium is the way you choose to present your
writing. Are you writing a short story or a letter? The
answer is your medium.
your audience is the people who will read your final
work.

Identifying your purpose answers these questions: Why are you writing? What do you
hope to achieve?

Choosing your medium answers this question: What form will you use—a letter, a memo,
a report, a proposal, an essay, a poem, a story, or something else?

Finally, determining who your audience is answers these questions: Who will read the
final piece of writing? What are their needs and expectations?

It’s important to understand your purpose, medium, and audience from the very begin-
ning. Doing so will help you to work through the writing process efficiently and effectively.
Without understanding these three elements, you’ll have trouble focusing your ideas and
writing with confidence. Or, you may write with ease, yet unintentionally focus on the
wrong points and fail to achieve the results you intend.

Once you know your purpose, medium, and audience, it’s time to find out what your
thoughts are about your topic so that you can decide how to approach your writing project.
Suppose you’re asked to write a paragraph about cars. What would you say about them?
Even if it’s not a topic that interests you, you’ll still have to come up with something inter-
esting to say to complete the assignment.

Start by thinking about who asked you to write the paragraph, and why. For example,
since this course resembles a classroom, that a writing teacher has given you this as-
signment. Your purpose is to demonstrate that you’ve mastered the basics of written Eng-
lish expression. Your medium is given—a paragraph. Your audience is the teacher and
perhaps the rest of the class. So, what will you say in this paragraph to demonstrate
your English skills to your teacher and classmates?

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Assignment 2
There are many ways you could get ideas. All it really takes to get you started on a
writing project is one good idea that excites you. Finding that idea is the goal of any
prewriting exercise.

You can take five steps as you prewrite: brainstorming, webbing, freewriting, researching,
and journal keeping. Take a look at each one, beginning with brainstorming.

bRAinSTORMing
What does the topic of “cars” bring to mind? To find out, try brainstorming. Make a list of
every idea that comes to mind. Don’t exclude anything. Don’t worry about putting these
thoughts in order. Right now you’re just writing down everything you think might be a
possible focus for your paragraph. You may end up not using most of these ideas.

Brainstorming is an exercise in which a person writes

freely and spontaneously to generate ideas about the
topic he or she chose to write about. it can be done
alone or in a group.

You might even wish to brainstorm with one or more other people. Ask your friends,
family or coworkers a few questions. What do they think of cars? What cars do they like?
What would they like to read about cars? Other people may come up with ideas that will
help you think up even better ideas of your own.

A list on the subject of cars might look like the list in Figure 2. Note that the list
could continue.

FIGURE 2—
Cars A Brainstormed List
4 door sedans Speeding limits
2 door sedans Speeding tickets
Trucks Seat belts
SUVs Leather seats
Gas mileage Car accidents
4 wheel drive Drunk driving
AWD (All Wheel Drive) Sports cars
My first car Used cars

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Assignment 2
WEbbing
A similar exercise, called webbing, is perhaps even more useful than brainstorming. It
shows relationships among some of the ideas you have.

Webbing is an exercise similar to brainstorming, in

which a person uses a web diagram to show how his or
her brainstormed ideas are connected.

To begin, write your topic (cars, for example) in the middle of a piece of paper (Figure 3).
Circle it. Draw a line out from the circle and write another word—the first word that comes
to mind about the topic, such as wheels. Circle that word, too. Draw a line out from there
and write another word that comes to mind about the second circled word, for example,
hubcaps. Circle the new word and keep going, for example, flat tire, my first flat, learned
to change tires in driver’s ed., and nobody stopped to help. Then you can go back and
start a new chain from the key word, cars. You can start many chains. Often, you’ll come
up with something interesting.

FIGURE 3—Webbing

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Assignment 2
FREEWRiTing
To freewrite, you fill a piece of paper with any idea that comes to mind about your topic.
Don’t stop to think. Don’t lift your pen. Just write! Don’t worry about spelling, grammar,
sentence structure, or anything else except your topic. Your goal is to come up with that
one good idea, and the best way to do that is to set your creative mind free (Figure 4).
Your mind can’t be creative if it’s worried about i before e and semicolons.

FIGURE 4—Freewriting can reveal the many ideas that constantly pass through
your mind.

Here’s an example of freewriting on the topic of cars.

My car got so hot today. The sun was shining in the windows all afternoon and heated
the steering wheel into a fiery circle. My car is a Prius, just a little thing, but it saves me
money on gas and it gets me where I want to go. My first car was a gigantic Buick; we
called her Megacar. Mega was used. The Prius was new when I bought it but it sure
looks used now! Mega handled a lot better than the Prius in the snow; I think big cars
are probably safer. And that was before gas prices went up. It was also before people
became more concerned with carbon emissions. Cars and the environment: now, that’s
a topic! Whatever happened to the push for more hybrid vehicles? Aren’t cars still
using up limited oil resources? And polluting the environment? How come we don’t
hear so much about that anymore? I need to look into this.

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Assignment 2
RESEARching
Many people like to look to outside sources for ideas for writing. For the assignment on
cars, you might go to the library or online to look for information on cars. Or, if you’ve
already decided you’re interested in one of the narrower topics you’ve come up with while
brainstorming, webbing, or freewriting, you could look up more information on that spe-
cific idea. Read a biography on Henry Ford, for instance, or do some research on the
environmental impact of cars, the history of speed limits, or the pros and cons of small
versus big cars.

jOURnAL kEEPing
Some people write their most interesting thoughts and experiences in a daily journal,
which is a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections, kept for private use. If you keep
your journal or computer document faithfully, it can be a good source of ideas to write
about for other purposes. For instance, perusing the entries near the time you bought
your last car, you might recall issues that were important to you and come up with a
topic like “What to Look for When Buying a Car.”

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Assignment 2
 ASSIGNMENT 2

REFLECT AND RESPOND

JOURNAL WRITING
Besides its personal benefits, keeping a daily journal on paper or as a document on your
computer is an effective way to improve your writing. Without a teacher to grade your
writing, you’ll likely become more comfortable with words. You’ll develop a distinct per-
sonal writing style and start to understand the origins of your best ideas.

Write five minutes a day, and write enough to fill a single page. Don’t worry about your
writing style, grammar, spelling, or punctuation. The only thing to focus on is making sure
you write every day. If you’re going to handwrite your entries, choose a journal that fits
your personality. It can be anything from a spiral-bound notebook to a fancy leather jour-
nal. If you’re going to write your entries on a computer, save the entries by the date.

Write about anything at all that comes to mind. On days that you can’t think of anything
to write about, consider using one of the following suggestions.

l Describe something or someone near you. It may be your shoe, the chair you’re
sitting in, a child in your neighborhood, a dog that always sniffs around your lawn,
a statue in the park, the dinner you ate last night, a flower losing its petals, a
blown lightbulb—anything at all. Just make sure you paint a vivid word picture of
your subject, using as many sensory details as you can: sight, smell, touch, taste,
and sound.

l Write a letter that you won’t send, telling somebody something that you want to
say but don’t dare to.

l Describe the most embarrassing experience of your life.

l Describe the most exhilarating experience of your life.

l Describe the most miserable experience of your life.

l Imagine that you’re a life-form from another galaxy, visiting the planet Earth for the
first time. Write down the alien’s first impressions of the town where you live.

l Write your autobiography (your life story).

l Write down a story that someone in your family always tells at holiday gatherings.

(Continued)

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Assignment 2
 ASSIGNMENT 2

REFLECT AND RESPOND

JOURNAL WRITING
l Explain what you like and don’t like about something you’ve read, such as a book
or an article in a newspaper.

l Argue for or against a controversial issue: book banning, the death penalty, gun
control, school prayer, teachers’ strikes, and so on.

l Cut a picture out of a newspaper or magazine. Paste it into your journal. Describe
the picture or write a story about it.

l Write a letter to an advice columnist. Then, pretend you’re the columnist and write
back.

Whatever you choose to write about, remember that for most people, the more you
write, the better you get at it. Most writers don’t arrive at a perfect copy on the first draft.
Practice is important.

Note: These are self-directed exercises. Don’t send your practice writing to the school.

Since this is an individual exercise, there’s no answer provided.

PLAnning
Once you’ve found a topic you like, you’re ready to plan the piece of writing. In other
words, it’s time to decide what thoughts you wish to include and to organize them in
logical order. Planning requires you to keep your purpose, medium, and audience firmly
in mind. What points should you make to achieve your purpose? What type of information
is usually included in the medium (format) you’re using? What information does your
audience want and need?

OUTLining
Now is the time to make an outline, if outlines work for you. Your outline may be infor-
mal and rough. To write an informal outline, jot down your key statement or purpose.
Below it, write down supporting details. If you’re making an argument for something,
use “because” clauses to help you think logically. Also, write down all the arguments
that might be made against your point. When you’ve finished your entries, reread them
and eliminate any that are irrelevant or weak. Then number the remaining thoughts in
order of importance.

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Assignment 2
Now turn to a new topic, computers, to create the informal outline in Figure 5.

Key Statement: We need one additional customer service workstation with a computer
terminal.

1. Because we’re so busy we can’t provide the level of service expected

2. Because we’re using four hours of overtime daily to complete the work

3. Because we have a person who could be reassigned to do customer service

work half days without adding to payroll

4. Because we’ll save overtime money needed for the customer service represen-
tative and for the supervisor

5. Because the $12,000 annual savings in overtime costs far outweigh the one-
time cost of $3,000 to install a workstation and the monthly terminal leasing fee
of $87

FIGURE 5—An Informal Outline

The informal outline in Figure 5 would be adequate for writing a short report. However,
you may elect to write a formal outline. A formal outline helps you to sort big, main ideas
from smaller, supporting details and to organize them all in logical order. You’ll find formal
outlining especially helpful in organizing long or complex writing projects that include
several main points.

The formal outline in Figure 6 resulted in a report of several pages. Each subtopic was
developed in a separate paragraph.

To write a formal outline, place the main points after Roman numerals (I, II, III, and so on).
After each main point come the subtopics that will be used to support the main idea. Place
subtopics after capital letters. The subtopics, in turn, may require supporting details, and
you should place these details after Arabic numbers. Finally, if the supporting details lead
to still more specific details, place those after lowercase letters.

Each level of topic, subtopic, or details should include at least two items. All entries in a
formal outline should be expressed in parallel grammatical form. For instance, you could
write a complete sentence after each numeral or letter. Instead of complete sentences,
Figure 6 uses nouns and prepositional phrases. The basic outline structure can be
repeated until the outline is completed.

You’ll learn more about creating formal outlines in your Written Communication course.

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Assignment 2
FIGURE 6—A Formal Outline

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Assignment 2
MAPPing
Some people prefer to use a technique called mapping to organize ideas.
Mapping is a branching activity. It’s a cross between webbing and flowcharting.

Mapping is a branching exercise similar to webbing.

Mapping is practiced by writing down a subject and then
drawing lines (or branches) to the piece’s main topics.
After the main topics are written down, specific support-
ing arguments are connected beneath each main topic.

Draw a circle in the middle of a piece of blank paper. In the circle, write your subject
(such as Installation of Personal Computers for Professional and Support Staff) (Figure
7). From the circle, begin drawing branches with a main topic on each line (such as in-
creased productivity, literature review, research). From these main branches, draw
smaller branches containing the details or supporting arguments for each main topic.
Don’t worry about the order in which you put the main topics. You’ll arrange them in the
next step.

FIGURE 7—Mapping

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Assignment 2
When you’ve finished your mapping, number the main branches in the order that you
think will best convey your message. In longer pieces of writing, each main branch with
its supporting branches should be a single paragraph.

Finally, some writers prefer not to do any written planning. They do all the planning in
their heads. If you’re the sort of writer who discovers what you wish to say in the process
of trying to say it, then your plan will be very rough and tentative. You must be open to
changes along the way. Do at least try planning on paper to see if it works for you. If it
doesn’t, and planning in your head does, then plan in your head. Whatever works for you
is the way you should write.

ASSIGNMENT 2

REFLECT AND RESPOND

PREWRITING

Use the prewriting activities we’ve described to come up with your own idea
on a subject of your choice. Make this topic the focus of a paragraph you
would like to write. Outline or map your main ideas.

Since this is an individual exercise, there’s no answer provided.

WRiTing ThE FiRST DRAFT

Once you’ve ordered the main points you wish to make, you’re ready to write the first
draft. Some writers work laboriously, trying to get every word and every comma perfect in
the first draft. However, the typical human mind simply isn’t set up to work that way. You
shouldn’t put that sort of “perfection pressure” on yourself. You’ll find that your thoughts
and your language flow much more smoothly if you write without stopping.

Don’t try to do too many things at one time when writing. Don’t attempt to write, edit,
and rewrite each sentence and paragraph as you proceed. You’ll only be slowed down
by the process and lose track of what you’re trying to communicate. You can avoid this
problem by doing what many professional writers do—write straight through, letting your
thoughts come out in writing as best they can. Follow your outline or map, but don’t stop
to edit or rewrite.

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Assignment 2
If you veer away from the planned topic for a little while, don’t worry about it—your
creative mind may be leading you to even better material. Any irrelevant digressions can
be deleted later. Just let the writing flow. You’ll get the tough part behind you, and often
the writing will be less stilted because you’re more apt to write the way you speak.

A digression is a departure from the main subject about

which you are writing.

Whether you handwrite or work on a computer, it’s wise to double-space your work.
Doing so will give you the space you’ll need for revisions.

ASSIGNMENT 2

REFLECT AND RESPOND

WRITING A PARAGRAPH

Following your outline or map from “Reflect and Respond: Prewriting,” write
a rough draft of your paragraph on the topic you’ve chosen.

Since this is an individual exercise, there’s no answer provided.

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Assignment 2
REviSing AnD EDiTing
For professional writers, nothing is as important as editing and rewriting. A professional
writer often rewrites 8 or 9 times—sometimes even 20 or 30 times—and usually not fewer
than 3 times. Of course, if you’re not a professional writer, you won’t need the level of
refinement gained through so many rewrites. However, at least one rewrite is necessary
for most writing. (An exception is informal letters or emails to friends and family, who
probably won’t mind if you don’t have a main point or if your letter isn’t a polished and
professional text.)

How many times should you rewrite? As many times as you think necessary to communi-
cate effectively, given your purpose, medium, and audience. But, what does it mean to
revise a piece of writing?

REviSing
The word revise means “see again.” To see again suggests more than cleaning up minor
errors. To see again suggests a new way of looking at what you’ve done. Revision re-
quires you to look at your work as if you were the target reader, seeing the document for
the first time. You still shouldn’t be worried about little mistakes at this point. Your concern
at this point is the big picture. Looking for little mistakes can slow you down and make it
difficult to see bigger, more important problems in organization. Why spend time fiddling
with little details that might end up getting cut or rewritten entirely? The best way to revise
is to get the whole piece of writing the way you want it, and then go through to fix mis-
takes line by line, word by word.

To revise is to edit a piece of writing in more detail than

simply cleaning up minor errors. When revising a piece,
writers should imagine they’re viewing their work for the
first time from the viewpoint of their audience, focusing
on the structure, logic, and flow of the work.

When you’re revising, these are the sorts of questions to ask yourself about the piece of
writing as a whole:

l Is it clear in purpose and in meaning? If not, rethink your organization and your
approach. You may need to start over with different ideas.

l Are there parts that should be cut? Cross them out.

l Are there parts that should be developed further or need additional details? Add
parts by writing between the lines and in the margins.

l Are there parts that should be moved or rearranged? Move parts by circling them
and drawing arrows to wherever you wish to insert the words.

l Are there parts that should be condensed or combined with other parts within the
document? Cross out those parts and rewrite between the lines and in the margins.

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Assignment 2
EDiTing
Once you have your major changes in place, it’s time to put to use what you’ve learned
about grammar, sentence structure, word usage, punctuation, and spelling. Strive for a
clear, concise style. To help you with your editing, here are some tips, many of which will
sound familiar to you:

l Vary sentence lengths. Mix it up. Don’t have all short, choppy sentences, but don’t
have all long ones, either. Strive for sentence lengths of 10–20 words. A few sen-
tences may be shorter, but seldom should one be much longer.

l Look for and delete unnecessary words. Try also to concentrate wordy ideas
into a single word. Make shapeless sentences (wordy sentences or sentences
without a clear point) clear, and cut out any dead or repetitious words.

l Eliminate irrelevant information. Don’t tell your audience every little detail you can
think of about a subject. Stick to what adds to the information or to your argument.

l Substitute specific strong verbs for weak or overused ones. Remember to use
active voice, rather than passive, for a clear, direct style.

l Replace generalities with specifics. For example, it’s better to mention that 200
samples were distributed during a convention than to say that a “substantial num-
ber” were given out. Making comparisons is an effective way to replace generali-
ties with specifics. Comparisons put the information into a recognizable and
understandable context. General: That building is huge and ornate. Specific com-
parison: That building looks like a castle.

l When possible, change negative messages to positive. Rather than saying “We
can’t meet until this project is finished in three weeks,” say “We can meet any time
after this project finishes in three weeks.” The positive approach shows that you
really do want to meet with the person.

l Use lists to break up your copy and to make reading quick and easy. When you
use lists, remember to keep the entries parallel in structure.

l Check and correct the grammar. Be especially alert to pronoun/antecedent

agreement, subject/verb agreement, and proper pronoun form.

l Get rid of dry, stilted, or cliché-laden language. The technical term for worn-out
expressions such as “taking the bull by the horns,” “happy as a lark,” and “slept
like a log” is cliché (Figure 8).

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Assignment 2
 Like all languages, English has in it a body of expressions that are overused at any
given point in its history. Here are some expressions that are currently overused:
think outside the box, all things considered, as a matter of fact, call on the car-
pet, circumstances beyond control, finishing touch, foregone conclusion, in the
final analysis, in this day and age, it stands to reason, overall picture, point of no
return, psychological moment, read between the lines, second to none, sell like
hotcakes, behind the eight ball, cooking with gas, face the music, get the green
light, I’ll buy that, in less than no time, long time no see, low man on the totem
pole, shot in the arm, that’s for the birds...
The following phrases were, at one time, used in everyday conversation. Constant
repetition, however, has robbed them of the fresh imagery they once conveyed.
at the drop of a hat, break the ice, clean bill of health, close to the soil, come
apart at the seams, handle with kid gloves, lead a dog’s life, mention in the same
breath, raise one’s sights, rub the wrong way...
Some clichés, like the following, have been around for centuries.
bring home the bacon, speak of the devil, you can’t have your cake and eat it
too, busy as a bee, thin as a rail, quiet as a mouse, white as a sheet, sharp as a
tack, slippery as an eel, slow as molasses in January, bury the hatchet, split
hairs, put your shoulder to the wheel, let the cat out of the bag, put the cart
before the horse, cook one’s goose, kill two birds with one stone, bite off more
than one can chew, get up on the wrong side of the bed...
And these:
down in the dumps, face the facts, lap of luxury, live and learn, point with pride,
slow but sure, spic and span, sure as shooting, through thick and thin, by hook
or by crook, fair and square, haste makes waste, high and dry, wear and tear,
wine and dine, blow hot and cold, by means fair or foul, feast or famine, kill or
cure, move heaven and earth, neither here nor there, open and shut, rain or
shine, sink or swim, the long and short of it...
The list goes on:
bag and baggage, fits and starts, hale and hearty, house and home, kith and kin,
lord and master, part and parcel, pure and simple, toss and turn, well and good,
boon to mankind, bow in defeat, brave the elements, by the same token, deem it a
privilege, explore every avenue, irony of fate, paragon of virtue, picture of health...
How much better and more persuasive it sounds to say “It is a privilege to work with
all of you in this department” than to say “I deem it a privilege to work with all of you.”
Should clichés ever be used? The answer is yes, when they’re employed consciously,
effectively, and with purpose. Consider the person who offered a violin for sale “with
no strings attached” and the writer who described amateur parachutists as “jumping
for joy.” Both were using clichés consciously, and they achieved delightful, original
expressions. It’s reliance upon clichés—not the clichés themselves—that rub the
wrong way.

FIGURE 8—Clichés can weaken your writing. Try to invent your own ways of saying
what you want to say.

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Assignment 2
Figure 9 shows a paragraph that has been revised and edited according to the
guidelines we’ve given. Figure 10 is a typed version of the corrected copy of this
sample revision.

FIGURE 9—Sample Revision

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Assignment 2
 When I think of cars, I inevitably think of my first flat tire. It happened the same day
I got my first car—and it was raining. Luckily, I knew how to change tires. Nobody
stopped to help me. I was late to pick up my friend for a joy ride in my new car,
and I was wet, muddy, and miserable. It seemed only fitting when my hubcap fell off
on the way home

FIGURE 10—Corrected Copy of Sample Revision

PROOFREADing
Theyr’e not spellign errrors; they’r ejust typls.

How did you react to the previous sentence? The mistakes are typographical errors. The
sentence should read

They’re not spelling errors; they’re just typos.

Typographical and spelling errors interfere with the clarity of ideas. They cast doubt on
the accuracy of the entire document. If the attention to little details is careless, the reader
wonders, might not the big details be carelessly handled, too?

Everybody makes mistakes. Even the best typists make typos, even the best spellers
misspell, even the best English teachers confuse who and whom, and even the best
writers sometimes find that they’ve quickly scribbled their for they’re, or to for too. Most
of the mistakes that make it into final documents don’t result from stupidity or even care-
lessness, though careless mistakes do happen too often. Most mistakes are simply
overlooked because of our inability to see what’s really on the page. Instead, we see
what we thought we put there. Familiarity with material makes it difficult to pick out errors
that practically leap off the page to someone else.

How can you avoid making simple proofreading mistakes that make you look careless
when really you’re a perfectionist? Well, you won’t be able to catch all the mistakes, but
you’ll come close if you apply all the skills you’ve acquired and you understand why the
majority of mistakes occur. Here are some suggestions:

l Be consistent in the way that you handle paragraph indentation. Either indent the
first sentence of each paragraph, or if you don’t indent the first sentence, skip a
line between each paragraph.

l Check for correct punctuation, including capitalization.

l Watch for grammatical errors. Keep an eye out for errors such as fragments,
run-ons, faulty agreement, and incorrect comparisons.

l Make sure you haven’t mistaken commonly confused pairs of words, such as
there, their, and they’re.

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Assignment 2
 l Some people get caught up in the meaning of what they’re reading and forget to
look for little mistakes. To avoid this problem, professional proofreaders some-
times read backward (from the end to the beginning of the document) to
concentrate on small details of usage. If you tend to read fast, you might also
cover the page with a plain colored bookmark or piece of paper to slow yourself
down and keep your eyes focused on one line of text at a time.

l Be on the lookout for mistakes that may happen when you rewrite or type a new
copy of a revision. These mistakes include repeated words, sentences, or lines
and skipped lines, sentences, or paragraphs.

l Learn to spell the words you use. Learn the spelling rules and the exceptions to
those rules.

l Become familiar with the look of words in print. The next time you’re tempted to
turn on the TV, pick up a book instead. Or, write a letter to a friend. While you’re
reading or writing, keep a dictionary at your side and look up unfamiliar words.
In fact, look up familiar words, too, if they’re the least bit tricky. You can make
mistakes by assuming you know something and not checking to make sure
you’re right.

l When you look up a word in a dictionary, say the word. See the word. Copy the
word correctly. Try to spell it with your eyes closed.

l Spell by syllables. Make sure that you pronounce the word correctly and that you
hear all the syllables. Many people misspell words because they mispronounce
them. Probably, for instance, is commonly misspelled as probaly. Take the time to
look at what you’ve written and pronounce it correctly.

l Pay special attention to words that aren’t spelled the way they’re pronounced.
Many people misspell words containing silent letters (debt, sign, exhaust, knife,
night, pneumonia). Others have trouble with two-letter combinations that sound
like one letter (phone, rough, school).

l Many people also have trouble with homonyms, words that sound alike but have
different meanings. Two/too/to, there/their/they’re, your/you’re, hear/here,
no/know, and weather/whether are just a few examples.

l Keep a list of words you’ve misspelled and looked up. Use your list as a reference
when you write, edit, and proofread your work.

When typing, people tend to make the same sorts of mistakes. If you use a computer,
watch for words that are underlined in red to indicate a spelling error, or those under-
lined in green to point out a usage or punctuation error. Pay attention to the details
shown in Figure 11.

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Assignment 2
FIGURE 11—Common Typos

PRESEnTing
The final stage of the writing process is presenting—giving the final copy to the intended
audience. Professional writers, and some classroom teachers, call this stage publishing.
We’re calling it presenting.

To present your work is to deliver your final written

product to your intended audience. handing in a school
paper or publishing a piece of writing are both examples
of presenting.

Every time you pick up a magazine, newspaper, print advertisement, flyer, brochure,
report, or anything else in print, or check out a website, you’re reading what some other
writer has presented.

You present your writing when you send notes, emails, or texts to friends and relatives.
In your working life, you’re likely to present writing in various forms, from resumes to
business letters to reports on projects (Figure 12).

Once you’ve reached the presenting stage, most of the hard work has already taken
place. Now, before sending your work out into the world, make sure that it’s as perfect
as you can make it. Carefully proofread it. Be sure that it’s formatted according to the
conventions of the medium you’re using, and that it’s presented as cleanly and neatly
as possible.

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Assignment 2
 FIGURE 12—The final
step in a writing project is
presenting it for someone
to read.

Posting a comment online is a form of presenting or

publishing your final work. Material published online
is available to a large audience, meaning it shouldn’t
be considered private. Carefully consider what
you've written before publishing it online. This in-
cludes what you publish on social media websites.

ASSIGNMENT 2

REFLECT AND RESPOND

WRITING AN EMAIL

Write an email to the editor of your local newspaper or school publication

about an issue with which you are concerned. First, find a focus by brain-
storming, webbing, freewriting, researching, or journal writing. Plan your
letter by choosing the main points you’ll make. Organize your thoughts with
an outline or web. Write a first draft. Then revise, proofread, and present the
letter to your intended audience.

Since this is an individual exercise, there’s no answer provided.

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Assignment 2
 ASSIGNMENT 2

SELF-CHECK
Questions 1–5: Answer the following questions

1. List the stages of the writing process as discussed in this study unit.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

2. During the first stage of the writing process, you must define your _______,
_______, and _______.

3. Name and briefly describe five prewriting activities that can help you decide
what to write about.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

4. What’s the difference between outlining and webbing?

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

5. What does revision mean? How is revising different from editing?

_____________________________________________________________

(Continued)

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Assignment 2
 ASSIGNMENT 2

SELF-CHECK
Questions 6–12: Read each sentence and draw a line through the
cliché. Write a replacement for each cliché.

6. I thought that Robertson had won the game fair and square.

_____________________________________________________________

7. This medicine will either kill you or cure you.

_____________________________________________________________

8. Shirley believes in this policy heart and soul.

_____________________________________________________________

9. I’ve been leading a dog’s life since Mona went to Cincinnati.

_____________________________________________________________

10. Benton decided to surrender and face the music.

_____________________________________________________________

11. I don’t know where you’re coming from, Alan, but we still have to work within
company policy.

_____________________________________________________________

12. If we aren’t careful, this contract is going to come apart at the seams.

_____________________________________________________________

Click here to check your answers.

(If you’re reading a printed study unit, please check your answers with those at the end of
this book.)

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Assignment 2
 ASSIGNMENT 3

WHAT IS A PARAGRAPH?

ASSignMEnT ObjEcTivES
When you complete Assignment 3, you’ll be able to

3.1 Identify the topic sentence in a paragraph

3.2 Construct paragraphs around one topic sentence

3.3 Self-evaluate your paragraph to ensure each sentence clearly relates

to the topic and each sentence flows properly within the paragraph

3.4 Recognize the type of order (spatial, chronological, order of impor-

tance, comparison and contrast) that would be most appropriate to
use to develop a paragraph for a given topic

3.5 Construct a paragraph using chronological order

3.6 Construct one paragraph that fully develops a stated topic

Think about the paragraph you created in the previous assignment. Remember that a
paragraph is a unit of thought that focuses and develops a single subject. Thus, a good
paragraph is said to be unified. It’s also said to be coherent, from the Latin word meaning
“to stick.” All the sentences in a paragraph should “stick together,” flowing logically from
one meaning to the next. A unified, coherent paragraph may be developed in several
ways.

A unified paragraph is one that focuses on a specific

thought and establishes a clear purpose. if a para-
graph flows logically without jarring the reader, it’s
considered unified.

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Assignment 3
ThE TOPic SEnTEncE: STATED OR iMPLiED
Many paragraphs begin with a topic sentence, a statement of the main idea or
subject.

A topic sentence is the sentence within a paragraph that

states the main idea of that paragraph. Topic sentences
can appear anywhere in the paragraph and don’t neces-
sarily have to be the paragraph’s first sentence.

Note how the italicized topic sentence orients the reader to what follows in
this paragraph:

One of the most attractive features of computers is the efficiency of editing docu-
ments. Mistakes are easy to fix, especially with the selections provided in the menu.
The menu lists possible options for the user, such as “save” or “print.” Even better, you
can do editing on screen—add this, delete that, substitute something here, rearrange
something there. Simply move the cursor to the exact spot in the document where you
want to add, delete, or move text.

The topic sentence doesn’t have to be the first sentence. The topic sentence can appear
anywhere in the paragraph. Many paragraphs build up to the main point, saving the topic
sentence for last. Here’s an example:

The neighbor’s dog dug up my dahlia bulbs at eight o’clock in the morning. At nine, the
water heater burst and soaked the family room carpet. My son was sent home from
school with poison ivy at ten o’clock, and at eleven the rain started. The roof started
leaking at noon. Some days just aren’t worth getting up for in the morning.

Can you identify the topic sentence in the following paragraph?

Accuracy isn’t the only goal in technical documents. You have to make sure the letter
or report is clear, concise, and logical—in other words, readable. What makes writing
readable? Writing teachers often urge their students to think of their purpose, medium,
and audience as they write. Why is this document being composed? What form will it
take? Who will read it and what are their needs? To communicate effectively, good
writers keep these questions in mind.

The statement that best pinpoints the topic of this paragraph is the second sentence:
You have to make sure the letter or report is clear, concise, and logical—in other words,
readable. The remaining sentences in the paragraph somehow relate to readability. The
first sentence doesn’t mention readability outright, but it leads up to the point through
logical comparison.

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Assignment 3
In some paragraphs, the main topic is so obvious to the reader that it doesn’t have to be
stated at all. This often happens in paragraphs that give directions or tell a story. What is
the topic of the following paragraph?

Computers were first intended to do quick mathematical calculations. Today’s computers

can also be used to file information, create documents and graphics, process data, and
manage multiple accounts. They also perform many other functions that help businesses
run smoothly and keep costs down. Some businesses provide laptops or smartphones
to their employees. This use of computer technology allows some employees to work
from home (Figure 13). Finally, through using social media websites and email, comput-
ers even help us get and stay in touch with people whom we might’ve otherwise seen
or heard from again, although some might argue that that’s not only a blessing but also
a curse!

FIGURE 13—Computer technology can not only help you compose a piece of writing,
but it can also be an interesting topic for writing.

Remember that each sentence in a paragraph contributes to the topic. So some aspect of
the topic must be present in each sentence. Could the topic here be “Why Computers Were
Invented”? No, only the first sentence touches on that. The same goes for “Computers and
Mathematics.” This paragraph has a more general purpose. Try “Computers in Today’s Of-
fices.” No, that still isn’t right; then the first sentence wouldn’t belong. A title such as “Some
Uses of Computer Technology” best sums up the paragraph.

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Assignment 3
Here’s another paragraph in which no single sentence states the topic. However, the
topic is clear from the information that’s given.

The snow on the roads had packed and frozen during the night. As Ann drove
slowly to work, she saw several empty cars that had skidded off the road into the
snowbanks. The car radio blared news of an eight-car pileup on a highway, and it
cautioned drivers to use an alternate route. Drifting snow had closed another high-
way, according to the announcer. Ann tightened her grip on the wheel, feeling the
car’s tires lose traction on the icy road, and she could only hope she’d make it to work
safely in these conditions.

In this paragraph, could the topic be “Ann’s Driving Skills”? Since Ann’s driving is men-
tioned in only one sentence, this probably isn’t the topic. How about “The Value of a Car
Radio”? The radio isn’t mentioned in the first two sentences, so this probably isn’t the
topic, either. To determine the topic, decide what subject is mentioned in each sentence.
The topic could be “Snow Storm Causes Hazardous Driving Conditions.”

Go back and read these two example paragraphs again to find the details that tell you
the topics.

UniTy: STicking TO A TOPic

Although paragraphs don’t have to begin with a topic sentence, beginning with the topic
is usually an effective strategy. Putting the topic up front helps the reader predict the in-
formation that follows. Wherever the topic sentence appears—the beginning, middle, or
end of the paragraph (or even when there isn’t a topic sentence)—every sentence in the
paragraph should contribute to supporting or developing the topic.

Dan decided to write a paragraph describing a black locust tree. He freewrote the follow-
ing in his journal:

The black locust tree has flowers that look like sweet peas, it has seed pods, and it has
deeply pitted bark. I remember reading somewhere that it was almost wiped out dur-
ing the ice ages. When I was a child, I always knew that when I smelled its blossoms,
school would soon be over for the school year.

All of Dan’s information is interesting, but does all of it describe the tree? Some of it
does, some of it doesn’t. So the next step is to sort through the information and select
only those sentences that describe the tree. As he sorts through the sentences describ-
ing the tree and as he adds details, Dan realizes that the textures of the tree’s various
parts present quite a contrast. He uses this fact about texture for the basis of his first
sentence—his topic sentence.

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Assignment 3
 The black locust tree presents an interesting contrast in textures. Round, golden-green
leaflets that look and feel like suede unfurl late in May. Its smooth, off-white, sweet-pea
blossoms appear soon after. The rugged, vertical ridges of its black trunk contrast with
the soft colors and smooth textures of the flowers and leaves. The twisted, bumpy
seed pods with satin linings cling to the sparse, brittle branches long after the leaves
have dropped.

Notice that every sentence in Dan’s paragraph contains a reference to the texture
somewhere on the tree, thus fulfilling the promise of the topic sentence. The paragraph
has unity; every sentence and every word belongs.

Here’s another example of a descriptive paragraph. As you read, identify the topic
sentence. See if you can state the main theme of the paragraph in one brief phrase.
Ask yourself, “What single idea holds all the sentences together as a unified whole?”

Ben is a striking man. Big and solid like a football pro, he is tanned a rich brown from
working in the sun. His silver-white hair and his ice-blue, transparent eyes are startling
against his dark skin. Although he has a slender nose, his thick lips and heavy eyelids
give his face a sensual look.

The topic sentence begins the paragraph. Each sentence shows a different aspect of
Ben’s striking appearance.

Not all paragraphs are descriptive, of course. More often than not, writers write to relate
ideas. The idea expressed in a paragraph might be something that can’t be seen or felt, but
that you know about through reading or through conclusions reached by your own mental
processes. For example, you might write to express thoughts on topics such as these:

l Why the crime rate is so high

l What should be done with the space program

l How your local government can function better

l Why dinosaurs became extinct

l How homeowners can improve their lawns

Dan decided to follow up on his recollection that the locust tree was almost wiped out
during the ice ages. He went to the library and found some fascinating information. Then
he wrote this paragraph:

The detective work of scientists has revealed that the black locust tree, which flourishes
today in the Appalachians, was almost wiped out during the ice ages. As glaciers crept
south through the Appalachian Mountains, the black locusts fell before the crushing
mountains of ice. The tree survived only in the summits of the southern Appalachians,
where the glaciers didn’t reach. As the glaciers melted and receded, the hardy locust
gradually reclaimed much of its former range. Today you can drive through the northern
Appalachian Mountains in Pennsylvania and see tall stands of this hardy, thorny tree.

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Assignment 3
Notice, again, that the first sentence is the topic sentence. It tells the reader about the
idea that the paragraph will develop. Every sentence gives further information about
that idea.

ASSIGNMENT 3

REFLECT AND RESPOND

BUILDING OF A TOPIC SENTENCE

The best way to learn how to write is to start writing. Here is a project to help
you get started.

Think of an item, person, or place you are confident you can describe well.

Write a topic sentence that states your main idea about this item, person, or place. For
example, say you’re going to describe your favorite local coffee shop. Your topic sen-
tence might be as follows:

The coffee shop I visit every morning is a warm and welcoming place.

Now, what details could you add to this topic sentence? You might discuss how the coffee
shop is decorated, what you order, who works there, and other details. This will create
the first draft of your first paragraph. It might look like this:

The coffee shop I visit every morning is a warm and welcoming place. When I walk in, I
am always greeted by name. The barista knows which drink I like the best and is ready
to make it as soon as I ask. The chairs are soft and comfortable and I can sit there for
hours reading and sipping coffee.

Does each sentence in the paragraph support the topic sentence? Yes, it does.

Now, it’s your turn.

1. Choose a topic about which you feel comfortable and knowledgeable.

2. Write a topic sentence that states your main idea.

3. Write 4–5 sentences that support your main idea.

Since this is an individual exercise, there’s no answer provided.

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Assignment 3
cOhEREncE: MAking SEnTEncES FLOW
One of the delights in watching a skillful athlete or a talented dancer perform is seeing
how every single body motion flows out of one movement and into another. The continuous
stream of motion gives the movements power and clarity. If your writing is to be clear and
readable, every sentence must flow easily like an athlete’s or a dancer’s movements.
Sentences must go from one to another without any break in the forward motion of your
thought. Sentences that abruptly start and stop leave readers wondering where they’ve
come from or where they’re going.

Here are four suggestions to help you achieve a graceful and dynamic sentence flow:

1. Transitional words and phrases draw attention to relationships. They help a reader
follow the direction of your argument. These transitional words or phrases can be
categorized according to the four types of relationships they indicate:

a. The relationship of continuation: again, also, similarly, besides, furthermore,

in addition, moreover, next to, continue, likewise

No one can doubt Herb’s honesty. Besides, he had no motive for embezzlement.

b. The relationship of conclusion: as a result, consequently, hence, in conclusion,

so, then, therefore, thus, accordingly, to sum up, in short, in brief

This new sealing compound will be popular throughout the building industry.
We should, therefore, begin marketing it at once.

c. The relationship of contrast: but, however, nevertheless, on the contrary,

on the other hand, yet, notwithstanding, instead, conversely, in spite of,
still, nor

Pauline led her department with energy and determination. Nevertheless, her
progress up the corporate ladder was slow.

d. The relationship of comparison or illustration: for example, to illustrate,

that is, in other words, in fact, as has been said, as is well known, as a
matter of fact

India is not a poor country. As a matter of fact, it possesses large reserves of

iron and coal.

2. The deliberate repetition of key terms over one or two sentences will highlight each
step in the advance of your thought and will aid reader comprehension. You must
be careful, however, that the word or phrase is central to your meaning and that
you don’t overuse it. Here are some examples:

The by-products of our new promotional campaign have been numerous.

One by-product is the increased consumer familiarity with our company and
its range of services.

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Assignment 3
 Nature’s wonderful engineering reaches its peak in the design of the hand.
The hand has 25 joints capable of 58 separate motions. With these 58 motions
people play, hunt, build, dance, destroy, love, and shape their aspirations
with endless variety.

The symbolism of American Indian art flows from myths. These myths are
social creations of the tribe that celebrate and perpetuate its communal life.

3. Verbal links are used to hook the beginning of one sentence to the end, to some-
thing near the end, or to the whole of the previous sentence.

Bill lay beneath the tree. There, the rustling leaves formed a cool canopy
over him.

Sentences not linked in a smooth flow break the reader’s train of thought. Such
breaks tend to slow down or prevent effective communication.

Before you hang any wallpaper, drop a plumb line. By this means you’ll keep
all the strips in vertical alignment. (If the reader doesn’t know what a plumb
line is, he or she has to stop to find out what one is.)

The demonstrative pronouns this, these, that, and those are an easy and conven-
ient method for referring the reader to some part of the preceding sentence.
However, you must always be sure that the pronoun’s antecedent—the word to
which it refers—is clear.

Clear: You won’t help the problem of our production shortfalls by your
perpetual harping. That can only hamper creative solutions to our present as
well as our future troubles.

Unclear: Blue chip stocks were falling, and my broker advised me to invest in
selected mutual funds. This led me to revise my portfolio.

In the first example, the pronoun that refers to perpetual harping. In the second,
it’s unclear whether this refers to the falling blue chip stocks or to the broker’s
advice. The easiest way to avoid ambiguity is to give a fuller statement of what the
pronoun refers to, such as “this advice led me to revise my portfolio.” In this last
example, the demonstrative pronoun this has been replaced with the demonstra-
tive adjective this and the noun advice.

4. Parallel repeats of similar word patterns, either within or between sentences, will lay
down even tracks over which your meaning may roll without interruption. Here are
some examples:

For individual women, the balance of rewards and costs in having children
may appear more favorable than the balance of autonomy and energy
expended in pursuing a career.

(Parallel repeat within a sentence)

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Assignment 3
 The issue is not whether we will ignore or help the poor. The real question is
whether the poor will endure passively or explode in violence.

(Parallel repeat between sentences)

PARAgRAPh STRUcTURE
Just as there are many ways to come up with ideas and many ways to express them,
there are many ways to arrange details in paragraphs. Writers often place details in spa-
tial order, chronological order, order of importance, or order of comparison and contrast.

Spatial order. When a real estate agent describes a house from front door to back door
or from top to bottom, that person is ordering ideas spatially. To arrange details in spatial
order means to place them in the order of their locations in space or in relationship to one
another. Here’s an example:

My mother always plants her garden the same way (Figure 14). She begins in the mid-
dle with peas. On both sides of the peas she plants lettuce. The next row on the right
side contains broccoli, and the next row on the left side contains cabbage. Beside the
broccoli she plants beets; beside the cabbage, radishes. She finishes the right side
with several rows of corn. The left side, which faces the lawn, ends with several rows
of flowers that bloom throughout the summer.

FIGURE 14—Use special

order to describe parts of
your subject, such as
plants in a garden, accord-
ing to their locations.

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Assignment 3
 To arrange thoughts or details from top to bottom, left
to right, or their location to one another is to arrange
items in spatial order.

Chronological order. To arrange details in chronological order means to arrange them

in the order of time in which they occurred. Stories that begin “Once upon a time” are
usually told in chronological order. You’ll find chronological order the easiest way to or-
ganize paragraphs that explain the steps of how to do something, whether it’s how to
get to your house, how to make your special fish chowder, or how to do your job.

To arrange items in chronological order is to arrange

details in the order of time they occurred, or from
first to last.

Order of importance. Writers often arrange supporting details in the order of importance,
either from the most important to the least important, or from the least important to the
most important. In newspaper articles, press releases, and business reports, the most
important information usually goes first, so readers can find the main points right away.
If your purpose is simply to relay information quickly, and if that’s what your audience
expects from you, place details in order of most to least important.

In other cases, the more effective organization is from least important to most important.
This structure is more dramatic and more likely to hold the reader’s interest. If your
purpose is to entertain, captivate, or build a persuasive argument, and your audience
expects to be engrossed, place details in order of least to most important.

Arranging details in order of importance (most to least

or least to most important) is to arrange them in order
of importance.

Order of comparison and contrast. Another common way to develop a paragraph is

to compare the similarities and contrast the differences between things. This may be
done two ways.

1. You can show all the aspects of the first object and then all the aspects of the other
object. Your paragraph will be composed of two halves generally equal in style and
sentence structure.

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Assignment 3
 My older daughter is the shortest girl in her class. She has brown hair, brown
eyes, and a contagious giggle. My younger daughter is the tallest girl in her
class. She has blond hair, blue eyes, and a contagious giggle.

2. You can alternate aspects of the two subjects being compared and contrasted.
Be careful to treat only one aspect at a time and make certain that the aspects
are comparable.

My older daughter has darker hair and brown eyes; my younger daughter
has lighter hair and green eyes. The elder is the tallest girl in her class, while
the younger is the shortest in hers. However, both have a contagious giggle
(Figure 15).

items are arranged in order of comparison and contrast

when a paragraph is comparing the similarities and differ-
ences between items.

FIGURE 15—Comparing
and contrasting two people
can give readers a clear
picture of both of them.

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Assignment 3
PARAgRAPh LEngTh
Just as commas separate groups of words, paragraphs separate groups of related
sentences into distinct units. Paragraphs also allow the eye a short break.

Today, there are two ways to signal a paragraph:

1. Traditional paragraphs. Indent the beginning of the opening sentence (approxi-

mately five spaces). Sometimes a line of space is inserted between indented para-
graphs.

2. Block paragraphs. Indent the beginning of the opening sentence but insert a line
of space between paragraphs. This is the method that’s used in many computer
and publishing programs. It’s the method that we’re using in this study unit.

A paragraph introduces a new topic or a new aspect of the same topic. As we’ve discussed,
a topic sentence at or near the beginning of the paragraph often states the controlling
idea. All the other sentences in the paragraph should contribute to this idea. Of course,
this assumes that the paragraph has more than one sentence. As a general rule, don’t
write one-sentence paragraphs except in passages of dialogue or in brief transitions
between main sections of your argument.

The three most common errors in paragraphing are

1. Failing to break written thoughts into enough paragraphs

2. Breaking written thoughts into too many paragraphs

3. Introducing irrelevant matter into paragraphs

Each of these errors can ruin the unity and coherence of a paragraph.

inSUFFiciEnT PARAgRAPh bREAkS

The following paragraph develops two distinct though related topics. Read it carefully
and then decide where the paragraph separation should come.

Proponents and opponents of nuclear plants disagree on a number of issues.

In particular, the question of safe disposal of nuclear wastes has created strong
feelings and considerable conflict. Nuclear power has helped many communities.
It provides the additional electricity desperately needed during stress periods such
as extremely cold winters and hot summers. Nuclear power has proved to be an
important supplement to fossil fuel sources, especially in areas where fossil fuel
is scarce.

The sentence Nuclear power has helped many communities is introducing a new aspect
of the topic. Starting a new paragraph there will tell the reader to watch for a new theme,
in this case, the importance of nuclear power at certain times (Figure 16).

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Assignment 3
 FIGURE 16—A technical subject, such as nuclear power, requires careful
paragraph organization.

TOO MAny PARAgRAPh bREAkS

The opposite fault—breaking material into paragraphs too often—produces a choppy, dis-
connected effect. No one can easily distinguish the topic from its development sentences
in a group of short paragraphs. Study the following paragraphs and decide whether each
develops a single topic.

Key legislators, who are sympathetic to the emerging bill authorizing military action
against terrorist organizations in Iraq and Syria, are nonetheless urging delay.

The legislators have already had to face a number of controversial issues—The

Affordable Care Act, a government shutdown, budget cuts—all in the last year or two.

To add another touchy issue and give it the attention it deserves before the annual
elections would be difficult.

None of the legislators who are up for reelection want to deal with a controversial
matter just before the election.

All of those paragraphs really center on a single theme: the reluctance of key legislators
to deal with a bill authorizing military action. The sentences should therefore be grouped
together as a single paragraph.

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Assignment 3
iRRELEvAnT MATTER
A third error, the introduction of irrelevant material into a paragraph, is especially distracting.
Irrelevant material breaks paragraph unity. It clogs the paragraph and hinders compre-
hension. See if you can discover the extra, irrelevant material in the following paragraph.

The increase in capital spending for the second half of the year may turn out to be a
mainstay of the economy. We don’t know for certain yet, since all the statistics haven’t
yet been thoroughly sifted. There seem to be good grounds for making the assump-
tion. Business plans for capital spending this year are so strong that they may spill over
into the coming year. That would be a helpful boost, as all economists will agree, I
think. This could come as a welcome event, since many business analysts are now
predicting a recession in the latter part of this year or the beginning of next year. Wall
Street has reacted to the upswing with a flurry of optimistic activity that no one could
have foreseen. Investors have shown their interest in the capital-spending sector by
increased investment in business equipment, instruments and electronics, and movie
and recreational stocks.

Something that’s irrelevant does not pertain to the main

subject, and is not important to the point you are trying
to make in your writing.

The following sentences all interrupt the even flow of exposition in that paragraph by
blocking it with extra or redundant information.

l We don’t know for certain yet . . .

l That would be a helpful boost . . .

l Wall Street has reacted . . .

Rewrite the paragraph without them and you’ll see how much more coherently it reads.

Composing unified and coherent writing is a process that can be learned. Clearly identify
the purpose, medium, and audience for any writing project that you undertake. Follow the
six primary steps of the writing process that we’ve presented in this study unit. If you do
that, you should be able to write effectively. It’s hard work, but if you take it one step at a
time, your chances for success are great.

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Assignment 3
 ASSIGNMENT 3

SELF-CHECK
Questions 1–2: In the following two examples, combine or separate
sentences or passages as appropriate. Delete any nonessential pas-
sages. Start a new paragraph only when a new topic is introduced.

1. Arson destroys neighborhoods as surely as mass bombings.

Only a few people commit the crime, but all residents must suffer
the consequences.

How could it be otherwise, given the nature of the problem, with its tangle of
social and economic issues?

Decaying buildings are torched by their owners to collect insurance money. This
is a despicable crime and ought to be vigorously investigated and punished.
Most arsonists escape punishment. Burnt-out structures are, in turn, a haven
for gangs and drug traffickers, who cause even more arson.

Once several blocks have been gutted, a kind of collective hopelessness grips
those who can’t afford to move. The young may continue to set fires from
hatred or from despair of ever escaping their crumbling prison.

The old and sick become the prey of robbery or random violence, their final
years drawn into a whirlpool of fear.

The end comes when the municipal government gives up, curtails most
services, and abandons the neighborhood.

2. Proponents and opponents of nuclear plants disagree on a number of issues.

In particular, the question of safe disposal of nuclear wastes has created
strong feelings and considerable conflict. Nuclear power has helped many
communities. It provides the additional electricity desperately needed during
stress periods such as extremely cold winters and hot summers. Nuclear
power has proved to be an important supplement to fossil fuel sources,
especially in areas where fossil fuel is scarce.

(Continued)

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Assignment 3
 ASSIGNMENT 3

SELF-CHECK
Question 3: The sentences in the following paragraph are out of
sequence. On a separate sheet of paper, determine the topic
sentence and rewrite the paragraph with the sentences in the most
meaningful order.

3. There seem to be good grounds for making the assumption. Business plans for
capital spending this year are so strong that they may spill over into the coming
year. The increase in capital spending for the second half of the year may turn
out to be a mainstay of the economy. Investors have shown their interest in the
capital-spending sector by increased investment in business equipment, instru-
ments and electronics, and movie and recreational stocks. This could come as
a welcome event, since many business analysts are now predicting a recession
in the latter part of this year or the beginning of the next year.

Questions 4–8: Indicate the type of order that would be most effective—
spatial order, chronological order, order of importance, or comparison
and contrast—to develop a paragraph on each of the following topics.

4. My Summer Vacation __________

5. How to House-Train Your Dog __________

6. The Pros and Cons of Home Ownership __________

7. The Well-Organized Office __________

8. Project Feasibility Report __________

(Continued)

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Assignment 3
 ASSIGNMENT 3

SELF-CHECK
Questions 9–11: Answer the following questions.

9. Define topic sentence, including its primary purpose.

_____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________

10. A topic sentence can be stated or _______.

11. Some paragraphs build up to a main idea, so the topic sentence is at the
_______.

Click here to check your answers.

(If you’re reading a printed study unit, please check your answers with those at the end of
this book.)

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Assignment 3
 THE WRITING PROCESS, PART 1

KEY POINTS
ASSignMEnT 1
l Writing is hard work, but, like other creative tasks, is also rewarding.

l There are different approaches to writing and exercises that make getting
started easier.

ASSignMEnT 2
l Knowing the purpose (reason), medium (form), and audience will help make the
writing process effective.

l Keeping a daily journal can improve your writing.

l An outline doesn’t need to be formal.

l Revise by looking at the piece first as a whole and then checking the details.

ASSignMEnT 3
l Identifying the topic sentence can help unify your paragraph and make it coherent.

l Paragraphs can be structured spatially, chronologically, by order of importance, or

by comparing and contrasting.

l Errors in paragraphing include too many or not enough breaks and including
irrelevant matter.

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Key Points
 THE WRITING PROCESS, PART 1

PLAGIARISM
Since this study unit requires you to complete a written exam, it’s important that you
understand plagiarism. Once you have a basic understanding of plagiarism, it’s less likely
that you’ll submit an exam that contains work that would be considered plagiarized. Start
by taking a look at the scenario below.

Melody created a new product for the company she works for, and she’s almost ready
to present it to her boss. Her coworker, Aubrey, sneaks a peek at Melody’s work, and
immediately goes to their boss. Later that day, Melody receives a company-wide email
congratulating Aubrey for the insight and work she put into coming up with a great
product. Imagine her surprise when she read that what Aubrey presented was actually
her idea!

If you were in this situation, how would you feel? Do you think Aubrey deserved credit
for something for which she didn’t do any of the work? Would it be fair to say Aubrey
stole something from Melody? If their boss found out about what happened, should
there be consequences?

Think carefully about your answers to these questions. You would most likely be upset
that you put in a lot of hard work just to have someone else take the credit for it.

WhAT iS PLAgiARiSM?
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines plagiarism as “the act of using another per-
son’s words or ideas without giving credit to that person.” Essentially, it’s taking a piece of
published material, either print or online, and using it as your original thoughts and work.

Why iS iT WROng?
There are several reasons why you shouldn’t plagiarize.

l Taking information that’s not yours and saying it’s yours is stealing the ideas
of others.

l It shows a lack of responsibility for completing your schoolwork. Getting your

diploma is a huge accomplishment. You’ll have even a greater sense of pride if
you put in all of the hard work to reach your goal.

l It goes against the Penn Foster High School Academic Integrity policy.

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Plagiarism
ARE ExAMS chEckED FOR PLAgiARiSM?
Yes! Instructors review all written exams for plagiarized content. And not only do they
check for it, they’re excellent at detecting it.

WhAT hAPPEnS WhEn An ExAM iS PLAgiARizED?

If an instructor finds that content of an exam was taken from another source, a grade of 1%
is automatically awarded. The instructor feedback file for the exam will include information
explaining the results. The information will include the Web address or addresses where
the instructor found the work you copied or used to develop your answers.

You will also be required to complete the retake assignment. You will not be able to finish
the Practical English course until you submit an exam that isn’t plagiarized.

hOW cAn PLAgiARiSM bE AvOiDED?

Submit your own work. When you look at the exam questions, you’ll see that you’re
often given a choice of writing prompts. This is so you can select the topic you’re most
comfortable writing about. You’re not to use any type of research to complete this particu-
lar exam. Your instructors want to read your answers, not what someone else wrote!

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Plagiarism
 EXAMINATION
To complete this examination, follow these steps:

1. Use a word-processing program, preferably Microsoft Word, to complete

the examination.

2. At the top of every page, include your name and student number.

3. Be sure to save your work.

If you do not have access to Microsoft Word, you must properly format your document by
clicking on SAVE AS, naming it using the student number_exam number format (e.g.
12345678_007174), and choosing FILE TYPE: Rich Text Format. This exam MUST be
sent as a .doc or .rtf file to be graded electronically.

SUbMiTTing yOUR ExAM

1. Log onto the school website.

2. Click on Take Exam next to the assignment you’ve completed.

3. Be sure to save your work.

4. Attach your file as follows:

a. Click on the Browse box.

b. Locate the file you wish to attach.

c. Double-click on the file.

d. Click on Upload File.

5. Click on Submit Files.

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Examination
 ExAMinATiOn QUESTiOnS
Answer each of the following questions according to the instructions
given. Question 1 (a–b) is based on the following paragraph.
A trip to the ocean can be a relaxing escape from the everyday pressures of life. A
sailboat glistening on the horizon provides a mental escape to faraway places. The
rhythm of the ocean beating against the sand is sedating music to a troubled mind.
A slow, gentle breeze can relax your tensions. You should always be careful to avoid
overexposure to the sun at the beach.

1. a. Write the sentence that is the topic sentence of the paragraph.

b. Write the sentence that is unrelated to the topic and can be eliminated.

2. List four things to look for when you’re proofreading.

3. Complete the following two steps:

a. Define the term cliché.
b. Use a cliché in a sentence that you create.
4. Name and explain two types of prewriting.

5. Choose one of the prompts listed below. Write a five-sentence paragraph using
chronological order and including a topic sentence to explain the steps that you
would take to complete one of the following tasks.
a. Preparing for a test
b. Preparing to host a party or an event
c. Getting ready for work
d. Cleaning your room or your home
e. Building a snowman, sandcastle, or sculpture
f. Creating a budget

6. Choose one of the following topics. Write an eight-sentence paragraph that

fully develops the topic.
a. Following instructions is very important.
b. Job training programs (such as Job Corps) are valuable to both employers
and potential employees.
c. Advances in technology are making people less social.
d. A high school diploma is important to my future.
e. College is not for everyone.
f. Drunk driving can be stopped.

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Examination
© PENN FOSTER, INC. 2015 THE WRITING PROCESS, PART 1 PAGE 55
Examination
GRADING RUBRIC:
EXAM 007174

Moderate
Excellent

Good

Poor

N/A
Fair
Question 1a: Identification of topic sentence 5 * * * * 0

Question 1b: Identification of unnecessary sen-

5 * * * * 0
tence

Question 2: Proofreading element 1 2.5 * 2 * * 0

Question 2: Proofreading element 2 2.5 * 2 * * 0

Question 2: Proofreading element 3 2.5 * 2 * * 0

Question 2: Proofreading element 4 2.5 * 2 * * 0

Question 3a: Definition of cliché 5 4 3 2 1 0

Question 3b: Use of a cliché in an original sentence 5 4 3 2 1 0

Question 4: First type of prewriting identified 2 * * * * 0

Question 4: Explanation for first type 3 * 2 * 1 0

Question 4: Second type of prewriting identified 2 * * * * 0

Question 4: Explanation for second type 3 * 2 * 1 0

Question 5: Five-sentence paragraph in chronological

30–26 25–21 20–16 15–11 10–6 5–0
order, written for one of the prompts.

Question 6: Eight-sentence paragraph that fully

30–26 25–21 20–16 15–11 10–6 5–0
develops one of the stated topic sentences.

Totals

Please note: Failure to complete every question on the exam may result in the exam
being returned without a grade. If your assignment is returned without a grade, you must
submit a revised exam. You will only earn a final course grade when you properly com-
plete each of the writing exams in the Practical English course.

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Examination