CHAPTER 4: GETTING TO THE DRAFT

TIM CROUCH, PAT BRENNAN, CLAYTON WRIGHT, BRIAN KAY

PROCRASTINATION!

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9553205

THE TWO TYPES OF ESSAYS

Argument All of your research has lead you to a conclusion that you will now use as your thesis Goal is to convince the reader to think about or do something about the topic you wrote about

Exploratory Not quite ready to make a claim about your research Goal is to spark the interest of the reader, instead of trying to convince them

EXAMPLES
Argument: What is the best way to fix the parking issue at FSU? Exploratory: How does the difficulty of finding a parking spot at FSU affect the amount of students who drive to school?

ORGANIZING YOUR FIRST DRAFT

Delayed Thesis Structure: characteristic of the exploratory essay Question-Claim Structure: characteristic of the argumentative essay

DELAYED THESIS STRUCTURE

Not necessarily beginning with a thesis statement Informs the reader of the information you gathered Ends with a statement that explains what you have learned and your newly formed opinion on the topic Could include further questions about the topic *Main point is to do enough research so you can form an educated opinion on the topic

QUESTION-CLAIM STRUCTURE
Begin with the introduction of the topic and the purpose for your research Explain why the reader should care about it State your opinion (thesis) and highlight the most convincing arguments Include expert opinions on the topic (primary and secondary sources) Why your topic is important and what can be done

QUIZZZZZZZZZZ
What is the difference between an exploratory essay and an argument essay?

PREPARING TO WRITE THE DRAFT

Refining the question
Need to evolve the question as time goes on (starting with a definition and growing it to a specific interest in the topic).
Ex. What are ideas for training a sloth? Ex2: What is the relationship between a sloth and its tree for being trained to go to the bathroom once a week?

Being more specific helps guide the research. A good research question is key to staying on topic throughout the paper.

HOW TO WRITE A THESIS

http://youtu.be/m8wN6XIXhvA

 Refining the thesis

Start off with a tentative thesis and change it as the research and writing develops Reword the thesis so it is not too broad or too obvious and is clearly understandable A thesis is an answer to a question of
value Policy Interpretation Hypothesis relationship

 Getting Personal without being Personal

Want to make your voice present without using the first person view When talking about others words, phrase it in a particular way that is unique to you Explain how you see the matter differently from others How YOU the writer define and present the information, and interpreting it to a specific idea, makes the essay have your touch to it Find your own way of saying things

 Starting to Write the Draft

The introduction is the hardest part of the draft to write with so many choices of things to choose from They must successfully and truthfully say what is going to follow

Question ?
Is it better to have a general research question or to have a specific research question?

GENERAL QUESTION SPECIFIC QUESTION DOESNT MATTER NEITHER

WRITING MULTIPLE LEADS

A WRITER SHOULD TAKE MULTIPLE LEADS, OR OPENERS, FOR THE ESSAY AND CHOOSE THE ONE THAT BEST FITS THEIR ARGUMENT.

 Anecdote-a story the briefly introduces the paper Scene-describe a visual aspect of your topic Profile-start out by introducing an expert on your topic Background-start out by giving some background information on the topic Quotation-provide a quotation that fully describes your topic Dialogue-start with a conversation between two people about your topic Question-ask the questions that started your research or that your research would prompt Contrast-compare two unlike things to show the problem that your research explores Announcement-straight-up say what the paper is about

3 STEPS
Step 1
Come up with three different leads that you can chose from to start your paper

Step 2
Decide which lead is the strongest

Step 3
Choose the one that you like that will interest readers Be catchy but purposeful

WRITING FOR THE READER

Ask yourself
Do the readers experiences intersect with the topic? Can you dramatize the topic? Do you have a strong ending? Do you surprise your reader with interesting facts or arguments?

WRITING FOR THE READER

Common Ground
Make sure the reader can apply themselves to the topic by finding common ground. A writer can not always find common ground for the audience, such as when topics are too specific.

ADD PEOPLE
Use real life situations to add some life to research papers
Use case studies Use Interviews

STRONG ENDINGS
Dont just restate your entire paper Dont use in conclusion or thus Dont let your paper just trail off

QUESTION
Which of these do you not have to consider when writing for the reader?
a. Do the readers experiences intersect with the topic? b. Do you surprise your reader with interesting facts or arguments? c. Will the reader agree completely with what you said about the topic?

HANGING QUOTES
Avoid using long quotes in your writing Do not use hanging quotes. Hanging quote: a quote that is cited but does not indicate who said it. Randomly thrown in.

BLOCK QUOTES
Try to avoid using long quotes when possible If a quotation is longer than four lines, you must block it off from the rest of the writing. One inch indentation

GRAFTING
Grafting quotes: Quotes that are a word or phrase. Ex. Every time Jake goes to the store, he runs around saying Very nice! How much??

SANDWICHING
Introduce the quotation in the middle of your paragraph.

BILLBOARDING
Using italics to highlight a phrase within a quote.

SPLICING
A way of consolidating space and eliminating unnecessary information in a quotation. Uses ellipsis points () Ex. He told ESPN that he hasnt been contacted by the Packers about reconstructing his contract, a two-year deal he signed with the team last offseason. he hasnt been contacted by the Packers

INTERVIEW MATERIAL
Should you include yourself interviewing somebody in your paper? Or should you just quote what the person you are interviewing had to say? Both are fine. But change things up.