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PROCESS:
The writing process begins with prewriting: brainstorm, freewrite, or scratch outline, transitions into a formal outline, proceeds to a peer-edited draft, and culminates in a best draft. All stages of the writing process should be stapled together and handed into the instructor in this order:
prewrite
formal outline
peer-edited draft
best draft
- What is a peer edited draft?
A peer edited draft is a complete draft of a paper that is edited by a peer or parent or tutor. (Please do not ask TCS teachers to edit this draft). The comments by the peer editor should occur in the margins of the paper and the peer editor should sign the draft and print his name below his signature.
- What do the numbers in an essay mean?
The numbers in an essay like (#5) correspond to the Rules of Usage, Principles of Composition, and Matters of Form in the Writing Across the Curriculum Guide. This means that you have an error in this sentence or paragraph and the means to fix the error are explained in the guide.
- What do I do with a teacher corrected draft?
You should read all of the comments made on the paper-both the comments in the margins and at the end of the paper. You should read them carefully and first focus on the comments focusing on how to revise your essay with respect to its content. If major changes need to occur in your thesis and plan of attack, then you need to focus on this first by going back to your notes and the text to discover a new approach the essay and find new passages to support your new approach. Then you should focus on the rules and principles you violated in Writing Across the Curriculum Guide and make a Writing Guide Page in which you define the rule or principle and show how to fix the sentence or paragraph.
After an essay is graded and commented on by an instructor, the student always has an opportunity to revise. Before revising for both content and style, a student must create a Writing Guide Page in which errors in usage, composition, and form are corrected. As a result, the order in which a revised essay is handed to an instructor is:
prewrite
outline
peer-edited draft
first best draft
(now with teacher comments)
writing guide page
best draft
PREWRITING:
Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process in which ideas for a paper are established. In the three prewriting activities: brainstorming, freewriting, or scratch outlining, the writer should not be concerned with correct spelling nor grammar. This is an idea generating stage in the writing process and concerns about correct spelling and grammar can hinder the free flow of ideas for a paper. If a student has an alternative prewriting strategy that works well, then he may submit it but an attempt at brainstorming, freewriting, or scratch outlining must be made.
-What is a freewrite?
A freewrite is an unedited rant on the topic of the paper. It can start with personal likes and dislikes about the text and flow into possible avenues for answering the specific essay question or possible topics for a self-generated thesis.
The writer is not supposed to edit for spelling, grammar, or content. Some say to keep the pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard the whole time, while others give themselves 15 minutes to write as freely as possible on the topic.
Here is a sample freewrite for a paper trying to prove the insanity of Hamlet:
-HAMLET IS INSANE: Hamlet starts out trying to fake his madness to force Claudius to believe Hamlet is excessively mourning his father’s loss and the loss of his girlfriend, but his plan to fake his madness is ironically fulfilled when his friends, girlfriend, and mother reveal themselves as traitors He has rapid mood swings: yells at Ophelia after longing for her love dances after play within the play and then attacks Ros and Guil. He hallucinates: sees ghost and Gertrude does not + no one sees Hamlet speaking to his father’s ghost. He is introspective, speaks to himself at great length: “To be or not to be...takes pleasure only in ridiculing others and not in engaging others (see “I am too much in the sun”) He is full of self-hatred: “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” when he sees Fortinbras’s soldiers willing to go to death for a cause they do not even believe in. He is suicidal: contemplated taking a “bare bodkin” to his body during the “To be or not to be...” speech. He is unremorseful: does not mourn his killing of Polonius, likes the thought of blowing Ros and Guil “to the moon.” Hamlet returns to his senses after the Pirate’s allow him to return to Denmark to avenge his father’s wrongful death. This shows that Hamlet’s hatred of God for failing to provide the right moment for killing Claudius was an irrational mood.
-commentary: notice the run-ons, excessive use of colons, and quick pace of ideas. Within this freewrite are the kernels for the introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.
-What is a brainstorm?
A brainstorm is an unedited list of words, phrases, and ideas on the topic of the paper. It can start with personal likes and dislikes about the text and flow into possible avenues for answering the specific essay question or possible topics for a self-generated thesis. Use dashes to offset the words or phrases and highlight key words by underlining or offsetting them from the rest of the list.
Its central characteristic is that the writer is not supposed to edit for spelling, grammar, or content. Some say to keep the pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard the whole time, while others give themselves 15 minutes to write as freely as possible on the topic.
For example, on a paper trying to prove the insanity of Hamlet a brainstorm would be:
-rapid mood swings: yells at Ophelia after longing for her love; dances after play within the play and then attacks Ros and Guil
-hallucinates: sees ghost and Gertrude does not + no one sees Hamlet speaking to his father’s ghost
-introspective: speaks to himself at great length: “To be or not to be...”
-self-hatred: “Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I”
-suicidal: contemplated taking a “bare bodkin” to his body during the “To be or not to be...” speech
-unremorseful: does not mourn his killing of Polonius and likes the thought of blowing Ros and Guil “to the moon”
-violent: threatens R and G with a violent death, stabs a curtain
-obsessive: no other thoughts but avenging my father’s wrongful death shall occupy my brain.
-overly sensitive: believes all speech is directed toward him: Claudius’s opening remarks
-hyper-focused: ??
-wild: ??
-sexual: comes onto his mother? mocks Ophelia’s promiscuity to Polonius, mocks Ophelia: “Shall I lie in your lap?” before the play within the play
-mean-spirited: enjoys mocking Polonius, Ophelia and R and G.
-morose: talks to skulls in Act V and says we will all become dust to plug a bunghole
-What is a scratch outline?
A scratch outline is an outline that does not follow the strict guidelines of a formal outline. It should be organized in a hierarchical order of significance, as all outlines are, but the student need not concern himself with the A’s and b’s and c)’s of formal outlining, if you will. The relationship between ideas is indicated by slashes and indentation. The student also need not concern himself with spelling and grammar.
Here is a sample scratch outline for a paper trying to prove the insanity of Hamlet:
-HAMLET IS INSANE:
-Hamlet starts out trying to fake his madness to force Claudius to believe Hamlet is excessively mourning his father’s loss and the loss of his girlfriend, but his plan to fake his madness is ironically fulfilled when his friends, girlfriend, and mother reveal themselves as traitors.
-rapid mood swings:
-yells at Ophelia after longing for her love
-dances after play within the play and the attacks Ros and Guil
-hallucinates:
-sees ghost and Gertrude does not
-no one sees Hamlet speaking to his father’s ghost
-introspective:
-speaks to himself at great length: “To be or not to be...”
-takes pleasure only in ridiculing others and not in engaging others (see “I am too much in the sun”)
-self-hatred:
-Oh what a rogue and peasant slave am I” when he sees Fortinbras’s soldiers willing to go to death for a cause they do not even believe in
-suicidal:
-contemplated taking a “bare bodkin” to his body during the “To be or not to be...” speech
-shows glimpses of reason when he realizes that God punishes suicide with eternal damnation
-unremorseful:
-does not mourn his killing of Polonius
-says Polonius is “at supper” and means Polonius is eaten by worms
-likes the thought of blowing Ros and Guil “to the moon”
-Hamlet returns to his senses after the Pirate’s allow him to return to Denmark to avenge his father’s wrongful death. This shows that Hamlet’s hatred of God for failing to provide the right moment for killing Claudius was an irrational mood.
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