PRE-WRITING STAGE

You’ve got to get started—you need a topic (something to start with, an approach to take) which has to then be turned into a thesis (the exact argument you’re going to make, concisely stated).  Try employing a number of prewriting strategies to help you come up with ideas for your topic.  Here are a few that might be particularly helpful:

• Look at your notes/reading journal.  What kinds of running themes do you have in those notes?  What kind of details did you pick up on?  Where were you particularly intrigued or interested?  Are there favorite quotes, scenes, or author techniques that you want to study further?
• Conversation—peers, teachers, parents
• Unfocused or Focused Free Writing—write for 10 uninterrupted minutes (without letting your pen stop moving) to get your brain moving, coming up with possible topics you could explore.
• Outside Reading—You might also get ideas from literature you’ve read in the past or recently.

Choose your topic, develop your idea, come up with a plan of action, and then write your proposal.

PROPOSAL

The purpose of the proposal is to give you a structure for meaningful pre-writing rather than simply sitting down to write your draft to “finish the assignment.”  Like an outline, it is a simple way of organizing your thoughts, planning a strategy for your argument, and then getting some feedback from me before you begin writing the actual draft.

I’ll give you specific questions to answer, numbered, about 7-10.  One of them will always ask for your exact thesis.  Another will always ask if you have questions or concerns for me to consider.  I’ll expect to get a typed proposal with numbered responses to EVERY question.

You CANNOT begin writing until you’ve gotten your proposal back with the go-ahead okay from me.  If you get it back with comments, but it’s approved, use the comments to help you begin your first draft.  If you get it back with comments but no approval, you must reconsider your plan, fix the problems by addressing my comments, and resubmit your new proposal for approval.  This is due as soon as possible—as in, the next day!

THE WRITING STAGE

Draft One is due one week after your proposal is approved.  However, let’s be clear on this fact:  NO ONE BUT YOU should EVER read the very first, very rough draft.  Draft One is your best effort, one that comes through revision ON YOUR OWN.  Be prepared to have your drafts read by your peers.  I will have specific items set up in Turnitin.com for you to comment on as you read your peers' D1s.  You'll be randomly assigned two essays and your essay will be read by two peers from your class.  D1 comments will not be spent on what you like/dislike about the paper, but rather how it effectively meets the criteria (or could more effectively meet the criteria) of our basic guidelines.  You will also complete a self review in Turnitin.  This is a good way for each of you to re-evaluate your own drafts and the ways in which you meet that same criteria.

Feedback on your first couple of drafts will focus on big things to work on (i.e. organization, more support for claims, switching appeal tactics).  We will NOT be focusing on ANY kind of grammar, usage, mechanic problems.  However, if it’s obvious that you have not spent time at least attempting to make your draft readable, I will reserve the right to halt comments on it and ask you to deal with the issues.  If I’m reading your drafts, asking your peers to read them, and working with you individually on your writing skills, the least you can do is not waste my time (or your peers') with your lack of effort and planning.

THE RE-VISION STAGE

Each draft will have you all moving in different directions.  This is where individualized instruction is made possible—my comments will be suited to you and your particular needs.  You always have one week per draft.  I do my absolute best to get it back to you within 2-3 days of receiving it.

Strategies to try in this stage:

• Take time away from your draft—periodically, you need to come at your draft with a “fresh eye.”  Work on it, take some time away, then come back to it and try some more.  This is why you SHOULD NOT just wait until the night before you need to turn it in.  Use the week I give you to work on the draft in spurts rather than one gung-ho cram session.  You’ll see a marked improvement in the quality of your writing.
• Discuss your paper with others—particularly other students in the class.  You can get ideas and understand concepts better by reading their papers as well as having them read yours.  You can learn a lot in the way of connotative language, levels of diction, word choice, pace, and syntactical variety and sophistication.
• Look back at those professional models for the same types of ideas you can get from a peer’s paper.
• Sign up for a writing appointment if you need more help or guidance from me on the items or skills you’re trying to improve.

Each of these drafts should be viewed as a major writing assignment:  one you’ve put extensive thinking, re-visioning, and time into.

THE FINAL EDITED DRAFT

This is where you can begin to focus on the mechanics.  You should only need a day or two to complete this stage.  I’m not going to promise I'll identify and fix every mistake you’ve made.  Turnitin does much of it for you and, quite honestly, you need to learn to do that on your own as I will not be at college with you next year.  However, I will address the kinds of things you need to look for and point out areas where you have errors.  Your job will be to find them and fix them.  Some advice:  once you figure out where your weaknesses lie (or if you already have some ideas about that), spend some time on Purdue’s OWL.  Review rules, do a tutorial, print out a help sheet that you can easily and regularly reference.  Help yourself learn this stuff BEFORE next year.

THE CRITICAL REFLECTION

This reflection essay completes the entire process of the writing assignment and is due with your final draft.  You should compose a piece of writing in which you reflect on every step of the process—from when you got the assignment to when you completed your final draft.  This is where you should think and write about obstacles you encountered and achievements and improvements you accomplished.  I want you to take the time to reflect on what you learned in the process, where you struggled, and what you managed easily.  You might also make note of how you can improve on your weaknesses in the future.

You and I are the audience for this informal essay of approximately 500-750 words.  Consider the following, but understand that you are not confined to these questions alone:

• The dates you started and finished the essay.
• The number of conferences you had with me and at what stages in the process.
• Was this a student or teacher directed assignment?
• Consider your level of involvement with the assignment.  If you aren’t interested in what you have to say, chances are good that your readers can’t be interested.
• What type of writing were you asked to do?  Have you ever written in this rhetorical mode before?  How did that affect you here?
• How much did you use the professional models I gave you?  How did they help you as you moved through the process of finding an idea to finally polishing your essay?
• What was easy for you?  Some people, for example, find an idea fairly quickly.
• What was difficult for you?  Some people, for example, don’t realize that they have no support to offer until they have written an entire draft.
• What attention did you give to the structure of the entire essay?  At what stage of the process?
• What coherence problems did you have in the essay?
• How satisfied are you with your agility with language?  How much did you work on finding the right word to communicate your exact denotative and connotative meaning?  How much on sentence variety and rhythm?
• How reliant were you on my comments and guidance?  Keep track of this.  As we move through the year, you’ll want to note your movement toward independence.

These questions are simply a guideline.  As you get more comfortable with the process, you will rely less and less on this set of questions.  You will find yourself naturally reflecting on the process of writing.