English 102 : English 102 Lecture Two: Tony’s 12 Steps to Writing a Paper
Tony’s Twelve Steps: Tony’s Twelve Steps To Writing A Paper
Step One: Define Your Purpose: Step One: Define Your Purpose as defined by the assignment
as defined by the prompt
answer the question: Why am I writing this paper?
helps to narrow range of topics
Step Two: Choose Your Topic: Step Two: Choose Your Topic sometimes defined by the assignment
if not, choose something that interests you (ie., not boring!)
answer the question: What would I want to write about?
only one rule: no abortion papers!
Step Three: Analyze Your Audience: Step Three: Analyze Your Audience figure out who you’re writing for, what they need to know, what they already know
knowing this can change the paper itself
answer the questions: Who are my readers? Who am I trying to inform, convince, or persuade? How much do they know? What info do I need to provide? What beliefs of theirs will I need to be aware of or to answer?
assume your readers are neither neutral or “hostile” – no use in “preaching to the choir”
your audience is NEVER me and me alone
Step Four: Gather Preliminary Info: Step Four: Gather Preliminary Info read an essay, look at an article
freewriting, journaling, brainstorming, clustering, interviewing
gasp! The dreaded “R” word!
Wikipedia is a good place to start, but it should never be used as a primary source for anything
for in-class papers, read the assigned essays
Step Five: Define Your Research Question: Step Five: Define Your Research Question answer the question: what question am I trying to answer with this paper?
for in-class essays, the prompt IS the research question
may NOT actually involve research, despite the “R” word
Step Six: Answer That Question: Step Six: Answer That Question reread the material you’ve covered with a more focused eye towards answering the research question
look for info that proves your points and refutes those of the opposition
for in-class papers: answer the question using what you’ve read
Step Seven: Create Your Thesis or Main Idea: Step Seven: Create Your Thesis or Main Idea Research question? Thesis!
“Oh, no, it isn’t!”
NOT a statement of fact
NOT a statement of blinding obviousness
NOT a statement that begins “In this essay, I will prove that...”
Step Eight: Organize and Outline : Step Eight: Organize and Outline outlines are NOT punishment!
nothing fancy – just state thesis, reasons, proof
form follows purpose
ALWAYS have an intro and conclusion
NEVER simply start writing!
Step Nine: Draft Your Paperr : Step Nine: Draft Your Paperr get it down on paper
don’t sweat the mistakes yet
put it away, then come back to it
Step Ten: Primary Revision: Step Ten: Primary Revision this isn’t your paper anymore – be brutal with it
take things out, fill in the blanks, get rid of stupidity
make the paper interesting
avoid the typical errors (they’re/their/there, where/were, too/to)
NEVER use “In today’s society”
Step Eleven: Peer Evaluation: Step Eleven: Peer Evaluation “Why should I let someone in here look at my paper?” Why NOT?
individuals make different types of errors
be constructive, be kind, be honest
“This is perfect, don’t change a thing” is the only statement you should NEVER trust
Step Twelve: Revise, Document, Turn It In: Step Twelve: Revise, Document, Turn It In revise according to peer comments
document sources at this point (Works Cited)
print and THEN proofread
do NOT trust spell check or grammar check!
Your diagnostics: Your diagnostics I will mark these based on how well you responded to the prompt and to show what errors you made.
These will be returned to you shortly - we will come back to these later!