The Writing Process &Types of Essays

The Writing Process

The path that you should follow when writing an essay:• Prewrite• Drafting• Revising• Editing• Publishing

Prewriting

• When you prewrite, you should try to plan or map out the direction you want to take your essay. This is the preliminary stage before actually writing.

• Some examples that can help with planning are outlining or making a web.

Prewriting Cont’d

What should you do during the prewriting stage?• Figure out how you are going to respond to

the topic at hand.• Come up with points to defend your position.• Find details to support your points.

Drafting

• You should count on having more than one draft when writing an essay. Once you have the planning done, your juices start flowing and you begin to formulate what your essay will be.

• It is normal to change your mind about things written; that is why you have multiple drafts.

Revising

You should take your latest draft and fix any errors (mainly substantive errors). In doing so, you should be taking your essay to a more sophisticated level.

When you revise, think A.R.M.S.:

Add details, description, sensesRemove words that don’t make senseMove words that fit in another spotSubstitute dead words for alive words

Editing

• Now that you have finished revising your essay it is time to edit.

• Editing and revising are two different entities in the writing process.

• Editing is when you check for grammar and mechanics, while revisions are for changes in content of the essay.

When you edit, think C.U.P.S.:

Capitalize: names, places, titles, months, days, etc.Usage: match nouns and verbs correctlyPunctuation: period, question, exclamation, and quotation marksSpelling: check all words

Publishing

• When you publish your essay, it means that you are submitting a final draft.

• A final draft constitutes that all the following are taken care of:– Spelling– Punctuation– Grammar– Clarity

What should your final draft look like?

Types of Essays

There are different types of essays. In this class you should only be concerned with the following:– Informative– Argumentative/Persuasive– Descriptive– Narrative

Informative Essays

• You write an informative essay when you are trying to teach or inform your audience about a topic.

• This type of essay requires you to research and become familiar with the topic you are writing about.REMEMBER: YOU ARE THE EXPERT ON THE

TOPIC!

Argumentative/Persuasive Essays

• This is the essay where you argue what you think. You can argue and say why something is the way it is or should be.

• Aside from arguing a point, you might want to convince the audience to make a decision or to change their point of view about an opinion they already hold.

Descriptive Essays

• These essays are used to describe something, someone, or a place.

• This type of essay is usually called for when you are asked to recall an experience or life changing event.

Narrative Essays

• When you write about a specific event in your life to better help your audience understand you.

• Most times narratives are used to tell a story.• In this class you will write a narrative when we

read A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

QUESTIONS?