THE READER AS WRITER: DRAFTING AND WRITING

How does one “learn to have ideas”? Among the methods include: reading with a pen or pencil in hand so that you can annotate the text; keeping a journal in which you jot down reflections about your reading; and talking with others about the reading.

What is the difference between a journal and a diary? A journal is not a diary, a record of what the writer did during the day. Rather, a journal is a place to store some of the thoughts you may have inscribed on a scrap of paper or in the margin of the text, such as your initial response to the title of a work or to the ending.

What is critical thinking? When we think critically, we skeptically scrutinise our own ideas, maybe by searching out our underlying assumptions, or by evaluating what we have quickly jotted down as evidence.

Critical thinking is rational, logical thinking when one scrutinizes one’s assumptions and tests the evidence one has collected, even looking for counterevidence.

Why do we revise our drafts? The draft is not yet a finished essay and can still be improved. Readers can follow an argument more easily and with more pleasure if early in the discussion the writer alerts them to the gist of the argument.

In revising paragraphs or an entire draft, writers unify, organize, clarify, polish, and edit.

Why is it important to write an outline? An outline of what you have written will help you to see if your draft is adequate in 3 ways: the sequence of major topics; the degree of development of these topics; and the argument, the thesis.

What are the principles illustrated by final version of the student’s essay? The title of the essay is not merely the title of the work; it gives the reader a clue The opening or introductory paragraph introduces the author and the title to let the reader know exactly what story is being discussed

The organization is effective The organization is effective. The smaller ironies are discussed in the second and third paragraphs, while the central irony in the last paragraph, i.e. the essay builds up Some brief quotations are used, both to provide evidence and to let the reader hear the author’s writing

The essay is devoted to analysis, not to summary The present tense is used in narrating the action Documentation is according to form There are no typographical errors. The essay has been proofread.