A Guide to Composition

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The Kutztown University Writing Center supports student writers across all disciplines through collaborative, student-led sessions (both in-person and online) that focus on developing writing skills rather than simply fixing papers.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the center offers: one-on-one writing sessions (in-person and online) for any stage of the writing process, any discipline, and both academic and personal writing projects.
• How sessions work: tutors collaborate with students through conversation, helping them explore purpose, audience, organization, and genre—but do not proofread or "fix" papers.
• Common confusion: the center is not a proofreading service; tutors guide students to improve their own writing and develop skills for future work.
• Who can use it: undergraduate and graduate students from any major, working on essays, research papers, creative writing, teaching philosophies, business plans, and more.
• How to access: appointments can be made by phone, email, walk-in, or through the WCOnline platform for online sessions.

📍 What the Writing Center is and where to find it

📍 Location and history

• The Kutztown University Writing Center (KUWC) was established in 2000.
• Originally housed in Old Main, it now resides in Rohrbach Library Room 100c on the main level, near the library's main computer bank.
• The center is free and readily accessible to all students.

🎯 Mission

The KUWC's mission is to reach undergraduate and graduate student writers through the medium they prefer (online or in person) and to offer informational and educational sessions to faculty teaching any and all disciplines across campus.

• The center supports scholarship, creativity, and composition across campus.
• Tutors receive continuous training and professional development to meet the needs of a diverse population of student writers.
• Tutors share their knowledge at the yearly Kutztown University Composition Conference and with faculty and students in classes.

🖥️ How to schedule sessions

🖥️ In-person appointments

• Duration: 30-minute writing sessions.
• How to schedule:
  • Call 610-683-4733
  • Email wrcenter@kutztown.edu
  • Walk into the center to make appointments
  • Use the signup sheet outside the RL100c door when the center is closed

🌐 Online appointments

• The online center opened during the 2020 pandemic closure and has remained a useful supplement.
• Platform: WCOnline.
• How to schedule:
  • Go to the KUWC Online website
  • Register
  • Choose a session time from the calendar
• Why online: allows students to have sessions when away from campus or when more comfortable/convenient in their own setting; caters to different learning styles and time management preferences.
• The KUWC website contains screenshots and instructions to help navigate registration.

📋 What to bring

• Your assignment and any work you have already produced (hard copy or on computer)
• Professor assignment sheets
• References and sources used while writing
• You will share your course name/number and professor's name with the tutor
• You can decide whether the tutor emails your professor with brief confirmation of your visit (some professors encourage this, but confidentiality is in your hands)

📝 What the center helps with

📝 Types of writing projects

Students can bring ideas and drafts from any stage of the writing process, including:

• Essays
• Literary analyses
• Research papers in the sciences
• Teaching philosophies
• Social science case studies
• Business plans
• Creative writing
• Both academic and personal writing projects from any class

🎯 Main goals

The main goal of the KUWC is to aid students in exploring the writing process, considering purpose, audience, organization, and genre.

• Through friendly conversation, students and tutors collaborate and discuss improvement of the student's writing.
• Focus on developing methods for future writing endeavors, not just the current assignment.

📚 Citation help

• Tutors are knowledgeable about APA, MLA, Chicago, CSE, and other less-used citation styles.
• They help students confidently use reference materials and ethically document sources.
• Tutors encourage students to speak to their professors and check assignment sheets for required citation styles.

🌐 Additional resources

• KUWC website: provides material on citation needs, writing process, navigating research, writer's block, thesis statements, topic sentences, transitions, and clarity in writing.
• KUWC YouTube channel: offers information about using the center, library databases, quotation marks, and navigating Purdue OWL.

🤝 How sessions work

🤝 The collaborative approach

• What tutors do NOT do: proofread or "fix" papers.
• What tutors DO: sit down one-on-one (in-person or online) and discuss the writing, determine possible needs and improvements, and provide advice on revising and growing as a writer.
• Tutors encourage students to direct the conversation about their writing and concerns.
• Tutors gently guide students to look at additional aspects.
• Tutors ask friendly questions about assignments, student writers' priorities, and their thinking and voice.

Don't confuse: The center is not a proofreading service where someone corrects your paper for you; it is a collaborative space where you learn to improve your own writing through conversation and guidance.

🎓 Tutor qualifications and training

• Undergraduate and graduate assistant tutors are well-vetted and trained.
• They work with undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students.
• Training areas:
  • Content, mechanics, and citations
  • Disability Services Office training to help with diverse learners
  • Safe Space training to ensure all students feel welcome and safe
  • Mental health and self-care training and sharing of counseling and crisis resources

🎯 Session outcomes

• Help students understand their writing and improve it in the context of their courses and assignments.
• Develop skills for potential future writing endeavors.
• Welcoming, comfortable, student-led, and confidential sessions.
• Guide students to use the writing process as they edit and revise their work.
• Help students connect with their writing, letting them best express their ideas and share their voices.

💡 Tutor advice for student writers

💡 Before you start writing

Advice	Tutor	Key point
Always bring your assignment sheet and/or rubric	Amanda, Undergraduate	Having guidelines helps focus the session
Read the assignment carefully and write based on professor's guidelines	Jessi, Undergraduate	Understanding requirements is foundational
Always create an outline before you start writing	Fern, Undergraduate	Organization starts before drafting
Never underestimate the help an outline can provide	Keegan, Graduate Assistant	Planning prevents problems

💡 During the writing process

Advice	Tutor	Key point
Read what you are writing to yourself as you are writing	Jack, Undergraduate	Hearing your words helps catch issues
Think about who your audience is (other than your professor)	Josh, Graduate Assistant	Purpose and audience shape writing choices
If you have writer's block, write what you know, your opinion, what someone else's opinion may be, or something related to your topic	Gina, Undergraduate	Getting started can unlock ideas

💡 Using the Writing Center

Advice	Tutor	Key point
Don't be afraid to get a second opinion; we are here to help at any point in the writing process	Sadie, Graduate Assistant	The center supports all stages
Come as soon as you receive an assignment; we can help from brainstorming to revising final drafts	Melissa, Graduate Assistant	Early visits allow more comprehensive help
Come with an open mind, whether for changes to papers or just a new idea; willingness to adapt is key to becoming a better writer	Alex, Undergraduate	Flexibility enables growth

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding the rhetorical situation—the social context of audience, purpose, and genre—is the key to effective persuasive communication because it determines how well your audience will trust, understand, and respond to your writing.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Rhetoric defined: the art of persuasive language used in any persuasive situation from advertisement to argument, not just misleading speech.
• The rhetorical situation: the surrounding social context broken down into three features—audience (whom the author is speaking to), purpose (what the author is attempting to achieve), and genre (how the author presents their work).
• Audience is not "everyone": subject matter does not determine audience; authors target specific groups through language choice, register, references, and examples.
• Common confusion: "general audience" or "everyone" is almost always incorrect; even texts on the same topic can target very different audiences through style and terminology.
• Why it matters: effective composition is rhetorical—it's about "reading the room" to perceive how your language affects a given social situation.

🎯 Understanding rhetoric

📖 What rhetoric really means

In the field of rhetoric and composition, "rhetoric" is simply the art of persuasive language.

• Common misconception: people often think "rhetoric" means only rhetorical questions (questions not meant to be answered) or deliberately misleading language ("spare me the political rhetoric").
• Actual meaning: rhetoric is used in any persuasive situation—from advertisement to argument.
• Why the confusion: the word has a poor reputation of meaning insincere speech, but "rhetoric gets a bad rap."
• What rhetoric does: it is responsible for the emotion of a fiery speech, the logical presentation of a scientific claim, and the weight of authority behind a judge's verdict.

🔧 Rhetorical questions as one technique

• Rhetorical questions are called "rhetorical" because instead of being questions, they are meant to persuade.
• Example: exclaiming "What's wrong with you?" when a friend does something funny, or replying "why not?" to a request.
• This is only one of many possible techniques of persuasion where the practical reality of what these words do is trickier than we might anticipate.

🏠 Reading the room: the rhetorical situation

🎭 What the rhetorical situation describes

The rhetorical situation describes the surrounding social context that can result in effective (or ineffective) persuasive communication.

• It's all about "reading the room" to perceive the qualities and effects your language has on a given social situation.
• Real-world parallel: if you've ever told a joke where no one laughed, made a pop culture reference someone didn't understand, or mentioned a concept someone didn't know, you've learned the hard way about the importance of the rhetorical situation.

🧩 Three core features

The rhetorical situation is generally broken down into three features:

Feature	Definition
Audience	Whom the author is speaking to
Purpose	What the author is attempting to achieve
Genre	How the author presents their work

👥 Audience: whom the author is speaking to

🎯 Audience is not "everyone"

• Applying a label of "general audience" or stating that something is written for "everyone" is almost always incorrect.
• Why: language barriers (only speakers of that language can be in the audience), register/formality (implies certain class, profession, or education level), and references/terminology/examples (familiar to certain audiences and not others).
• Key distinction: determining audience is not about who can read and understand a text, but who the author seems to be targeting.

🔍 How to identify the target audience

• This analysis requires reading between the lines and paying attention to little details involving the style of writing, often over and above the subject.
• Look at: word choice, sentence structure, examples used, terminology, and context clues provided.

📚 Example: two passages about fairy tales

Passage 1 (Britannica Kids):

• Target audience: children and students in grade school.
• Style markers: uses specific example ("Peter Pan"), lists standard creatures (magicians, ogres, dragons), direct and fairly short sentences, familiar words with context clues for unfamiliar terms (e.g., "brownies" alongside other examples).
• Why effective: easy for grade school audience to connect definition with well-known examples.

Passage 2 (Vladimir Propp's academic study):

• Target audience: scholars in linguistics and folklore.
• Style markers: uses technical terms without definition ("morphologically"), employs familiar words as technical labels ("villainy," "lack"), complex syntax with interrupting phrases, ends lists with "etc."
• Why effective: audience can recognize specialized terminology from their field; no need for basic examples.

Key insight: both passages define fairy tales/folktales, but achieve understanding in different ways for different audiences. Both are effective—Britannica Kids is popular with children and schools; Propp influenced a whole field of literary analysis.

🎭 Multiple audiences

• There might be more than one audience for any given piece of writing.
• Intended audience: generally considered most significant.
• Unintended audiences: can also affect the success of a work.
• Example: Britannica Kids must seem educational and attractive to parents and school administrators (secondary audience) for them to buy the license, which has a practical and economic impact on effectiveness.

⚠️ Don't confuse subject matter with audience

• The excerpt emphasizes: subject matter does not necessarily determine audience.
• We might assume a passage about fairy tales would be for children, but we'd be very wrong.
• Authors can attempt to reach those interested in a topic, those who agree with them, or those who do not—regardless of the subject.

🗣️ Jargon vs. technical terminology

🚫 When specialized language becomes jargon

• Jargon: abbreviations, acronyms, legalese, slang, and industry-specific terms that make writing impossible for a general reader to understand.
• When it's bad: if you want to be understood by a broad audience.
• Solutions: provide explanations, add extra examples to illustrate complex ideas, or use phrasing and vocabulary your audience would better understand.

✅ When specialized language is useful

• For restricted audiences (professional communities): such terminology serves a useful purpose—specificity.
• Why professionals need it: non-experts may not be sensitive to different shades of meaning between terms, but professional audiences find it essential to make such distinctions.
• Example: a composer might direct musicians to play "forte" (a degree of loudness)—this technical term is precise and necessary for the professional audience.
• Don't confuse: what looks like confusing jargon to outsiders may be essential technical terminology for the intended audience.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding audience and purpose requires careful analysis of both who a text is written for and what the author wants that audience to do, using close reading and research to uncover clues about intended and unintended readers.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Multiple audiences exist: both intended (primary) and unintended (secondary) audiences can affect a work's success.
• Subject matter ≠ audience: what a text is about does not automatically determine who it is for.
• Jargon vs. technical terminology: the same specialized language can be appropriate for expert audiences but confusing for general readers—matching language to audience is key.
• Common confusion: distinguishing when technical terms are useful (specificity for professionals) vs. when they are "jargon" (barriers for general readers).
• Close reading + research reveal audience: sentence structure, pronouns, examples, and publication context all provide clues about the target audience and the author's purpose.

👥 Understanding audience complexity

👥 Primary vs. secondary audiences

• Primary audience: the intended, most significant readers of a piece.
• Secondary audience: unintended readers who can still impact a work's effectiveness.
• Example: Britannica Kids website targets children (primary) but must also appeal to parents and school administrators (secondary) who make purchasing decisions.
• Don't confuse: "unintended" does not mean "unimportant"—secondary audiences can have practical and economic consequences.

🎯 Subject matter does not determine audience

• A common mistake is assuming topic = audience (e.g., fairy tales = children).
• Authors can write about any subject for audiences who are interested, who agree, or who disagree.
• The excerpt emphasizes that people interested in a topic are likely to be drawn to it, but authors actively choose whom to reach.

🗣️ Language choices and audience fit

🗣️ When specialized language works

Technical terminology: industry-specific terms used for a useful purpose—specificity.

• Professional communities need precise distinctions that general audiences may not recognize.
• Example: A composer uses "forte," "mezzo forte," and "fortissimo" with musicians to specify exact loudness levels; for a general audience, "loud" suffices.
• The key is that experts are "sensitive to different shades of meaning" that non-experts are not.

⚠️ When specialized language becomes jargon

Jargon: abbreviations, acronyms, legalese, slang, and industry-specific terms that make writing impossible for a general reader to understand when misused.

• Using jargon is "a bad thing" if you want a broad audience to understand.
• Solutions for general audiences:
  • Provide explanations
  • Add extra examples to illustrate complex ideas
  • Use phrasing and vocabulary the audience would better understand

🔄 The audience mismatch problem

• Writers confuse audiences by writing:
  • Too broadly for a specific (expert) audience, or
  • Too specifically for a broad (general) audience (more common)
• The excerpt cites Steven Pinker's "Curse of Knowledge" concept: experts forget what it's like not to know their field.
• Solution: remain responsive to your audience; use peer review to test if others interpret your work as you do.

🔍 How to identify audience through analysis

🔍 Research strategies

Investigate three areas:

1. The publication: Does it generally deal with a certain hobby or topic?
2. The author: What are they known for (e.g., humor)?
3. What others are saying: Look for patterns and trends.

Use critical thinking to determine which details are most relevant.

📖 Close reading strategies

Close reading: a strategy of reading for the little stylistic moves the author makes.

Pay attention to:

Feature	What it reveals
Sentence length and complexity	Education level of target audience
Spelling, punctuation, idiom, colloquial phrasing	Nationality and variety of English
Grammatical point of view	Relationship between author and reader
Specific examples	Communities the author is appealing to

🔤 Pronouns reveal relationships

• Second-person plural (we, us): author includes the reader in a group with them.
• Second-person singular (you, Dear reader): author considers themselves separate from the audience.
• These choices signal how the author positions themselves relative to readers.

🎭 Demographic and identity clues

Close reading can reveal assumptions about audience demographics:

• Gender, age, education level
• Political affiliation, nationality, race, ethnicity
• Dis/ability, sexuality, religion
• Profession, personal interests, and more

The more carefully you read, the more you discover about "who the author assumes they are speaking to and what they themselves believe about this group."

🎯 Purpose: what the author wants

🎯 Writing as action with consequences

Purpose: what a writer wants from the audience.

• Writing can have real consequences: "Good, bad, and everything between."
• Persuasive writing can "enlighten minds, sell products, cause war, and provoke peace."
• It can entertain, illuminate, explore, inform, argue, convey, antagonize, activate, prevent, soothe, share, and much more.

📰 Example: analyzing a 1928 Hoover vacuum ad

The excerpt walks through a December 15, 1928 Saturday Evening Post advertisement to show how purpose and audience work together.

Audience identification:

• Target: economically aspiring American households
• Specific appeal: married men buying gifts for wives at Christmas

Purpose identification:

• Goal: encourage purchase of Hoover vacuums

Rhetorical strategies:

• Attention-grabbing title: "—but I can't say this to my husband" creates curiosity about a secret or confession.
• First-person perspective: "My husband will give me…" and "how can I say it" create conversational, intimate tone.
• Aspirational messaging: mentions of "trinkets," husband's extravagance, and the woman's youth and health make the economic situation seem enviable.
• Subtle boasts about wealth, relationship, and appearance are designed to appeal to readers who want that lifestyle.

Don't confuse: the ad's opening does not immediately reveal its commercial purpose—it uses narrative and emotional appeal first to draw readers in.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding audience requires analyzing not only whom a piece is intended for but also what the writer wants that audience to think, feel, and do.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Audience is more than demographics: writers target specific groups and aim to provoke particular reactions, beliefs, and actions.
• Purpose works through audience: ads and texts establish relationships with readers to make them feel, respond, and believe what the writer wants.
• Genre provides clues: the type of writing (genre) has characteristic features that help identify audience and purpose through close reading.
• Common confusion: purpose is not just "what the text is about"—a single text can have a surface purpose (e.g., selling a product) and deeper messages working in tandem.
• Cultural assumptions matter: writers rely on stereotypes and shared cultural experiences to reach target audiences and shape reactions.

🎯 How audience and purpose work together

🎯 Identifying the intended audience

• The excerpt uses a 1928 Hoover vacuum ad as an example.
• The ad targets "economically aspiring American households" and specifically "married men to buy their wives Hoover vacuums for Christmas."
• Clues include:
  • Picture and mention of "trinkets" suggest wealthy or economically aspirational readers.
  • The ad makes the economic situation seem enviable to attract those who desire similar status.

🎭 What the writer wants from the audience

The excerpt emphasizes thinking critically about "what a writer wants from that audience," not just who they are.

• Writers aim to provoke specific reactions: judgment, jealousy, vindication.
• Example: The Hoover ad first makes readers judgmental (the woman has a secret), then jealous (she has wealth and a perfect husband), then vindicated (readers can have what she doesn't).
• The woman in the ad "does not get what she 'really wants.' Why? So that we do."

🔗 Purpose is complex and layered

• Surface purpose: "selling Hoovers."
• Deeper purpose: establishing a relationship with the audience to guide their emotional response.
• The excerpt states: "we should also recognize how a writer's purpose is more complex in the ways that it establishes a relationship with the audience to make them feel, do, respond, and believe what the writer wants."

🎨 Techniques for shaping audience response

🎨 Diction and tone

• The ad uses a "confessional tone" and "conversational and intimate tone."
• The tagline "—but I can't say this to my husband" creates curiosity about an "embarrassing or perhaps even scandalous secret."
• First-person perspective ("me" and "I") and asides like "how can I say it" make the woman seem to speak "in close quarters with the reader."

💎 Subtle boasts and aspirational messaging

The ad includes details designed to make the audience jealous:

• Wealth: "he likes to be extravagant."
• Relationship: "he wants so much to please [her]."
• Body: appearing "Young and strong and radiant with health."

These details target readers who "presumably desire these things," creating jealousy "perhaps even to the point of resentment."

🎭 Emotional manipulation sequence

The ad guides the audience through a deliberate emotional journey:

Stage	Emotion	How it's achieved
1. Judgment	Curiosity and suspicion	Tagline suggests a secret the woman can't tell her husband
2. Jealousy	Envy and resentment	Boasts about wealth, perfect husband, and appearance
3. Vindication	Satisfaction	Readers can have what the woman in the ad does not

🗣️ Acting as an envoy

• The woman in the ad "acts as an envoy, speaking on behalf of married women to their husbands."
• This allows the ad to address men indirectly while using a woman's voice to legitimize the message.

🧩 Cultural assumptions and stereotypes

🧩 How ads rely on shared culture

"Most ads make many such assumptions and rely on cultural stereotypes about race, gender, sex, ability, and more to reach a target audience and capitalize on our shared cultural experiences."

• The 1928 Hoover ad is "sexist in its assumptions about the ideal roles, desires, and interests of men and women."
• Stereotypes help ads reach target audiences by tapping into familiar cultural patterns.

🔍 Deeper messages beyond the surface

• Though the primary purpose might be selling a product, "we can often glean deeper messages that work in tandem with its purpose by helping to guide its audience's reaction."
• These messages reinforce cultural norms and expectations while achieving the commercial goal.

📖 Genre as a tool for understanding audience

📖 What genre reveals

Genre: "different forms of writing have general characteristics that, when taken together, form the identity of the genre."

• Genre boundaries are "more guidelines or clues than rigid rules."
• There can be "influences and overlaps between writing genres."
• Close reading helps determine the genre of a piece.

🎵 Genre expectations analogy

The excerpt uses music genres as an analogy:

• You wouldn't critique a punk rock song for leaving out violins, but you might critique an orchestral arrangement for doing so.
• This doesn't mean punk rock songs cannot have violins or that every orchestral arrangement must have them.
• Violins are "part of the expectations of one genre and not another."

🔧 Technical writing example

The excerpt includes a passage about boiler maintenance with technical terminology ("steam lance," "boiler dust doors," "baffles").

Even without understanding the content, "the manner in which it is written should give you clues to its audience, general purpose, and—particularly—genre."

Don't confuse: Genre is not about rigid rules but about recognizable patterns that help identify audience and purpose through close reading.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Genre is the form of writing—identified through stylistic, formatting, and design elements—that carries expectations shaped by audience and purpose, though boundaries are flexible guidelines rather than rigid rules.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What genre is: the identity of a writing form created by general characteristics taken together (like music genres have different expectations).
• How to identify genre: use close reading to examine point of view, verb tense, terminology, sentence structure, formatting, and design elements.
• Genre boundaries are flexible: characteristics are guidelines or clues, not rigid rules; genres can overlap and influence each other.
• Common confusion: genre clues vs. definitions—factors like second person or technical terms are hints, not absolute determiners.
• Genre works with audience and purpose: these three concepts overlap and work together; sometimes audience is built into the genre definition, and some purposes call for specific genres.

📖 Basic genre divisions

📖 Poetry vs. prose

Poetry: a creative and expressive form of writing, such as sonnets, limericks, free verse, and most song lyrics.

Prose: writing that lacks sustained and deliberate metrical structure and is generally grouped into sentence structures.

• The boiler manual example uses fairly regular sentence structures → it is prose, not poetry.
• This is the most basic genre division to establish first.

📚 Creative vs. informative prose

• Creative genres (novels, short stories): often use flowery or lengthy descriptive language.
• Informative texts (encyclopedia articles, non-fiction books): more often use third person to speak about subjects at a metaphorical remove.
• The boiler manual lacks descriptive language and uses impersonal prose → likely not creative fiction.

🔍 Grammar and point of view as genre clues

👤 Person and voice patterns

Point of view	What it suggests about genre
Third person	Informative texts, most fiction
Second person (singular "you")	Letters, emails, notes to specific recipients
Imperative without singular "you"	Instructions for non-specific professional audience
First person with personal asides	Genres establishing personal relationships

• The boiler manual uses imperative voice ("open the cleaning doors") but avoids singular "you" → suggests the target audience is not a singular recipient.
• It avoids first person and personal/friendly asides → this genre doesn't establish a personal relationship with its audience.
• Don't confuse: second person always means the same genre—the way second person is used (singular vs. commands, personal vs. impersonal) distinguishes different genres.

⏰ Verb tense as a clue

• Present tense in instructional writing suggests the audience is meant to read imperatives in real time, by following along.
• Example: The boiler manual uses present tense → readers follow instructions as they perform the task.

🔧 Technical and stylistic markers

🔧 Terminology and audience signals

• Technical terminology without explanation (e.g., "baffle," "steam lance") → probable audience is a small professional community with shared lexicon.
• Manual labor references (cleaning tubes, removing soot) → profession involves hands-on work.
• Guidance rather than absolute commands ("an excellent method of…") → target audience is highly skilled professionals capable of making their own judgments.

🎨 Formatting and design elements

• Length, citation style, use of images, formatting (font style, text size, page design) can convey information about genre "sometimes at a mere glance."
• The excerpt notes these are additional clues beyond grammar and vocabulary.

🧩 Putting clues together

🧩 The boiler manual example

Combining all the clues:

• Technical terminology
• Professional audience of skilled manual laborers
• Impersonal and dry prose
• Non-specific second person
• Present tense

→ The genre is a manual (specifically, Instructions for the Operation, Care, and Repair of Boilers from 1926 US Navy).

🎭 Genre manipulation example

The excerpt provides a second example with entries like:

• "ABSURDITY, n. A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion."

• "ALONE, adj. In bad company."

• "BIRTH, n. The first and direst of all disasters."

• The format looks like a dictionary (alphabetical entries with parts of speech).

• The definitions are cynical, humorous, and subjective → this manipulates the dictionary genre by using its format for satirical purposes.

• Don't confuse: format alone doesn't determine genre—the content and tone can subvert genre expectations.

🔗 How genre connects to audience and purpose

🔗 Overlap and interaction

• Audience built into genre: children's books and professional manuals define their audience by their genre name.
• Purpose calls for genre: a job requiring a report for quarterly performance wouldn't use a dramatic screenplay.
• Audience affects purpose: a friend willing to hear ranting complaints vs. strangers who are not → different audiences make different purposes appropriate.

🔗 No single element works alone

• The excerpt emphasizes: "these concepts work together."
• Example: The boiler manual's genre (instructional manual) fits its audience (skilled Navy personnel) and purpose (instruction in real-time operation).
• Effective writing considers how audience, purpose, and genre align and reinforce each other.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Effective writing uses its genre to fulfill its purpose to its audience, and understanding how these three concepts work together helps both analyze texts and succeed in college writing assignments.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The core formula: Effective writing uses its genre to fulfill its purpose to its audience—these three concepts overlap and work together.
• Audience, purpose, and genre are interconnected: sometimes audience is built into genre definitions (e.g., children's book), some purposes require specific genres (e.g., quarterly reports), and some purposes work better with certain audiences.
• Apply the formula to college assignments: ask yourself whom you're writing for, what you're supposed to achieve, and what form/format is expected.
• Common confusion: different academic fields have different genre expectations—English studies vs. sciences use different documentation styles, voice, quotation practices, and purposes.
• How to learn implicit expectations: read other texts carefully with attention to how they navigate the rhetorical situation.

🔗 How the Three Concepts Work Together

🔗 Overlap and interdependence

The excerpt emphasizes that audience, purpose, and genre "have quite a bit of overlap" and "work together."

• Audience built into genre: Some genres define their audience by name.
  • Example: a children's book or professional manual specifies who will read it.
• Purpose constrains genre: Certain purposes call for specific genres and exclude others.
  • Example: a job requiring a report for quarterly performance would not accept a dramatic screenplay.
• Purpose and audience compatibility: Some purposes work better with some audiences.
  • Example: a friend is willing to hear a ranting personal complaint, but strangers are not.

📐 The effectiveness formula

Effective writing uses its genre to fulfill its purpose to its audience.

• This formula serves two functions:
  • As a tool for analyzing texts
  • As a guide for writing college assignments
• It is not about content alone—it's about how form, goal, and reader fit together.

🎓 Applying the Formula to College Writing

🎓 Three questions for any assignment

When facing a college writing assignment, ask:

Concept	Key Question	Details to Consider
Audience	Whom am I writing for?	Only the professor? Classmates who will respond? A hypothetical audience of professionals in a field?
Purpose	What am I supposed to achieve?	Demonstrating knowledge? Putting forth a new idea? Expressing personal beliefs? Something else?
Genre	What form and format are expected?	Documentation style? Length? Tone? Point of view?

📋 When expectations aren't clear

• First option: Check the professor's assignment sheet or instructions.
• Second option: Ask your professor directly.
• Third option: Visit the writing center for guidance.
• Fallback strategy: If you have nothing else to go on, professors often default to the expectations of their own field—research that field's conventions.

📚 Field-Specific Genre Expectations

📚 English studies conventions

The excerpt provides English studies as an example of field-specific expectations:

• Documentation style: MLA (Modern Language Association) is usually expected for essays.
• Voice and evidence: Essays are generally written mostly in active voice, using frequent quotations from texts.
• Purpose: Many (but not all) essays argue for your own original interpretation of a text, strongly supported by textual evidence.
• Audience assumptions: The reader has moderate familiarity with the text; needs only occasional brief plot summary but explicit mention of relevant details.
• Relationship to audience: Generally friendly; using some personal voice is accepted and even welcomed.

🔬 Sciences conventions

The excerpt contrasts sciences with English studies:

• Documentation and formatting: Different documentation style and formatting from English studies.
• Voice: Personal voice is often inappropriate; passive voice may be encouraged to put the topic in greater focus.
• Evidence presentation: Paraphrase and summary are used more frequently than direct quotations.
• Purpose at undergraduate level: Reporting on discoveries and studies of other research is more common than putting forth a truly original thesis (due to the technical nature of these fields).

Don't confuse: The same type of assignment (e.g., a formal essay or "paper") can have completely different genre expectations depending on the academic field.

🧠 Learning Implicit Expectations

🧠 Why implicit expectations matter

The excerpt acknowledges that "there will be many differences in writing for your courses" and "there's no way that all of them can be anticipated or covered even in the most comprehensive assignment instructions."

🧠 How to become aware

• The only way: Read other texts carefully and closely with attention to how they navigate the rhetorical situation.
• Over time: You will draw together these elements and find your own original ways of being an effective writer.
• This is a learning process—you cannot master all conventions immediately; you must observe and practice.

🛠️ The Rhetorical Précis as a Tool

🛠️ What a rhetorical précis is

A rhetorical précis: a specific genre of summary that focuses on the rhetorical aspects of a text.

• It does not summarize content only—it connects the aspects of the rhetorical situation (audience, purpose, and genre).
• It uses a very specific and compact framework.
• It can be a good technique or starting point to add depth to a summary, annotated bibliography entries, or an abstract by considering what the text does and how it works.

🛠️ Four-sentence structure

The excerpt provides a detailed framework:

Sentence	What to Include	Key Questions
First	Author name (or organization) + phrase describing relevance; genre and title with year; rhetorically accurate verb (e.g., "argues," "suggests," "informs"); THAT clause with major assertion	WHOM? WHAT background? WHAT did they write? WHAT year? WHAT is their point?
Second	Explanation of evidence the author uses to develop/support the thesis	HOW do they prove their point? Interviews? Data? Sources? Anecdotes? Strategy?
Third	Author's purpose + "in order" phrase	Are they trying to entertain/persuade/inform? WHY? In order to accomplish what?
Fourth	Description of intended audience and/or relationship the author establishes with the audience	(The excerpt cuts off before completing this sentence)

🛠️ Example from the excerpt

The excerpt provides a sample rhetorical précis analyzing a 1928 advertisement:

• Sentence 1: The advertisement in The Saturday Evening Post, "—but I can't say this to my husband" (1928) persuades its audience that the Christmas present that women really want from their husbands is a Hoover vacuum.
• Sentence 2: The ad uses the narration of a wealthy married woman confessing her unfulfilled desire in a conversational tone that implies intimacy and provokes reader curiosity.
• Sentence 3: The ad's purpose is to make readers feel both envious of and superior to the woman in the ad to encourage them to buy a Hoover vacuum.

Note: The excerpt does not complete the fourth sentence example.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A rhetorical précis is a structured four-sentence summary that systematically captures an author's identity and context, evidence and support, purpose and goal, and intended audience.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a précis does: condenses a text into four specific sentences, each answering a distinct set of questions about the work.
• The four-sentence structure: (1) author + work + main claim; (2) evidence and methods; (3) purpose and intended effect; (4) target audience(s).
• How to build it: read carefully, take notes, gather information for each sentence, then revise the four sentences into a cohesive paragraph.
• Common confusion: the précis is not a freeform summary—each sentence has a prescribed role and must answer specific questions (whom, what, how, why).
• Why it matters: the précis forces systematic analysis of rhetorical elements, making it easier to understand and discuss how a text works.

📝 The four-sentence framework

📝 Sentence 1: Author, work, and main claim

First sentence: Name of author (or organization), a phrase describing their relevance, the genre and title with publication year, a rhetorically accurate verb (e.g. "argues," "suggests," "informs"), and a THAT clause summarizing the author's major assertion.

• What to include: WHOM you're discussing, WHAT their background is, WHAT they wrote, WHAT year, and WHAT their point is.
• The verb must be "rhetorically accurate"—it should reflect the author's purpose (arguing, persuading, informing, etc.).
• Example: "The advertisement in The Saturday Evening Post, '—but I can't say this to my husband' (1928) persuades its audience that the Christmas present that women really want from their husbands is a Hoover vacuum."

📝 Sentence 2: Evidence and support

Second sentence: An explanation of the evidence the author uses to develop and/or support the thesis or main focus.

• What to include: HOW the author proves their point—interviews, official data, outside sources, anecdotes, or a particular strategy.
• This sentence identifies the methods and materials the author relies on.
• Example: "The ad uses the narration of a wealthy married woman confessing her unfulfilled desire in a conversational tone that implies intimacy and provokes reader curiosity."

📝 Sentence 3: Purpose and goal

Third sentence: A statement of the author's purpose followed by an "in order" phrase.

• What to include: Are they trying to entertain, persuade, or inform? WHY is that their purpose? In order to accomplish what?
• The "in order" phrase clarifies the intended effect or outcome.
• Example: "The ad's purpose is to make readers feel both envious of and superior to the woman in the ad to encourage them to buy a Hoover vacuum."

📝 Sentence 4: Intended audience

Fourth sentence: A description of the intended audience and/or the relationship the author establishes with the audience.

• What to include: WHOM the author is trying to address (teachers, parents, voters, women, etc.).
• Consider all possible appeals to any demographic and potential secondary audiences.
• Example: "Due to the direct appeal to married men in the conclusion of the ad, it is presumably directed to American men with the economic ability to buy their wives vacuum cleaners; however, a secondary audience of women are also implicit targets for this ad since they are the presumed recipients of this gift."

🔧 How to construct a précis

🔧 Preparation steps

• Read carefully: go over the chosen text, taking notes and doing any necessary research to understand its content and context.
• Gather notes: organize your observations according to the four-sentence structure.
• Don't skip the research step—understanding context is essential for identifying the author's relevance and the work's rhetorical situation.

🔧 Assembly and revision

• Write each sentence according to its prescribed role.
• Put them together into a single paragraph.
• Revise to avoid overly repetitive language and add key missing details in the appropriate places.
• The final product should be a cohesive paragraph, not four disconnected sentences.

📋 Example walkthrough

📋 The Hoover vacuum advertisement

The excerpt provides a complete example of a rhetorical précis for a 1928 advertisement:

Sentence	Function	Content in the example
1	Author, work, claim	Advertisement in The Saturday Evening Post, "—but I can't say this to my husband" (1928), persuades audience that women want a Hoover vacuum for Christmas
2	Evidence/method	Uses narration of a wealthy married woman confessing desire in a conversational tone that provokes curiosity and implies intimacy
3	Purpose	Make readers feel both jealous of and superior to the woman to encourage them to buy a Hoover vacuum
4	Audience	Primarily American men with economic ability to buy vacuum cleaners; secondary audience of women as presumed recipients

📋 Final integrated paragraph

The final product combines all four sentences with revisions for flow and completeness:

• The example shows how to smooth out repetitive language while preserving all required elements.
• Key details (e.g., "wealthy and enviable," "this Christmas") are added during revision to clarify and enrich the summary.
• The result is a single, coherent paragraph that systematically analyzes the rhetorical dimensions of the text.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Mastering rhetorical awareness (ethos, pathos, logos) and narrative structure empowers you both to critically evaluate media and to craft compelling stories that engage readers and convey meaningful themes.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Active evaluation over blanket skepticism: constant distrust makes people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories; instead, "read the room" by asking whether a speaker uses emotional appeals, logical reasoning, or credible authority.
• Ethos, pathos, logos as writing tools: these rhetorical appeals help you strengthen your own writing—add sources for credibility, build logical arguments free of fallacies, and appeal to readers' emotions.
• Personal narratives require structure and theme: a good story is built around a conflict (internal or external) and follows a structure (exposition → rising action → climax → resolution) that keeps readers engaged.
• Common confusion: description vs. summary: effective narratives use specific sensory details, dialogue, and "telling details" to show characters and settings, rather than simply stating facts.
• Why it matters: storytelling is a versatile skill applicable across academic writing, speeches, business communication, and many other professional contexts.

📖 Critical media consumption

🧠 Why skepticism alone isn't enough

• A constantly skeptical attitude does not protect you; research shows that those who are most untrusting are often the most taken in by conspiracy theories and fake news.
• Instead of withholding trust entirely, you need to actively evaluate what a speaker is doing with their words.

🔍 "Reading the room"

Ask yourself three crucial questions when consuming media:

• Are they tugging at your heartstrings? (pathos—emotional appeal)
• Are they making logical sense? (logos—reasoning and evidence)
• Do they have credibility in this field? (ethos—authority and trustworthiness)

These questions help you figure out whom and what to actually trust in everything you consume.

Example: An advertisement might use a celebrity endorsement (ethos), show a heartwarming family scene (pathos), and cite product statistics (logos)—recognizing each appeal helps you evaluate the message critically.

✍️ Using rhetorical appeals in your own writing

🏛️ Ethos (credibility)

• Ask: Are there sources you could add to better establish your credibility in that research paper?
• Adding authoritative references, citing experts, or demonstrating your own expertise strengthens ethos.

❤️ Pathos (emotion)

• Ask: Is there a way to make your narrative appeal to your reader's emotions?
• Use vivid descriptions, personal stories, or scenarios that resonate with readers' feelings.

🧮 Logos (logic)

• Ask: Have you developed a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies in that essay?
• Ensure your reasoning is sound, evidence supports your claims, and you avoid logical errors.

🎯 The big picture

Knowledge is power.

• Familiarity with ethos, pathos, and logos serves as reminders of possible ways to develop your writing.
• Asking yourself these questions helps you shape your writing by looking at the larger picture of what you are achieving and why.

📚 The power of storytelling

🌍 Why stories matter

Humans have been telling each other yarns as long as language itself has existed.

• A good story is something we remember; stories leave a lasting impression, inspire us, connect us, and teach valuable lessons.
• Storytelling is an extremely useful skill applicable to a wide range of rhetorical situations and professions (teaching, coaching, business, PR, counseling, entrepreneurship).

🎓 Storytelling across contexts

Storytelling can be used in:

• Academic writing (to engage readers and illustrate points)
• Speeches and presentations
• Cover letters and business plans
• Podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy
• Advertisements, films, documentaries
• Many other visual and audio-based genres

Don't confuse: storytelling is not limited to creative writing; it is a versatile communication tool across disciplines.

📝 Personal narratives

📖 What is a personal narrative?

Narrative is simply a fancy word for story, and personal means that it's a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.

• It is non-fiction based on real-life events.
• It includes elements you might recognize from fictional storytelling: characters, setting, dialogue, and description.

🎯 Purpose and theme

• When choosing an experience to write about, consider your purpose: Have you learned something about yourself or the world that you want to convey?
• Theme: the universal idea your audience can relate to; your narrative should go beyond your unique experience and speak to a broader lesson.
• Reflecting on the theme and what you learned makes the narrative powerful for both you and your reader.

Example: A narrative about moving to a new city might explore the universal theme of adapting to change or finding identity in unfamiliar places.

🏔️ Narrative structure: Freytag's Pyramid

🗺️ Overview of the structure

Structuring your narrative around a conflict (internal or external struggle) keeps it interesting and drives the story forward.

Stage	What it does	Key considerations
Exposition	Establishes characters and setting; hooks the reader	Set the stage; allude to conflict without giving everything away
Inciting Incident	The event that kickstarts the main conflict	Example: parents announcing a divorce
Rising Action	Builds tension through a sequence of events	Expand on conflict; only include events that propel the narrative toward climax
Climax	Point of greatest tension; turning point	Narrator makes a choice, discovery, or decisive action to address the conflict
Falling Action	Aftermath of the climax	Show significant changes; keep the narrative moving forward
Resolution	Concludes the narrative; reflects on what was learned	Tie together with exposition; conflict doesn't have to be fully solved

🔄 Variations in structure

• You don't have to tell the story in strict chronological order.
• Techniques like beginning in medias res (in the middle of the action), using flashbacks, or foreshadowing can keep your narrative interesting.
• Example: Ian Beck's narrative begins by revealing a glimpse of the climax (throwing up on the mountain) before returning to the exposition.

Don't confuse: structure is a guide, not a rigid formula—creative variations can enhance engagement.

🎨 Bringing your story to life

🌄 Setting (when and where)

When and where does your story take place?

• Use detailed descriptions to paint a clear picture; your reader was not there, so they rely on your words.
• Include sensory details (sights, sounds, smells, textures) and specific information to set the mood.

Before (weak):

That summer I worked at a farm. The days were long and tough, and the barn smelled terrible. I thought I would hate it, but I ended up really liking it.

After (strong):

The summer I graduated from high school, I worked on my uncle's dairy farm. I remember stumbling out of bed before dawn and driving through the dark to get to his farm in time for the first milking. Stepping into the big red barn, the intense smell of one hundred cows in a crowded space overpowered my senses. I will never forget how the smell of fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with the humid air in the barn.

• The revised version specifies the type of farm, the time of day, and uses vivid sensory details to immerse the reader.

👥 Characters

• A personal narrative typically includes only a few characters, including yourself.
• Your reader does not know these people or understand their significance unless you convey it on the page.

How to make characters real:

• Think of two or three defining features, character traits, or behaviors that stand out.
• Use unique details instead of generic statements.

Example: Instead of "My grandmother was the nicest person in the world," describe her soft hands, the way she made double-layered Nutella sandwiches, or how she played UNO at the kitchen table.

🎭 Body language and "telling details"

• Describing body language shows how a character is feeling without directly stating it.
• Telling details: short, precise descriptions that reveal character or mood.

Example (from Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks"): Instead of saying "Robert was embarrassed," Tan writes: "Robert looked down," "Robert's face reddened," and "Robert grunted and looked away."

💬 Dialogue

Sometimes, what is said between two people can tell your reader more about who the characters are than a description could convey.

• Dialogue brings characters to life and can reveal personality, relationships, and emotions.
• Use dialogue strategically; it can also slow the narrative at key moments (e.g., at the climax).

Example: In Ian Beck's narrative, the line "Hold up, everyone. Ian needs our help" marks the climax and shifts the focus to the internal conflict of accepting help.

🖊️ Writing tips and common pitfalls

✂️ What to include (and what to leave out)

• Although a personal narrative is based on real-life events, you don't have to cover everything.
• Only include the most interesting aspects that build tension and propel the narrative forward.
• Avoid step-by-step accounts; focus on key moments.

🎨 Show, don't just tell

• Use specific sensory details, figurative language, and adjectives to show the reader what happened.
• Don't confuse: "showing" means using concrete details; "telling" means summarizing or stating facts.

Example: "The days were long" (telling) vs. "I remember stumbling out of bed before dawn" (showing).

🧩 Conflict is essential

• Conflicts can be internal (insecurities, identity struggles) or external (physical challenges, relationships, loss).
• The conflict is the driving force that keeps readers engaged.

Example: Ian Beck's narrative has both an external conflict (climbing the mountain) and an internal conflict (letting go of pride and accepting help).

🔗 Theme ties it together

• Your narrative should reflect on a universal theme your audience can relate to.
• The resolution should tie back to the exposition and convey what you learned.

Don't confuse: a narrative doesn't need a "happily ever after" ending; unresolved conflicts can be powerful if you reflect on the ongoing struggle.

📊 Student sample insights: "Climbing a Mountain" by Ian Beck

🎬 In medias res opening

• Ian begins with the climactic moment: "I clutched my stomach, doubling over, and threw up into a scrubby bush, seemingly alone in the sparse forest of New Mexico."
• This hooks the reader immediately by dropping them into the middle of the action.

🏞️ Exposition and conflict setup

• After the opening, Ian flashes back to establish setting (Philmont Scout Ranch, nearly 100-mile trek) and characters (fellow Scouts).
• He alludes to both external conflict (physical challenge of the trek) and internal conflict (pride in independence, falling behind peers).

📈 Rising action and tension building

• Ian describes training trips and the journey's first few days, using specific details (blacksmithing, railroad building, campfire stories) without giving a step-by-step account.
• Tension builds as the narrative approaches the mountain climb: "Tomorrow, we would climb a mountain."

⛰️ Climax: physical and emotional turning point

• The climax occurs when Ian is too dizzy and nauseous to continue but is "still too foolishly stubborn to stop and ask for help."
• The turning point is marked by dialogue: "Hold up, everyone. Ian needs our help."
• This moment addresses both the external challenge (needing physical assistance) and the internal conflict (accepting help despite pride).

🌅 Falling action and resolution (implied)

• Ian reflects: "I very much consider myself a team player. When my crew needed help, I was always glad to lend a hand, but I struggled to ask for help in return."
• The narrative shows how the crew redistributed his load, just as he had helped others earlier—illustrating the theme of interdependence.

🎯 Key techniques used

• Specific details: "45-pound backpack," "over 4,000 feet to go," "granola bar and stick of jerky"
• Sensory imagery: "dry chill of the morning air biting through our clothes," "jambalaya trying to burn its way out"
• Telling details: silence in camp, nervous atmosphere, fitful sleep
• Strategic dialogue: used sparingly at the climax to slow the narrative and emphasize the turning point

Don't confuse: Ian's narrative is a short story style; another student example (Jax Lucchese's "Being Trans with an Eating Disorder") combines narrative storytelling with essay structure—check with your professor for the preferred style.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding ethos, pathos, and logos enables us to critically evaluate whom and what to trust in media and to strengthen our own writing by strategically building credibility, logic, and emotional appeal.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Critical evaluation over blanket skepticism: constant distrust makes people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and fake news; instead, assess whether speakers have credibility, make logical sense, or appeal to emotions.
• Three rhetorical appeals: ethos (credibility), pathos (emotional appeal), and logos (logical reasoning) are tools for analyzing what speakers are doing with their words.
• Common confusion: being highly skeptical does not protect you—ironically, the most untrusting people are often the most taken in by misinformation.
• Application to your own writing: asking yourself about ethos, pathos, and logos helps you identify gaps (e.g., missing sources for credibility, logical fallacies, or lack of emotional connection) and improve persuasiveness.
• Storytelling as a rhetorical skill: narratives are memorable and useful across many contexts (academic writing, speeches, business, presentations) because they engage readers and illustrate points effectively.

🔍 Why skepticism alone fails

🔍 The irony of constant distrust

• The excerpt cites a study by Joshua Hart and Molly Graether showing that people who are the most untrusting tend to be the most susceptible to conspiracy theories and fake news.
• Simply withholding trust does not protect you; it can backfire.
• Don't confuse: being critical ≠ being constantly skeptical. Critical thinking requires evaluation, not blanket rejection.

🧭 "Reading the room" instead

• The excerpt recommends figuring out "what the speaker is really doing with their words" rather than rejecting everything.
• Key questions to ask:
  • Are they trying to tug at your heartstrings? (pathos)
  • Are they making logical sense? (logos)
  • Do they have the credibility to speak in this field? (ethos)
• These questions help you evaluate whom and what to trust in everything you consume.

🛠️ Using ethos, pathos, and logos in your own writing

🛠️ Knowledge as power

• The excerpt states that familiarity with ethos, pathos, and logos gives you "reminders on possible ways to develop your own writing."
• These appeals are not just for analysis—they are tools for shaping your own arguments.

📝 Practical questions for revision

The excerpt suggests asking yourself:

Appeal	Question	Purpose
Ethos	Are there sources you could add to better establish your credibility in that research paper?	Build trust and authority
Logos	Have you developed a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies in that essay?	Ensure reasoning is sound
Pathos	Is there a way to make your narrative appeal to your reader's emotions?	Create connection and engagement

• These questions help you look at "the larger picture of what you are achieving in your writing and why."
• Example: if your research paper lacks credibility, adding expert sources strengthens ethos; if your narrative feels flat, adding emotional detail strengthens pathos.

📖 Storytelling as a rhetorical tool

📖 Why stories matter

• The excerpt (from Chapter 4) emphasizes that "humans have been telling each other yarns as long as language itself has existed."
• A good story is something that we remember: stories leave lasting impressions, inspire, connect, and teach valuable lessons.
• Storytelling is "an extremely useful skill" applicable to few rhetorical situations where you cannot use it.

🎯 Where storytelling is used

The excerpt lists professions and contexts where storytelling is effective:

• Teaching, coaching, business administration, PR, counseling, entrepreneurship
• Academic writing (to engage readers and illustrate points)
• Speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, documentaries

✍️ Personal narratives

Personal Narrative: a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.

• The excerpt notes this is often one of the first assignments students write.
• When choosing an experience, consider your purpose: what have you learned, and why does it matter?
• Don't confuse: a personal narrative is not just recounting events—it must include your reflections and how the experience affected you.

🧪 Applying rhetorical analysis

🧪 Analyzing advertisements (Final Activity 3.8)

The excerpt includes an exercise: find an advertisement for a product, service, or place you use regularly, then analyze:

• How does the ad use ethos, pathos, and logos to fulfill its purpose?

• Does it succeed or fail?

• Are there ways the ad might have been more effective?

• This activity reinforces the idea that rhetorical appeals are practical tools for both consuming and creating persuasive content.

• Example: an ad for a product might establish ethos by citing expert endorsements, pathos by showing happy users, and logos by listing product features—analyzing these helps you see how persuasion works.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Evaluating whether speakers make logical sense—alongside their credibility and emotional appeals—is crucial for determining whom and what to trust in the media we consume.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Beyond skepticism: Constant distrust alone is insufficient and can make people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and fake news.
• Three evaluation questions: Ask whether speakers are tugging at heartstrings (pathos), making logical sense (logos), or have credibility in their field (ethos).
• Common confusion: Being highly untrusting does not protect you—ironically, the most untrusting people tend to be most taken in by misinformation.
• Practical application: Understanding ethos, pathos, and logos helps you both evaluate what you consume and improve your own writing by checking credibility, logic, and emotional appeal.

🔍 Reading critically instead of rejecting everything

🔍 Why skepticism alone fails

• The excerpt warns that "merely having a constantly skeptical attitude towards our media" is not enough.
• A recent study by Joshua Hart and Molly Graether found that those who are the most untrusting tend to be the ones most taken in by conspiracy theories and fake news.
• Don't confuse: Blanket distrust ≠ critical thinking. Wholesale rejection can backfire.

🧭 "Reading the room"

Instead of wholly withholding our trust, we should be able to "read the room" and figure out what the speaker is really doing with their words.

• The excerpt frames trust as conditional and context-dependent, not binary.
• You evaluate how the speaker is using language, not just whether to believe them.

🧩 Three key evaluation questions

💬 Are they tugging at your heartstrings?

• This refers to pathos: emotional appeals.
• The question prompts you to notice when a speaker is trying to manipulate feelings rather than present evidence or logic.

🧠 Are they making logical sense?

• This refers to logos: logical reasoning.
• The excerpt emphasizes checking whether arguments are coherent and free of fallacies.
• Example: A speaker might sound authoritative but present illogical claims—logos helps you catch that.

🎓 Do they have the credibility to speak in this field?

• This refers to ethos: credibility and authority.
• Not everyone who speaks confidently has expertise; you must assess whether they are qualified.

✍️ Using ethos, pathos, and logos in your own writing

✍️ Knowledge as power

• The excerpt states: "knowledge is power. Now that you are familiar with ethos, pathos, and logos, you can use them as reminders on possible ways to develop your own writing."
• These three concepts function as a checklist for strengthening your work.

🔧 Self-evaluation questions for writers

Rhetorical element	Question to ask yourself	Purpose
Ethos	Are there sources you could add to better establish your credibility in that research paper?	Build trust and authority
Logos	Have you developed a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies in that essay?	Ensure reasoning is sound
Pathos	Is there a way to make your narrative appeal to your reader's emotions?	Engage and move the audience

• The excerpt recommends asking these questions to "shape your own writing by looking at the larger picture of what you are achieving in your writing and why."
• Don't confuse: These are not just analysis tools for reading—they are also design tools for writing.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding ethos, pathos, and logos helps us critically evaluate media and develop more effective writing by recognizing how speakers use credibility, emotion, and logic to persuade audiences.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Beyond skepticism: constant distrust makes people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and fake news; instead, we should evaluate how speakers use their words.
• Three key questions: Does the speaker tug at heartstrings (pathos)? Do they make logical sense (logos)? Do they have credibility (ethos)?
• Common confusion: being skeptical ≠ being critical—ironically, the most untrusting people are often the most taken in by misinformation.
• Practical application: knowing ethos, pathos, and logos helps you improve your own writing by adding sources (ethos), building logical arguments (logos), or appealing to emotions (pathos).
• Why it matters: these tools help you evaluate whom and what to trust in everything you consume, and shape your own persuasive communication.

🔍 Critical evaluation vs. blanket skepticism

🚫 Why constant skepticism backfires

• The excerpt warns that "those who are the most untrusting, tend to be the ones most taken in by conspiracy theories and fake news."
• A recent study by Joshua Hart and Molly Graether supports this finding.
• Simply withholding trust does not protect you; it can make you more vulnerable.

✅ What to do instead: "read the room"

"Read the room": figure out what the speaker is really doing with their words.

• Instead of blanket distrust, ask specific questions about the speaker's methods.
• This approach requires active analysis, not passive rejection.
• Don't confuse: skepticism (rejecting everything) vs. critical evaluation (analyzing how persuasion works).

🎯 The three crucial questions

💔 Are they tugging at your heartstrings? (Pathos)

• This question asks whether the speaker is appealing to emotions.
• Emotional appeals are not inherently bad, but recognizing them helps you evaluate whether emotion is being used appropriately or manipulatively.
• Example: A message might use vivid imagery or personal stories to evoke sympathy—knowing this is pathos helps you decide if the emotional appeal is justified by the content.

🧠 Are they making logical sense? (Logos)

• This question examines the logical structure and reasoning.
• Look for whether arguments are coherent and free from fallacies.
• The excerpt emphasizes developing "a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies."

🏆 Do they have credibility in this field? (Ethos)

• This question assesses the speaker's authority and trustworthiness.
• Credibility depends on expertise, experience, and reputation in the relevant domain.
• Example: A speaker might cite sources or credentials to establish ethos—recognizing this helps you judge whether their authority is legitimate.

🛠️ Applying the framework to your own writing

📚 Strengthening ethos

• Ask yourself: "Are there sources you could add to better establish your credibility in that research paper?"
• Adding credible sources builds your authority as a writer.
• This is especially important in research papers where readers expect evidence-based claims.

🧩 Building logos

• Ask yourself: "Have you developed a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies in that essay?"
• Check that your reasoning flows clearly and avoids common logical errors.
• A strong logical structure makes your argument more convincing.

💬 Incorporating pathos

• Ask yourself: "Is there a way to make your narrative appeal to your reader's emotions?"
• Emotional appeals can make writing more engaging and memorable.
• This is particularly useful in narratives and persuasive pieces.

🖼️ Looking at the larger picture

• The excerpt emphasizes asking questions about ethos, pathos, and logos to "help you shape your own writing by looking at the larger picture of what you are achieving in your writing and why."
• These three elements work together to create effective communication.
• Don't focus on just one; consider how all three contribute to your purpose.

📊 Practical application: rhetorical analysis

🎯 Analyzing advertisements

The excerpt includes an activity that demonstrates how to apply these concepts:

Element	What to evaluate
Product & audience	What you already know about the product; who the target audience is
Ethos, pathos, logos	How the ad uses credibility, emotion, and logic to fulfill its purpose
Effectiveness	Whether the ad succeeds or fails; ways it could be more effective

• This framework applies to any persuasive communication, not just advertisements.
• Example: An ad for a product you use regularly might appeal to your emotions (pathos) by showing happy users, establish credibility (ethos) by citing expert endorsements, and present logical reasons (logos) why the product works.

💡 The power of knowledge

📖 "Knowledge is power"

• The excerpt invokes this "old adage" to emphasize that understanding rhetorical tools gives you control.
• Knowing ethos, pathos, and logos serves two purposes:
  1. Defensive: evaluate and critically assess what you consume
  2. Offensive: develop and improve your own persuasive communication
• These tools act as "reminders on possible ways to develop your own writing."

🎓 Broader applications

• The excerpt mentions that storytelling and rhetorical skills apply across many contexts: academic writing, speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, and documentaries.
• Mastering these concepts prepares you for diverse rhetorical situations throughout your student life and career.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding ethos, pathos, and logos empowers you to critically evaluate media and strengthen your own writing by recognizing persuasive strategies and applying them deliberately.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Beyond skepticism: Constant distrust makes people more vulnerable to conspiracy theories and fake news; instead, evaluate how speakers use words.
• Three evaluation questions: Does the speaker have credibility (ethos)? Are they appealing to emotions (pathos)? Does their argument make logical sense (logos)?
• Common confusion: Being skeptical ≠ being discerning—ironically, the most untrusting people are often most taken in by misinformation.
• Writing application: Use ethos, pathos, and logos as a checklist to develop your own arguments (add credible sources, build logical structure, connect emotionally).
• Storytelling power: Narratives are memorable and persuasive tools applicable across academic, professional, and personal contexts.

🔍 Critical reading: moving beyond blanket skepticism

🚫 Why constant distrust backfires

• A recent study (Hart and Graether) found that the most untrusting individuals tend to fall for conspiracy theories and fake news.
• Simply withholding trust is not enough; you need active evaluation skills.
• Don't confuse: skepticism (questioning everything equally) vs. discernment (asking what the speaker is doing with their words).

🧐 "Reading the room"

The excerpt recommends figuring out what the speaker is really doing with their words by asking:

Question	What it evaluates	Rhetorical appeal
Are they trying to tug at your heartstrings?	Emotional manipulation or connection	Pathos
Are they making logical sense?	Argument structure and reasoning	Logos
Do they have credibility to speak in this field?	Authority and trustworthiness	Ethos

• These questions help you decide whom and what to trust in everything you consume.
• Example: A speaker may sound passionate (pathos) but lack expertise (ethos) or logical coherence (logos)—recognizing this helps you weigh their message appropriately.

✍️ Writing application: using rhetorical appeals deliberately

💡 Knowledge as power

"Knowledge is power"—now that you are familiar with ethos, pathos, and logos, you can use them as reminders on possible ways to develop your own writing.

• The three appeals are not just for analyzing others; they are tools for shaping your own writing.
• Think of them as a development checklist to look at "the larger picture of what you are achieving in your writing and why."

📚 Ethos: building credibility

• Question to ask yourself: Are there sources you could add to better establish your credibility in that research paper?
• Adding credible sources strengthens your authority on the topic.
• Example: In a research paper, citing recognized experts or peer-reviewed studies boosts your ethos.

🧠 Logos: constructing logical arguments

• Question to ask yourself: Have you developed a logical and persuasive argument devoid of fallacies in that essay?
• Check that your reasoning is sound and free of logical errors.
• Example: Ensure each claim follows from evidence and that conclusions are supported, not assumed.

❤️ Pathos: connecting emotionally

• Question to ask yourself: Is there a way to make your narrative appeal to your reader's emotions?
• Emotional connection makes writing more engaging and memorable.
• Example: In a narrative, describing personal impact or vivid details can help readers feel invested in your story.

📖 Storytelling as a persuasive tool

🎙️ Why stories matter

• Humans have been telling stories "as long as language itself has existed."
• A good story is memorable: "Stories leave a lasting impression on us; they inspire us, connect us, and teach us valuable lessons about ourselves and the world around us."
• Storytelling is an "extremely useful skill" applicable to few rhetorical situations where you cannot use it.

🌍 Where storytelling is used

The excerpt lists diverse contexts where storytelling is effective:

• Academic: engaging readers and illustrating points in academic writing
• Professional: teaching, coaching, business administration, PR, counseling, entrepreneurship
• Communication formats: speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, documentaries

📝 Personal narratives

Personal narrative: a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.

• One of the first assignments students write at KU.
• The genre can be "both powerful and, dare I say, fun to write."
• Key consideration: Choose an experience with a clear purpose—have you learned something meaningful to share?
• Example: Reflecting on a challenge you overcame and what it taught you creates a purposeful narrative that resonates with readers.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Personal narratives are stories about your own experiences that use conflict-driven structure to convey universal themes your audience can relate to and learn from.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a personal narrative is: a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.
• Purpose and theme: your narrative should go beyond your unique experience to speak to a universal theme and reflect on what you learned.
• Structure around conflict: conflicts (internal or external struggles) drive the narrative and keep readers engaged.
• Common confusion: don't confuse personal experience with personal narrative—the narrative must include reflection on theme and learning, not just recount events.
• Why storytelling matters: it's a widely applicable skill across academic writing, speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, and many other genres.

📖 What makes a personal narrative

📖 Definition and core elements

Personal narrative: a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.

• The name breaks down into two parts:
  • Narrative = a fancy word for story
  • Personal = about you, your perspective, your thoughts
• It is not just recounting what happened; it must include your reflections on the experience.

🎯 Purpose and theme

• Purpose: consider what you want to convey—have you learned something about yourself or the world?
• Theme: the broader lesson or insight your narrative communicates.
  • Your narrative should speak to a universal theme your audience can relate to, not just your unique experience.
  • Example: moving across the country might explore themes of identity, belonging, or resilience.
• Reflection is key: you want to reflect on the theme and what you learned through your experience.

💡 Why personal narratives are powerful

• When you claim your story and share it:
  • Others might learn from it
  • Others might be inspired by it
  • Others might see things from a new perspective
• Storytelling is a skill applicable across many contexts: academic writing, speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, documentaries.

⚔️ Conflict as the driving force

⚔️ What conflict means

Conflict: internal or external factors or struggles that you face.

• Conflicts are what keep readers engaged—they are the driving force of your narrative.
• Structuring your narrative around a conflict ensures it stays interesting.

⚔️ Types of conflicts

• Internal: struggles within yourself (e.g., teenage insecurities, finding your identity, grief, inner struggle to accept change).
• External: outside factors or events (e.g., getting caught lying to parents, losing a loved one, moving across the country, coming to college).
• Example from the excerpt: In "My Two-House, Duffel-Bag Life," the narrator's main conflict is her grief and inner struggle to accept her new life after her parents' divorce.

🏗️ Narrative structure: Freytag's Pyramid

🏗️ Overview of the structure

• The excerpt introduces Freytag's Pyramid, a basic storytelling structure that helps keep narratives interesting.
• The pyramid includes stages that build tension and guide the reader through the story.

🎬 Exposition

• What it does: establishes your narrative's characters and setting; sets the stage for your narrative.
• How to use it: hook your reader and introduce or allude to the conflict.
• Don't confuse: exposition introduces the conflict but should not give everything away yet.

🔥 Inciting incident

• What it is: the event that kickstarts the main conflict in your narrative.
• Example: In "My Two-House, Duffel-Bag Life," the moment when the narrator's parents told her of their divorce is the inciting incident that leads to the main conflict (her grief and struggle to accept her new life).

📈 Rising action

• What it does: paints a clearer picture of the narrative's setting and characters; expands on the conflict.
• This stage builds tension and develops the story further.
• (Note: The excerpt cuts off here; no further stages are described.)

🛠️ Applying storytelling skills

🛠️ Where to use storytelling

• In academic writing: engage your reader and illustrate points you are making.
• In other genres: speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, documentaries.
• In various professions: teaching, coaching, business administration, communication, PR, counseling, entrepreneurship.

🛠️ Why the skill matters

• Humans have been telling stories as long as language itself has existed.
• A good story is something we remember—stories leave a lasting impression, inspire us, connect us, and teach us valuable lessons about ourselves and the world.
• Mastering storytelling means you can apply it in few rhetorical situations where it won't be useful.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Structuring a personal narrative around a conflict using Freytag's Pyramid ensures the story remains engaging and builds tension toward a meaningful turning point.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a personal narrative is: a story about you, from your perspective, with reflections on an experience and how it affected you.
• Why conflict matters: structuring around a conflict (internal or external) is the driving force that keeps readers engaged.
• Freytag's Pyramid structure: exposition, inciting incident, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution guide the narrative arc.
• Common confusion: the climax is not just the most intense moment—it must also be a turning point where the narrator makes a choice, discovery, or decisive action.
• Variations are allowed: you don't have to follow chronological order; starting in the middle, using flashbacks, or foreshadowing can also keep the narrative interesting.

📖 What is a personal narrative

📖 Definition and purpose

Personal narrative: a story about you, told from your perspective, with your original thoughts and reflections about an experience and how it affected you.

• It is not just recounting events; it must include reflection on what you learned.
• Purpose: convey something you learned about yourself or the world to your reader.
• Theme: the universal idea your audience can relate to, beyond your unique experience.
• Example: sharing how moving across the country taught you resilience—the theme (resilience) speaks to readers even if they haven't moved.

🎯 Why storytelling matters

• Stories leave a lasting impression; they inspire, connect, and teach lessons.
• Storytelling is useful across many contexts: academic writing, speeches, presentations, cover letters, business plans, podcasts, TED Talks, stand-up comedy, advertisements, films, documentaries.
• As a student, you can use storytelling to engage readers and illustrate points in your writing.

⚔️ The role of conflict

⚔️ What conflict does

Conflict: internal or external factors or struggles you face; the driving force of your narrative that keeps readers engaged.

• Conflicts can be anything: teenage insecurities, getting caught lying, losing a loved one, moving across the country, coming to college, finding your identity.
• Without conflict, the narrative lacks tension and interest.
• Don't confuse: conflict is not just "something bad happened"—it must be a struggle or challenge that propels the story forward.

🏔️ Freytag's Pyramid structure

🏔️ Overview of the pyramid

Freytag's Pyramid is a basic storytelling structure with six stages:

Stage	Purpose
Exposition	Set the stage, introduce characters and setting, hook the reader, allude to conflict
Inciting Incident	The event that kickstarts the main conflict
Rising Action	Build tension, expand on conflict, include a sequence of events
Climax	Point of greatest tension and a turning point (choice, discovery, or decisive action)
Falling Action	Show the aftermath and significant changes from the climax
Resolution	Conclude with reflection on what you learned; tie back to the exposition

🎬 Exposition

• What it does: establishes characters and setting; sets the stage for your narrative.
• How to hook the reader: introduce or allude to the conflict, but don't give everything away yet.
• Example: if your narrative is about adjusting to college, the exposition might describe your hometown and your expectations before arriving.

🔥 Inciting incident

• What it is: the event that kickstarts the main conflict.
• Example from the excerpt: in "My Two-House, Duffel-Bag Life," the moment when the narrator's parents told her of their divorce is the inciting incident that leads to her grief and struggle to accept her new life.
• Don't confuse: the inciting incident is not the climax—it is the trigger that sets the conflict in motion.

📈 Rising action

• What it does: paints a clearer picture of setting and characters; expands on the conflict.
• How it works: includes a sequence of events (not necessarily everything that happened in real life).
• Key requirement: continuously builds tension that propels the narrative toward the climax.
• Example: if the conflict is adjusting to a new school, rising action might include struggling to make friends, feeling homesick, and facing academic challenges.

⚡ Climax

• What it is: the point of greatest tension in your narrative; when things come to a head.
• Critical feature: it must also be a turning point where you make a choice, discovery, or decisive action to address the conflict.
• Don't confuse: the climax is not just "the most dramatic moment"—it must involve a turning point for the narrator.
• Example: deciding to join a club despite fear of rejection, leading to a breakthrough in making friends.

🌅 Falling action

• What it does: shows the aftermath of the climax.
• What to include: whether the conflict was resolved and which significant changes the experience brought about for you.
• Keep it moving: only include the most interesting aspects of the aftermath to maintain forward momentum.

🎯 Resolution

• What it does: presents a resolution and reflects on what you learned from the experience.
• How to conclude: tie the resolution back to the exposition.
• Important note: a conflict does not necessarily have to be completely solved for you to share your story; you might still be waiting for a final resolution.
• Example from the excerpt: "My Two-House, Duffle-Bag Life" is a personal narrative without a fully conclusive resolution.

🎨 Variations and creative techniques

🎨 Breaking chronological order

• You don't have to follow strict chronological order.
• Techniques that work:
  • Starting in medias res (in the middle of the action)
  • Using flashbacks
  • Using foreshadowing
  • Revealing a glimpse of the climax at the beginning to catch the reader's attention
• Example from the excerpt: student Ian Beck begins his narrative by revealing a glimpse of the narrative's point of greatest tension to catch the reader's attention and foreshadow the conflict.
• These variations can be great ways to keep your narrative interesting.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Freytag's Pyramid provides a conflict-driven structure that keeps narratives interesting by building tension from exposition through climax to resolution.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Why structure matters: organizing a narrative around a conflict (internal or external) ensures the story stays engaging for readers.
• The pyramid's flow: the structure moves from exposition (setting the stage) through rising action (building tension) to climax (turning point), then falling action and resolution.
• Climax as turning point: the point of greatest tension should also mark a decisive moment where the narrator makes a choice, discovery, or action.
• Common confusion: resolution does not require the conflict to be fully solved—narratives can end with ongoing struggles or partial resolutions.
• Flexibility in practice: while the pyramid helps organize ideas, variations like starting in medias res, using flashbacks, or revealing tension early can make narratives more compelling.

📖 Why conflict drives narrative

🔥 What conflict means

Conflict: internal or external factors or struggles that the narrator faces.

• Conflict is the driving force that keeps readers engaged.
• It can range widely: teenage insecurities, lying to parents, losing a loved one, moving, starting college, finding identity.
• The excerpt emphasizes that structuring around conflict ensures the narrative stays interesting.

🎯 Universal theme

• A personal narrative should go beyond the individual experience and speak to a universal theme the audience can relate to.
• Reflecting on the theme and what was learned makes the story powerful for both writer and reader.
• Example: sharing your story can inspire others, help them learn, or offer a new perspective.

🏔️ The six stages of Freytag's Pyramid

🎬 Exposition

• Purpose: establish characters and setting; set the stage and hook the reader.
• Often introduces or alludes to the conflict without giving everything away.
• Think of it as the foundation: readers need to know when and where the story takes place.

⚡ Inciting Incident

• Purpose: the event that kickstarts the main conflict.
• Example from the excerpt: in "My Two-House, Duffel-Bag Life," the moment when the narrator's parents announced their divorce serves as the inciting incident, leading to the main conflict of grief and struggle to accept a new life.

📈 Rising Action

• Purpose: paint a clearer picture of setting and characters; expand on the conflict.
• Typically includes a sequence of events (not necessarily everything that happened in real life).
• Must continuously build tension that propels the narrative toward the climax.
• Don't confuse: this is not a complete chronicle—select only events that increase tension.

🌋 Climax

• Purpose: the point of greatest tension when things come to a head.
• Should also be a turning point: the narrator makes a choice, discovery, or decisive action to address the conflict.
• This is the peak of the pyramid—the moment readers have been building toward.

📉 Falling Action

• Purpose: show the aftermath of the climax.
• Address whether the conflict was resolved and what significant changes the experience brought.
• Only include the most interesting aspects to keep the narrative moving forward.

✅ Resolution

• Purpose: present a resolution and reflect on what was learned; conclude the narrative and tie it back to the exposition.
• Important: a conflict does not have to be completely solved for the story to be shared.
• Example: "My Two-House, Duffle-Bag Life" is cited as a personal narrative without a fully conclusive resolution—ongoing struggles are valid endings.

🎨 Bringing the story to life

🖼️ Description and sensory details

• Description is crucial to making the story vivid for readers who were not present.
• Use detailed, sensory language to paint a clear picture and set the mood.
• Example from the excerpt:
  • Weak: "That summer I worked at a farm. The days were long and tough, and the barn smelled terrible."
  • Strong: "The summer I graduated from high school, I worked on my uncle's dairy farm. I remember stumbling out of bed before dawn... the intense smell of one hundred cows in a crowded space overpowered my senses. I will never forget how the smell of fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with the humid air in the barn."
• The revision adds specific information (uncle's dairy farm, one hundred cows), sensory details (smell of manure, humid air), and timing (before dawn).

🗣️ Dialogue and characters

• Dialogue is key to making characters come alive.
• What is said between people can reveal character more effectively than description alone.
• The excerpt notes that personal narratives share elements with fiction: characters, setting, dialogue, and description.

🌍 Setting: when and where

• Establishing setting requires detailed descriptions of time and place.
• Readers rely entirely on your words to understand the scenario.
• Use sensory details, specific information, adjectives, and figurative language to convey the setting clearly.

🔄 Flexibility and variation

🎭 Structural variations

• While Freytag's Pyramid helps organize writing, variations can make narratives more interesting:
  • Telling the story out of chronological order.
  • Beginning in medias res (in the middle of the action).
  • Using flashbacks or foreshadowing.
• Example from the excerpt: student Ian Beck begins his narrative by revealing a glimpse of the climax to catch the reader's attention and foreshadow the conflict before providing traditional exposition.

🧩 The pyramid as a tool

• The pyramid is a framework for organizing ideas, not a rigid formula.
• Writers can "play around" with the structure to find what works best for their story.
• The goal is to keep the narrative interesting and engaging, not to follow a template mechanically.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Personal narratives use fictional storytelling techniques—including description, dialogue, setting, and character development—to bring real-life events to life for readers who were not present to experience them.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core narrative structure: Personal narratives follow a traditional story arc (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution) but can vary with techniques like starting in medias res or using flashbacks.
• Description is crucial: Sensory details, specific information, and figurative language help readers visualize the setting and mood; vague descriptions leave readers without a clear picture.
• Characters need life: Use defining features, character traits, specific behaviors, and body language rather than generic statements to make people real on the page.
• Common confusion: Personal narratives are non-fiction based on real events, but you don't need to include everything that happened—select the most interesting and tension-building moments.
• Balance storytelling and reflection: Narratives can lean more toward pure storytelling or incorporate essay-style reflection on lessons learned.

📐 Narrative structure and arc

📐 Freytag's pyramid framework

The traditional narrative structure includes exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution.

• Exposition: Introduces characters, setting, conflict, and theme; sets the stage for what follows.
• Rising action: A sequence of events that continuously builds tension toward the climax; include only the most interesting aspects, not everything that happened.
• Climax: The point of greatest tension where things "come to a head"; should be a turning point involving a choice, discovery, or decisive action.
• Falling action: Shows the aftermath of the climax and which significant changes the experience brought.
• Resolution: Concludes the narrative with reflection on lessons learned; ties back to the exposition.

Don't confuse: A conflict doesn't have to be completely solved to share your story—you might still be waiting for final resolution.

🎬 Variations in structure

• Starting in medias res (in the middle of action) can hook readers immediately.
• Using flashbacks, foreshadowing, and other narrative devices keeps the narrative interesting.
• Telling the story out of chronological order can build engagement.

Example: Ian Beck's narrative begins by revealing a glimpse of the climax (vomiting into a bush), catching attention and foreshadowing conflict before providing traditional exposition.

🎨 Setting: When and where

🎨 Painting a clear picture

Setting: When and where your story takes place, established through detailed descriptions that paint a clear picture and set the mood.

• Your reader was not there with you, so they only have your words to guide them.
• Use sensory details, specific information, adjectives, and figurative language.
• Vague descriptions fail to create a vivid scene.

🔄 Before and after example

Weak setting description:

• "That summer I worked at a farm. The days were long and tough, and the barn smelled terrible."
• Missing: What type of farm? What time of day? What specifically made it smell terrible?

Strong setting description:

• Specifies "dairy farm," "stumbling out of bed before dawn," "big red barn"
• Uses sensory details: "intense smell of one hundred cows," "fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with humid air"
• Provides context: "The summer I graduated from high school"

The revised version lets readers who have never been in a barn picture the setting clearly.

👥 Characters: Making people real

👥 Defining features and traits

• Personal narratives typically include only a few characters, often people important to you.
• Readers don't know these people or understand their significance unless you convey it on the page.

How to make characters come alive:

• Think of two or three defining features, character traits, or behaviors that stand out.
• Use unique, specific details rather than generic statements.

Example: Instead of "My grandmother was the nicest person in the world" (which anyone could claim), describe her soft hands and mild eyes, the way she makes double-layered Nutella sandwiches, or how she played UNO at the kitchen table.

🎭 Body language and telling details

Telling details: Short, precise descriptions that convey how a character is feeling without directly stating it.

• Body language shows rather than tells character emotions.
• Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks" example: Instead of stating "Robert was embarrassed," she writes "Robert looked down," "Robert's face reddened," and "Robert grunted and looked away."
• That's all we need to fully understand the character's emotional state.

💬 Dialogue: What characters say

💬 Revealing character through speech

• Dialogue is key to making characters come alive.
• What is said between two people can tell readers more about who the characters are than description alone.
• Strategic use of dialogue can slow the narrative at crucial moments (like the climax).

Example: In Ian Beck's narrative, at the climax when he's vomiting, the dialogue "Hold up, everyone. Ian needs our help" slows the action and emphasizes the turning point.

🤝 Dialogue as turning point

• A friend's offer "Need a hand, Ian?" near the summit represents the internal shift in the narrator.
• The narrator's acceptance of help shows character growth: he's no longer "the Ian who prided himself on independence."

✍️ Balancing storytelling and reflection

✍️ Two narrative styles

Style	Characteristics	Example
Traditional narrative	Emphasizes storytelling with brief reflection at the end	Ian Beck's "Climbing a Mountain"
Narrative essay	Combines narrative elements with essay structure and more extensive reflection	Jax Lucchese's "Being Trans with an Eating Disorder"

• The balance between storytelling and personal reflection is largely up to you (and your assignment requirements).
• Both approaches are valid; check with your professor about preferred style.

🎯 Universal themes

• Personal narratives work best when they connect to universal, relatable themes.
• Ian Beck's narrative: Battling pride and shame, learning to accept help from others.
• Jax Lucchese's narrative: Identity struggles, feeling isolated, finding purpose through adversity.

Don't confuse: Personal reflection doesn't mean you need to explain every detail—sometimes brief reflection is more powerful than extensive analysis.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Setting in personal narrative requires detailed description of when and where the story takes place so that readers who were not present can visualize the scene and feel its mood.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What setting establishes: the when and where of your narrative, painted through detailed descriptions.
• Why description matters: your reader was not there with you, so only your words can guide them to see and feel the scenario.
• How to improve setting: add sensory details, specific information, adjectives, and figurative language instead of vague statements.
• Common confusion: stating facts ("the barn smelled terrible") vs. showing details ("the smell of fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with the humid air")—the latter creates a clearer picture.
• Setting's dual role: it both paints a clear picture of the scenario and sets the mood for your reader.

🎨 What setting does in personal narrative

🎨 The core function

Setting: when and where your story takes place.

• Personal narrative is non-fiction based on real-life events, but it borrows elements from fictional storytelling—including setting, characters, dialogue, and description.
• Setting is not just background information; it is crucial to bringing your story to life for your reader.
• The excerpt emphasizes that description is the tool that makes setting vivid.

🖼️ Painting a clear picture

• Your reader was not there with you, so they will only have your words to guide them.
• Let your words paint a clear picture of the scenario.
• Setting also sets the mood for your reader—not just the physical location, but the atmosphere and feeling of the moment.

🔍 How to write effective setting

🔍 Use detailed descriptions

• When establishing the setting, use detailed descriptions to convey when and where the narrative takes place.
• Avoid vague or generic statements that leave the reader guessing.
• Example: Instead of "That summer I worked at a farm. The days were long and tough, and the barn smelled terrible," provide specifics about the type of farm, the time of day, and sensory details.

🌟 Add sensory details and specific information

The excerpt contrasts a weak first draft with a stronger revision to illustrate what "detailed description" means:

First draft (vague)	Revised version (detailed)
"That summer I worked at a farm."	"The summer I graduated from high school, I worked on my uncle's dairy farm."
"The days were long and tough."	"I remember stumbling out of bed before dawn and driving through the dark to get to his farm in time for the first milking."
"The barn smelled terrible."	"Stepping into the big red barn, the intense smell of one hundred cows in a crowded space overpowered my senses. I will never forget how the smell of fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with the humid air in the barn."

• The revision adds:
  • Specific information: type of farm (dairy), reason for being there (uncle's favor to mom), time (after high school graduation, before dawn).
  • Sensory details: the smell of fresh manure and wet cattle, the humid air, the visual of the big red barn.
  • Adjectives and figurative language: "stumbling out of bed," "overpowered my senses," "intense smell."

🧩 What to include

The excerpt asks: "What's missing? Which details could we add to give our reader a better understanding of the setting?"

Consider adding:

• Sensory details (sight, sound, smell, touch, taste).
• Specific information (exact type of place, time of day, reason for being there).
• Adjectives that convey mood and atmosphere.
• Figurative language that helps the reader feel the experience.

⚠️ Don't confuse stating with showing

• Stating: "The barn smelled terrible" tells the reader a fact but does not help them experience it.
• Showing: "The smell of fresh manure and wet cattle mixed with the humid air" lets the reader imagine and almost smell the scene themselves.
• The excerpt emphasizes that showing through sensory details creates a clearer picture than simply stating facts.

🛠️ Practice: adding descriptive details

🛠️ The activity example

The excerpt provides a minimal scenario for practice:

I went to the store to buy milk for my mom. The store was located near our house, but a few blocks seemed like a long way to me.

🛠️ Questions to ask yourself

To add a layer of description, the excerpt suggests asking:

• What kind of milk did the mom need?
• What store did the narrator go to?
• How old is he/she/they?
• Why do a few blocks seem "like a long way"?
• Was it raining?

🛠️ The goal

• Don't worry about exaggerating; just add as much description as you possibly can and have fun with it.
• The exercise encourages experimenting with different descriptive and stylistic choices and observing their effects.
• Example: Instead of "a few blocks seemed like a long way," you might write "the three blocks felt endless to my six-year-old legs" or "the rain turned the sidewalk into a slippery obstacle course."

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Setting and other narrative elements

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Setting works alongside characters and dialogue

• The excerpt notes that personal narrative has several elements borrowed from fictional storytelling: characters, setting, dialogue, and description.
• Description is crucial to bringing your story to life; dialogue is key to making your characters come alive.
• Setting provides the stage on which characters act and speak.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Setting supports the overall narrative structure

• The excerpt mentions that personal narratives often follow a structure (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution).
• Setting is typically established during the exposition, but it continues to influence mood and atmosphere throughout the narrative.
• Don't confuse: setting is not just a one-time detail at the beginning; it can evolve and be re-described as the narrative progresses (e.g., the barn at dawn vs. the barn after a long day of work).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Personal narratives require writers to make characters feel real and alive to readers through specific, unique details rather than generic statements, using physical features, character traits, behaviors, and body language to convey who people are and how they feel.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The core challenge: readers don't know the people in your narrative or why they matter unless you show them on the page.
• How to make characters real: identify two or three defining features, traits, or behaviors that stand out when you think of the person.
• Unique details over generic claims: instead of stating "My grandmother was the nicest person in the world," use specific sensory details and actions that only your grandmother does.
• Common confusion: don't confuse telling ("Robert was embarrassed") with showing through body language and telling details ("Robert's face reddened," "Robert looked down").
• Why it matters: specific, precise descriptions allow readers to fully understand characters without needing direct statements about feelings or traits.

🎭 The challenge of bringing characters to life

🎭 Why readers need help

• Personal narratives typically include only a few characters, often people important to the writer.
• The excerpt emphasizes: your reader does not know them or understand their significance to you unless you convey this on the page.
• It is not an easy task to make a person seem real and alive.
• Without specific details, characters remain abstract and generic.

🤔 The starting question

A good place to start is considering what you always think of when you think of this person.

• Think of two or three defining features, character traits, or behaviors that stand out about the person.
• These should be the details that come to mind first when you picture them.

🖼️ Building characters through specific details

🖼️ Physical features and traits

The excerpt uses a grandmother example to illustrate the principle:

• Physical features: soft hands, mild eyes.
• Behaviors: makes sure you have clean sheets when you sleep over, makes double-layered Nutella sandwiches after school, played UNO with you at the kitchen table when you were young.
• These are unique details that distinguish this grandmother from others.

❌ Generic statements vs. ✅ Unique details

Approach	Example	Effect
Generic statement	"My grandmother was the nicest person in the world"	Many people could claim this; doesn't make the character real
Unique details	Soft hands, mild eyes, double-layered Nutella sandwiches, UNO at the kitchen table	Brings the grandmother to life; shows rather than tells

• The excerpt warns: instead of simply stating a generic claim, use those unique details in your description to bring your character to life.

🎯 The selection principle

• Focus on what you always think of when you think of this person.
• Two or three defining features are enough; you don't need an exhaustive list.
• Example: if you're writing about a person, note two or three physical features, two or three character traits, and one thing this person would often do.

🎬 Showing through body language and telling details

🎬 What are telling details?

Telling details: short, precise descriptions that convey how a character is feeling.

• The excerpt uses Amy Tan's essay "Fish Cheeks" as an example.
• Instead of directly stating that Robert (a young teenage boy) is embarrassed, Tan writes:
  • "Robert looked down"
  • "Robert's face reddened"
  • "Robert grunted and looked away"
• The excerpt emphasizes: That's all we get, but it's all we need to fully understand how Robert is feeling.

🔍 Show, don't tell

• Don't confuse: telling the reader a character's emotion ("Robert was embarrassed") vs. showing through body language and actions.
• Describing body language is a great way to better show a character to your reader.
• The reader infers the emotion from the physical details rather than being told directly.

🎯 Why this works

• Short, precise descriptions are more powerful than direct statements.
• Body language and physical reactions convey feelings without needing explicit labels.
• Example: face reddening, looking down, grunting, and looking away all signal embarrassment without the word "embarrassed" appearing.

📝 Practical application

📝 The character description process

The excerpt outlines a step-by-step approach:

1. Close your eyes and think of a person in your life you want to describe.
2. Note two or three physical features that come to mind.
3. Jot down two or three character traits and one thing this person would often do.
4. Use your notes to draft a short paragraph that introduces this person to someone who does not know them.

🎯 The goal

• Introduce the person to someone who does not know them.
• Make the character feel real and alive through specific, unique details.
• Avoid generic statements that could apply to anyone.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The excerpt demonstrates how effective personal narratives use specific sensory details, body language, and structural techniques like in medias res to show rather than tell character emotions and conflicts.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Show, don't tell: Use unique, concrete details (soft hands, Nutella sandwiches, UNO games) instead of generic claims ("nicest person").
• Body language reveals emotion: Precise physical actions (looking down, face reddening) convey feelings without stating them directly.
• Two narrative styles: Short-story format (traditional structure, dialogue) vs. narrative essay (combines storytelling + essay structure); check assignment requirements.
• Common confusion: Don't confuse telling details with vague generalizations—"Robert looked down" is specific; "Robert was embarrassed" is generic.
• In medias res hook: Starting in the middle of action (e.g., vomiting into a bush) grabs reader attention immediately.

✍️ Show, don't tell techniques

🖼️ Specific sensory details

• The excerpt contrasts a generic statement ("My grandmother was the nicest person in the world") with vivid, unique details.
• Effective details include:
  • Physical sensations: soft hands, mild eyes
  • Actions: making double-layered Nutella sandwiches, playing UNO at the kitchen table
  • Context: clean sheets when you sleep over, after-school care
• Why it works: These details are unique to your grandmother, not something "many people could claim."
• Example: Instead of "She was kind," write "She made sure you had clean sheets when you slept over."

🎭 Body language instead of emotion labels

Telling details: short, precise descriptions that convey character feelings through physical actions.

• Amy Tan's "Fish Cheeks" example shows how to reveal embarrassment without naming it:
  • "Robert looked down"
  • "Robert's face reddened"
  • "Robert grunted and looked away"
• The excerpt emphasizes: "That's all we get, but it's all we need to fully understand how Robert is feeling."
• Don't confuse: Stating "Robert was embarrassed" tells; showing his physical reactions lets the reader infer the emotion.

📝 Activity guidance

The excerpt includes a practical exercise:

1. Close your eyes and think of a person
2. Note 2–3 physical features
3. Jot down 2–3 character traits
4. Note one thing this person often does
5. Draft a short paragraph introducing them using these notes

📖 Two narrative formats

📚 Short-story style (Ian Beck example)

• Uses traditional narrative structure
• Includes description and dialogue
• Follows story conventions (exposition, rising action, conflict)
• Example provided: "Climbing a Mountain" by Ian Beck

📄 Narrative essay style (Jax Lucchese example)

• Combines storytelling elements with essay structure
• Example mentioned: "Being Trans with an Eating Disorder"
• Blends narrative techniques with analytical/reflective essay components

⚠️ Check assignment requirements

• The excerpt warns: "professors can differ on what style they prefer"
• Students must verify with their professor or assignment details which format to use
• Both styles are valid; the choice depends on the specific assignment

🎬 In medias res technique

🎬 What it means and how it works

In medias res: Latin for "in the middle"; a device that drops the reader into the middle of the action.

• Ian Beck's opening: "I clutched my stomach, doubling over, and threw up into a scrubby bush, seemingly alone in the sparse forest of New Mexico."
• Purpose: Hooks the reader immediately with dramatic action
• Creates questions in the reader's mind (Why is he vomiting? Where is he? What happened?)

🗺️ Exposition follows the hook

After the dramatic opening, Ian provides context:

• Setting details: "sparse forest of New Mexico," "dry and dusty deserts, dense forests, and the dreaded mountains of the Philmont Scout Ranch"
• Time frame: "Two years prior, not long after my 15th birthday"
• Situation: Nearly 100-mile trek with 45-pound backpack
• Characters: "a group of my fellow Scouts"

🧗 Conflict setup in Ian's narrative

🧗 External conflict

• Physical challenge: climbing a mountain, carrying a 45-pound backpack
• Falling behind peers during practice trips
• The excerpt notes: "I was a less avid backpacker than my peers"
• Viewed training trips "as a competition I was losing"

💭 Internal conflict

• Pride in independence: "I greatly prided myself on my independence, my ability to just grin and bear it through any challenges life threw at me"
• Realization of limitations: "However, I soon realized that I was a less avid backpacker than my peers"
• The excerpt indicates the narrative explores "letting go of his pride and accepting help from others"

🔍 How conflict is alluded to

• The excerpt explains Ian "alludes to both internal and external conflicts" in the exposition
• He doesn't state conflicts directly; instead, he shows them through:
  • His self-description (priding himself on independence)
  • Contrasting his abilities with peers
  • Describing practice trips as a losing competition

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Ian Beck's narrative demonstrates that accepting help from others during a physically and emotionally challenging mountain climb reveals strength in relationships rather than personal weakness.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The dual challenge: Beck faces both the external challenge of a 100-mile trek with a 45-pound backpack and the internal conflict of pride versus accepting help.
• Pride as obstacle: Beck initially prided himself on independence and "grinning and bearing it," viewing training as a competition he was losing.
• The turning point: When illness strikes during the climb, Beck must choose between stubborn independence and accepting his team's help.
• Common confusion: Needing help does not equal weakness—the narrative shows that accepting support demonstrates the strength of relationships, not personal failure.
• The lesson learned: By the summit, Beck realizes that leaning on others reveals relational strength rather than individual weakness.

🏔️ The setup and preparation

🎯 The challenge ahead

• At age 15, Beck signed up for a nearly 100-mile trek through Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico.
• The journey would cross deserts, dense forests, and mountains with a 45-pound backpack.
• The narrative uses "in medias res" (starting in the middle of action) by opening with Beck vomiting into a bush, then flashing back to explain how he got there.

🧗 Training reveals weakness

• Throughout fall and winter 2019, the group took practice trips on Appalachian trails.
• Beck "consistently fell behind" his crew during training.
• He viewed the preparation trips as "a competition I was losing."
• Don't confuse: Beck's struggle wasn't lack of effort—he trained for two years—but rather that he was "a less avid backpacker than my peers."

💪 The internal conflict established

Beck "greatly prided myself on my independence, my ability to just grin and bear it through any challenges life threw at me."

• This pride becomes the central internal obstacle.
• The narrative establishes that Beck is a "team player" willing to help others but struggles to ask for help in return.

🌄 The journey begins

🚶 Early days without incident

• The first few days passed "without mishap."
• Two years of training prepared their bodies for the walking.
• Evenings included activities like blacksmithing and railroad building at staffed campsites.
• They told stories around campfires when deep in the wilderness.

🌌 The night before the mountain

• On the sixth night (halfway point), the camp fell silent.
• The group gazed at "the most beautiful night sky we had ever seen."
• They went to bed much earlier than usual, needing to wake at 4 AM.
• "We were too nervous to talk" while finishing their MREs (meals ready to eat).
• Telling detail: The silence reveals their collective anxiety more powerfully than words could.

🥶 A rough start

• The camp was at their highest elevation so far, but still over 4,000 feet below the summit.
• Beck shivered in his sleeping bag, "fitfully turning over, trying to get warm."
• The morning air was "dry" and "biting through our clothes."
• Breakfast was minimal—a granola bar and jerky stick—because "we needed to move."
• Starting late would mean "Hell on Earth, trudging under the blaze of the sun."

🤢 The crisis point

😰 Illness strikes

• Beck felt something was wrong as soon as they started walking.
• His stomach "roiled" and the jambalaya from the night before "was trying to burn its way out."
• Physical symptoms: weak knees, light head, dizziness.
• They hadn't reached the mountain proper yet, only climbing uphill through foothills.

🙅 Pride prevents asking for help

• Beck got so dizzy he had to stop.
• Despite his condition, he was "still too foolishly stubborn to stop and ask for help."
• He wouldn't ask the others to wait for him.
• This moment represents the peak of his internal conflict—physical need versus emotional pride.

🤮 The climax

"I doubled over, and the jambalaya made its return."

• Beck vomited (returning to the opening scene).
• Someone called out: "Hold up, everyone. Ian needs our help."
• Strategic use of dialogue: This moment slows the narrative at its point of greatest tension.

🤝 Accepting help

💊 The team responds

• An adult leader gave Beck nausea medication and ensured he drank water.
• They took his gear and redistributed about fifteen pounds to other team members.
• This mirrored how Beck had helped another struggling member days earlier.
• The medicine and lighter pack helped, allowing them to move again soon.

😳 Shame and reflection

• Beck felt "weak, a drag on the whole team."
• His cheeks burned with what he "felt was shame."
• In hindsight, he notes it may have been fever from his illness.
• Key realization: "Without the team, I would not have been able to even make it to the base of the mountain we were supposed to be climbing."

⛰️ Reaching the summit

👀 First sight of Mount Baldy

• After "the longest hour" of Beck's life, they rounded a corner and saw Mount Baldy.
• Height: 12,441 feet above sea level, the highest point in Philmont.
• Beck's reaction: "It was beautiful. Adrenaline flooded my system."
• His stomachache seemed to disappear as they got closer.

🪨 The final push

• At the tree line, ground changed from grass and dirt to "bare, loose rock."
• Beck realized they'd been climbing the mountain the whole time—only 2,000 feet remained.
• They had hiked over fifty miles that week, but this last part would be "the most grueling by far."
• They used hiking poles, "scrabbling up steep, slick rock."

🤲 The symbolic moment

• Beck was "mere steps from the end" at a particularly steep stretch.
• His friend ahead offered: "Need a hand, Ian?"
• Beck "almost brushed him off, like I usually would have."
• The shift: "But something in me seemed to have shifted. I took his hand and let him help me pull through and finish our climb."

💡 The lesson learned

🏔️ Reflection at the summit

• Sitting nearly three miles in the sky with views stretching for miles, Beck made connections.
• The central realization:

"It does not make us weak to need to lean on those around us, rather it shows the strength of the relationships we have."

🔄 Transformation complete

• Beck is no longer the person "who prided himself on independence."
• He now understands how to lean on friends.
• The physical achievement (climbing the mountain) serves as backdrop to the internal growth.
• Balance note: Beck chooses brief reflection rather than extensive analysis, letting the story's actions speak for themselves.

✍️ Narrative techniques used

📖 Structural choices

Technique	How Beck uses it	Effect
In medias res	Opens with vomiting scene, then flashes back	Hooks reader immediately with action
Specific details	"45-pound backpack," "12,441 feet," "fifteen pounds redistributed"	Creates vivid, credible picture
Selective storytelling	Covers two years of training briefly, focuses on key moments	Avoids tedious step-by-step account
Dialogue	Used sparingly at climactic moments	Slows narrative for emphasis

🎨 Building tension

• Continuous reminders of the challenge: "Tomorrow, we would climb a mountain."
• Sensory imagery: "dry chill of the morning air biting through our clothes."
• Telling details: silence in camp reveals nervousness better than explicit statements.
• Escalating physical symptoms: from unease to dizziness to vomiting.

🎭 Dual conflict structure

• External conflict: Physical challenge of the mountain, illness, harsh conditions.
• Internal conflict: Pride, independence, shame, difficulty accepting help.
• The two conflicts intertwine—physical need forces confrontation with emotional barriers.
• Resolution of internal conflict (accepting help) enables resolution of external conflict (reaching summit).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Jax Lucchese's narrative reveals how being transgender made his eating disorder uniquely difficult to treat because standard recovery goals (restoring periods, developing feminine features) conflicted with his gender identity, leading him to become his own advocate and commit to helping others in similar situations.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The core conflict: Jax's eating disorder served as a way to control his body and reduce feminine features, making traditional recovery goals (e.g., regaining periods, breast development) harmful rather than motivating.
• Treatment failure: The residential treatment team did not understand or address the unique intersection of being transgender and having an eating disorder, despite the trans community being heavily affected by EDs.
• Common confusion: Standard eating disorder treatment assumes cisgender patients and frames recovery around restoring feminine bodily functions, which can be counterproductive for transgender patients.
• Personal transformation: The experience of inadequate treatment led Jax to realize he wasn't alone and inspired his mission to raise awareness and help other trans people with eating disorders.

🧩 The intersection of gender identity and eating disorders

🧩 Early relationship with control

• As a child, Jax had a complicated relationship with gender but couldn't articulate his feelings about identity.
• The one area where he felt control over his life was through his body and food.
• At the time, he was unaware this would develop into one of his greatest challenges.

🏳️‍⚧️ Realization and escalation

• In junior year of high school, Jax realized he was transgender—born a woman but not identifying as one.
• This realization was both clarifying ("my whole life made sense again") and devastating ("made my world come crashing down").
• This period coincided with his worst struggles with the eating disorder.
• Key insight from the excerpt: "being trans made my struggles with disordered eating unique."

🔍 How the eating disorder served gender dysphoria

For Jax, the eating disorder was "a way to make my appearance match what I felt I was on the inside."

• When ill, feminine features like breasts were "not as apparent and mostly gone."
• His period disappeared, eliminating "the monthly reminder of my birth sex."
• He describes: "My body was slowly dying, but I finally felt that I could see who I really was on the outside."
• Don't confuse: This is not a typical eating disorder motivation (weight/appearance in general terms); it is specifically about aligning physical presentation with gender identity.

🏥 Treatment failure and systemic gaps

🏥 The residential treatment experience

• A week after his 16th birthday, Jax was admitted to an eating disorder residential treatment facility for almost two months.
• He describes every day as "horrid" and eventually required a feeding tube for a month to survive.
• The treatment team included a psychiatrist, nutritionist, and therapist, but "all had no clue how to help me."

🚫 Punishment-based approach

The treatment team took a punitive approach when Jax didn't comply:

• Attended all required groups and meetings
• Talked about his feelings
• But did not listen to or follow their recommendations
• Consequences included:
  • No phone calls home
  • No visitors
  • No email contact
  • Eventually no therapist sessions
• Left with only other struggling residents to talk to

❌ Why standard treatment failed

The excerpt emphasizes: "no one would listen to why I was struggling more than their other clients."

Standard recovery messaging that harmed rather than helped:

Standard ED recovery goal	Why it motivated cisgender women	Why it harmed Jax
Regaining your period	Seen as health restoration, future fertility	Monthly reminder of birth sex he wanted to avoid
Developing feminine features (breasts)	Made most women happy	Made features he wanted to minimize more apparent
Ability to have a child	Positive future goal	Not aligned with his identity

• Jax notes: "these reasons did more harm than good to me."
• The question he poses: "So, how was I supposed to look at these things coming back as a positive side of recovery?"

🔍 The knowledge gap

"Not many people who have experience working with people with eating disorders know much about the unique struggles of trans people with eating disorders."

• The trans community is "one of the most affected groups by eating disorders," yet their struggles are not widely known.
• Transgender people have only recently begun to be accepted in some places, while "majority of other places are against us even existing."
• The excerpt concludes: "It should not be surprising then that not many people know how to help trans people in their unique struggles with eating disorders."

💡 Personal transformation and mission

💡 Self-directed recovery

• Having to be "basically my own therapist" led to important realizations:
  • Understanding why his team couldn't help him
  • Recognizing his struggles were unique compared to others around him
  • Discovering he wasn't alone—many other trans people were going through similar experiences
  • Realizing others also felt isolated in their unique situation

🎯 The mission that emerged

Jax made a pivotal decision:

"I told myself that if I could be the person I needed to hear from when no one else could understand what I was going through."

• The dream of helping and raising awareness for transgender people with eating disorders arose from this experience.
• From that day forward, his mission has been:
  • Raise awareness for this cause
  • Help as many people as possible in the future
• The excerpt notes Jax wants to open a nonprofit organization for transgender people with eating disorders.

🔄 From isolation to advocacy

• Example of transformation: experiencing inadequate treatment → recognizing a systemic gap → committing to fill that gap for others.
• The narrative shows how personal suffering can become the foundation for advocacy work.
• Don't confuse: This is not simply "recovery"; it is recovery with purpose—using his experience to address the lack of trans-competent eating disorder treatment.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A writing topic is not a fixed endpoint but an evolving starting point that provides direction while remaining open to change throughout the writing and research process.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a topic is: the subject or focus of what you are writing about, which varies by genre (a question to answer, a plot, a broad or narrow subject).
• Topics are fluid, not fixed: they evolve as you draft, research, read feedback, and think—so writers should expect and embrace changes.
• The hardest part: choosing a topic is often the most difficult step when beginning a writing project, especially when given freedom.
• Common confusion: a topic is not the same as a thesis statement (for research) or a complete plot (for narrative)—it is the beginning that guides those elements.
• Why it matters: a well-considered topic provides inspiration and direction, helping writers develop strong thesis statements or narratives.

🌀 The nature of topics

🌀 Topics as beginnings, not endings

A topic is what you are writing about.

• The chapter borrows from fantasy author Robert Jordan's idea: "There are neither beginnings nor endings... But it was a beginning."
• Applied to writing: "There are neither beginnings nor endings to topics. But a topic is a beginning."
• A topic provides an onramp to the writing process—it offers direction and inspiration.
• It is not finite or "set in stone"; topics shift as you write, research, and revise.

🔄 How topics evolve

Topics change according to:

• New research you read
• Creative inspirations you encounter
• Conversations with other writers who read your drafts
• Your own evolving thought process

Don't confuse: A topic is not a final product. Even after you settle on one, expect it to transform as you work through drafting and feedback.

Example: You might start with a broad topic like "sports," then narrow it to "funding of women's professional athletics" as you research and refine your focus.

🎯 Choosing a topic

🎯 The challenge of choice

• Choosing a topic is often the most difficult decision when beginning a writing project.
• The difficulty is especially present when writers have freedom to choose their own topic.
• Some writers find it easier when choosing from a list of potential ideas; others struggle when given no direction.
• Common reaction: "There's so much I want to say, but I don't even know where to begin."

🧭 Freedom and constraints

The chapter addresses three scenarios:

Scenario	Writer's task
Choosing your own topic	Full freedom; must generate and select ideas
Choosing from a list	Moderate freedom; must evaluate and pick from options
Assigned a specific topic	Limited freedom; but still room to make choices within the topic

• Even when assigned a topic, writers can make decisions about angle, focus, and approach.

🛠️ Methods for exploring ideas

🛠️ Making a list

• One method introduced: make a list to think through potential ideas.
• Spoken word poet Sara Kay (from a TED Talk titled "If I Should Have a Daughter") suggests: "make a list of at least three things" you know to be true.
• This technique helps unlock the creative process of deciding on a topic.
• The chapter promises to introduce "various tips and tricks" and "different methods writers use to explore potential writing ideas."

📐 Considering genre and audience

• The chapter emphasizes the importance of considering genre and audience when exploring potential topics.
• What shape a topic takes will vary greatly depending on the genre:
  • For a research paper: the topic might be the answer to a question or lead to a thesis statement.
  • For a narrative: the topic might be the plot of a story.
• Genre influences how you develop and present your topic.

🔍 Narrowing broad topics

• Writers take broader topics and narrow them down as they develop ideas.
• Example given: starting with "sports" (broad) and narrowing to "funding of women's professional athletics" (narrow).
• Topics constantly evolve throughout the writing and research process.
• The chapter will explore how to develop original topic ideas and make them take fuller shape as you write.

💡 Why topics matter

💡 Direction and inspiration

• A good topic helps writers deliver:
  • A solid thesis statement (for research papers with a hypothesis to prove)
  • An airtight plot (for creative narratives that tell a story)
• Topics provide both inspiration and direction for the writing process.

💡 Topics guide, not dictate

• A topic is a beginning, not a conclusion.
• It should guide your writing but remain flexible enough to accommodate new insights and changes.
• Writing choices are "never finite"; they guide writers to developing original ideas and making them take fuller shape.

Don't confuse: A topic with a thesis or a complete narrative—the topic is the starting point that helps you build those elements, not the final argument or story itself.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Topics evolve throughout the writing process, and writers can generate strong starting points by listing personal truths and expanding on them through looping.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Topics are fluid: they will change as you draft, research, converse with others, and think through your ideas—they are never set in stone.
• What a topic is: the subject or "what" you are writing about; it can be broad or narrow, a question's answer, or a story's plot.
• Listing and looping method: list at least three things you know to be true, then return to each idea and add specific details to develop potential topics.
• Personal investment helps: writing on topics you know or care about lends confidence and makes the process easier.
• Common confusion: relying too heavily on familiar topics can limit your best thinking—balance what you know with openness to new ideas.

📝 What a topic is and why it changes

📝 Definition of a topic

A topic is what you are writing about.

• The shape varies by genre: it might be an answer to a question, a story's plot, or a subject area.
• Topics can be broad (e.g., sports) or narrow (e.g., funding of women's professional athletics).
• A well-researched, thought-through topic provides an "onramp" to the writing process.

🔄 Topics evolve as you write

• The excerpt emphasizes: "topics can and will change as you draft your writing."
• Influences on topic evolution include:
  • New research you read
  • Creative inspirations
  • Conversations with other writers reviewing your drafts
  • Your own thought process
• Don't confuse: a topic is not a fixed endpoint; it is a starting point that grows and shifts.
• Example: you begin with "sports" and, through research and reflection, narrow to "funding inequities in women's professional athletics."

🗂️ The listing and looping method

🗂️ How to generate topics by listing

• Borrowed from spoken word poet Sara Kay: list at least three things you know to be true.
• This method works for both creative pieces and academic research essays.
• Example from the excerpt (for a literacy narrative assignment):
  1. I learned to read before I learned to write.
  2. I was not always the writer I am today.
  3. Several English teachers changed my life as educators.
• Each item on the list becomes a potential topic or plot.

🔁 Looping: returning to extend your ideas

Looping: returning to an idea you have already written down and expanding it with more specific details.

• After the initial list, revisit each item and add concrete information.
• Example of looping from the excerpt:
  1. The first book I ever read was Little Bear by Maurice Sendak. I was five years old.
  2. I failed at least one composition class as an undergraduate at Kutztown University.
  3. I teach composition now because of my English educators in high school, particularly my 12th-grade AP English teacher.
• Any of these extended ideas are acceptable topics; there is room to explore and grow each one.
• Tip: notice which idea was easiest to expand—consider using that for your writing topic.

💡 Writing from personal investment

💡 Why personal topics help

• The excerpt states: "choosing topics that we are personally invested in will make writing significantly easier."
• Writing on a topic you know lends confidence.
• Each example in the excerpt's lists reflects personal experiences, which provide authenticity and depth.

⚖️ Balancing familiarity and new thinking

• Caution: relying too heavily on what feels familiar can limit your best thinking.
• The excerpt warns (quoting Booth et al.): "You may be tempted to rely too heavily on what feels familiar... falling back on that kind of certainty will just keep you from doing your best thinking."
• Risk: some writers repeat the same arguments or stories over and over, forgetting that writing is meant to share ideas, challenge perspectives, and explore new fields.
• Don't confuse: personal expertise is valuable, but it should not prevent you from pursuing new ideas or learning new areas.
• Example: a writer who always argues the same point in every essay may miss opportunities to grow intellectually.

🗣️ Talking through your topic

• Professor John Stanley's advice: "the best way to think through a topic is to talk about it with others."
• He encourages students to share and develop their ideas with classmates after grappling with the topic themselves.
• This collaborative process mirrors how researchers refine their own work.

🎯 Practical takeaways

🎯 Steps to choose a topic

1. List: write down at least three things you know to be true.
2. Loop: return to each item and add specific, concrete details.
3. Reflect: notice which idea was easiest to expand; consider that as your starting topic.
4. Discuss: share your developing ideas with others to refine and challenge your thinking.

🎯 What to remember

• Topics are starting points, not fixed destinations—they will evolve.
• Personal investment and knowledge are strengths, but remain open to new directions.
• Writing is not isolated; it exists to share, challenge, and learn.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Writers should balance familiar topics with exploration of new ideas, because relying too heavily on what they already know can prevent their best thinking and limit growth.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The temptation of familiarity: writers may fall back on comfortable topics and repeat the same arguments over and over.
• The risk of expertise: knowing a lot about a topic can actually deprive writers of pursuing new ideas, arguments, or fields of study.
• How to balance: start with what you know, but combine it with what you don't know—relate unfamiliar material to your own experiences or expand familiar topics into new territory.
• Common confusion: "write what you know" does not mean "only write what you know"—topics are not permanent, and you can always switch if exploration becomes too difficult.
• Why it matters: taking risks with topics helps you learn about yourself, discover what you are capable of writing, and keeps writing fun.

⚠️ The problem with relying on what you know

⚠️ Falling back on certainty

According to Booth et al., "You may be tempted to rely too heavily on what feels familiar... falling back on that kind of certainty will just keep you from doing your best thinking."

• Familiarity feels safe, but it can block deeper or more creative thinking.
• Beginning researchers who succeed with one kind of argument often "just keep making it over and over."
• The excerpt warns that this repetition limits intellectual growth.

🔁 Circulating the same ideas

• Many writers repeat the same ideas across multiple pieces.
• Writers sometimes forget that writing exists to share ideas with others and challenge other perspectives, not just to restate what they already believe.
• Example: A writer who always argues the same position in every essay, rather than exploring new angles or counterarguments.

🚧 How expertise can limit you

• Being an expert in a field or topic can actually deprive you of pursuing new ideas, arguments, or stories.
• Personal investment in a topic can make it harder to see beyond your existing viewpoint.
• Don't confuse: "write what you know" with "only write what you already know well"—the goal is to grow, not to stay in one place.

🌱 The case for exploring new ideas

🌱 Taking risks with topics

• Kay (from a TED talk) says: "…it is tempting to keep writing the same poem, or keep telling the same story, over and over...you have to grow and explore and take risks and challenge yourself."
• You never know what you might learn about yourself or what you are capable of writing until you try something unfamiliar.
• The excerpt emphasizes that writing is "most fun" when you combine what you know with what you don't.

🔄 Topics are not permanent

• If you explore an unfamiliar topic and struggle, you can always return to something more comfortable.
• This flexibility removes the pressure: trying something new is low-risk because you can change direction.
• Example: A student starts researching a topic outside their major, finds it too difficult, and switches back to a topic within their field—no harm done.

🧩 How to balance the familiar and the unfamiliar

🧩 Combining what you know with what you don't

The excerpt recommends two strategies:

Strategy	Description	Benefit
Expand familiar topics	Take an aspect you already know and push into new territory	Builds on existing knowledge while growing
Relate unfamiliar to personal experience	Take something you don't know and connect it to your own life	Makes new material accessible and meaningful

• You should not be deterred from writing about topics within your field or from personal experiences—just be careful not to cut yourself off from exploring new ideas.
• Example: A student interested in social media (familiar) explores how it affects mental health in rural communities (unfamiliar expansion).

🗂️ Listing "What I Know" and "What I Don't Know"

The excerpt includes an activity:

• Make two lists: "What I know" and "What I don't know, but am curious about."
• Include as many items as you can in brief bullet points.
• Don't limit yourself to traditional research topics; consider personal interests and everyday experiences.
• This exercise helps you see the full range of potential topics and identify areas where curiosity can drive your writing.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Word webs help writers generate and develop topics by mapping associated words and making connections between them to form research questions.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a word web does: maps ideas in relation to a topic by listing associated words and exploring connections between them.
• How to use it: sketch associated words around a central topic, then identify interesting connections and ask questions to develop the topic further.
• Why connections matter: linking words (e.g., "iconic" and "social media") generates specific research questions that expand and clarify the topic.
• Common confusion: word webs are not just lists—they are about making potential connections as a means of developing topics, not simply collecting related terms.
• Alternative approaches: word webs are one method among several (listing, freewriting) for generating topic ideas.

🗺️ What a word web is and how it works

🗺️ Definition and purpose

Word web: a map of ideas in relation to a topic that shows associated words and their connections.

• A word web is a visual brainstorming tool, not a linear list.
• You can create it by hand in a notebook or use a worksheet.
• The goal is to explore a topic by branching out and showing relationships between concepts.

🔗 Making connections between words

• The excerpt emphasizes that word webs are "all about making potential connections."
• Simply listing words is not enough—you must identify relationships.
• Example: In Chase Marbot's word web on "brand," two words stand out: "iconic" and "social media." Connecting them generates the question: "How does one make their brand iconic using social media?"
• This process turns scattered ideas into focused research questions.

🛠️ How to build a word web

🛠️ Step-by-step process

1. Start with a central topic: write your main idea in the center.
2. List associated words: brainstorm as many related terms as possible around the topic.
3. Look for interesting connections: identify pairs or clusters of words that relate to each other.
4. Ask questions: use the connections to generate specific questions that develop the topic further.
5. Branch out: keep expanding with as many ideas as possible.

📝 Example from the excerpt

• Student Chase Marbot (majoring in social media) explores the topic "brand."
• He lists associated words related to "brand" in his word web.
• By connecting "iconic" and "social media," he can develop a clearer, more specific research direction.
• The excerpt notes: "Word webs are all about making potential connections as a means of developing topics."

🎯 Why word webs help with topic development

🎯 Expanding and clarifying topics

• Word webs help writers move from vague ideas to specific research questions.
• By listing associated words, you can "develop and expand [your] topic further by making clearer connections between the words."
• The visual format makes it easier to see relationships that might not be obvious in a linear list.

🚫 Don't confuse with simple listing

• A word web is not just a collection of related terms.
• The key difference: word webs emphasize connections and questions, not just association.
• Example: Listing "brand," "iconic," and "social media" is a start, but asking "How does one make their brand iconic using social media?" is what develops the topic.

🔄 Word webs in context with other methods

🔄 Part of a toolkit

The excerpt mentions word webs alongside other idea-generation techniques:

Method	What it does
Listing	Create "What I know" and "What I don't know" lists to identify potential topics
Word web	Map associated words and make connections to generate research questions
Freewriting	Write continuously for a set time to unblock and discover ideas

• The excerpt states: "Creating lists is only one way of generating potential ideas...There are plenty of ways to generate ideas."
• Word webs are presented as one effective alternative, especially for visual thinkers who benefit from seeing relationships spatially.

🧩 Flexibility in approach

• The excerpt encourages writers to "ask questions, branch out, and create a word web with as many ideas around the topic as possible."
• There is no single correct way—use the method that helps you explore and develop your topic most effectively.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Generating and developing writing topics requires multiple brainstorming techniques, preliminary research to narrow focus, and an understanding that topics evolve throughout the writing process rather than remaining fixed from the start.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Multiple brainstorming methods exist: word webs, freewriting, and talking with others can all unlock topic ideas when you're stuck.
• Research helps narrow broad topics: encyclopedias (general and subject-specific) provide background, identify key experts, and reveal ongoing scholarly conversations.
• Common confusion—topics are not static: topics should evolve as you write, research, and discuss your work; they are "a beginning...not the only beginning."
• Frustration is productive: writer's block and challenging moments can actually spark creativity and lead to better ideas.
• Purpose drives topic development: understanding whether you're writing to inform, solve a problem, answer a question, express an opinion, or tell a story shapes how you approach your topic.

🎨 Brainstorming techniques

🕸️ Word webs for making connections

Word webs: a visual brainstorming method that lists associated words around a central topic to develop and expand ideas through connections.

• The example shows a student exploring "brand" with related words like "iconic" and "social media."
• The goal is to connect different words and ask questions—for example, "how does one make their brand iconic using social media?"
• Word webs help you branch out and create as many idea associations as possible around your main topic.
• How to use it: Start with your central topic, add related words around it, then look for interesting combinations that spark questions.

✍️ Freewriting to unblock ideas

• What it is: Pick a word or idea related to your topic and write continuously for a set time without worrying about mistakes, repetition, or coherence.
• The process: After the timer stops, read what you wrote and identify a sentence or idea that stands out, then write for another five minutes responding to that idea.
• Why it works: Your final thoughts after extended writing are often the most cohesive and can reveal your actual topic.
• Example: A student freewriting about Animal Crossing discovered an interesting comparison about player control differences between Animal Crossing and The Sims, leading to a potential topic about character control in video games.
• Don't confuse: Freewriting is not polished writing—it's meant to let ideas flow without self-editing; the value comes from reviewing afterward.

💬 Talking with others

• When you're "stuck in your own head" after exhausting brainstorming exercises, stepping back and gaining new perspectives becomes crucial.
• Talk to classmates or writing partners first to get feedback on your ideas.
• Meet with your professor one-on-one during office hours rather than just emailing—they are "often the best person to offer advice for a topic on an assignment they have asked you to write."
• Speaking with others and getting feedback are "perhaps two of the most crucial steps" when topics won't appear on the page.

🎯 Embracing frustration

• The excerpt references a TED Talk by Tim Harford explaining that "sometimes our best ideas come from those moments that are most challenging to us."
• Writer's block and frustration are part of the creative process, not obstacles to avoid.
• Experience the block rather than fighting it—it can lead to breakthrough ideas.

📚 Research strategies for narrowing topics

🌐 Starting with general encyclopedias

General encyclopedias: resources with articles on almost any topic, written through collaborative efforts of many writers, editors, and moderators.

• Purpose: Cast a wide net initially to gather as much information as possible before narrowing down.
• Why encyclopedias first: They are "written with the intent to inform" and offer extensive background on subjects.
• Example: Encyclopedia Britannica entry on "drag queen" provides:
  • A clear definition
  • Contemporary examples (like RuPaul)
  • Related topics and key figures
  • Distinctions from related terms
• How to use the information: From one entry, you can explore multiple angles—for example, "what differentiates a drag queen from a cross-dresser and what differentiates their performances?"
• Warning about Wikipedia: While increasingly reliable through moderation, "anyone can write or contribute ideas to the main pages of any article," so consider more curated encyclopedias for preliminary research.

🎓 Subject-specific encyclopedias for focused topics

• What they are: Encyclopedias written by experts within a particular field, covering key terms and concepts specific to that discipline.
• Advantages: They identify the experts on your subject, reveal ongoing scholarly conversations, and provide suggested readings.
• Example: An entry on "allegory" in Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts includes:
  • Expert definition of the term
  • Background and usage overview
  • Citations of significant experts (like Frederic Jameson)
  • Further suggested readings
• How to develop topics from entries: Locate controversial statements or debates—for example, Jameson's claim that "all third world literatures are national allegories"—then ask your own questions about those claims.
• Verification tip: Check who wrote the encyclopedia, who published it, and who sponsored its publication, especially for works found outside library databases.

🔍 The research process for narrowing

Step	What to do	Why it matters
Cast a wide net	Broadly search your topic initially	Gather as much information as possible before narrowing
Read encyclopedias	Start with general, then move to subject-specific	Understand background, find experts, see existing scholarship
Identify experts	Note names that appear repeatedly	These are the significant voices you must acknowledge
Find the conversation	See what questions experts are asking	Your topic should engage with or respond to these questions
Ask your own question	Determine what you want to explore	This becomes your focused topic

• Don't confuse: Preliminary research is about understanding the landscape, not yet diving into journal articles and books—those come after you've narrowed your focus.

🎭 Creative research approaches

📝 David Sedaris's advice for creative writers

The excerpt shares three key suggestions from memoir writer David Sedaris that apply to both creative and academic research:

1. Take great notes: Your memory isn't perfect—write down things that happen to you, things you find funny or interesting, overheard dialogue, and character traits to help you see the world differently.
2. Meet a variety of people: Force yourself to rely on others and create encounters with strangers (like asking for directions).
3. Be present in the moment: Resist the urge to immediately write everything down during a conversation—"You don't want to end it."

📖 Reading within your genre

• If you're interested in writing about a topic, read the genres that most often deal with that topic.
• Example: If writing an academic paper about zombies, investigate horror novels, stories, and movies featuring zombies.
• This preliminary research can eventually become primary source material for your work.
• Why it works: You become a better expert in deciding what topics to write about within a given genre by understanding what already exists.

📋 Writing topic proposals

📝 What a topic proposal includes

Topic proposal: a piece of writing that presents your topic idea, explains your purpose, demonstrates your research, and makes the case for why your topic matters.

• Forms vary: May be a single paragraph reflecting on your topic, or a detailed plan with an extensive source list or annotated bibliography.
• Always consult: Check what your professor specifically requires for the assignment.
• Three primary sections: Introduction, background, and conclusion.

🎯 Introduction—establishing purpose

The introduction should explore your purpose for writing in a clear and concise manner. Consider these questions:

• Are you writing to inform?
• Are you writing to solve a problem?
• Are you writing to answer a question?
• Are you writing to express an opinion?
• Are you writing to tell a story?
• Are you writing within a specific genre?

Once you answer "yes" to one, explain how your topic relates to that purpose.

📚 Background—showing your research

• Acknowledge significant voices and writers in your field or discipline.
• Summarize a few main arguments to show you've done research and are qualified to speak on the topic.
• Key strategy: Look up or consult authors or names that reappear across multiple essays or research—these are the experts you need to engage with.
• Don't overwhelm: You don't need to include all background information, just enough to demonstrate your understanding of the existing conversation.

🎬 Conclusion—making your case

• Explain why your idea/topic is important.
• Identify audiences who might be interested in your work and why they would care about your approach.
• Reinforce how valuable and exciting your research is.
• Mindset shift: Don't dread the conclusion—think of it as showing your excitement about your topic to potential audiences.

🔄 Topics evolve throughout writing

🌱 Topics as a beginning, not the end

• Core principle: "Topics will evolve and change as you write, research, and discuss your work with others."
• The excerpt emphasizes this is "the most important part of this chapter."
• Example: The author's own dissertation topic shifted significantly between the initial prospectus and the completed dissertation two years later.
• Don't confuse: A topic proposal is not a binding contract—it's a starting point that will naturally develop as you engage more deeply with your subject.

🔑 Key takeaway

"Topics are just a beginning...not the only beginning."

• Spend time shaping, exploring, and developing topics, but remain flexible.
• As you write, research, and discuss your work, expect your understanding and focus to shift.
• This evolution is a natural and productive part of the writing process, not a failure to plan properly.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

When standard prewriting exercises fail to generate a topic, stepping back to gain new perspective through conversation with classmates or professors often proves more productive than continuing to work alone.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Word webs: connect associated words around a topic to develop it further by asking questions about the relationships between words.
• Freewriting: write continuously for a set time without worrying about mistakes, then mine the final sentences for the most cohesive ideas.
• When to step away: exhausting all exercises alone can leave you "stuck" in your own head; frustration is part of the creative process.
• Common confusion: emailing a professor for quick feedback vs. meeting one-on-one—the excerpt emphasizes making appointments to talk through ideas in person rather than just sending written lists.
• Why talking helps: speaking with others and getting feedback are crucial steps for formulating topics that won't otherwise appear on the page.

🕸️ Word web technique

🕸️ How word webs work

• List associated words related to your main topic.
• Look for interesting connections between words in the web.
• Ask questions that link two or more words together to develop the topic further.

🔗 Making connections

• Example: In a word web about "brand," the words "iconic" and "social media" appear; connecting them generates the question "how does one make their brand iconic using social media?"
• The goal is to branch out and create as many ideas around the topic as possible.
• Word webs are about making potential connections as a means of developing topics.

✍️ Freewriting method

✍️ The basic process

• Pick a word or idea associated with your topic.
• Write anything that comes to mind for a set amount of time (three to five minutes).
• Don't worry about mistakes, repeating words, or even writing nonsense.
• The purpose is to let ideas flow without self-editing.

🎯 Mining your freewrite

• After the timer stops, read over what you wrote.
• Pick out a sentence or idea that really sticks out.
• Write for another five minutes responding to what you wrote the first time.
• Key insight: Your final thoughts are likely the most cohesive after spending all that time writing, making the last sentence or paragraph a great place to find your topic.

📝 Example application

• The excerpt shows a student (Gigi Doklan) freewriting about Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
• She writes without a particular purpose in mind, exploring the game's mechanics.
• What stands out: the connection between different levels of character control in The Sims versus Animal Crossing.
• Potential topic that emerges: the importance of character control in video games.
• This demonstrates how freewriting can reveal connections and topics that weren't planned in advance.

🚪 When to step away and seek help

🚪 Recognizing when you're stuck

• Sometimes generating ideas alone proves unproductive.
• You can exhaust all exercises—listing, mapping, freewriting—and still not find a topic you're happy with.
• The primary challenge: getting "stuck" in your own heads.
• Don't confuse: being stuck with failure—the excerpt emphasizes that frustration is part of the creative process.

🗣️ Talking with classmates

• Step back to gain a new perspective.
• Speak with friends or writing partners about the ideas you have.
• Speaking with others and getting feedback are "perhaps two of the most crucial steps" for formulating topics that won't otherwise appear on the page.

👨‍🏫 Meeting with your professor

• If friends or writing partners cannot help, meet with your professor.
• Important distinction: Do not just email your professor to ask them to look over ideas.
• Instead, make time to meet one-on-one either during office hours or by appointment.
• Your professor is "often the best person to offer advice for a topic on an assignment they have asked you to write."
• Don't be afraid to talk with your professor.

🌟 Additional resources and mindset

🌟 Beyond these exercises

• The prewriting exercises listed are not exclusive; many other ways exist to think through potential topics.
• The excerpt references a TED Talk playlist: "Simple Ways to Spark Your Creativity."
• Specifically mentions Tim Harford's talk: "How Frustration Can Make Us More Creative."

💡 Embracing frustration

Harford explains that sometimes our best ideas come from those moments that are most challenging to us.

• The excerpt encourages: "Go ahead: Experience that writing block."
• Frustration is positioned as part of the creative process, not something to avoid.

➡️ Next steps

• Once you have worked through any of the exercises and settled on a topic, the next step is conducting preliminary research.
• The type and timing of research depends on the genre and purpose of your writing.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

When you get stuck generating topic ideas on your own, talking with classmates or meeting with your professor can provide the new perspective needed to break through writer's block and formulate topics that won't appear on the page alone.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• The core problem: sometimes all the solo prewriting exercises (listing, mapping, freewriting) still leave you stuck without a satisfactory topic.
• Why talking helps: we can get "stuck" in our own heads; stepping back and speaking with others provides a new perspective.
• Who to talk to: friends, writing partners, and especially your professor—the person who assigned the writing.
• How to approach your professor: meet one-on-one during office hours or by appointment rather than just emailing; they are often the best source of advice for their own assignment.
• Common confusion: don't assume you must solve topic problems alone—speaking with others and getting feedback are crucial steps in formulating topics.

🚧 When solo idea generation fails

🚧 Exhausting all exercises without success

• The excerpt describes a scenario where a writer has worked through listing, mapping, and freewriting but still couldn't find a satisfactory topic.
• This is a normal part of the creative process, not a personal failure.
• The excerpt mentions that frustration is part of the creative process (referencing Tim Harford's idea that "our best ideas come from those moments that are most challenging to us").

🧠 Getting "stuck" in your own head

The primary challenge: we get "stuck" in our own heads when deciding on a topic.

• Working alone can trap you in a single perspective.
• Sometimes it is important and productive to simply step away from your thoughts when choosing a topic.
• Stepping back can help when encountering writer's block.
• Example: A writer cycles through all prewriting methods but keeps returning to the same unsatisfying ideas—talking with someone else can reveal angles they hadn't considered.

💬 The power of talking it out

💬 Speaking with friends and writing partners

• After stepping back from solo work, talk with friends about the ideas you had.
• Speaking with others and getting feedback are "perhaps two of the most crucial steps in being able to formulate topics that just will not otherwise appear on the page."
• The excerpt emphasizes that these conversations can unlock topics that remain invisible when working alone.

🎯 Why conversation works differently than solo writing

• The excerpt contrasts solo exercises (which happen "on the page") with conversation (which makes topics "appear" that won't come out in writing).
• Talking forces you to articulate ideas differently than writing does.
• Others can ask questions or make connections you hadn't seen.

👨‍🏫 Meeting with your professor

👨‍🏫 Why your professor is the best resource

• Your professor is "often the best person to offer advice for a topic on an assignment they have asked you to write" (emphasis in excerpt).
• They understand the assignment requirements and goals better than anyone else.
• They can guide you toward topics that will work well for the specific assignment.

📅 How to approach your professor effectively

What to do	What NOT to do
Make time to meet one-on-one	Just email to ask them to look over ideas
Meet during office hours or make an appointment	Avoid face-to-face conversation
Talk through your ideas in person	Rely only on written communication

• The excerpt specifically recommends not just emailing your professor.
• Instead, schedule a meeting for real-time conversation.
• Do not be afraid to talk with your professor—they are there to help.

🔄 When to escalate to your professor

• If friends or writing partners cannot help you think through your topic/topics, then meet with your professor.
• This is presented as a natural next step, not a last resort.
• The excerpt frames this as a normal part of the writing process, not something to be embarrassed about.

🔍 What comes after choosing a topic

🔍 Moving to preliminary research

• Once you have worked through the exercises and settled on a topic (with or without help from others), "it is time to work through the next step of choosing your topic—conducting preliminary research."
• The excerpt positions talking with others as part of the topic-selection phase, which then leads into research.
• This suggests that topic generation and research are distinct but connected stages.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Preliminary research—especially through encyclopedias—helps writers narrow broad topics by exploring background information, key figures, and existing scholarship before diving into more specialized sources.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• When to research: After settling on a topic idea through exercises or discussion, conduct preliminary research to narrow and refine it.
• Why cast a wide net first: Topics evolve as you engage with existing conversation/scholarship, so broad initial searches gather material for narrowing.
• Encyclopedias as starting points: They provide extensive background, key experts, and existing scholarship—especially useful for informing and narrowing focus.
• General vs subject-specific encyclopedias: General encyclopedias (e.g., Encyclopedia Britannica) cover almost any topic; subject-specific ones offer deeper dives in particular fields.
• Common confusion: Don't get overwhelmed by rabbit holes in preliminary research—the goal is to learn broadly and find inspiration, not to read everything in depth yet.

📚 Why start with encyclopedias

📚 What encyclopedias offer

Encyclopedias are excellent resources for background information on a subject, key experts, and scholarship already done on the subject.

• They are written to inform, making them ideal for exploring a topic in full before narrowing.
• Other sources (newspapers, journal articles, books) come later, after you've narrowed your focus.
• The excerpt emphasizes reading "all there is to read" initially, but the goal is to narrow, not to master every detail.

🎯 The narrowing process

• Start broad: cast a wide net to gather as much research as possible.
• Topics are not finite—they should evolve as you work through existing conversation.
• Encyclopedias help you identify angles, key figures, and related topics that can refine your focus.
• Example: If you start with a broad topic like "drag queens," an encyclopedia entry can reveal subtopics (e.g., differences between drag queens and cross-dressers, contributions of specific performers).

🌐 General encyclopedias

🌐 What they are

• General subject encyclopedias have articles on almost anything you can search for.
• Entries result from collaborative efforts of many writers, editors, and moderators.
• Examples: Wikipedia, Encyclopedia Britannica.

⚠️ Wikipedia caution

• Wikipedia has grown more reliable over time through moderation.
• However, many teachers warn against it because anyone can write or contribute ideas to the main pages.
• The excerpt suggests using more reliable general encyclopedias (like Encyclopedia Britannica) beyond initial Wikipedia searches.

🔍 How to use general encyclopedias

Step-by-step approach:

1. Use relevant keywords to search your topic in the search bar.
2. Read the entry to find:
   • A clear definition of the topic.
   • Contemporary examples or key figures.
   • Related topics listed (often on the side).
   • Problematic or nuanced terms that differentiate concepts.
3. Identify potential angles or questions to explore further.

Example from the excerpt:

• Topic: drag queens.
• Search "drag queen" in Encyclopedia Britannica.
• Entry provides:
  • Definition: "a man who dresses in women's clothes and performs before an audience."
  • Contemporary example: RuPaul.
  • Related topics and key figures listed.
  • Problematic terms (e.g., differentiating drag queens from cross-dressers).
• Potential narrowed angles:
  • What differentiates a drag queen from a cross-dresser and their performances?
  • What are RuPaul's contributions to the "subcultural phenomenon" of drag?

🚫 Don't get overwhelmed

• Reading a general encyclopedia article can lead to many ideas and "rabbit holes."
• Don't confuse: Preliminary research is not about reading everything in depth—it's about learning broadly and finding inspiration.
• The goal is to expand your understanding and identify directions for narrowing, not to master every detail at this stage.

🗂️ Subject-specific encyclopedias

🗂️ What they are

• The excerpt mentions two types: general and subject-specific.
• Subject-specific encyclopedias focus on particular fields or disciplines (details not elaborated in this excerpt).
• Implied use: deeper dives once you've identified a more focused angle from general encyclopedias.

🛠️ Practical workflow

🛠️ Before researching

• Work through topic-generation exercises (listing, mapping, freewriting).
• Talk with friends, writing partners, or your professor if stuck.
• Settle on a topic idea before moving to preliminary research.

🛠️ During preliminary research

Stage	Action	Purpose
Start broad	Search general encyclopedias with keywords	Gather background, key figures, existing scholarship
Read entry	Note definitions, examples, related topics	Identify potential angles and questions
Narrow focus	Choose one or two angles to explore	Refine topic for deeper research
Move to specialized sources	Read journal articles, books, newspapers	Dive into focused scholarship after narrowing

🛠️ After preliminary research

• Topics should evolve as you engage with the conversation/scholarship.
• Use the narrowed focus to guide deeper reading in specialized sources.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Encyclopedias—especially general ones like Encyclopedia Britannica—serve as ideal starting points for research because they provide comprehensive background information that helps writers narrow broad topics into focused research questions.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Why encyclopedias first: They are written to inform and offer extensive background, making them better than journals or newspapers for initial exploration when topics are still broad.
• Two types exist: General encyclopedias (cover almost any subject) vs. subject-specific encyclopedias (written by field experts on specialized topics).
• What encyclopedias provide: Background information, key experts, existing scholarship, definitions, related topics, and suggested readings.
• Common confusion: Don't confuse preliminary reading with final research—encyclopedias help you narrow down the topic; detailed sources like journal articles come after you've focused your direction.
• The research mindset: Topics should evolve as you read; cast a broad net initially to gather as much research as possible before narrowing.

📚 Why start with encyclopedias

📚 The role of broad initial research

• The excerpt emphasizes that topics are "not finite" at the beginning—they should evolve as you work through existing scholarship.
• You need to read broadly first to understand what has been said or is being said on your subject.
• Encyclopedias are written with the intent to inform, making them ideal for exploring a topic in full before diving into specialized sources.

🎯 Narrowing down is the initial goal

• While many source types exist (newspapers, journal articles, books), the excerpt recommends encyclopedias specifically for the narrowing-down phase.
• Once you've narrowed your focus through encyclopedias, then you can read journal articles, books, and newspapers.
• Don't confuse: The goal is not to read everything deeply yet—it's to find a focused direction first.

🌐 General encyclopedias

🌐 What general encyclopedias are

General subject encyclopedia: has articles on almost anything you can think of or search for.

• Wikipedia is the most familiar example—an online general encyclopedia created through collaborative efforts of many writers, editors, and moderators.
• Wikipedia has grown more reliable over time through moderation, but many teachers still warn against it because anyone can write or contribute to article pages.
• More reliable alternatives exist, such as Encyclopedia Britannica.

🔍 How to use a general encyclopedia (the drag queen example)

The excerpt walks through searching Encyclopedia Britannica for "drag queen":

What the entry provides:

• Recent news articles on the topic (from the past month)
• A clear definition: "a man who dresses in women's clothes and performs before an audience"
• Contemporary examples (like RuPaul)
• Related topics and key figures (listed on the side)
• Problematic or related terms that need differentiation

How this helps narrow the topic:

• You could explore: What differentiates a drag queen from a cross-dresser? What differentiates their performances?
• Or you could look up RuPaul and explore his contributions to the "subcultural phenomenon" of drag.

🐇 Managing the rabbit holes

• The excerpt warns: "Do not be overwhelmed by all the ideas that might pop up"—you might get caught up and go down various rabbit holes.
• In preliminary research, you simply want to read and learn more, and find inspiration to expand your understanding.
• General encyclopedias help you find what sources have been created or cited on your topic.

📖 Subject-specific encyclopedias

📖 What subject-specific encyclopedias are

• Written by experts within a specific field (unlike general encyclopedias with collaborative authorship).
• Use these when your topic has a well-defined subject area to draw from.
• Example from the excerpt: Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts—not formally named an encyclopedia, but functions like one with key terms and suggested readings by experts.

📖 Structure of a subject-specific entry (the allegory example)

The excerpt shows an entry for "allegory" (a story of symbolic significance) from Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts:

Part of entry	What it provides
Definition	Clear explanation of the key term
Background and usage	General overview of how the term is used in the field
Key experts cited	Significant scholars who have written on the term (e.g., Frederic Jameson)
Further readings	Suggested sources associated with the term

🔬 How to develop a topic from a subject-specific entry

The excerpt demonstrates using the allegory entry:

• The entry mentions that Frederic Jameson (a well-known literary critic) "made a controversial" statement.
• If writing on allegory in postcolonial literatures, you would consult anything Jameson has written on the topic.
• The controversial statement: "all third world literatures are national allegories."
• This gives a starting point: you might ask, "Are all 'third world' literatures—that is, those of developing [nations]—really national allegories?"

Why this matters:

• Subject-specific encyclopedias not only define terms but also point you toward scholarly debates and key figures.
• They provide a curated path into the field's conversations, written by experts who already know the important questions.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Subject-specific encyclopedias, written by field experts, provide focused definitions, background context, key controversies, and expert citations that help researchers narrow topics and identify the central conversations in a discipline.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What they are: encyclopedias or handbooks written by experts within a specific field, offering key terms, definitions, and suggested readings.
• How they differ from general encyclopedias: subject-specific sources provide deeper, field-focused coverage rather than broad overviews; they help when your topic has a well-defined subject area.
• What they contain: definitions, background/usage context, citations of significant experts, controversial statements or debates, and further reading lists.
• Common confusion: not all reference works labeled "handbooks" or "key concepts" are formally called encyclopedias, but they function the same way if they cover key terms with expert commentary.
• How to develop a topic: locate experts cited in entries, identify controversial statements or debates, and ask your own questions based on those conversations.

📚 When and why to use subject-specific encyclopedias

📚 Starting point for well-defined topics

• The excerpt recommends beginning with a subject-specific encyclopedia "if your topic has a well-defined subject area to draw from."
• These sources are more focused than general encyclopedias like Britannica.
• They help you understand the ongoing conversation in a field and who the key experts are.

🎯 Written by field experts

• Subject-specific encyclopedias are "often written by experts within the field."
• This means the definitions, background, and suggested readings come from authoritative voices in that discipline.
• Example: the excerpt mentions Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts, which includes entries written by experts on postcolonial studies.

🔍 Anatomy of a subject-specific encyclopedia entry

🔍 Core components

The excerpt describes a typical entry structure using the term "allegory" from Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts:

Component	What it provides
Definition	Clear explanation of the key term
Background and usage	General overview of how the term is used in the field
Expert citations	References to significant scholars who have written on the term
Further readings	Suggested sources for deeper exploration

🗣️ Controversial statements and debates

• Entries often highlight debates or controversial claims made by experts.
• Example: the excerpt notes that Frederic Jameson "made a controversial" statement that "all third world literatures are national allegories."
• These controversies are excellent starting points for developing your own research question.
• Don't confuse: the goal is not to accept the statement as fact, but to explore the debate—ask "Are all 'third world' literatures national allegories?" and pursue that question further.

🛠️ How to develop a topic using these sources

🛠️ Locate experts and their conversations

"We locate the experts on that subject, think about the statements they have made, and then ask our own questions."

• Read the entry to understand who the key scholars are.
• Note what claims or debates they have introduced.
• Use the library to consult anything those experts have written on the topic.

❓ Ask your own questions

• After identifying a controversial statement or debate, formulate your own research question.
• Example: if an expert claims all literatures of developing countries are national allegories, you might ask whether that claim holds true across different contexts.
• This is "how we develop potential topics"—by engaging with expert conversations and posing new questions.

📖 Use suggested readings

• The "further suggested readings" section points you to additional sources.
• These readings help you understand the broader context and deepen your expertise.
• They can also become sources you cite in your own research.

✅ Practical tips and verification

✅ Not all are formally labeled "encyclopedia"

• The excerpt notes that Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts is "not formally named an encyclopedia" but functions like one.
• Look for works that include key terms, definitions, and expert commentary—these serve the same purpose.

✅ Verify credibility

• "You may want to verify who wrote the encyclopedia, who published it, and who sponsored its publication especially if the work was found on the greater internet outside of the library database."
• Check the author's credentials, the publisher's reputation, and any sponsoring organizations.
• This is especially important for sources found outside library databases.

✅ Encyclopedias are a starting point, not the only resource

• "Encyclopedias are not the only means of researching a topic. They are just one of the best resources to help us develop our topics more clearly."
• Use them to narrow your topic, locate background research, understand who the experts are, and determine your own research question.
• After that, consult primary sources, academic articles, and other materials.

🔎 Search strategy

• The excerpt suggests using a library's reference database (e.g., Gale Reference Database) to do a "basic word or phrase search on your topic."
• If you cannot find your topic at first, "check your spelling and try to vary or broaden your search terms to find related entries."
• Related entries can provide good context even if they are not an exact match.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Effective research combines systematic use of encyclopedias to narrow topics and identify expert conversations with creative engagement—observing the world, taking notes, and immersing yourself in relevant genres—to develop strong research questions and proposals.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• How encyclopedias help: they reveal expert conversations, key questions in a field, and help narrow broad ideas into focused topics.
• Creative research practices: take detailed notes, meet diverse people, stay present in moments, and read widely in genres related to your topic.
• Common confusion: encyclopedias vs. complete research—encyclopedias are excellent starting points but not the only research tool; they help you understand the landscape before diving deeper.
• Topic proposals matter: they require you to articulate your purpose clearly and may range from a single paragraph to detailed plans with annotated bibliographies.
• Purpose drives proposals: understanding what you want your audience to know, think, or feel about your topic shapes how you introduce and frame your research.

📚 Using encyclopedias strategically

📖 What encyclopedias offer

Encyclopedias and handbooks are excellent places to locate the experts on topics as well as the various conversations surrounding potential topics.

• They help you understand ongoing conversations in a field (e.g., debates around specific terms or concepts).
• You can identify who the experts are and what questions they ask.
• Subject-specific encyclopedias provide more detailed entries than general ones, but both help narrow topics.

🔍 How to use them effectively

• Start with a basic word or phrase search in library databases.
• Notice how different subject-specific encyclopedias focus on and cover your topic differently.
• If you can't find your exact topic, vary or broaden search terms to find related entries that provide context.
• Don't confuse: finding encyclopedia entries with completing your research—encyclopedias help you develop topics more clearly and locate background information, but they are just one resource.

✅ Verification steps

• Check who wrote the encyclopedia, who published it, and who sponsored its publication.
• This is especially important for works found on the internet outside library databases.

🎯 The narrowing process

To narrow down your topic:

1. Locate all necessary background research
2. Understand who the experts are and what questions they ask
3. Determine the question you want to ask on the topic

Example: If you notice experts asking "How do postcolonial novels use national allegories?", you might develop your own related question to pursue further.

🎨 Creative research approaches

📝 Take great notes

• Your memory isn't perfect—write everything down.
• Keep a diary recording:
  • Things that happen to you
  • Things you find funny or interesting
  • Dialogue you overhear
  • Character traits you notice
• This habit helps you see the world differently and keeps track of story inspiration.

👥 Meet diverse people

• Force yourself to rely on others to create encounters with strangers.
• Example: Ask someone for directions instead of using your phone.
• These interactions provide fresh perspectives and material.

⏰ Be present in the moment

• Resist the urge to pull out your notebook during juicy conversations.
• You don't want to end the moment by making people self-conscious.
• Stay engaged first; record observations later.
• Don't confuse: being observant with being intrusive—prioritize the experience over immediate documentation.

📚 Read within your genre

• Investigate the genres that most often deal with your topic.
• Example: If writing an academic paper about zombies, explore horror novels, stories, and movies featuring zombies.
• This preliminary research can become primary source material for your work.
• Seeing what topics and stories exist within a genre makes you a better expert in deciding what to write about.

📋 Writing topic proposals

🎯 What proposals are and why they matter

A research proposal is an important piece of writing—particularly in higher education if you decide to pursue a master's or doctoral degree.

• Many post-graduation professional settings feature their versions of topic proposals.
• Forms include: conference proposals, journal article proposals, book proposals.
• In composition courses, proposals might range from a single reflective paragraph to detailed plans with annotated bibliographies.
• Always consult the assignment and what your professor is asking for first.

📐 Basic structure

Topic proposals typically include three primary content sections:

Section	Purpose
Introduction	Explore your purpose for writing in a clear and concise manner
Background	(Content details not provided in excerpt)
Conclusion	(Content details not provided in excerpt)

🎯 The introduction and purpose

• Consider the rhetorical situation: your purpose for writing.
• Think about your audience and purpose when beginning the writing process.
• Your purpose is intricately connected to your topic.
• Key question: What do you want your audience to know, think, or feel about your topic?
• Use the introduction to explore this purpose clearly and concisely.
• Adjust length depending on your professor's requirements.

📚 Additional resources

• Purdue OWL effectively overviews how to write and structure many types of proposals.
• Different professors may structure proposals in different ways—always check assignment requirements first.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A topic proposal is a structured piece of writing that explains your chosen topic, demonstrates your research foundation, and justifies why the topic matters to your intended audience.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a topic proposal is: a formal document that presents your research topic to a professor or other audience, often required before starting a major project.
• Three core sections: introduction (purpose), background (existing research), and conclusion (importance and audience).
• Purpose drives the introduction: you must clarify whether you are writing to inform, solve a problem, answer a question, express an opinion, tell a story, or work within a specific genre.
• Common confusion: length and detail vary widely—some proposals are a single paragraph, others require detailed plans and annotated bibliographies; always consult the assignment first.
• Why it matters: topic proposals are common in higher education (master's/doctoral programs) and professional settings (conference proposals, journal articles, book proposals).

📝 What a topic proposal is and when you need one

📝 Definition and scope

A research proposal (or topic proposal): an important piece of writing that presents your topic and research plan to an instructor or other audience.

• The excerpt emphasizes that topic proposals "can take many shapes and forms."
• Examples mentioned: conference proposals, journal article proposals, book proposals.
• Some professors may assign topic proposals in Composition or First-Year-Seminar courses.
• Always check the assignment requirements first—some ask for only a paragraph reflecting on your topic and why you chose it; more involved projects may require a detailed plan and lengthy source list or annotated bibliography.

🎓 Why topic proposals matter beyond the classroom

• The excerpt notes that topic proposals are "particularly" important in higher education if you pursue a master's or doctoral degree.
• Many post-graduation professional settings also use their own versions of topic proposals.
• Don't confuse: a topic proposal is not just a classroom exercise; it is a real-world skill used in academic and professional contexts.

🎯 The three primary sections

🎯 Overview of structure

The excerpt identifies three primary content sections:

Section	Main focus
Introduction	Your purpose for writing
Background	Existing research and significant voices in the field
Conclusion	Why your topic is important and who will care

• The excerpt advises: "You can use the following sections to understand each part of the topic proposal while considering the appropriate length depending on your professor's requirements."
• Different professors may structure proposals differently; the excerpt recommends Purdue OWL as a resource for detailed guidance on various proposal types.

🚀 Introduction: clarifying your purpose

🚀 Purpose is the key

• The excerpt highlights "one specific part of the rhetorical situation: your purpose for writing."
• You should always consider your audience and purpose when beginning the writing process, and this is "especially true" for the topic proposal.
• Once you have a topic idea, think about what you want your audience to know, think, or feel about your topic, centered around your purpose.

❓ Questions to identify your purpose

The excerpt provides a checklist:

• Are you writing to inform?
• Are you writing to solve a problem?
• Are you writing to answer a question?
• Are you writing to express an opinion?
• Are you writing to tell a story?
• Are you writing within a specific genre?

How to use these questions:

• Answer one of these questions as "yes."
• Use your introduction to explain how your topic relates to that purpose.
• Example: If you are writing to solve a problem, your introduction should clarify what problem your topic addresses and why solving it matters.

📚 Background: showing you've done your research

📚 What to include

The second section of topic proposals should include background information: significant voices and writers who must be acknowledged, especially when exploring how their ideas coincide with or differ from your approach.

• Every field or discipline has significant voices and writers.
• You must acknowledge these voices, particularly when showing how their ideas relate to or differ from your approach.

🔍 How to summarize background research

• The excerpt warns: "While a massive amount of background information might exist on your topic," use this section to "summarize a few main arguments."
• Goal: show that you have done your research and are qualified to speak on the topic.
• Practical tip: "Always look up or consult authors or names that reappear across multiple essays and or research."
• Don't confuse: the background section is not a full literature review; it is a focused summary demonstrating your familiarity with key voices.

🎉 Conclusion: making the case for your topic

🎉 What the conclusion does

• The excerpt states: "In concluding a topic proposal, you are simply making the case as to why your idea/topic is important."
• The author finds conclusions "rather easy to write" in topic proposals, unlike in other types of writing.

👥 Two main tasks in the conclusion

1. Identify interested audiences:

   • Acknowledge audiences who might be interested in your work/topic.
   • Point to other writers who might want to read your work and why they might be interested in your approach.
   • Example: If your topic is about zombies in horror fiction, you might note that scholars of horror literature and popular culture studies would find your work relevant.

2. Reinforce value and excitement:

   • Show how valuable and exciting your research is.
   • The excerpt advises: "Do not dread writing the conclusion; instead, think about how conclusions can show your excitement about your topic to your potential audiences."

💡 Additional advice: creative research for topic development

💡 Techniques from a creative writer

The excerpt includes advice from a creative writer (Sedaris) that applies to academic research:

• Take great notes: Your memory isn't perfect; write down things that happen to you, things you find funny or interesting, dialogue you overhear, and character traits.
• Meet a variety of people: Force yourself to rely on others to create encounters with strangers (e.g., asking for directions).
• Be present in the moment: Resist the urge to whip out your notebook during a conversation; don't end the moment by documenting it prematurely.

📖 Reading within your genre

• The excerpt adds: "Read the genres of writing that most often deal with the topic you are interested in writing about."
• Example: If you are interested in writing an academic paper about zombies, investigate horror novels, stories, and movies that feature zombies.
• This preliminary research can eventually become primary source material for your work.
• Benefit: "See the types of topics/stories that exist within a given genre and you will become a better expert in deciding on the topics you should be writing on in that genre."

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Academic writing is fundamentally persuasive communication that follows established organizational patterns to achieve a specific purpose, and understanding these patterns—rooted in classical rhetoric—helps writers present ideas explicitly, coherently, and effectively.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Writing is purposeful communication: all deliberate writing aims to influence, inform, or motivate an audience to think or act differently.
• Academic essays share core structural components: despite field variations, persuasive academic writing follows similar organizational patterns derived from Greek and Roman rhetoric.
• The Classical Schema provides a reliable framework: six core components (Introduction, Narratio, Divisio, Confirmatio, Confutatio, Conclusio) guide effective essay organization.
• Common confusion: students often think writing conventions are rigid rules, but they are flexible patterns optimized to achieve communication goals.
• Explicit organization matters: academic audiences expect clearly stated claims and logically connected ideas presented in a straightforward manner.

📝 The nature of academic writing as persuasion

🎯 Purpose drives all writing

Purpose: the reason we want to communicate in the first place.

• Every deliberate act of communication aims to elicit a desired response from an audience.
• Common goals include:
  • Changing someone's mind about an issue
  • Influencing a person's thinking
  • Helping someone make a more informed choice or decision
  • Proposing a particular solution to a problem
  • Motivating people to take action

📚 School writing is inherently argumentative

Even assignments that don't seem obviously persuasive involve taking positions:

Assignment type	Persuasive element
Literary analysis or film review	Making a well-reasoned argument about how to interpret a text
Topic proposal	Convincing your professor that the topic will make a good paper
Personal reflection	Presenting an argument about your own self-perception

Don't confuse: "argument" doesn't always mean debate or conflict—it means presenting a reasoned position to achieve a communication goal.

🏗️ Organization serves purpose

• The way we organize a text, including the order in which ideas are presented, should be optimized to achieve the writing purpose.
• Structure is not arbitrary; it is a tool for effective communication.

🏛️ Classical foundations of academic essay structure

📜 The Classical Schema of Argumentation

Greek and Roman orators developed a structure containing six "core" components with Latin names:

1. Exordium (Introduction)
2. Narratio
3. Divisio
4. Confirmatio
5. Confutatio
6. Conclusio

• These components have been used for thousands of years and still guide academic essays written in English today.
• The excerpt renames these components to make sense to modern readers.

🌍 Cross-field consistency with flexibility

• The form of an essay might vary slightly depending on the academic field.
• In general, academic papers are written in a clear and straightforward manner.
• Writing conventions are not necessarily rigid, but academic essays tend to follow similar patterns of organization.

Example: A biology paper and a literature paper may have different citation styles and terminology, but both will present claims explicitly and connect ideas logically.

🎭 Core components of persuasive academic essays

🧩 What writers perform in academic essays

Writers perform a variety of "moves":

• Make clearly defined claims
• Situate their views within some larger context or conversation of existing ideas
• Rely on sound reasoning and evidence for support
• Address potential counterarguments or anticipated criticisms of their views

🔄 How structure becomes intuitive

• Over time, these parts and their arrangement become intuitive.
• Structuring an essay becomes almost second nature with practice and immersion in academic writing.
• The excerpt's author admits learning how to organize essays effectively even as a graduate student through immersing in academic writing and receiving guidance from dedicated teachers.

✅ Explicit expectations in academic settings

Genre of argument: persuasive essay, argument paper, position paper.

Academic settings often entail very specific and formal expectations, particularly in organization:

• Claims must be stated explicitly
• Ideas presented must be logically connected across sections
• The arrangement should illuminate expectations so writers can present ideas in an explicit, unified, and coherent manner

🚪 The Introduction component

🤝 Establishing rapport with readers

• The introduction is the place to win your readers over.
• In academic writing, writers do not plunge directly into an argument.
• Instead, they establish a rapport with their audience by engaging readers gradually.

🗺️ Leading into the subject

Writers use the introduction to:

• Lead into the subject (often indirectly)
• Guide the reader to the stance that will be taken
• Establish an authorial point of view
• Establish tone of voice

🎨 Creative opening strategies

The introductory paragraph offers writers a chance to be creative. Possible opening approaches include:

• An analogy
• A brief anecdote
• The description of a recent event or trend

Don't confuse: "creative" doesn't mean abandoning academic standards—it means engaging readers effectively while still serving the essay's purpose.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Academic essays in English follow a classical structure with six core components that help writers organize arguments logically, anticipate counterarguments, and connect with readers through clear, explicit claims supported by evidence.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Classical structure: English academic essays draw from Greek and Roman rhetorical models with six core components (Introduction, Contextual Background, Main Claims/Thesis, Body Paragraphs, Counterarguments, Conclusion).
• Strong thesis requirements: effective main claims must be specific, debatable, backed by evidence, and promote discussion—not statements of fact, personal taste, or obvious truths.
• Evidence organization matters: body paragraphs can be ordered by importance (most-to-least or least-to-most) or by type of evidence (empirical data, expert opinions, case studies, anecdotes).
• Common confusion: Introduction vs. Contextual Background—the introduction hooks readers and establishes tone; contextual background brings readers up to speed on the issue and what others have said.
• Counterarguments strengthen credibility: addressing alternative views fairly and making concessions when appropriate elevates the writer's ethos and shows fair-mindedness.

📝 Opening components

📝 Introduction

The introduction is the place to win readers over by engaging them gradually and establishing rapport.

• Purpose: connect writer to topic and to audience; establish tone, stance, and style.
• Writers do not plunge directly into the argument; they lead in indirectly.
• Common techniques ("hooks"):
  • Analogy
  • Brief anecdote
  • Description of recent event or trend
  • Eye-catching statement or statistic
• A strong introduction builds trust by appealing to readers' feelings while gesturing toward the writer's perspective.
• Example: A writer might open with a surprising statistic about a social trend, then connect it to their topic to draw readers in.

🗂️ Contextual Background

The section that establishes the events and ideas driving the writer to address the topic.

• What it includes:
  • Personal circumstances or anecdotes justifying interest
  • Summary of what others have said (circulating ideas, recent conversation)
  • Brief historical overview establishing common understanding
• How it differs from Introduction: "the introduction gains the readers' interest about the topic while the contextual background brings them up to speed on it."
• Can sometimes function as part of the introduction/hook, especially if it's a compelling personal story.
• Don't confuse: Both sections connect writer to topic and audience, but contextual background specifically addresses what has been said and what events justify writing.

🎯 Main claims and thesis statements

🎯 What makes a strong thesis

The thesis statement (also called main claim, main proposition, or main argument) is the central idea that forms the backbone of an academic essay, clearly conveying the writer's stance and what will be argued.

Weak claims to avoid:

• Statements of fact (cannot be disputed, no opposition)
• Statements of personal belief, taste, or preference (cannot be substantiated by evidence)
• Obvious or generally accepted statements (no one would disagree)

Strong claim characteristics:

• Specific
• Debatable
• Backed by reasons and evidence
• Promotes further discussion
• Invites reasonable people to rethink the issue and potentially adopt the writer's perspective

Example: "Rap and elements of hip-hop culture should be incorporated into elementary school music education" is debatable and specific, whereas "Four key elements make up hip-hop culture" is merely factual.

🔍 Evaluating thesis effectiveness

The excerpt provides practice examples:

Weak thesis	Why it's weak
"Four key elements make up hip-hop culture: DJing, rapping, breakdancing, and graffiti."	Statement of fact; not debatable
"Cats have psychic powers."	Cannot be substantiated by evidence
"The Burmese Gray is by far the most docile of cat, making the best pet of all house cats."	Personal preference/taste

Don't confuse: A thesis that states what you will discuss vs. a thesis that argues a position—academic essays require the latter.

🏗️ Body paragraphs and support

🏗️ Purpose of body paragraphs

Body paragraphs prove or support the main claim; they are the lines of argument that substantiate the paper's larger point and lend authority to the case being built.

• The "body" forms the central section or "flesh" of an academic essay.
• Tends to be the longest and most developed section.
• Key questions to drive momentum:
  • What influence will the information have on readers?
  • How will it affect their thinking? Their feelings?

📊 Types of evidence

Body paragraphs typically rely on a blend of:

• Strong reasons
• Empirical evidence (facts, statistics)
• Relevant historical examples
• Support from knowledgeable and credible sources
• Relevant anecdotal evidence
• Textual evidence (common in literary analysis)
• Expert opinions
• Case studies (common in scientific papers)
• Recent events covered by newspapers
• Personal stories and observations

Selection principle: Not all evidence is equally important or relevant; writers must be selective and ensure evidence supports claims directly.

Don't confuse: Different types of evidence serve different purposes—empirical data appeals to logic, expert opinions establish credibility, anecdotes appeal to emotion.

🔢 Organizing body paragraphs

🔢 Order of Importance (Emphatic Order)

Two approaches:

Most-to-least important (preferred in persuasive essays):

• Emphasizes strongest, most convincing information first
• "Lead with your best stuff" mentality
• Similar to how trial lawyers present indisputable evidence first
• Example: In a debate with family, you typically present your best ideas first

Least-to-most important (for rhetorical effect):

• Essay builds in intensity to a climactic moment
• Leaves most important ideas fresh in readers' minds toward the end

Practical tip: Create a visual chart or outline ranking ideas by significance to plan progression and transitions.

📑 Order According to Evidence

Organize by kinds of support:

• Differentiate between logical appeals, ethical appeals, and emotional appeals
• Arrange paragraphs according to these persuasive approaches
• One tactic: present evidence supporting claims, then follow with conflicting evidence that complicates claims
• Consider progression from most obvious to least obvious issues (readers expect this flow)

Multiple factors: The excerpt notes that writers often don't know the best organization until experimenting with different orders of evidentiary support.

🤝 Counterarguments and alternative views

🤝 Why address counterarguments

A well-written argument not only substantiates the writer's claims; it also anticipates criticisms and carefully considers reasonable counterarguments, bringing up alternative views and presenting them fairly.

What to do:

• Make concessions when appropriate if another view is reasonable
• Note "holes" in a critic's reasoning
• Demonstrate limitations or disadvantages of alternative views
• Show how opposing views may only apply within certain contexts

Benefit: Taking potential criticisms seriously shows you are fair-minded and conscientious of differing opinions, which elevates your ethos (credibility).

🎲 The Believing and Doubting Game

A technique created by writing theorist Peter Elbow to brainstorm arguments for and against your views.

How it works:

1. Believe: Try to believe everything you've written; come up with as much additional evidence and supporting ideas as possible to expand your views
2. Doubt: Play devil's advocate; poke holes in your own ideas; come up with every reason why you are wrong

Practical tip: Fun to play with a partner; helps identify weaknesses before critics do.

Example: For a debate on plastic straw bans, first list all reasons supporting the ban (environmental impact, alternatives available), then switch to doubt (accessibility concerns, cost to businesses, effectiveness questions).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The conclusion should not merely summarize but should passionately reinforce what is at stake, open outward to future implications, and leave a memorable impression that moves the conversation forward.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a conclusion does: summarizes main points but goes beyond summary to draw inferences, make recommendations, and speculate on implications.
• How to make it memorable: use passionate, stylistically beautiful writing; revisit opening hooks; tell readers what to do next.
• Common confusion: a conclusion is not just a summary—it should open outward and encourage continued thinking, not close the discussion.
• Techniques to strengthen conclusions: present limitations, call for more research, reinforce stakes, or advise on action.

🎯 Purpose and scope

🎯 Beyond summary

The conclusion is your chance to leave a strong and memorable impression on the reader.

• Writers typically summarize main points in a couple of sentences, but "that is not quite enough."
• The excerpt emphasizes that many rhetoricians believe the conclusion should be "the most passionate, stylistically beautiful part of a paper."
• Don't confuse: a conclusion is not merely a restatement of what was already said; it should add new layers of meaning and direction.

🔄 Opening outward

• The conclusion "should open outward and encourage the reader to keep thinking about the ideas presented."
• It invites readers "to move the conversation forward" rather than ending the discussion.
• Example: after presenting an argument about an issue, the conclusion might speculate on where the issue is headed or what happens if the proposed views are (or are not) adopted.

🛠️ What to include

🛠️ Draw inferences and make recommendations

• You can "draw inferences from what you have already said."
• You can "make recommendations about how to address the problem or issue."
• This moves beyond restating claims to showing what those claims mean for action or understanding.

🔮 Speculate on the future

• You can "speculate on the future—where you believe the issue is headed."
• You can discuss "the implications of adopting (or not adopting) your views."
• Example: if your argument is about policy change, the conclusion might explore what the world looks like with or without that change.

⚠️ Present limitations and call for more work

• You can "present the limitations of what you have proposed."
• You can "put forth a call for more work or research to be done."
• This shows intellectual honesty and invites others to build on your argument.

🎯 Reinforce stakes and direct action

• You can "reinforce what is at stake for those to whom this issue especially matters."
• You can "tell readers what you want them to do next now that they are more informed on the issue."
• Example: a conclusion might urge readers to contact representatives, change a behavior, or reconsider a belief.

✍️ Practical techniques

✍️ Write as a letter (Activity 6.4)

• The excerpt suggests writing "a short letter or email to a real or imagined person whom you would want your argument to convince."
• In the letter, "advise that person on a new course of action they should take."
• After drafting, "consider if you might want to retool this letter as part of your conclusion."
• Why this works: it makes the conclusion concrete and action-oriented, focusing on what the reader should do next.

🔁 Revisit the hook (Activity 6.5)

• The excerpt recommends taking "a look at the opening 'hook' or introductory element you employed at the beginning of your essay."
• Write down "as many ways as you can think of to revisit or reframe that introductory element in your conclusion."
• Ask: "What imagery or phrases can you strategically bring back to your audience's mind?"
• Ask: "What is the main point you want your readers to remember about your starting point now that they have the context of the entire essay?"
• Why this works: it creates a sense of closure and coherence by echoing the beginning, while showing how the reader's understanding has deepened.

🎨 Tone and style

🎨 Passionate and beautiful

• The excerpt states that "many rhetoricians believe that a conclusion should be the most passionate, stylistically beautiful part of a paper."
• This is not about adding unnecessary flourish; it is about making the conclusion emotionally resonant and memorable.
• Example: instead of flatly restating points, use vivid language or a compelling image to leave a lasting impression.

🧭 Memorable impression

• The conclusion is "your chance to leave a strong and memorable impression on the reader."
• It should be the part of the essay that readers remember and think about after they finish reading.
• Don't confuse: memorable does not mean gimmicky; it means using language and ideas that resonate and stick with the audience.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Topics are foundational to any writing project and require deliberate exploration and development, but they will inevitably evolve and change throughout the writing, research, and discussion process.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Purpose drives topic development: identifying whether you're writing to inform, solve a problem, answer a question, express an opinion, tell a story, or work within a genre helps shape how you relate your topic to your purpose.
• Background research establishes credibility: acknowledging significant voices and writers in your field shows you've done your research and are qualified to speak on the topic.
• Conclusions showcase value and audience: the conclusion of a topic proposal makes the case for why your idea matters and identifies who might be interested in your work.
• Common confusion: topics are not fixed—they are "just a beginning," not "the only beginning," and will shift significantly as you write and research.
• Real-world example: the author's own dissertation topic moved significantly away from the original prospectus over two years of work.

📝 Writing a Topic Proposal

🎯 Purpose section

The purpose section answers questions about why you are writing: to inform, solve a problem, answer a question, express an opinion, tell a story, or work within a specific genre.

• Once you answer "yes" to one of these questions, use your introduction to explain how your topic relates to that purpose.
• This section establishes the direction and intent of your writing project.
• Example: if you're writing to solve a problem, your introduction should connect your topic to that problem-solving goal.

📚 Background section

The background section summarizes significant voices and writers in your field, showing how their ideas coincide with or differ from your approach.

What to include:

• Acknowledge important authors and thinkers who must be recognized in your discipline.
• Summarize a few main arguments rather than providing exhaustive background.
• Look up or consult authors whose names reappear across multiple essays and research.

Why it matters:

• Demonstrates you have done your research.
• Establishes that you are qualified to speak on the topic.
• Positions your work within the existing conversation.

Don't confuse: This is not about listing every piece of background information—focus on key arguments that show your preparation and positioning.

✨ Conclusion section

The conclusion makes the case for why your idea/topic is important and identifies potential audiences.

What makes conclusions easier in topic proposals:

• You are simply arguing for the importance of your idea.
• You can show your excitement about the topic to potential audiences.

Key elements:

• Acknowledge audiences who might be interested in your work.
• Point to other writers who might want to read your work and explain why.
• Reinforce how valuable and exciting your research is.

Mindset shift: Don't dread the conclusion; think of it as an opportunity to convey enthusiasm about your topic.

🔄 Topics Evolve Over Time

🌱 The nature of topic development

• Topics are "the most foundational aspect of any writing project."
• You should spend time shaping, exploring, and developing them.
• However, topics will evolve and change as you write, research, and discuss your work with others.

📖 Real example: dissertation prospectus

The excerpt shares the author's personal experience:

• The author wrote a dissertation prospectus (academic proposal) to justify research to an academic advisor during the final phases of a PhD.
• Two years later, when the dissertation was completed, the author "had moved significantly away from the topic" proposed in the prospectus.
• At the time of writing the prospectus, the author "did not realize" how much ideas would shift.

Key lesson: What you propose initially is not what you will necessarily end up with—this is normal and expected.

🚀 "Just a beginning...not the only beginning"

• The chapter emphasizes that topics are "just a beginning."
• They are not "the only beginning"—meaning there is flexibility and room for change.
• This perspective reduces pressure and allows for organic development of ideas.

Don't confuse: A topic proposal is not a rigid contract; it's a starting point that will naturally transform through the research and writing process.

🤔 Exploring Your Interests

💭 Supplemental brainstorm questions

The excerpt provides guiding questions to help explore interests and possible topic ideas:

Question category	Specific prompts
Academic interests	What is your major and what topics within your major are you most interested in exploring? (If undeclared, what studies interest you?)
Community and personal investment	Do you belong to any specific communities? What issues are you personally invested in?
Personal learning goals	What topics or issues would you like to learn more about in your personal life?
Passionate disagreements	Are there any questions or opinions that you find yourself passionately disagreeing with?

How to use these questions:

• Choose one question and answer through freewriting in a separate document.
• These questions help connect your personal interests, academic goals, and passionate concerns to potential topics.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Academic essays follow recognizable organizational patterns derived from Classical rhetoric, using core components that help writers present claims explicitly, situate their views in context, and persuade audiences through logical structure.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Writing as argument: All deliberate communication aims to influence thinking, change minds, or motivate action—academic writing inherently involves making arguments.
• Classical foundations: English-language academic essays draw from organizational models established by Greek and Roman rhetoricians thousands of years ago.
• Core components exist: Persuasive academic essays reliably include similar parts (claims, context, evidence, counterarguments) arranged in recognizable patterns.
• Common confusion: Organization is not rigid—the form may vary by field, but the expectation for explicit claims and logical connections remains consistent.
• Why structure matters: Proper organization optimizes the text to achieve its purpose and meet formal academic expectations.

📝 The Nature of Academic Writing as Argument

📝 Why all writing involves argument

The excerpt explains that composition theorists view writing as inherently argumentative because:

• Any deliberate communication tries to convey information in a certain way to elicit a desired response
• Writers aim to change minds, influence thinking, help informed decisions, propose solutions, or motivate action

🎯 Examples across academic contexts

Even seemingly non-argumentative writing contains persuasive elements:

Writing Type	Argumentative Element
Literary analysis or film review	Making well-reasoned arguments about how to interpret a text
Topic proposal	Convincing the professor that the topic will make a good paper
Personal reflection	Presenting an argument about self-perception

Key insight: Because writing is guided by purpose (the reason we communicate), organization should be optimized to achieve that purpose.

🔍 Genre expectations

The genre of argument (e.g., persuasive essay, argument paper, position paper) often entails very specific and formal expectations, particularly in organization.

• Academic settings have explicit requirements for how arguments are structured
• The goal is to present ideas in an explicit, unified, and coherent manner

🏛️ Classical Foundations and Core Components

🏛️ Origins in Classical rhetoric

The excerpt traces modern academic organization to ancient sources:

• Greek and Roman orators relied on a structure containing six "core" components
• These components had Latin names: Exordium, Narratio, Divisio, Confirmatio, Confutatio, and Conclusio
• The Classical Schema of Argumentation continues to serve academic writing today

🧩 What core components include

Writers perform a variety of "moves" in successful academic essays:

• Make clearly defined claims
• Situate views within larger context or conversation of existing ideas
• Rely on sound reasoning and evidence for support
• Address potential counterarguments or anticipated criticisms

Don't confuse: While writing conventions are not necessarily rigid, academic essays tend to follow similar patterns—the components are reliable but not inflexible.

⏱️ Learning over time

The excerpt notes that understanding these patterns develops gradually:

• The author admits still learning effective organization even as a graduate student
• Over time, these parts and their arrangement become intuitive
• Structuring an essay becomes almost second nature through immersion and guidance

🚪 The Introduction Component

🚪 Purpose and approach

Your introduction is the place to win your readers over.

The introduction serves specific functions:

• Writers do not plunge directly into an argument
• Instead, they establish rapport by engaging readers gradually
• Writers lead into the subject (often indirectly) and guide the reader to the stance that will be taken
• Establishes authorial point of view and tone of voice

🎨 Creative opportunities

The introductory paragraph offers writers a chance to be creative through various techniques:

• Beginning with an analogy
• Opening with a brief anecdote
• Describing a recent event or trend

Key principle: The introduction engages the audience before presenting the main argument, building connection and context first.

🌍 Field Variations and Universal Expectations

🌍 Consistency across disciplines

The excerpt emphasizes both flexibility and standards:

• The form of an essay might vary slightly depending on the academic field
• In general, academic papers are written in a clear and straightforward manner
• Professors ask that claims be stated explicitly
• Ideas presented must be logically connected across sections

🔗 Why clarity matters

Academic writing in English follows specific conventions:

• Claims should be explicit (not implied or hidden)
• Logical connections between sections must be clear
• The straightforward manner serves the goal of effective persuasion and communication

Example: A writer cannot assume readers will infer the connection between paragraphs—the organizational logic must be made visible.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The introduction and contextual background of an academic essay work together to engage readers, establish the writer's credibility and tone, and bring the audience up to speed on the topic before presenting the main argument.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Purpose of the introduction: win readers over by gradually engaging them and establishing rapport, tone, and authorial point of view—not by plunging directly into the argument.
• "Hooks" to capture interest: writers may open with an analogy, anecdote, recent event, trend, or eye-catching statement/statistic to pique reader interest and connect them to the topic.
• Contextual background's role: describe the issue, problem, or controversy; explain what drives the writer to address the topic; summarize existing views and recent conversation.
• Common confusion: introduction vs. contextual background—the introduction gains readers' interest about the topic, while contextual background brings them up to speed on it; sometimes these overlap or merge.
• Flexibility in structure: these components can appear in one paragraph or be split across multiple paragraphs; the key is connecting writer, topic, and audience while establishing stance and style.

🎯 Purpose and approach of the introduction

🎯 Winning readers over gradually

• Academic writing does not plunge directly into an argument.
• Instead, writers establish rapport with the audience by engaging readers gradually.
• The introduction leads into the subject (often indirectly) and guides the reader to the stance that will be taken.
• It establishes an authorial point of view and tone of voice.

🎨 Creative techniques: "hooks"

"Hooks": techniques that pique the reader's interest and help connect them to the topic.

Common hook strategies mentioned in the excerpt:

• An analogy
• A brief anecdote
• Description of a recent event or trend connected to the topic
• An eye-catching statement or statistic

Why hooks matter: A strong introduction builds trust with readers by appealing to their feelings while simultaneously gesturing toward the writer's perspective on the topic.

Example: A writer might open with a striking statistic about a social trend, then use that to lead into their stance on the issue, rather than stating their thesis in the first sentence.

📚 Contextual background: bringing readers up to speed

📚 What contextual background covers

Contextual background: the section where writers establish the events and ideas that are driving them to write about their topics for their audience.

This section can include:

• Personal circumstances or anecdotes that justify the writer's interest in the subject
• A summation of views provided by other writers: What have people been saying? What ideas are circulating?
• How recent conversation has been shaped by other thinkers and writers
• A brief historical overview of events that establishes a common way for audiences to understand the topic

🔗 How it connects to the introduction

• The contextual background can function as part of the introduction or "hook," particularly if it is a compelling personal story.
• One way to think about the relationship: the introduction gains readers' interest about the topic, while the contextual background brings them up to speed on it.

Don't confuse: These are conceptually distinct functions, but structurally flexible—they may appear in one paragraph or be split across multiple paragraphs.

🧩 Flexibility and core goals

🧩 Structural flexibility

• The excerpt emphasizes that some components are flexible.
• Contextual background can be part of the introductory paragraph or begin a new paragraph.
• The key is not rigid adherence to a formula, but achieving the core goals.

🎭 Core goals of opening sections

The introductory sections (introduction + contextual background) should attempt to:

Goal	What it means
Connect writer to topic	Establish why the writer cares about or is qualified to discuss the subject
Connect writer to audience	Build rapport and trust with readers
Connect audience to topic	Make readers care about the issue through hooks and context
Establish tone, stance, and style	Set the authorial voice and perspective that will guide the essay

Example: A writer might share a personal anecdote (connecting themselves to the topic), then explain how that experience reflects a broader social controversy (connecting audience to topic), all while establishing a thoughtful, engaged tone.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The contextual background section establishes the issue, problem, or controversy driving the essay and brings readers up to speed on the topic by summarizing relevant events, ideas, and conversations.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Purpose: to describe the issue or controversy and establish what has driven the writer to address the topic.
• Content options: personal circumstances/anecdotes, summaries of other writers' views, or a brief historical overview of events.
• Placement flexibility: can appear as part of the introductory paragraph or as a separate new paragraph.
• Common confusion: contextual background vs. introduction—the introduction gains readers' interest, while contextual background brings them up to speed.
• Connection goal: links the writer to the topic and to the audience while establishing tone, stance, and style.

📖 What contextual background does

📖 Core function

Contextual background: the section where writers establish the events and ideas that are driving them to write about their topics for their audience.

• It is not the main argument itself; it is the setup that explains why the topic matters and what has been said about it.
• The excerpt emphasizes that this section "brings readers up to speed" on the topic.
• Example: An organization writing about a policy issue might summarize recent legislative changes and public debate before stating its own position.

🔍 What to include

The excerpt lists three main types of content:

Content type	What it covers	Purpose
Personal circumstances/anecdotes	Why the writer is interested in the subject	Justifies the writer's engagement with the topic
Summation of other views	What people have been saying; how recent conversation has been shaped	Situates the essay within ongoing discourse
Brief historical gloss	Events that establish a common understanding	Provides shared context for the audience

• Don't confuse: this is not a full literature review or detailed history—it is a brief overview to orient readers.

🔄 How contextual background relates to introduction

🔄 Flexible placement

• The excerpt states that contextual background can be "part of your introductory paragraph, or you can begin a new paragraph."
• This flexibility shows that the "components" are not rigid formulas.
• The key is function, not fixed structure.

🎯 Distinguishing introduction from contextual background

The excerpt draws a clear functional distinction:

• Introduction: gains readers' interest about the topic (uses "hooks" like analogies, anecdotes, eye-catching statements).
• Contextual background: brings readers up to speed on the topic (summarizes events, ideas, and conversations).

Don't confuse: Sometimes contextual background can function as part of the introduction, especially if it is a compelling personal story. The excerpt notes that "the contextual background can sometimes function as part of the introduction, or 'hook,' particularly if it is a compelling personal story."

🧩 The triple connection

The excerpt emphasizes that introductory sections (including contextual background) should:

1. Connect the writer to the topic
2. Connect the writer to the audience
3. Establish tone, stance, and style

• All three connections work together; contextual background is not just information delivery—it also shapes how readers perceive the writer's authority and approach.

🛠️ Practical application

🛠️ Building reader trust

• The excerpt states that "a strong introduction will build trust with your readers by appealing to their feelings while simultaneously gesturing toward your perspective."
• Contextual background contributes to this trust by showing the writer is informed and aware of the broader conversation.
• Example: A writer addressing a controversy might summarize competing viewpoints before introducing their own claim, demonstrating fairness and knowledge.

🛠️ Setting up the argument

• By establishing "what people have been saying" and "how recent conversation has been shaped," contextual background prepares readers to understand the writer's contribution.
• It answers implicit reader questions: Why does this topic matter? What has already been said? What gap does this essay fill?
• The excerpt's phrasing—"events and ideas that are driving them to write"—suggests that contextual background explains the motivation and urgency behind the essay.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A strong thesis statement is the arguable, specific central claim that forms the backbone of an academic essay and invites readers to rethink an issue through reasons and evidence.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a thesis statement is: the main claim, proposition, or argument that clearly conveys your stance and what you will argue.
• What makes a weak claim: statements of fact (not disputable), personal taste (not substantiable), or obvious statements (no one would disagree).
• What makes a strong claim: specific, debatable, backed by reasons and evidence, and promotes further discussion.
• Common confusion: a thesis is not just any statement about your topic—it must be arguable and invite reasonable people to rethink the issue, not just state something everyone already accepts.
• Why it matters: the thesis is the foundation of your essay; body paragraphs exist to prove or support this central claim.

🎯 What a thesis statement is

🎯 Core definition

Thesis statement (also called main claim, main proposition, or main argument): the central idea or proposition that forms the backbone of your academic essay.

• It should clearly convey your stance or position on the topic.
• It should lay out what you will argue in the paper.
• Different instructors may use different terms, but they all refer to the same concept: the central claim you are making.

🔗 How it connects to the essay structure

• The thesis is introduced after the introduction (which gains readers' interest) and contextual background (which brings readers up to speed on the topic).
• Body paragraphs are your lines of argument that prove or support the thesis.
• Example: if your thesis claims that rap should be incorporated into elementary music education, each body paragraph would provide a reason, piece of evidence, or argument supporting that claim.

❌ What does NOT work as a thesis

❌ Statements of fact

• Why they fail: cannot be disputed, so there is no potential opposition.
• These yield no argument because everyone already agrees.
• Example: "Four key elements make up hip-hop culture: DJing, rapping, breakdancing, and graffiti." (This is just a factual description, not debatable.)

❌ Statements of personal belief, taste, or preference

• Why they fail: might not be able to be substantiated by evidence.
• Personal preferences are subjective and don't invite reasoned discussion.
• Example: "The Burmese Gray is by far the most docile of cat, making the best pet of all house cats." (This is a matter of personal taste.)

❌ Obvious or generally accepted statements

• Why they fail: no one would disagree with them, so there is nothing to argue.
• These lead to weak essays because they don't challenge readers to rethink anything.
• Example: "Cats have psychic powers." (This is either too vague or too outlandish to be argued with evidence.)

🚫 Don't confuse

• A thesis is not just "a statement about your topic."
• It must be arguable—reasonable people could disagree with it, and you need to persuade them.

✅ What makes a strong thesis

✅ Four key qualities

Quality	What it means	Why it matters
Specific	Clearly defined scope and focus	Vague claims are hard to prove and don't guide your essay
Debatable	Reasonable people could disagree	Without disagreement, there's no argument to make
Backed by reasons and evidence	Can be substantiated	Readers need proof, not just assertions
Promotes further discussion	Invites readers to rethink the issue	A strong claim helps us rethink an entire field of ideas

✅ What a strong claim does

• Invites reasonable people to rethink the issue or concept.
• Aims to sway readers to adopt the writer's perspective.
• Recognizes that in the "real world," situations are never static, so a new claim can help us rethink ideas.

💡 Example of a strong thesis

From the excerpt's Activity 6.2:

• Strong: "Rap and elements of hip-hop culture should be incorporated into elementary school music education."

  • Specific (elementary school music education)
  • Debatable (reasonable people could disagree)
  • Can be backed by reasons (educational benefits, cultural relevance)
  • Promotes discussion (challenges current curriculum norms)

• Strong: "In order to discourage cat hoarding, a growing form of animal abuse, cat owners in Pennsylvania should be required to obtain a pet license."

  • Specific (Pennsylvania, pet license requirement)
  • Debatable (policy proposal that could be opposed)
  • Can be backed by evidence (data on cat hoarding, effectiveness of licensing)
  • Promotes discussion (addresses a real problem with a concrete solution)

🏗️ How the thesis functions in your essay

🏗️ The thesis as foundation

• The thesis is what your body paragraphs exist to prove or support.
• Each body paragraph is a "line of argument" that substantiates the paper's main claim.
• Body paragraphs lend authority to the case you are building.

🏗️ What body paragraphs should include

To support your thesis, body paragraphs will usually rely on:

• Strong reasons: logical arguments that a reasonable reader would find convincing.
• Empirical evidence: facts, observations, statistics.
• Relevant historical examples: case studies or events that illustrate your point.
• Support from credible sources: if a researched essay, cite knowledgeable authorities.
• Relevant anecdotal evidence: personal stories or examples that appeal to readers' emotions.

🔄 The relationship between thesis and support

• The thesis tells readers what you will argue.
• The body paragraphs answer why a reasonable reader should find your argument convincing.
• Example: if your thesis is "Rap should be incorporated into elementary music education," your body paragraphs might cover: educational benefits of rhythm and wordplay, cultural relevance for diverse students, and successful case studies from schools that have tried it.

🚫 Don't confuse

• The thesis is not the same as the introduction or contextual background.
• The introduction gains readers' interest; the contextual background brings them up to speed; the thesis states your arguable claim.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Body paragraphs prove the paper's main claim by presenting supporting arguments in a strategic order that maximizes persuasive impact on readers.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What body paragraphs do: they substantiate the main claim and build the case through lines of argument.
• What makes support convincing: a blend of strong reasons, empirical evidence, historical examples, credible sources, and anecdotal evidence.
• How to order support: two common patterns are most-to-least important (emphatic order) and least-to-most important (climactic order).
• Common confusion: there is no single "correct" order—the choice depends on rhetorical effect and audience considerations.
• Why order matters: the sequence of ideas influences how readers think and feel, shaping the essay's persuasive momentum.

🏗️ Function and content of body paragraphs

🏗️ What body paragraphs prove

Body paragraphs in academic essays prove or support your claim.

• They are the "lines of argument" that substantiate the paper's main claim.
• The excerpt calls them the "flesh" of the essay—the central, longest, and most developed section.
• They lend authority to the case by answering: What will a reasonable reader find convincing, logical, or emotionally appealing?

🧱 Types of support to include

The excerpt lists several kinds of evidence that work together:

Type of support	What it does
Strong reasons	Provide logical justification
Empirical evidence	Offer data and observable facts
Historical examples	Show precedent and context
Credible sources	Establish trustworthiness (if researched)
Anecdotal evidence	Appeal to readers' emotions and experiences
Case studies / statistics	Convince readers of credibility

• Body paragraphs "usually rely on a blend" of these—not just one type.
• Example: An argument might combine statistics (empirical) with a personal story (anecdotal) to be both logical and emotionally resonant.

📐 Ordering support: strategic choices

📐 Why order matters

• The excerpt emphasizes that the order of information affects how readers think and feel.
• Writers should ask: What influence will this information have? How will it affect their thinking? Their feelings?
• Goal: help the audience better understand the writer's message and purpose.
• The excerpt states there is "no single 'correct' way," but common methods exist.

🔢 Emphatic order (most to least important)

In this organizational pattern, ideas are arranged in one of two ways: most to least important, or least to most important.

• Most to least important is often preferred in persuasive essays.
• Rationale: emphasize the strongest, most convincing support first—the "lead with your best stuff" mentality.
• Example: In a debate with family or friends, you typically present your best point first; trial lawyers focus the jury on the most significant evidence early.
• Don't confuse: this is not about quantity of evidence, but about strength and impact.

🎯 Climactic order (least to most important)

• Least to most important reverses the emphatic order for rhetorical effect.
• Rationale: the essay builds in intensity to a climactic moment, leaving the most important ideas fresh in the reader's mind at the end.
• Example: A writer might start with weaker but still valid points, then escalate to the most powerful argument as the conclusion approaches.
• Trade-off: risks losing reader attention early, but rewards with a strong finish.

🗂️ Pre-writing tip

• The excerpt recommends creating a visual chart or outline that ranks ideas according to importance.
• This helps writers decide which order will best serve their rhetorical goals.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The order in which you present supporting evidence in body paragraphs should be strategically chosen based on how you want to influence your audience's thinking and feelings, with common methods including arranging by importance (emphatic order) or by type of evidence.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Purpose of body paragraphs: they prove or support your main claim by substantiating your argument with reasons, evidence, examples, and credible sources.
• Why order matters: the sequence of information affects how readers understand your message and respond emotionally and intellectually.
• Emphatic order: arrange ideas from most to least important (lead with strongest evidence) or least to most important (build to a climax).
• Evidence-based order: organize by types of support (empirical data, expert opinions, case studies, anecdotes, etc.) or by rhetorical appeal (logical, ethical, emotional).
• Common confusion: there is no single "correct" way to organize—the best order depends on your audience's values, interests, and beliefs, and what will be most persuasive to them.

📝 What body paragraphs do

📝 Core function

Body paragraphs in academic essays prove or support your claim; they are your lines of argument that substantiate the paper's main claim and lend authority to the case you are building.

• They form the central section or "flesh" of an academic essay.
• They tend to be the longest and most developed section of a paper.
• Writers invent arguments that support the paper's larger point by asking: What will a reasonable reader find convincing? What will readers respond to positively? What will appeal to their emotions?

🧱 What goes into body paragraphs

Body paragraphs usually rely on a blend of:

• Strong reasons
• Empirical evidence
• Relevant historical examples
• Support from knowledgeable and credible sources (if a researched essay)
• Relevant anecdotal evidence

All of these work together to support the paper's main claim.

🎯 Why ordering matters

🎯 Audience-centered thinking

When outlining an academic essay, consider carefully the order in which information is presented. Always drive your essay's momentum with questions like:

• What influence will the information have on readers?
• How will it affect their thinking?
• How will it affect their feelings?

Key principle: Since the goal of all writing is to have the audience better understand the writer's message and purpose, considerations of audience can help writers decide the optimal order of ideas.

🔍 No single correct way

• There is no single "correct" way to organize the presentation of evidence in an academic essay.
• The excerpt provides two common structures to consider.
• The best order depends on what will be most persuasive to your specific audience.

📊 Method 1: Order of Importance (Emphatic Order)

📊 Two directions

In this organizational pattern, ideas are arranged in one of two ways:

1. Most to least important
2. Least to most important

🥇 Most to least important (lead with your best)

• When to use: Often the preferred organizational pattern in persuasive essays.
• Why it works: It emphasizes the strongest, most convincing supporting information first.
• Real-world parallels:
  • When you enter a debate with family or friends, you typically present your best ideas first when trying to make a point.
  • Trial lawyers deploy the same approach, focusing the jury's attention on the most significant and indisputable evidence when making their case.
• Mentality: "Lead with your best stuff."

🎭 Least to most important (build to climax)

• When to use: For rhetorical effect, a writer might choose to reverse the order, presenting the most important point last.
• Why it works:
  • The essay builds in intensity to a climactic moment.
  • It leaves the most important ideas fresh in the mind of the reader toward the essay's end.

🗺️ Pre-writing tip

When you are pre-writing to generate material for an essay, create a visual chart or outline that ranks ideas according to their significance. That way, you can:

• Play out the progression of ideas in your mind
• Begin to think about how to transition from one argument to the next
• Identify what arguments might be connected
• See where further elaboration may be necessary

🧪 Method 2: Order According to Evidence (Kinds of Support)

🧪 Why understanding evidence types matters

• Knowing the difference between kinds of evidence can help you decide what is most relevant (and most persuasive) to an audience based upon their likely values, interests, and beliefs.
• Outlining the types of evidence at your disposal is good practice that can help determine the order of your body paragraphs.

📚 Categories of evidence

Evidence could be broken down into categories:

Type of Evidence	Description	Common Use
Empirical data	Facts or statistics	General persuasion
Textual evidence	Quotes, passages	Literary analysis papers
Expert opinions	Views from knowledgeable sources	Building credibility
Case studies	Detailed examples	Scientific papers
Historical/recent events	News coverage, documented events	Contextual support
Series of examples	Multiple instances	Demonstrating patterns
Personal stories	Observations, anecdotes	Emotional appeal

Each kind of evidence serves a purpose in supporting the essay's larger point.

🎨 Organizational tactics using evidence types

Writers employ different approaches:

• Claim-complication structure: Arrange an essay according to evidence that supports the writer's main claims, then follow with conflicting evidence that complicates those claims.
• Rhetorical appeal structure: Differentiate between logical appeals, ethical appeals, and emotional appeals, and arrange paragraphs in accordance with those persuasive approaches.

✂️ Being selective with evidence

• Not all evidence is equally important or relevant, so when you are outlining ideas, it is important to be selective.
• Writers want their evidence to support their claims directly.
• Organizing evidence visually (in an outline form or visual cluster) can help a writer determine if some of the evidence is off-topic or extraneous.

💡 Practical considerations

The excerpt suggests:

• Consider the progression from the most obvious to the least obvious issues, as readers will often expect an argument to flow in this way.
• Try to premise groupings along the way so that the logical structure is clear.
• Consider multiple factors simultaneously when organizing.

Don't confuse: Selecting evidence is not just about quantity—it's about relevance and direct support for your claims. Visual organization helps you spot evidence that doesn't belong.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Emphatic order—arranging ideas from most to least important or vice versa—helps writers strategically position their strongest evidence to maximize persuasive impact on readers.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Two directional approaches: most-to-least important (lead with strongest evidence) or least-to-most important (build to a climax).
• Most-to-least is preferred in persuasive essays: it emphasizes the strongest, most convincing support first, like trial lawyers focusing on indisputable evidence.
• Least-to-most creates rhetorical effect: builds intensity to a climactic moment and leaves the most important ideas fresh in readers' minds.
• Common confusion: there is no single "correct" order—writers must consider audience, purpose, and rhetorical effect when choosing.
• Pre-writing visual ranking: creating charts or outlines that rank ideas by significance helps plan progression, transitions, and connections.

🎯 The two emphatic order strategies

🥇 Most-to-least important: lead with your best

• What it means: present the strongest, most convincing supporting information first, then move to less critical points.
• Why it works:
  • Emphasizes the most significant evidence immediately.
  • Mirrors natural debate behavior—people typically present their best ideas first when making a point.
  • Trial lawyers use this approach to focus attention on the most indisputable evidence.
• The mentality: "lead with your best stuff."
• Example: In a persuasive essay arguing for policy change, start with the most compelling statistical evidence or expert testimony, then follow with secondary supporting details.

🎭 Least-to-most important: build to climax

• What it means: reverse the order, presenting the most important point last.
• Why it works:
  • Creates rhetorical effect by building intensity to a climactic moment.
  • Leaves the most important ideas fresh in the reader's mind toward the essay's end.
  • Generates momentum and anticipation.
• Don't confuse: this is not weaker—it's a deliberate rhetorical choice for dramatic effect, not a failure to prioritize.
• Example: An essay might start with moderate concerns, then escalate through increasingly serious implications, ending with the most urgent consequence.

🗂️ Planning with visual ranking

📊 Pre-writing organization

• The recommendation: create a visual chart or outline that ranks ideas according to their significance.
• Benefits of visual ranking:
  • Play out the progression of ideas mentally.
  • Begin thinking about transitions from one argument to the next.
  • Identify which arguments might be connected.
  • Spot where further elaboration may be necessary.
• Key principle: always consider audience influence—what effect will the information have on readers' thinking and feelings?

🎯 Audience-driven decisions

"Since the goal of all writing is to have the audience better understand the writer's message and purpose, considerations of audience can help writers decide the optimal order of ideas."

• Questions to ask:
  • What influence will the information have on readers?
  • How will it affect their thinking?
  • How will it affect their feelings?
• The excerpt emphasizes that there is no single "correct" way to organize evidence—the optimal order depends on audience, message, and purpose.

📚 Evidence types and organization

🔍 Categories of evidence

The excerpt identifies multiple types of evidence that can shape body paragraph order:

Evidence type	Description	Common use
Empirical data	Facts or statistics	Quantitative support
Textual evidence	Quotes, passages	Literary analysis papers
Expert opinions	Authority voices	Credibility building
Case studies	Detailed examples	Scientific papers
Historical/recent events	News coverage	Contextual support
Series of examples	Multiple instances	Pattern demonstration
Personal stories/anecdotes	Individual observations	Emotional connection

🎯 Strategic arrangement by evidence

• One organizational tactic: arrange evidence that supports the writer's main claims, then follow with conflicting evidence that complicates those claims.
• Another approach: differentiate between logical appeals, ethical appeals, and emotional appeals, and arrange paragraphs accordingly.
• Selectivity matters: not all evidence is equally important or relevant—writers must be selective.
• Visual organization helps: outlining evidence visually (in outline form or visual cluster) helps determine if some evidence is off-topic or extraneous.

🧭 Progression principles

• Most obvious to least obvious: readers often expect arguments to flow this way.
• Premise groupings: make the logical structure clear along the way.
• Experimentation: the excerpt's author notes not always knowing the best organization until experimenting with different orders of evidentiary support.
• Multiple factors simultaneously: consider various organizational principles together rather than applying one rigid rule.

🤔 Counterarguments and alternative views

🛡️ Why address counterarguments

"A well-written argument not only substantiates the writer's claims; it also anticipates criticisms and carefully considers reasonable counterarguments, bringing up alternative views and presenting them fairly."

• Benefits:
  • Shows you are fair-minded and conscientious of differing opinions.
  • Elevates your ethos (credibility).
  • Explains why your claims are preferable.
  • Demonstrates intellectual honesty.

⚖️ How to handle opposing views

• Make concessions when appropriate: if another person's view is reasonable, acknowledge it.
• Note "holes" in critics' reasoning: demonstrate limitations or disadvantages of opposing views.
• Context matters: show how opposing views may only be applicable within certain contexts.
• Take criticisms seriously: by engaging thoughtfully with potential objections, you strengthen your own position.

🎲 The Believing and Doubting Game

A technique created by writing theorist Peter Elbow to brainstorm possible arguments against your views:

Believing phase:

• Try to believe everything you have written.
• Come up with as much additional evidence or as many supporting ideas as possible.
• Expand upon your views exhaustively.

Doubting phase:

• Try to doubt every idea you have presented.
• Play the role of an adversary or "devil's advocate."
• Poke holes in your own ideas.
• Come up with every reason why you might be wrong.

Tip: the excerpt notes it's fun to play this game with a partner.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Organizing an essay effectively requires understanding different types of evidence, selecting the most relevant support for your claims, and anticipating counterarguments to strengthen your credibility.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Multiple evidence types exist: empirical data, textual evidence, expert opinions, case studies, events, examples, and personal stories—each serves a different purpose.
• Organization strategies: arrange evidence by type (supporting then conflicting), by persuasive appeal (logical, ethical, emotional), or by progression (most obvious to least obvious).
• Selectivity matters: not all evidence is equally important; visual outlining helps identify off-topic or extraneous support.
• Counterarguments strengthen ethos: addressing alternative views fairly and showing their limitations demonstrates fair-mindedness while elevating your credibility.
• Common confusion: believing vs. doubting—the same writer should actively generate both supporting ideas and challenges to their own claims.

📚 Types of evidence and their purposes

📊 Categories of evidence

The excerpt identifies several distinct types:

Evidence type	Description	Common use
Empirical data	Facts or statistics	Quantitative support
Textual evidence	Quotes or passages	Literary analysis papers
Expert opinions	Views from authorities	Credibility building
Case studies	Detailed examples	Scientific papers
Historical/recent events	Newspaper-covered occurrences	Contextual support
Series of examples	Multiple instances	Pattern demonstration
Personal stories/anecdotes	Individual observations	Emotional connection

• Each kind serves a specific purpose in supporting the essay's larger point.
• The choice depends on "likely values, interests, and beliefs" of the audience.

🎯 Why categorization helps

• Knowing the difference between kinds of evidence helps you decide what is most relevant and most persuasive.
• Outlining types of evidence at your disposal is good practice for determining the order of body paragraphs.
• Example: An audience valuing scientific rigor might respond better to empirical data and case studies than to personal anecdotes.

🗂️ Organizational strategies

🗂️ Arrangement by evidence type

One organizational tactic: arrange an essay according to evidence that supports the writer's main claims and follow that with conflicting evidence that complicates those claims.

• Start with supporting evidence to build your case.
• Then introduce conflicting evidence to show complexity and depth.
• This progression demonstrates thorough thinking rather than one-sided advocacy.

🎭 Arrangement by persuasive appeal

Another approach: differentiate between logical appeals, ethical appeals, and emotional appeals, and arrange paragraphs in accordance with those persuasive approaches.

• Logical appeals: reasoning and data-driven arguments.
• Ethical appeals: credibility and character-based arguments.
• Emotional appeals: values and feelings-based arguments.
• Grouping by appeal type creates clear rhetorical structure.

📈 Progression from obvious to subtle

• The excerpt's author prefers "the progression from the most obvious to the least obvious issues."
• Why: readers often expect an argument to flow this way.
• Additional tactic: "premise groupings along the way so that the logical structure is clear."
• Don't confuse: this is not about importance but about reader expectations and accessibility.

✂️ Selectivity and relevance

✂️ Not all evidence is equal

Not all evidence is equally important or relevant, so when you are outlining ideas, it is important to be selective.

• Writers want their evidence to support their claims directly.
• Off-topic or extraneous evidence weakens rather than strengthens an argument.

🗺️ Visual organization tools

• Organizing evidence visually (in outline form or visual cluster) helps determine if some evidence is off-topic.
• The excerpt emphasizes experimentation: "I do not always know the best way to organize supporting information until I have experimented with different orders of evidentiary support."
• Consider multiple factors simultaneously rather than following a single rigid formula.
• Example: Try arranging evidence by type first, then by progression, then compare which structure better serves your thesis.

🔄 Counterarguments and alternative views

🔄 Why address counterarguments

A well-written argument not only substantiates the writer's claims; it also anticipates criticisms and carefully considers reasonable counterarguments, bringing up alternative views and presenting them fairly.

• Addressing potential criticisms shows you are "fair-minded and conscientious of differing opinions."
• This is an effective tactic to elevate your ethos (credibility).
• Don't confuse: presenting counterarguments is not weakening your position—it's strengthening your credibility.

⚖️ How to handle alternative views

When addressing possible contentions:

• Make concessions when appropriate if another person's view is reasonable.
• Note "holes" in a critic's reasoning or demonstrate limitations/disadvantages of these views.
• Show context limitations: explain how opposing views may only be applicable within certain contexts.
• Explain why your claims are preferable while showing fairness.

Example: An alternative view might be reasonable in one context but have disadvantages in the specific situation you're analyzing.

🎲 The Believing and Doubting Game

A technique created by writing theorist Peter Elbow.

Believing phase:

• Try to believe everything you have written.
• Come up with as much additional evidence or as many supporting ideas as you can to expand upon your views.
• Be exhaustive in generating support.

Doubting phase:

• Try to doubt every idea you have presented.
• Play the role of an adversary or "devil's advocate."
• Poke holes in your own ideas.
• Come up with every reason why you are wrong.
• Raise questions, identify possible counterarguments, and express skepticism.

Why it works:

• Helps you anticipate criticisms before your audience does.
• Generates material for the counterargument/refutation section.
• The excerpt notes "It's fun to play this game with a partner"—collaborative doubting can reveal blind spots.

Example: Pick a viewpoint (e.g., on plastic straw bans), write down all supporting ideas, then switch stance and challenge every belief you just presented.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A well-written argument anticipates criticisms and addresses reasonable counterarguments fairly, which strengthens the writer's ethos and demonstrates why their claims are preferable.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What this component does: brings up alternative views and presents them fairly while noting their limitations.
• When to make concessions: acknowledge when another person's view is reasonable, but also point out holes in their reasoning or contexts where their view doesn't apply.
• Why it matters: taking potential criticisms seriously elevates your ethos (credibility) by showing you are fair-minded and conscientious.
• Common confusion: addressing counterarguments is not about weakening your position—it's about showing you've considered all sides and can explain why your claims are still preferable.
• Brainstorming tool: the "Believing and Doubting Game" helps generate both supporting evidence and potential objections.

🎯 Purpose and approach

🎯 What a strong argument includes

A well-written argument does two things:

• Substantiates the writer's claims with evidence.
• Anticipates criticisms and considers reasonable counterarguments.

The excerpt emphasizes that you should present alternative views fairly, not as straw men.

🤝 How to handle opposing views

When addressing possible contentions to your views:

Action	When to use	Purpose
Make concessions	When another person's view is reasonable	Shows fairness and open-mindedness
Note "holes" in reasoning	When a critic's argument has weaknesses	Demonstrates critical thinking
Show limitations/disadvantages	When opposing views only work in certain contexts	Clarifies why your claims are preferable

• Don't confuse: making a concession doesn't mean abandoning your argument—it means acknowledging valid points while still defending your overall position.

🎭 Elevating your ethos

Ethos: the credibility and trustworthiness a writer establishes with their audience.

• By taking potential criticisms seriously, you show you are fair-minded and conscientious of differing opinions.
• This is an effective tactic to strengthen your credibility.
• Example: If you're arguing for a policy change, acknowledging legitimate concerns about implementation costs (then explaining why the benefits outweigh them) makes you appear more trustworthy than ignoring those concerns entirely.

🎲 The Believing and Doubting Game

🎲 What it is

The Believing and Doubting Game: a brainstorming technique created by writing theorist Peter Elbow to generate both supporting evidence and counterarguments.

The exercise has two phases:

✅ Believing phase

• What you do: Try to believe everything you have written.
• Goal: Come up with as much additional evidence or as many supporting ideas as you can to expand upon your views.
• Be exhaustive—find every possible reason your argument is strong.

❌ Doubting phase

• What you do: Try to doubt every idea you have presented.
• Goal: Play the role of an adversary or "devil's advocate" whose job is to poke holes in your own ideas.
• Come up with every reason why you might be wrong.
• Raise questions, identify possible counterarguments, and express skepticism.

🤝 Playing with a partner

The excerpt notes it's fun to play this game with a partner—one person can take the believing role while the other takes the doubting role, then switch.

Example: If you're arguing that plastic straws should be banned, first list every environmental and health benefit you can think of (believing). Then switch and list every practical difficulty, economic cost, and accessibility concern (doubting). Keep going until you've identified the strongest arguments for both perspectives.

🔗 Connection to essay organization

🔗 Where counterarguments fit

The excerpt mentions this as one of several organizational tactics:

• One approach: arrange an essay according to evidence that supports the writer's main claims, then follow with conflicting evidence that complicates those claims.
• This structure shows you've considered multiple perspectives before reaching your conclusion.

🔗 Why organize this way

• Readers expect you to address obvious objections.
• Presenting counterarguments and then refuting them (or showing their limitations) makes your own argument stronger by comparison.
• Don't confuse: "conflicting evidence" doesn't mean evidence that disproves your thesis—it means evidence that adds nuance or shows where your argument has boundaries.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Understanding core essay components and alternative structures like the Rogerian approach equips writers to build logically sound, audience-centered persuasive academic essays.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core components as building blocks: Classical rhetoric components (introduction, claims, counterclaims, conclusion) provide a logical structure that meets basic academic audience expectations.
• Rogerian structure as an alternative: Based on conflict resolution, it prioritizes compromise and mutual understanding over refutation.
• Key difference between approaches: Classical rhetoric aims to prove a position and disarm opposition; Rogerian aims to find common ground and satisfy all parties.
• Common confusion: Rogerian still uses core components (introduction, claim, counterarguments, conclusion) but applies them non-adversarially rather than confrontationally.
• When to use Rogerian: Most effective for polarizing or controversial topics where building goodwill and appearing collaborative strengthens the writer's credibility.

🏛️ Classical rhetoric components

🧱 The core building blocks

The excerpt identifies components that work in lockstep to create persuasive academic essays:

• Arouse curiosity in the reader
• Establish the topic and larger stakes
• Present arguable claims and substantiate them
• Address potential counterclaims
• Motivate the reader to intellectual response or action

🗺️ Why logical structure matters

• Defining these components forces writers to think in terms of logical structure.
• Especially useful when outlining ideas in early drafting stages.
• If you generate ideas for each component, you ensure basic academic audience expectations are addressed.
• Example: An organization planning an essay can check off each component to verify completeness.

🔄 Flexibility within structure

• Many organizational schemas use some arrangement or variation of these core components.
• The excerpt emphasizes these are not rigid rules but adaptable frameworks.
• Don't confuse: having a structure does not mean being formulaic; variations are encouraged beyond the "five-paragraph essay."

🤝 Rogerian structure

🧠 Philosophical foundation

Rogerian structure: an organizational approach based on psychologist Carl Rogers's work, using conflict resolution strategies to persuade audiences toward reasonable solutions.

• Academic writers advance knowledge through reason, thoughtfulness, attention to detail, and caring for audience well-being.
• The Rogerian approach embodies these values by seeking compromise from the outset.

📋 Rogerian components breakdown

Component	Purpose
Introduction	Establishes the occasion by describing the issue or problem
Presentation of Alternative Views	Provides multiple viewpoints in a fair-minded way
Demonstration of Your Position	States the writer's specific claim in relation to conflicting views
Finding of Common Ground	Supports claims non-adversarially; identifies shared concerns and supplies reasons all parties find acceptable
Conclusion	Expresses how the writer's stance offers fair resolution

🎯 What makes it different

The excerpt contrasts Rogerian with Classical rhetoric:

Classical rhetoric approach:

• The author's position takes priority
• Primary aim is to refute or disarm opposition
• Writer "proves" a position

Rogerian approach:

• Aims to find compromise and mutual understanding
• Does not "prove" but builds argument through cooperation
• Seeks resolution with which reasonable audiences would agree
• Assumes finding compromise that satisfies (or at least contents) all parties is ideal

Don't confuse: Rogerian still makes claims and addresses counterarguments, but does so collaboratively rather than adversarially.

🎭 Strategic application

🔥 When Rogerian works best

The excerpt identifies specific contexts where Rogerian structure is most effective:

• Polarizing or controversial topics: hot-button social issues like abortion rights, gun legislation, centralized national healthcare
• Why it works: Because it is non-adversarial and audience-centered

🤲 Building goodwill and ethos

• Presenting a range of ideas generously can garner goodwill between writers and readers.
• Beginning in neutral territory elevates the writer's authorial ethos.
• Makes the writer appear more like a collaborator in the pursuit of knowledge.
• Example: A writer addressing a controversial viewpoint first acknowledges multiple valid perspectives before introducing their own position, making readers more receptive.

🔗 Connecting with audiences

• Writers wish to connect with and relate to audiences.
• Educating readers early by presenting a collage of competing understandings invites them to recognize validity of many potential solutions, not just one.
• This invitation precedes settling into the writer's claim, making the transition smoother.

💡 Practical takeaways

🛠️ Tools for different situations

• The organizing principles presented are two that work particularly well in academic, persuasive writing.
• Other possible structures and sub-genres exist for conveying ideas.
• Having these structures in mind helps writers think beyond limiting formats like the five-paragraph essay.

⚖️ Choosing your approach

Consider these factors when selecting a structure:

• Nature of the topic: Is it neutral or polarizing?
• Audience relationship: Do you need to build trust or can you assert authority?
• Goal: Are you proving a point or seeking consensus?
• Context: What does your field or assignment expect?

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The Rogerian structure uses conflict-resolution strategies to persuade audiences by finding compromise and mutual understanding rather than refuting opposition.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What Rogerian structure is: an organizational approach based on psychologist Carl Rogers's work that aims for compromise instead of confrontation.
• How it differs from Classical rhetoric: presents multiple views fairly and seeks common ground, rather than prioritizing the writer's position and refuting opposition.
• When to use it: most effective for polarizing or controversial topics where building goodwill and appearing collaborative matters.
• Common confusion: Rogerian structure still includes core components (introduction, claim, counterarguments, conclusion) but arranges and treats them differently—it educates readers on competing views early and builds through cooperation, not proof.
• Why it matters: extends beyond classroom exercises into real-world communication (journal articles, speeches, policy proposals) and suits complex university assignments better than rigid five-paragraph formats.

🏗️ Core components of Rogerian structure

📝 Introduction

Establishes the occasion for writing by describing the issue or problem that the essay will address.

• Sets up the topic without immediately taking a side.
• Frames the issue neutrally to invite readers in.

🗣️ Presentation of Alternative Views

Provides multiple points of view about the specific topic in a fair-minded way.

• This comes before the writer's own claim.
• The excerpt emphasizes presenting a "collage of competing ways of understanding the topic."
• Invites readers to recognize the validity of many potential solutions, not just one.
• Example: On a controversial topic, the writer would outline Viewpoint A, Viewpoint B, and Viewpoint C without dismissing any of them.

💡 Demonstration of Your Position on the Topic

States the writer's specific claim in relation to the conflicting views that have already been established.

• The writer's claim appears after alternative views have been presented.
• The claim is positioned as one reasonable option among others, not as the only correct answer.

🤝 Finding of Common Ground

Support the claims through non-adversarial argumentation, with a particular aim to find common ground instead of using confrontational means.

• Key questions the excerpt highlights:
  • On what can you and other interlocutors agree?
  • Where are there shared concerns?
• Supply reasons that all interested parties will find acceptable.
• This is the heart of the Rogerian approach: cooperation, not confrontation.
• Example: Instead of saying "Viewpoint A is wrong," the writer might say "Viewpoint A and my position both value X; here's how we can address Y together."

🎯 Conclusion

Expresses how the writer's stance offers a fair resolution to the issue.

• Frames the writer's position as a reasonable compromise.
• Leaves all parties feeling content or at least understood.

🔄 How Rogerian differs from Classical rhetoric

🆚 Structural comparison

Aspect	Classical Rhetoric	Rogerian Structure
Writer's position	Takes priority from the start	Presented after alternative views
Treatment of opposition	Aims to refute or disarm	Aims to find compromise and mutual understanding
Argumentation style	Prove the writer's position	Build through cooperation
Goal	Convince readers the writer is right	Reach an agreement that satisfies all parties

🧩 Shared components

• Both use introduction and conclusion.
• Both make a clearly defined claim.
• Both represent counterarguments or alternative views fairly.
• The excerpt notes: "a Rogerian structure relies on some of the same 'core' components of argumentative academic writing."

⚠️ Don't confuse

• Rogerian structure is not about avoiding a claim or being wishy-washy.
• The writer still takes a position—but does so by showing how it resolves tensions among competing views.
• The excerpt clarifies: "the writer does not 'prove' a position but, instead, builds an argument through cooperation."

🎯 When and why to use Rogerian structure

🔥 Best for polarizing topics

• The excerpt lists examples: abortion rights, gun legislation, centralized national healthcare.
• These are "hot-button social issues" where audiences are already divided.
• A confrontational approach risks alienating readers; a cooperative approach builds goodwill.

🤝 Audience-centered and non-adversarial

• Presenting a range of ideas generously can "garner goodwill between writers and readers."
• Beginning in neutral territory elevates the writer's ethos (credibility).
• The writer appears more like a collaborator in the pursuit of knowledge, not an adversary.

🌍 Real-world applications

• The excerpt contrasts Rogerian structure with the "five-paragraph essay," which is:
  • An invented "school" genre.
  • Often viewed as "training wheels" or a rudimentary exercise.
  • Limiting and can lead to "stale, unimaginative prose."
• Rogerian format extends into:
  • Academic journal articles.
  • Speeches.
  • Political manifestoes.
  • Policy proposals.
• Example: A policy proposal on a controversial issue would benefit from showing how different stakeholders' concerns are addressed, rather than dismissing opposing views.

🔧 Flexibility and customization

🛠️ Adaptable to context

• Each "core" component can be expanded, customized, or adjusted to suit:
  • The writer's topic.
  • The audience.
  • The purpose.
• This makes Rogerian structure a versatile choice in academic writing.

📈 Suited for complex arguments

• The excerpt emphasizes that these formats "enable you to construct more complex arguments better suited to the expectations of university assignments, professional communications, and civic participation."
• They move beyond rigid formulas to accommodate nuanced, multi-faceted issues.

🧠 Writing as discovery

• The excerpt notes: "Most successful writers will admit that you often do not know what you wish to say until after you have already said it."
• Rogerian structure supports this exploratory process by encouraging writers to engage deeply with multiple perspectives before settling on their own claim.
• Don't confuse: The first draft is "merely the writer's initial attempt at making a point"—revision and reorganization are essential parts of the process.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

After drafting an essay, writers can use analytical process-writing techniques—especially reverse outlining—to check whether their ideas flow logically and are organized in the best possible order.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• When organization matters: Writers often don't know what they want to say until after they've written it, so checking arrangement happens after the first draft.
• What a reverse outline is: An outline created after writing a full draft, summarizing each paragraph's main idea to reveal gaps, jumps, or better ordering.
• Common confusion: Outlining isn't only a pre-writing tool—it can happen at any stage, including revision.
• Why process writing helps: Writers produce a lot of material they never show readers (brainstorming, clustering, free-writing) to discover and refine ideas.
• What revision reveals: Checking arrangement often leads to cutting sections, rewriting ideas, and reorganizing the essay for a stronger final product.

✍️ Writing as discovery

✍️ "Writing to learn"

• The excerpt emphasizes that successful writers admit you often don't know what you wish to say until after you have already said it.
• This intuition is captured by phrases like "writing to learn" or "writing as discovery."
• The first draft is merely the writer's initial attempt at making a point, not the final product.

🔍 Early vs. later stages

• Generating ideas, planning, and writing a first draft are early stages in a much longer writing process.
• Before determining success, writers must check if their ideas:
  • Withstand their own scrutiny
  • Make logical sense
  • Develop and flow in an organized, intuitive fashion
• Only then can purposeful revision begin.

📝 Process writing beyond the essay

• Writers do a lot of writing they never intend to show readers.
• Idea generation stage: brainstorming, clustering, outlining, free-writing, essay mapping, and other informal writing.
• Revision stage: writers routinely discover they must cut sections, rewrite ideas, and reorganize.
• Example: A writer might generate pages of notes and drafts, then discard or reshape most of it to produce the final essay.

🔄 The reverse outline method

🔄 What a reverse outline is

A reverse outline: an outline created by the writer after they have written an entire first draft of the essay.

• Traditional advice says to outline before drafting, but seasoned writers know outlining can take place at any stage.
• The reverse outline is a tool to check organization after the first draft exists.

🛠️ How to draft a reverse outline

1. Read the essay draft paragraph by paragraph.
2. On a separate document or sheet of paper, outline what you have written.
3. State the main idea of each paragraph succinctly and highlight key points.
4. This creates a "skeleton" of the paper, keying in on what you have composed.

🔍 What a reverse outline reveals

By examining the skeleton, writers can often recognize:

• Jumps in logic: ideas that don't connect smoothly.
• Unconnected points between paragraphs: missing links or transitions.
• Sections that need bridging or transitional material: gaps in the argument flow.
• Areas to develop within single paragraphs: places where more explanation is needed.

📐 Using the reverse outline for revision

• Once written, the reverse outline becomes the basis for revision.
• Writers make notes to themselves about what to add or remove.
• They may recognize the essay needs rearranging: paragraphs or entire sections make more sense in a different order.
• The reverse outline is another opportunity for generating and refining ideas and ensuring ideas are presented in the best possible order.

📋 Reverse outline example walkthrough

📋 Sample paragraph summaries

The excerpt provides a partial example:

Paragraph	Summary from reverse outline	Purpose
1	Personal anecdote about arts education; highlights disconnect between arts and "core" subjects	Sets up the importance of integrating arts education in a well-rounded curriculum
2	Invokes conversation by introducing perspectives from parents, school guidance counselors, and teachers	(Excerpt cuts off here)

🧩 What the example shows

• Each paragraph is reduced to its main idea and key function in the essay.
• The writer can see at a glance whether the introduction (paragraph 1) connects logically to the next section (paragraph 2).
• If the connection is weak or the order feels off, the writer can note changes directly on the reverse outline.
• Don't confuse: The reverse outline is not the essay itself—it's a diagnostic tool to evaluate the essay's structure.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A reverse outline—created after drafting—helps writers check their essay's organization by revealing logical gaps, disconnected points, and opportunities for reordering or development.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• When to outline: Outlining can happen at any stage, not just before drafting; reverse outlining occurs after a first draft is complete.
• What reverse outlining reveals: jumps in logic, unconnected paragraphs, missing transitions, and sections needing development.
• How it works: Read the draft paragraph by paragraph and summarize each paragraph's main idea and key points on a separate document.
• Common confusion: Traditional outlining happens before writing to plan; reverse outlining happens after writing to diagnose and revise.
• Why it matters: The reverse outline becomes a revision tool—writers use it to add, remove, or rearrange content for a stronger final product.

✍️ Writing as discovery and the role of process writing

✍️ Writing to learn

• Most successful writers admit "you often do not know what you wish to say until after you have already said it."
• The first draft is merely an initial attempt; it represents an early stage in a longer writing process.
• Before determining success, writers must check if ideas withstand scrutiny, make logical sense, and flow in an organized fashion.

📝 Process writing beyond the draft

• Successful writers do a lot of writing outside their essays—material never intended for readers.
• Early stage techniques include brainstorming, clustering, outlining, free-writing, and essay mapping.
• Process writing also occurs during revision: writers cut sections, rewrite ideas, and reorganize to produce a stronger final product.
• The excerpt describes analytical "process writing" forms that help determine if an essay's organization is working after the first draft.

🔄 What a reverse outline is and how to create one

🔄 Definition and timing

A "Reverse Outline": an outline created by the writer after they have written an entire first draft of the essay.

• Traditional advice: outline before drafting to stay focused and avoid wandering.
• Seasoned writers know outlining can take place at any stage of the drafting process.
• Reverse outlining is one way to check an essay's organization after the first draft exists.

🛠️ The reverse outlining process

The process is straightforward:

1. Read the essay draft paragraph by paragraph.
2. On a separate document or sheet of paper, outline what you have written.
3. State the main idea of each paragraph succinctly.
4. Highlight the paragraph's key points.

• By drafting this "skeleton" of the paper and keying in on what you have composed, you can recognize organizational problems.

🔍 What reverse outlining reveals

A reverse outline helps writers identify:

• Jumps in logic: places where reasoning skips steps or doesn't follow.
• Unconnected points between paragraphs: ideas that don't link smoothly.
• Sections needing bridging or transitional material: gaps that require connecting language.
• Areas to develop within single paragraphs: points that need more explanation or evidence.

Example: If paragraph 3 introduces a claim but paragraph 4 jumps to a different topic without connecting back, the reverse outline will make this gap visible.

🔧 Using the reverse outline for revision

🔧 From diagnosis to action

• Once the reverse outline is written, writers use this document as the basis for revision.
• Writers make notes to themselves about what to add or remove.
• They sometimes recognize the essay might need to be rearranged—paragraphs or entire sections may make more sense in a different order.

💡 Generating and refining ideas

• The reverse outline serves as another opportunity for generating and refining ideas.
• It also checks to ensure ideas are presented in the best possible order.
• Don't confuse: The reverse outline is not just a summary—it's an active revision tool that prompts concrete changes.

📋 Reverse outline example walkthrough

📋 Sample outline structure

The excerpt provides a nine-paragraph reverse outline example. Key patterns:

Paragraph	Function	Content summary
1	Introduction	Personal anecdote about arts education; sets up importance of integrating arts
2	Context	Introduces perspectives from parents, counselors, teachers; discusses negative perceptions of arts as peripheral
3	Thesis	Clear claim: cutting arts funding is a mistake; advocates for integrating arts into all classes
4	Evidence (logos)	Links arts to cognitive development; cites two scientific studies on music and math
5	Evidence (logos + pathos)	Refers to bell hooks on critical thinking and creativity; connects to personal piano/algebra example
6	Case study	Eleventh-grade interdisciplinary project (music mimicking physics); emphasizes excitement and growth
7	Additional example	College education class; board game to teach logical fallacies
8	Counterargument	Addresses limited budget concern; argues creativity doesn't require significant funding
9	Conclusion	Engages readers; prompts reflection on their own school memories and the role of arts

🧩 What the example shows

• The writer can see the essay's structure at a glance: introduction → context → thesis → multiple evidence paragraphs → counterargument → conclusion.
• The outline reveals whether evidence paragraphs connect logically and whether the counterargument is placed effectively.
• Example: If paragraph 6 and 7 both provide personal examples, the writer might notice they could be combined or that one should be moved to strengthen the flow.

🗺️ Thought or feeling map (preview)

🗺️ Audience perspective

• The excerpt begins to introduce another organizational check: drafting a "thought" or "feeling map."
• Some instructors suggest seeing the essay through the audience's perspective.
• One analogy: think of your essay as a movie, and your job as director is to guide the viewer's experience.
• (The excerpt cuts off here; no further details are provided about this method.)

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A reverse outline—created after drafting—helps writers check their essay's organization by revealing logical gaps, disconnected points, and opportunities for reordering or development.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What a reverse outline is: an outline written after a first draft is complete, summarizing each paragraph's main idea and key points.
• How it differs from traditional outlining: traditional outlines are made before drafting to plan; reverse outlines are made after to diagnose and revise.
• What it reveals: jumps in logic, unconnected points between paragraphs, missing transitions, and sections needing development.
• Common confusion: outlining is not only a pre-writing tool—it can happen at any stage, especially after a full draft exists.
• How writers use it: as a basis for revision notes (what to add, remove, or rearrange) and for refining the order of ideas.

📝 What a reverse outline is and when to use it

📝 Definition and purpose

Reverse Outline: an outline created by the writer after they have written an entire first draft of the essay.

• Traditional advice tells students to outline before drafting to stay focused and avoid wandering.
• Seasoned writers know outlining can take place at any stage of drafting.
• The reverse outline is a tool to check an essay's organization after the first draft exists.

🔄 How it differs from traditional outlining

Aspect	Traditional outline	Reverse outline
When	Before drafting	After first draft
Purpose	Plan and stay focused	Diagnose organization problems
What it shows	Intended structure	Actual structure written

• Don't confuse: a reverse outline is not a plan—it is a diagnostic "skeleton" of what you have already composed.

🛠️ How to draft a reverse outline

🛠️ The process

The process is straightforward:

1. Read the essay draft paragraph by paragraph.
2. On a separate document or sheet of paper, outline what you have written.
3. State the main idea of each paragraph succinctly.
4. Highlight the paragraph's key points.

• The result is a "skeleton" of the paper that keys in on what you have composed.

🔍 What the reverse outline reveals

By drafting this skeleton, you can often recognize:

• Jumps in logic: ideas that do not follow from one another.
• Unconnected points between paragraphs: missing links in the argument.
• Sections that may need bridging or transitional material: gaps that confuse readers.
• Areas to develop within single paragraphs: points that are too thin or unclear.

Example: If paragraph 3 states a claim and paragraph 4 jumps to a new topic without connecting back, the reverse outline will make that gap visible.

✏️ Using the reverse outline for revision

✏️ Making revision notes

Once the reverse outline is written, writers use this document as the basis for revision:

• Make notes to themselves about what to add or remove.
• Recognize that the essay might need to be rearranged—paragraphs or entire sections may make more sense in a different order.

🔄 Generating and refining ideas

• The reverse outline is another opportunity for generating and refining ideas.
• It also helps ensure that ideas are presented in the best possible order.
• Don't confuse: the reverse outline is not just a summary—it is an active revision tool.

📋 Example of a reverse outline

📋 Sample structure

The excerpt provides a nine-paragraph reverse outline of an essay about arts education. Each entry summarizes the paragraph's function:

Paragraph	Main idea
1	Personal anecdote about arts education; sets up the importance of integrating arts into curriculum
2	Introduces perspectives from parents, counselors, teachers; discusses negative perception of arts as peripheral
3	States claim clearly: cutting arts funding is a mistake; advocates for integrating arts into all classes
4	Argues arts are linked to higher cognitive development; cites two scientific studies (logos appeal)
5	Refers to bell hooks' views on critical thinking and creativity; connects to personal piano/algebra example (logos and pathos)
6	Provides eleventh-grade interdisciplinary case study (music mimicking physics principle); emphasizes excitement and growth
7	Discusses college education classes; example of creating a board game to teach logical fallacies
8	Addresses counterargument (limited budget); argues creativity does not require significant funding
9	Conclusion: engages readers by prompting them to recall their own vivid school memories involving arts

🧩 What this example shows

• Each paragraph has a clear function: introduction, context, claim, evidence, counterargument, conclusion.
• The writer can now check: Does paragraph 2 connect smoothly to paragraph 3? Is the transition from paragraph 6 to 7 clear? Does the counterargument in paragraph 8 come too late?
• Example: If the writer notices paragraphs 4, 5, 6, and 7 all provide evidence but feel repetitive, they might consolidate or reorder them.

🎭 Alternative technique: Thought or Feeling Map

🎭 What it is

Thought or Feeling Map: a separate document where the writer specifies what they believe readers are likely thinking or feeling as the text unfolds, paragraph by paragraph.

• The analogy: think of your essay as a movie, and your job as director is to make sure viewers can follow the plot and respond as intended.
• The writer reads the draft and writes down the main point of each paragraph, followed by the anticipated reader's emotional reaction.

🎭 What it reveals

• Is the introduction meant to be satirical? Do you expect the reader to laugh or groan?
• When readers encounter the main claim, will they be incredulous or resistant?
• Is an anecdote supposed to garner sympathy and identification?
• What will readers think about the conclusion's call to action?

🎭 Why it matters

• Forces the writer to envision how their audiences are responding.
• Helps decide if the ideas presented will connect with an audience.
• Helps determine shifts in tone.
• If a writer cannot chart anticipated reactions, they probably do not know how a reader will respond—and will need to refine their ideas.

Example: If the writer expects readers to feel sympathetic in paragraph 6 but realizes the anecdote is too brief or unclear, they can add detail or emotional language.

🎭 Sample excerpt

The excerpt provides a partial sample:

• Paragraph 1 introduces "beauty is pain"; writer suspects audience will be familiar with it.
• Discusses society's expectations of beauty for women, highlighting media outlets (film, TV, ads, social media) that normalize specific feminine appearance characteristics.
• Writer thinks readers will agree with the notion that our perception of beauty is shaped by media.

(The sample is incomplete in the excerpt.)

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

A "Thought" or "Feeling Map" helps writers check their essay's organization by predicting how readers will respond emotionally and intellectually to each paragraph, ensuring ideas connect effectively with the audience.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What it is: a separate document where the writer reads their draft paragraph by paragraph and writes down what they expect readers to think or feel at each moment.
• Why it works: forces the writer to see the essay from the audience's perspective, like a movie director imagining how viewers follow the plot.
• What it reveals: whether ideas will connect with readers, where tone shifts occur, and whether the writer knows how readers will respond.
• Common confusion: this is not just summarizing content—it's about charting anticipated reactions (e.g., will readers laugh, feel sympathy, resist the claim?).
• When to use it: when you cannot predict reader reactions, you probably need to refine your ideas.

🎬 Core concept: seeing your essay through the audience's eyes

🎬 The movie director analogy

• The excerpt compares essay organization to directing a movie: your job is to ensure the images in viewers' minds make sense and they can follow the plot.
• By looking at your essay through the lens of readers, you imagine how they might respond at any given moment.
• This shifts focus from "what I want to say" to "what my reader will experience."

🗺️ What a Thought/Feeling Map contains

A "Thought" or "Feeling Map": a separate document where the writer specifies what they believe readers are likely thinking or feeling as the text unfolds.

• Format: written paragraph by paragraph, like a Reverse Outline.
• Content: the main point of each paragraph + the anticipated emotional or intellectual reaction.
• Example questions the writer asks:
  • Is the introduction satirical? Will readers laugh or groan at the opening pun?
  • Will readers be incredulous or resistant when they encounter the main claim?
  • Will an anecdote (e.g., about losing a pet) garner sympathy and identification?
  • What will readers think about the conclusion's call to action?

🔍 What the map reveals

🔍 Whether ideas connect with the audience

• If you cannot chart anticipated reactions, you probably don't know how readers will respond to the information.
• This signals you need to go back and refine your ideas until you can predict reactions.
• The technique helps writers think of their writing as more than merely words on a page—it's an experience for readers.

🎭 Shifts in tone

• Mapping feelings helps determine where tone changes occur in the essay.
• Example: does the essay move from humorous to serious? From skeptical to persuasive?
• Knowing these shifts helps ensure they are intentional and effective.

📝 Sample application: beauty standards essay

📝 How the writer uses the map

The excerpt provides a sample map for an essay about beauty standards. The writer predicts:

Paragraph	Main point	Anticipated reader response
1	Introduces "beauty is pain"; discusses media's role in shaping beauty norms	Readers will be familiar with the phrase and agree that society shapes beauty perception
2	Shares personal connection via Trethewey's poem "Hot Combs" about pain of hair straightening	Readers will feel empathy for the poem's characters and the writer; will want to hear more about beauty and sacrifice
3	Lists beauty practices (skincare, makeup, dieting, cosmetic procedures)	Readers will visualize the time/effort required; may question their own efforts; may feel angry or accepting—writer must appeal to both mindsets

🎯 Strategic thinking in action

• Paragraph 1: The writer expects agreement, establishing common ground.
• Paragraph 2: The writer uses a poem to build empathy and personal connection, anticipating readers will want to continue.
• Paragraph 3: The writer acknowledges a split audience (angry vs. accepting) and plans to address both perspectives.
• Don't confuse: this is not just "what the paragraph says"—it's "what I want readers to feel and how I will handle their likely reactions."

🛠️ Complementary technique: physical rearrangement

✂️ Cutting up the essay

• Another tactic: print the essay and literally cut it into paragraph units.
• Lay the paragraphs out and shift them around to test different orders.
• This physical manipulation helps writers visualize structure and identify what works.

⚠️ Warning sign

• If you can rearrange paragraphs into any order and the essay still makes sense, you probably haven't adequately thought about the progression of ideas.
• The order should matter—each paragraph should build on the previous one or lead logically to the next.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The Thought/Feelings Map helps writers revise by forcing them to predict readers' emotional and intellectual reactions paragraph by paragraph, revealing whether ideas will connect and where tone shifts occur.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What the tool is: a separate document where writers record each paragraph's main point alongside anticipated reader reactions (thoughts and feelings).
• Why it works: by envisioning how audiences respond moment-by-moment, writers can judge whether ideas will connect and whether tone shifts make sense.
• When to use it: when you cannot chart anticipated reactions, you probably don't know how readers will respond—a signal to refine ideas.
• Common confusion: this is not just summarizing your own points; it requires imagining the reader's perspective—what they think, feel, agree with, or resist.
• What it reveals: gaps in logic, unclear tone, moments where readers might disengage or misunderstand.

📝 What the Thought/Feelings Map is

📝 The basic structure

A "Thought" or "Feeling Map" is written as a separate document where the writer reads their essay draft and, working paragraph by paragraph, writes down the main point of each paragraph, followed by what they anticipate the reader's emotional reaction will be.

• It is not part of the essay itself; it is a revision tool.
• You work through the draft sequentially, paragraph by paragraph.
• For each paragraph, you record two things:
  • The main point or content of that paragraph.
  • What you expect the reader to think or feel at that moment.

🎭 The lens shift

• The excerpt emphasizes "looking at your essay through the lens of readers."
• Writers must imagine "how they might respond at any given moment."
• This is similar to how filmmakers ensure images "make sense" and viewers "can follow the plot."
• Example: if your introduction is satirical, do you expect readers to laugh or groan? If your main claim is controversial, will readers be incredulous or resistant?

🔍 Why this technique is effective

🔍 Deciding if ideas will connect

• The tool "forces the writer to envision how their audiences are responding."
• It becomes "an extremely effective way of deciding if the ideas presented will connect with an audience."
• If you cannot chart anticipated reactions, that is a warning sign: "that writer might not know how a reader will respond to the information."
• When you cannot predict reactions, "they will probably have to go back and refine their ideas until they do."

🎨 Determining tone shifts

• The map "can also help writers to determine shifts in tone."
• It encourages writers to think about "their writing as more than merely words on a page."
• Example: if paragraph 1 is meant to be empathetic and paragraph 2 suddenly becomes accusatory, the map will reveal whether that shift makes sense to readers.

📖 Sample walkthrough

📖 Paragraph 1 example

The sample shows a writer analyzing their own draft:

• Main point: Introduces "beauty is pain"; discusses society's expectations of beauty for women via media (film, TV, ads, social media).
• Anticipated reader reaction: "I suspect that my audience will be familiar with it since it is fairly common. I think my readers will agree with the notion that our perception of beauty is largely shaped by society."
• The writer predicts agreement and familiarity—this sets a foundation.

📖 Paragraph 2 example

• Main point: Shares personal motivation; reflects on Natasha Trethewey's poem "Hot Combs" (about pain from hair straightening); connects to societal beauty expectations ingrained early.
• Anticipated reader reaction: "I think my audience will feel empathy for the characters in the poem, as well as towards me. I think they will want to hear more about the relationship between physical attractiveness and the sacrifices often involved."
• The writer expects empathy and curiosity—this builds engagement.

📖 Paragraph 3 example

• Main point: Lists common beauty practices (skin care, makeup, dieting, fitness, uncomfortable shoes, cosmetic procedures).
• Anticipated reader reaction: "I think that providing this long list of beauty practices will help readers to visualize the amount of time and effort... I think my readers will begin to question their own efforts. They might feel angry about this, or they might feel as though these efforts are completely acceptable. I know I will have to appeal to both mindsets."
• The writer anticipates divergent reactions (anger vs. acceptance) and recognizes the need to address both—this is strategic revision thinking.

🛠️ How to apply the technique

🛠️ Step-by-step process

1. Print or open your draft.
2. Open a new document for the map.
3. Read paragraph 1; write its main point.
4. Ask yourself: What will readers think or feel here? Write that down.
5. Repeat for each paragraph.
6. Review the map: look for gaps, confusion, or moments where you cannot predict a reaction.

🛠️ Questions to ask yourself

The excerpt provides concrete prompts:

• "Is the introduction meant to be satirical? Do you expect the reader to laugh or groan at that opening pun?"
• "When readers encounter the main claim of the essay, will they be incredulous or resistant to it?"
• "Is the anecdote... supposed to garner sympathy and identification?"
• "What do you imagine your readers will think about your conclusion's call to action?"

⚠️ Don't confuse with summary

• A Thought/Feelings Map is not a reverse outline (which lists what you said).
• It is not a summary of your own argument.
• It is a prediction of the reader's experience—thoughts, feelings, agreement, resistance, confusion, curiosity.
• If you find yourself only restating your own points, you are not doing the exercise correctly; shift to the reader's perspective.

🔗 Relationship to other revision tools

🔗 Reverse Outline

• The excerpt mentions the "Reverse Outline" as a related tool.
• Like the Thought/Feelings Map, it is "written as a separate document."
• The Reverse Outline typically lists what each paragraph says; the Thought/Feelings Map adds the reader-response layer.

🔗 Other physical revision tactics

The excerpt briefly mentions two additional techniques (not the main focus, but related):

• Dismantling into paragraph units: print the essay, cut it into paragraphs, physically rearrange them to test new orders.
• Writing an abstract: summarize the draft in 1–2 paragraphs to check if the organization makes sense to an unfamiliar reader.

Tool	What it does	Key benefit
Thought/Feelings Map	Predicts reader reactions paragraph by paragraph	Reveals whether ideas connect and tone shifts work
Reverse Outline	Lists what each paragraph says	Checks logical flow and structure
Paragraph units	Physically rearranges paragraphs	Tests alternative organizations
Abstract	Summarizes the whole draft briefly	Checks if main claim and support are clear

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Writers can improve their essay organization by physically rearranging paragraph units, writing abstracts to test coherence, and using self-reflective techniques to identify structural weaknesses.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Physical reorganization technique: cutting an essay into separate paragraphs and rearranging them reveals whether the progression of ideas is effective.
• Warning sign: if paragraphs can be placed in any order and the essay still makes sense, the logical progression may be weak.
• Abstract-writing as diagnostic tool: summarizing the entire paper in one to two paragraphs tests whether the organization is clear and logical.
• Common confusion: these techniques may seem like extra work, but they actually save time by catching organizational problems early.
• Intuition vs. revision: writers often rely on hunches about organization, but systematic checking through analytical writing uncovers overlooked issues.

✂️ Physical reorganization method

✂️ How the cutting technique works

• Print the essay and literally cut it into individual paragraph units.
• Lay the separate paragraphs out physically and shift them around to test different orders.
• This physical manipulation helps writers visualize structure more easily than reading on screen.

🚩 What this reveals about structure

The technique exposes two key problems:

Problem 1: Weak progression

• If paragraphs can be rearranged in any order and the essay still makes sense, the logical flow is probably inadequate.
• This signals that the writer hasn't thought carefully about which ideas should come first and how they build on each other.

Problem 2: Missing connections

• Breaking the essay into units helps identify where topic sentences need strengthening.
• It shows where transitional phrases are missing between ideas.

Example: A writer discovers that Paragraph 5 could just as easily come before Paragraph 3 with no loss of meaning—this indicates the paragraphs aren't building toward a conclusion in a deliberate way.

📝 Writing an abstract or summary

📝 What an abstract includes

An abstract: a one-to-two paragraph summary that captures the contents of the draft.

The abstract should contain these elements in order:

1. Opening sentence: state the paper's main claim in a single sentence.
2. Support summary: summarize the most important facts, observations, and logical arguments.
3. Methodology (optional): comment on how you reached your conclusions.
4. Contribution: convey how your ideas change the conversation and what readers will gain.

🔍 How abstracts diagnose organizational problems

Writing an abstract tests whether your organization is working:

If you can...	It means...
Successfully address all abstract elements in a way that makes sense to an unfamiliar reader	Your organization is likely effective
Clearly express your position and supporting evidence	Your paper's structure is coherent
NOT clearly provide necessary reasoning or evidence	You need revisions to include that information
Realize a crucial point doesn't occur until the end	You need to rearrange components so the paper makes more sense

💡 Why this saves time

• Though it seems like additional effort, abstract-writing actually prevents larger problems later.
• It helps craft a draft that is more cohesive, comprehensive, and well-organized from the start.
• Catching structural issues early is faster than revising a complete draft multiple times.

🎯 The role of intuition and revision

🎯 When intuition works (and when it doesn't)

Writers often base organizational structures on hunches about what will work effectively:

• Sometimes a writer can sense while writing that something seems out of place.
• Writers may intuitively feel when more information is necessary for readers to understand the message.

But intuition isn't always right, which is why:

• Successful writers revise their work systematically.
• Writers spend time writing analytically during their process.
• Self-reflective techniques help writers stay open to new insights about organization.

🔎 What analytical writing uncovers

• Elements the writer may have missed early on.
• Overlooked organizational problems that intuition didn't catch.
• New possibilities for arranging ideas more effectively.

Don't confuse: relying on intuition alone vs. using intuition plus systematic checking—the excerpt emphasizes that both are necessary for effective organization.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Writing an abstract for your draft serves as a diagnostic tool that reveals whether your essay's organization, argument structure, and supporting evidence are clear and logically arranged.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What an abstract does: condenses your entire essay into one to two paragraphs, forcing you to articulate your main claim and key support in a coherent sequence.
• Core components: opening sentence states the main claim; body summarizes important facts, observations, and logical arguments; may include methodology; concludes with the essay's contribution to the conversation.
• Diagnostic power: if you can write a clear abstract for an unfamiliar reader, your organization is likely effective; if you struggle, revisions are needed.
• Common confusion: an abstract is not just a teaser—it must capture your position, reasoning, and evidence in a way that makes sense independently.
• Organizational insight: discovering that a crucial point appears too late in your draft signals the need to rearrange components for better logic and persuasiveness.

📝 What an abstract contains

📝 Opening sentence: the main claim

• Begin by stating your paper's main claim in a single sentence.
• This forces clarity: can you distill your entire argument into one statement?
• If you cannot do this, your thesis may be unclear or unfocused in the draft itself.

📝 Body: summarizing support

The abstract should include:

• Facts and observations that back up your claim
• Logical arguments that connect evidence to your conclusion
• Methodology (optional): how you reached your conclusions—your research process or reasoning approach

📝 Closing: contribution and value

• Explain how your ideas change or advance the conversation about the issue.
• State what readers will discover or gain from reading the full essay.
• This helps you see whether your essay has a clear "so what?" answer.

🔍 Using the abstract as a diagnostic tool

🔍 Testing clarity for unfamiliar readers

If you can successfully write an abstract that addresses the required aspects in a way that makes sense to someone unfamiliar with the longer work, it boosts your confidence in the effectiveness of your paper's organization.

• The key test: would someone who hasn't read your essay understand your argument from the abstract alone?
• This reveals whether your logic is self-contained and coherent.

🔍 Identifying missing elements

If you struggle to write the abstract, it signals specific problems:

Struggle	What it reveals	Action needed
Can't clearly express your position	Thesis may be unclear	Revise to sharpen your main claim
Can't provide necessary reasoning or evidence	Support is incomplete	Add missing information or arguments
Crucial point doesn't appear until the end	Organization is backwards	Rearrange components so logic flows better

🔍 Prompting rearrangement

• Writing the abstract may reveal that your essay's structure doesn't match the logical order of your argument.
• Example: If a key supporting point occurs at the end but is essential to understanding your claim, the abstract-writing process will expose this problem.
• This prompts you to move components around so the paper makes more sense and presents a more compelling argument.

💡 Why this technique saves time

💡 Efficiency through early detection

• These techniques may appear to require additional effort upfront.
• In reality, they save time by catching organizational problems before extensive revision is needed.
• Better to discover structural issues through a brief abstract than through repeated failed drafts.

💡 Resulting in better drafts

The abstract-writing process helps you craft a draft that is:

• More cohesive: all parts connect logically
• More comprehensive: no missing pieces of the argument
• More well-organized: components appear in the most effective order

🎯 Creative variation: the "book blurb" exercise

The excerpt includes an activity that reframes abstract-writing:

• Imagine your paper is an exciting mystery novel or young adult fiction.
• Draft a one-paragraph blurb designed to attract new readers.
• Capture the essence of your main claim, key supporting evidence, and conclusions.
• Goal: leave the reader "desperate to read the entire paper cover-to-cover."
• This challenges you to summarize ideas in fresh language while thinking about audience response.
• Don't confuse this with the formal abstract—it's a creative exercise to help you see your argument from a reader's perspective.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Peer feedback becomes most fruitful when reframed as a conversation between reader and writer rather than a fix-it session, and both giving and receiving feedback are skills that require practice and patience.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Reframe the purpose: peer feedback should be a conversation, not a fix-it session.
• Four feedback techniques: productive praise, reader-based critique, forward-looking suggestions, and thoughtful questions.
• How to receive feedback: read it generously, with an open mind, and use it to experiment in the next draft.
• Common confusion: feedback is not about correcting errors; it's about helping the writer explore possibilities and improve through conversation.
• Feedback is a skill: writing effective peer feedback requires practice, just like any other genre of writing.

💬 Reframing peer feedback

💬 From fix-it to conversation

• The excerpt emphasizes shifting away from viewing workshops as "fix-it sessions."
• Instead, peer feedback should be understood as a conversation between reader and writer.
• This reframing makes workshops "much more fruitful."
• Don't confuse: the goal is not to correct every mistake, but to engage in dialogue that helps the writer think and develop ideas.

🎯 Why conversation matters

• When feedback is conversational, it invites the writer to participate actively rather than passively receive critiques.
• The excerpt notes that questions, for example, "move writers from passively reading critiques to actively considering answers."
• Example: A reader asks, "How can they convince parents to donate?" This prompts the writer to think forward and explore solutions, rather than simply accepting a correction.

🛠️ Four feedback techniques

🌟 Productive praise

• Highlights what is working well in the draft.
• Helps the writer understand their strengths and what to keep or build on.

👁️ Reader-based critique

• The reader describes their experience: where they were confused, what they understood, or what they felt.
• Often paired with questions to ask for clarification.
• Example: A reader points to a confusing moment and asks, "Can you clarify what you mean here?"

🔮 Forward-looking suggestions

• Aims to help the writer consider possibilities for the next draft.
• Uses phrases like "Have you considered…," "I'd think about…," "How about adding…," "Consider talking about…"
• Example: "Maybe consider how you would respond if a teacher said they never get donations. How can they convince parents to donate?"
• This type of feedback encourages exploration and experimentation.

❓ Thoughtful questions

• The excerpt describes this as "my favorite type of feedback."
• Questions are most effective when combined with other types of feedback.
• They can follow up a reader-based critique or be forward-looking.
• Why questions work: Students suggested that questions show the reader "really read, paid attention, and were interested in the draft."
• Questions engage the writer actively, prompting them to think about answers and next steps.

📥 Receiving feedback

📥 How to read feedback

• Read it generously: approach feedback with an open mind.
• Intent to use it: the goal is to experiment in the next draft, not to accept or reject every comment.
• The excerpt emphasizes that feedback is meant to help the writer explore and improve, not to dictate changes.

🤝 Patience and practice

• Feedback is a skill: writing effective peer feedback requires practice, just like any other genre.
• Be patient: the excerpt advises being patient with classmates as they learn to give feedback.
• Ask for patience: similarly, writers should ask for patience from peers as they provide feedback.
• Don't confuse: no one is expected to give perfect feedback immediately; it is a learning process for everyone involved.

🔄 Putting it all together

🔄 Workshop as conversation

Element	What it means	Why it helps
Conversation, not fix-it	Feedback is dialogue, not correction	Makes workshops more fruitful; engages writer actively
Four techniques	Praise, critique, suggestions, questions	Provides a toolkit for meaningful, varied feedback
Generous reading	Open mind, intent to experiment	Helps writer use feedback productively
Practice and patience	Feedback is a skill to develop	Reduces pressure; encourages learning for both giver and receiver

🔄 Key takeaway

• The excerpt concludes by urging writers to practice all four forms of feedback and to remember that both giving and receiving feedback are skills that improve with practice and patience.
• The ultimate goal: use feedback as a tool for experimentation and growth in the next draft.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Active and passive voice are both grammatically correct sentence constructions that writers should choose between based on what they want to emphasize in different rhetorical situations.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What distinguishes them: active voice places the doer in the subject position; passive voice places the receiver of the action in the subject position.
• When to use each: active voice suits most writing that values brevity and clarity about who acts; passive voice suits contexts where the action or receiver matters more than the doer.
• Common confusion: passive voice is not always "wrong"—it serves legitimate purposes in lab reports, textbooks, and situations where the doer is less important than what happened.
• How to identify: ask "Who/What is doing the action?" If the answer is in the subject position, it's active; if it's in the predicate or absent, it's passive.
• Why it matters: voice choice affects emphasis and focus, shaping what the reader pays attention to in your story or argument.

🔍 Understanding the structures

🔍 Active voice construction

In active voice, the grammatical subject of the sentence is also the one that does the action.

• The subject comes before the main verb and performs the action.
• Structure: Subject (doer) + verb + object (receiver).
• Example: "Sam caught the ball" — Sam is both the grammatical subject and the one doing the catching.
• More examples from the excerpt: "The baker is making a big cake," "I drank a glass of water," "The gristmill churned grain into flour."

🔄 Passive voice construction

In passive voice, the grammatical subject of the sentence is the receiver of the action.

• The subject receives the action rather than performing it.
• The doer shifts to a prepositional phrase (often "by [doer]") or disappears entirely.
• Example: "The ball was caught by Sam" — the ball is the grammatical subject, but Sam does the action.
• The doer can be removed: "The ball was caught" — no mention of who caught it.
• More examples: "A big cake is being made by the baker," "The grain was churned into flour by the gristmill."

🧪 How to identify which voice

Ask yourself: "Who/What is doing the action (verb)?"

• If the answer is in the subject position (before the main verb) → active voice.
• If the answer is in the predicate or not in the sentence at all → passive voice.
• Example walkthrough from the excerpt:
  • "The kitten ate all the food in the bowl." Who ate? The kitten (subject) → active.
  • "All the food in the bowl has been eaten." Who ate? Unknown/absent → passive.

📝 When to use each voice

📝 Active voice: most rhetorical situations

Active voice is preferred when:

• Brevity and clarity matter: active voice is more direct and often more elegant.
• The doer is important: business writing, storytelling, and most humanities academic writing favor knowing who is acting.
• The excerpt notes that active voice "reads as more direct and elegant" in these contexts.
• Don't confuse: choosing active voice is not about following a rigid rule but about matching the rhetorical situation.

🔬 Passive voice: legitimate uses

Passive voice serves specific purposes when:

• The action matters more than the doer: lab reports often focus on research, not the researcher.
• The doer is unknown or irrelevant: textbooks and instructional material spotlight the topic, not who is teaching it.
• Example from the excerpt: "The solution was heated to the boiling point, and then it was reduced in volume by 50 percent" — focus stays on the solution, not on who heated it.
• Contrast with active: "I heated the solution to the boiling point, and then the lab assistant Billy reduced it in volume by 50 percent" — now the researchers become the focus, which may distract from the purpose.

🎯 Voice as a rhetorical choice

The excerpt emphasizes that voice is about emphasis and focus, not correctness:

Voice	Example	Focus	Likely context
Passive	"As harvest time approaches, the tobacco plants are sprayed with a chemical to stop the flowering process."	The plants and the spraying process; the doer is removed entirely.	Encyclopedia entry on plant harvest cycles.
Active	"As harvest time approaches, farm laborers in North Carolina spray tobacco plants with a chemical to stop the flowering process."	Who is doing the spraying; raises questions about labor conditions.	Opinion article on farm labor.

• Both can be good writing but appear in very different contexts.
• The excerpt states: "good writers should be able to use a tool like shifting between active and passive voice depending on the rhetorical situation."

🧩 Rhetorical situation as the guide

🧩 Not static rules but context

The excerpt frames voice choice within the broader concept of the rhetorical situation:

• Audience: Does the audience understand and respect the author's use of language?
• Purpose: Does the author use language to fulfill their purpose?
• Genre: Does the genre permit or encourage a certain form of language use?
• The excerpt notes that "the best judge of linguistic effectiveness is not a static set of prescribed rules that apply in every situation but instead the guidance provided by the rhetorical situation."

🎭 Effect on ethos

Voice choice affects credibility:

• The excerpt mentions that language use can affect ethos (credibility), making a writer "appear either as authoritative or completely uninformed."
• Choosing the wrong voice for the context can undermine your authority.
• Example: using passive voice in a personal narrative might seem evasive; using active voice in a lab report might seem unprofessional.

🛠️ More options, not fewer

The excerpt frames these lessons as giving writers "more options" and "multiple choices in solving potential problems":

• The goal is not to memorize rigid rules but to understand how different constructions work.
• Writers should treat grammar guides as "guides rather than authorities—because, when it comes to writing, the author(ity) should be you."
• Don't confuse: learning about passive voice is not about avoiding it but about knowing when to deploy it effectively.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Comma splices—joining two independent clauses with only a comma—are common errors in writing because speech does not require the same punctuation boundaries, but formal writing standards demand clearer structural separation of ideas.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Why comma splices are common: they don't exist as errors in speech, so writers often don't notice them when transcribing their natural speaking patterns.
• What a comma splice is: joining two full sentences (independent clauses) with only a comma instead of proper punctuation or conjunctions.
• Three basic fixes: split with a period, add a coordinating conjunction after the comma, or use a semicolon.
• Common confusion: each fix carries different tone and rhetorical effects—periods can seem choppy, conjunctions can seem stringy, semicolons can seem overly academic.
• Why punctuation matters in writing: print lacks the intonation and pacing (prosody) of speech, so formalized punctuation patterns fill that role to convey relationships and emphasis.

📝 Why comma splices happen

🗣️ Speech vs. writing

• In speech, people naturally use fragments and run-ons without anyone noticing because intonation and pacing convey the relationships between ideas.
• If you transcribe speech accurately, even formal speech contains structures that would be errors in writing.
• Prosody (intonation and pacing) in speech provides information that punctuation must convey in writing.

✍️ Incomplete separation attempts

Comma splices result from an incomplete attempt to separate ideas into clause structures according to formal writing standards in English.

• Writers sense that ideas need some separation, so they insert a comma.
• However, a comma alone is insufficient when connecting two independent clauses.
• Example: "My name is Stew Dent, I am a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course" joins two complete sentences with only a comma.

📱 Non-standard punctuation parallels

• Even "non-standard" punctuation serves communicative functions: periods in text messages convey seriousness, "all caps" denotes yelling.
• This shows that punctuation in writing always plays a role beyond simple grammar—it conveys tone and emphasis.

🔧 Three basic fixes

🔧 Definition and structure

Comma splices happen when a writer joins two full sentences (also called "independent clauses") with a comma.

• An independent clause is a full sentence that can stand alone.
• The error occurs when two such clauses are connected with only a comma, no conjunction or stronger punctuation.

1️⃣ Split with a period

• Simply break the comma splice into two separate sentences.
• Example: "My name is Stew Dent. I am a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course."
• Effect: Can seem choppy if used frequently, but professional writing tolerates short sentences more than other genres.
• When appropriate: When ideas are distinct enough to stand alone; when clarity is the priority.

2️⃣ Add a coordinating conjunction

• Keep the comma but add a coordinating conjunction (like "and," "but," "so") after it.
• Example: "My name is Stew Dent, and I am a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course."
• Effect: Clarifies the relationship between ideas—"and" signals addition, "but" signals contrast, "so" signals causation.
• Caution: Using too many conjunctions can make writing seem "stringy" or winding.

3️⃣ Use a semicolon

• Replace the comma with a semicolon to join the clauses.
• Example: "My name is Stew Dent; I am a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course."
• Effect: Conveys a close connection between ideas; the exact relationship is undefined unless paired with a conjunctive adverb.
• Conjunctive adverbs: Words like "however" or "therefore" can clarify the relationship when placed at the beginning of the second clause (with a comma after).
  • Original: "I apologize for such late notice, however I am unable to attend your class tomorrow..."
  • Revised: "I apologize for such late notice; however, I am unable to attend your class tomorrow..."
• Caution: Semicolons often carry an academic connotation that may not match business or professional writing genres; overuse can make writing seem "bogged down" or difficult to understand.

🎯 Choosing the right fix

🎯 Rhetorical situation matters

Fix	Tone/Effect	Best for
Period	Choppy if frequent; clear and direct	Professional writing; when clarity is paramount
Coordinating conjunction	Can seem stringy if overused; clarifies relationship	When the logical connection needs to be explicit
Semicolon	Academic; formal; can bog down text	Academic contexts; when ideas are closely linked

• Each option carries "slightly different effects in tone and might be more or less appropriate for the rhetorical situation."
• Don't confuse: there is no single "correct" fix—the best choice depends on your audience, purpose, and genre.

🔄 Other structural options

• Beyond the three basic fixes, you can also change the sentence structure entirely.
• Add different conjunctions (but, because, if, whereas, so) to subordinate one clause.
• Rewrite sentences in an entirely different way to avoid the splice altogether.
• Example: Instead of "My name is Stew Dent, I am a student..." you might write "I am Stew Dent, a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course" (eliminating one independent clause).

📧 Real-world example analysis

📧 The "Stew Dent" email

The excerpt provides an email with four comma splices:

1. "My name is Stew Dent, I am a student in your MWF 9am COMP100 course."
2. "I apologize for such late notice, however I am unable to attend your class tomorrow..."
3. "I have the homework with me, I will upload it to D2L today..."
4. "Thank you so much for your understanding, I will stop in to see you during your office hours..."

📧 Why the email matters

• The email is "extremely professional and polite" in many ways—the student fulfills responsibilities and communicates clearly.
• However, repeated comma splices make the writing "seem jarring and awkward even though he seems to have taken great care to edit it otherwise."
• Lesson: Even well-intentioned, carefully edited writing can be undermined by comma splices because they violate formal writing standards.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Improving grammar and mechanics is a lifelong process that requires combining classic style guides, attentive reading and writing practice, and cautious use of technology tools—all while maintaining your own authorial judgment.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Beyond correctness: Good writers continually improve and don't know everything; learning to write takes a lifetime.
• Read and write extensively: Reading examples from the same genre you're writing helps you absorb subtle expectations no textbook can fully capture.
• Technology as a tool, not replacement: Spellcheck and grammar programs can alert you to errors but make mistakes themselves and lack full understanding of rhetorical situation.
• Common confusion: Don't let programs replace your judgment—you remain the authority of your own writing, not the software.
• Style emulation exercise: Studying and temporarily copying admired writing styles opens your mind to new possibilities while helping solidify your unique choices.

📚 Classic resources for style improvement

📖 Traditional style guides

• The excerpt mentions Elements of Style by William Strunk as a classic text particularly applicable to academic writing.
• These resources help writers move beyond basic correctness to match style with rhetorical situation.
• They provide foundational principles that complement other learning methods.

📝 Learning through reading and writing

📖 The read-and-write principle

"If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There's no way around these two things that I'm aware of, no shortcut." —Steven King

• This advice comes from the author of famous horror and fantasy novels including Carrie and IT.
• Both activities are essential; neither can substitute for the other.
• The process requires sustained practice over time.

🎯 Genre-specific reading

• Key recommendation: Read examples from the same genre you are attempting to write within.
• Why it matters: You will pick up on subtle expectations that are:
  • Too numerous for textbooks to cover
  • Too changeable to codify completely
  • Too nuanced to explain explicitly
• Example: If writing professional emails, read professional emails; if writing academic papers, read academic papers.

💻 Using technology wisely

🔧 Available digital tools

The excerpt identifies several technological resources:

• Googling definitions of words and simple grammatical rules
• Online videos focusing on grammatical correctness and writing style
• Spellcheck programs embedded in word processing software
• Grammar check programs in browsers
• Subscription services offering writing assistance

⚠️ Limitations and cautions

Tool capability	Limitation	Implication
Alert to egregious errors	Can make errors themselves	Don't accept suggestions blindly
Make stylistic suggestions	Increasingly tailored but imperfect	Suggestions are not always appropriate
Analyze text	Unlikely to fully understand rhetorical situation	May recommend inappropriate style choices

👤 Maintaining authorial control

• Critical principle: All suggestions should be taken with a "grain of salt."
• Don't confuse: A helpful tool vs. a replacement for judgment—programs should assist, not decide.
• Core message: In no case should a program replace your own judgment as a writer.
• Authority reminder: You are the author(ity) of your own writing.

🎨 Practical exercise for style development

🎭 Emulating admired writing

The excerpt describes a specific exercise (Activity 7.6):

Step 1: Select and analyze

• Pick one piece of writing you admire
• Closely investigate its grammar and mechanics
• Write notes on:
  • Sentence structure
  • Sentence length
  • Voice
  • Tone
  • Word choice

Step 2: Emulate

• Attempt to copy the style as exactly as possible for a few sentences
• Use a wholly different topic (not the same content)

Step 3: Learn without copying

• The goal is not to make your whole style a copy of another author's
• Brief exercises like this can:
  • Open your mind to new possibilities
  • Solidify your own unique choices
• Example: Studying a formal academic writer's structure might help you understand how to organize complex ideas, even if your final voice differs.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Productive praise is feedback that identifies specific, working elements in a draft to help writers understand what to keep and develop while building their confidence.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What productive praise is: feedback that recognizes something working for the reader, creates dialogue, and expresses appreciation for the writer's work or effort.
• Must be specific: rooted in concrete elements like word choice, sentence arrangement, detail use, voice, tone, or questions—not vague compliments.
• Dual benefit: writers gain clarity on what to keep and confidence to continue; reviewers learn new strategies they can adopt in their own writing.
• Common confusion: productive praise is not just saying "good job"—it must explain why or how something works.
• Tone matters: conversational and friendly feedback reduces anxiety in peer review activities.

📝 What makes praise productive

📝 Definition and purpose

"Meaningful praise … is feedback that recognizes something that is working for you as a reader, that gives you an opportunity to have a dialogue with the author, and that expresses some sort of appreciation for the work the writer has done, or for the writer herself."

• The term comes from Ron DePeter's work on peer response.
• It is not generic approval; it must be meaningful by pointing to specific successes.
• Creates a two-way conversation rather than one-sided judgment.

🎯 Specificity requirement

DePeter emphasizes that productive praise must be rooted in something concrete about the draft:

• Word choice
• Arrangement of sentences
• Use of detail
• Voice or tone
• Use of questions
• "Or something else altogether"

Don't confuse: Saying "I liked it" is not productive praise. You must identify what worked and why or how it worked.

Example: Instead of "Good opening," say "Your use of an anecdote in the opening made me immediately connect with your topic because it showed a real scenario I could picture."

💬 How to give productive praise

💬 Starter phrases

The excerpt provides opening templates to help begin productive praise:

• "I really liked how you…"
• "This part made me think because…"
• "Your use of [insert word or phrase] is really effective because…"
• "I enjoyed…"

These phrases prompt the reviewer to complete the thought with specific observations.

🗣️ Conversational tone

• Feedback should be conversational and friendly.
• This approach "took the angst out of their first feedback activity" (from the classroom example).
• Reduces anxiety in peer review situations.

🎓 Benefits for both parties

🎓 What writers gain

When receiving productive praise, writers get two things:

1. Clarity on strengths: a sense of the good elements to keep and develop (and possibly use in other texts).
2. Confidence boost: encouragement that keeps them writing.

🔧 What reviewers gain

When giving productive praise, reviewers are also learning:

• New tools and strategies they might use in their own work.
• Example from the excerpt: "If I notice that the writer's use of an anecdote worked so well, maybe I'll try using one in my own draft!"

This creates a learning loop where analyzing what works in others' writing improves your own writing toolkit.

📚 Classroom examples

📚 Jenna and Kara's workshop

The excerpt describes a Research and Composition course where students practiced productive praise on an assignment about connecting with a target audience.

Writer	Topic	What worked	Productive praise given
Kara	Challenges of being a commuter student	Personal examples of leaving late for class	Jenna: "Adding in your personal experiences makes your connection and purpose more impactful."
Jenna	How classroom environment affects students	Opening story about Lauren, an energetic third grader in a dull classroom	Kara: "I really like that you started with this… it helps the reader dive deeper… as a teacher, they would want to read further to understand why Lauren loses her excitement."

🔍 What made these examples effective

• Both reviewers pointed to specific strategies: personal experiences (Kara's draft) and an opening story (Jenna's draft).
• Both explained why it worked: made purpose clearer, helped audience relate, engaged the target audience.
• Kara even asked a follow-up question ("Is this made up or a real person?"), showing genuine engagement.
• The compliments were "brief but meaningful" and gave "a concrete sense of what to keep and develop in their next drafts."

🛠️ Practice activity

🛠️ Productive praise session structure

The excerpt includes an activity for practicing productive praise:

Steps:

1. Read a partner's draft.
2. Focus on what they did well and what interests you.
3. Do NOT write or comment on the draft initially.
4. Have a conversation with your partner about what works.
5. Provide meaningful compliments that are specific in why or how they work.
6. Go back to the draft if needed to point out particular effective or interesting passages.
7. If stuck, use the starter phrases listed earlier.

Key feature: This is a conversation-first approach, not written comments first. The oral dialogue helps make the feedback more natural and less intimidating.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Reader-based critique offers feedback by describing your own reactions and experiences as a reader rather than judging the writing, which opens up the writer's perspective and provides concrete ideas for revision.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What reader-based critique is: describing your reactions, associations, and experiences as a reader instead of acting as a teacher or judge.
• How it differs from negative judgment: it shares personal experiences and examples that inform the draft rather than saying the writing is bad or wrong.
• Why it works: it opens up perspectives instead of shutting them down, and it can double as productive praise.
• Common confusion: "critique" sounds purely negative, but reader-based critique is constructive—it describes what you think and feel, not what's "wrong."
• Practical outcome: it gives writers concrete content and ideas they can use when revising.

💬 What reader-based critique means

💬 Core definition and approach

Reader-based critique: describing your reactions as a reader (associations, experiences, disagreements, moments of confusion) rather than as a teacher or judge.

• The excerpt emphasizes starting comments with "As a reader, I…."
• You describe what happens in your mind as you read—connections you make, topics you've experienced, places where you felt lost.
• Example: Instead of "This section is unclear," you might say "As a reader, I got confused here because I wasn't sure whether you meant X or Y."

🔄 How it differs from negative judgment

• Many people think "critique" means pointing out flaws or saying ideas are wrong.
• Reader-based critique reframes this: you share personal experiences that could inform the draft or provide examples that illustrate the writer's ideas.
• Don't confuse: This is not about saying "the writing was bad" or "the ideas were wrong"—it's about offering your perspective and experiences.

🌟 How reader-based critique opens perspectives

🌟 Acting as productive praise

• The excerpt shows that reader-based critique can also function as productive praise.

• When Kara was unsure whether to criticize professors directly, Jenna responded with her own experience:

  Jenna's comment: "This is really good! I don't think professors consider themselves to be commuters but if you think about it, they are, so they should understand the struggles. I think this would be a great jumping off point where you can explain how professors could be more understanding. I can't tell you how many emails I have gotten from professors saying that they were going to be late, like it was no big deal. Why can't they extend the same courtesy to students?"

• Jenna described her own reactions and experiences, which encouraged Kara to explore the idea further.

• Result: Kara developed that section in her next draft, and it became one of the best parts of her project.

🧩 Providing concrete content

• By sharing your own associations and experiences, you give the writer new material to work with.

• Example from the excerpt: Kara commented on a classmate's essay about college student stress:

  Kara's suggestion: "To further get the audience's attention (if this is true—I'm just speaking from my own experience), you could mention how students lose sleep and get exhausted, which further affects their mental health."

• This is specific and actionable: the writer can use this detail when revising.

• Kara also emphasizes it's her opinion and encourages the writer to research whether the experience is widely shared—avoiding assumptions.

🛠️ Practical techniques

🛠️ Writing a letter to your peer

• The excerpt includes an activity: after reading a peer's draft, write them a personal letter.
• In the letter, express your own opinion on the topic and what their writing sparked in your mind.
• Do not evaluate the writing or give tips to improve; instead, share your own thoughts, ideas, and experiences relevant to their writing.
• Make it personalized and sign your name at the end.

🛠️ Tone and conversational style

• The excerpt notes that effective feedback is "conversational and friendly."
• Example: Jenna and Kara's exchanges were brief but meaningful, reassuring each other that they were practicing class tools well.
• Using reader-based critique "took the angst out of their first feedback activity."

🔗 Connection to forward-looking suggestions

🔗 Grounding suggestions in specific content

• The excerpt briefly introduces forward-looking suggestions as concrete ideas for what to do next when revising.
• The aim is not to point out what to fix, but to suggest how the writer might further think through the writing.
• Like productive praise, forward-looking suggestions are most effective when grounded in very specific ideas or content the writer might use.
• Example: Kara's suggestion about sleep and exhaustion is both forward-looking and reader-based—it offers a new detail and encourages research.

🔗 Opening phrases

• The excerpt mentions starting forward-looking suggestions with phrases like "What if you…" (the text cuts off, but this signals a collaborative, exploratory tone).

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Forward-looking suggestions are feedback that offers concrete, specific ideas for what to do next in revision, aiming not to fix errors but to help the writer think through their writing more deeply.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core purpose: provide concrete ideas for the next draft, not point out what to fix.
• What makes them effective: grounding suggestions in very specific ideas or content the writer might use.
• How they differ from critique: they suggest possibilities for exploration and experimentation rather than corrections.
• Common confusion: forward-looking suggestions are not about fixing mistakes—they help the writer think through the writing as they revise.
• Why writers prefer them: they move writers from passive recipients of criticism to active thinkers about their work.

🎯 What forward-looking suggestions are

🎯 The aim of this feedback type

Forward-looking suggestions: feedback that provides concrete ideas for what to do next when revising, not pointing out what to fix, but suggesting how the writer might further think through the writing.

• The focus is on next steps rather than corrections.
• They help the writer think through their writing during revision.
• They are "at the heart of feedback" because they are actionable and generative.

🔍 How they differ from other feedback

• Not error-correction: the goal is not to identify problems or mistakes.
• Not evaluative: they don't judge the quality of the current draft.
• Forward-facing: they look ahead to what the writer might do, not backward at what went wrong.
• Don't confuse: this is not about "fixing" the draft—it's about developing and expanding ideas.

✨ What makes them effective

✨ Specificity and grounding

The excerpt emphasizes that forward-looking suggestions work best when they are:

• Grounded in very specific ideas or content the writer might use.
• Concrete rather than vague or general.

Example: Kara commented on a classmate's essay about college student stressors: "To further get the audience's attention (if this is true—I'm just speaking from my own experience), you could mention how students lose sleep and get exhausted, which further affects their mental health."

🎁 Why Kara's example is excellent

The excerpt identifies several strengths in Kara's suggestion:

Strength	What it means
Specific	Offers a new detail (sleep loss, exhaustion) the writer can use when revising
Humble/tentative	Emphasizes "this is her opinion"; she isn't sure if the experience is widely shared
Encourages research	Rather than letting the classmate assume, she encourages them to find out if the experience is common

• The suggestion gives the writer something concrete to work with.
• It models intellectual humility by acknowledging the limits of personal experience.
• It prompts further inquiry rather than presenting a fact.

🗣️ How to write them

🗣️ Starter phrases

The excerpt provides opening phrases to help writers craft forward-looking suggestions:

• What if you tried…
• Have you considered…
• I'd think about…
• How about adding…
• Consider talking about…

These phrases signal that the feedback is suggestive rather than prescriptive.

🤝 Starting with conversation

Before leaving forward-looking suggestions:

• Have a conversation with your peer to see what sorts of suggestions they are looking for.
• Get your peer's permission before commenting.
• Use the comments feature to leave suggestions on their writing.

Don't confuse: forward-looking suggestions should align with what the writer wants help with, not impose the reviewer's agenda.

🤔 Relationship to thoughtful questions

🤔 How questions work with forward-looking suggestions

The excerpt notes that questions are often most effective when used in combination with other types of feedback:

• Questions can be forward-looking, aiming to help the writer consider possibilities for exploration and experimentation in the next draft.
• Questions can follow up other feedback types, such as reader-based critique.

Example: After Jenna described teachers' budget constraints and suggested fundraisers, Kara asked: "Maybe consider how you would respond if a teacher said they never get donations. How can they convince parents to donate?"

💡 Why questions are effective

The excerpt reports that students in a Teaching Writing class said writers might be more receptive to questions because:

• Questions suggest their classmate really read, paid attention, and were interested in the draft.
• Questions move writers from passive recipients to active thinkers (the excerpt cuts off here, but the implication is clear).

Don't confuse: questions are not just requests for information—they are a form of forward-looking feedback that prompts deeper thinking.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Thoughtful questions are the most effective type of peer feedback because they engage writers actively, demonstrate genuine reading, and prompt forward-looking thinking about possibilities for the next draft.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What thoughtful questions are: feedback that prompts writers to think actively rather than passively receive critique.
• How they work best: most effective when combined with other feedback types (reader-based critique, forward-looking suggestions).
• Why writers prefer them: questions signal that the peer really read and paid attention, and they move writers from passive to active thinking.
• Common confusion: questions are not standalone—they follow up other feedback (e.g., pointing to confusion first, then asking for clarification).
• When to use them: after reader-based critique to ask for clarification, or as forward-looking prompts to explore possibilities in the next draft.

💬 What makes questions effective feedback

💬 The nature of thoughtful questions

Thoughtful questions: feedback in question form that prompts writers to consider answers and possibilities actively.

• The excerpt calls this type "my favorite type of feedback."
• Questions are not meant to replace other feedback—they work "in combination with other types."
• They transform the writer's role from passively reading critiques to actively considering answers.

🔍 Why writers are more receptive to questions

Students in the Teaching Writing class identified two reasons:

• Signal of engagement: questions suggest the peer "really read, paid attention, and were interested in the draft."
• Active vs passive: questions move writers from passively reading critiques to actively considering answers.
• Don't confuse: a question is not just any question—it must be thoughtful, meaning it shows genuine engagement with the draft.

🔗 How to combine questions with other feedback

🔗 Following up reader-based critique

• A reader first points to a moment of confusion in the text.
• Then the reader asks a question for clarification.
• Example: "I was confused here—can you explain what you mean by this?"
• The question builds on the critique; it doesn't stand alone.

🚀 Forward-looking questions

• Questions can "aim to help the writer consider the possibilities for exploration and experimentation in the next draft."
• Example from the excerpt: Jenna wrote that teachers can ask parents to donate supplies. Kara's feedback used a question: "Maybe consider how you would respond if a teacher said they never get donations. How can they convince parents to donate?"
• This type of question prompts the writer to think ahead about development, not just fix a current problem.

🛠️ Practical application

🛠️ Activity: Generating thoughtful questions in a small workshop

The excerpt describes a group activity:

• Share drafts with a small group (3–5 students).
• Students read each draft closely and prepare questions.
• Hold a discussion where the goal is to share these thoughtful questions.
• As discussion unfolds, also use other techniques: forward-looking suggestions, reader-based critique, productive praise.
• After each discussion, give the author time to write down ideas that emerged.

🎯 Key principle: conversation, not fix-it session

• The excerpt emphasizes reframing peer feedback as "a conversation between reader and writer rather than a fix-it session."
• Workshops become "much more fruitful" with this mindset.
• Remember: "writing effective peer feedback is a skill—we need to practice it just as much as any other genre."
• Be patient with classmates as they learn, and ask for their patience in return.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Peer feedback becomes much more fruitful when reframed as a conversation between reader and writer rather than a fix-it session, and effective feedback is a skill that requires practice and patience.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Core reframe: treat peer feedback as a conversation, not a fix-it session.
• Four feedback forms to practice: productive praise, reader-based critique, forward-looking suggestions, and thoughtful questions.
• How to receive feedback: read it generously, with an open mind, and use it to experiment in the next draft.
• Common confusion: feedback is not about fixing—it's about helping the writer explore possibilities and make their own choices.
• Skill development: writing effective peer feedback is a genre that requires practice; be patient with classmates and ask for patience in return.

💬 Reframing peer feedback

💬 From fix-it to conversation

• The excerpt emphasizes shifting away from treating workshops as "fix-it sessions."
• Instead, feedback should be a conversation between reader and writer.
• Why this matters: conversations invite exploration and experimentation, not just correction.
• Example: instead of "Change this sentence," a conversation might ask "What if you tried…?" or "Have you considered…?"

🤝 Mutual patience and learning

• The excerpt reminds us that writing effective peer feedback is a skill—just like any other genre.
• We need to practice it as much as we practice other types of writing.
• Don't confuse: feedback is not something you either "can do" or "can't do"—it's a skill that improves with practice.
• Be patient with classmates as they learn, and ask for their patience in return.

🛠️ Four feedback techniques

🌟 Productive praise

• One of the four forms of feedback mentioned.
• Focus on what is working in the draft, not just what needs fixing.

👁️ Reader-based critique

• Another form: describe your experience as a reader.
• Example: point to a moment where you were confused and ask for clarification.
• This helps the writer see how their text lands with an audience.

🔮 Forward-looking suggestions

• Suggestions that help the writer consider possibilities for the next draft.
• Use phrases like "Have you considered…" or "How about adding…"
• Don't confuse: these are not commands—they invite the writer to explore options.

❓ Thoughtful questions

• The excerpt calls this "my favorite type of feedback."
• Questions can follow up a reader-based critique or be forward-looking.
• Why questions work: they suggest the reader really paid attention and is interested; they move the writer from passively reading critiques to actively considering answers.
• Example: "Maybe consider how you would respond if a teacher said they never get donations. How can they convince parents to donate?"

📥 Receiving feedback

📥 Read generously

• When you receive feedback, read it generously, with an open mind.
• The goal is to use it to experiment in your next draft.
• Don't confuse: receiving feedback is not about accepting every suggestion—it's about considering possibilities and making informed choices.

🔄 Feedback as fuel for experimentation

• The excerpt frames feedback as a tool for exploration, not a list of mandatory changes.
• Use feedback to try new approaches in the next draft.

🎯 Why this approach matters

Aspect	What the excerpt says	Implication
Workshop fruitfulness	Reframing makes workshops "much more fruitful"	Conversations unlock more value than fix-it sessions
Skill development	Effective feedback is a skill requiring practice	Patience and repeated practice are necessary
Writer agency	Use feedback to experiment	Writers retain control over their choices

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

Library databases provide free, vetted, peer-reviewed academic resources that are superior to public search engines for research, and librarians can help students navigate these tools efficiently.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• What library databases offer: free access to credible, peer-reviewed journals, newspapers, magazines, videos, and datasets that have already been evaluated for accuracy.
• How library databases differ from public search engines: they contain licensed, copyrighted, vetted material rather than unfiltered public content; they require keyword searches (not full sentences) and often don't correct spelling.
• Interlibrary Loan (ILL) eliminates costs: if KU's databases lack a needed source, the library borrows it from another library at no charge to students—articles arrive in 1–2 days, books in about a week.
• Common confusion: searching outside the library website often triggers publisher paywalls, so always start from the library homepage to access articles for free.
• Librarian expertise: librarians specialize in search techniques, keyword selection, database navigation, and evaluating non-database sources including spotting misinformation.

📚 What library databases provide

📚 Vetted, credible content

Library databases: collections of licensed and copyrighted material that contain vetted, credible information; the information is accurate, and most research journals are peer-reviewed.

• All material has already been evaluated for students—no need to verify credibility from scratch.
• Databases include journals, reports, newspapers, magazines, images, and videos.
• KU students automatically have subscriptions through the library website to tens of thousands of sources.

🌐 Access anywhere

• Library databases are available wherever there is an internet connection.
• Students do not need to be on campus to use them.
• The Popular Databases icon on the library homepage is a recommended starting point.

🔍 How library databases differ from public search engines

🔍 Search mechanics

Feature	Library databases	Public search engines (Google, Bing)
Search input	Keywords only, not full sentences	Full sentences accepted
Spelling correction	Often do not correct spelling errors	Typically correct spelling
Content type	Licensed, copyrighted, peer-reviewed	Unfiltered public access
Credibility	Pre-vetted for accuracy	Requires manual evaluation

• Don't confuse: library databases require more precise input (keywords, correct spelling) but deliver higher-quality, pre-evaluated results.

📝 Built-in citation tools

• Many research databases provide citations needed for bibliographies.
• This saves time formatting references manually.

⚠️ Avoiding paywalls

• WARNING: Searching without going through the library website often results in publishers charging for article downloads.
• Always start from the library website to ensure free access.
• Example: A student finds an article via Google Scholar and hits a paywall; accessing the same article through the library database is free.

🔄 Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service

🔄 What ILL does

• If KU's databases do not have a needed source, the library borrows it from another library that does have it.
• The service covers any fees—it is completely free to students.

⏱️ Delivery times

• Articles: arrive in email inbox in 1 or 2 days.
• Books: take about a week; picked up and dropped off at the library.

💡 Key principle

• Never pay for an article—use ILL instead.
• Most academic libraries, including KU, offer this service.

🛠️ Research strategies and support

🛠️ Budgeting time for research

• Research is "searching and re-searching" until you find what you are looking for.
• It is wise to budget time to find reliable resources that fit well with your thesis statement.
• The sheer amount of information in databases can be overwhelming at first.

👥 Getting help from librarians

• Librarians are specialists in online search techniques.
• They can help with:
  • Selecting keywords
  • Building effective searches
  • Narrowing results to exactly what is needed
  • Hacks for big search engines like Google or Google Scholar
  • Evaluating sources not from library databases
  • Spotting deep fakes and misinformation

👨‍🏫 Other help resources

• The professor teaching the class is always an excellent resource for help with the topic and assignment details.
• Students can "ask a librarian" for help with constructing searches and navigating databases.

🏛️ Additional Rohrbach Library resources

🏛️ Physical and digital collections

• On-campus: diverse collection of books, magazines, and technologies.
• Historical research: books that have been on shelves for 100 years or more.
• Newest discoveries in various majors.

📍 Study spaces and facilities

• Study spaces designed for groups and individuals.
• Open late Sundays through Thursdays (until midnight).
• Use the Study Spaces Icon on the Library Homepage to reserve space.

🖥️ Technology and equipment

• Wide variety of technology and equipment to make learning and writing easier.

✍️ Writing Center connection

• The library houses the Writing Center (mentioned in Chapter 1 of the textbook).
• Useful at every stage of the writing process.

🧭 Overview

🧠 One-sentence thesis

The library's One Search tool and databases provide free, vetted access to academic resources, and librarians can help students build effective searches and avoid paying for articles.

📌 Key points (3–5)

• Library databases vs. public search engines: library databases contain vetted, peer-reviewed, copyrighted material; public engines like Google or Bing require different search strategies and may lead to paywalls.
• Interlibrary Loan (ILL) prevents payment: if the library doesn't have a source, ILL borrows it from another library for free—articles arrive in 1–2 days, books in about a week.
• Search technique differences: research databases use keywords (not full sentences) and often don't correct spelling; many provide ready-made citations.
• Common confusion: searching outside the library website often triggers publisher paywalls; always go through the library website to access articles for free.
• Librarians as search specialists: they teach keyword selection, search construction, narrowing results, spotting misinformation, and evaluating non-database sources.

🔍 Library databases and credibility

🔍 What library databases contain

Library databases: collections of vetted, credible, licensed, and copyrighted information accessible through the library website.

• All material has already been evaluated for accuracy.
• Most research journals are peer-reviewed.
• Content includes journals, reports, newspapers, magazines, images, and videos.
• Available anywhere with an internet connection—not limited to campus.

🆚 Library databases vs. public search engines

Feature	Library databases	Public engines (Google, Bing)
Search method	Keywords only	Full sentences accepted
Spelling correction	Often absent	Usually automatic
Content vetting	Pre-evaluated, peer-reviewed	Mixed quality
Access	Free through library subscription	May hit paywalls
Citations	Often provided automatically	Must create manually

• Don't confuse: searching the same topic through Google vs. the library website can lead to very different outcomes—one may charge you, the other is free.

⚠️ The paywall trap

• Warning from the excerpt: "Searching without going through the library website often results in a publisher making you pay to download the article."
• Always start at the library website to avoid fees.
• The Popular Databases icon on the library homepage is the recommended starting point.

🔄 Interlibrary Loan (ILL)

🔄 How ILL works

Interlibrary Loan (ILL): a service that borrows books or articles from other libraries when the local library doesn't have them.

• If there is a fee, the library covers it—students pay nothing.
• Delivery times:
  • Articles: 1–2 days (delivered to your inbox).
  • Books: about a week (picked up and returned at the library).
• The excerpt emphasizes: "Never, Never Pay for an Article!"

🎯 When to use ILL

• When the library databases don't have the specific source you need.
• Example: you find a citation for a specialized journal article not in the KU databases; submit an ILL request instead of paying the publisher directly.

🛠️ Research help and search strategies

🛠️ Who can help

• Your professor: best resource for topic guidance and assignment details.
• Librarians: specialists in online search techniques; available at the main desk or via chat on the library website.

🔑 What librarians teach

• Selecting effective keywords.
• Building and refining searches.
• Narrowing results to exactly what you need.
• Hacks for big search engines like Google or Google Scholar.
• Evaluating non-database sources.
• Spotting deepfakes and misinformation.

💡 Pro-tip: test your topic early

The excerpt recommends:

• Do a quick keyword search in the library databases before committing to a topic.
• Check: how easy is it to find one or two articles?
• If information is surprisingly hard to find, consider tweaking the topic.
• Don't assume recent trends, events, or people-in-the-news will have abundant journal articles—they often don't.
• A hard-to-find topic can also be a good choice if you want something original or publishable.

🏛️ Physical library resources and spaces

📚 Physical collections

• Books, magazines, DVDs, and other borrowable resources.
• Historical materials: some books have been on the shelves for 100+ years for historical research.

🪑 Study spaces

• Designed for both groups and individuals.
• Open late Sunday–Thursday (until midnight).
• Reservable via the Study Spaces icon on the library homepage.
• Some study rooms have large screens or hubs for multiple laptops.

💻 Technology and equipment

• Laptops (both Apple and Windows) available to borrow for in-library use.
• Desktop computers and printing in library computer labs.
• Phone chargers, headphones, iPads.
• "A wide variety of technology and equipment to make learning and writing easier."