H. How To Write

“There is nothing to writing. You just sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Ernest Hemingway

Steps to Writing in Mrs. Mascolo's Class

1.       Select Topic

2.       Print Articles

3.       Annotate Articles using CUBS

4.       Flashcards which outline main points & SOURCE the document

5.       In-Text Citations & Works Cited Page

6.       Free Write

7.       Group Flashcards logically so that 1-2 Flashcards form 1 paragraph

8.    Flee Map 

9.       Suffer and Write

Step 6: Free Write

Ask yourself, “Why are the words we write for ourselves so much better than the words we write for others?”  You write your first draft with your heart, not your head.  The key to writing is to write, not think; thinking comes later.  Like any other skill, you need to write regularly, habitually in order to improve at it.  A free write does just what its name implies: it liberates you from the restrictions of formal writing, to get you away from worries about spelling, grammar, rhetoric, organization, et, and to get into the rhythm and exuberance of writing.  When you type a free write, either turn off your monitor, or look away from the screen. Punch the keys for goodness sake! Start typing something, anything, on the subject at hand, what you’ve just read.  Stop mid-sentence and move on to another. Don’t even concern yourself with sentences!   Get into a rhythm of expression.  If your free write has a certain length, lets say I assign you a 2 page free write, there should be little chance that you actually finish precisely at 2 pages in length if you’re not looking at the screen!  Your free write should not be concerned with length – type!  And a free write does not become the essay – if you type a 4 page free write, some of that material may eventually be saved and retained into your final draft, maybe 1 page of it.  The rest is practice, it’s throwaway, and it’s for your eyes only.  We’ll go over that more when we get to outlining and drafting…

For the Research Paper –

After you’ve read all of your sources (and your novels if you’re in honors US) you do your free write.  Imagine this analogy: You’ve just seen an excellent movie with a group of 10 friends. What do you do right after the movie is over? You talk about it! One person gives his/her initial thoughts on the film. Then the next person gives his/her thoughts on the film, in reaction to the first person’s comments.  He/she might retort what the first person has said, agree with the first person’s comments while adding something to it in the way of analysis, or consider the first person’s analysis and go in a different direction with it.  The 3rd person, 4th person, and so on will all do the same thing, responding to the people that have spoken before them in various ways, with greater and greater depth and insight.  Then it’s YOUR turn to speak.  This is what a research paper is – it’s a big conversation about your topic  that has already been going on that you will now contribute to.  

Step 8: Research Paper Outline Directions/Flee Map

1.      You NOW go through your free write and pull out the best ideas and statements that you read.  The rereading and editing/revision NOW take place.  You may come across ideas that are suitable for an introductory or concluding paragraph, and others that will fit within the body paragraphs. 

2.      This happens in two-dimensional space on the computer screen with highlighting, copying, cutting and pasting lines.  BUT you might consider enlarging the font, putting the statements on separate strips, printing them out, cutting them up, and then arranging them like a puzzle in three dimensional space – whatever works for you!

3.      This will be a time-consuming effort, and an important leap, to go from a incoherent free write to the outline, but it’s an important step. 

4.      Type the information that would be handwritten into the boxes of a Flee Map (See Flee Map handout)

5.      For the introduction – give the opening hook (statistic, quote, rhetorical question, anecdote, OR joke, etc.), and the thesis sentence (must be one sentence!) 

6.      Thesis Note: the thesis here, unlike your timed writings, does NOT need to list out the supportive reasons/topics; all it needs is the argument.

7.      Body paragraphs – there is no set number!

8.      Body paragraphs – you’ll now need to retrieve direct quotes, as well as summaries and paraphrases of quotes, from your sources.  Here is what each body must have:

A.      Each body paragraph should have a topic of focus written in a statement (topic sentence).

B.      Each body paragraph should have some research usage in the way of 1 or more quotes, paraphrases and/or summaries of passages.  

C.      Each body paragraph should have 1 or more statements about the analysis of the topic and research.

D.     Each body paragraph should end with a transition.

9.      Conclusion – include the rephrasing of the thesis and a food for thought that you will end with. 

10.  Yes you may include traditional outline structuring (Roman numerals, numbering, lowercase lettering, etc.) and/or boxes that you create around your paragraphs, as it would look on the Flee Map.

Sample Flee Map (Note: Yours will be a bit different because you may not be explaining Cause & Effect)

***Click on the link above if you do not see the Flee Map Below***

Sample Outline: Japanese Internment Camps

Essay Outline: ______________________

I.             Introduction

a.  First Paragraph

                                             i.     Hook: Example: The Holocaust was an atrocious waste of human life, it ended a generation that will never be known.

                                          ii.     Thesis: While one may claim that the Holocaust has long since passed, it is important to remember because …

b.  2nd Paragraph-Causes of World War II

                                             i.     World War I didn’t end well (Write the article you are using)

                                          ii.      Great Depression (Doc: Class Notes: Bubble Map)

                                       iii.     Alliances caused the war along with Nationalism (History.com article)

II.          Specific to Your Topic: Bombing of Pearl Harbor Leads to Hate

a.  Most Japanese lived in California (Doc “Japanese At Home”

b.  Bombed (Lecture, Acosta)

III.       Executive Order 9066

a.  .

b.  .

c.   .

IV.        Hateful Propaganda in US

V.           Moving to the Camps

VI.        Life in the Camps

VII.     Leaving the Camps