SHAFFER WRITING METHOD

Essay: A piece of writing that gives your thoughts (commentary) about a subject. All essays you will write in this unit will have at least 4 paragraphs: an introduction, 2 body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph

Word Count: The minimum length per paragraph to earn a “C.”

Pre-Writing: The process of getting your concrete details down on paper before you organize your essay into paragraphs. You can use any or all of the following: bubble clusters, spider diagrams, outlines, line clustering, or columns.

ESSAY TERMS WRITING PROCESS

Shaping the Essay: The step that is done after prewriting and before the first draft of an essay; it is an outline of your thesis, topic sentence, concrete details, and commentary ideas.

First Draft: The first version of your essay (also called the rough draft).

Revision: The process of rereading a text and making changes (in content, organization, sentence structures, and word choice) to improve it.

Final Draft: The final version of your essay (after all revisions).

WRITING PROCESSESSAY TERMS CONTINUED

Introductory Paragraph: The first paragraph in an essay. It includes the thesis, most often at the end of the paragraph

Thesis: A sentence with a subject and opinion (also called commentary). This comes somewhere in your introductory paragraph and most often at the end.

Body Paragraph: A middle paragraph in an essay. It develops a point you want to make that supports your thesis.

PARTS OF THE ESSAY TERMS

Topic Sentence (TS): The first sentence in a body paragraph. This must have a subject and opinion (commentary) for the paragraph. It does the same thing for a body paragraph that the thesis does for the whole essay.

Concrete Detail (CD):Specific details that form the backbone or core of your body paragraphs. Synonyms for concrete detail include facts, specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof, evidence, quotations, paraphrasing, or plot references. Commentary (CM) Your opinion or comment about something; not concrete detail. Synonyms include opinion, insight, analysis, interpretation, inference, personal response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and reflection.

PARTS OF THE ESSAYTERMS CONTINUED (2)

Chunk: One sentence of concrete detail and two sentences of commentary. It is the smallest unified group of thoughts that you can write. Concluding Sentence (CS) The last sentence in a body paragraph. It is all commentary, des not repeat key words, and gives a finished feeling to the paragraph.

PARTS OF THE ESSAYTERMS CONTINUED (3)

Concluding Paragraph: The last paragraph in your essay. It may sum up your ideas, reflect on what you said in your essay, say more commentary about your subject, or give a personal statement about the subject.  Your conclusion is all commentary and does not include concrete detail. It does not repeat key words from your paper and especially not from your thesis and introductory paragraph. It gives a finished feeling to your whole essay.

Ratio: The ratio of 1 part concrete detail (CD) to 2+ parts commentary (CM).

PARTS OF THE ESSAYTERMS CONTINUED (4)

A thesis is a general sentence with a subject and an opinion (also called commentary).Examples: Fishing is fun to do when I’m with my

dad. English is my favorite class. It is exciting going to a new school. Tacos are my favorite food. I like radio station Q106 the most.

THESIS SENTENCES

One way to help you write an essay. Provides a way to organize

concrete details. Serves as a guide or help to avoid

getting stuck during the writing process.

Easy to review or asses points as you write.

PREWRITING

Bubble ClusterSpider diagram

OutlineLine clusters

Columns

FIVE METHODS OF PREWRITING

Subject or the Main Idea of the pre-writing goes in middle circle, 1.

There are two bubbles attached to bubble # 1. These topics are narrowed down from the main idea.

There are three bubbles attached to bubble # 2. These details are even more narrow and have four to five words in each bubble.

PRE-WRITINGBUBBLE CLUSTERS

Remember you move out from bubble #1 you are continually moving from general to specific

PREWRITINGBUBBLE CLUSTERS

Summertime I. Family A. barbeques in the back yard B. see brothers and sisters more often during the day C. go on vacations to Disneyland and the beach II. Daily Routine A. Stay up late and sleep in B. catch up on movies I missed C. more time to do pleasure reading

PRE-WRITINGOUTLINES

GETTING A COMPUTER

I. A. B. C.

II. A. B. C.

SAMPLE OUTLINE

1. The subject is written at the top. This is the same as the #1 ideas you have done earlier.

2. Then Follow three steps to do a line cluster. Step 1: LIST List your ideas in any order. You need at least 6, and each one needs 5 or more words in it.

Step 2: CATEGORIZE Categorize your ideas. (Think of ways you can group things together Step 3: LABEL label each idea by category.

PRE-WRITINGLINE CLUSTERS

VACATION 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

SAMPLE LINE CLUSTER