PREWRITING METHODS

Prewriting, or informal planning done before starting an assignment, is

an important part of the writing process. When you prewrite, you
gather ideas, think about organization, experiment with different ways
of approaching your topic, and even discover sometimes that your
ideas are not ready to write about.

Even if you prewrite for only a small amount of time – 10 minutes – it

can make a big difference in the quality of your writing. You will start
off better prepared, and you will have less revising and rewriting to do
later. So it will actually save you time.

The first part of this course, 2.1x, has some prewriting activities that
you can explore, such as idea maps, outlines, and freewriting. This
week, we will look at three more.

Cubing

"Cubing" means looking at a topic from six different perspectives, like

the six sides of a cube. First, choose your topic and write it at the top
of your page to help you remember it. Next, take 5 minutes to write
about your topic from six different perspectives (again, think of the
sides of the cube). You may not be able to do all six, but do the best
you can.

1. Describe your topic. What is its shape, size, color, texture? Does it
make any sounds? Does it taste like something? Use all your sense to
describe it.

2. Compare your topic to other related topics. How is it similar or

different?

3. Associate your topic with another topic. In other words, what does
your topic make you think about? It might be something unexpected.
Be creative.

4. Analyze the parts of your topic. How do they fit together? What do
the parts say about the topic? Are all the parts equally important?

5. Apply your topic--what can you do with it? How is it useful? Who
might use it? Who wouldn't use it?

6. Argue for and against your topic. What are its benefits? How might
someone disagree with your topic?
 THE MATRIX APPROACH

What's a matrix? (No, not the movie. ) A matrix is a like a table of

information. Along one side, you can have different main points of
your topic, and across the top, perhaps some questions or points
relevant to your topic. Then, in each cell, fill out the relevant
information.

Travel to geographically interesting places

Mountains Waterways Rock formations

Iceland idea / example idea / example idea / example

Australia idea / example idea / example idea / example

Bolivia idea / example idea / example idea / example

One way to look at a matrix is that it is a multi-point comparison. It

gives you specific ways to compare a number of different areas of
interest within your topic.

20 QUESTIONS
It may seem odd to interview a topic, but imagine that your topic is a
person. Pretend to be that person, and answer these interview
questions. You may not be able to answer all of them, but do as many
as you can.

1. What is your full name? Do some people know you by a different

name?

2. How does the dictionary or encyclopedia define you?

3. When were you born? What were the circumstances?
4. Are you still alive? If not, how did you come to an end?
5. What group do you belong to? How are you like others in your
group?
6. Can you be divided into parts? How?
7. Were you different in the past? How?
8. Will you be different in the future? How?
9. Do you ever feel misunderstood?
10. What is your purpose?
11. What are you similar to? Why do you say that?
12. What are you different from? Why do you say that?
13. What or whom are you better than? In what ways?
14. What or whom are you inferior to? In what ways?
15. When people talk about you, what do they say?
16. Should I know any facts or statistics about you?
17. Is there someone I should talk to about you--an expert, for
example?
18. Are there any famous sayings or quotes about you?
19. Have there been any stories about you in the news?
20. Should I do more research about you?

Example : Train travel

1. What is your full name? Do some people know you by a different

name?
I am known as train travel, rail travel, riding the train, or railroad
travel.

2. How does the dictionary or encyclopedia define you?

I am a type of movement from one place to another--usually different
cities or countries--using a self-propelled machine and a set of
connected cars called a train. The train travels on metal tracks.
3. When were you born? What were the circumstances?
The machine powered version of me was born in the 1800s, around
the time of the Industrial Revolution. People were looking for faster
ways of traveling.

BRAINSTORMING YOUR TOPIC

It's time to develop your topic for your final essay. You will write a
draft of your essay this week, and next week, you will correct and
improve it to submit as your final essay.
For your homework, think of something you want to write about. For
example, it could be the advantages of a certain job, an environmental
problem that concerns you, or the damaging effects of eating junk
food. You decide what to write about.

Then, choose one of the methods describe here, or found in part 2.1x
(if you haven't used it before), and experiment with your topic.

In the discussion area, share your topic idea with your colleagues. Also
discuss what method(s) you experimented with, and how they worked
for you.