The Writing Process - Term Paper Example

You need to add your textbook as one of the references and change the text in blue where it is referenced in the document. name Course name Date The Writing Process Getting started on a big writing project is often a daunting prospect. When someone is considering writing something as long as 10 pages or more of text from the experience of maybe 2 or 4 page long papers, they can become easily overwhelmed with where to start and how they’re going to find enough information to fill the required length. A variety of methods have been devised to help people overcome their initial fear and get started with the writing process. Some suggest starting with general research and others might promote the use of stages or steps in order to get the paper done. The key element of a successful writing process, however, is finding one that suits the individual’s personality, writing style and methods of learning. As a result, in most cases, using one particular writing method may work wonders for a majority of people because of its generality, but may still fail other students because of their unique strategies based upon their individual approach to learning. Despite this, several instructors feel the need to impose a particular process upon their students throughout the course of a semester or year course as a means of standardizing their instruction and with the hope that the method employed will prove useful to their students both in their class and in the future. The purpose of this discussion is to compare and contrast two different approaches to the writing process. Although it may not always be the best tactic to insist upon a specific writing process being followed by every student regardless of ability, introducing various types of writing processes can be extremely helpful for students not as comfortable in finding their own best methods. According to a report by the National Council of Teachers of English, “recent studies of the status of writing in the school curriculum also show that too often students are asked to write infrequently and within a narrow range of genres and for limited purposes” (1998). For students unaccustomed to working on writing projects of their own or for students having a difficult time getting started, having a method available can help make the project less daunting as well as introduce a helpful schedule of activities to ensure students stay on task. “Developing writers require support. This support can best come through carefully designed writing instruction oriented toward acquiring new strategies and skills” (NCTE Beliefs, 2004). Thus, even for students who feel they are very comfortable within their own writing process, the introduction of new approaches and techniques might prove helpful in their continued development. Within our textbook, one basic writing process introduced follows a logical progression of stages beginning with prewriting activities, moving through planning, drafting, revising and ending with proofreading (textbook reference). As each of these stages are introduced, the purpose for the activity is explained and the practice of it brings about greater understanding and ease of use. “Knowledge about writing is only complete with understanding the complex of actions in which writers engage as they produce texts” (NCTE Beliefs, 2004). The prewriting stage is characterized by activities such as brainstorming in which the idea of the paper begins to take shape and thoughts regarding what one wants to say begin to come into focus. The planning stage is when these ideas are brought together into some sort of logical, meaningful sequence. Drafting is the stage when most people get into trouble as they tend to look upon this first written version of the paper as the final copy (textbook reference). However, allowing the paper to sit for a little while and then returning to it usually reveals a great number of improvements that could be made, either in organization, technical aspects or bolstered support. This is the revising stage which may be repeated several times before the final version is produced (textbook reference). Even at this point, however, it is necessary to take the final step, proofreading, to weed out any remaining technical issues such as misspelled words or grammar errors. The writing process introduced in the Puget Sound web tutorial (McQuinn & Roach, 2008) is very similar to that introduced by the textbook authors. For example, the video also introduces the first stage of the writing process as being the relatively poorly defined pre-writing stage. Within the context of pre-writing, though, the video highlights computer software that makes it easier for students to draw out their ideas digitally in graphic form. Basically speaking, a graphic organizer is a means of converting “complex and messy information collections into meaningful displays” (McKenzie, 1997) through web charts or other such pictorial means. The software introduced enables a student to easily draw out their ideas, link them and rearrange them and then quickly convert them into a text outline. The main purpose of introducing these types of programs seems to be to reduce the degree of frustration a student might feel in attempting to draw their ideas out on paper while allowing them the satisfaction of seeing their creative ideas come to fruition. This becomes a trend as the video also introduces computers that can be delivered directly to a students’ desk during the drafting stage of the writing process, making it easier for them to get their ideas out. As it fleshes out its own approach to the writing process, the video begins to differ to a greater degree with the textbook, ending the process not on proofreading, but on the final copy itself as essential to the sense of accomplishment and gratification necessary to encourage further writing endeavors. While the basic stages of the writing process seem to be relatively comparable between the textbook and the video, there are some shifts of emphasis, such as the above mentioned re-classification of the planning stage. There is considerable emphasis within the video placed on the importance of working with others during the revision stage because of the tremendous learning that can take place on both sides of the interaction. “The most powerful learning/teaching technique yet devised, co-operative learning is effective with all age groups and has consistently produced these benefits: improved learning results …, higher academic achievement, more effective problem solving, increased higher-level thinking skills, more positive attitudes towards subject, greater motivation to learn” (Parsons, 2001: 24). To help a young writer become a part of the learning process, the website provides what it terms the six traits of writing students can look for as they assess a peer’s writing. These include Ideas, Voice, Organization, Word Choice, Sentence Fluency and Conventions, each of which also corresponds to a given element of the writing process as it is practiced – Ideas, Voice (pre-writing), Organization, World Choice, Sentence Fluency (revise) and Conventions (editing) (McQuinn & Roach, 2008). The Editing stage identified here corresponds to the Proofreading stage mentioned in the textbook, with continued emphasis on interaction with peers and the use of technology. Finally, the website emphasizes the importance of publication as the final stage. Mona Roach points out how it is publication that brings out the enjoyment of writing for young people as they are given a means by which to share their ideas and experience the gratification of a completed work (McQuinn & Roach, 2008). Although there are some small differences between these two writing processes, they are very similar in their approach and their rigid step by step approach to writing. In many ways, it seems that these approaches are much like separating history from English as separate subjects when it is often recognized that an understanding of one contributes to a much greater understanding of the other. By separating the various processes in such a step-by-step way, both the textbook and the video seem to suggest that all writers in the classroom will progress within the same time period and that the entire class will be engaged in the same activity at the same time. A more user-friendly approach would enable students to work within their own timeframe as they develop their papers and thus providing them the flexibility to bounce around between the various writing processes in a way that is natural for them and their individual approach. This could be accomplished by providing students with a quiet area of the classroom and an interactive area of the classroom between which students can move freely as they work through their papers, sometimes revising, sometimes brainstorming, sometimes editing. As it is often recommended that papers not be graded in terms of specific content but rather upon active and engaged participation in the process, this can be as easily assessed allowing greater flexibility of activity as suggested as it can under the two methods outlined above. For implementation, the timeline writing process approach used by Kim Steele (2007) could be modified somewhat to give students a chance to present their work to date as indication that they are actively engaged in the process rather than remaining rigidly focused upon what type of work is expected. Works Cited McKenzie, Jamie. “Graphical Organizers as Thinking Technology.” FNO.org. Vol. 7, N. 2, (October 1997). June 8, 2008 McQuinn, Conn & Mona Roach. The Writing Process: A Web Tutorial with Conn McQuinn & Mona Roach, Ph.D. Puget Sound Educational Service District, (2008). June 8, 2008 < http://168.99.1.4:16080/technology/writeprocess/> “NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing.” NCTE Guideline. National Council of Teachers of English, (November 2004). June 8, 2008 Parsons, Les. Revising and Editing: Using Models and Checklists to Promote Successful Writing. Markham, ON: Pembroke Publishers, (2001). June 8, 2008 Steele, Kimberly. “Writing Process Timeline.” Kim’s Korner for Teacher Talk. (September 2007). June 8, 2008 You need to add your textbook as one of the references and change the text in blue where it is referenced in the document. Read More