American Literature, 11th
Grade, Spring 2010
Ms. Radin
PRE-WRITING STEPS
FOR ASSIGNMENTS
Step One, Pre-Writing Process:
Please do all parts
of the process in a Word document or as a handwritten document. Write in
COMPLETE SENTENCES.
1.
Before
you really prioritize your top choices for the essay topic – look over your
homework assignments and class notes from the past unit. Were you gravitating towards looking at
certain characters, motifs, themes, techniques or questions? Were there certain discussions we had in
class that helped clarify issues in the book? Write down what you tended to
look at when you had the freedom to respond to whatever you wanted.
2. Now, look at the possible essay
topics, choose two that you are considering.
For each one, answer the following:
a. What exactly is the topic asking
you to do or look at?
b. What immediately comes to mind
under that topic (i.e. certain characters, themes or techniques of the
book)? What parts of the book do I want
to focus on?
c. Go through your homework assignments. Are there any observations, quotes or
analysis from those assignments that could fit under the essay topic or
question?
d. Brainstorm possible ways to answer
that question. How does the focus of
this topic (theme, motif, character, technique) come to closure in the
text? What do you think is its
significance as a reflection of the author’s choices? What is the truth reached by the author by
the end of the text?
3. Is there a word, symbol or motif
in my essay topic that I am focusing on?
If so, answer the following:
a. What is it? Does it allow me to potentially explore a
metaphor at some later stage in my brainstorming process?
b. In the dictionary, look up the word or symbol (list as many definitions as
you can):
c. Now list at least five associations you attribute to this word or symbol below. This is to make sure that your are exploring
ALL of the connotations of the key words in my essay topic to help me with
creating a thesis statement later in the process:
4. Choose one of these two topics to
focus on and give a preliminary answer to the question: What is your essay topic’s significance and how does it
change from the beginning to the end of the novel?
1.
List both the page
numbers and lines or passages where your theme/topic
appears in the text. Again, think about
the significance of how your essay
topic has new meaning when you re-read these moments in identifying your
support.
2.
Now that you have isolated those parts of the text
that are pertinent to your theme specifically, you must analyze them.
a.
What does this quotation
or passage reveal about my theme?
b.
When I ask the
significance of each quotation, what do I notice?
c.
What are the key words
and phrases within this passage or quotation?
d.
How do they help me in
discovering the passage or quotation’s underlying meaning?
**Don’t just write out page numbers here. You should be retyping the quotations out into a Word document and then working
your way through the close reading right afterwards. The reason for this is that it forces you to
look at the actual structure and mechanics of these quotes. It forces you to ground your assertion in the
text and in close reading.
à Also: if done correctly,
the material from this step of the pre-write could become a body paragraph in
your paper!!!
Step
Three, Pre-Writing Process:
Now that I have isolated some possible evidence, revisit
questions from Step One with this new information. Talk yourself through this section in
writing, not bullet points or a
list:
Step Four, Pre-Writing Process:
Attempt at least three or four versions of a thesis
statement. Remember to consider your
answer to the essay topic in the context of what choices the author made in
conveying certain meanings or components of the book, as they relate to your essay
topic. We are not just speculating on
human nature, but looking at how the author crafted his/her work.