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Brannan: A Writer's Workshop
A Writer's Workshop: Crafting Paragraphs, Building Essays
Bob Brannan, Johnson County Community College

Practicing the Writing Process

Glossary

audience  the group of readers for whom the writer writes; in order to write effectively, purpose and audience must always be kept in mind
cause/effect  a pattern of essay development in which the causes and/or effects of an event are analyzed
classification/division  a pattern of essay development in which subjects are grouped into categories
clustering  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines and arrows to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you
comparison/contrast  a pattern of essay development in which a subject's similarities and differences to another subject are explored
description  a pattern of essay development: a verbal picture of a person, place, or thing
drafting  an early stage of the writing process: roughing out a first version of a piece of writing
editing  revising a piece of writing with particular attention to grammar, style, punctuation, and other mechanical issues
freewriting  a prewriting technique: jotting down--in rough sentences, words or phrases--everything that comes to mind about a possible topic
illustration  a pattern of essay development: giving examples to illustrate a certain point
narration  a pattern of essay development: telling a brief story to make a point
persuasion  a pattern of essay development: trying to move the reader to agreement with a point or to some action
process analysis  a pattern of essay development in which the procedure for doing or making something is detailed
proofreading  the last step of paper preparation: carefully re-reading the near-finished draft, checking for errors in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and format
scratch outline  a prewriting technique: a plan or a blueprint of your writing, which puts the main point and supporting details in a logical order
thesis  the main idea of an essay; the point of a piece of writing; an assertion