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Sentence Skills, Form A book cover
Sentence Skills, Form A, 7/e
John Langan, Atlantic Cape Community College

A Brief Guide to Effective Writing

Key Terms


assertion  a claim; in writing, a point or thesis
brainstorming  a prewriting technique: making a list of details and ideas related to your subject
clustering  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called diagramming or mapping
coherence  one of the four bases of good writing: the quality that results from organizing and connecting the specific evidence that supports your point
diagramming  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called clustering or mapping
drafting  a stage of the writing process: roughing out a first version of a piece of writing
editing  a stage of the writing process: carefully re-reading a near-finished draft, checking for errors of grammar, style, spelling, punctuation, and format
freewriting  a prewriting technique: jotting down, in rough sentences, words, phrases, everything that comes to mind about a possible topic
mapping  a (visual) prewriting technique: using lines, boxes, arrows and circles to show relationships among ideas and details that occur to you; also called clustering or diagramming
paragraph  a short piece of writing of around 150 to 200 words
point  the main idea of a piece of writing; an assertion; a thesis
prewriting  first stage of the writing process: techniques that help writers think about and develop a topic and get words on paper; also known as idea generation
proofreading  a stage of the writing process: carefully re-reading the near-finished draft, checking for errors of grammar, spelling, punctuation, and format
questioning  a prewriting technique: coming up with ideas and details by asking questions about your subject
revising  a stage of the writing process: re-thinking and re-writing draft versions of a piece of writing in order to make it stronger
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
sentence skills  one of the four bases of good writing: the ability to write clear, error-free sentences
support  one of the four bases of good writing: specific reasons, details, or evidence that supports your thesis or point
topic sentence  the main point or assertion of a paragraph
unity  one of the four bases of good writing: the quality that results from advancing a single point and sticking to that point