#110 Process-Based Writing: Introduction

Introduction:

• We are going to dedicate next week to writing our first essay (three pages in length).
• Goal is to reduce anxiety and improve outcomes.
• For next week, class will be conducted as a workshop.
• As a unit assessment, this will be a good way to see how all the pieces of the hard work we’ve been doing come together. As questions about the materials we have covered or the writing process come up, please ask!

 Process:

• Overview the process (link to Google Doc): invent → compose → revise
• Our motto: “Good product depends on good process.”
• We are systematizing the process adopted by many prolific writers, including the philosopher Slavoj Žižek:
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I have a very complicated ritual about writing. It’s psychologically impossible for me to sit down, so I have to trick myself. I operate a very simple strategy.... [U]p to a certain point I’m telling myself, no, I’m not yet writing, I’m just putting down ideas. Then, at a certain point, I tell myself, everything is already there, now I just have to edit it. So that’s the idea, to split it into two: I put down notes, I edit it. Writing disappears. 
―From Žižek! (2005)

Dissect the essay prompt/question:

• Together on board based on last night’s homework:
  • Interpret the question: what is the question asking?
  • Essay prompt:
    
    • Using the American Revolution lessons from this unit, answer the following prompt in an academic essay: “How well did the United States Constitution address the ideals of natural rights and liberty voiced in the Revolutionary era?”
      
• Pair and share:
  • Envision a proper answer:
    • What essential parts will your essay need to completely answer the essay prompt?
    • What decisions will you need to make in order to answer this question?
  • Diagram the relationship between these essential parts
    • Visualize out what you have found.
    • Explain your diagram.

Remaining tasks:

• Log in or register on Noodle Tools (external link).
• Use remainder of class time to begin searching for evidence.

Homework: #111.