Writing Is a Journey That Requires Planning, Preparation, Thinking, Rethinking and Flexibility

Introduction

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Writing is a journey that requires planning, preparation, thinking, rethinking and flexibility to make adjustments and changes along the way.

The Writing Process

1. Idea Generating – talking , reading, internet searches, brainstorming, quick writes

1. Organizing – outlining, topic balloons, sorting ideas, deciding the important points, eliminating irrelevant points

1. Writing

1. Macro-revision – reorganizing ideas, paragraph work, revising thesis statements and topic sentences, check for the flow, working on transitions

1. Micro-revision – sentence level work, word usage, prepositions, sentence structure, grammar

Writing is like athletics or music. It is a process course, not a content course. The process takes practice, practice and more practice. The process is a “step process” that involves learning new ways to express ideas and opinions.

Parts of an Essay

Essay Format

Module 1 – Descriptive Writing

“Making a Difference”

Prewriting –Idea Generating

Discussion questions

a)Why are the people in the pictures considered heroes?

b)What are the characteristics of a hero or heroine?

c)Does a hero have to be rich? Famous? Kind? Strong?

d)Think of someone you admire and list the reasons why you admire that person.

Reading 1

What is Operation Smile?

Operation Smile is a charitable organization founded by plastic surgeon William Magee, and his nurse/social worker wife, Kathleen Magee. On a volunteer mission to the Philippines in 1982, the couple worked to help repair cleft lips and cleft palates of those who did not have access to medical care. The need for these repairs far exceeded what the mission could address. In response to this need, the Magees formed Operation Smile to raise funds and create more missions to countries where access to repair for facial deformities was limited or completely non-existent.
Since 1982, Operation Smile has sent medical missions to numerous countries. It has also partnered with countries to teach local surgeons how to repair and care for those with cleft palate and cleft lips. Each year about 10,000 children and young adults have surgery to repair facial defects through the worldwide efforts of Operation Smile.
While the base of Operation Smile remains in Virginia, there are several global chapters of the organization that help to raise funds and organize missions. These include chapters in Los Angeles, London, Rome, Hong Kong, and New York City. It’s actually fairly stunning how little it costs in many impoverished countries to repair cleft defects. It usually costs about 240 US dollars (USD) per surgery. This amount seems extremely low when compared to a similar repair in most western countries. In total, including aftercare, education programs and need for continued fundraising, Operation Smile estimates a complete cost of 750 USD per child.
In some cases, Operation Smile brings children to the US for surgery. Occasionally defects are too complex to be repaired locally. When this is the case, Operation Smile will fund the transportation of the child and usually one parent, and pay for not only any needed surgeries but also lodging and food for the family member. This incurs greater expense, as not all hospital costs can be completely donated. Generally, children or adults who come to the US must receive special sponsorship and extra donations.
In contrast, Operation Smile field missions have the volunteer services of trained physicians and others in the medical field. A high number of cases can be quickly treated in a few days to a few weeks. This is generally the most cost-effective way for Operation Smile to help a large number of people. Yet physicians often leave a mission knowing they could not help everyone. This keeps people devoted to the cause of raising more funds to undertake more missions.
Since its inception, Operation Smile estimates that it has successfully performed reconstructive facial surgery on over 100,000 children. About 86% of its funds raised go directly toward these surgeries and toward funding medical missions. Operation Smile has also been recognized with several prominent humanitarian awards. The charity has proven effective, with positive results and continued goals for helping to improve the lives of many children and young adults in developing countries.
Written by Tricia Ellis-Christensen
copyright © 2003 - 2008

Questions for Discussion

1)Can you think of other people like the Magees who have made a difference in the lives of less fortunate people?

2)Have you ever done volunteer work?

Reading 2

Wangari Maathai/by Martin Rowe
About Wangari Maathai
In 2004, Wangari Maathai received the Nobel Peace Prize for "her contribution to sustainable development, democracy, and peace." She is the first African woman to ever receive the award.
As founder of The Green Belt Movement, an organization that has mobilized thousands of Kenyans, mostly women, to plant more than 30 million trees across the country, Wangari Maathai is responsible for providing much-needed firewood, lumber, shade, and even food to thousands of African families. Now a member of the Kenyan Parliament, she works to spread her message of peace through grass roots mobilization and by stressing that a healthy planet makes peace more plausible.
To read more about Wangari Maathai ngo to:

A film about Wangari Maathai won first place in the student category of
The MY HERO Short Film Festival.
Watch it by going to:

HERO'S HERO:
HEROIC WOMEN
by Wangari Maathai

My life's work has been made possible through the dedication, intelligence, and power of women. It was the women in my life who taught me not only to read and write, but about service and community, the values that guide me still.
Women have an innate sense of service. It is part of who we are. We give rise to new life by nurturing it inside us for nine months. Then we bring it forth and feed it with our own milk, with our own body, and eventually, our own self. My mother was the first strong woman in my life. I know that it was she who instilled in me a true sense of my own power and my responsibility as a woman.
Growing up, I was further influenced by the communities of nuns and missionaries who ran the schools I attended. For me, they exemplified solidarity, dedication, and service. Though I was raised in Kenya, my upbringing was very international. My first set of teachers were Italian nuns, and the second ones Irish (I still want to do a jig when I hear Irish music!). I was impressed that these nuns would leave their own homes and their families to travel to a strange country to educate us, complete strangers. Since childhood, I have wanted to emulate these women because they were not only beautiful, smart, and kind, but also because they showed me what it meant to dedicate your life to something greater than yourself. For me, that sense of duty and service to the community was a new way of thinking.
In high school I first met Sister Jean Marie, an Irish nun from the order of Loreto who taught science. I still think of her often and was touched to learn that she is buried in Kenya. She and other sisters had given up, in their own words, "the pleasures of the world" to serve God. They believed in the inherent good of all people, and one of the ways they served God and a higher purpose was to give us a good-quality education. Education is a special gift because it continues to grow and multiply. Our people value education, and these missionaries endowed us handsomely in this area.
Sister Jean Marie took me under her wing. After experiments, she would invite me into the laboratory to clean lab equipments and discuss with me the lessons of the day. Her attention actually made me enjoy the sciences. I was already doing well in my studies. But when a teacher pays special attention to a student, the student pays special attention to that class, and I worked extra hard. It was in large part due to her that I decided to focus my studies on the sciences.
I admired certain aspects of nunhood and would probably have become one if I had been raised as a Catholic. Having grown up as a Protestant, there was always another competing voice in my life calling me toward the values of a family. In our culture, you live for your family and especially the next generation. So the whole concept of forsaking family life to live in a convent was completely unknown to us.
So I found another way to serve, out in the world. My mother always told me that from my grandmother, I inherited a strong sense of wanting to put things right. From the nuns I learned a deep sense of seeking justice for myself and for others. I knew that if I could join forces with others and create a community with a goal, then that goal would be met.
So in 1977, we started the Green Belt Movement. Throughout Africa, women are the primary caretakers and users of primary resources. They are responsible for tilling the land and feeding their families. The Green Belt Movement enlists these rural women to address their own needs--a lack of firewood, clean drinking water, balanced diets, shelter, and income--by planting trees. Trees provide fuel, food, shelter, and income to support the children's education and the women's household needs. On the scientific side, they also improve soils and watersheds.
Our work is often difficult and accomplished under hostile conditions. Still, the groups of strong women stayed powerful, and worked towards the common good. Women are my army: I say, if you need to get something done, enlist women to your cause. When times were difficult during the struggle for independence in Kenya, I tried to model myself after the nuns who would come into our rooms in the middle of the night to encourage us to not be afraid when the Mau-Mau attacked nearby. Instead, they encouraged us to engage in prayer. I am quite sure they were afraid, but they didn’t show that fear. They told us we were strong because we were together, and we were never harmed.
To this day, I refuse to embrace the fears that stand in my way. I tell myself, "So long as we are working together for good, for service to others, we will not be harmed." And although sometimes we have been jailed, even beaten, we have always stayed together and we have pressed on. Together, the women of the Greenbelt Movement have planted more than 30 million trees--women, nurturing the earth itself.
I am proud to share the credit for my accomplishments with my mother who gave birth to me, and with all the nuns who shaped my perception of the world and my role in that world. My work is the embodiment of their patience, persistence, commitment to service.

Questions

1)How did the nuns influence Wangari Maathai’s life?

2)Which sentence gives the main idea of this essay?

Organizing ideas

Exercise 1–Fill in the chart below to begin describing a person you think has made a difference in people’s lives.

One person I admire for having made a difference is______.
Reasons I admire him/her / How he/she has made a difference / Personality traits / Physical appearance
1.
2.
3.
4. / 1.
2.
3.
4. / 1.
2.
3.
4.

Writing a Thesis Statement

1)A good thesis statement is important because it helps the reader identify the main idea in an essay, summary or research paper. Likewise a writer can use a thesis statement to begin to organize ideas and develop a plan for writing. Therefore, a thesis statement needs to be specific and it needs to have some element ofopinion.

2)There are many types of thesis statements; however for now we will look examples of statements that “map” short essays.

Weak- Many women taught me many valuable things.

Strong - It was the women in my life who taught me not only to read and write, but about service and community, the values that guide me still.

Weak– My brother has done many good deeds in his life so I respect him very much.

Strong – I admire my brother because he is a caring father, a diligent worker and an active member of his community.

Weak – Lee Woon Jae is a great soccer player and a real hero.

Strong –Lee Woon Jae is a true sports hero because he is a talented player, a respected team leader and an admired role model.

Exercise 2–Write a thesis statement for an essay describing someone you think has made a difference in people’s lives. Use the patterns above as models.

Descriptive Writing

Descriptive writing is like painting a picture with words. Your goal is for your reader to see the images you have in your mind clearly through words. You want your reader to feel what you feel. Adjectives, adverbs and descriptive nouns are the colors you can use to paint with words. Similes and metaphors can also help to create vivid representations of your ideas for your reader.

Simile– A figure of speech comparing two unlike objects, phenomenon, animals or people usually beginning with “like” or “as.”

My brother dresses like a clown.

The typhoon ripped through the city as if it were a hungry tiger tearing at its dinner.

He runs as slow as a turtle.

Metaphor - A figure of speech in which a word or phrase suggests a likeness or analogy between two seemingly unrelated objects or ideas.

She is so rich, she is drowning in money.

The fierce storm dug its deadly sharp claws into the city ripping roofs off houses and smashing windows.

 He is such a turtle he will never win the race.

Exercise 3 – Write a simile and a metaphor to describe the person in your thesis statement.

ASSIGNMENT

Write a 5 paragraph essay describing someone that you admire because they have made a difference in other people’s lives. Be sure to include a simile or metaphor.

Additional readings about heroes:

Everyday Heroes

Everyday Hero: Jeff May

My Hero’s Hero

Macro-revision

Check List –Answer these questions before handing in draft #1:

1)Does you essay have a hook that catches the readers attention?

2)Does the thesis statement clearly express the main idea?

3)Is the thesis statement an opinion?

4)Do the body paragraphs have topic sentences?

5)Circle all metaphors and similes with a pencil.

6)Underline other examples of descriptive writing with a blue pen.

7)What do you like about your essay? What do you think needs to be improved?

8)How did you organize you ideas?

9)Does you conclusion restate the main idea?

10)Is there a kicker that will leave the reader thinking about your essay?

Micro-revision

Red Flag # 1Avoid Using Lazy Words

It is common for writers to focus on ideas rather than words while composing a first draft. Therefore, first drafts often contain many “lazy words” that the writer can replace with more academic vocabulary. There is a simple two-step solution. The writer must first recognize what the lazy words are and then use a thesaurus and a dictionary to change them to the appropriate academic words. Some examples of lazy words and expressions are: big, small, let, make, give, thing, and so on, something, him, them, like, and it.

Example: If a teacher gives the students more freedom, it will let them learn with smaller stress.

Revision 1: If the teacher allows the students to have more freedom, they will be able to learn with less stress

Revision 2: Allowing the students to have more freedom enables them to learn in a less stressful environment.

Working with Words

Exercise 1

List synonyms for the words in the table:

admire / influence / try / plausible / dedicate / make

Exercise 2

Use the following words in a sentence:

1)emulate –

2)influence –

3)dedicate –

4)persistence–

5)commitment –

Exercise 3

Write the various forms for the following words:

Noun / Adjective / Verb / Adverb
plausible
influence
emulate
commitment
persist
admirably
commend
value
just

“Advice for Writers”

More Vocabulary Building

Students revise sentences from their essays that contain lazy words.

– Every module will have an “Advice for Writers” section.)

Tips for Starting a Vocabulary Notebook

1. Try to add 3-5 new words a day. That way you will have 90-150 new words every month.

1. Use new words from class, movies, conversation or daily reading.

1. Write the word in your notebook.

1. Write an easy to understand English definition of the word.

1. Write an example that will help you remember how to use the word.

1. Review all words daily.

1. Try to use new vocabulary words both in your oral communication and in your written assignments.