Prewriting: Organizing Ideas

1. Prewriting: Organizing Ideas Introduction Planning your organization • Chronological order • Spatial order • Logical order • Order of importance Creating an outline Your Turn 1: Choose an order Your Turn 2: Arrange ideas

2. Introduction One route may be better because it’s the shortest. Another may be better because there are places you need to stop along the way. Usually, you can find more than one way from point A to point B. The route you choose depends on your needs. Point A Point B In all cases, though, it’s a good idea to plan out your route in advance. The same holds true for writing.

3. Introduction You may wonder how you’ll turn the ideas and information you’ve collected for your topic from a disorganized mess into a coherent composition. Organizing your ideas makes order out of chaos.

4. Planning your organization Drafting your paper will be much easier if you first plan the organization your work will follow. Here’s one way to plan your organization: Copy the ideas and information you’ve gathered onto note cards. Then, move the cards around until you find an organization that works.

5. Planning your organization Most writing uses one or a combination of the following organizational patterns: • Chronological order • Spatial order • Logical order • Order of importance

6. Planning your organizationChronological order Use chronological order to tell a story or explain a process. Present actions and events in the order in which they take place—first to last, earliest to latest, and so on. Stages of sleep body temperature drops; breathing & heart rate slow REM (rapid eye movement); some muscles paralyzed deep sleep; tissue growth & repair; slow breathing light sleep; muscle activity slows

7. body temperature drops; breathing and heart rate slow light sleep; muscle activity slows awake REM (rapid eye movement) deep sleep; tissue growth and repair; slow breathing cycle repeats itself 5 more times (starting with light sleep) Planning your organizationChronological order Another strategy for arranging ideas in chronological order is to use a sequence chart or time line. sequence chart

8. Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4 Planning your organizationChronological order time line body temperature drops; breathing and heart rate slow deep sleep; tissue growth and repair; slow breathing light sleep; muscle activity slows REM (rapid eye movement)

9. Planning your organizationSpatial order Use spatial order to describe a place, a person, or an object. Arrange your details or ideas according to their location in space: Description of Layers of the Earth • top to bottom, bottom to top outside to inside • near to far, far to near mantle: consistency of asphalt crust: outer layer; thinnest layer • left to right, right to left • inside to outside, outside to inside outer core: nickel and iron in liquid state core: heavy metals (nickel and iron) in solid state

10. outside crust mantle outer core innercore inside Planning your organizationSpatial order In addition to using note cards, you can use a circle diagram or web diagram to show ideas in spatial order. circle diagram Layers ofthe Earth outside to inside inside to outside

11. Topcerealcrackersoatmeal Rightpastarice Leftcanned vegetablessoup pantry Bottomsandwich bagslunch boxes Planning your organizationSpatial order web diagram

12. Planning your organizationLogical order You’ll use logical order when you want to explain or classify. Group related details or ideas together to show their relationship. • defining have a beak cone-shaped teeth • dividing a topic into parts spade-shaped teeth • comparing and contrasting triangular dorsal fin no beak curved dorsal fin

13. Planning your organizationLogical order You’ll use logical order when you want to explain or classify. Group related details or ideas together to show their relationship. Dolphins Porpoises • defining • dividing a topic into parts cone-shaped teeth spade-shaped teeth • comparing and contrasting have a beak no beak curved dorsal fin triangular dorsal fin

14. Dolphins Porpoises Teeth Cone-shaped Spade-shaped Dorsal fin Curved Triangular Beak Long None Planning your organizationLogical order Charts or Venn diagrams are also good ways to organize ideas and details in logical order. chart

15. Planning your organizationLogical order Venn diagram Dolphins Porpoises • have a curved dorsal fin • have a beak • have cone- shaped teeth • have a triangular dorsal fin • have no beak • have spade- shaped teeth marine mammals

16. Planning your organizationOrder of importance Use order of importance when you want to inform or persuade readers. Arrange your ideas from least to most important or least to most powerful (or vice versa). most important least important avoid tanning beds/booths 4 wear protective clothing 3 avoid the sun, especially at midday 1 wear sunscreen year round 2 check your skin regularly 5 have regular skin exams at your doctor 6

17. Planning your organizationOrder of importance Another way to arrange your ideas in order of importance is to use a pyramid diagram. avoid the sun at midday most important wear sunscreen year round wear protective clothing check your skin avoid tanning beds visit doctor least important

18. Creating an outline With some types of writing, such as fact-based informative writing, an outline can be helpful in organizing both broad ideas and specific details. Thesis: Skin cancer, the most common type of cancer in America, can be prevented simply by protecting skin from the sun. I. Wear sunscreen year round. A. Choose a sunscreen with broad- spectrum protection. 1. UVB protection 2. UVA-shorter wavelengths 3. UVA-remaining wavelengths B. Sunscreen needs to be reapplied every two hours. 1. after sweating 2. after swimming 3. after drying off

19. Your Turn 1: Choose an order What kind of organization—spatial, logical, chronological, order of importance—would you use in writing about each of the topics below? Be prepared to discuss your answers. • a description of your room • the events of your day, so far • places you would like to visit • a comparison and contrast of your two favorite foods

20. Your Turn 2: Arrange ideas Choose one of the topics below and brainstorm some ideas for writing about that topic. Come up with 10–12 ideas. Then, use one of the graphic organizers presented in this lesson to arrange your ideas. • a description of your room • the events of your day, so far • places you would like to visit • a comparison and contrast of your two favorite foods

21. The End