Life Cycle of a Paper

1. Life Cycle of a Paper Sarah Prince, PhD Writing Specialist

2. Overview The writing process: What is it? • Prewriting and Reading critically • Getting started • Writing the rough draft • Sharing your work • Writing the final draft • Reflecting on your writing

3. The Writing Process

4. An Assignment For a philosophy class: Choose a historical figure who lived by the Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” Write a 2-page essay convincing your reader of that person’s adherence to the golden rule. Use examples and credit sources.

5. Prewriting With the assignment now in mind, you could try freewriting. • Short 15-minute burst of writing anything that comes to mind on the assignment topic. • Don’t worry about structure, grammar, spelling. • At the end, go over what you’ve written to see if you’ve narrowed your focus or have any usable information. • Did you discover who you think is an ethical historical figure? This can now guide your research and reading. • http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/325.htm

6. Reading Critically Reading critically is • reading the text and judging its scholarly value. Ask questions concerning potential weaknesses in the articles. This step allows you to assess the validity of the author's work and decide how you're going to employ it in your own document. • reading the text as an insightful member of the academic community with your own agenda (your assignment).  This is typically done by viewing the literature through the lens of your own study and interest.

7. What It Looks Like: Note-taking No malice, no revenge. Proves that he was concerned with other people. Excerpt from a book on Lincoln with student notes Slavery as evil. Admitting own faults and not being self-righteous. Moral language. But what about actions? Did he show this morality in action too?

8. Getting Started Synthesize your reading • You have taken careful notes. Now what do those notes say? • Come to an understanding on your topic. Do some of the sources say similar things while others say different? Form an argument • What is the argument you want to make based on your reading? (http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/405.htm)

9. Getting Started Outline • When you outline, you build off the argument to “map out” a full paper. • Outlining • Offers visual representation of your paper • Allows you to progress your argument • Shows organization of major topics • Sample outline here: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/318.htm

10. What It Looks Like: Basic Outline Introduction/Main idea • Abraham Lincoln demonstrated the Golden Rule throughout his life. Supporting idea 1: Lincoln’s speeches and writings showed his belief in treating others fairly. • Speech at Peoria established his hatred of slavery and the idea of seeing people as equal • Include quotes from speeches and writings Supporting idea 2: Lincoln’s actions toward freeing the slaves also showed his devotion to the Golden Rule. • Abolishment of slavery in the Confederate states with the Emancipation Proclamation • Paved the way for complete abolishment • Address counterargument about political gain here Conclusion

11. What It Looks Like: Mind Map From http://bubbl.us/

12. Writing the Rough Draft Now that you have an outline, develop your supporting ideas into paragraphs. Four components of a paragraph: M = Main Idea E = Evidence A = Analysis L = Lead-out (including synthesis)

13. Writing the Rough Draft 1. What you put in the top of the funnel must relate to what comes before it. Use this opening sentence to introduce the main idea. 2. Follow the opening sentence with support in the form of paraphrase or direct quote. 4. What comes out of the funnel should conclude the topic of that paragraph and lead into the next. 3. Analyze your evidence to narrow your topic even more. How does this evidence relate to your main idea?

14. What It Looks Like: The Rough Draft Rough Draft of Lincoln Paper (excerpt)

15. Sharing Your Work One of the best ways to grow as a writer is to share your work with others. Some options: • Form a peer writing group • Partner with a fellow student in your course and exchange papers • Connect with students on the Writing Center’s eCampusdiscussion board or Facebook page

16. Sharing Your Work Make an appointment with a writing tutor and upload your paper. • Read the instructions in our Tutoring Guide: http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/Tutoring.htm • Know what to expect Our goal is to help you become a better writer by pointing out patterns and offering suggestions for revision. Therefore, we • comment on cohesion and flow, voice and grammar, and APA citations. • do not offer line-by-line proofreading or editing • cannot comment on content (because we are writing experts and not necessarily experts in your subject area)

17. What It Looks Like: Sharing Your Work Tutor Comments on Rough Draft

18. Writing the Final Draft Revising based on others’ comments • Spend time away from the document; return when you are refreshed • Do not get overwhelmed • Where to begin? Try starting with the big stuff. Did the tutor or friend mention gaps in your ideas, confusing organization, or a missing introduction/conclusion? • Once you have revised for ideas, organization, and introduction/conclusion, look at the sentence-level comments.

19. Writing the Final Draft Revising on your own • Determine overall readability: Does it make sense? • Check organization of paragraphs: Do they follow the MEAL plan? • Read aloud for flow: Is there a logical thread from sentence to sentence? Is there repetition of wording or sentence structure? • Proofread

20. What It Looks Like: Writing the Final Draft

21. What It Looks Like: Writing the Final Draft Final Draft of Lincoln Paper (excerpt)

22. Reflecting on Your Writing Writing is a process and not a single event. Therefore, think beyond the one paper in front of you. What did you do effectively? What would you like to improve? Jot notes for that next paper. Possible areas of reflection: • Managing time wisely • Researching and using sources • Reading those sources critically • Organizing information • Writing complete and grammatically correct sentences

23. What It Looks Like: Reflecting on Your Writing Student’s sticky notes reflecting on the paper and his writing process

24. Then What? The process begins again (with the next paper).

25. References Golden Rule. (2011). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goldenrule Guelzo, A. (2004). Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster. Hofstadter, R. (1948). The American political tradition and the men who made it. New York, NY: Knopf. Lincoln, A. (1894). Abraham Lincoln: Complete works, comprising his speeches, letters, state papers, and miscellaneous writings. New York, NY: Century Co. Miller, W. L. (2008). The exacting legacy of a virtuous president. In P. S. Paludin (Ed.), Lincoln’s legacy (p. 28). Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. Rockler, M. (2007). Presidential decision-making: Utilitarianism vs. duty ethics. Philosophy Now. Retrieved from http://www.philosophynow.org/

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