Wednesday, September 10, 2014

03 Brainstorming // Due the week of Sept. 18, 2016

Hi Everyone!

As we discussed this week, a big part of writing your ideas and opinions is coming up with your ideas in the first place! Therefore, writers have several techniques for "brainstorming" ideas. We went over 3 of those ideas in class:



  • Clustering/Brain-Webbing/Mind-Mapping:

    • Using bubbles on paper to brainstorm. First write the main topic/question/opinion on the paper and put it in a bubble. Then connect bubbles with sub points to the main bubble. Then break those sub points into more sub points. Look at the examples below to get the idea:

    • Be sure to have at least 12 bubbles written on your cluster for homework!
  • Listing
    • Put the main point on a line at the top of your page. Then, put sub points as bullet-points below that main point. Then break the sub points into connected sub points below each sub point. It's like clustering, but more organized. Look at the example below:
      • Cats are the best animal because
        • Cats are clean
          • They use a litter box
          • They clean themselves
        • Cats are sweet
          • They nuzzle you
          • They sleep with you
        • Cats are useful
          • They catch and kill pests 
            • Mice, rats, etc
          • They provide companionship
    • Be sure to have at least 12 sub points in your list for your homework!
  • Free-writing
    • Sit down and spend 6-9 minutes writing about your topic. Don't worry about grammar, organization, or spelling yet—just put pencil to paper and go for it. 
    • Once the time is up, underline main points you think are good and cross out main points that may not be that strong or relevant.
    • Be sure to write at least 1/2 of a page for your homework!

Homework:
  • On Google Drive, in your Handouts folder, there is a document titled "Persuasive Writing Prompts." This handout has dozens of different topics from which to choose! Choose 6 of the topics and brainstorm about each, making sure to use each of the three methods at least twice! 
  • Each topic should take about 6-9 minutes of brainstorming. If you want more practice, feel free to complete more brainstorms for more topics!
  • For this homework, you may turn it in via paper next week, since these methods are difficult to complete via computer.
  • You do not need to actually write an essay for each prompt—just do the brainstorming method.