Learning Portal - Writing : Understand the Assignment

Key term: Discuss

Definition - Write an essay or provide an answer about a particular topic.

Tip - Give a brief summary of the character(s) or idea(s) that you will be mentioning in your paper. You can do this by defining key terms or by using quick anecdotes from the piece.

Key term: Analyze

Definition - Describe any similarities, differences, or associations between two or more subjects.

Tip - Do not simply summarize the story or article in your paper. You must go beyond surface ideas and dig deep for further meaning.

Key term: Support

Definition - Provide concrete evidence as to why something is true or false.

Tip - This term directs you to show - not tell - readers why something is true or false. The important thing here is how well you can support your position on a topic, not what the actual position is.

Key term: Describe

Definition - Provide an explanation on a specific subject or object.

Tip - Imagine that your readers have no background information on your topic. Consider the point of view of the reader when you write so that your description can be clear and concise.

Key term: Evaluate

Definition - This term asks for your opinion on a particular subject.

Tip - Remember, your opinion is valid only when you are able to justify and support it with solid evidence. Be sure to look at both sides of an argument, and counter the opposing arguments.

Key term: Criticize (or critique)

Definition - This term asks for your position on a particular subject.

Tip - Do not simply critique something independent of its relationship to other parts. Instead, you should relate this idea or object to other parts of the text and explain how it helps you understand the overall meaning of the text.

Free-Write

A free-write (also know as a brain dump) can be useful if you already have some ideas about the topic or experience writer's -block. The goal of a free write is to get ideas out of your head and onto a page. 

How to do a free write:

1. Review your essay prompt or question
2. Set a timer for 5 minutes.
3. Write until the timer goes off (you may write by hand or type). Don’t worry about spelling, punctuation or logical flow. Just write. They can be questions, concerns, counter arguments, life experience that relates to the topic, anything you think of in response to the prompt.
4. When the timer goes off, STOP.
5. Look over what you’ve written. Are there distinct ideas you can extract? Highlight different ideas in different colors. Were there questions that came up that you can use to guide your research? Can you look for studies that backup your own personal experiences? Etc.

Example:

Step 1.

Prompt: Discuss the history of the table of contents, and its possible future

Step 2. Set timer for 5 min.

Step 3.

Early books did not use a table of contents. They were expected to be read cover to cover and the reader fully immersed themselves in the text. Early Bibles were the first known texts to have a table kind of table of contents directing seaders to specific chapters/sections [check]. some table of contetns were done as a diagram and this is a an interesting possibility to bring back wit the use of digital technology. Table of contents like the university of Saskatchewan tutrltel icon on IPortal is one example. Early modern period saw table of contenst that spanned half of the book, with every I subtitle and subsection indicated and sometimes also summaried. The table of contents is found at the front of books, both fiction and non fiction, and indicate to the reader where to find specific sections. They resemble an index. Hover features in the digigtal era allows new ways to show summaries in TCs, and hyperlink features make fro quick access to specific parts of a text website this can also be a use for the tc in the digital era.

Step 4. Timer goes off

*Note that there are multiple grammar errors in the example above. That’s okay. The goal is to put ideas onto the page, not to make it look nice. 

Step 5.

From the example shown above, we might then highlight ideas into groups:

Early books did not use a table of contents. They were expected to be read cover to cover and the reader fully immersed themselves in the text. Early Bibles were the first known texts to have a table kind of table of contents directing seaders to specific chapters/sections [check]. some table of contetns were done as a diagram and this is a an interesting possibility to bring back wit the use of digital technology. Table of contents like the university of Saskatchewan tutrltel icon on IPortal is one example. Early modern period saw table of contenst that spanned half of the book, with every I subtitle and subsection indicated and sometimes also summaried. The table of contents is found at the front of books, both fiction and non fiction, and indicate to the reader where to find specific sections. They resemble an index. Hover features in the digigtal era allows new ways to show summaries in TCs, and hyperlink features make fro quick access to specific parts of a text website this can also be a use for the tc in the digital era.

We might then fix spelling errors, note where more research could be done, and rearrange the ideas highlighted above. The final outline might look like the following:

TC = table of contents

What is a TC?

• Navigation tool leading reader to specific sections of a text [check article from class]
  • Associated with page numbers
• Often at front of books, both fiction and non-fiction

Pre-TC

• Books were expected to be read cover to cover
  • So no need for tools to help navigate the text
• Bibles had an early form/type of TC [find in class notes & research]

Early Table of contents

• Research: when did the first TC appear?
• Early modern period: spanned several pages
  • Examples? How many pages were considered normal?
• Included summaries
• Sometimes as diagrams [look at notes for example discussed in class]

 Future of the TC

• More diagrams vs list in digital space
  • E.g., U of S I-Portal
• Use of hyperlinks in E-books
• Hover feature for summaries or descriptions

By doing this, we now have a better idea of what we want to say in our essay, and where we can go with our ideas. We have identified areas that we want to do more research on, and we also have a rough outline of different sections for our essay.

Patterns of Organization

At the point where you are reading your assignment and making sure you understand what you are being asked to do, it is important to start to think about how you are going to organize your writing. Thinking about the different patterns of organization helps you not only to understand the expectations of the assignment, but to generate ideas as well.

Using organization patterns allows writers to clearly outline their ideas and helps readers to understand those ideas, because the patterns are recognizable and logical.

Patterns of organization include:

• Description
  • Focuses on specific features or characteristics of a topic.
• Cause and effect
  • Demonstrates what actions led to what reactions (or effects).
• Sequence
  • Follows a time sequence
• Compare and contrast
  • Examines the similarities and differences of two objects. A Venn diagram can be a useful visual to organize this type of essay
• Problem and solution
  • Outlines a problem, then proceeds to explain what solution would be best and why