Prewriting:

Prewriting is the first stage of the writing process, where the writer gathers and organizes ideas before
starting to draft. Effective prewriting strategies help to generate and clarify thoughts, set goals, and
establish a roadmap for the writing task ahead. Here are some prewriting strategies in detail:
1. Brainstorming: This involves generating a multitude of ideas without worrying about organization
or structure. It can be done individually or in groups. Techniques include freewriting (writing
continuously without stopping), listing, or clustering (creating a visual map of related ideas).
2. Journaling: Reflect on personal experiences, thoughts, and feelings related to the topic. Journaling
can help to generate ideas, gain insights, and explore different perspectives.
3. Questioning: Ask yourself questions about the topic to stimulate critical thinking and exploration.
Consider who, what, when, where, why, and how questions to uncover different aspects of the topic.
4. Peer Feedback: Share your ideas with peers or colleagues and solicit feedback. Peer feedback can
provide fresh perspectives, identify blind spots, and help to refine ideas before drafting.
These prewriting strategies can be used individually or in combination, depending on the writing task and
personal preferences. The goal is to generate ideas, clarify thoughts, and establish a solid foundation for
the writing process.

Drafting:
Drafting is the process of creating a preliminary version or outline of a document, such as an essay,
report, or legal contract. It involves organizing thoughts, structuring ideas, and laying out the framework
for the final product. The drafting technique typically involves a three-stage process.
1.Pre-Writing Stage:
•Brainstorming: This involves generating ideas and concepts related to the topic. It can be done through
techniques like free-writing, mind mapping, or listing.
•Research: Gathering information and data relevant to the subject matter. This could involve reading
articles, books, conducting interviews, or reviewing credible online sources.
•Thesis Formation: Developing a central argument or thesis statement that encapsulates the main point
or purpose of the document. This serves as a guiding principle throughout the drafting process.
2. Drafting Stage:
•Outlining: Creating a structured plan for the document, including an introduction, body paragraphs, and
conclusion. Outlining helps to organize thoughts and ensures coherence and logical flow.
•Writing: Putting ideas into sentences and paragraphs according to the outlined structure. During this
stage, it's important to focus on getting thoughts down on paper without worrying too much about
grammar or perfect phrasing.
•Revision as You Go: It's common to revise and refine sections of the draft as you write. This may
involve rearranging paragraphs, clarifying ideas, or adding more detail.
3. Post-Writing Stage:
•Revision: Reviewing the draft for clarity, coherence, and effectiveness. This includes checking for
logical flow, eliminating redundant or irrelevant information, and ensuring that the document meets its
intended purpose.
•Editing: Fine-tuning the draft for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and style. This stage focuses on
polishing the language to improve readability and professionalism.
•Feedback and Peer Review: Seeking input from others, such as peers, mentors, or instructors, to gain
perspective and identify areas for improvement.
•Final Draft: Producing the final version of the document based on feedback and revisions. This version
should be well-crafted, coherent, and ready for distribution or presentation.
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Description:
Definition: Descriptive writing is a form of expository writing that aims to create a vivid and detailed
picture of a person, place, object, or event for the reader.
• It uses sensory details to evoke images, emotions, and sensations in the reader's mind,
making the subject come alive.
Key Characteristics:
1. Sensory Imagery: Descriptive writing appeals to the reader's senses by vividly describing sights,
sounds, smells, tastes, and textures associated with the subject.
2. Figurative Language: It often employs similes, metaphors, personification, and other forms of
figurative language to enhance the description and create a more vivid impression.
3. Concrete Details: Descriptive writing uses specific and detailed language to paint a clear picture,
avoiding vague or abstract descriptions.
4. Organized Structure: While there is flexibility in structure, descriptive writing often follows a logical
organization, such as spatial order (describing from top to bottom, left to right), chronological order
(describing events in the order they occur), or by sensory details (describing based on the senses).
5. Emotional Impact: Effective descriptive writing not only provides physical descriptions but also
conveys the emotional significance or atmosphere associated with the subject.
Purpose:
•To transport the reader to the depicted scene, allowing them to experience it as if they were there.
•To create a strong emotional connection between the reader and the subject.
•To enhance understanding and appreciation by providing rich, sensory details.
Examples:
1.Literature: Descriptive writing is common in literature, where authors use vivid
descriptions to bring characters, settings, and events to life. For example, in "The Great Gatsby," F. Scott
Fitzgerald's detailed descriptions of parties at Gatsby's mansion immerse readers in the extravagant
atmosphere of the Jazz Age.
2.Travel Writing: Travel writers use descriptive language to capture the essence of different
destinations, conveying the sights, sounds, and experiences of places around the world. For instance, in a
travelogue about Paris, the writer might describe the bustling streets of Montmartre or the aroma of
freshly baked croissants in a local bakery.
3.Nature Writing: Nature writers often employ descriptive techniques to evoke the beauty and wonder
of the natural world. Through vivid descriptions of landscapes, flora, and fauna, they invite readers to
explore and appreciate the intricacies of the environment.
Techniques:
1.Use of Sensory Details: Incorporate descriptive language that appeals to the reader's senses, such as
vivid colors, distinctive sounds, enticing smells, tantalizing tastes, and tactile sensations.
2.Figurative Language: Employ similes, metaphors, personification, and other figures of speech to
create striking comparisons and enhance the descriptive imagery.
3.Specificity: Provide concrete and specific details rather than generalizations to paint a more detailed
picture for the reader.
4.Organizational Strategies: Choose a logical organizational structure that suits the subject matter,
whether it's spatial, chronological, or based on sensory details.
5.Emotional Language: Use language that conveys the emotional tone or atmosphere associated with the
subject to evoke an emotional response from the reader techniques.
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TYPES OF READING STRATEGIES:
Strategies differ from reader to reader
Reading strategies is the broad term used to describe the planned and explicit actions that help readers
translate print to meaning. Strategies that improve decoding and reading comprehension skills benefit
every student, but are essential for beginning readers, struggling readers, and English Language Learners.
Seven Strategies of Highly Effective Readers
Improve students' reading comprehension, look at these seven cognitive strategies of effective readers:
1) Activating
2) Inferring
3) Monitoring-Clarifying
4) Questioning
5) Searching-Selecting
6) Summarizing 7) Visualizing-Organizing
1.Activating: Priming the cognitive pump" in order to recall relevant prior knowledge and experiences
from long-term memory in order to extract and construct meaning from text.
2.Inferring: Bringing together what is spoken (written) in the text, what is unspoken (unwritten) in the
text, and what is already known by the reader in order to extract and construct meaning from the text.
3.Monitoring/Clarifying: Thinking about how and what one is reading, both during and after the act of
reading, for purposes of determining if one is comprehending the text combined with the ability to clarify
and fix up any mix-ups.
4.Questioning: Engaging- in learning dialogues with text (authors), peers, and teachers through: Self-
Questioning, Question Generation, and Question Answering
5.Searching-Selecting: Searching a variety of sources in order to select appropriate information to
answer questions, define words and terms, clarify misunderstandings, solve problems, or gather
information.
6.Summarizing: Restating the meaning of text in one's own words — different words from those used in
the original text.
7.Visualizing/Organizing: Constructing a mental image or graphic organizer for the purpose of
extracting and constructing meaning from the text.

WHAT MAKES TEXTS DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND?

Most of your reading difficulties will be caused by a problem on the list below. Of course, when two or
more of these problems happen together, your chances of understanding will be even smaller.
• the text has many unknown words
• the text has long, complicated sentences
• the text is about a topic you know nothing about
• the text is about a topic you find boring
• the text has small print, long paragraphs, no pictures
• the text has been badly written
• you are feeling tired
• you are distracted
• you don't know the important cohesion markers
• you don't know why you have Been asked to read the text
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WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE READING

Outline on how to clear up confusion.
1. Do not stop immediately but keep reading a bit.
2. Think whether it's important to understand.
3. Know that there are no easy ways to understand.
4. Study examples carefully.
5. Go slowly! Make mental images of the meanings.
6. Talk to yourself!
7. Look up important words.
8. Look at beginnings of sections.
9. Break down the puzzling passage into several parts.
10. Draw a diagram.
11. Try to figure out the overall framework.
12. Focus on the parts that you do understand.
13. Make a guess about the meaning of a puzzling part.
 EFFECTIVE AND SIMPLE READING STRATEGIES TO HELP YOU READ MORE

BEFORE READING—ASK
DURING READING—VISUALIZE
QUESTIONS
To better understand what you’re reading, it’s im-
Before you start reading a
portant to make visual representations of what is
book, you will have a basic
being discussed by:
idea of what the book is
 Picturing what…might look like
about. This allows you to ask
 Creating a mental image of a system or a
yourself 3 simple questions
before you start to read. They process working
are: This will help you remember not only what
you read and understood, but how it
 What do I already know?
looks as it is functioning.
 What more do I want to know?
 I wonder if… DURING READING—MAKE CONNECTIONS
The answers to these questions will give you a founda- A critical part of learning and understanding some-
tion to build on and something which you’re looking to
thing new is to connect it with pieces of infor-
get out of the book. This means you’re not just reading mation that you already understand. You will al-
without an objective, but instead you’re actively look-
ready know about certain parts of what you’re
ing to learn something from the book.
reading from previous texts, your own personal
experience and other people so you will be able to
DURING READING—TAKE SMALL PAUSES AND ASK add to that base.
MORE QUESTIONS
As you’re reading, you need to take small and intermit- DURING READING—TAKE GOOD NOTES
tent pauses to ensure that what you’re reading is stick- The best way to take notes during reading is:
ing. Ask yourself the following questions as you’re read-
 Look for the main ideas and focus on those
ing.
 Use words you understand
 Does this make sense?
 Make the notes as brief as possible
 How does this information connect to what I
 Use simple headings and sub headings to
already know?
organize your notes
 What does the writer say about…?
 What does the writer mean about…?  Constantly review, add and revise as neces- sary
while you continue to read
 I still need to know more about…?
By asking yourself these questions as you read, you are
AFTER READING—FIND THE MAIN IDEAS
constantly evaluating what’s being said. By looking at
You’ve completed the book, made effective notes,
what the author is explaining, as well as the meaning
took time to reflect and understand as you read
behind it, you will understand the thinking process
and asked yourself good questions as you read.
more effectively. You are also continuing to look for
Now that the book is done, you need to think
more specific information in the upcoming text.
about the important ideas in the book.
Ask yourself the following:
DURING READING—TAKE A LONGER PAUSE
AFTER A DIFFICULT SECTION  What was the most important thing you
You want to make sure you are fully understanding remember about the book?
what is being said, so when you come across a particu-  What was the main message of the book?
larly difficult part of the text, it’s important to stop and  What do the ideas in this book relate to?
do the following:  What could be the biases of this book?
 Pause and think about what was discussed  What did this book leave out
 Break the text into smaller chunks
 Look up words which you didn’t understand
 Build yourself a short summary of what you
read
 Discuss what you read with someone “Today a Reader,
These steps will make sure you have fully processed and
understood this section before you move on. Tomorrow a Leader.”
Margaret Fuller