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Six-Traits Writing
Introduction
Ideas and Content
Organization
Voice
Word Choice
Sentence Fluency
Conventions
Six Traits and the Writing Process
Introduction
Like riding in a car before learning to drive, we begin as
readers before we write.
When we read a strong piece of writing, we
immediately recognize that it has informed, affected,
persuaded, or moved us in some way.
Introduction
The qualities that make a text effective aren’t magical
or mysterious.
They can be easily broken down and analyzed as the
six traits of writing.
Introduction
These six elements of strong writing will help you
improve and evaluate your writing and the work of
others.
Ideas and Content
Word Choice
Organization
Sentence Fluency
Voice
Conventions
Introduction
Using Six-Traits Writing
Six-traits writing can help you analyze and understand
the strengths and weaknesses of your writing.
When you have a clear grasp of
what you do well and what you
could do better, you can improve
anything you have written.
Ideas and Content
In reviewing a great movie or book, the crucial
information is, “What’s it about?” In other words, what
idea is at the heart of the story?
Ideas and content are the
most important aspects of any
piece of writing. They convey
the message of the text,
sometimes called the thesis,
opinion, or theme.
Readers respond to strong and
engaging ideas and content in
your writing.
Ideas and Content
Identifying Main Idea and Supporting Details
The main idea is the focus of any piece of writing,
whether it’s a paragraph, a paper, or an entire book.
In persuasive writing, the main idea is expressed
through opinion.
In narrative texts, the main idea is typically expressed
through theme.
A main idea may be stated directly as a thesis
statement, or it may be implied as a theme through
the use of details in the text.
Ideas and Content
Supporting Details
Supporting details make connections for your
readers to make your writing credible, interesting, and
memorable.
Opinion: Parents should share responsibility when their
children break the law.
Supporting detail: Studies have shown that this creates
accountability at home and in the community.
Theme: It was the dawn of a perfect summer day.
Supporting details: The wind blowing in from the water
carried the laughing voices of the surfers already
paddling out to sea.
Ideas and Content
Selecting a Purpose
What is your intent, or purpose, as a writer?
to inform
to persuade
to entertain
to emotionally move
The type of writing you produce should match your
purpose—to tell a story, to share memories or
experiences, or to convince someone to believe
something.
Ideas and Content
Audience
When you see a movie trailer, you can often tell who
the movie is aimed at—in other words, its audience.
Writers also have an intended audience.
As you write, think about who the ideal reader would be
for your text. Tailor your writing to that person.
Ideas and Content
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate the
ideas and content in your writing.
 My topic is clearly focused.
 My ideas are original, interesting, and creative.
 I have drawn from personal experience or
knowledge.
 My key details are insightful and well-chosen.
 The development of my topic is thorough and
logical.
 My supporting details are accurate and relevant.
Organization
Organization is the way you choose to put your
writing together. It is the underlying structure that
gives your writing shape, definition, and power.
Without it, your ideas will lie in a heap on the page.
Organization
Chronological
If you are telling a story or want to show cause and
effect, the most common organizational pattern is
chronological, or according to time.
I stayed up until the middle of the night, studying for
exams. However, by the next morning, it was obvious
that my plan had backfired and I was going to be too
tired to do well.
By using time-related words that give
context to events, you can lead your
reader through a process or experience.
Organization
Spatial Organization
Visual or descriptive writing relies on a clear sense of
how details relate to one another in three-dimensional
space—spatial organization.
Jana’s bedroom was a wreck, from the
door at one end to the window at the
other. Along one wall clean and dirty
clothes piled up unfolded, and beneath
her bed all of her shoes congregated
in a mismatched heap.
Organization
Order of Importance
To inform or persuade, you may want to start with
your strongest or most important point. This mode of
organization is called order of importance.
The theme of The Great Gatsby is that trying
to be someone you are not can only end in
unhappiness. The more Jay Gatsby attempts
to reinvent himself to win the love of Daisy
Buchanan, the more his life spirals
dangerously out of control.
Organization
Logical
Logical organization defines, classifies, or divides a
topic into parts. For example, to write about related
ideas, you may want to compare and contrast certain
elements of your topic.
Both William Shakespeare and
Christopher Marlowe wrote tragic
plays in blank verse. However, only
Shakespeare used the form to write
comedies.
Organization
Mixed
You must decide which type of organization best suits
what you want to to say. You may choose to combine
several organization strategies in a mixed order.
For example, you may begin with order of
importance to emphasize your main idea, and move
on to logical or chronological format,
or you may want to
combine spatial and
chronological to tell a
compelling narrative
story.
Organization
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate your
own writing with organization in mind:
 My text employs a logical sequence of ideas.
 My introduction grabs the reader’s attention.
 My pacing is carefully controlled.
 My transitions make clear connections between ideas.
 My organizational structure is appropriate to my
purpose and audience.
 My title sums up the central idea in a fresh and
thoughtful way.
Voice
Voice is the unique sound and rhythm of a writer’s
language.
Sometimes you know from the very first sentence when
you’re reading the work of a certain writer. The way the
words flow together make the text unmistakably Toni
Morrison or Kurt Vonnegut.
Words on a page come from a real
person, with a distinct style,
background, and point of view.
This is the writer’s voice.
Voice
Read the following passage and consider the voice of
the writer.
I was a very smart child at the age of
thirteen—an unusually smart child, I
thought at the time. It was then that I
did my first newspaper scribbling, and
most unexpectedly to me it stirred up a
fine sensation in the community. It did,
indeed, and I was very proud of it, too.
Voice
Was this passage written by the same writer? How
can you tell?
Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life,
or whether that station will be held by anybody else,
these pages must show. To begin my life with the
beginning of my life, I record that I was born (as I have
been informed and believe) on a Friday, at twelve
o'clock at night. It was remarked that the clock began
to strike, and I began to cry, simultaneously.
The first excerpt was written by American satirist
Mark Twain. The second is from English novelist
Charles Dickens.
Voice
You can develop your writing voice by making careful,
considered choices about:
 Tone—conveys your attitude toward your subject
 Word choice—allows you to define your point of view
 Style—may include formal or informal language,
distinctive dialogue, and a first- or third-person point
of view
 Sentence length—short sentences “sound” distinct
from longer ones
 Paragraph structure—creates rhythm and flow in
your writing
Voice
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate your
own writing with voice in mind:
 The tone of my writing is appropriate for the
purpose and the audience of the text.
 The reader is aware of and feels connected to the
real person behind the text.
 My expository or persuasive writing shows a strong
connection to the topic and explains why my
readers should care.
 My narrative point of view is sincere, interesting,
and compelling.
Word Choice
Word choice is an important way to define yourself as
a writer.
Using words effectively and choosing words that convey
the exact meaning you intend is a hallmark of
successful writing.
Word Choice
The meaning of a word is not limited to what it says in
the dictionary. Awareness of connotation and
denotation will help you sharpen your language.
Denotation is a word’s literal definition.
One definition for the word “new” is young. This
carries strongly positive connotations. That is why many
advertisers present their products as “new.”
Connotation is the emotions or associations it suggests.
The word “immature” also means young, but its
connotations are much more negative. You would never
see an advertisement for an “immature” product.
Word Choice
Jargon is formal, specialized vocabulary.
In computer programming, open source refers to a type
of software that anyone can use or modify.
A cliché is a tired, overused expression.
more fun than a barrel of monkeys, picture perfect,
smooth as silk, a breath of fresh air
While you should avoid jargon and clichés, careful use
of idioms—figurative expressions that cannot be
understood literally—can make a text more engaging.
bite the bullet, let the cat out of the bag, drive it into
the ground, a heart-to-heart talk
Word Choice
Loaded language refers to words or phrases that have
strong positive or negative connotations and
emotional appeal. They are frequently used in
persuasive writing.
Southern charm
American heartland
small-town way of life
freedom fighter
What is the literal meaning of each of the phrases
above? What loaded or emotional content does each
also carry?
Word Choice
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate your
own writing with word choice in mind:
 All my words are specific and appropriate.
 My language is natural, never overdone. Clichés and
jargon are used rarely, if at all.
 My text contains energetic verbs; precise nouns
and modifiers provide clarity.
 My key details are insightful and well-chosen.
 I use vivid words and phrases, including sensory
detail.
Sentence Fluency
Sentence construction is another building block in your
writing style. Varied sentence length, clear transitions,
and a compelling rhythm show strong sentence
fluency.
When sentence fluency is
absent or inconsistent, your
writing will falter.
Common problems that may
confuse or interrupt readers
include fragments, run-ons,
choppy or wordy sentences,
and poor transitions.
Sentence Fluency
Avoiding fragments and run-ons
A sentence fragment looks like a sentence, but it
lacks one or more of the essential ingredients.
No subject: Feels searing heat.
No verb: Keisha’s brand new bike last night.
A run-on sentence strings multiple sentences
together in a grammatically incorrect way that confuses
readers.
Armando got back into his car and he looked for his lost
glasses but he didn’t find them.
Sentence Fluency
Stringy sentences
Avoid stringy sentences in your writing.
The civil rights movement brought about a
great deal of change in American culture and
had a major impact on our laws and the
daily lives of millions of people while
elevating figures such as Dr. Martin Luther
King, Jr. to international prominence.
Can you tell what the most important
idea is in the sentence above? If not,
that’s because it has too many ideas
strung together with conjunctions.
Sentence Fluency
Choppy or wordy sentences
Choppy sentences are extremely short, and wordy
sentences are often too long.
Choppy: I claimed the title. Everyone gathered around.
It was exhilarating. The press took my picture.
Wordy: It was only after stopping to rest for a short
time that I realized to my regret that my victory was
nowhere near as complete as I had hoped it would be.
Too many choppy or wordy sentences will disrupt the
flow of your writing. Save them for emphasis and
rhythm.
Sentence Fluency
Making transitions
Transition words and phrases guide readers
through your writing by connecting sentences and
ideas.
Transitions also provide clues to the organization of
your writing. This is another way they make your
writing flow smoothly.
Chronological: before, after, since, when
Cause-and-Effect: because, therefore, so, since
Order of Importance: mainly, most importantly, then
Comparison/Contrast: however, on the other hand
Sentence Fluency
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate your
own writing with sentence fluency in mind:
 I construct sentences so that the meaning is clear to
the reader.
 My sentences vary in length and structure.
 I use varied sentence beginnings for interest and
clarity.
 My writing has a steady rhythm.
 My dialogue, when I use it, is natural.
 I use thoughtful transitions between sentences to
show how my ideas work together.
Conventions
Rules are an important part of any group endeavor.
In writing, conventions are the agreed-upon rules
that govern grammar and usage, punctuation,
capitalization, and spelling.
When we all agree on the rules of language and
writing, we can more easily communicate.
Conventions
Paragraphing
Paragraphs help readers understand how ideas relate
and where your writing introduces a new idea or
presents a conclusion.
Paragraphs should:
begin with an indentation
be clearly focused on one main idea
break in a logical place
Conventions
Grammar and usage
Are all of your sentences really sentences? Do they
follow the rules of grammar and usage by having
both a verb and a subject as well as correct
capitalization and punctuation?
To check your writing, ask these questions about your
grammar and usage.
 Do my sentences have a subject and a verb?
 Do the verb and subject in each sentence agree?
 Do I use the correct forms of verbs and pronouns?
 Have I used any double negatives? How should I
correct them?
Conventions
Punctuation and capitalization
We may take universally agreed-upon spelling and
punctuation for granted, but it wasn’t always in use.
This is from the 1623 publication of Romeo and Juliet.
But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?
It is the East, and Iuliet is the Sunne,
Arise faire Sun and kill the enuious Moone,
Who is already sicke and pale with griefe,
Follow the contemporary conventions of
punctuation, capitalization, and spelling to
help your readers understand what is going
on in your writing.
Conventions
In your writing
Use the following checklist to help you evaluate your
own writing with conventions in mind:
 My paragraphing is regular and organized.
 My grammar and usage are correct and add clarity.
 My punctuation is accurate.
 I understand capitalization and use it correctly.
 I have spelled difficult words and proper nouns
correctly.
 My writing is long and complex enough to demonstrate
my mastery of conventions.
Six-Traits and the Writing Process
These six traits are not a substitute for the writing
process. You can integrate your understanding of the
six traits throughout the writing process, using them as
a roadmap for strong and effective writing.
Six-Traits and the Writing Process
Prewriting is the first step in the writing process. To
integrate the six traits, you can
explore ideas and choose a
topic (Ideas and Content)
develop a thesis statement or
main idea (Organization)
think about audience,
purpose, and tone (Voice)
Six-Traits and the Writing Process
Writing using the six traits will lead you to
develop sentences and paragraphs that explain and
elaborate on your ideas (Ideas and Content)
create an effective introduction (Organization)
include clues that make the audience aware of your
purpose in writing the piece (Voice)
use language effectively to say exactly what you want
(Word Choice)
build effective transitions between sentences and
connect ideas (Sentence Fluency)
Six-Traits and the Writing Process
Revising and editing with the six traits in mind will
help you
evaluate and revise your content (Ideas and Content)
evaluate and revise your organization (Organization)
refine the style of your writing so that it suits your
audience and conveys your voice (Voice)
evaluate and revise the style of your writing to
eliminate weak or unnecessary words (Word Choice)
examine your sentence construction for clarity and
variety (Sentence Fluency)
Six-Traits and the Writing Process
Proofreading and correcting with the six traits to
guide you means you can
reflect on the completed piece (Ideas and Content)
identify and correct errors in sentence construction
(Sentence Fluency)
proofread the piece to catch errors in spelling,
punctuation, and capitalization (Conventions)
publish the piece for its intended audience (Voice)
Successfully integrating the six traits into your writing
process will allow you to produce clear, strong writing
that achieves its intended goals.
The End