ORGANIZING STRATEGIES

1. ORGANIZINGSTRATEGIES

2. Part I: Using Invention Techniques to Discover Order • We use story telling (narrative) to create frameworks of meaning in our lives. • A child remembers getting a kitten on her fifth birthday • A family cherishes stories about a grandmother from Haiti • A group of veterans recalls specific battles • A lot of story telling gets to the point of the story at the END of the story. • We’re with friends and neighbors who wait patiently while our stories are told and retold.

3. In academic writing and other kinds of public writing we announce our topic early in the essay • Our readers may be strangers. They may be: • Tired • Hurried • Or hostile • Writing for strangers requires us to think about two variables : • Purpose (What do we want to accomplish) • Audience (What will our readers expect)

4. In this workshop, we’ll look at two very different kinds of strategies to create and emphasize order. • First we are going to look at the “Big Picture” • You may have seen the following lists before, in your textbook. • Here’s the key to becoming a better scholar: • You have to get comfortable with these patterns, and make them your own. • So, let’s review. The Greek philosopher Aristotle used the word “technique” to describe a process that blends craft and art- practice and inspiration. • Whether we are asking ourselves questions, writing paragraphs, or developing speeches or essays, we can look for, and develop, the following techniques. I’m going to describe these techniques as verbs rather than nouns, because they are processes.

5. Technique and Examples • Defining What is emphysema? What is induced labor? • Analyzing Cause And Effect What are the effects of divorce on young children? What effect does metabolizing fat have on blood sugar? • Evaluating What’s the best Charlie Chaplin film? Is Paxil safe for children? • Comparing Describe similarities between George Bush and John Kerry • Contrasting Describe differences between George Bush and John Kerry • Classifying (Breaks down a group into smaller categories) How are hurricanes rated by categories? • Using Process Analysis How do you draw blood? How do you install a car stereo?

6. The following are often included as invention techniques • Providing examples Giving instances that support analysis • Providing facts Using material that can be proven true • Providing close-focus description I including sensory detail that involves readers • Providing quotations Quoting someone whose voice adds tone and flavor • Providing expert testimony Quoting someone who has special knowledge

7. Here’s the key to “owning” these and using them with comfort. • Using invention techniques is part of being human. • We’re used these same approaches since we were little kids. • Definition What’s a sneeze? • Cause and Effect Throwing food will make mom mad • Evaluation What is the babysitter like? • Comparisons Dogs have four legs and so do cows • Contrasts Cows are LOTS bigger • Classification Lets sort these crayons by color • Process analysis How can I open this cookie box?

8. Sometimes we use a number of techniques in one paper • We come back to the same question: • What do we want to say? • What do our readers want to know? • Describing a heart bypass might include definition, cause and effect, classification of the risk of the procedures, evaluation ( of resulting life quality), comparisons and contrasts to other heart procedures, and process analysis.

9. Please break up into groups of four or five students. • Choose a topic or topics you have written about in your classes, or expect you will write about. Brainstorm for ten minutes about the ways that one or more of these techniques are used, in your subject area.

10. Part II Using Ordering Strategies to Show Relationships • Ordering strategies help readers follow what we say. We often add these strategies after we’re done with invention writing. We’ve got what we need to say. Now what about that tired, hurried, or hostile reader? Emphasizing Coherence • An essay should “cohere,” or hang together as a completed work • Let’s take some brainstorming I did about my mother. I’ve used some strategies to create coherence between parts of an essay. These are good approaches when an instructor reads your essay and says, “I don’t understand how you got from this paragraph to the next.”

11. Creating Coherence • My mother moved often when she was a child. She was in foster homes from the time she was five until she turned eleven. Although she moved from home to home, she stayed in the same school district, so going to school became an important source of continuity. Neighborhood schools gave her places where she had friends and support form teachers. Although her father disapproved of education for women, she wanted desperately to go to college. Herlonging for a college degreemeant her and her father often argued. She would often stay late, studying at the library. Her father fumed angrily at her disobedience. His anger turned to action when he locked her out of the house. • 1. You see repeated keywords and phrases • 2. You see some keywords changed to synonyms (words with the same or similar meanings) • 3. You see specific nouns, or noun phrases, are used at the beginning of paragraphs. A reader can preview the “ladder” of noun phrases.

12. The fourth, often “hidden” strategy is often used in school writing. Many instructors expect this strategy, but don’t teach it. • 4. VERBS that appear in one paragraph become noun-phrases in the next: Although her father disapproved of education for women, she wanted desperately to go to college. Her longing for a college degree meant she and her father often argued. She would often stay late, studying at the library. Her father fumed angrily at her disobedience. His anger turned to action when he locked her out of the house. Tuning verb phrases to noun phrases can stress a ladder of ideas.

13. Let’s look at that verb to noun technique in another context. • See how the verb in one paragraph becomes a noun in the next paragraph? Since the police force funding was cut, some citizens patrol the streets. Citizen action is not always the answer to rising crime rates. Brain surgery was first performed in Egypt, when surgeons drilled holes through the skull to release pressure on the brain. Trepanning is not found again in medical records for centuries.

14. What should you remember from this workshop? • We’ve used invention techniques since we were children. • We can use then unconsciously or consciously. • As we study new areas, we use these techniques in new settings. • Ordering strategies to help us communicate with readers. We learn both when we’re part of LEARNING COMMUNITIES

15. My thanks to Maxine Hairston and Michael Keene, authors of Successful Writing; 5th Edition, and Rise B. Axelrod and Charles R. Cooper, authors of the St. Martins Guide to Writing, 7th edition.