Grammar, vocabulary, style, writing with Kevin Le

Brainstorming

2007-03-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

The other day, my younger cousin needed help writing a persuasive essay, but she didn't know how or where to start.

Sometimes you think you know what you want to write about, but it just doesn't come out on paper (or on your computer screen these days) or it comes out all jumbled and your readers can't make any sense of what you're trying to say!

So how do you get past this so called "writers' block?" My answer is brainstorming.

There are lots of ways to brainstorm your ideas. The goal of it is to get you writing, and in the process, organize those ideas. Here is what I do when I brainstorm:

Jot down examples and words about the topic.

You're stuck right? But if you jot down your thoughts, it gets your motor running.

You may or may not use all of your ideas, but at least you have them written down to look at.

Who knows? The ideas you wrote down may spark other ideas.

Make note of things you need to research more about.

Save key words you may want to use in your essay.

For example, if you're writing about diversity, you might jot down the words "one-sided view," "mosaic," or "melting pot."
When you're writing, it's easier to refer to some of the words because you have them written down.

Do some research.

Go online.

The Internet has so much information. Why not use it to get some?
Make sure your information is from a credible source.
Facts from some one's personal website from geocities.com may not be reliable as facts from Scientific American.

Read some books. (Go to the library/bookstore.)

You can't trust all information on the Internet. At least books have been read and reviewed (hopefully, by a good reviewer).

See what other people have to say about your topic.

Get both sides of the argument.
Maybe you'll want to switch sides.

Organize and group those ideas into main topics for body paragraphs.

Look at all your research.

For persuasive essays, pick a stance.

It's hard to write a persuasive essay if you don't have anything to persuade.
If you can't pick a side based on the facts, pick one that you think will be easier to write.
If later on, you find out that it wasn't a good or easy stance to argue, you can always change it and still use what you wrote about the opposing side. Just change the intention of why you're writing it.

Come up with a thesis sentence.

This is the main purpose of your essay.
Incorporate your stance and main topics for your body paragraphs.

Don't erase every thing you don't need.

Leave the words that aren't being used in case you can use them later when you write the essay.

Well, I hope that gets your ball rolling. Feel free to give your own brainstorming techniques in the comments.

Add dictionary.com & thesaurus.com to Firefox search bar

2007-03-16T14:06:00.000-07:00

Why do we need a dictionary when we have wireless?
Originally uploaded by ElektraCute.

A dictionary and thesaurus are two of the most powerful tools you use when writing.

This should make it easier for you to access them:
http://heykevinle.blogspot.com/2007/03/firefox-search-engines.html

Affect vs. Effect

2007-03-15T17:31:00.000-07:00

Cause and Effect
Originally uploaded by pixthree.

Word	Usage	Context	Meaning	Examples
affect	verb "af-FECT"	Common	To have an influence on	Pollution affects everyone.
affect	noun "AF-fect"	Used by psychiatrists and psychologists	Feeling or emotion	He had a weird affect.
effect	noun	Common	The result of an action	Cause and effect. That movie used cool special effects.
effect	verb	Less common	To create	Let's effect some change.

Hints

None. Memorize these rules!

Expository Essay Outline

2007-03-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

It's the Essay Cat
Originally uploaded by Alexander Somma.

Introduction

Attention getter

Get the reader's attention. Examples:

Quotation
Anecdote
Stunning fact

Explain how it relates to your thesis sentence

Background

Pertinent information on your topic and/or thesis
Should be more than one sentence

Thesis sentence

The first thing you should write
Sentence that describes the main point of your essay
List the 3 main arguments used in your 3 body paragraphs

Body paragraph 1

Topic sentence

Introduce the main argument of this paragraph while relating it to the thesis

Example 1

Introduce
Give the example
Explanation of how this example relates to the thesis or topic sentence

Example 2

Transition and introduce

Same steps as example 1

Example 3

Same steps as example 2

Closing sentence

Summarize the paragraph and relate it to the thesis

Body paragraph 2

Transition and topic sentence

Same as body paragraph 1 for the rest

Body paragraph 3

Transition and topic sentence

Same as body paragraph 1 for the rest

Conclusion

Summarize your main points while relating them to your thesis
Give future work that may need to be done
Extend your thesis into other areas

They're vs. Their vs. There

2007-03-14T09:37:00.000-07:00

Word	Description	Examples
they're	Contraction of "they are"	They're ready.
their	Possessive pronoun like "his" or "her" but for more than one person	Cobey is their dog.
there	A place or point	Right there! It is over there. There it is.

Hints

"There" has the word "here" embedded in it, which should remind you of a location.
Mentally replace "they're" with "they are" and see if it makes sense.

"5 Common Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb"

2007-03-05T14:13:00.000-08:00

Link: 5 Common Mistakes That Make You Look Dumb

Excessive Adverbs

2007-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

Union Park cares about adverbs!
Originally uploaded by rutabegabunny.

I just read an article on excessive use of adverbs. I can't say I haven't been a victim of adverbs, but I will start using them less now.

Here's the article I read: Those "ly" Ending Adverbs

Summary: You should use a more descriptive verb instead of an adverb/verb combination. Be sure to read some examples in the mentioned article.