English 1A

Process Essay

3-5 pages (900-1500 words)

Purpose: To respond to the material from Module 2, to practice the steps in the writing process, to practice the conventions of reflective and process essays, to create a polished academic essay in MLA format. 

Introduction: 
In the Lamott essay, she details her approach to the writing process.  It's a painful thing for her, but in the end she decides it's worth it because, in her own words, her choices are to write or die. Consider a time in your own life, past or present, when you went through a process of your own.

Possible topics (you are, of course, free to choose your own)
Taking a voyage
A life changing event
Acheiving a goal
Taking up a practice
Deciding on a career
Confronting a challenge
Mastering a skill
Creating something

Note: You don't have to write about yourself if you don't want to. You can write about another process that interests you and that you know enough about to write about.

Tips:

• Think about your main idea. What was/is the ultimate result of this process that you went through/are still going through/go through routinely? Did it change you in some way, or teach you something about yourself?
• Think about your audience. Who would benefit from hearing about this process? What is the best way to get them engaged and interested?  How will you capture and keep their attention?  What do you want to say to them?
• Be as detailed as possible, no matter what approach you take. Consider the physical, emotional, social, creative, intellectual and psychological aspects of your process. By the end of the essay, your audience should understand what it's like to go through the process.

Directions:
1. Read the material for Module 2.

2. Review your response to Journal #2 to generate ideas.

3. Organize your ideas. Your essay should include a thesis (main idea) that describes your general approach to writing. The rest of the essay will include evidence (details, examples and description) that will help develop and support that main idea. There are several ways to organize your ideas. You can write this as a how-to guide, or you can take a more narrative approach. You may have a whole other idea about how to organize. The important thing is that you have a clear thesis, and that all your evidence works to support that thesis.

4.  Write a draft. 

5. Revise your draft.  Look for areas where you could include more detailed evidence.  Look for areas where you get off track a bit, and either delete those areas, or find a way to link them to your main idea. Ferret out grammar errors, particularly sentence level errors like fragments, run ons and comma splices. (See your Hacker book for more information about these common types of errors.)  Make sure your essay sports proper MLA format - see the Hacker book, or the Module 1 reading for review. 

6.  Save your work as a .doc or .rtf document and submit.

7. Relax with your favorite beverage. Congratulations on the completion of your first essay!