Reduce an article: Prewriting techniques

Pre-Writing Strategies: Four Pre-Writing Objectives to Consider
By Rita Gergi

Pre-writing does not consist of a single method. In fact, pre-writing involves several techniques that can help you plan and write a far better paper than if you simply dive right in. Most people find that some prewriting strategies work better for them than others. Bubbling, like free-writing, is a great technique when you have not yet developed a clear idea of where you are going with your topic.

Determining one's audience is the most critical part of prewriting. All the other techniques depend on who the audience is. The audience is the one thing that is pre-determined and not in your control. To do this I would use the prewriting technique "Answering the Reporter's Questions; who, what, when, where, why, and how." Once these are answered, the writer can start to build on the other four prewriting objectives:

1. Examine your purposes
2. Determine your goals
3. Gather your data
4. Determine how the content will be provided

By identifying the audience first you can make sure you gather the correct information more quickly and easily. You can focus on gathering data and performing research that is pertinent to the audience. In this manner, you do not waste time gathering data that you will not use. If your audience is high-tech, you will not need to define everything, but you will have to do it for a lay audience.

Selecting the audience helps to determine whether the data collected has any value. The determined goals are another consideration while evaluating the data. Determining how the content will be provided would follow the other steps. The writing process and each of the steps builds on one another. In order to retain the integrity and foundation of the goal and purpose of the document all steps should be completed and are equally important. (302 words)

Source:

http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rita_Gergi

Summary:
The prewriting stage can help you write a better paper that if you write it instantly. Determining your audience is the most important part of the prewriting stage since it is not in your control. To do this you can use the “asking questions” technique (who, what, when, where why and how). Once these are answered, the writer can focus on the other prewriting objectives, which are: examine your purposes, establish your goals, gather your data, and decide how the content will be provided. After determining the audience, you can make sure of gathering the pertinent data for your audience, taking into account the set goals. Besides, selecting the audience helps to define the value of the collected data and the organization of the content. Concisely, all steps should be completed to maintain the integrity and the purpose of the text. (141 words)

Wordy sentences: Guided practice

Adam Smith, founder of modern economics, proposed a controversial idea in the eighteen century. This British economist, born in Scotland and educated in England wrote the first complete political economy study. The wealth of Nations was published in 1776, the year of American independende from England. Smith's book directed attention to the interpendence of freedom, economic processes, and free trade laws. Although his thinking did not affect economic policies during his lifetime, its influence in the next century was considerable. "The invisible hand" and "laissez faire" are synonymous with Smith's name. History has made Smith's ideas more controversial. Say "Adam Smith" to conservative businesspeople, and they will smile and respond like "He was a good man - understood how business works!" Say it to liberal reformers, and they will grimace like "He was evil- sold the average citizen down the river". These reactions are extreme, but such responses indicate that the controversy aroused by Smith's ideas is still alive.

Exercises of sentence reducing strategies

Smart Houses

Schenker’s article “Smart House”, in Speak up 169, states that in the future, due technology, networked houses will make people’s life easy and comfortable. The electronic devices will be connected to internet and will have special chips to control activities like housework, communications, shopping, bills or people’s social life. The disadvantages of having a networked home are not significant. People will have to pay some extra dollars for extra chips, the internet connection and the security measures to protect the system against cyber pirating. People will not pay for maintenance since the services will repair themselves. She concludes that money people can spend will not mean much considering all the benefits of smart houses. (114 words)

The Influence of Teacher Commentary on Student Revision

This study inspect over 1,600 marginal and end comments written on 110 first drafts of essays by 47 university ESL advanced students, considering pragmatic goals and the linguistic features of each comment. Then, drafts of each essay were examined to observe the influence of the first draft commentary on the students’ revisions and assess whether the made changes regarding the teacher’s feedback actually improved the essays. Many of the comments led to substantive student revision, and there were types of commentary that were more helpful than others. The final results suggest several important implications for L2 writing instruction and for future studies on a vital but neglected topic. (108 words)