Post #13: Brainstorming, Generating, and Structuring Content

Your final essay will be more varied and idiosyncratic than our academic analysis.  In other words, instead of following a rigid structure of introduction (with hook, context, and thesis), body paragraphs (with topic sentences and integration of research), and conclusion, you will be freer to follow your own path.  This can be both exhilarating and a bit frightening.  Where should I begin?  What should I write about?  How am I going to write four pages on the topic of getting/being lost? 

One way of brainstorming and structuring information is to use the rhetorical modes, which are methods for presenting information.  The nine rhetorical modes are as follows: definition, description, exemplification, narration, cause/effect, compare/contrast, division/classification, process analysis, and argument. 

Definition refers to the essential qualities or details that comprise a thing or idea.  For this essay, you may choose to define "loss" or "lost."  This definition alone could comprise anywhere from one sentence to a few pages.  Most students immediately turn to a dictionary for definitions and then just quote from Webster's; however, the most effective definitions are the ones you come up with on your own.  Feel free to use a dictionary to help you shape your definition (and even quote from one if you'd like), but be sure that the heart of your definition (and its explanation) comes from you.

Description refers to details associated with the object or idea.  These details can be literal, sensory details (how a thing looks, sounds, feels, smells, and tastes) or can be rhetorical, figurative comparisons (using a metaphor or simile).  For this essay, you could describe what being lost feels like (using the first-person "I" or second-person "you") or what a person who is lost looks like (using the third-person "he" or "she").

Exemplification refers to giving examples that illustrate your idea or claim.  For this essay, you could give examples of times you've been lost or historical examples of famous people who have been lost (such as Amelia Earnhardt or Christopher Columbus).

Narration refers to using a story to illustrate an idea or claim.  All stories require three components: characters, setting, and plot.  For this essay, you could narrate a time you were lost (or found), a time you lost something, or a time you were lost in a moment.  For narrative to be effective, remember, there must be a clearly developed plot, setting, and characters.

Cause/Effect refers to an explanation or exploration of causal relationships.  For this essay, you could explore what leads a person to become lost (or found), or you could discuss the effects of being lost (or found).

Compare/Contrast refers to an explanation or exploration of the similarities and/or differences between objects or ideas.  For this essay, you could compare/contrast different times you were lost, or you could compare/contrast different ways of being lost.

Division/Classification refers to an explanation or exploration of the various types or categories of an object or idea.  For this essay, you could divide and classify the different types of being lost, the different methods of being found, or the various types of loss.

Process Analysis refers to an explanation or exploration of the steps involved in a process.  For this essay, you could analyze the steps involved in getting lost (or found).

Argument refers to presenting a claim that you then develop through logical reasoning and evidence.  For this essay, you could argue that being lost is an essential component of being human.

These examples are but a few of the possible ideas you could explore with these rhetorical modes; for example, there are many more arguments you could make regarding the idea of being lost.  A successful essay does not have to use each and every one of these rhetorical modes, but a successful essay will develop the rhetorical modes it does use with specific detail and effective exploration.  

For this blog post, list which rhetorical modes you plan on using for your essay (and you can always change your mind later), and provide a brief explanation of how you will use those modes.

Post #12: How to Find Yourself

Now that you've transcribed directions to lose yourself, it's time to get found . . .

Read "Four Ways to Find Yourself," and post one original method you use to find yourself when you get lost.

Post #11: How to Get Lost

The Flaneur Society's Guide to Getting Lost provides three options on how to lose oneself in San Francisco.  For this entry, provide a 10-step set of instructions to help someone "get lost" (interpret that phrase however you'd like) in Bakersfield, starting at CSUB.

The only qualifier is that you can't repeat a step someone else has already written.  Have fun!

E.B. White's Loss of a Pig

The author of both Charlotte's Web and The Elements of Style, E.B. White's writing exemplifies clear, concise, well-written prose.

For this entry, read his essay "Death of a Pig," and find one sentence you feel is especially well-written.  Then write a short explanation of your choice.

For example, I enjoy his sentence "I went back up to the house and to bed, and cried internally - deep hemorrhagic intears" (from the second paragraph of the fourth section) because of the irony of crying "internally," as though he were ashamed to show his tears, and because the phrase "deep hemorrhagic intears" is an effective echo of the pig's own affliction, from the "deep hemorrhagic infarcts."  Thus, this sentence uses humor to distance himself from the pig's death while at the same time using parallel language to illustrate a similarity between himself and the pig.

Post # 9: Using Sources in a Personal Essay

The academic research paper is not the only form of writing that uses research.  Personal essays also use research to set a tone or provide background information.

For an effective example of this, read Molly Minturn's "Knight of the Swan," and notice how she incorporates material from conversations/interviews along with an article from Discover Magazine, a fairy tale, and song out of pop culture. 

For your blog post, explain (in a few sentences) how one of these references/sources contributes to the overall theme of Minturn's essay.