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.
I plan on doing my paper on an experience where I have endured a type of loss that has caused me to feel lost.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetorical modes I will be using are:
Definition: defining both loss and lost based on my own perception of these and I might incorporate the dictionary.
Description: The types of senses involved in experiencing these two, how it feels to loss something/someone and how it feels to be lost and use a metaphor or simile.
Narration: I plan on talking about my story and experience of the loss and feeling lost. ( I'm still debating because it might be too personal and fresh for me to share)
Compare/Contrast: The different ways one can feel a loss and the different kinds of loss and the ways being lost can be similar or different, this might and can go into classification.
I might not use all of these but I wanted to brainstorm most of my ideas on this blog and this is what I have so far.
-Maria Zamarripa
Nice work, Maria ! Now you just need to think in terms of the order in which you'll use these modes. What do you want your overall essay structure to be? A story (using narration)? Compare and Contrast or Division Classification (where you use the other modes to help explain each type of loss)? Definition (where you use the other modes to help define key aspects of loss)? You have many options, and the key is to be deliberate in your choice; this will ensure your essay is coherent as a whole and will make the process of writing the essay much easier.
DeleteFirst I would define the word “lost” then I would both compare and contrast different ways of being lost or what leads a person to become lost. I would use personal experiences of what causes me to get lost and also quote from others who have been lost as well.
ReplyDelete-Faviola G.
This sounds great, Faviola! I would recommend you adjust your structure just a bit and switch the order of your last two modes: give examples/quotes from others before you detail your own personal experience. In an essay like this, ending with your personal experience will enable your essay to finish on personal insight/epiphany, which should make your essay fantastic.
DeleteThe rhetorical modes I plan to use are: Narration, cause and effect, and exemplification. My personal story will describe what it is like to be lost or lose something. When I tell personal stories, I have a better understanding of what I want to say.
ReplyDeleteNice work, Elsa! Now you'll just want to plan how you'll turn these modes into an essay. It sounds like you want the overall structure to be narration. Are you planning on telling one story or multiple stories? Either answer is fine, but you'll want to choose before you begin writing.
DeleteI’m going to write my paper about how I feel lost when I make decisions on what career path to follow.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetorical modes I am going to use in my paper are:
Definition: I will define what lost means to me and how it is related to the lost I experienced.
Description: I will describe in detail my experience of being lost.
Exemplification: I will use my experience as an example of lost
Cause/ effect: There will be a paragraph describing what caused me to get lost and then another paragraph describing how it affected me at the time and how it is still affecting me.
Intro: Quote
define lost. Explain the various types of lost and how each person has unique journey’s that leads them to become lost.
How lost can change a person’s personality/views/ demeanor.
Thesis
Body paragraph 1: the journey it took for me to become lost.
Body paragraph 2: The effects of being lost (emotionally, views, personality, etc)
Conclusion: sum up points and restate thesis
Sounds great, Christina! However, don't worry about this paper having a thesis statement. Formal, academic essays need thesis statements (as do argumentative essays), but a personal essay is much freer and more flexible. Don't think that you have to narrow your life down to a thesis statement . . .
DeleteIn my paper I am going to use narration, description, and cause and effect. I would use personal experiences describing my experience in losing something. How it feels to loss something. How it affected me at the time.
ReplyDeleteDiana C Montoya
Diana, this sounds good, but what is the "something"?
DeleteI plan on talking about the different ways of losing someone including, how people feel about it, how they react to the situation, what they think. I have two specific types in mind, I want to talk about is losing a loved one (like experiencing death) vs. losing a friend (as in ending a friendship). However I want to add one more thing but I’m still thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteDefinition: I want to give the different meanings of loss and incorporate it in my introduction.
Description: I want to talk about the way people feel about the different types of losses.
Exemplification: I want to give an example of a personal experience in losing a love one and losing a friend.
Cause/effect: I want to illustrate the causes and effects losing a friend or a love one has on people
Compare/contrast: I want to compare and contrast the two types of loss.
Ruby Montes
Ruby, this sounds great ! Which rhetorical mode will be the primary one for this essay? In other words, what will be this essay's spine? The definition? The compare/contrast? It doesn't matter which one you choose, but you should choose one as the ultimate form for your essay.
DeleteThank you I appreciate the feedback.
DeleteRuby Montes
For my personal essay, I will be addressing a topic very, well, personal to me. I will be discussing my own experience and battle with mental illness that has continuously left me feeling lost and how getting lost in other things helped me cope with my illness. I will be using various modes of rhetoric to accomplish this task. I will be using definition and description to describe my version of being lost within myself. Exemplification and narrative will be used as well, as I give personal examples and recall past events. I will also be using classification to define how I was lost and how I got lost in other things to try to heal myself.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetorical modes I plan on using in my essay are definition, description, process analysis, and cause/effect. I want to define what getting lost is and the different kinds of being lost. I am thinking of writing my essay feeling of being lost and the loss that is associated with failure. I will be using some examples from my personal life and situations that I have faced that made me feel at a loss. Losing friends of family is the most familiar and easily associated with loss, but the loss of a dream and confidence can be just as bad.
ReplyDeleteI have some ideas of what I would want to base my essay. What I want to use is narration but at the same time cause/effect, definition, and my personal experience. I want to focus on writing about how some persons lose themselves or who they are when in relationships or even friendships. It seems some what complicated, but I feel it is a topic some can relate or have experienced.
ReplyDeleteMany ask themselves what does being lost mean? Is it not finding yourself, or not being able to find a place you are looking for such as a store, street or nightclub. How about the definition of having a loss? What terms can be used to define this word? Is it losing someone from cancer or losing someone in a car accident? These words can have hundreds of definitions but what they mean to you can be distinct. In my essay I plan to use the definition “loss” because I plan in using my personal story of losing someone close to me and what that that person meant in my life. My overall essay maybe structured based on narrative format but still thinking of adding other elements as well.
ReplyDeleteFor my final essay, I think I will focus on my blog post #11 and #12. I may choose to briefly mention how one can get lost and then I’ll tie that into my blog post #12 of how I personally got lost/found as I liked the direction I was going at that time of writing the post. The rhetorical modes that I may focus on are description, narration, cause/effect, Argument. For the description I would focus on how I felt when I was lost throughout the whole process. On narration I am not yet sure of using that because I tend to choose how I’m going approach the paper when I start writing. I would tie my experience with cause/effect and discuss the effects of being lost and that would lead me into argument as getting lost/found is part of a learning process.
ReplyDeleteI plan to use definition to define lost. I am working on writing my own definition.
ReplyDeleteExemplification- I will give examples that support my definition about being lost.
Division/Classification- I will write about different ways of being lost.
Laura Gudino
Finding a way to cope with personal situations is hard, but I've found what works me. The rhetorical modes I will be using for my essay is description, definition, exemplification and cause/effect. I will be describing a time where I felt the most lost; when I thought everything was falling apart during a personal situation by giving personal examples, and the cause and effect of the situation. I will describe what the cause was to feeling lost and the effect before finding a way to look at my life in a positive way. I will define what being lost is, in my own terms. I will give examples using metaphors to make it easier to talk about.
ReplyDelete-Andreina Rendon
I plan to use the following rhetorical modes:
ReplyDelete1. Definition= Define meaning of "lost"
2. Division/Classification= I will place the meaning of lost into different categories and explain how each category has its own solutions.
3. Exemplification= Give examples of times when I've been lost.
4. Compare and contrast= Refer back to my examples and describe their differences and similarities.
My personal essay will concentrate on narration, giving a story line of a personal experience where I encountered being lost from infidelity. I’m planning on incorporating description as well because it will help the readers understand sensory details as I will shift from being stable to unstable. Then (maybe) I will integrate cause/effect to sum up what caused my emotions I encountered and how the effect turned out to better love myself. Overall, I will focus on emotionally being lost and the struggles I fought to find myself back into a stabilized cognitive world.
ReplyDeleteFor my final essay I will use a personal story to describe what feeling lost feels like.
ReplyDeleteI plan to use the following rhetorical modes in my essay:
Definition: I will describe what feeling lost feels to me. I will explain why this feeling of being lost has made me afraid for many years.
Narration: My personal story will be the central topic of my essay with other examples of feeling lost that interconnect with my personal story. My personal experiences have not only been my fear, but I used my fear to turn it into strength.
Cause/Effect: One of the examples I will discuss will connect to a cause and effect explanation. I will describe how negative relationships with other people caused me to feel lost and the effect of being lost turned out to better help me understand healthy and happy relationships.
For my paper I will incorporate the definition of being found, the description of how I found myself when I didn't even know I was lost with the use of exemplification and cause/effect to tell about a time in my life when being lost felt like it was normal until I found out what I wanted to do and in the process found myself.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper I will start by stating the definition of being lost. Then, the narration will begin with the story of my life with the inclusion of sources that are relevant to the information provided. Also, I will incorporate cause and effect to give an emotion to reader so that the feeling of being lost can be relevant and carry significance. Clearly stating definitions within my essay is important so the reader is aware of what I am speaking about. Being clear is important in my essay so that it follows a rhythm and the reader is able to read it fluently. Last, I will use compare and contrast to when I was to found to when I was lost. Overall all the rhetorical modes of writing will be used within my essay.
ReplyDeleteFor my personal essay I plan on writing about the personal loss of a loved one. I believe that using description and focusing on sensory details will help capture the stages I went through. I will also use exemplification to give specific examples of how the sensory details impacted my overall experience. Cause/effect is another rhetorical mode I will use to further explain how I felt lost after having lost someone very close to me.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper, I will use the mode of definition to explain different meanings of what it is to be lost. Exemplification will then be used to provide examples from my own experiences, and using the definitions that were presented. These examples and definitions will then be analyzed through the mode of compare and contrast. After the compare and contrast, I will use the mode of cause/effect to describe how someone can get lost (or how I got lost), and then how we can be found or recover from the situations discussed.
ReplyDeleteStefano Subia
For my paper I will be using the cause and effect. I will be discussing what kind of things lead a person to feel lost. Or what kind of things happen when a person loses something or someone. I will then discuss the types of way a person can overcome situations dealing with loss. I will use myself as an example and try to make a connection with the readers using a real life experience. My essay will be very personal, and I hope readers can take something from it.
ReplyDeleteFor my paper i used the definition of being lost. I described my definition, and how i felt of being lost. I also gave an example of when i lost someone close to me, and how that event made me feel lost. The way i ended my essay was showing examples of what i do to find myself at a normal state of myself.
ReplyDeleteJasmin Vega