Day 9: Freewrites

So, you're done with your first papers!  That's wonderful!  I should have them back to you within a week, give or take.


Now, we continue on with the next paper ideas, which I'd like to talk a bit more about.  You began thinking about topics by mindmapping, and that's a fine way of brainstorming.


However, another good tactic for coming up with ideas--ideas of any kind--is to just write about them.  Writing is a way to argue, but it's also a way of thinking, of getting your ideas out on paper (or on the screen).


Freewriting sessions aren't pretty, just like brainstorming sessions aren't pretty, but they can be really productive.  


Now, you've got a longer paper to write, and it's got to have an amazing topic.  Boring topics don't earn A's, so you need to discover a really fantastic topic to ace this next paper (and pretty much any paper you ever write).


So, how are you going to come up with a good topic?  It takes some time, and a little sitting down to work things through, just like with any project that you want to do well with.


So, today I'd like you to freewrite.  Explore possible topics and write about what needs to happen to write about those topics successfully.  What moves can you make in your next essay that will make my jaw drop?  Take some time and think it out, then tomorrow, we'll move toward getting it done.

And there are a few ideas, or genres of ideas, that I'd like for all of you to stay away from.


Abortion.  Abortion is a really overdone topic.  I've read many papers on it, and the arguments are always the same.  There's nothing interesting about reading the same argument over and over again.  The problem with the pro-life and pro-choice arguments is that they haven't reached stasis.  They're talking at cross-purposes.  Stasis is a Greek rhetorical term that we didn't cover in the beginning, but it's important.  It is the Latin word for "stand," and refers, in rhetoric, to the point at which two opposing arguments come to a standstill.


With the abortion issue, both parties are speaking at cross-purposes, not the same points, and cannot reach stasis.  The Pro-choice folks say that a woman has the right over her own body, not the government.  The Pro-life folks say that a baby has the right to life.  These are two different points.  To reach stasis, either a woman has the right over her own body, or she does not.  Or, a fetus has the right to life, or it does not.  


So, find your own unique argument.  Write about the use of beanies in advertisements, or how frowns are strangely persuasive.






Whatever you do, think about some strange, wonderful, interesting, persuasive topic that will just astound me and earn yourself a big, beautiful A!

Grammar Review:


Dangling Modifiers:





Dangling modifiers are hilarious. They are wrong, but they're often funny.  Simply, they're when a phrase is modifying the wrong thing.


Dangling, or misplaced, modifiers are how Groucho Marx can make a joke like this:

"One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got into my pajamas I'll never know."   –Groucho Marx

The misplaced modifier is "in my pajamas."  The closest noun is elephant, so it modifies elephant.  But, of course, that isn't what we'd normally mean to say.


So, here's another example:


Walking down Main Street, the trees were beautiful.


The phrase, "Walking down Main Street," is modifying the nearest noun, which is the subject of the sentence, "the trees."  But, we know that trees don't walk, though it's funny to think about.


How would you fix this sentence to make it correct?


This problem in our language also involves the incorrect use of hopefully, which means full of hope.  So, the sentence: "Hopefully, the sun will be shining tomorrow" is grammatically incorrect because the sun can't hope...

So, how would you fix these misplaced modifiers?

I saw the trailer peeking through the window.


Having finished the assignment, the TV was turned on.


Climbing up the wall, my mother admired the green ivy on the house.




Your Daily Assignment:


***On your blogs, force yourself to write about potential ideas by freewriting for 5 minutes straight for your next paper.  (You can use the online stopwatch to time yourself, or your other favorite method for keeping time... i.e. the sundial?)