Welcome to KU121: Introduction to Writing Skills & Strategies

1. Welcome to KU121: Introduction to Writing Skills & Strategies Prof. Brian Koster Unit 3 Seminar

2. Welcome! • Any questions from Unit 1 or Unit 2?

3. Discovery and Pre-Writing The writing process - The step-by-step process anyone can follow in order to complete a writing assignment, whether it's for a class or a workplace project.

4. The Writing Process The first step is to choose a topic. You need to determine what you will be writing about (think about the main idea). The topic sentence provides the main idea of the paragraph. It can also provide transitions between paragraphs.

5. Pre-Writing Pre-writing allows you to organize your thoughts before you begin to write. There are a few types of pre-writing.

6. Brainstorming • Brainstorming is the simplest form of pre-writing. • You can write for a few minutes about your topic. Free writing allows you to write about your topic with no worry about grammar, spelling, etc. The point is to come up with details that you can use in your paragraphs.

7. Free Writing When you free write, you take a few minutes to write about your topic. Don’t worry about topic sentences, correct format, etc. You are just working on getting details that you will use in your paragraphs.

8. Outlining The next step is to develop an outline. The outline is like a skeleton of your essay. You will come up with the order of paragraphs, but you will not yet write the paragraphs. The order of paragraphs can always change—your outline is not set in stone.

9. Early Draft The early draft is when you bring your brainstorming and outline together. This is the first essay that you write. You will write everything, then edit and rearrange it to develop….

10. Final Draft …the final draft. The final draft will have correct spelling, grammar, and format. This is the final project that will be turned in for a grade. Your early draft will be revised and edited to become your final draft.

11. Sample Pre-Writing • Here are some sample pre-writing assignments What makes a good science fiction TV Show?

12. Jot List/Brainstorming • Shows – ST:OS; ST:NG, Babylon 5, Forever Knight, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Highlander: The Series, Charmed, Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi version), Blood Ties, Moonlight • Flawed Heroes and Heroines –Kirk, Picard, Sheridan (B5), Nick Knight, Buffy, Angel, Duncan MacCleod, Piper, Prue, Pheobe, Paige, Lee Adama, Kira Thrace, Adama, Roslin, Vicky Nelson, Mick St. John • Conflict –Big Bad, save the world, save their world, save their friends, save/protect something greater, escape, get home • Moral Dilemmas – little black and white; is torture okay? Become evil to defeat evil? When to walk away?

13. Free Writing Science fiction television seems to ebb and flow in popularity but the best shows are the ones that have all the elements yet leave the audience wanting more. What makes a good sci fi show? Look at the ones that work – the original Trek, ST NG, Babylon 5 (the Boxleitner Years), Forever Knight (cult hit if not a ratings one), Highlander the Series (is Duncan versus Connor EVEN a debate??), Buffy, Angel, Charmed (the Rose McGowan years – Prue was too much the center), the newer version of Battlestar Galactica (a case study in what works compared to the original which NEVER worked), Lifetimes vampire series Blood Ties, Moonlight on CBS – newer shows that are WORKING and developing; Shows have the flawed hero (Angel, Nick Knight, Mick St. John all drink BLOOD; Duncan MacCleod and Buffy kill to live; Picard is emotionally distant; the Halliwells all have issues;) What about sources of conflict – not just the typical big bad but internal conflict as well;

14. Listing

15. Scratch Outline I. Shows 1. ST:OS 2. ST:NG 3. Babylon 5, 4. Forever Knight, 5. Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 6. Angel 7. Highlander: The Series, 8. Charmed, 9. Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi version), 10. Blood Ties, 11. Moonlight II. Flawed Heroes and Heroines 1. Kirk 2. Picard 3. Sheridan (B5) 4. Nick Knight 5. Buffy 6. Angel 7. Duncan MacCleod 8. Piper, Prue, Pheobe, Paige, 9. Lee Adama; Kira Thrace; Adama; Roslin 10. Vicky Nelson 11. Mick St. John

16. Pre-Writing Brainstorming is the easiest and most straightforward method of pre-writing. Just take 15 minutes and write about your topic. Don’t worry about spelling or grammar; just worry about developing as many details as you can about your topic.

17. Final Project: Your final project isn’t due until Unit 9, but we will be working on it one step at a time. The first step, pre-writing, will be done in Unit 3.

18. Turning in Unit 3 Project A template is available in DocSharing to help you format your project correctly. Remember, you MUST have MICROSOFT WORD in order to complete and submit your projects.

19. Turning in Unit 3 Project Unit 3 Project

20. Turning in Unit 3 Project Add Attachments

21. Unit 3 Assignments The following assignments are due by 11:59pm ET on Tuesday: • Seminar (we are almost finished!) • Discussion (reply to the Discussion topic and at least two classmate replies) • Unit 3 Quiz • Unit 3 Project (turned in to the Dropbox—using the Word template uploaded to DocSharing)

22. Questions? • Any questions before we wrap-up tonight’s seminar?