Week 3: Drafting and Revising – Assignment 3
Assignment 3 -Writing the Rough Draft and APA Formatting
The writing process -drafting
In Week 2 you worked on finding a topic, brainstorming, writing a thesis statement, and gathering evidence in support of your thesis statement. These are all components of prewriting leading up to your Final Product due in Week 4.
From your work in week 2 you should have a basic outline for your paper that you will turn into a rough or first draft. The rough draft is the first version of your essay. It is an important step in the writing process because it helps you see the strengths and weaknesses of your paper. The rough draft is not meant to be perfect, it is meant to be revised—maybe more than once. This is the time to try out new ideas, and see what works best for what you want to accomplish in this writing piece.
Here is a suggested sequence for writing the first draft, taken from chapter 6 of the eBook. There is also a useful checklist, Turning Outline into Rough Draft (pg. 56) and a Process Diagram: Writing a Draft (pg. 58).
Most writers do not begin by writing an essay from beginning to end, but rather build it in the following sequence.
Assignment
•First, write your thesis at the top of the page and then write the supporting paragraphs.
• Write the introduction to your paper. The introduction must include the thesis statement. This is an important part of the paper. This is where you clearly state what your paper is about and your stand on the topic.
• Write other paragraphs in the essay’s body. For example, a background paragraph, and transitional paragraphs that can be used to move from one supporting paragraph to the next.
•Write the conclusion. The conclusion must be strong and not leave the reader hanging, like at the end of a bad movie.
•Now put your rough draft into the APA format.