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Pre-Writing Strategies Tutorial

Pre-Writing Strategies

Welcome to Pre-Writing Strategies! These pages present ideas and techniques for getting started on essay-writing assignments. If this is your first visit to this site, please read the Introduction first. After that, you can work through the tutorial by following the links at the bottom of each page, or using the menu at the left.

  1. Introduction

    Introduces the goals of these pages and the idea of heuristic writing strategies: "rules of thumb" that can help you to get started on your writing assignment.

  2. Understand Your Assignment

    Get off to a good start by studying the assignment and setting appropriate goals for yourself.

  3. Unconscious Strategies

    Several "open-ended" ways of exploring your topic.

  4. Conscious Strategies

    Some more directed ways of investigating your topic.

  5. Gathering Ideas from Readings

    Strategies for productive reading and research, including questions to ask about the sources that you use.

  6. Organizing Your Rough Notes

    Making the transition from "pre-writing" to writing a first draft.

  7. Moving from a Topic to a Thesis

    Developing a point of view and stating your intentions clearly.

  8. Take the Quiz

    Test your understanding of the tutorial by taking a brief quiz.

Next page Proceed to the Introduction to Pre-Writing Strategies