Experimenting With Prewriting Techniques

For this writing assignment, you will submit a narration paragraph of approximately 200 to 250 words. Remember that narration involves writing a personal story about something that has happened. It is one of the few contexts where personal pronoun usage (I, me) is acceptable.

This journal entry explores prewriting techniques for the narration paragraph.

Select one of the following titles, which will be the subject/topic of your narration paragraph:

1. My Most Fulfilling Accomplishment
2. An Obstacle I Overcame
3. An Incident That Changed My Life
4. My Best Holiday Memory
5. A Lesson Learned

Document the following four items in your journal entry:

1. State the selected topic.
2. Write for 10-15 minutes using one of these prewriting techniques: making a list (brainstorming), asking reporter questions (who, what, where, when, and how), freewriting, clustering (mapping), or outlining. Identify the technique and provide a sample of your prewriting in your journal.
3. Write for another 10-15 minutes using a different prewriting technique from the one you chose in # 2. Identify the technique and provide a sample of your prewriting in your journal.
4. In at least two or three sentences, reflect on which prewriting technique you prefer and explain why.