TV: advantages and disadvantages
...ooks. Get more sleep. Spend more time with my children. If you could make one positive change to your daily life, what would that change be? Exercise more. Spend more quiet time by myself. Read to my children. Eat healthier foods. Maybe you could say that "Read more books" and "Read to my children" go together best because both statements are about reading. Therefore, your one positive change would be reading. Or maybe you could say that "Read more books" and "Watch less television" go together because both statements are about how to spend your private time. Therefore, your one positive change would be about how you spend your private time. Or maybe you would say that "Read to my children" and "Spend more time with my children" go together because these are both statements about being with your children. Therefore, your one positive change would be about... Yes! Being with your children. It doesn't matter which ideas you pair together, as long as they are related and answer your essay question. After you've grouped similar ideas together, choose the one that appeals to you the most. After you've decided what you want to write about, you should still organize yourself more by making a quick outline. The outline will help you to write your essay smoothly. You may even think of some extra related ideas as you write your outline. But, make sure you are sticking to your topic. Let's look at an example of an outline for an essay using our same question about making a positive change to your daily life. Beginning of essay: If I could make one positive change in my life, I would spend my private time differently. Next paragraph: I would like to spend less time watching television. Next paragraph: I would like to spend more time reading. Next paragraph: I would like to have a garden. End of essay: I think that if I spend my private time differently, I will be happier, more relaxed person. Choose from your ideas and make an outline that answers the question. After you've done this, you're ready to move on to the next Step Three: Writing! Back to top of page Step Three: Writing This step is easier than you might think. You've done a lot of the hard work by brainstorming and organizing. Now you just have to follow your outline to write a good essay. Remember that each piece of your outline is a separate idea and should be in a separate paragraph. If possible, each paragraph should contain three or more sentences. An essay usually starts with an introduction paragraph, then paragraphs in between that support the introduction, then a concluding paragraph. ESSAY TIP #3: USE YOUR OWN IDEAS AND EXPERIENCES TO WRITE. Don't try to use words you wouldn't normally use. Concentrate on being yourself and stating your ideas clearly and logically. Remember too that your content is just as important as any grammar or spelling errors. You will probably have some time to go back and re-read your essay for errors. If you are not taking a timed essay, you'll probably want to revise more and even recopy some of your writing, so do not focus too much on spelling and grammar. Just write! For an example of a first writing, check out the essay written below, which follows the outline about one positive change: If I could make one positive change in my life, I would spend my private time differently. Im' busy some of the time but I think I waste any time that I have. I think that if I try to do some thing good with my time than my life would be better. The first change I should make in my private time is to watch less television. When I get home from work because I think I should relax because I am really tired. The first thing I will do is to turn on the television but I dont' think that is relaxing. Sometimes I will watch the news and some other shows. Some news is probably good but all the other shows are just a waste. You cant' learn anything from it and they are really silly sometimes so I should'nt watch so much Instead of watching television. I would like to read more books. There are many good books that make you think more than television. Also I think that reading a book is much more relaxing than watching television because you do not have so much noise and I can lay down and stop thinking about work. My last change in my private time would be to have a garden. Not vegetables but flowers. I love to be out with nature and I love to buy flowers so a garden would be good for my private time and my spending! If you can make some thing grow and be beautiful that can make your life better. I think that if I spend my private time differently, I will be a happier, more relaxed person. Reading more and watching television for less time will relax me and the garden will make me happy with my life. I will try to start making the change today! After you have finished with the writing, you still have some work to do. No good writer stops after the first writing. Good writers will reread and change their work so that it is clear and polished when they are done. This brings us to Step Four: Revising! Back to top of page Step Four: Revising This step can be the most important part of the writing process, depending on how much time you have to do it. Revising means 're-vision', or looking at your writing through new eyes to make sure everything is clear and easy for the reader to understand. You are not focusing on grammar and spelling yet, although you may find yourself correcting some of this during your revising. This is a step that helps you focus on whether your content is clear. ESSAY TIP #4: DURING REVISION, MAKE SURE YOUR ESSAY IS CLEAR EVEN TO SOMEONE WHO KNOWS NOTHING ABOUT THE TOPIC. Some people rewrite more than half of their paper during this stage. Good writers sometimes completely change their essay because their ideas are not logical or clear. Some questions to ask during this stage: Did I keep focused and follow my outline? Should I add more examples to make my points clear? Do my paragraphs have too much or too little detail? Are all my sentences important to my main topic? Below is a revised version of the essay written during Step Three. Notice how the essay's content has changed because of the revision. Which parts do you think are better? Are any parts worse? If I could make one positive change in my life, I would spend my private time differently. Im' busy some of the time but I do waste the free time that I have. During my free time I will watch television or just talk on the phone....