College Writing 3-1

Writing Assignment 2 33
Some writers prefer to generate ideas by clustering them first before
organizing them in a list.To cluster your ideas, begin with one central
idea and use bubbles and arrows to connect it to related ideas and
details.When you are finished, number your ideas in order of
importance and cross out unimportant ideas or details. See how Mary
clustered the ideas for her paragraph in the example that follows.
Notice that Mary crossed out prominence because she only had
one supporting detail for this idea.She also crossed out other
unimportant details.
Outlining
Outlining is not just a way to generate ideas; it is also a way to organize
your ideas from general to specific. ln outlining a paragraph, a writer
begins with the most general statement, the topic sentence.Then, the
writer lists the main points, which relate to the controlling ideas in the
topic sentence.The main points are more specific than the topic
sentence but are more general than the supporting details, which are
the most specific part of the paragraph.These supporting details can be
facts, expert opinions, examples, descriptions, observations, and personal
experiences.Make sure to list all your supporting details in the outline.
Tina, a student who took this class, created the outline below
for her paragraph. Notice how she refers to the controlling ideas in the
main points and details.