Unit 3 Discussion

Sharing Your Own Experience in an Informal Document

Have you ever sat down to write a document and thought, where do I even begin? Sitting and staring at a blank page while trying to develop ideas can be frustrating. Trying to write an essay, a memo, a professional email, or any other document in one sitting can be difficult and often leads to writerâ€™s block. Prewriting is an easy step to avoid frustration and writerâ€™s block. Prewriting is an excellent way to consider what you already know about a topic, begin generating ideas, and plan to write.

Prepare: Complete the assigned Unit 3 Reading and Learning Activities.

Post: Post a discussion that identifies at least one to two possible topics for your blog post. Explain to the class why you chose these possible topic ideas and what experience you have with them. Identify possible audiences and how the information you share will help your audience. Tell the class which topic you think you might select and why.

Post a pre- writing activity for one of your identified topics. You might post a short paragraph of free writing, for example.

Include an open-ended question about any issue your initial post raises which your classmates can help you with.

Respond: Respond to classmatesâ€™ postings

Participate by responding to at least two classmatesâ€™ initial postings. Ask questions about the audience and purpose. Take on the role of your classmates’ new audience and discuss what you as an audience member would need to be informed about, what your expectations would be, and what you would hope the article would do to inform you about these important issues. This type of role play can be helpful in understanding the needs of the reader and how to best reach your intended audience.