Transcript Brainstorming and outlining

Written and compiled by
Miss Dana Shaaban
Presented by:
Anita J. Ghajar-Selim
Supervisor, Writing lab
Student Learning Support Center
 The
gathering of ideas from your brain onto
paper
 “Storm”
of ideas scattered around in your
brain
 Thinking
 Thinking
about a topic from different angles
of as many ideas as possible in a
short amount of time.
 Write
down your ideas so that you don’t
forget them.
 Write
down everything that comes to your
mind; don’t worry about sorting out “good”
and “bad” ideas.
 Don’t
worry about spelling or grammar.
 Topic:
What would I do with a million dollars?
Travel the world
Pay debts
Give to charity
Buy books, clothes, cars etc…
Put it in a bank account
Buy gifts for people I love

Like pouring all of your thoughts onto paper

Don’t take your pen off the page; keep writing
for the entire time.

Just write about anything. The important thing is
to start writing and keep writing!

Don’t try to sort “good” and “bad” ideas.

Don’t worry about spelling and grammar.
 When
you have NO idea about the topic
?????
?
 When
topic
you have TOO many ideas about the
Maybe I could say
this or maybe I
could say that…
hmmm

Write about the following topic:
Talk about a scary dream you once had.
In my dream, I was coming back home from
school really late. There were no lights in the
street and I could hear the sounds of meowing
cats and barking dogs. I walked faster and faster
and almost fell into a big puddle of mud.
Suddenly I saw a big man with a mask on his
face. He told me to give him my money. I threw
a rock at him and ran home. When I opened the
door I found the man sitting in my favorite chair!

When you write down words or concepts
associated with the topic – any ideas that come
into your mind

Another way to organize your ideas.

Start with your topic in the center, and branch
out from there with related ideas.

Use words and phrases, not complete sentences.
Eventually
get a PhD
Education
Make my
children love
education
Never stop
learning
My Future
Find a good
job
Work
Use the skills I
have learned in
as many ways as
possible
Learn to love
whatever work I’m
doing
Get married
Make them
a priority
Family
Raise healthy,
happy children
 Used
when comparing between two or more
objects, events, people, and places.
Differences
 Useful
Similarities
Differences
for compare/contrast essays
 Let’s
say we want to compare Doha to Dubai:
Doha
Independent
state
Dubai
Tall buildings
Cities in the gulf
Ruled by Sheikh
Expensive
Hamad bin Khalifa
Al Thani
Lots of construction
Not too crowded
Big malls
Part of the UAE
Ruled by Sheikh
Mohammad
bin Rashed Al Maktoum
Too crowded

More organized form of pre-writing than the
others we discussed.

It can be used after you have generated ideas
through brainstorming, free writing, or other
pre-writing techniques.

It works well for structured types of writing such
as essays.

You can use complete sentences, but you don’t
have to.
An outline of a paragraph:
 Introduction
Topic sentence
 Body
First supporting detail
Second supporting detail
Third supporting detail
 Conclusion
Concluding sentence
 Introduction:
Topic Sentence: There are several fun
activities people can do in Qatar.
 Body
1st supporting detail: camp in the desert
2nd supporting detail: go to Sealine beach
3rd supporting detail: admire art at Islamic
Museum
 Conclusion:
Concluding sentence: These activities are
just some ways to have fun in Qatar.
 You
can use the following website to help
you write a nice outline and put in your
thoughts and thesis statement.
 http://interactives.mped.org/view_interacti
ve.aspx?id=722&title=
Please contact us at [email protected]
Or visit:
http://www.qu.edu.qa/students/services/writing
lab/
Or call 485 2600