Students in order of appearance: Phillip, Deonta, Gretchen, Amanda, Karina, Abigail, Yadirys, Dan
Exercise: Integrate the video
Question
Write a substantial paragraph or two, with a topic sentence or mini-thesis, through which you respond to the students in this video as you form your own approaches to generating momentum in your first draft. You might begin by identifying the moments that stand out to you the most. Which student videos seem to make the most sense to you? With whom do you agree? Disagree? What patterns do you find among the student sound bites? Which ideas were the most instructive or helpful to you? What surprised you? How have your own ideas about drafting come into focus through the videos?
Gretchen sums up the “big idea” of this Lesson on drafting when she says, “I’ll start to type on my computer—and it’s usually one sentence. I’ll sit there with one sentence. And then I’ll have a couple sentences, and then once I get the first paragraph, I just keep going and going. It doesn’t always connect. But as long as I have writing, I’ll feel good, like I’m getting somewhere. I just have to have something written down.”
Gretchen’s first draft is all about developing confidence and “feeling good.” And yet, the other students in this Lesson have a slightly different approach to building momentum in their first drafts. Whatever your own approach, you can use that drafting momentum to carry you through the later stages of your essay.