Process Essay

There are two kinds of process essay

• Something people in the class do/could do (make a coffee)
• Something other people do but you don’t (grow coffee beans.
• Which one are you writing?

Step 1: Invention - Brainstorm

1) Think of things you YOU DO 2) Think of things you want to learn how to do 3) Think of things where you wonder “How is that done?”

Step 2: Homework

• Choose one of your ideas and research it for homework. Make a rough outline
• See “Arrangement” below. Make a VERY SHORT ROUGH OUTLINE
• I want ON PAPER OR TYPED, FIVE LINES OF NOTES:
  • Line 1: Topic name
    • e.g. how laws are made
    • e.g. how chocolate is made
    • e.g. how to make Indian curry
    • e.g. how to clean your baseball glove
  • Line 2-4 SECTION TITLES
    • e.g. Preparation, Cooking, Decoration
    • e.g. Buying tools, Cleaning, Protection
    • e.g. Buying ingredients, Preparing ingredients, Cooking
    • e.g. Training, Competing, Recovering
    • e.g. Kanto, Kansai, Okinawa
    • e.g. Processing the rice, Penguin, Fermentation,
  • Line 5: 1 website address for a source
    • Japanese OK
    • http: ???etc

Step 3: In class we will

• Invention: Check and share your ideas
• Arrangement: Learn how to make a more detailed outline
• Style: Learn how to write the sentences
• Invention: Learn about APA

Step 4: Homework

• Finish your outline with detail sentences
• Start writing!

Process Essay Arrangement

Three paragraph (“How to” type)

• Paragraph 1
  • This essay describes how to VERB
  • The first step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
• Paragraph 2
  • The second step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
• Paragraph 3
  • The final step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • In conclusion, (I WILL EXPLAIN THIS LATER)

Three paragraph (“How something is done” type)

• Paragraph 1
  • This essay describes how TOPIC is done/made/created.
  • The first step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
• Paragraph 2
  • The second step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
• Paragraph 3
  • The final step is (to VERB / VERBing)
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • Detail sentence
  • In conclusion, (I WILL EXPLAIN THIS LATER)

Project A Style

Example detail sentences for ‘How to”

• Preparation (especially in paragraph 1)
  • Before you start,
  • Begin with checking
  • You will need several items to help you -
• Alternatives
  • One option is
  • Instead of doing X, you could do Y
  • Consider ING (e.g. using soy milk instead)
  • Another choice would be to do X
• Sequence
  • First (Firsly)
  • Secondly (Second)
  • After that
  • Next
  • After 5 minutes
  • Wait for 3 hours, then
  • Following that
  • Quickly
• Warning
  • Be careful about
  • Make sure you (don’t) do something
  • It is very important that
  • Avoid Xing

Example detail sentences for “How something is done

• Warning
  • Never use “First, make”
  • Never use “First, you make”
  • Use “First, the farmer makes”
  • Use “First, X is made”
• Preparation (especially in paragraph 1)
  • Before they start, X has to do / X is done
  • Before they start, X has to do / X is done
  • They begin with checking X
  • They need several items -
• Alternatives
  • One option for them is
  • Instead of doing this, they sometimes
• Sequence
  • First(ly), X is done / the PERSON does x
  • Second(ly), X is done / the PERSON does X
  • After that, X is done / the PERSON does x
  • Next, X is done / the PERSON does x
  • After 5 minutes, X is done / the PERSON does x
  • Next, they wait for 3 hours, and then
  • Following that, X is done / the PERSON does x
  • Quickly, X is done / the PERSON does x
• Warning
  • The X has to be careful about ING
  • They need to make sure they (don’t) VERB
  • It is very important that they VERB
  • It is necessary to avoid Xing

Endings for process

Now you have “Now you have some tasty mochi” Do not forget “Do not forget to chew your mochi carefully” Options “You can add cream or eat it plain” Recommendation “You should eat it with cream” Decision (not academic) “I will make some next week for my friend’s party” Link to next paragraph: “That was how it is made. In the next section….” Other options Write a paragraph summary