The pre-write is a mandatory assignment that provides the foundational tools for this course, but it does not count toward the final grade.

Please open a document, and answer the following sections. Be sure to provide the appropriate heading for each section of the Pre-write process.

Step 1: Select Your Topic Use the three tips you learned in Selecting a Workable Topic to develop a topic for your descriptive essay.

Step 2: Brainstorm Your Topic 1. Brainstorm your topic.

Start with the topic you developed in your last assignment. Brainstorm some ideas surrounding that topic using what you learned in Brainstorming Your Topic.

2. Use the clustering technique.

Use the system of clustering to generate specific ideas and information pertaining to your topic or subject.

Step 2.1: Outline Your Topic Use what you learned in Outlining as well as your previous practice assignments to build an outline for your topic.

Step 2.2: Write Your Research Questions Write four research questions that are applicable to your topic. It is usually helpful to create questions that allow for both the affirmative and negative positions on an issue or topic.

Step 3: Write Your Thesis Statement

Using what you learned about the characteristics of a good thesis statement, write a thesis statement for your topic.

Step 4: Write Your Introduction Using what you learned about thesis statements and introductions, write an introduction for your paper. Review the characteristics of a good introduction before you begin.

Step 5: Write Your Content Using what you learned about writing the body of a paper, write the content for your essay. Remember to review the module to verify you are following the best practices for writing content.

Step 6: Write Your Conclusion Using the information you learned, write a conclusion paragraph for your paper.

Step 7: Use Appropriate Vocabulary Review these words and make an effort to use them in your speaking and writing. Practice using each of the words in a sentence. Type a sentence for each term in the answer bank below. If you need to use a dictionary for more clarification regarding the definitions, feel free to do so. However, do not use the suggested context sentences provided by the dictionary) when working on this exercise.

Brainstorm at least 30 advanced college-level vocabularies that will be used in the essay.

Transitional Words College-Level Vocabulary for instance obtuse – lacking perception enervate – to weaken therefore abstruse – difficult to understand deciduous – shedding thus abeyance – to temporarily set aside antebellum – period before the Civil War because mitosis – cell division gauche – tactless

yet nihilism – skepticism that denies all existence hubris – over-bearing pride eventually parameter – boundaries obsequiousness – fawning first, second (etc.) paradigm – an example to serves as a model fiduciary – holding in trust finally precipitous – steep feckless – ineffectual similarly jocular – given to joking lexicon – dictionary in other words chicanery – trickery kinetic – motion in addition to acumen – quickness; accuracy inculcate – to teach by repetition on the other hand bowdlerize – modify

consequently circumnavigate – to go around

however deleterious – having a harmful effect

rather churlish – bad disposition

Submission Guidelines To complete this assignment, click “Submit your assignment," and then choose one of the following methods for submitting your work:

1. Drag and drop your file into the submission box, and then select "Submit file."

2. Select the file you want to upload, and then select "Submit file."

Please contact your instructor using Canvas Messages with any questions you may have. Your instructor may take several business days to grade all of your work. Please be patient as your instructor works to provide a level of feedback that corresponds to the hard work you put into the assignment.

Student Sample of the Prewriting Steps Prewrite: Benefits of Reward-Based Training for Dogs Step 1: Select Your Topic The effects of reward-based training on dogs Step 2: Brainstorm Your Topic Note: You may list your items in this manner, or choose to do the clustering as demonsrated in the graphic illustration in the instructions for this module. Reward Based Training

• Maintaining dog engagement/interest

• Increase positive emotions from dog to trainer

• Build trust between dog and trainer

• Increase duration of training

• More likely to repeat rewarded behavior

• Converts rewarded behavior to learned behavior

• Dogs can be rewarded in many different ways o

Attention o

Toys o

Treats Step 2.1: Outline Your Topic 1) Introduction a. Introduce the problem and purpose of the paper b. Explain the history of work on the subject c. Thesis statement 2) Body of content a. Explain terms to get the reader on the same page b. Present Information found in studies

3) Discussion/conclusion a. Propose future research direction b. Restate thesis statement Research Questions 1. What are the benefits of reward-based dog training on skill performance? 2. What are the effects of reward-based dog training on pet engagement? 3. What complications are associated with reward-based dog training? 4. How effective is reward-based dog training versus punishment-based?

Step 3: Write your thesis statement 1. Implementing positive reinforcement training for dogs improves learning ability and dog obedience. Step 4: Write your introduction 1. Having an unruly pet can become a problem for any pet owner, therefore selecting an appropriate training method for dogs can be an important decision. Positive reinforcement training for dogs improves learning ability and overall dog obedience. Thorndike’s (1898) Animal Intelligence found that animals can adapt to a behavior when stimulated by a favorable result. Skinner (1938) built upon the work of Thorndike’s when he famously coined the term Operant Conditioning. Operant conditioning is based on learning associations between actions and consequences. Operant conditioning involves learning from the outcome of a behavior. This includes punishment for undesirable behavior. However, positive reinforcement alone, has been shown to be correlated with increased obedience and decreased problematic behaviors (Hiby, Rooney, & Bradshaw, 2004). Step 5: Write your content (body of paper) 1. Positive reinforcement can be explained as rewarding desirable behavior. Rewards range from edible (treats and food), verbal (praise), and physical responses (groom, playtime, etc.). Negative reinforcement can be explained as punishment for undesirable actions. Punishment can be done through verbal (scold, yell) and physical (hit, choke, etc.) means. There is cause for concern with punishing dogs physically or verbally as it can lead to suffering for the dog. Undesirable behavior can range from overexcitement (barking, jumping, etc.) to destructive (aggressive barking, biting, urinating indoors, etc.). Positive stimulation or arousal is described as “a state of general wakefulness and responsiveness of the environment and implies a generalized increase in the activity of the cerebral cortex” (as cited in Haverbeke, A., Laporte, B., Depiereux, E., Giffroy, J.-M., Diederich, C.,

2008, p. 11) Negative stimulation or stress is described as a “loss of control and reduced predictability of what will happen.” (as cited in Haverbeke, A., et al., 2008, p. 11). 2. A Questionnaire conducted by Hiby et al. (2004) where 326 participants filled out questionnaires regarding their training strategies and outcomes. Approximately 60.4% of respondents practiced a mixture of reward and punishment-based methods. Less than 21% of individuals reported using exclusively reward based methods for training and fewer than 10% reported using exclusively punishment- based methods. As expected, owners were more likely to punish dogs for undesirable behavior and praise desirable behavior. Overall, punishment was not correlated with improved obedience. Owners reported a significant increase in obedience when using exclusively reward-based method. Similarly, Heverbeke et al., (2008) found that dogs who were punished during training underperformed in obedience-based tasks when compared to dogs who were not punished as frequently. Step 6: Write your conclusion

1. According to Hiby et al. (2004) the majority, 60%, of participants used a mixture of training strategies. Assuming this data is reflective of the larger population of dog owners, then a great majority of individuals use both reward and punishment-based training. Dogs that were rewarded during training showed improvements in obedience and wanted behaviors. Punishment on the other hand was negatively associated with obedience (Heverbeke et al., 2008, Hiby et al., 2004). Dog owners should focus on rewarding their dogs for good behavior. Research on this dog learning should look into decreasing unwanted behaviors without the use of punishment. Works Cited Haverbeke, A., Laporte, B., Depiereux, E., Giffroy, J.-M., Diederich, C. (2008). Training methods of military dog handlers and their effects on the team’s performances. Applied Animal Behavior Science. 1-13. Skinner, B. F. (1938). The Behavior of organisms: An experimental analysis. New York: Appleton-Century. Thorndike, E. L. (1898). Animal Intelligence: An experimental study of the associative processes in animals. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 2(4), i-109

S Step 7: Use Appropriate Vocabulary Obtuse: He wasn’t the best writer; his obtuse journal entries were proof of that. Abstruse: She tried to speak and chew at same time, which made her message abstruse. Abeyance: My vacations is in abeyance while I finish this urgent work assignment. Mitosis: We wouldn’t survive without mitosis. Nihilism: After his wife’s Tragic death, Jim became quite the nihilist. Parameter: The fence around my home serves as a parameter for my dog. Paradigm: Denmark is a paradigm for renewable energy production. Precipitous: Eagles like to lay their eggs in the most precipitous locations, away from other predators. Jocular: After four beers, his mood became increasingly jocular. Chicanery: New laws must be put in place to stop political chicanery. Acumen: Typing acumen is a necessity in modern America considering our ever- growing technology. Bowdlerize: Jim needs to bowdlerize his bicycle if he wants to win the race. Circumnavigate: Aggressive behavior management can be effective when circumnavigating potentially dangerous encounters. Deleterious: Smoking has been linked to deleterious effects on the human body.

Churlish: Rush hour traffic is a good time to observe churlish behavior from motorists. Enervate: He is what we call an energy vampire, enervating each person he interacted with. Deciduous: I will be keeping my eye on the deciduous trees now that summer has come to an end. Antebellum: I can’t think of a single person who would want to live in antebellum Los Angeles. Gauche: My form and movements were more gauche when I first started going to the gym compared to now. Hubris: Hubris is common in people who consider themselves professionals in a skill or craft. Obsequiousness: The obsequious dog followed every command perfectly. Fiduciary: For the small non-profit to receive a grant, they required a fiduciary with fiscal oversight.

Feckless: After her fifth consecutive day on the couch, her feckless behavior was interrupted by a call to action. Lexicon: After reading over a hundred books, her lexicon had vastly increased. Kinetic: The kinetic energy of his punch knocked the contender to the floor. Inculcate: Nightly bedtime stories inculcated the habit of reading to her child.

Step 1: Selecting a Workable Topic Prepare for this module's descriptive essay by selecting a topic. You will use this topic throughout the module to learn how to develop an effective essay, and you will use the techniques you learned writing the descriptive essay to write your final research paper. Please adhere to the following tips as you select your topic:

A. Select a topic that interests you. Since you will spend a significant amount of time writing about this topic, it would serve you well to choose a topic that has meaning or interest to you. Many writers choose a topic that has connection with their career or vocational choice.

B. Determine your audience (the reader). Ask the following questions: Am I able to make this topic interesting to the reader? For whom am I writing this paper? Analyzing your audience helps you to arrange the precise details in a more relevant manner.

C. Narrow your topic. If a topic is too broad, you will have difficulty keeping the focus and continuity of your paper.

Example of a broad topic: the history of medicinal drugs for children

Example of a limited topic: the effects of anti-depressant medications on children with autism

Do you see how the limited topic provides focus to the essay?

Brainstorming and Clustering Once you have selected your topic, you may want to use brainstorming and clustering techniques to develop writing ideas. These techniques encourage a free flow of ideas. Write your topic on a sheet of paper, and begin listing any idea that is applicable to your topic. You don't need to screen your ideas or evaluate their quality; you can begin to organize your thoughts later.

Clustering creates the same effect as brainstorming. Place the topic in a circle in the middle of a piece of paper, and then organize your ideas with circles and lines around the main circle. Graphing your ideas this way allows you to generate ideas freely but provide some organization.

Below is an example of brainstorming and clustering.

Outlining Outlining is an effective tool to develop a systematic plan for your writing. The following outline format is sometimes called a schema, meaning a systematic plan of action. The schema creates a writing plan that includes an intro and thesis statement, three main points (which may include subheadings and details), and a concluding paragraph:

Sample: I. Intro and thesis statement

A. Additional information about introduction

B. Additional information about introduction

II. Body of the paper: point 1

A. Additional information about point 1 or subdivisions of point 1

B. Additional information about point 1 or subdivisions of point 1

III. Body of the paper: point 2

A. Additional information about point 2 or subdivisions of point 2

B. Additional information about point 2 or subdivisions of point 2

IV. Body of the paper: point 3

A. Additional information about point 3 or subdivisions of point 3

B. Additional information about point 3 or subdivisions of point 3

V. Concluding statement

Step 2.2: Gathering Resources Good writers utilize several techniques to gather and organize information.

Gathering Information: Research, Evaluation, and Questions Before investing time in the actual writing process, many writers like to do a quick research check on the computer. This helps you, the writer, to determine if your chosen topic produces a significant amount of material for the paper. In a later module, you will look at proper documentation and explore the reliability of sources. However, as you do your initial search for information, always check for source reliability, particularly with Internet sources. Keep in mind that there are two types of sources:

1. Primary source: This is an original text, document, or interview.

2. Secondary source: This is not an original text and tends to allow for someone’s comments on a text.

Both sources may be used; however, you will want to include a significant sampling of primary sources that are easily documented (APA format) with the author, page number, and publisher.

Step 2.3: Writing Research Questions Good writers utilize several techniques to gather and organize information.

Writing Research Questions

Once you have narrowed your topic, it is helpful to write research questions to organize your topic.

Example of a research topic: the effects of video games on academic and social performance in children

• Research question 1: What are the positive benefits of video games on the academic performance of children?

• Research question 2: What are the negative effects of video games on the academic performance of children?

• Research question 3: What are the effects of video games on the social behavior of children?

• Research question 4: What future guidelines are being introduced in the production and marketing of new video games?

Step 3: Writing a Thesis Statement Your thesis statement should establish a direction for your paper.

Thesis Statements To provide a clear focus of the direction of a paper, a good writer always utilizes a thesis statement. A thesis statement, in a sense, is the road map for the direction of your paper; it states the controlling idea in your paper and provides an overview of the topic. For clarity, it is suggested that you include a thesis statement in the first paragraph, or introduction, of your paper. All of the points of your essay should provide support for your thesis statement. For example, if your topic deals with the benefits of a certain program in your community, you would include a confident thesis statement such as:

Topic: the impact of the Big Brothers organization on the community Thesis Statement: Big Brothers, a community-based organization, has the means to provide a positive connection between young children and adult mentors.

Topic: the struggle between the North and the South during the Civil War Thesis Statement: While both sides fought for what they believed to be a worthy cause, the North focused on anti-slavery, but the Southern cause focused on states’ rights.

Characteristics of an Effective Thesis Statement

1. The thesis statement should never be interrogative in nature. Write your thesis statement as a declarative statement.

2. The thesis statement should be thought-provoking, causing the reader to want to read more of your information.

3. Make certain that your thesis statement stays focused on what you will discuss in your paper.

Step 4: Writing Your Introduction Your introduction should establish the background of your paper.

Writing the Introduction There are many effective ways to write an introductory paragraph, but every effective introduction provides a background for your topic. The thesis statement may be introduced at the beginning or ending of the introductory paragraph. The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, a highly recommended text for research guidelines, sums up the purpose of the thesis statement with this quotation: “The thesis statement is your answer to the central question or problem you have raised" (Gibaldi).

Additional supporting statements that address the background of the topic should be included in your introduction. A good introduction grabs the reader’s attention. For example, you may:

1. Use a thought-provoking quote: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” (Dickens).

2. Include an interesting fact about your topic: For example, “Until 1890 most new arrivals were from familiar places: the British Isles, Germany, the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, the Netherlands. But now it was the turn of southern and eastern Europe to swarm…” (Weisberger).

Step 5: Writing the Body of Your Paper The body of the paper discusses and develops your main point and supports your thesis.

Develop the Main Points The body of the paper develops the main points. First, identify your main points. Then, write a well-developed paragraph (or paragraphs) for each point. You must develop your point comprehensively and coherently throughout each paragraph.

Use Evidence, Facts, and Examples Your paragraphs should support your points and your thesis with evidence, facts, and examples. In his text, Imagining to Learn, educator and author Jeffrey D. Wilhelm’s objective was to provide evidence that a disengaged reader could be motivated through drama. In the following paragraph, he supports his point using an example of a strategy he has used in the classroom.

One especially effective drama strategy that I have used has been what I have come to call the carousel or revolving role play. With this strategy, students initially each take on a single role…from a text and pair up with another student playing another role. They are given a topic to discuss or a task to complete in a short one to two minute role play. Through a series of role-plays, students take on various roles and often revisit and replay previous roles. (34)

Step 6: Writing the Conclusion of Your Paper The conclusion of a paper synthesizes the information, providing a sense of closure.

The Conclusion

The conclusion of your paper is your opportunity to wrap it up or to synthesize your information into a closing summation. The concluding paragraph brings closure to the paper through the use of various techniques.

1. You may choose to conclude your paper with an observation that focuses on your main points.

2. You may choose to conclude your paper with comments that neatly connect the ending to your introductory remarks.

3. You many choose to conclude your paper with an anecdote or quotation that illustrates the main focus of your paper. Novelist Toni Morrison, in The Bluest Eye, concludes her story with the following words: “And now when I see her searching the garbage—for what? The thing we assassinated?… We are wrong, of course, but it doesn’t matter. It’s too late…it’s much, much, much too late” (206).

Step 7: Enhancing Your Paper with a Strong Vocabulary One of the most effective ways to elevate the flow of your paper is to use transitional words and appropriate vocabulary.

Transitional Words One effective way to add a sense of movement, flow, and development to a paper is to use transitional words. Here is a sampling of words that will help you to move from idea to idea and paragraph to paragraph:

• for instance • therefore • thus • because • yet • eventually • first, second, third (etc.) • finally • similarly • in other words • in addition to • on the other hand • consequently • however • rather

College-Level Vocabulary Words If you want to elevate your paper's style, consider demonstrating your understanding of college-level vocabulary. The following is a sampling of vocabulary words that educators feel college students should understand. Consider using some of these words and other comparable words in your writing:

• obtuse – lacking perception • abstruse – difficult to understand • abeyance – to temporarily set aside • mitosis – cell division • nihilism – skepticism that denies all existence • parameter – boundaries • paradigm – an example that serves as a model • precipitous – steep • jocular – given to joking • chicanery – trickery • acumen – quickness; accuracy • bowdlerize – modify • circumnavigate – to go around • deleterious – having a harmful effect • churlish – bad disposition • enervate – to weaken • deciduous – shedding • antebellum – period before the Civil War • gauche – tactless • hubris – over-bearing pride • obsequiousness – fawning • fiduciary – holding in trust • feckless – ineffectual • lexicon – dictionary • kinetic – motion • inculcate – to teach by repetition

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