Writing a Process Essay-- Literary Education Online (LEO)

LEO: Literacy Education Online Writing a Process Essay

---

What to consider when writing a process essay

A process paper either tells the reader how to do something or describes how something is done. As you write your process essay, consider the following:

• What process are you trying to explain? Why is it important?
• Who or what does the process affect?
• Are there different ways of doing the process? If so, what are they?
• Who are the readers? What knowledge do they need to understand this process?
• What skills/equipment are needed for this?
• How long does the process take? Is the outcome always the same?
• How many steps are there in the process?
• Why is each step important?
• What difficulties are involved in each step? How can they be overcome?
• Do any cautions need to be given?
• Does the process have definitions that need to be clarified?
• Are there other processes that are similar and could help illustrate the process that you are writing about?
• If needed, tell what should not be done or why something should be done.
• Process papers are often written in the second person (you), but some teacher prefer that you avoid this. Check with your teacher.

Your responses to these questions and statements should enable you to write an effective process essay.

Suggested transition words to lead readers through your essay

Process essays are generally organized according to time: that is, they begin with the first step in the process and proceed in time until the last step in the process. It's natural, then, that transition words indicate that one step has been completed and a new one will begin. Some common transitional words used in process essays are listed below:

One time	Transition		Another time
	TIME
	After a few hours,	Immediately following,
	Afterwards,	Initially,
	At last	In the end,
	At the same time,	In the future,
	Before	In the meantime,
	Before this,	In the meanwhile,
	Currently,	Last, Last but not least, Lastly,
	During	Later,
	Eventually,	Meanwhile,
	Finally,	Next, Soon after,
	First, Second, Third, etc.	Previously,
	First of all,	Simultaneously,
	Formerly	Subsequently,
	Immediately before,	Then,

A Sample Process Essay

Kool-Aid, Oh yeah!

It has been said that Kool-Aid makes the world go 'round. Let it be advised, however, that without the proper tools and directions, the great American beverage is nothing more than an envelope of unsweetened powder. There are five simple steps to create this candy-tasting concoction.

Picking the proper packet of flavoring is the first step in making Kool-Aid. Check the grocer's shelf for a wide variety, ranging from Mountain Berry Punch to Tropical Blue Hawaiian. If it is a difficult decision for you, knock yourself out and buy two. The packets usually run under 65 cents.

After choosing the flavor that best suits your taste buds, the second step is making sure that your kitchen houses some necessary equipment for making the Kool-Aid. Find a two-quart pitcher. Plastic is nice, but glass pitchers allow the liquid to shine through and add festive coloration to any refrigerator shelf. Next, find a long-handled wooden spoon, a one-cup measuring cup, a water faucet that spouts drinkable water, usable white sugar, and an ice cube tray full of ice. Then, you are ready to mix.

Third, grab the left edge of the Kool-Aid packet between your thumb and index finger. With your other hand, begin peeling the upper-left corner until the entire top of the envelope is removed. Next, dump the contents of the envelope into the pitcher. Notice how the powder floats before settling on the bottom of the pitcher. Then, take the measuring cup and scoop two cups of sugar into the pitcher as well. At this point, adding the water is a crucial step. Place the pitcher under the water faucet and slowly turn on the cold water. If the water is turned on too quickly, powder will fly all over when the initial gusts of water hit. After the pitcher is filled within two inches of the top, turn the water off and get prepared to stir. With the wooden spoon submersed three-quarters of the way in the liquid, vigorously stir in a clockwise motion until all of the powder is dissolved. Taste it. If the Kool-Aid is not sweet enough, feel free to add more sugar.

Fourth, when you are finished seasoning the Kool-Aid to your liking, rinse off the spoon and the measuring cup. Take a glass from the cupboard. An eight-ounce glass is usually sufficient. But stronger thirsts might prefer a 32-ounce mug. Add ice and then fill the glass with Kool-Aid. Find a comfortable chair, put your feet up, and drink away. After all, Kool-Aid makes the world go 'round.

---

Return to the Write Place Catalogue

---

For questions and suggestions, please e-mail us at leolink@stcloudstate.edu.

---

© 1995, 1996, 1997 The Write Place
This handout was written by Heidi Everett and revised for LEO by Judith Kilborn, the Write Place, St. Cloud State University. It may be copied for educational purposes only. If you copy this document, please include our copyright notice and the name of the writers; if you revise it, please add your name to the list of writers.

Last update: 28 September 1997

URL: http://leo.stcloudstate.edu/acadwrite/process.html

---

Revised Assignment Schedule

Week		Topic	Assignments due	Rhetoric	Reader	Handbook
1		Introduction		1, Critical Thinking and Reading	9, Personal Narrative	35, Marking Punctuation
		Unit I Assignment:
	9/1/2005	Narrative and Descriptive Writing
2	9/6/2005	Reading and Thinking		2, Getting Started	10, Personal Reflection	36, Checking Mechanics
3	9/13/2005	Writing Process	Unit I Paper	3, Planning	11, Personal Description	Multilingual and ESL Guidelines
4	9/20/2005	Writing and Rewriting		4, Drafting
5		Narrative and Descriptive Writing		5, Revising	6, Editing and Proofreading	Parts of Speech
	9/27/2005
6		Analytical Writing	Unit II Paper	7, Submitting	12, Cause and Effect	Parts of Speech
	10/4/2005
7		Comparison and contrast		8, One Writer’s Process.	13, Comparison and Contrast	Sentence Basics
	10/11/2005
8	10/18/2005	Classification			14, Classification	Sentence Problems
9	10/25/2005	Process	Portofolio I Due		15, Process Writing
10		Definition			16, Definition	Numbers, Word Parts, and Idioms
	11/1/2005	Vocabulary and writing				Using the Right Word
11		Persuasive Writing	Unit III Paper Due		17, Strategies for Arggumentation and Persuasion	Understanding Grammar
		Rhetoric of Persuasion
	11/8/2005
12	11/15/2005	Defining a point of view			19, Persuading Readers to Act	39, Constructing sentences
13	11/22/2005	Responding to an argument			20, Arguing Against a Claim	40, Avoiding Sentence Eerrors
14	11/29/2005	Problem-solution format	Portfolio II		21, Proposing a Solution
15	12/6/2005	Review
16	12/13/2005	Final Exam Week

Links to Student Work

Here is the E82 link for viewing student work including maps and summaries:

E82

Writing Skills Links-- From McGraw-Hill

Fundamentals

Links to websites to help one with the fundamentals of adaptation, construction of clear sentences and paragraphs, and effect are limited. Included below are links to both print and electronic reference works as well as links to sites with software and instructions for creating documents.

A selected bibliography http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/course/mflatley/BBC10/writing_sources.htm	A selected bibliography of good sources for basic writing skills in print form.
A.Word.A.Day http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/index.html	A.Word.A.Day is a site that not only presents a word of the day along with its meaning and pronunciation, but it will also send you the word a day if you register for the free service. It's a nice way to build a vocabulary while getting each day off to a good start.
Compound Words http://www.m-w.com/help/faq/compound.htm	This article helps you know how to present compound words.
Roget's Thesaurus http://humanities.uchicago.edu/orgs/ARTFL/forms_unrest/ROGET.html	Roget's Thesaurus is an interactive online program. One enters the word needing substitution and the site returns a suggestion with links to other words.
The Elements of Style http://www.bartleby.com/141/strunk101.html	The Elements of Style is a classic book written to help writers with language, composition, and form as well as a few other matters.
The real estate B.S. artist detection checklist http://www.johntreed.com/BSchecklist.html	This site interprets in plain English how some in real estate use words to manipulate and deceive readers.
The Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus http://www.wordsmyth.net/	The Wordsmyth Dictionary-Thesaurus is a site where you can look up words as well as enjoy a words of the week, word link contest, and other word fun.
Unmapped Exercise http://www.infomap.com/im_timetest/tmresult.htm	This interactive page lets users see and understand the value of mapped information.
2004 List of Banished Words http://www.lssu.edu/banished/archive/2004.php	Since 1976 Lake Superior State University Word Banishment selection committee has compiled its annual list of words banished for misuse, overuse and general uselessness.

Autobiography -- Dante

My Autobiography

I was born in Tbilisi, Georgia and moved to California when I was only six years old. Our first house was right off of Fulton street next to the Golden Gate Park. It was blocks away from Ocean Beach in San Francisco. Without knowing a single word of English, I was exposed to an unfamiliar world. My parents enrolled me at Lafayette Elementary school located between Anza and Balboa street. I was barely able to communicate with the other kids for the first year or two. Luckily, I stayed persistent and by the third grade, I was speaking English better then some of my other classmates. It was also in the third grade that I started playing the piano a couple days a week with my instructor Milla.

After working as a doctor in Tbilisi, my mother spent her days studying to retake the medical board exams in order to continue her work as a licensed doctor in the state of California. When I was in the sixth grade, she married my step dad whom she had met through a mutual acquaintance. Both my parents had the same vision and that was to move out of San Francisco and put me through a better school. We packed our bags that summer and drove across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County,where we moved into an apartment.

Once again I was exposed to a whole new world leaving behind my friends. I found myself starting over once again. Somehow, since I no longer had a language barrier, I was able to make some new friends. Before I knew it, I was in high school. Later did I come to find out that Robin Williams, an international super star mostly known for his humor graduated the same school. I studied at Redwood High School up until my senior year. It was then, that my father was offered a residency program at the SUNY Hospital in Syracuse, New York in the department of anesthesiology.

After rebuilding my life for the third time to the point where I then considered Marin County my true home, I was faced with yet, the biggest change of all. I had one year of high school left, and we were going to move to the other side of the country. I begged, I pleaded, I did whatever I could to convince my parents to reconsider, but unfortunately, nothing helped. I realize now, that it was more important for us to build a stable future as a family, than it was for me to graduate high school with my friends. After all, it wasn’t like I was never going to talk to them again.

We moved to Syracuse later that summer, where I eventually graduated from Fayetteville Manlius High School. I immediately moved to New York City to pursue my career in the jewelry business. I graduated from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), with a major in diamonds, November of 2004. The school was located on Madison Avenue, in the heart of downtown Manhattan. New York was unlike anywhere else I have ever been.

After working for Helzberg Diamonds for a couple of months, I decided to move back to California and begin my studies in business. Which brings me here writing this autobiography. Yes, as a child growing up, I did move around a lot. Yet, each time we moved I learned to adapt to new environments quickly and effectively.

I can honestly say that my past experiences, events, and memories make me who I am today. Every individual contains the story of life, their life. Life is an unexpected journey, in which the story is written not in a single day, or month, or even year. It is a story that evolves over decades. When life begins, it is almost as if an empty book is opened with the child’s name on the cover. As they grow, the blank pages inside begin to fill up with words, and the story evolves. Everything he/she does will become a memory, an experience, a story of the past. Until one day, the last sentence is written. The last words are spoken; and the book is closed, as their ashes flow with the wind. Life has a beginning but it also has an end. It is up to us use the time in between to write the greatest stories of all by turning our dreams into reality. One cannot predict what’s to come in the future yet one has the ability to create the future as he/she desires.