Overview

The Writing Process Analysis Essay is an assignment designed to help you reflect on and analyze your own writing process, as you have developed it over the semester.  Your task will be to write an analytical essay examining and explaining the steps that you took while writing your three primary writing assignments in English 101:  The Narrative, the Compare-Contrast, and the Argument.   In this essay, you will trace your application of each of the steps of the Writing Process—generating ideas, organizing a writing plan, drafting, editing and revising, and proofreading—through each of your three essays.  

Basic Assignment Requirements

The Writing Process Analysis essay must meet the following formatting guidelines:

• Be in MLA Manuscript Format

• Have 1 inch top, bottom, right and left margins;
• Times New Roman 12 font;
• Running header with last name and page number;
• MLA compliant title block on first page;
• All content double spaced.

The Writing Process Analysis essay must meet the following content and mechanical guidelines:

• Must be at least 1,000 words long;
• Must offer a clear and consistent discussion of the writer’s use of the Writing Process in the composition of each of the previous three Major Writing Assignments during the semester;
• Must be organized logically with clear topic sentences that clearly introduce each assignment;
• Must provide adequate levels of detail and description to support and clearly describe each step of the writing process as it applies to the writer’s work;
• Must contain a clear introduction and conclusion that provides overall background for the contents of the portfolio, and sums up the student’s overall English 101 experience; 
• Must contain none of the following major mechanical errors:
• Run-on sentences
• Fragments
• Tense shifts
• Possession errors
• Capitalization errors
• Subject-verb agreement errors 
• Must conform to Standard English Grammar requirements for proofreading, usage, and spelling.

Assignment Prompts and Variations

Writing Process Analysis Prompt 1

Write an essay using the compare-contrast block format, discussing how you applied the five steps of the writing process (generating ideas, organizing a writing plan, drafting, revising, and proofreading) to your Narrative Essay, your Compare-Contrast Essay, and your Argument Essay.    The essay should discuss and provide details on each step for each essay.  

Writing Process Analysis Prompt 2

Write an essay using the compare-contrast point-to-point organizational scheme, discussing the steps of the writing process (generating ideas, organizing a writing plan, drafting, revising, and proofreading) and how you applied these steps to each of your major writing assignments in English 101.   Your essay will consist of five body sections (one on each of the steps of the Writing Process), and will discuss and give details for each of your assignments within each section.  

Invention and Generating Ideas 

All of the methods of generating ideas listed in Chapter 05.1, The Writing Process: Generating Ideas, are applicable for the Writing Process Analysis Essay.   See the worksheet in that chapter on Generating Ideas for the Writing Process Analysis Essay for a detailed guide. 

Organizing the Writing Process Analysis Essay

There are two primary ways to organize the Writing Process Analysis Essay, which bears many similarities to the Compare-Contrast and the Narrative Essay.  These are the block format and the point-to-point format.   Worksheets for organizing the Writing Process Analysis Essay are included in Chapter 05.2 of this text, The Writing Process:  Organizing a Writing Plan.