Brainstorming and writing the specific plan.

 
     Once you have thought about and written the general plan, you can write the specific plan.  Each of the seven items in the general plan will become the seed for each of the seven paragraphs of the article.  For each paragraph, take one item from the general plan, and make it the TS of its own paragraph.  For example: 
 
          General                            Specific 
          Article                              Paragraph  
          Outline.                            Outline. 
 
          [IP]          becomes           [IP-TS]    
          [B1]          becomes          [B1-TS]    
          [B2]          becomes          [B2-TS]    
          [B3]          becomes          [B3-TS]    
          [B4]          becomes          [B4-TS]    
          [B5]          becomes          [B5-TS]    
          [CP]         becomes          [CP-TS]    
 
     Therefore, since you are “starting” with Body paragraph #1, take the information you wrote for [B1] of the Introductory plan, and adapt it into [B1-TS] of the Specific plan.  This does not always mean to “copy”!  Sometimes, you must alter what you wrote in the Introductory Plan, to make it suitable for use in the Specific Plan–although the idea is the same.  Do the same with the other paragraphs.  Now, all the seven TS sentence plans are ready–one for each of the seven paragraphs.  Then, fill out the S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, and CS for each of the seven paragraphs of the Specific Plan.  Follow the order as follows: Body Paragraph #1, Body Paragraph #2, Body Paragraph #3, Body Paragraph #4, Body Paragraph #5, Introductory Paragraph, and Concluding Paragraph.  You will find it easier this way (as starting with the Introductory Paragraph first can sometimes “block” your creative thinking). 
 
     (At this point, you may want to look at the Example Expository Articles, which are provided in the next section.) 
 
     While you are writing the specific paragraph plans, paragraph by paragraph, you will have to brainstorm each paragraph’s “body” sentences (that is, the S1, S2, S3, S4, S5), as well as the CS.  Do not rush this process!  Just because you have already brainstormed the General Article Outline, does not mean you can forget to brainstorm each paragraph of the Specific Paragraph Outline.  Each paragraph must have its own internal (as well as corporate) structure, so that it can “stand alone” as a coherent paragraph, but also as a living part of the whole article.  Therefore, on the right side of the blackboard, or on some scrap paper, brainstorm and then list five ideas, put them in order, 1 - 5, and then put them into the paragraph plan itself as S1, S2, S3, S4, S5.  After you have written the five sentence ideas into the paragraph plan, you can erase the right (messy) side of the blackboard, or throw away the scrap paper. 
 
     After you have written the S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 for the paragraph plan, write the CS.  This Concluding Sentence should (a) summarize and wrap up its own paragraph, and (b) should act as a transition towards the next paragraph. 
 
     Continue in this way, until you have done all five Body paragraphs.  Then, do the same thing for the Introductory Paragraph.  The TS of the Introductory Paragraph should introduce the whole text, and not just the paragraph itself. 
 
     On the “Thesis Statement”.  Almost all expository articles have a special sentence called the “Thesis Statement”, which is usually found in the first paragraph.  The “Thesis Statement” is a sentence that summarizes the main idea of the whole article.  An effective reader will look for the “Thesis Statement” (by “skimming” for it) before reading the article carefully, so as to know what the general idea of the article is.  This will allow the reader to read through predicting what the text says, and see if the prediction was correct–not blindly, or through uninformed guessing.   One can therefore have a rough idea of what an article is about by reading the “Thesis Statement” only, and not the article itself; this is very useful when you have to review many articles, looking for only a little information.  A “Thesis Statement” usually looks like this: “In this article, I will try to....” or “In this article, ---------- will be described and analyzed”.  In this scheme of writing, I suggest that you always put the “Thesis Statement” in the CS of the Introductory paragraph (the first paragraph).  This may sound boring and unimaginative, but the result is a familiar, predictable and understandable writing product. 
 
     How do you write a “Thesis Statement”?  Start with the phrase, “In this article....”, and stop writing.  Ask yourself, “What is this article about?  What am I trying to say to the reader?”  Think about this for a while.  You should be able to say this in one sentence–and very clearly.  Get out some scrap paper, and “try out” the language.  Edit what you wrote, and edit again, and again, until you have what you want.  It is not a waste of time to think about this carefully!  If you can clearly write down the “Thesis Statement”, then you will probably be able to say what you want to say over the whole article.  Remember, most readers will look for your “Thesis Statement” at the very beginning, and if they do not like it, then they will not read any more of your article, but will put it away.  If you are having difficulty, get help, or put away the paper, and come back to it later.  (Of course, for your exams, you do not have this luxury, but I hope that after college and exams are finished, you will be writing because you want to make good art.)  Keep working at it, until you have a good sentence, that clearly says what the article is about.  Here is an example, about the introduction of the pheasant into England, by the Romans.  “In this article, I will discuss how the Romans introduced the pheasant into England, and how the pheasant became one of today’s important game birds.” 
 
     After you have done the above, you need to write the outline for the Concluding Paragraph.  Here, as with the Introductory Paragraph, you can begin with the TS of this paragraph.  Make certain you have written it clearly, and that you know where you want to go in this paragraph.  Then write the outline for the five Body sentences.  Finally, put in the last CS.  This last CS must close the whole article, and not just the paragraph itself.  There are two ways you can write the last, Concluding paragraph.  You can (a) summarize what has gone on before (in the article), or (b) you can assume that the reader already knows this, and “point the way forward” to other ideas (which will not be covered in this article).  You choose which one you like! 
Writing the actual seven paragraphs of the 7 x 7 expository article. 
 
     The article you will write will have 49 sentences (7 x 7 = 49).  Each one of the sentences can be “developed” from the outline plan you have just written.  If you have written the plan well, you will have a text that is structurally strong.  Therefore, you should take the necessary time to make a good plan!  Before, I mentioned the saying, “Failing to plan, is planning to fail”.  Here is another common saying, “Garbage in, garbage out”.  You should do this plan very carefully, and then the actual writing of the article itself will be much easier, especially in terms of your ideas, and how they are organized.  When you write the actual sentences, you can use any one of the “Six Sentence Types”, which were discussed in the first section of this book. 
 
     As you write the sentences, use simple and short sentences first, so as to lay down the basic framework of your thought.  Later on, you can “upgrade” these sentences.  That is, write your first draft with Type One and Type Two sentences.  Later on, they can be improved into longer and more complex sentences, as you see fit.