Too tired to think of a clever title :)

Want to know the first thing I thought of when I read the question, “How do you know [order] when you see it?” FLOW!!! Yes. That evil four letter word that we talked about in class today! I know it because when I read it, it makes sense. I understand how the reader got from one word, sentence, paragraph, and idea to the next. I unconsciously (well, now consciously, I guess) go through a process when looking through a tutee’s paper. First, of course, we read through the paper. I’ll try to find the main points the tutee were trying to make and see how the tutee organized them, if organized at all. If I can’t seem to make sense of the paper and there isn’t any (dare I say it?) flow, then I’ll suggest different ways the tutee can organize it. For example, a tutee came in a couple weeks with sheets and sheets of articles and information on the subject she wanted to write about. Her worry was that she didn’t know how to start. How did she organize all the data she accumulated into coherent paragraphs? I asked her questions about the sort of material she found and what her goal was for the end of the paper. We found out that her information could be filed under four categories: How it affects the individual, how it effects the immediate people surrounding the individual, how it effects the economy, and how to fix it. She asked how to decide where to place each thought. We decided that, for this paper, it would “flow” better if she went from small to big. In other words, from the individual to the economy and how to fix it. I’ve been taught many ways to organize a paper, but I think which way I choose depends on what I’m writing about. If I write about the history of bubble gum, I would organize my essay chronologically by year. I was taught that in a persuasive 5-paragraph essay, the body paragraphs should be ordered from second most important argument, weakest argument, then strongest argument. Now, when I sit down to write an essay, I think “What do I want to write about?” Then, I’ll go out and research the subject. By the end of the researching process, my opinion may have changed on the subject, as well as what I want my paper to focus on. After that, outlines work best for me. I’m visual. I need to see the points I want to make, the points inside those points, and so on. Then, I can start writing the essay. That way simply makes sense for me.