Likewise, many new college students operate under the false belief that intelligence and skill are “fixed.” In their minds, a person is either smart or skilled in something, or she is not. Some students apply this false belief to math and science subjects, saying things like “I’m just no good at math and I never will be,” or even worse, “I guess I am just not smart enough to be in college.” As you can tell, these beliefs can sabotage someone’s college career. Also unfortunately, the same kind of false beliefs are applied to public speaking, and people conclude that because public speaking is hard, they are just not “natural” at it and have no inborn skill. They give up on improving and avoid public speaking at all costs.

Scholars at the University of Wisconsin-Stout (“Public Speaking Anxiety,” 2015) explain that anxiety in public speaking can result from one of several misperceptions: “all or nothing” thinking—a mindset that if your speech falls short of “perfection” (an unrealistic standard), then you are a failure as a public speaker; overgeneralization—believing that a single event (such as failing at a task) is a universal or “always” event; and fortune telling—the tendency to anticipate that things will turn out badly, no matter how much practice or rehearsal is done.

For many people, fear of public speaking or being interviewed for a job does not rise to the level of a true “phobia” in psychological terms. A phobia is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV as a state where someone experiences “significant and persistent fear when in the presence of, or anticipating the presence of, the object of fear, which may be an object, place or situation” (Grohol, 2013). They are just uncomfortable in public speaking situations and need strategies for addressing the task.

This fear may be in situations such as responding to a professor in class or having to interact with a stranger, not just giving formal speeches as this book is addressing.

Why are so many people afraid of public speaking? This is a complex question, and the answer is tied to many personal and psychological factors such as self-efficacy, self-confidence, past experience, training, culture, and context. The term “glossophobia,” combining the two Greek words for “tongue” and “fear or dread,” has been coined to refer to

The readings will also cover what most students want to know right away: how to control speech anxiety. If you feel fear, anxiety, or discomfort when confronted with the task of speaking in front of an audience, you are not alone. National polls consistently show that public speaking is among Americans’ top fears (Bodie, 2010). We will explore causes of speaking anxiety, ways to address it, and best practices of vocal and physical delivery.

Diction word choice that both conveys and emphasizes the meaning or theme of a poem through distinctions in sound, look, rhythm, syllable, letters, and definition

Look for words that show an implied meaning. Words display a conscious choice of the author that indicates tone. BEWARE! Connotations can change over time. Example: confidence/ arrogance or mouse/ rat

representation of a person, place, or thing performing traditionally human activities or functions in a work of fiction Protagonist - The character the story revolves around. Antagonist - A character or force that opposes the protagonist. Minor character - Often provides support and illuminates the protagonist. Static character - A character that remains the same. Dynamic character - A character that changes in some important way. Characterization - The choices an author makes to reveal a character’s personality, such as appearance, actions, dialogue, and motivations. Look for: Connections, links, and clues between and about characters. Ask yourself what the function and significance of each character is. Make this determination based upon the character's history, what the reader is told (and not told), and what other characters say about themselves and others

narrative form in which the characters are representative of some larger humanistic trait (i.e. greed, vanity, or bravery) and attempt to convey some larger lesson or meaning to life. Although allegory was originally and traditionally character based, modern allegories tend to parallel story and theme.

What is my argument? ○ What is the purpose of the source? ○ What evidence in the work supports and/or contradicts that argument? How does the author construct meaning in the work? ○ What assumptions does the author make about the subject or audience, and why are such assumptions significant? ○ What types of rhetorical devices does s/he use? (e.g., logos, pathos, ethos, symbolism, metaphor, etc.) ○ How do these devices relate to the theme? What sources does the author use? ○ Do any other sources make a similar (or opposing) claim, reach a similar (or opposing) conclusion, or offer similar (or opposing) evidence? ○ What are the aims of the source, how worthwhile are they, and how are they achieved? ○ What do these sources tell you about the author’s stance and credibility?

Analysis, in contrast, features original thought from you, the writer. It examines the deeper meaning of the summarized content. This examination includes—but is not limited to—the work’s purpose, theme, and figurative language (more common in humanities disciplines), as well as patterns, pros and cons, and cause/effect relationships (more common in STEM fields). Analysis answers the deeper questions how and/or why the theme or patterns in the text are important and/or relevant.

Take all the information you have gathered to formulate the thesis and supporting evidence into 1-2 sentences each, thereby forming a cohesive paragraph.

Be sure to use attributive tags to show that you are summarizing someone else’s work and ideas (i.e., “According to Smith”; see WSTS handout Quotations and Credible Sources)

Outlining key words may also be helpful in determining the main ideas. Highlight 5-10 words that convey the main idea per paragraph, and then use those keywords as you begin to write your summary.

Try annotating the source to better understand the material. This process of taking notes on the page of whatever text you are reading can be accomplished by underlining or highlighting the main idea/thesis, supporting evidence, important figures/statistics, and special vocabulary.

Your summary should only be long enough to encompass the main idea(s) and any major supporting evidence. (In our example, we summarized an entire story in one sentence. It is entirely reasonable to expect one paragraph to summarize a 25-page paper, for instance).

Summary refers to the process of condensing someone else’s work, specifically the main ideas, in your own words and doing justice to the author’s original intentions. It answers the questions of who, what, where, when, why, and/or how in that particular work.

A theme is not the plot of the story. It is the underlying truth that is being conveyed in the story. Themes can be universal, meaning they are understood by readers no matter what culture or country the readers are in. Common themes include coming of age, circle of life, prejudice, greed, good vs. evil, beating the odds, etc.

First-person point of view means that one of the characters in the story will narrate–give an account–of the story. The narrator may be the protagonist, the main character. Writing in first-person point of view brings the readers closer to the story. They can read it as if they are the character because personal pronouns like I, me, my, we, us, and our are used. Third-person point of view means that the narrator is not in the story. The third-person narrator is not a character. Third-person point of view can be done two ways: Third-person limited Third-person omniscient Third-person limited means that the narrator limits him/herself by being able to be in one character’s thoughts.  Whereas, third-person omniscient means the narrator has unlimited ability to be in various character’s thoughts.  Writing in third-person point of view removes readers from the story because of the pronouns he, she, it, him, her, his, hers, they, them, and theirs.

Conflict is the struggle between two entities. In story writing the main character, also known as the protagonist, encounters a conflict with the antagonist, which is an adversary. The conflict may be one of six kinds: Character vs. character Character vs. nature or natural forces Character vs. society or culture Character vs. machine or technology Character vs. God Character vs himself or herself

Denouement or resolution provides closure to the story. It ties up loose ends in the story.

Falling action includes the events that unfold after the climax. This usually creates an emotional response from the reader.

Climax is the turning point in the story. Usually, it is a single event with the greatest intensity and uncertainty. The main character must contend with the problem at this point.

Rising action includes the events that the main character encounters. Each event, developed in separate scenes, makes the problem more complex.

Exposition is an introduction to the characters, time, and the problem. At the point where exposition moves into rising action a problem, sometimes called an inciting incident, occurs for the main character to handle or solve. This creates the beginning of the story.

Plot is the order of events in the story. The plot usually follows a particular structure called Freytag’s Pyramid. Gustav Freytag, a German playwright who lived during the 1800s, identified this structure. Freytag’s Pyramid has five parts: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and denouement, also known as resolution. See Figure 3.1.

Writers write about places they are familiar with. If they aren’t familiar with the place, then they need to research it in order to be accurate about the place.

Setting can function as a main force that the characters encounter, such as a tornado or flood, or a setting can play a minor role such as setting the mood. Often times, the setting can reveal something about the main character as he/she functions in that place and time period.

Setting is where and when the story takes place. It includes the following: The immediate surroundings of the characters such as props in a scene: trees, furniture, food, inside of a house or car, etc. The time of day such as morning, afternoon, or night. The weather such as cloudy, sunny, windy, snow, or rain, etc. The time of year, particularly the seasons: fall, winter, summer, spring. The historical period such as what century or decade the story takes place. The geographical location including the city, state, country, and possibly even the universe, if the writer is writing science fiction.

If writers write about characters outside their own culture, they need to do research so as not to misrepresent a particular culture. The same is also true of characters, who have illnesses. The writer may need to research the illness and treatment for it in order to be accurate about it.

When discussing stories with other readers and writers or when writing an analysis of a story, fictional characters can be described as static or developing. Static means the character stays the same throughout the story. They do not change. Developing, also called dynamic, means the character changes. The change may impact the character’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions. The change may be small or large. This change occurs because the character experiences an epiphany, an insight about life.

On the other hand, the round characters play an important role, often the lead roles in stories. They are complex, dimensional, and well-developed. The stories are about them; therefore, pages of writing will be about them. They often change by going through a life-changing experience as the story unfolds.

Characters are the people, animals, or aliens in the story. Readers come to know the characters through what they say, what they think, and how they act. E. M. Forster, an English novelist, identified that characters are either flat or round. Flat characters do not play important roles in the stories. They often have only one or two traits with little description about them. A flat character may even be a stock character, which is a stereotypical figure that is easily recognized by readers, for example, the mad scientist or the evil stepmother.

Fiction is make-believe, invented stories. They may be short stories, fables, vignettes, plays, novellas, or novels. Although writers may base a character on people they have met in real life, the characters and the experiences that the character faces in the story are not real. So, how does a writer write fiction? Characters, setting, plot, conflict, point of view, and theme are six key elements for writing fiction.

What stages of the writing process do you use? Which are your strengths? And which are your weaknesses?

How do you write your first draft? Are you a think-write writer or a write-write writer?

What genres do you prefer to write? Why?

What writing tools (paper, pens, pencils, laptop, dictionary, thesaurus, etc.) do you need in order to write a document?

Where do you like to write?

When do you like to write?

Revising literally means “to see again” not just once but multiple times. Revision has two types of processes: To look at the larger problems such as content and organization To look at the smaller problems such as sentence structure, word choice, and formatting Part of revising may include asking others to read drafts and make revision recommendations. Ultimately, it’s always up to the writer whether those revision recommendations will be implemented into the final draft.

Cooling means setting aside the document, at least 24-48 hours before revising begins for short pieces of work. This allows writers to have a break from the content and a new perspective when entering the revision stage. To do this, writers need to be organized and time managers. The first draft must be done early enough to set it aside for the recommended cooling time. Authors of books have even longer cooling periods. It may be weeks, months, and sometimes even years, depending on the writer’s preference and the deadline for the publication of the book.

Drafting involves writing the first draft of a document. Some writers write their first draft with a pen and a notebook. Other writers write directly on a laptop or computer. The choice depends on the preference of the writer. A short piece of writing can be drafted in one sitting.  The goal is to get everything down on paper before it is lost. If a piece cannot be drafted in one sitting because it is too long, writers generally stop at a place where they know what they will write next. This prevents writer’s block, the inability to write the next day. When drafting, writers are encouraged to not pay attention to spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. Revising while writing causes writers to lose the original flow of the idea. Spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc. can be addressed in the final revision.

Writers make several decisions in the prewriting stage as well. They will answer questions like the following: What is the topic? Who are the readers? What genre (type of writing) works best as the vehicle of communication? What point of view (perspective) will this piece be told from? What kind of research needs to be completed before drafting begins?

Prewriting writing begins with what draws the writer to write. The writer may be inspired by nature, people, animals, life events, etc. Some writers keep a writing journal, a record of lists and notes, maybe even drawings or photographs, that initially caught their attention. Writers generally are strong observers who record what they see, hear, taste, touch, and smell because it may become part of a story, a poem, a non-fiction essay, a play, etc. Writers may carry a small notebook with them throughout the day and set it on the nightstand next to their bed at night. Then, it is readily available when an idea–an inspiration–grabs their attention.

Every piece of writing goes through a process of stages: prewriting (also sometimes called planning), drafting, cooling, revising, and publishing. These steps do not always follow one another in succession. Instead, they are recursive, meaning a step can occur again at any point in the process. For instance, while revising an historically-based short story, a writer may discover he/she needs to do additional research about the time period that the story is set, which takes the writer back to the prewriting stage. See Figure 1.4.

Most writers are somewhere between these two extreme types of drafters, and that’s the best place to be. See Figure 1.3 which illustrates these two types of drafters. If you are an extreme think-write writer, cultivate some of the traits of the write-write writer, and if you are an extreme write-write writer, try some of the traits of the think-write writer. Attempting both styles of writing will help writers avoid writer’s block.

They have a hard time knowing when a draft is finished, and they sometimes over revise. They are often writing under pressure–a deadline. They are often referred to as the messy writers, and the revision of their work takes a long time.

They are willing to try multiple ideas to see what will work best. They can easily leave sentence and grammar errors to be edited later in the revision stage. They embrace revision as it is part of their drafting process.

Other writers are write-write writers. They write, cut, copy, and reorganize their work as well as throw away and start again—sometimes multiple times. They are constantly prewriting, planning, and revising as they go. They sometimes struggle with finishing a final draft, and they have even been known to delete some of their best work. These writers need to remember to save all drafts, so that the best work is never lost. See Figure 1.2 for a list of  advantages and disadvantages of being an extreme write-write writer.

They need time to think; they can’t write under command or time pressure. Starting the opening paragraph can be difficult because they are still thinking. Revising their work is difficult because from their perspective a lot of the revision decisions were made in the thinking process.

Advantages Once they’ve start writing, they finish the draft easily. The first draft can feel like a polished final draft to the writer. They usually finish drafts on time or earlier than the deadline.

Some are think-write writers. They need to think and think and think some more until they can write their first draft. When they write their first draft, they need a large block of time to get it down on paper. Their first drafts feel like a finished product to the writer because they’ve done most of their prewriting and revising in the thinking process. However, these writers need to remember that the first draft is just that—a first draft. Revision is necessary.  See Figure 1.1 for a list of the advantages and disadvantages of being an extreme think-write writer.

Each writer has his/her own preferences when drafting a document. Whether a person is writing a story, a poem, a journal entry, a letter, or a creative non-fiction piece, the writing approach is idiosyncratic, meaning that it is distinctive to the person who is writing.