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Date Posted: 03:44:08 11/29/04 Mon
Author: Maria tereza
Subject: Re: Final Paper
In reply to: Kátia 's message, "Final Paper" on 15:57:39 11/24/04 Wed

USING THE COMPUTER TO WRITE AN ESSAY
Joan has been sitting in front of the computer all day long. She has been trying to write an essay assigned by her teacher the day before, which is due on the next day. It was the first time she was using the computer to write a school paper. Up to now she has been writing her essays by using the old method, which was pen and paper. She was having a hard time, but she was willing to finish that task.
Although many people might think the computer is a difficult tool to work with, this modern device is extremely helpful when writing an essay according to academic rules. There are many advantages of using the computer to write school papers. It helps you not only to do the brainstorm and to save the ideas for the first draft. Also, it helps you to do the research on The Internet, to do the layout and to do the spelling and grammar check.
The first step is to brainstorm. Computers are excellent tools for free writing. After the topic has been chosen to write about, you should turn off the monitor and write as many words it comes into your mind without thinking about the mistakes you are making. By not looking at the words being written you can produce a great deal of words. Then, you should select the most relevant ideas about the topic, write a sentence, or, if possible a paragraph. Repeating the step above for two or three times, you will be able to make a first draft.
The next step deals with the text itself. After the brainstorm you will organize your text in an introduction, development and conclusion. When it comes to texts, the computer offers a great device called word processor. Type the text there and click on the save icon. Therefore, you do not run the risk to lose your text. In the word processor you can make any change you want. You can add new ideas, delete others and move some sentences that were not properly placed in one of the paragraphs.
The third step is to do research. The computer presents an extremely helpful tool called The Internet. To have access to it, you must contact the phone company to contract this service. As a research device, The Web turn out to be a tool of vital importance in the research area. (MacDonald and Seel, 2004). Google (www.google.com), Alltheweb, Altavista and Yahoo are some of the search engines that you can count on. When connected to these sites, you can have access to a great amount of information on the subject they are writing about. These sites work in a different way from each other and so are the results one can get from them. When possible it is advisable to use more than one search engine.
The fourth step it to correct your text by using the computer’s spell checker and grammar checker functions. When writing without the help of the computer, you must have plenty of time to spend looking for the right spelling of the words in a dictionaries, and for the correct sentence structure in grammar books. With the programs provided by the computer, you can do a spell check by first placing the arrow at the beginning of the text and then do a click on the tools icon and one more click on the word spell and grammar check. This program corrects the whole text. Another source for grammar check, is to get connected to the Internet to have access to a vast number of sites that will help in this matter.
The fifth step is to work on the text layout. There are some rules that you should follow to write an academic paper. For example, there must be double space between the lines, in the reference part, the title of the book, or the title of the article you consulted, must be underlined or in italics. Techiniques such as doing the layout, giving double space between the lines, putting words in boldface and italics, and making the font bigger or smaller, are easier to be done in the computer. (Simic, 2004). All these can be done with a couple of keyboard strokes.
You may argue that it is exceptionally difficult to deal with too many tools, that you might make many mistakes and that it will take them longer to write youe essay. Writing with the help of the computer for the first time may seem awkward, but after doing it for a few times it becomes an extremely easy task. It is just a matter of practicing, and it will save you an enormous amount of time. As the old proverb says: “Practice makes it perfect.” Moreover it will help you to get a better grade on your essay once that it will not show as many mistakes usually made when writing on a regular basis.

REFERENCES
SIMIC, M . Computer Assisted Writing Instruction. Retrieved October 8, 2004, from
http://library.adoption.com/Childhood-Learning-and-Education/Computer-Assisted-Writing-Instruction/article/3877/3.html
MACDONALD, W. B. and SEEL, J. (2004) Writing with your computer. Retrieved October 8, 2004, from
http:// ec.hku.hk/writing turbocharger/planing/-16-.htm

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