Write a paragraph about an important person in history.

Follow these steps of writing:

Step 1 Prewrite to get ideas.

Use the listing practice that you completed in the Try It Out! exercise on page 17.

Step 2 Organize the ideas.

Decide which idea will go first, second, third, and so on. Make a simple outline listing the ideas in the order you will write about them. Use the outline to guide you as you write. 22 Part 1 I The Paragraph

Step 3 Write the rough draft.

Write ROUGH DRAFT at the top of your paper.

Begin your paragraph with a sentence that names the person and tells where or on whom he or she made a difference. My high school physics teacher changed my ideas about school. Martin Luther King, Jr. changed the way black people live in the United States forever.

Pay attention to your sentence structure. Make sure all of your sentences have at least one subject and one verb.

Step 4 Polish the rough draft.

Exchange papers with a classmate and ask him or her to check your rough draft using Peer-Edjting Worksheet 1 on page 198. Then discuss the completed worksheet and decide what changes you should make. Write a second draft.

Use Self-Editing Worksheet 1 on page 199 to check your second draft for grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure.

Step 5 Write a final copy.

Hand in your rough draft, your second draft, your final copy, and the page containing the two editing worksheets. Your teacher may also ask you to hand in your prewriting paper.