24 Writing
Writing is often part of the process of reporting an incident. When something goes wrong, writing about what happened can be part of the critical thinking that helps us analyze, reflect, and improve behaviour.
Written reports must be clear about what is fact and what is opinion.
Scaffolding Genre-exploring Activity
In Chapter 2, Gilles announced a ban on alcohol at the folk music festival. That decision was a consequence of a car crash the year before that involved a couple of festival volunteers (refer to page 90). Here is a part of a report to the festival committee from one of those volunteers, Kai Wheeler.
Jesse Laboucane and I were volunteers on the crew setting up the main stage at the Maskwa fairgrounds for the big show the next day. We finished about 10:00 p.m. We decided to walk back into town. It’s about 2 kilometres from the grounds. It was getting dark. We walked along the shoulder of the road. As we were crossing over Beaver Creek, we heard a car coming up behind us. As I recall, we didn’t see our shadows on the road from headlights behind us. The car didn’t have its lights on. Suddenly, I was flying through the air. I’ve been told I landed in the ditch. I had a concussion and don’t remember. I’ve learned that empty beer bottles were found in the driver’s car.
I’ve been reflecting on what happened and how it could have been prevented. First off, there are a couple of things Jesse and I could have done differently. I shouldn’t have been walking in the dark wearing black. Black-on-black isn’t cool; it’s invisible. We should have walked on the other shoulder, facing traffic. We should have looked back when we heard the car approaching. But road safety wasn’t just up to me. The driver should have turned the headlights on. The sun had set. Furthermore, there are no excuses for drinking and driving. Moreover, his buddies, who were sober, should never have gotten in the car with him. They should have taken his keys away.
Let’s take a look at the way Kai organized his ideas.
Paragraphs
There are two main ideas: a description of a past event and recommendations about accident prevention. Kai divided his report into two distinct paragraphs. He didn’t mix the facts or actions that took place with his ideas or opinions about avoiding future accidents and injuries.
Topic Sentences
Each paragraph begins with a sentence that clearly tells the reader what to expect. A topic sentence is like a road sign. It announces what’s coming. That first sentence makes the writer’s purpose very clear. All the details after that sentence relate to that topic.
Topic Sentence Practice
- Read the short paragraph next to each picture.
- Cross out one sentence that isn’t on exactly the same topic as the other sentences.
- Write a topic sentence for each paragraph.
- Identify whether each paragraph includes facts, opinions, or both.
| Paragraph 1
The first recommendation is that Musa should not text while he is driving. Second, he should look ahead at the r