Skip to main content
Ontario Tech acknowledges the lands and people of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation.

We are thankful to be welcome on these lands in friendship. The lands we are situated on are covered by the Williams Treaties and are the traditional territory of the Mississaugas, a branch of the greater Anishinaabeg Nation, including Algonquin, Ojibway, Odawa and Pottawatomi. These lands remain home to many Indigenous nations and peoples.

We acknowledge this land out of respect for the Indigenous nations who have cared for Turtle Island, also called North America, from before the arrival of settler peoples until this day. Most importantly, we acknowledge that the history of these lands has been tainted by poor treatment and a lack of friendship with the First Nations who call them home.

This history is something we are all affected by because we are all treaty people in Canada. We all have a shared history to reflect on, and each of us is affected by this history in different ways. Our past defines our present, but if we move forward as friends and allies, then it does not have to define our future.

Learn more about Indigenous Education and Cultural Services

Stage 1: Planning

Video Resources

Video Resources

How to plan assignments

For more information on how to plan assignments and how to understand rhetoric and persuasion in writing, take time to watch the following videos by Arizona State University + Crash Course: 

Video one: How to plan a writing project 

Video two: What is rhetoric? 

Video three: Connecting with an audience 

Video four: When and where?

Video five: Remediation

Video six: Purpose and rhetorical appeals

Video seven: Presentation and persuasion

References

George Mason University: The Writing Center. (n.d.). Rhetoric. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from https://writingcenter.gmu.edu/guides/rhetoric

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Rhetorical Strategies. Retrieved June 28, 2021, from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/academic_writing/establishing_arguments/rhetorical_strategies.html

Writing is not always easy. Often times, writers will get writer’s block where they are unable to come up with ideas or do not know where to start. Planning effectively can help you to get started with writing and generating ideas, structure your ideas and develop a main thesis or purpose statement.

The planning stage, also known as prewriting, requires preliminary thinking about the written assignment as well as some exploration and formal planning of ideas into a structured outline.

When planning for your written assignments, you must consider rhetoric. Rhetoric is another word for persuasion, which discusses how a writer uses language. This means that as you plan out assignments, you have to be aware of who you are writing for (a professor, a business manager, a judge, and so on) and how best to write for them.

For guidance on planning your university writing, download the Formal Academic Writing in University tip sheet.