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CHAPTER EIGHT that it was really supposed to be a bike. Who knows? Maybe I'll end up being a police hamster who's been put on "hamster wheel" duty because I'm "too much of a loose cannon" in the field. In improv there are no mis­ PROCESS· ANALYSIS takes, only beautiful happy accidents. And many of the world's greatest discoveries have been by accident. I mean, look at the Reese's Peanut

9 9 9 Butter Cup, or Botox. -TIN A FEY, Bossypants

In a directive process analysis, you typically use the second-person pro­ noun (you) because you're giving instructions directly to the reader. Some­ HE essays in this chapter are examples of PROCESS ANALYSIS* or "how times the you is understood, as in a recipe: [you] combine the milk with Allegra Goodman, T to" writing. Basically, there are two kinds of process analysis: directive the eggs, then add .a pinch of salt and the juice of one lemon. In an P· 322, uses the and explanatory. A directive process analysis explains how to make or do second-person to explanatory process analysis, you typically use the third-person tell you how to be something-for instance, how to throw a boomerang. ("Bring the boomerang pronoun (he, she, it) because you're giving information about some- a good writer. back behind you and snap it forward as if you were throwing a baseball."­ thing to the reader: howstuffworks.com) An explanatory process analysis explains how something works; it tells you what makes the boomerang come back. The uneven force caused by the difference in speed between the two Both kinds of analysis break a process into the sequence of actions that wings applies a constant force at the top of the spinning boomerang . . . . lead to its end result. In her sassy memoir Bossypants, for example, the comedian Like a leaning bicycle wheel, the boomerang is constantly turning to Tina Fey explains how to do improvisational comedy by breaking the process the left or right, so that it travels in a circle and comes back to its start­ into four basic rules. "The first rule of improvisation," Fey writes, "is AGREE-. ing point. Always agree and SAY YES." Then "add something of your own" (rule 2), con­ - howstuffworks.com tinue to make positive statements (rule 3), and treat all "mistakes" as "opportu­ nities" (rule 4). The end result of improvisational comedy, of course, is the audience's laughter. Here's an example of how Fey follows her own "rules" to achieve this end:

If I start a scene as what I think is very clearly a cop riding a bicycle, but you think I am a hamster in a hamster wheel, guess what? Now I'm a hamster in a hamster wheel. I'm not going to stop everything to explain

*Words printed in SMALL CAPITALS are defined in the Glossary/Index. Bring behind head, then snap forward

292 .. 294 Process Analysis Process Analysis .. 295

Sometimes a process is best explained by showing how it works, so you may (5) storing. When you plan an essay that analyzes a process, make a list of all the want to add diagrams or drawings to the written text. An analysis of how stages or phases in the process you are analyzing. Make sure that they are sepa­ to throw a boomerang, for example, might benefit from a clearly labeled rate and distinct and that you haven't left any out. When you are satisfied that diagram. your list is complete, you are ready to decide upon the order in which you will Most processes that you analyze will be linear rather than cyclical. Even if present the steps. the process is repeatable, your analysis will proceed chronologically step by step, The usual order of process analysis is chronological, beginning with the stage by stage to an end result that is different from the starting point. Consider earliest stage of the process (the culling of the split and rotten oranges from the this explanatory analysis of how fresh oranges are turned into orange juice rest) and ending with the last, or with the finished product (concentrated orange concentrate: juice in holding tanks). Notice that after they leave the conveyer belt, McPhee's oranges come to a fork in the road. They can go in different directions, depend­ ing upon what kind of juicing machine is being ·used. McPhee An early stage in As the fruit starts to move along a concentrate plant's assembly line, it is briefly follows the oranges into one kind of juicer and then comes becoming a man, first culled . . . . Moving up a conveyer belt, oranges are scrubbed with says Jon Katz, detergent before they roll on into juicing machines. There are several back to the other. He has stopped time and forward motion for a p. 316, is learning . to show no fear. kinds of juicing machines, and they are something to see. One is called moment. Now he picks them up again and procee d s d own t h e 1me: the Brown Seven Hundred. Seven hundred oranges a minute go into it "from either machine, the juice flows on into a thing called the finisher" where it and are split and reamed on the same kind of rosettes that are in the is strained. From the straining stage, the orange concentrate goes into the fifth centers of ordinary kitchen reamers. The rinds that come pelting ou.t (and final) holding stage, where it is stored in large tanks. the bottom are integral halves, just like the rinds of oranges squeezed Another lesson to take away here: if the order of the process you are ana­ in a kitchen. Another machine is the Food Machinery Corporation's lyzing is controlled by a piece of machinery or other mechanism, let it work FMC In-line Extractor. It has a shining row of aluminum teeth. When for you. McPhee, in fact, lets several machines- conveyor belt, extractor, and an orange tumbles in, the upper jaw comes crunching down on it while finisher-help him organize his analysis. at the same time the orange is penetrated from below by a perforated Some stages in a process analysis may be more complicated than others. steel tube. As the jaws crush the outside, the juice goes through the Suppose you are explaining to someone how to replace a light switch.' You might perforations in the tube and down into the plumbing of the concentrate break the process down into six stages: (1) select and purchase the new switch; plant. All in a second, the juice has been removed and the rind has been crushed and shredded beyond recognition. (2) turn off the power at the breaker box; (3) remove the switch plate; (4) disc on­ From either machine, the juice flows on into a thing called the nect the old switch and install the new one; (5) replace the switch plate; (6) turn finisher, where seeds, rag, and pulp are removed. The finisher has a big the power back on. Obviously, one of these stages-"disconnect the old switch stainless-steel screw that steadily drives the juice through a fine-mesh and install the new one"-is more complicated than the others. When this hap­ screen. From the finisher, it flows on into holding tanks. pens, you can break down the more complicated stage into its constituent steps, - JoHN McPHEE, Oranges as McPhee does with his analysis of the production of orange juice concentrate. The most complicated stage in McPhee's process analysis is the third one, John McPhee divides the process ofmaking orange juice concentrate from fresh extracting. He breaks it into the following steps: (1) an orange enters the fruit into five stages: (1) culling, (2) scrubbing, (3) extracting, (4) straining, extractor; (2) it is crushed by the extractor's steel jaws; (3) at the same time, the 296 P. Process Analysis Process Analysis · 297

orange is "penetrated from below by a p~rforated steel tube"; (4) the extracted by step, from beginning to end, is much like the twisting and turning of the juice flows on to the next stage of the process. All of this happens "in a second," PLOT in a NARRATIVE. Like plot in narrative, a process is a sequence of events says McPhee; but for purposes of analysis and explanation, the steps must be or actions. You are the NARRATOR, and you are telling the exciting story of presented in sequence, using such TRANSITIONS as "when," "while at the same how something is made or done or how it works. Also as with a narrative, you o II H 11 ° d JJ "f t1me, a 1n a secon , rom ... to," "next," and "then." will want your process analysis to make a point so the reader "The Pizza Plot," McPhee's process analysis is explanatory; it tells how orange juice concen­ knows why you're analyzing the process . and what to expect. p. 342, combines trate is made. When you are telling someone how to do something (a directive narrative and When Tina Fey analyzes how to do improv, for example, she is Process analysis- Jeffrey Skinner uses process analysis), the method of breaking the process into steps and also careful to explain that "the rules of improvisation appealed but not to tell how to make pizza. t his kind of process stages is the same. Here's how our analysis of how to change a light analysis to explain to me not only as a way of creating cqmedy, but as a worldview." how to write switch might break down the most complicated step in the process, You may simply conclude your story with the product or end result of the poetry, p. 327. h h h t e one w ere t e old switch is removed and replaced. The transi- process you've been analyzing. But you may want to round out your account by tions and other words that signal the order and timing of the steps within this summarizing the stages you have just gone through or by encouraging the reader stage are printed in italics: to follow your directions-" Changing a light switch yourself is easy, and it can save money"-or by explaining why the process is important. The production To remove the old switch, first unscrew the two terminal screws on the of orange juice concentrate, for example, transformed Florida's citrus industry. sides. If the wires are attached to the back of the switch, instead clip off In what is called "the old fresh-fruit days," 40 percent of the oranges grown in the old wires as close to the switch as possible. As necessary, strip the Florida were left to rot in the fields because they couldn't travel well. "Now," as insulation from the ends of the wires until approximately half an inch is McPhee notes, "with the exception of split and rotten fruit, all of Florida's orange exposed. Next, unscrew the green grounding screw, and disconnect the crop is used." This is not exactly the end product of the process McPhee is ana­ bare wire attached to it. You are now ready to remove the old switch and replace it with the new one. Either insert the ends of the insulated wires lyzing, but it is an important consequence and one that makes technical advances into the holes on the back of the new switch, or bend the ends of the wires in the citrus industry seem more worth reading about. around the terminal screws and tighten the screws. Reattach the bare One other detail, though a minor one, in McPhee's analysis that you may wire to the green terminal. Finally, secure the new switch by tightening find interesting: when all that fresh fruit was left to rot on the ground because it the two long screws at top and bottom into the ears on the old switch box. couldn't be shipped and local people couldn't use it all, the cows stepped in to help. Thus McPhee notes that in the days before orange juice concentrate, Explaining this stage in our analysis is further complicated because we have to "Florida milk tasted like orangeade." Details like this may not make the process stop the flow of information (with "if ... instead"; "either . . . or . .. and") to go you are analyzing clearer or more accurate, but they may well make the reader down a fork in the road-the wires can be attached either to the screws on the more interested in the process itself. sides of the switch or to holes in the rear- before getting back on track. And we now have to signal a move on to the next stage: "Once the new switch is installed A BRIEF GUIDE TO WRITING replacing the switch plate is a snap." ' A PROCESS ANALYSIS Actually, this simple next-to-last stage (before turning the power back on) requires a twist of the little screw in the center of the switch plate, which As you write a PROCESS ANALYSIS, you need to say what process you're analyzing can serve to remind us that the forward movement of a process analysis, step and to identify some of its most important steps. These moves are fundamental 298 ,.,._ Process Analysis Process Analysis .. 299

to any process analysis. Allegra Goodman makes these basic moves of process a cake rise-your analysis should be explanatory. So instead of giving instruc­ analysis in her essay in this chapter: tions ("add the sugar to the butter"), you would go over the inner workings of the process in some detail, telling readers, for example, what happens when they Forthwith, some advice for those of you who have always wanted to add baking powder to the cake mixture. write .... To begin, don't write about yourself.. . . [l]f you want to be The nature of your audience will also influence the information you include. a writer, start by writing about other people .. .. Find a peaceful place How much do your intended readers already know about the process? Why might to work .... Read widely.... value your own time. they want to know more, or less? If you are giving a set of instructions, will they -ALLEGRA GOODMAN, "So, You Want to be a Writer? Here's How." require any special tools or equipment? What problems are they likely to encoun­ ter? Will they need to know where to find more information on your topic? Ask­ Goodman identifies the process she's analyzing (how "to be a writer") and ing questions like these will help you select the appropriate steps and details. indicates the most important steps that make up the process (write "about other people," "find a peaceful place to work," "read widely," "value your own time"): The following guidelines will help you to make these basic moves as you Generating Ideas: Asking How Something Works draft a process analysis. They will also help you to choose a process to analyze, When you analyze a process, the essential question to ask yourself Or catch a loon divide it into steps, and put those steps in order, using appropriate transitions (p. 306)? Or and pronouns. is how. How does a cake rise? How do I back out of the garage? conduct industrial espionage (p. )? To get started, ask yourself a "how" question about your sub - 342 ject, research the answer (if necessary), and write down all the steps Coming Up with a Subject involved. For instance, "How do I back out of the garage?" might result in a list like this: put the car in reverse, step on the gas, turn the key in the ignition, look Your first challenge is to find a process worth analyzing. You might start by in the rearview mirror. Although this list includes all the essential steps for back­ considering processes you are already familiar with, such as running a mara ~ ing a car out of a garage, you wouldn't want your reader to follow them in this thon, training a puppy, or playing a video game. Or you might think about pro­ order. Once you have a complete list of steps, think about the best order in which cesses you are interested in and want to learn more about. Do you wonder ho.w to present them to your reader. Usually it will be chronological: turn the key in bees make honey, how to tune a guitar, how to change the oil in a car engine, or the ignition, put the car in reverse, look in the rearview mirror, step lightly on the how the oil and gas in your car are produced and refined? Whatever process you gas pedal. choose, you will need to understand it fully yourself before you can explain it Also think about whether you should demonstrate the process-or a com­ clearly to your readers. plex part of it-visually. If you decide to include one or more diagrams or draw­ ings, make sure there are words to accompany each visual. Either DESCRIBE what Considering Your Purpose and Audience the visual shows, or label the parts of a diagram (the parts of an engine, for instance).

When your PURPOSE is to tell readers how to do something, a basic set of instruc­ Templates for Analyzing a Process tions will usually do the job, as when you give someone the recipe for your Aunt Mary's famous pound cake. When, however, you want your AUDIENCE to under­ The following templates can help you to generate ideas for an essay that analyzes stand, not duplicate, a complicated process-such as the chemistry that makes a process and then to start drafting. Don't take these as formulas where you just 300 ..,. Process Analysis Process Analysis ,., 301

have to fill in the blanks. There are no easy formulas for good writing. But these templates can help you plot out some of the key moves of process analysis and Stating Your Point thus may serve as good starting points. . A good process analysis should have a point to make, and that In "How to Get Out of a Locked point should be clearly expressed in a THESIS ST~TE~ENT .. Make Trunk," p. 333, the ... In order to understand how process X works, we can divide it writer is probing into the following steps:_, .:.:.___, and_. sure your thesis statement identifies the process, md1cates 1ts end his fear of tight result, and tells the reader why you're analyzing it. For example: situations-such ... The various steps that make up X can be grouped into the fol­ as marriage. lowing stages:~.___:__, and_. · You cannot understand how the Florida citrus industry works without ... The end result of X is . --.- understanding how fresh orange juice gets processed into "concentrate." -jOHN McPHEE, Oranges ... In order to repeat X, you must first_; then __ and_; and finally_. . . . . McPhee's thesis statement clearly tells the reader what process he's analyzing ... The tools and materials you will need to replicate X include (making "concentrate" from fresh oranges), its end resul~ (or~nge j.uice concen­ _, ___,and ___. · trate), and why he is analyzing it (to understand the Flonda citrus mdustry). .,. The most important reasons for understanding/repeating X are ___, _, and-----'--' Using Appropriate Transitions

As you move from one step to another, include clear TRANSITIONS, such as next, For more techniques to help you generate ideas and start writing a process analysis, see Chapter 2. from there, after five minutes, then. Because the actions and e~ents that make up a process are repeatable, you will frequently use such express1o~s as usually, no:­ mally, in most cases, whenever. Also, use transitions like somettmes, rarely, and m Putting the Steps in Order one instance to note any deviations from the normal order.

When you write about a process, you must present its main steps in order. If the process is a linear one, such as backing out of a garage or driving to a particular Using Appropriate Pronouns address in Dallas, you simply start at the earliest point in time and move for­ In addition to appropriate transition words, be careful to use prono~ns that ~t ward chronologically, step by step, to the end result. If the process is cyclical, the kind of analysis you are writing. In an explanatory process analysis, you will such as what's happening in your car engine as you drive, you will have to pick focus on the things (oranges) and activities (culling and scrubbing) that make a logical point in the process and then proceed through the rest of the cycle. If, up the process. Thus, you will usually write about the process in the third person however, the process you are analyzing does not naturally follow chronology, (he, she, it, and they), as John McPhee does: "Moving up a conveyor be~t, or~nges try arranging the steps from most important to least important, or the other way around. are scrubbed with detergent before they roll on into the juicing machmes. In a directive process analysis, by contrast, you are telling the reader directly how to do something as when Tina Fey tells readers how to do improv comedy. So you 302 ,.,. Process Analysis Process Analysis 303

should typically use the second person (you): "When you're improvising . . . Here, readers are being told how to make orange concentrate for themselves. you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created." .,.. To turn fresh oranges into concentrate, they are first scrubbed you f must first scrub them with detergent. Concluding a Process Analysis

A process analysis is not complete until it explains how the process ends-and Check your verbs to make sure you haven't shifted needlessly between the significance of that result. For example, in concluding a process analysis the indicative and the imperative moods. about training a puppy, you might say not only what the result will be but why , .,.. According to my mother's recipe, a4i the nuts are added, and then the it is important or desirable: "A well-trained dog will behave when guests visit, cinnamon is sprinkled on top. won't destroy your carpeting and furniture, and will make less work for you in the long run." In the case of processing oranges into concentrate, John McPhee ~ According to my mother's recipe, add the nuts, and then sprinkle the concludes his essay by telling readers not only that the process yielded a new, cinnamon is sprinkled on top. concentrated form of orange juice, but that it totally changed the Florida citrus industry and saved much of the crop from going to waste-or winding up as orange-flavored milk.

EDITING FOR COMMON ERRORS IN A PROCESS ANALYSIS

Like other kinds of writing, process analysis uses distinctive patterns of lan­ guage and punctuation- and thus invites typical kinds of errors. The following tips will help you to check for (and correct) these common errors when you analyze a process in your own writing.

Check to insure you've used the right pronouns

When you're explaining how something works or is done, make sure you use mostly third-person pronouns (he, she, it, they) . When you're explaining how to do something, make sure you emphasize the second-person pronoun (you) . Here, readers are being told how oranges are processed by others .

.,.. When fresh oranges are turned !nto concentrate, you first scrub them they are first scrubbed with detergent. Goodman I So, You Want to Be a Writer? Here's How. • 323

ALLEGRA GOODMAN Book sales are down, but creative writing enrollments are booming. The longing to write knows no bounds. A lactation consultant1 told me, "I have a story SO, YOU WANT TO BE A WRITER? inside of me. I mean, I know everybody has a story, but I really have a story." HERE'S HOW. Forthwith, some advice for those of you who have always wanted to write, those with best-selling ideas, and those who really have a story. To begin, don't write about yourself. I'm not saying you're uninteresting. 4 I realize that your life has been so crazy no one could make this stuff up. But if you want to be a writer, start by writing about other people. Observe their faces, and the way they wave their hands around. Listen to the way they talk. Replay conversations in your mind-not just the words, but the silences as well. Imagine the lives of others. If you want to be a writer, you need to get over yourself. This is not just an artistic choice; it's a moral choice. A writer attempts to understand others from the inside. Find a peaceful place to work. Peace does not necessarily entail an artists' colony or an island off the coast of Maine. You might find peace in your base­ Allegra Goodman (b. 1967) is a novelist, short-story writer, and mother of four. ment, or at a cafe in Davis Square, 2 or amid old ladies rustling magazines at the After growing up in Honolulu, she studied at Harvard, then earned a Ph.D. public library. Peace is not the same as quiet. Peace means you avoid checking in English from Stanford University. Her most recent novels include The Other your e-mail every ten seconds. Peace means you are willing to work offline, screen Side of the Island (2008) and The Cookbook Collector (2010). "If there's one thing calls, and forget your to-do list for an hour. If this is difficult, turn off your Web I've learned over the years," says Goodman, who is fascinated by the writing pro­ browser, or try writing without a computer altogether. Treat yourself to pen and cess, "it's the value of revision. I write draft after draft, rereading, rethinking, paper and make a mess, crossing out sentences, crumpling pages, inserting para~ rephrasing every step of the way." In the following essay, published in the Boston graphs in margins. Remember spiral-bound notebooks, and thank- Always tell readers Globe in 2008, Goodman gives advice on the process of becoming a writer. you notes with stamps? Handwriting is arcane in all the best ways. · · when they will need special Writing in ink doesn't feel like work; it feels like secret diaries and equipment, P· Joo. treasure maps and art. Read widely, and dissect books in your mind. What, exactly, makes David Sedaris3 funny? How does George Orwell4 fill us with dread? If you want to be a hen people hear that I'm a novelist, I get one comment more than any novelist, read novels new and old, satirical, experimental, Victorian, American. W other. "I'm a physician (or a third-grade teacher, or a venture capitalist) but what I really want to do is write." A mother of three muses: "I've always loved 1. Someone who advises mothers about nursing their infants. writing since I was a little girl." A physicist declares, "I've got a great idea for a 2. Central intersection in Somerville, Massachusetts, a city north of Boston. mystery-thriller-philosophical-love story-if! only had the time." I nod, resisting 3. Best-selling American author (b. 1956), known for his witty autobiographical writing. the temptation to reply: "And I have a great idea for a unified field theory-if I just had a moment to work it out on paper." 4. British novelist and essayist (1903- 1950), whose dystopian novel 1984 is a foreboding story of a repressive totalitarian government. 322 324 P Proc.ess Analysis Goodman I So, You Want to Be a Writer? Here's How. ,.,_ 325

Read nonfiction as well. Consider how biographers select details to illuminate a 5. What special advice does Goodman have for women writers? Why, in her view, life in time. If you want to write nonfiction, study histories and essays, but also do they need such advice even more than men do? read novels and think about narrative, and the novelist's artful release of infor­ mation. Don't forget poetry. Why? Because it's good to go where words are wor­ shipped, and essential to remember that you are not a poet. Lyric poets linger STRATEGIES AND STRUCTURES on a mood or fragmentary phrase; prose writers must move along to tell their story, and catch their train. 1. What is the end result of the process that Goodman is analyzing? Where and And this is true for everyone, but especially for women: If you don't value how does she first introduce it? your own time, other people won't either. Trust me, you can't write a novel in 2. In the beginning of her essay, Goodman tells about all the people she has met stolen minutes outside your daughter's tap class. Virginia WoolfS declared that who want to be writers. Is this an effective way to begin? Why or why not? a woman needs a room of her own. Well, the room won't help, if you don't shut 3. Goodman tells us early on who she has in mind as her main AUDIENCE for the the door. Post a note. "Book in progress, please do not disturb unless you're bleed­ advice she gives. Who is it? In what ways is her essay directed toward this audi­ ing." Or these lines from Samuel Taylor Coleridge,6 which I have adapted fo~ ence? Explain. writing mothers: ". . . Beware! Beware! I Her flashing eyes, her floating hair! 4. Goodman divides the process that she is analyzing into four basic stages. What are Weave a circle round her thrice, I And close your eyes with holy dread, 1 For they? Does she use chronology to organize them? If not, how are they organized? she on honey-dew hath fed, I and drunk the milk of Paradise." 5. Into what steps is the reading stage of the process further broken down? What about the other stages? Why does Goodman break them down in this way? 6. Why does Goodman end her analysis with the words of another writer? Is this FOR DISCUSSION an effective strategy? Why or why not? ...... 7. In paragraph 6, Goodman COMPARES the writer of prose to the writer of poetry. 1. Why, a_ccording to Allegra Goodman, should aspiring writers write about other Which kind of writer-or aspiring writer-is her advice aimed at? How does people mstead of themselves? Do you think this is sensible advice? Why or why she DEFINE the kind of writer she has in mind? not?

2. What PROCESS is Goodman ANALYZING exactly-how to write or how to become a writer? Is her analysis explanatory or directive? Explain. WORDS AND FIGURES OF SPEECH 3. Why does Goodman recommend writing by hand in ink? 4. Why does Goodman think all writers should study poetry? Is she right? Why or 1. Why is writing about other people rather than oneself a "moral" choice, accord­ why not? ing to Goodman (4)? What's moral about it? 2. The writer, says Goodman, needs "a peaceful place to work" (5). How does she 5. British n.~velist and essayist (1882- 1941). In her book A Room of One's Own (1929), Woolf define "peaceful"? noted that a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." 3. Why does Goodman use the word "arcane" instead of old-fashioned or outmoded ~- British Ro~antic poe~ and cri~ic (1772-1834). Goodman adapts lines from his poem to DESCRIBE handwriting (5)? Kubla Khan (1816), wh1ch Colendge claimed he was unable to complete after being inter­ 4. What does Goodman mean by "artful" when she uses it to describe how the rupted by a knock at the door during its composition. novelist releases information in a NARRATIVE (6)?