images, feeling around the relation of ideas until the pattern is visible. Clustering technique can activate the complex symbolic activity on the right brain called
writing. The right brain has capabilities in overall analysis; image-making, and synthetic, otherwise, the left brain has capabilities in logical, linear, and syntactic,
it can be said that clustering technique is a powerful mental tool.
26
Clustering takes a role to contribute the right and left brain, so, it makes students to think
critically and help them to write a piece of writing effectively. “Clustering lets the writers see at a glance how ideas relate to one another.
27
” By implementing a clustering technique, students can be stimulated to flow the
ideas in their mind. Ideas definitely comes in as a big topic, it is hard for students to expand the big topic into sub ideas. Through clustering technique, a big topic
can be narrowed into subtopics, and then, the subtopics are related to other ideas and so forth.
Clustering technique is suitable to be implemented in descriptive writing, because descriptive writing practice students to showing what is happening to
readers rather than just telling. Similarly, clustering technique also becomes a strategy in prewriting that leads to showing not telling. By showing a description
to readers, they can imagine easily about an object which is describing, then, contribute to use the five senses; seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, and tasting.
2. The Advantages of Clustering Technique
Clustering technique is useful for any kinds of writing because it has the advantageous in it. In applying clustering technique in descriptive writing, there
are several advantages of clustering technique
28
: a.
Clustering is suited to people who think spatially and find it easier to draw rather than write.
26
Gabriele Luser Rico, “Prewriting”, in Carol Booth Olson ed, Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing as a Process, California: Sacramento, 1987, p. 17.
27
Barbara Fine Clouse, A Troubleshooting Guide for Writers, 4
th
Edition, New York: Mc-Graw Hill Companies, Inc., 2005, p. 24.
28
Mark Connelly, The Sundance Writer: A Rhetoric, Reader, Research Guide and Handbook, Boston: Cengage Learning, 2007, pp.51
—52.
b. Clustering is good method to explore topics for comparison and classification
papers. c.
Clustering can save time. Clustering allows students to create several lists or groupings, ranking ideas in importance and immediately showing links
between related ideas. d.
Clustering can help place ideas in context. Students can group ideas in columns to contrast advantages or create a spectrum, showing the range of
ideas. Thus, clustering technique is suitable for creative people, who can easily
explore their ideas. Clustering technique can be used to write a paper that requires the details, besides, clustering technique avoid the writing task becomes the time-
consuming task, and help students to generate the ideas and used it contextually.
3. The Application of Clustering Technique in Descriptive
Writing
In applying the clustering technique, the students have to follow the procedures of using clustering technique
to students’ descriptive writing; in order to make the use of clustering is done effectively, the students can follow these
several steps
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: 1.
Introduce a topic about a person, place, and thing to students. 2.
Write down the topic on the white board and then circle it. 3.
Let students give the oral responses about the topic by generating the ideas from the topic cluster to make a connection between ideas; they may use a
line, circle or box to relate each other. 4.
Let students generate and expand their ideas as many as possible until they stop to explore their ideas.
5. After exploring the ideas, ask students to use each idea into a sentence to
compose a descriptive paragraph.
29
Michael Carr, “Clustering with NonreadersWriters”, in Carol Booth Olson ed,
Practical Ideas for Teaching Writing as a Process, California: Sacramento, 1987, p. 21.
It can be concluded that to use the clustering technique to students ’
descriptive writing, is firstly introducing about the topic, whether it describes about person, place, and object. Circle the topic which has been determined.
Try to engage students in clustering activity by giving their contribution in oral responses. After getting the topic, let them to explore their ideas. Make a
sentence of each idea that has been deserved.
Figure 2.1 The Application of Clustering technique
Source: https:mytutor.sfasu.edu:8080owlpreparation2
Figure 2.1 The Example of Clustering Technique
D. Previous Studies
