RAFT is a writing technique that assists students in understanding their duties as writers, the audience they will address, the various writing genres, and the topic they will write about. By using this technique, students can organize their thoughts and express them in an effective manner. There are three main purposes of the raft: to identify the major ideas in a piece of writing; to distinguish important details that should be included in the text; and to outline the structure of the essay or report. Using the raft to identify the major ideas in a piece of writing is very helpful when writing an abstract or summary. This tool allows you to see exactly which topics are being discussed in the paper and what aspects are important to include in your own writing. This also helps students understand where to focus their efforts when writing essays that require multiple drafts. The raft is also useful for identifying the significant facts in a story. By listing events that have positive and negative effects on the characters, students can predict how each event will influence the plot and themes presented in the article or essay. Last, but not least, the raft can be used to outline the structure of your essay or report.