Writing
Essay Guide
An essay is a fully developed and organized set of paragraphs that develop and enlarge a central idea or argument. The central idea helps you control and shape your essay, just as it also provides guidance for your reader. Your thesis statement will organize and forecast the major topics you will treat in your essay.
Rather than thinking of these assignments in terms of "5 paragraphs" or an amount of words, I like to think of them as "25 sentences". When I look at it that way, I think, 25 sentences is not very many! How can I effectively convey my idea in so few sentences? This is my challenge: To say as much as possible as effectively as possible, implementing clarity and conciseness but still varying my sentence structure and making "strong", proper word choices.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Restate your prompt: Always make it clear what your subject is. Allude to what you are being assigned without restating the assignment in an exact way.
· Topic Sentence (This includes but is not limited to the title and author’s name if the subject is art, literature, film, etc.)
· Background Information (Main aspects of the subject that are relevant to your central idea)
· Thesis (The thesis contains your central idea, your claim, or your argument. You can think of this as the “theme” of your essay, which often reflects a “theme” of the subject being discussed. It must be a complete idea. It should be clear enough that I know where you are headed but vague enough that I don’t know exactly where you are going. The 3-pronged thesis is okay, but varying your thesis technique is preferable.
· Introductions often contain a “hook”… a statement that grabs the reader and places the discussion in some sort of context. It is very important to establish the context of your essay upfront. In addition, if you are writing about a text (art, literature, poetry, music, etc.), you should give a brief overview of the work in the introduction—enough that the reader has an understanding of the context of your essay. However, it is not necessary to go into detail. For example, if you are writing about a story, you should be able to summarize the main plot and characters in 1-2 sentences.
· A paragraph is NOT complete without a minimum of 5 complete sentences. Sentence structure should be varied (no short, choppy sentences, please… learn how to use the comma, semicolon, etc.) Say as much as you can in a sentence—do not be overly wordy or too general or vague. Be precise and concise.
· Information on the author does not belong in the introduction (or anywhere in the essay). Only use cited information if indicated by the assignment.
Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPtbFT23Bs&feature=related
Paragraphs 2, 3, 4: Body Paragraphs
· Topic Sentence: This is the main idea of the paragraph. Each paragraph must contain a “sub-thesis” or sentence that explains the one big, overall idea being focused on in that individual paragraph. You will have 3 body paragraphs in 2-page essays, each focused around a main idea that in some way illuminates your overall idea or thesis sentence. You should have ONE topic or main idea per body paragraph.
· Supporting Points and Discussion: Your ideas about the subject.
· Specific examples with details: This is evidence from the “text” [the book, artwork, song, film, etc.] quotes or details from the “text” that illustrate your topic.
· Relate the examples to the supporting points and discussion.
· Concluding Sentence: This sentence brings the paragraph to a close and TRANSITIONS to the next paragraph. You should prepare your reader for the next point of discussion by linking it to the previous one.
Tutorial- Topic Statements [you do NOT always need the enumerator]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFwQJSZ2wJA&feature=related
Position + Linking Words + Scope Point = Topic
[You do not need a 3-pronged thesis] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1W6PQLNNic&feature=related
Conclusion:
· Do NOT start with “in conclusion”. Your writing style should clearly signal that this is the concluding paragraph.
· Restate the thesis and main points, but do not repeat them.
· Include general closing statements (this might mean relating the topic to an overall message that society can relate to currently).
You must end your essay effectively. Depending on the topic, it will be important to end with “social commentary”—how your ideas on the subject are relevant currently. The conclusion answers the question "so what"? Now that we have this information, what do we do with it? Depending on the topic, you might signal a "call to action" to your audience. You might explain why and how what you told us is important and can help us understand an issue, emotion, concept, etc. in a new or more in depth way. You are taking the specific information you gave in the essay and relating it to society in a more generalized, applicable way.
· A good technique is to signal your title at the end of the essay, thus bringing it full circle.
Tutorial: Writing Conclusions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iS7MYjYtoE&feature=related
Make sure to begin with a creative title that says something about your take on the subject matter. Do not make the title of your essay the title of the work you are discussing!
All essays should be written in Present Tense (unless told otherwise). All pieces of art, film, and literature are referred to in the present tense. All citations should be in MLA format.
MLA Format requires a header (upper left corner), title (centered), indented paragraphs (5 spaces), 1 inch margins, everything double-spaced, a Works Cited page when research is included in the essay, etc. For more requirements, see the MLA tab (462) in the Little Brown Handbook.
Emily Smith
English 1301, Section 407
MWF 11:00
Essay 1
Title Goes Here
Staple all papers that you are handing in for a grade!
REMEMBER YOUR PUGS: PUNCTUATION, USAGE, GRAMMAR, SPELLING: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CXCFl-2E54&feature=channel
Good Essay Writing Tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtP5Or78g9k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWqMQ26Gqi4&feature=related
This is a good online GUIDE to writing an essay: http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/outline.html
STEPS for writing:
1. Planning: The planning stage includes reading over the assignment carefully, understanding the assignment, and jotting down ideas inspired by the prompt you are given. It is always a good idea to "sleep on it" if you get stuck; write down your ideas the next morning with a fresh perspective.
2. Outlining: After you plan out what you are going to say, start organizing your thoughts. Outlines, storyboards, and diagrams are all good ways to do this. There are many differnet outlines you can use; some are in your book, and there are many online. Here's a sample one: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/2999.aspx
3. Drafting: Now that you've organized your ideas, it is time to draft your essay. Make sure that each of your body paragraphs has a crystal clear topic statement and at least 3 supporting ideas. The topic statements must correlate with and advance the thesis. A rough draft should be a finished essay that may not have been edited yet. If you are incorporating quotes into an essay, then the rough draft should reflect that. Do not wait to include your quotes after peer editing day because I will not have time to check them to see if you are incorporating them correctly.
4. Peer Editing: The next step is handing your paper off to your peers to get feedback on your paper. It is very important that your peers actually provide feedback! We will be using the revision models in the "Patterns" book during peer editing sessions. If you know someone marked something correct as a grammar error, then explain to them why you are right and they are wrong; if you are still in doubt, then ask me.
5. Line by Line Read: Read your paper line by line, sentence by sentence. Make sure each sentence makes sense on its own-- out of the context of the sentences surrounding it. All too often do students read what isn't there-- it makes sense in their brains but not on the paper they hand in to me. Reading aloud can alleviate some of these errors.
6. Use your tutoring tools: After your peer editing and line by line self edit, turn your paper into online tutors or sit with a tutor in the writing lab. Use them to help you with editing. They are also available to help you at the beginning of this process to organize properly, if you need that kind of help. Sometimes students need both.
7. Final Revision: Now you are ready to polish your paper! This is called the final revision. This is where you spice up your word choice, vary your sentence structure if it is too choppy, add content if you don't have enough detail, and format it to MLA.
Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezI42BqJ4d4&feature=related
8. Staple your paper.
Please note that on peer editing days, or anytime we work on essays in class, I will be going around and offering my feedback. Since we have such a short amount of time in class, I will not waste class time by pointing out what you are doing right-- I will spend my time helping you to pick up on errors so that you can correct them before your final revision! It is not my intention to come off as "mean" or "harsh", but in the frenzy of looking at 20+ papers in 45 minutes, please understand if it comes across that way. Your success in this class is important to me; I believe in you and WANT you not only to succeed, but also to excel!
An essay is a fully developed and organized set of paragraphs that develop and enlarge a central idea or argument. The central idea helps you control and shape your essay, just as it also provides guidance for your reader. Your thesis statement will organize and forecast the major topics you will treat in your essay.
Rather than thinking of these assignments in terms of "5 paragraphs" or an amount of words, I like to think of them as "25 sentences". When I look at it that way, I think, 25 sentences is not very many! How can I effectively convey my idea in so few sentences? This is my challenge: To say as much as possible as effectively as possible, implementing clarity and conciseness but still varying my sentence structure and making "strong", proper word choices.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Restate your prompt: Always make it clear what your subject is. Allude to what you are being assigned without restating the assignment in an exact way.
· Topic Sentence (This includes but is not limited to the title and author’s name if the subject is art, literature, film, etc.)
· Background Information (Main aspects of the subject that are relevant to your central idea)
· Thesis (The thesis contains your central idea, your claim, or your argument. You can think of this as the “theme” of your essay, which often reflects a “theme” of the subject being discussed. It must be a complete idea. It should be clear enough that I know where you are headed but vague enough that I don’t know exactly where you are going. The 3-pronged thesis is okay, but varying your thesis technique is preferable.
· Introductions often contain a “hook”… a statement that grabs the reader and places the discussion in some sort of context. It is very important to establish the context of your essay upfront. In addition, if you are writing about a text (art, literature, poetry, music, etc.), you should give a brief overview of the work in the introduction—enough that the reader has an understanding of the context of your essay. However, it is not necessary to go into detail. For example, if you are writing about a story, you should be able to summarize the main plot and characters in 1-2 sentences.
· A paragraph is NOT complete without a minimum of 5 complete sentences. Sentence structure should be varied (no short, choppy sentences, please… learn how to use the comma, semicolon, etc.) Say as much as you can in a sentence—do not be overly wordy or too general or vague. Be precise and concise.
· Information on the author does not belong in the introduction (or anywhere in the essay). Only use cited information if indicated by the assignment.
Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clPtbFT23Bs&feature=related
Paragraphs 2, 3, 4: Body Paragraphs
· Topic Sentence: This is the main idea of the paragraph. Each paragraph must contain a “sub-thesis” or sentence that explains the one big, overall idea being focused on in that individual paragraph. You will have 3 body paragraphs in 2-page essays, each focused around a main idea that in some way illuminates your overall idea or thesis sentence. You should have ONE topic or main idea per body paragraph.
· Supporting Points and Discussion: Your ideas about the subject.
· Specific examples with details: This is evidence from the “text” [the book, artwork, song, film, etc.] quotes or details from the “text” that illustrate your topic.
· Relate the examples to the supporting points and discussion.
· Concluding Sentence: This sentence brings the paragraph to a close and TRANSITIONS to the next paragraph. You should prepare your reader for the next point of discussion by linking it to the previous one.
Tutorial- Topic Statements [you do NOT always need the enumerator]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFwQJSZ2wJA&feature=related
Position + Linking Words + Scope Point = Topic
[You do not need a 3-pronged thesis] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1W6PQLNNic&feature=related
Conclusion:
· Do NOT start with “in conclusion”. Your writing style should clearly signal that this is the concluding paragraph.
· Restate the thesis and main points, but do not repeat them.
· Include general closing statements (this might mean relating the topic to an overall message that society can relate to currently).
You must end your essay effectively. Depending on the topic, it will be important to end with “social commentary”—how your ideas on the subject are relevant currently. The conclusion answers the question "so what"? Now that we have this information, what do we do with it? Depending on the topic, you might signal a "call to action" to your audience. You might explain why and how what you told us is important and can help us understand an issue, emotion, concept, etc. in a new or more in depth way. You are taking the specific information you gave in the essay and relating it to society in a more generalized, applicable way.
· A good technique is to signal your title at the end of the essay, thus bringing it full circle.
Tutorial: Writing Conclusions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iS7MYjYtoE&feature=related
Make sure to begin with a creative title that says something about your take on the subject matter. Do not make the title of your essay the title of the work you are discussing!
All essays should be written in Present Tense (unless told otherwise). All pieces of art, film, and literature are referred to in the present tense. All citations should be in MLA format.
MLA Format requires a header (upper left corner), title (centered), indented paragraphs (5 spaces), 1 inch margins, everything double-spaced, a Works Cited page when research is included in the essay, etc. For more requirements, see the MLA tab (462) in the Little Brown Handbook.
Emily Smith
English 1301, Section 407
MWF 11:00
Essay 1
Title Goes Here
Staple all papers that you are handing in for a grade!
REMEMBER YOUR PUGS: PUNCTUATION, USAGE, GRAMMAR, SPELLING: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CXCFl-2E54&feature=channel
Good Essay Writing Tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtP5Or78g9k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWqMQ26Gqi4&feature=related
This is a good online GUIDE to writing an essay: http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/outline.html
STEPS for writing:
1. Planning: The planning stage includes reading over the assignment carefully, understanding the assignment, and jotting down ideas inspired by the prompt you are given. It is always a good idea to "sleep on it" if you get stuck; write down your ideas the next morning with a fresh perspective.
2. Outlining: After you plan out what you are going to say, start organizing your thoughts. Outlines, storyboards, and diagrams are all good ways to do this. There are many differnet outlines you can use; some are in your book, and there are many online. Here's a sample one: http://www.brighthub.com/education/k-12/articles/2999.aspx
3. Drafting: Now that you've organized your ideas, it is time to draft your essay. Make sure that each of your body paragraphs has a crystal clear topic statement and at least 3 supporting ideas. The topic statements must correlate with and advance the thesis. A rough draft should be a finished essay that may not have been edited yet. If you are incorporating quotes into an essay, then the rough draft should reflect that. Do not wait to include your quotes after peer editing day because I will not have time to check them to see if you are incorporating them correctly.
4. Peer Editing: The next step is handing your paper off to your peers to get feedback on your paper. It is very important that your peers actually provide feedback! We will be using the revision models in the "Patterns" book during peer editing sessions. If you know someone marked something correct as a grammar error, then explain to them why you are right and they are wrong; if you are still in doubt, then ask me.
5. Line by Line Read: Read your paper line by line, sentence by sentence. Make sure each sentence makes sense on its own-- out of the context of the sentences surrounding it. All too often do students read what isn't there-- it makes sense in their brains but not on the paper they hand in to me. Reading aloud can alleviate some of these errors.
6. Use your tutoring tools: After your peer editing and line by line self edit, turn your paper into online tutors or sit with a tutor in the writing lab. Use them to help you with editing. They are also available to help you at the beginning of this process to organize properly, if you need that kind of help. Sometimes students need both.
7. Final Revision: Now you are ready to polish your paper! This is called the final revision. This is where you spice up your word choice, vary your sentence structure if it is too choppy, add content if you don't have enough detail, and format it to MLA.
Tutorial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezI42BqJ4d4&feature=related
8. Staple your paper.
Please note that on peer editing days, or anytime we work on essays in class, I will be going around and offering my feedback. Since we have such a short amount of time in class, I will not waste class time by pointing out what you are doing right-- I will spend my time helping you to pick up on errors so that you can correct them before your final revision! It is not my intention to come off as "mean" or "harsh", but in the frenzy of looking at 20+ papers in 45 minutes, please understand if it comes across that way. Your success in this class is important to me; I believe in you and WANT you not only to succeed, but also to excel!
Getting to Know You
The Getting to Know You Pyramid:
Bottom- name
then 3 people you'd like to meet: 1 fictional, 1 living, 1 dead
then 3-4 of your favorite things
then 3 words that describe you
then 2 favorite colors
finally, your "value" word-- something you value
Intelligence
Purple, Gray
Mom, Teacher, Writer
Scrabble, Pizza, Movies, Fleurs de Lis
Alex P. Keaton, Marilyn Manson, Tennessee Williams
Hollie Domingue
Bottom- name
then 3 people you'd like to meet: 1 fictional, 1 living, 1 dead
then 3-4 of your favorite things
then 3 words that describe you
then 2 favorite colors
finally, your "value" word-- something you value
Intelligence
Purple, Gray
Mom, Teacher, Writer
Scrabble, Pizza, Movies, Fleurs de Lis
Alex P. Keaton, Marilyn Manson, Tennessee Williams
Hollie Domingue
