English 11 Essay Writing

Essay Writing: Essay Building: Here are some tips on how to plan and build essays! ● Use a t-chart to plan. ● Use notes from class discussions and personal writing. ● Make connections in your chart between all of them. ● Answer and support your thesis before incorporating stylistic choices. Basic Essay Format: Essay formats are also flexible! These are just the most commonly used layouts as a starting point. There can always be more than three body paragraphs! Introduction: ● Hook. ● Background/context. ● Thesis. ○ The author’s use of ____ to show ____ unless ____. Body Paragraphs: ● Topic sentence: strongly states one aspect of the thesis statement. ● Evidence: context to quotations, quotations with proper punctuation and words. ● Analysis: commentary; explains the quotation’s value and significance in relation to the overall claim. Conclusion: ● Avoid restating or redundancy. ● Extend thinking beyond the essay. Argumentative Essay Format and Tips: Introduction: consists of a hook, background, and a thesis. Hooks: ● A little known striking fact ● A statement of opinion intended to challenge. ● An interesting incident relating to the subject. ● An explanation of why the subject is worth reading. ● A question. ● A quotation or paraphrase. Thesis: ● Although _____, _______. Body Paragraphs: consists of logic and purposeful organization. Logic: the basic structure of all arguments consists of three elements: 1. Claim: What are you trying to prove? ○ Usually a thesis or something that supports the thesis. 2. Support: evidence to back up the claim. 3. Warrant: any assumption taken for granted or underlies your claim Conclusion: restates main ideas/thesis in a different way; extends thinking beyond the topic and content of the essay. ● Be aware of logical fallacies. ● Redundancy: repeated points in different words ○ Look for redundant phrasing and unintentional repeated phrasing. ● Purposeful organization ○ Lack of coherence = lost readers ○ Lost of cohesion = lost readers Sentence Starters: Argumentative Essays Background/Context: ● The issue of ____ is a complex one. What it is about is _____. ● The question everyone is asking is ______ ? ● Here’s the controversy: _______. ● We all need to consider ______. ● The debate is about ______. ● The issue to grapple is _______. ● The problem is _____. ● We need to determine if ______ because ____ . ● It will be important to decide _____ because _____. Opposing Argument: ● People who disagree may claim that ______. ● Critics may claim that _____. ● Some people may argue that _____. ● A possible concern they may raise is that _____. ● This could be possible because _____. ● They may have a strong argument because ______. ● This argument is wrong because _____. ● On the contrary ______. ● This evidence, however, overwhelmingly supports my argument that _____. Body Paragraphs: Starting Argument: ● A reason why ____ is true is because _____. ● ____ demonstrates that ____ is true. Introducing Evidence: ● What readers should understand is that _____. ● To better understand the situation… ______. Stating Evidence: ● In the article _____ it states that,“_____”. ● In the historical document _____ it states that, “____”. ● Let’s look at one example, what happens is ________. Connecting to Thesis: ● The evidence illustrates that _____ is true because _____. ● This experience illustrates that ______ is true because ____. ● This historical document illustrates that ____ is true because ____. Conclusion: ● When considering the issue of ____ it is clear that _____. ● Many people may believe that ____ but it’s important to realize that ___. Analysis Essays ● The narrator’s inability to see past ____ means ____. ● By using ____, the author _____. ● The impact of the word “____” is _____. ● Without considering ____, the narrator ____. ● A focus on ____ helps/prevents _____. ● Instead of considering _____, the narrator ______. ● When the author says “_____” it ______. ● Treating the character ____ as _____ leads to ____. ● His/her/their refusal to ____. ● Usually the term “____” conjures up images of _____. ● The author’s repetition of ____ creates ____. ● The image of ____ changes from its earlier usage and ______. Improving Cohesion: 1. Check the first sentence of every paragraph. Does it make sense with the previous paragraph? 2. Check the first few words in all sentences. Does it connect with previous sentences? 3. What is the main point of each paragraph? How does the point support the thesis? Topic sentences should answer BOTH. 4. Underline the subject in longer sentences. Close the subject at the beginning. 5. Don’t be afraid to restate the thesis or main ideas throughout the paper. Revisions: 1. Put paragraphs into sections a. No section? What’s the value? 2. Reverse outline a. In margin, write what each paragraph is about. 3. Review essay title and introductory paragraph a. How is your title? Is it original? b. Does your introduction sentence have a lead sentence that grabs reader attention? c. Does the essay have a clear, identified argument? Is it seen throughout the entire essay? 4. Review body paragraphs a. Before quoting the text, do you have context? b. Are all of your quotations introduced and punctuated correctly? c. Is there deep analytical commentary to compliment each quotation? d. Is your commentary supporting your thesis/overall argument? 5. Review concluding paragraph a. Does the conclusion reflect your thesis; not word-for-word from the introduction? 6. Check all verbs in the essay to ensure they are all in matching tense. Revision Questions: This can be applied revising both your essay or a friend’s! ● Is there a clear thesis? ● Does each paragraph have a topic sentence supported by evidence? How does each paragraph relate to the essay’s overarching ideas/arguments? ● Do any concepts, phrases, or figures of speech need to be defined? Is the evidence clear and effective? ● Does the writer (or you) reflect on and explain the significance of the evidence they use? ● Are there clear transitions between ideas? ● Are the introductory and concluding paragraphs effective? What works and what might need revision? Be specific. Types of Sentence Structures: ● Loose Sentence: ○ (Strong evidence) , ______ ○ The comma is important here! ● Periodic Sentence: ○ Details first, main idea second