essay writing. table of contents 1. what is an essay? 2. the process of writing an essay 3. “five...
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Essay Writing
Table of Contents
1. What is an Essay?
2. The Process of Writing an Essay
3. “Five Principles of Good Essay Writing” by Robert S. DeFrance
4. Essay Organization
5. Textual Evidence
6. Revision and Annotation
7. References
What is an Essay?The modern essay is rooted in the European Renaissance (14th to 17th century)
What is an Essay?
French magistrate Michel de Montaigne retired to his Bordeaux estate in 1570 and began experimenting with a new type of prose
What is an Essay?
Impatient with formal philosophy, Montaigne used a more flexible, personal discourse
Essay is a French word for “attempts,” “trials,” or “experiments”
What is an Essay?
Today, college essays hypothesize, test, theorize, answer tough questions, try out ideas and positions, frequently write from a position of uncertainty, and, almost always, ARGUE and support a position
Exceptions include: summaries, reports, and reviews
“Thank You for Smoking”
A general principle about argument is put forth in the film “Thank you for Smoking,” where main character Nick Naylor (played by Aaron Eckhart) claims, “if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong.”
Some Great Essayists
William Hazlitt, Virginia Woolf, Joan Didion, James Baldwin, Annie Dillard, Susan Sontag, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., David Sedaris, David Foster Wallace, and E.B. White
Didion
Baldwin
Four Steps to Writing
1.Pre-writing
2.Writing
3.Revising
4.Editing
The DeFrance Process (of Writing an Essay)1. As soon as you receive an essay prompt, jot down 2 to 4 sentences about how you think you might address it
2. Research your Topic and Related TopicsRefine and then develop your initial ideas
3. Write your introduction and thesis, and bring them to class for revision
4. Utilize the revision session to revise your argument and support
The Process
5. Write the Essay
6. Bring a rough draft of your Essay to class for revision
7. Utilizing what you learned from revision, think about how you can improve the readability of your essay:
Introduction/Hook
Clarity of Thesis
Overall Organization/Topic Sentences/Transitions
Coherence
The Process
8. If your paper seems almost finished, edit your essay for grammatical correctness, including appropriate word choice/diction, clarity of phrases and sentences, style and voice, accuracy of your analysis, quotes, and paraphrased ideas.
A. If your paper is not finished, repeat steps 6 & 7.B. If that does not work, start the process over with a different topic.
Five Principles of Good Essays
1. Address the Prompt
2. Research your topics before writing to help generate ideas
3. Introduce the work and concepts Thoroughly in the Introduction
4. Coherently Argue and Defend Your Position throughout the Essay
5. Perform Detailed Analysis on several academic sources in your Body Paragraphs
Elements of a Good Essay
A Good Essay
Textual Evidence
Textual Analysis
An Interesting Argument
Clear Organizatio
n
Grammatically Correct
Argue Correctly: Organization
Upside down Triangle: Introduction
Circles: Body Paragraphs
Right-side up Triangle: Conclusion
Introduction
1. HookCatch the audience’s attentionSee lecture on ‘Hooks’
2. Background InformationIntroduce the main issuesFacts, figures, trends, history, or statistics
Introduction3. Introduce Author and Summarize Text
Author’s Ethos
1. Degrees
2. School
3. Fields of Study
4. Major Publications
5. Major Professional Experience
Text Summary
Thesis
Supporting Reasons or Points
4. Thesis
Main argument of the essay, consisting of 1 claim/argument and at least 4 supporting points.
Note: Use an equal amount of supporting points as supporting paragraphs
Body Paragraphs
1. Topic Sentence (1-2 sentences)Presents main argument of the paragraph
2. Context of EvidenceIntroduces the source, evidence, and meaning
3. Textual Evidence: Quotes
4. Analysis (at least 3-4 sentences)
5. Concluding Sentence (1-2 sentences)
Keys to Topic Sentences
I. Topic Sentence
II. Contextualize Evidence
III. Textual Evidence
IV. Analysis
V. Concluding Sentence
Do NOT state:FactsQuotesSummaryAnalysis
Topic Sentences ARGUE (Topic Sentences connect the body paragraph to your thesis; thus, the claim your argue in the paragraph should support your thesis)
Topic SentencesGood Topic Sentence
When Singer argues that everyone able should donate anything they make over $30,000, he commits the fallacy of broad generalization.
Bad Topic Sentences
Singer says people should donate anything they make over $30,000. (Summary)
“After all, a $1,000 suit could save five children’s lives” (Singer). (Quote)
Singer proposes a solution to world poverty, because there are more than 3 billion people living on less than $2.50 a day. (Fact)
Body Paragraphs: Burger Metaphor
For Body Paragraphs, construct them like a burger, where the top and bottom (buns) keep it together, and the middle, the meat, represents textual evidence and analysis
Body Paragraphs: Adding Complexity
For a more complex and convincing body paragraph, think about constructing it like a burger with 2 patties (like an In-n-Out double-double). The top patty is your textual evidence and the second patty is evidence from a secondary source (providing analysis of the evidence in the top patty)
If you feel your paragraph needs more evidence, follow your instincts
Conclusion Strategies
Concluding paragraphs are about 6-10 sentences that wrap up an essay, typically using one of these methods:
Reflect or Meditate (similar to a freewrite)
Additional Analysis
Speculate about the Future
Close with a Quotation that offers deeper insight
Close with a Story or a Question
Call Your Readers to Action
1. Quotes from Academic Journals, Books, Newspapers, Magazines, Films, Reliable Online Sources, etc.
Reliable Online Domains: <.org>, <.gov>, and <.edu>
2. Quotes from the Reading(s) assigned for the Essay3. Quotes from the Class Lectures4. Personal Experience
Support and Defense
Academic v Non-Academic SourcesNon-Academic Sources
Time Magazine
Newsweek
Rolling Stone
US Weekly
Academic Sources
American Literary History
Cosmopolitan Art Journal
American Journal of Sociology
Modern Language Studies
The American Law Register
Evidence and Citation
There are 2 parts to MLA citation:
1. In-text citations within your essay
2. A Works Cited Page*See The St. Martin’s Guide, The Bedford Handbook, the Purdue OWL website, or The MLA Handbook for more information
In-text Citations
In-text citations appear after quotes or paraphrases to show the reader where the quote, statistic, etc. came from
For example, “At least 80% of humanity lives on less than $10 a day” (“Poverty Facts and Stats”).
“And what is one month’s dining out, compared to a child’s life? There’s the rub” (Cohen 382).
Works Cited Page
A works cited page should appear as the last page(s) of ALL of your essays. They are in alphabetical order. It is not in bold; that is only used for emphasis in this lecture.
For example:
“Poverty Facts and Stats.” Global Issues. Anup Shah. 7 Jan. 2013. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
Singer, Peter. “The Singer Solution to World Poverty.” 50 Essays. Ed. Samuel Cohen. 4th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2014. 378-384. Print.
Revision
Anne Sexton
In-Class Revision
I. Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your essay with a classmate (5 minutes)
II. Read and Comment (10-15 minutes)
III. Discuss your comments (10 minutes)
IV. Individually, make revisions to your essay (5-10 minutes)
Revision Questions1. Is my hook strong?
2. Does my introduction introduce everything?
3. Is my thesis arguable, complex, and specific?
4. Do my body paragraphs argue something and attempt to prove it using textual evidence and analysis?
5. Does my conclusion reflect on the main issue(s)?
Revision Strategies1. Coherence Test: Read three parts of your paper. Read your thesis, then your topic and concluding sentences--nothing more. Does each idea flow seamlessly into the next?
2. Reverse Order Test: Read your paper from the last sentence to the first. Do you find that anything is missing?
Coherence Test
Coherence Test
Coherence Test
Annotation
Annotation: Oxford Dictionaries (online) defines an annotation as “a note of explanation or comment added to a text or diagram.”
References
Best American Essays. Introduction.