SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

ESSAY

ISSUES

THESIS/CLAIM

Your thesis statement/claim should

not…• be a fact.• be a question.• include any personal pronouns (I,

me, etc.)

Your thesis/claim should be debatable!

CLAIMS CONTINUED

Types of claims

Claims typically fall into one of four categories.

Thinking about how you want to approach your

topic, in other words what type of claim you want to

make, is one way to focus your thesis on one

particular aspect of your broader topic.

EXAMPLES

Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether

something is a settled fact.

What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of

climate change.

Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing

or event to occur.

The popularity of SUV's in America has caused pollution to increase.

Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not,

how we would rate or categorize something.

Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the world today.

Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or

policy approach to a problem.

Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing on ways to reduce oil consumption, such as

researching renewable energy sources.

REDUNDANCY

This is getting redundant…didn’t we already

address this?

Don’t repeat your ideas!!!

AGREEMENT

Let’s solve these problems…

A student wouldn’t risk their life to save someone at

school.

Everyone is different in their own way.

Letting tears run down our face.

Should a person base their stance…?

Teenagers don’t want to clean their room.

AVOID

“You”—only use “you” in rare occasions when you

want to speak to your audience directly.

“That”—the word “that” is rarely needed. Try to

write your sentences without it.

SENTENCE TYPES

Simple• I went to the store.

Compound• I went to the store, and I bought ice cream.

Complex• After I went to the store and bought ice cream, I ate it all!

Compound-Complex• After I went to the store and bought ice cream, I ate it all,

and I didn’t share any with my kids.

MORE SENTENCE TYPE INFORMATION

For compound sentences, look for FANBOYS—for, and ,

nor, but, or, yet, so

For complex sentences, look for BA WAWBITS--before,

after, when, although, while, because, if, that, since Sometimes “that” is invisibleex. I am surprised you don’t watch Amish Mafia.

Dependent in the front, dependent in the back, in the front use a comma, in the back that’s whack. (Thank you Mrs. Kayser!)

SENTENCE ERRORS

Comma Splice• A comma splice happens when you have two complete sentences,

and you join them with just a comma. To fix a comma splice, put a period, a semi-colon, or use a comma + a FANBOYS word to create a compound sentence.

Run-on• A run-on is when you smoosh together two sentences with no

punctuation. This is also called a fused sentence. A comma splice is actually a type of run-on as well.

Fragment• A fragment is when you don’t have a complete sentence. This is

sometimes acceptable if you are trying to stylistically make a point, but it should usually be avoided.

APOSTROPHES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn3wA9H268o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SI7k45lPCE8&list=PLE1DD84596FD19CCC

http://www.apostrophecatastrophes.com/

Singular possessive=add ‘s every time.

Plural possessive=add ‘ only if the plural ends in s. Add ‘s if the plural doesn’t

end in s.

For example: Leaf, leaves, leaves’

Party, parties, parties’

Deer, deer, deer’s

Woman, women, women’s

Person, people, people’s

TENSE SHIFTS

Let’s solve the problems:

The gravel crunched and spattered beneath the wheels of the bus

as it swung into the station. Outside the window, shadowy figures

peered at the bus through the darkness. Somewhere in the

crowd, two, maybe three, people were waiting for me: a woman,

her son, and possibly her husband. I could not prevent my

imagination from churning out a picture of them, the town, and

the place I will soon call home. Hesitating a moment, I rise from

my seat, these images flashing through my mind.