Fairbloom, ENG2D

Essay Writing Refresher

What is an essay?

An essay is a written argument. It is an analytical form of writing that uses logical reasoning to provide evidence in order to convince the reader of your side of the argument.

The Essay Writing Cycle:

1. Select a topic / question to work with

2. Formulate a thesis

3. Research

4. Plan

5. Write

6. Edit, edit, and edit some more

The Thesis Statement

The thesis statement is a single, assertive sentence that announces the writers position on the topic and states what the writer intends to prove. It must be arguable, provable, and worth proving.

Arguable: could someone reasonably argue the opposing viewpoint?

Provable: is there reasonable evidence to support your position?

Worth proving: does it add something to the readers understanding of the issue?

To formulate a thesis:

Your teacher assigns you a topic

You develop a research question about the topic

The answer to your research question is your thesis.

Your thesis should answer the following questions:

WHAT: What claim are you making about the text?

WHY: Why should we care? Why is your claim important?

Your thesis should answer the SO WHAT question.

Creating an Outline

Outlines help you organize your thoughts and supporting information before you begin writing. It ensures that you have everything you need.

Introduction

The introduction has three main parts: the opening statement, main arguments and the thesis. It provides a guide for the reader through the course of an essay. If the reader does not understand where the introduction is heading, they will not be able to understand the purpose of the essay.

The opening statement should grab the readers attention. It allows you to introduce your topic without mentioning the supporting arguments. It should be interesting and invite the reader to want to know more.

Examples of opening statements:

GOOD:

In the short story, The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gillman reveals the oppression women experience in a patriarchal society.

Shakespeare is a playwright who is known for his social commentary.

BAD:

In my essay I will show you that Hamlet is a woman hated.

In todays society, problems exist everywhere.

In the (poem, novel, short story, play, etc.) (title of the text), (authors name) (start with a strong verb: demonstrates, investigates, explores, considers, illustrates, depicts, etc.) (then connect to your essay topic).

The following statements should identify the main arguments that you are going to use to prove your thesis. You should introduce the factors without elaborating about your supporting points. They serve to highlight what the body of your essay will be about. Each argument should be given a sentence to explain what they will be addressing. They should not be piled into one long run-on sentence.

Often the final sentence of the introduction is the thesis statement. This will tell the reader what position you are taking and attempting to prove. It is your opinion on the topic. It should get straight to the point: clear and concise.

To make your introduction stronger you may consider using:

An anecdote or scenario that relates the topic to your reader;

A statistic, fact, or statement that is unusual, bizarre, interesting, or shocking that is related to your topic;

A quotation, song lyric, or short poem related to your topic.

Example Introduction Paragraphs: Identify the different parts of each introduction.

1. Although created approximately fourteen years apart, both One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey and George Orwells 1984 are unique novels that function to engage and enlighten their audiences regarding the terrifying outcomes of living in a totalitarian state. Indeed, these works show striking similarities in that each involves a protagonist that seeks to assert his individualism and freedom in light of a strict authoritative rule that is propelled by a thirst for absolute power. Randle Patrick McMurphy is a man who maneuvers his own transfer to a psychiatric institution only to find that he must fight for his individuality and that of his fellow patients against Nurse Ratched, who possesses an unquestioned control over the entire ward, a metaphor for the oppressive society. Winston Smith, on the other hand, is a man who essentially struggles for individuality and freedom in a harsh futuristic nation that demands conformity and absolute devotion to the Party, represented by Big Brother. Most certainly, McMurphy and Winston are characters that fight to thwart the States goal of destroying their individual autonomy, but it is in their dealings with the States attempt to establish absolute obedience in devious ways, the States misuse or misrepresentation of legitimate knowledge and its intolerance to confrontation of its direct control that McMurphy is revealed to be a man of far greater accomplishment in aggressively opposing this authority than Winston, who is more reflective and passive. The fact that endeavoring to achieve individualism ultimately comes at a high cost to both characters speaks to the universal human struggle between societal control and independence.

2. In the poem Mother to Son, Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes exposes his readers to the oppression experienced by African Americans during the early 1900s. Although slavery in the United States was abolished before the turn of the 19th Century, black citizens continued to suffer from the effects of racism. In Mother to Son, Hughes explores the hardships created by racism through the voice of a mother imparting wisdom to her son. As the speaker explains, Life for me aint been no crystal stair (Hughes 2), the reader is introduced to the poems central metaphora staircase filled with painful and dangerous obstacles. Rather than being beaten by these challenges, though, the speaker in Hughes poem gracefully triumphs over them. As a result, the overall message of the poem is one of African Americans powerfully striding towards equality, rather than passively accepting the racism of the present.

3. The greatness of a man is often measured in how he responds to the circumstances that life thrusts upon him. Contemporary culture seems obsessed with providing audiences with examples of such people who, despite the adversity of their lives, still rise above. Tolkein conceived Frodo Baggins, Rowling has given Harry Potter, and Nolan has reinvented Batman. But perhaps no one is more capable of showing triumph over struggles than William Shakespeare. In both Hamlet and Macbeth, for example, the title characters find themselves with nearly impossible moral dilemmas and are forced to decide what the correct choice will be. Both Hamlet and Macbeth are similar in that they are somewhat unwillingly thrust into these situations, are both driven by a deep motivation, and are then forced to deal with the consequences of their actions. Yet, despite these similarities, it is only Hamlet who is able to truly demonstrate honor and greatness amidst his trials. Whereas Macbeth is often manipulated and driven by greedand thus, is forced to deal with a guilty conscienceHamlet is in control of his actions, is largely driven by the love for his father, and therefore dies with a clear heart and a clean conscience. Their deaths show the ultimate human struggle of trying to live up to the standards thrust upon the greatest of men.

4. Toni Morrison expresses that in Beloved she wished to subvert the readers traditional comfort so that he or she may experience an unorthodox one (Morrison 388). Following Gothic literary conventions, the character Beloved haunts her family and distorts, contradicts and shocks the community. She exposes the depths of the characters vulnerability and unleashes elements of the past that were repressed, ignored or forgotten. Emerging into this world to haunt the community, Beloved helps the reader and the characters remember and textualize difficult stories of the past in order to make meaning of their individual lives. Beloved is the physical embodiment of protagonist Sethes murdered daughter; as well, she represents the thousands of slaves murdered during the middle passage. Combining the realism of African American slavery and the Gothic ghost tradition, Beloved accentuates the horrors experienced during the middle passage and the gaps in slave narratives that have been ignored. This essay will look at how Beloved epitomizes this integration as the force that resurrects the repressed past and drives the characters to accept accountability for their ignored past experiences.

Body Paragraphs

The main arguments are used to prove your thesis. You should discuss them in the order that you introduced them in your introduction. I suggest starting with your weakest argument and leading to the strongest. Each argument should begin with a topic sentence: a statement of your argument. You will include evidence from online sources and the novel to prove your thesis. Make sure to indicate to your reader who said what it is you are using, when it was said and where. The analysis should not be you summarizing or paraphrasing what you researched. Your analysis should be the observations you make of the evidence, which you are using to prove your arguments, which ends up proving your thesis. You must make the appropriate connections between the evidence and the point you are trying to prove.

You want the reader to SEE your point:

Statement: Tell me what your argument is;

Evidence: Provide a quote or fact from the text or research that