Essay Writing

Step-by-step guide

An essay always starts with a question. Your first step is to take the question and put it into an outline like this.

Essay Outline So say for instance that we were doing an essay on “The Outsiders”, and you were given an

essay topic like this: "Sixteen years on the streets and you can learn a lot. But all the wrong things, not the things you want to learn" (p. 122). Discuss this quote from the novel and how it applies to each of the boy's lives. What things did they learn? What things might they have liked to learn? Support your ideas with what you know about the characters through examples from the novel.

You would want to start by breaking down the question. In essay topic statements, the teacher usually gives you a few different “outs” so that you can really try to form your own idea – your own thesis. So I would start by abbreviating the question. Then I would start to create a temporary thesis.

The part of the question that I want to deal with is the quote. I don’t really think that that quote actually represents what the characters feel so I think that might be a good point to “argue”. Remember that essays are arguments.

My temp thesis is: the boys learned all the “right” things while living on the streets.

Wrong life lessons They learned the “right” life lessons

Poney Boy

Johnny

Dally

Darry and Soda

Right lessons

Now that you have a web outline I want you to take that information and create a box outline.

Your outline will have places for topic sentences, your thesis and a spot to place evidence - evidence as opposed to just a bunch of ideas.

Ex: Idea – Poney realizes that his brother loves him. Evidence – Quote on page 165. - “Darry looked like dad….”

Box Outline

The next step is to develop a good introduction paragraph, but first you have to develop a more defined thesis.

The thesis sentence usually contains a key word or controlling idea that limits the focus. Limiting the focus will make your essay clearer, and clarity is what writing an essay is all about. A successful thesis – like the following – points both the writer and the reader in a definite direction.

Now say I was writing my essay and I wanted to talk about how life on the street brought our characters to the right decisions, I might write:

“Although Poney Boy says that life on the street, “shows you all the wrong things, “ I believe that all the characters made all the right decisions.

This is a good place to start, but I haven’t really got that one word that is going to guide my entire essay. Also, I have made another error – I used the word “I”.

Continue on next slide

So I am going to refine this thesis:

Although Poney Boy says that life on the street, “shows you all the wrong things,“ it is apparent that the boys in the gang learned all the right life lessons that that one needs to learn, despite living the life that they do.

Can you think of the one word that I have used that is going to dictate the direction of the essay. Each of your paragraphs should now focus on proving this thesis, proving that they grow up properly “despite”.

Examples on the next page…

Thesis development

Make sure you are not too factual Too Factual: The first polygraph was developed by Dr. John A. Larson in 1921. Revised: Because the polygraph has not been proved reliable, even under the most controlled conditions, its use by private employers should be banned.

Also don’t be too broad Too Broad: Many drugs are now being used successfully to treat mental illness. Revised: Despite its risks and side effects, Lithium is an effective treatment for depression.

Don’t be too vague Too Vague: Many songs played on the radio are disgusting. Revised: of the songs played on the radio, all too many depict sex crudely, sanction the beating or rape of women, or foster gang violence.

How to write a good introductory paragraphYour intro really only needs to be 3 to 4 sentences long.

First sentenceState the name of the book, the author, and what the book is about. ( be brief) Ex: The novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is a story about one man’s attempt to save the entire planet.

Second Sentence Tell us what the deeper meaning of the story is about, and try to lead us to your thesis statement. Ex: Arthur, the protagonist, is supposed to represent man and all of man’s vulnerabilities. Third Sentence

Introduce your thesis – show your readers what you are trying to proveEx: Arthur’s pursuit of the antagonist, Trillian, works in two ways; it moves the plot line along, and, more importantly, proves John Lennon’s eternal truth that “love is all you need.”

Example

The novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams, is a story about one man’s attempt to save the entire planet. Arthur, the protagonist, is supposed to represent mankind, and all of our species vulnerabilities. Arthur’s pursuit of the antagonist, Trillian, works in two ways; it moves the plot line along, and, more importantly, proves John Lennon’s eternal truth that “love is all you need.”

So what’s the pivotal word in this thesis?

The Body Before writing the body of your essay, take a careful look at the introduction, especially the thesis. What does your thesis promise the readers? The body is going to teach the reader exactly what you said you would teach the reader with your thesis statement. In each of your body paragraphs you will want to point your argument back to what you said you were going to prove with the thesis. Make sure that you have a least one quote for each of your body paragraphs. The quotes are the proof that what you are saying is a fact. Each quote has to relate to the thesis. Once you have your quote, build the rest of your paragraph around the quote.

Ex: Here is a body paragraph from an Essay on Leonard Cohen’s song, Tower of Song. Take note: When you are quoting a text you need to underline the title and put an abbreviated version of the citation information behind the quote.

The name, Tower of Song, is a visual interpretation of the choices Cohen has made concerning a loved one. It is not that he is no longer in love with the woman, he makes this apparent early in the song by saying “I’m crazy for love but I’m not coming on”(Tower of Song, Leonard Cohen Stanger Music Inc.), but in order to protect his artistic side he is force to create walls to separate them emotionally. He feels distracted by their love and fears the negative affects it may have on his work. He looks to a higher power to help him maintain his artistic focus, “twenty-seven angels from the Great Beyond… they tied me to this table right here in the Tower of Song”. His artistic talent is a God given gift. In order to use this gift, Cohen has placed himself within the walls of the tower. He opens himself to isolation, loneliness, and pain; but takes refugee in the knowledge that the tower will provide him with protection from his distractions.

Look at how the quote is introduced and cited. Also, note the way that the quote is central to the argument, but is really only used to back up the writer’s idea. A quote can be interpreted in a number of ways.

Paragraph structure for body paragraphs Remember, everything in this paragraph is dictated by that one word, and everything you write has to help prove your thesis. 1st sentence – Introduce what your paragraph is about. This is lie an introduction for an essay, where you are telling the reader what you are going to prove in the essay. The first sentence of an paragraph should tell me what this paragraph is going to be about or what it is going to prove to me. 2nd sentence – Insert the quote that you are going to use. This quote should directly relate to the first line of your paragraph. It should also be used to prove your thesis. This quote has to be the focus of this paragraph, so look for quotes that prove your, and are going to provide you with something to talk about. Properly introduce your quote, stating where it came from and who wrote it. Ex: Hinton says about her main character, “I looked at my golden hair.” (Outsiders, 62), wanting readers to see that he has undergone a transformation. 3rd sentence – you want to explain what your quote means. You don’t want to retell the story, but instead to analyze what the quote means in terms of affecting the character of the story. 4th sentence – discuss what the deeper meaning of the quote is. 5th sentence – how does this deeper meaning help to prove your thesis. 6th sentence – if you are a good writer you will want this sentence to wrap up your feeling from this paragraph as well as link this paragraph to the next paragraph ( next argument).

ConclusionThe conclusion should echo the main idea of your essay without repeating everything that you have just said. This should summarize the entire essay and point us back to your thesis. To make this memorable consider including detail, example, or imagery; something to bring the reader full circle. You may want to try to be witty, provide anecdotes, or ironic. One writer who was detailing the social skills required by a bartender used this to conclude his essay: If someone were to approach me one day, looking for the secret to running a good bar, I suppose I would offer the following advice: Get your customers to pour out their ideas at a greater rate than you can pour out the liquor. You both win in the end.

Title Page and Works Cited Lastly, create a title page and cite your work. The title page is a single page, all on its own. Nothing fancy, same font, same size. Witty title. Date and teacher. That’s it.

Examples will be included.