Essay Writing Units Four, Five, six and Seven

Antar Abdellah1432

Opening Paragraph

Aims of opening paragraphs: raising interest of target audience Should not start your essay with: In this essay I am writing about…

Strategies for opening paragraphs

Quote Unusual fact

question

General 2

Specific

Specific 2

General Anecdo

te

Quote

Exact words said or written by someone.

Why? – to set a certain note - a sense of community - to cite an expert in the

field Like a springboard, to jump into your

paragraph

Unusual fact

To surprise your reader. Information should be: interesting

relevant

creating right tone

question

Must be relevant to your topic Must be thought provoking Can be something like “have you

ever thought why….?” The question should be : - interesting

relevant

creating right tone

General to specific

Writing about poetry in general then moving to discuss a certain poet or poem.

Specific to General: Start with a specific common then

move on to general ideas; Handle a certain piece to make generalization of poetic features.

Anecdote

A short personal account or story / event.

When writing about a person (Poe?), you can start with an interesting account or event in his / her life.

People like stories, and become interested more in reading when they begin by reading a story.

Peer Review

A colleague / fellow student can be reading and commenting on your writing.

Important terms: Anecdote Feedback Draft Out of context (off point) Peer review Quote , statistics

Using Sources

Why need sources?

Academic writing means supporting your views with evidence and proofs of other writers and experts in the field.

Writing without sources is just telling your opinion about a topic. –not academic

How to use sources?

1) close reading of texts 2) analysis of what you have read 3) support your views to create

credibility with the reader.

Even if there are conflicting views, you have to mention both views; this makes you knowledgeable, credible and reliable.

Avoid overusing sources

Sources are like pepper; use moderately.

Make annotations + bibliography Make summaries for each source you

find relevant to your topic. Insert YOUR summaries inside YOUR

essay.

When and How to quote?

What are Quotes? Quotes are tow types: Direct (Exact

words of the source” Indirect (paraphrase of the ideas in

the original source).

When?

1- when your ideas are not enough to demonstrate a point

2- When rewriting a paraphrase in your own words will not work (better represented)

3- when you want to give the reader a taste of the exact words of another author. (especially with poetry and pieces of literature).

How? (Short quotes)

No more than 3 lines. 1) all quotes should be included

within full sentences. (Chomsky argues that…..).

2) source cited immediately after quote

3) use quotation marks “ ……” 4) use a comma for one-sentence

quotes 5) no need for name of author in

citation if already mentioned in signal sentence.

6) punctuation consideration p.62

Quotes support, not replace your ideas.

They need to be short They must be introduced by a full

sentence, And flow within the paragraph.

Long quotes

More than 3 lines Must be indented Introduced by a full sentence And a colon: No quotation marks Source to be quoted after block Omit from text […] Adding [Sic] [my emphasis] Example P. 64

MLA / APA citation

Book Site Chapter Article Essay in journal You need: author surname, first

initial, year of publication, title, publisher, place, URL, date of access.

P. 65-68

Paraphrasing

DO NOT change word for word (synonyms ) this is not good paraphrasing

RATHER, read carefully, leave text, write down what you understand of it.

EVEN if these are your words, still they are NOT your ideas. So you must cite the ideas.

THE source of the paraphrased ideas.

Plagiarism

Using words not yours Copying Paraphrasing by replacing Using downloaded text Not acknowledging sources Not citing ideas

Avoid it by citing ideas and writing your own words.

Important terms

Annotated bibliography Citing - signal sentence Close reading - synonym Ellipsis - short quotes Establishing creditability In/direct sources - long quotes Literature review Block quotes Plagiarism Paraphrasing

Revising and Editing the first draft

Points to Check

What you wrote is relevant You provided enough examples You discussed and analyzed the

examples A strong topic sentence Logical argument Developed thesis Adequate conclusion Accurate language (grammar,

spelling, punctuation).

Checking language and form Cause and effect , sequence, comparison /

contrast, example, purpose, Questions to ask yourself: 1- have I organized my ideas into paragraphs

according to outline? 2- does the order of my ideas make sense? 3- does each point lead to the next? 4- are my ideas connected by transition? 5- should I rearrange any of the parts? 6- do I have introduction, body, conclusion? 7- does the structure of the draft support my

purpose?

Checking purpose

Important questions to ask: 1) does my paper answer the question

“So what?” don’t get astray behind attractive content.

2) is my purpose clear? If not how to make it clear?

3) is there any part of my paper that does not help achieve my purpose?

4) what are the main words that make my ideas clear?

Checking information / content Questions: 1) thesis statement mapping the

essay? 2) did I follow my outline accurately? 3) have I used appropriate sources? 4) Have I provided enough

examples? Need to add? 5) discussed and analyzed the

examples? 6) have I built an argument? 7) have I explained my ideas clearly?

Writing a conclusion

A good conclusion: - stress the importance of the thesis

statement - give the essay a sense of

completeness - leave a final impression on the

reader.

How?

1) answer the question “so what?”. 2) synthesize, do not summarize 3) redirect the readers 4) create a new meaning

▪ A) echoing the introduction ▪ B) challenging the reader ▪ C) looking to the future ▪ D) posing questions

Revisiting introduction

Is it still an appropriate way to start my essay?

Did I really write what I said I would in my thesis statement?

Do I accomplish my goals? Is my thesis statement still a road

map to the essay?

Important terms

Vague language Audience Draft Editing Revisiting for information Revisiting for language and form Revisiting for purpose Transitional words

Final Revision and final version

Final Editing

Reverse outline

Remake an outline of what you have written by identifying the main ideas in each paragraph

Then compare the two outlines

Revise

- topic sentence and transitional phrases.

you may need to insert linkers for cohesion

- Evidence and examples ,.Explain the meaning of the quote or the example, do leave the reader do it.

- - organization and flow: logical within the paragraph and between paragraphs (cohesion and coherence).

- - opening paragraph: fine tune it.

Proof reading

Spell check ( computer and print out)

Grammar check Check format (double spaced-

indented- page numbered?) Common grammar mistakes:

sentence fragment run on sentence misspellings , pronouns… p. 91-

92

Check format

Title page, Margins and fonts Quotes MLA/ APA format

Essay checklist Respond to the checklist on page 94 And develop your own checklist (errors you

know you always make) for future work. Important terms: Grammar check PCL (Personal checklist) Proofreading Reverse outline Transitional phrases Title page

GOOD LUCK