WRITING ESSAYS
Writing essays, term papers, lab reports, is a process.
Establish, narrow, and define your topic.
State your thesis or theme in a sentence or two (at most).
Define and keep your audience in mind as you write.
a. Is it your instructor who grades the assignment?
b. Will your classmates critique work?
c. Is it for a conference of professionals, or for review?
4. Set a time line.
a. Allow for unexpected developments.
b. Plan on at least one revision (Rewriting time).
5. Gather resources.
a. People: instructor, teaching assistant, research
librarian, tutor, subject matter experts, professionals.
b. References: text book, reference works, web sites, journals, diaries, professional reports.
6. Research: read, interview, experiment, gather data, etc.,and
take notes completely as possible.
7. Document sources. Use index cards or a word processor
8. Organize your notes with a prewriting exercise:
a. Focused free writing
b. Brainstorming
c. Mapping
d. Or outlining
9. Write your first (rough) draft. Determine how you will
develop your argument: Use good logic in a reasoned argument
to develop the theme and/or support the thesis.
a. Will you compare or define?
b. Will you criticize or describe?
1. Introduce the topic.
2. Inform the reader of your point of view!
3. Entice the reader to continue and finish the essay!
4. Focus on three main points to develop
The first paragraph is often the most difficult to write. If you have trouble, just get it down with the intention of re-writing it later, even after you have finished with the rest.
Remember: This first entry draws your audience into your topic, your perspective, and its importance to continue with the essay.
1. Establish flow from paragraph to paragraph. Use transition
sentences, clauses, or words at the beginning of paragraph
and connect one idea to the next.
2. Write topic sentences in each paragraph, and define their
place in the overall scheme.
3. Avoid one and two sentence paragraphs, which may reflect lack
of development of your main ideas.
4. Keep your sentences in the "Active Voice".
5. Use quotations to support your interpretations.
6. Properly introduce, explain, and cite each quote.
7. Don't drift or leave the primary focus of the essay.
8. Don't lapse into summary in the development stage, wait until
the conclusion
1. Do the last paragraph(s) briefly.
2. Restate the main ideas.
3. Reflect the succession and importance of the arguments.
4. Logically conclude their development.
5. Summarize, then conclude, your argument.
1.Select the topic of your essay.
2.Choose the central idea, or thesis.
3.Outline your essay into:
a. Introductory paragraph(s).
b. Body paragraph(s).
c. Summary paragraph(s).
4. Begin the introduction with an interesting sentence.
5. Add your thesis statement(if it is not in the introductory
sentence.
6. Finish the introductory paragraph with a short summary or
goal statement.
7. Develop the topic (main idea) in each of the body paragraphs.
8. Develop your body paragraphs by giving detailed information.
9. A summary paragraph finishes your essay and is often a
reverse of the of the introductory paragraph. Begin
the summary paragraph by quickly restating the principal
ideas from your body paragraphs
1. This essay is about:
2. The essay is introduced by the following interesting
statement:
3. This essay is introduced with the following idea:
4. The essay will illustrate the above idea by showing that:
main point of paragraph.
__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ___________
(This is shown by)
A. __________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
B.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________
C.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________
5. Main point of paragraph.
__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ___________
(This is shown by)
A.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
B.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
C.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
5. Main point of paragraph.
__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________
(This is shown by)
A.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
B.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
C.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
6. To summarize, this essay has shown that:
__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ _________
(The lessons that can be learned are)
A.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
B.__________ ______ ____ _____ _______ ______ ________
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