WRITING RESOURCES

GENERAL HELP:

Help with the Parts of an Essay/Argument

Help with

INTRODUCTIONS:


  • Review intro format

  • Aim to structure ideas from broad to specific - see General Writing Help packet

  • Don't just throw the reader into the deep end (or your Claim); aim to include a catchy beginning to grab reader’s attention/interest (see intro help)

  • Don't jump too quickly into the text/claim/thesis; eeeeaaaassse the reader into it all; woo them with an engaging opening * introduce reader to the general topic, then introduce your specific focus (see intro help)

  • Refine your Thesis/Claim: make it clear & analytical or poignant; avoid a Claim that is too passive/general/non-committal or doesn't address the task at hand

  • Implicitly or explicitly introduce the Main Points (scroll down); you will use these to prove your Claim. These will essentially be your BPs. Without them, the reader has no idea where you are headed

  • Avoid too much detail in Intro – save that for Body Paragraph. Remember the dating analogy we brought up in class.

  • Work in the list of points subtly


Help with

BODY PARAGRAPHS:


  • Each BP needs a focus. That focus is called its MAIN POINT. Main Points are initially introduced in the introduction

  • The order of your intro's MPs should be the order of the essay's BPs

  • See General Writing Help packet; see Help with BPs

  • MAIN POINTS (like Goldilocks and the 3 Bears) need to find the right balance between being too specific and too broad (otherwise you'll quickly run out of things to say or never move beyond generalizations) - see Help with MPs

  • EVIDENCE needs to directly relate to that BP's MP. Anything else should be moved elsewhere

      • Don't merely list a whole bunch of evidence; aim for the best and most relevant evidence

      • Don't just summarize

      • Aim to pull evidence from the beginning, middle, and end of the source text OR from a variety of sources to corroborate your interpretation

  • EXPLANATION: now do something with that evidence. Not sure what to say about a piece of evidence? - see Help with Developing BPs

REMEMBER: you can't say it all in a single essay or argument. So figure you what you can say, and say it well.

Narrow your focus – give less evidence with more analysis; quality vs. quantity

  • TIE BACK: tie each paragraph back to the argument’s claim/ essay’s thesis

    • Don’t end a BP with a new (undeveloped) idea or a hint of the next BP’s idea; use the next BP’s topic sentence to introduce that idea instead

Help with

CONCLUSIONS:


  • Help with Conclusion

  • Do not simply repeat (verbatim) the Introduction in the Conclusion

  • Give big picture/umbrella ideas for the summation; don't need to go into crazy detail (that's what the BPs were for)

  • Don’t bring up anything new in Conclusion

  • Use Essay Mnemonic

  • Zoom out: work your way from the specifics back to the bigger picture - reverse of introduction

  • Expert Advice:


CITATIONS:

PROOFREADING


TIPS for QUOTING & CITING

  • Aim for poignant or relevant quote/evidence; move the point forward; don't distract from your BP’s Main Point

  • Quotes should generally be no longer than 1-2 lines – if longer, trim quotation down to its most important elements/points

  • Quotation or evidence needs at least 2-3 sentences of your analysis (HOW & WHY) – see BP help for this

  • Parenthetical Citation at the very end of the sentence, using the following format: Arthur Miller wrote, “I cannot judge you” (23). Or “I cannot judge you,” (Miller 23). see Help with Parenthetical Citations

  • Correct punctuation is needed to introduce and close quotations: He says, ”Blah blah blah.” or He said that “blah blah blah.”

  • Provide 1-2 sentences of context before dropping the reader into your quote; feels disconnected or sudden

  • Single quotation marks should be used to signify a quote within a quote (ex: “He said, ‘Hello.’”)