1. Being able to express your opinion professionally is an outstanding skill!! Mrs. B

2.  The expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.  In this case, we are working with quotes! (still the same concepts!)

3.  While I know you are all brilliant, your opinion is not enough to support your analysis of someone else’s work!  All essays require textual evidence! (but don’t over quote)  Go back to the text and find exactly what makes you think the way you think about the quote you have chosen!

4.  You need to quote but don’t know how? No worries I am here for you! ◦ “Write your quote in quotations. For a paper it must be the entire quote. Then add the page number at the end of your quote in parenthesis after the quotation.” (1) (By this point you should have already introduced your writer…we will get to that!) ◦ Make sure to add any other relevant pieces of information to your essay in order to support your analysis. ◦ But remember this is YOUR paper…NOT Steinbecks! I need your words to be the huge majority of this paper!

6.  A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph of the essay. ◦ It is essential that this thesis statement be appropriately narrowed to follow the guidelines set forth in the assignment. If the student does not master this portion of the essay, it will be quite difficult to compose an effective essay.

7.  Include the name of the literary work and the author.  Hook the audience…get them excited about what you are going to explain. Remember in some ways you are persuading them to think like you! (or at the very least believe you’re not a big liar!)  Your thesis statement which can act as an intro to your body paragraphs!!

8.  Each of these should contain the different parts of your essay.  Have to flow in order for your essay to be clear and easy to follow!  This is where your citations live! Nowhere else!!! (unless you are introducing your quote in the intro)

9.  WRAP IT UP! Sum up your essay. Restate some of what you’ve said in the body but with some authority. ◦ You are the expert now! Act like it… ◦ A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the evidence provided. ◦ Do not introduce any new information into the conclusion; rather, synthesize and come to a conclusion concerning the information presented in the body of the essay.