The Process of Essay Writing Prof. Falcone

The Title Give your essay an original title This is actually the last thing you will write.

The Introduction Catches the reader’s attention Contains a main idea, thesis or assertion Never: “This essay is about…” Never: “The readings I have read”

Theme and Thesis Generate Ideas by brainstorming, freewriting, clustering and asking questions: 6 Reporter’s Questions Create a working theme Revise it later to reflect your discoveries

Organizing Ideas Create an outline: consider the order of each idea. Time order Order of importance General to specific Logical order: links in a chain

Transitions Link using transitional expressions: However, For example, Importantly, Consequently,

The Analytic Paragraph Topic sentence Explanation Example Point This is the foundation of academic writing. Use it.

Conclusion Never repetitive What did you discover? Make it personal (if allowed) Make a point

Review The Piece Support, unity, coherence Purpose, audience and tone Logical order Read out loud Proofread for errors you know you make “YOU” and “A LOT” have no place in college writing.

Citation Always cite your sources. Title and author of the piece stated in a sentence in the essay. After one complete citation, just author’s last name and page # in parentheses after the quote: (Cox 525) This is MLA Style for In-text citation

Format Name and date on everything you write Assignment: Take home essay 1 Revisions should say revised and include a NEW Date. Double space in 12pt. Times