Essay writing – a waste of time?

Essay writing helps you develop your ability to express your thoughts and ideas helps you develop your ability to prove your point of view – an important aspect of written communication you learn to ‘speak’ on different topics in different ways you acquire new knowledge during research you receive deep insights during the process of writing that may otherwise not occur you extend your vocabulary Why? What for?

Structure is your best friend! Why?

Structure is your best friend because... it keeps your argument focussed it stops you drifting into other tangents it gives the reader a road map (we like it) it makes your essay more convincing it gives your essay a ‘professional’ quality rather than simply being a regurgitated load of mis-match (or more accurately, vomit) you can’t get an ‘A’ without it. IMPOSSIBLE! and apart from all that, it LOOKS great

Structure – a defined five paragraph format Introduction: the first paragraph introduces us to the thesis of the essay and directs us to the three main supporting subtopics Paragraph/Point 1: restates the first point in the introduction and provides more supporting information (PLOT) Point 2: restates the second point in the introduction and provides more supporting information Paragraph/Point 3: restates the third point in the introduction and provides more supporting information (SETTINGS) Conclusion: the sixth and last paragraph restates the main thesis and reminds the reader of the three main points Paragraph/Point 2: restates the second point in the introduction and provides more supporting information (CHARACTERISATION) Paragraph/Point 4: restates the fourth point in the introduction and provides more supporting information (CLUES)

Introduction the place in which the writer introduces the reader to the topic it is important to make this a clear and limited statement (thesis) it is where the writer grabs the reader's attention because of its purpose, it is often the first sentence of the paragraph the place where your three points to develop your thesis are mentioned for the first time NOTE: between this paragraph and all paragraphs of the essay, there needs to be some kind of a transition word, phrase, or sentence

A good thesis statement includes the following four attributes: takes on a subject upon which reasonable people could disagree expresses one main idea asserts your opinion about a subject /issue For example: Cinderella was a kind and morally upright young lady because she always pursued justice even during periods of hardship and struggle. Or The witch in Rapunzel was a cruel and selfish despot who delighted in controlling others. Step 1 - Develop a thesis Now, your turn – develop a thesis for Cinderella

Cinderella was a kind and morally upright young lady because she always pursued justice even during periods of hardship and struggle. Point 1 – Cinderella was polite to the two ugly sisters even when they were rude to her Point 2 – Cinderella was kind and caring to animals despite her own misery Point 3 – Cinderella was patient and polite to everyone even though she was abused write a topic sentence – introduce the fairy tale you are writing about state your hypothesis declare your three main points and the order in which you will be discussing them

What points are you going to use to argue your hypothesis? Point 1: Point 2: Point 3: Point 1 – Cinderella was polite to the two ugly sisters even when they were rude to her Point 2 – Cinderella was kind and caring to animals despite her own misery Point 3 – Cinderella was patient and polite to everyone even though she was abused

write a topic sentence – introduce the fairy tale you are writing about state your hypothesis declare your three main points and the order in which you will be discussing them Step 2 - Develop an introduction Now, your turn – write an introduction for Cinderella

Step 2 – Write your first point Now, your turn – develop your point for Cinderella The first point (in support of your thesis) a topic sentence must outline your point state the evidence supporting it close the paragraph with a clincher quote from the fairytale

Step 3 – Write your second point Now, your turn – develop your second point for Cinderella The second point (in support of your thesis) a topic sentence must outline your point state the evidence supporting it close the paragraph with a clincher quote from the fairytale

Step 4 – Write your third point Now, your turn – develop your third point for Cinderella The third point (in support of your thesis) a topic sentence must outline your point state the evidence supporting it close the paragraph with a clincher quote from the fairytale

Step 5 – Write your conclusion Now, your turn – develop your conclusion for Cinderella Conclusion a topic sentence must outline the main overall issue state the three points made summarise the argument close the paragraph with a clincher