BUILDING AN ESSAY: BASIC ESSAY STRUCTURE Mr Jernigan

Why are essays important? What is an essay? Why are essays important? How long will I have to be able to write essays?

If You Learn Nothing Else… An essay is a relatively short piece of nonfiction in which a writer attempts to develop one or more closely related points or ideas. If you learn nothing else this year, please grasp these concepts about essays and put them into use. Your ability to write in essay-like formats will greatly affect your ability to advance and succeed in life.

Basic Essay Structure and Terms What is a thesis? What are the three basic parts of an essay? How does each of these three basic parts function?

Basic Essay Terms The thesis of an essay is its main idea. A good essay has three parts: Introduction Body Conclusion Each part of an essay is made up of paragraphs. Good body paragraphs have these parts: Topic Sentence (Claim) Evidence supporting the topic. The writer’s expansion, connecting the evidence and the topic sentence

Thesis What does a good thesis do? What does it mean for an essay to be unified?

Some Thoughts on Thesis Implicit VS Explicit Sometimes, it is implied rather than directly stated. The thesis determines the content of the essay: everything the writer says must be logically related to the thesis statement. A good thesis statement identifies the topic and makes an assertion about it. A well-written essay should be unified; that is, everything in it should be related to its thesis, or main idea. A unified essay stays within the limits of its thesis. Your essay is unified if you advance a single point and stick to that point. If all the details in your essay relate to your thesis and supporting topic sentences, your essay is unified.

Introduction What should a good introduction do? How long should an introduction be? What specific parts of an introduction should I have?

Introduction The introduction paragraph should include an attention getter (or hook), a bridge or connecting sentence that helps ease the reader toward the paper’s subject, and a thesis statement that clearly states the central idea about the subject of the paper. Hook (AGD)- This can take the form of a quote, statistic, anecdote, definition, or any other item that will grab the attention of the reader. This should be able to be related to the thesis of the paper Transition/Bridge- This sentence should help bring the reader from the hook into the general subject explored in the paper. The subject of the paper should be the general umbrella under which the remainder of your paper falls. Thesis- A thesis is a specific statement about the subject that you will illustrate throughout the remainder of the paper. This specific statement is the one thing you want your reader to walk away from the paper knowing. The rest of your paper should prove this point true.

Body What is my goal in the body of an essay? How many paragraphs should I have in the body of an essay? What are the basic sentence types for a body paragraph? How does the body of my essay relate to the thesis? How do I keep my paragraphs unified?

Body Paragraphs Good body paragraphs make a claim about the topic (topic sentence), provide specific evidence supporting the claim, and most importantly spell out the connection between the evidence, key point, and thesis. Key Point Sentence (Claim) This sentences should be a specific sentence illustrating a point that shows the truthfulness of the thesis statement. Evidence -This part of the paragraph should point out specific evidence (quote, stat, anecdote, summary of events, paraphrase of information, etc.). If this evidence is drawn from an outside source, be certain to cite them as the source of the information. Expansion (warrant/reasoning)-This is the most important part of the body paragraph. This is you spelling out the connection between evidence, key point, and thesis. Here, you should spell out, in-detail, the significance of the evidence, and its relationship to the thesis. repeat evidence/ expansion as needed to fully support the key point The body paragraph format should be utilized for every subsequent body paragraph until the thesis is sufficiently supported. Body paragraphs should be unified by the topic sentence. The Author should use as many body paragraphs as is necessary to adequately support their thesis.

Conclusion What is the main function of a conclusion? What types of things would be most beneficial in a conclusion? How long should my conclusion be? Does my conclusion have to be its own paragraph?

Conclusion The paper should wrap up soundly with a good conclusion. The conclusion should bring the reader back to the thesis (restated in different words), restate the key points, and bring the reader full circle by tying the back into the attention getter. Restate Thesis- Put your thesis in other words. This phrase should encapsulate the same central idea of your original thesis. Restate Key Points (claims)- Once again, using different wording, recap the key points that illustrated the truthfulness of your thesis. Reconnect to Hook/ AGD- This should bring the reader full-circle to your introductory hook thus giving the reader a sense of full closure.

The CYCLE of Good ESSAYS

PROMPTED WRITING

How To Write A Constructed Response PLANNING: Read the entire question. Identify and underline key words in the question, such as: explain, elaborate, illustrate. Restate the prompt in your own words to be sure that you understand it. List items you should identify in your answer List facts & examples to support your answer

R.A.C.E. Reword Answer Cite Evidence Explain

R.A.C.E Example: Ques - "What color is the sky?" WRITING: Reword: restate the question and make it into a statement as a part of the answer you provide. Example: Ques - "What color is the sky?" Correct written answer - “The color of the sky is usually blue," or words to that effect.

R.A.C.E ANSWER: show how you arrived at your answer with general reasons. Usually R & A in R.A.C.E. are in the same sentence. Example: “What color is the sky?” REWORD: The color of the sky is usually blue, … ANSWER: because of how we see light waves and the weather conditions.

R.A.C.E Cite Evidence/Examples: Use the facts or examples to support the R & A in R.A.C.E At least 3 Evidence or Examples EXAMPLE: The Sky is usually blue because of how we see light waves and the weather conditions. According to scientist, humans see blue sky based on what kinds of light waves are visualized in the eye, how sunny the day is and the direction of the sunlight.

R.A.C.E EXPLAIN THE ANSWER: Elaborate on the evidence and examples you cited in C. EXAMPLE: The Sky is usually blue because of how we see light waves and the weather conditions. According to scientist, humans see blue sky based on what kinds of light waves are visualized in the eye, how sunny the day is and the direction of the sunlight. On a clear, sunny day, the sun is directly shinning on us. Because the molecules in the air reflect the scattered blue light waves more than red or orange when it bounces off the direct sunlight, we see blue. As the sun sets, the direction of its light goes away from us so the molecules reflect the red or orange waves of light that we see at sunsets.

THE A-B-C STRATEGY: For writing a timed essay Attack the Prompt Brainstorm Possible Answers Choose the Order of Your Response

Attack the Prompt Circle “to do” action words. Unwrap the question by re-writing it in a “Do/What” chart. Attack the prompt either verbally or graphically, identifying the “to do” words. “To do”/action words include: choose, write, describe, discuss, explain It’s what they want you to do in your essay!

Brainstorm Possible Answers: List ideas in bullet form Bubble map Outline Line clusters Columns *THIS IS YOUR PRE-WRITING TECHNIQUE!

Choose the Order of Your Response After brainstorming, quickly choose the order in which you will discuss each idea of response. *Remember: check your paper by reading it before you turn it in!

Sample A-B-C Attack the prompt: Some activities are fun and more interesting than others. Some people like to play sports, others like to read, while others like to play an instrument. Think of an activity that you enjoy doing more than anything else. Discuss the three main reasons you enjoy this activity & provide examples and details to support each of your reasons. Do/What Think: activity you enjoy doing more than anyone else Discuss: 3 main reasons I enjoy this activity Provide: examples and details to support each reason