1. Writing Reminders

2. Things to Remember Good essays have the following components:
A strong intro paragraph with a well-formed thesis that lets the reader know exactly what you will be discussing in your essay.
Body paragraphs that have a strong intro sentence.
Body paragraphs that have an effective flow and that follow the structure and content of your thesis.

3. Things to Remember
Body paragraphs that make a claim and support that claim with textual evidence.
Body paragraphs that have roughly a ratio of 1 piece of textual evidence to support every 2 pieces of your analysis of the text.
Body paragraphs that have strong concluding sentences the either finish the paragraph soundly, transition to the next paragraph, or both.

4. Things to Remember
A conclusion paragraph that restates, or clarifies to a greater extent the point that you were trying to make in the entire essay.
A conclusion paragraph that ties the essay in its entirety back to the thesis statement.
Very few to no grammatical or spelling errors. (There is a bit of leeway on this because of the fact that you are writing in class, making this a first draft.)

5. Things to Remember Things good essays DO NOT HAVE:
Personal pronouns that refer to the writer or the reader.
Contractions
Any of the “No-No” words or phrases on the paper posted on Classroom today