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Definition
Example
Compare and contrast
Cause and effect
Classification
Process analysis
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Grab your reader’s attention
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Ask a question
State a fact/statistic
Tell a short short story
Quote from someone famous
Thesis Statement
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Also called controlling idea
Does 3 things
 Announces the topic to the reader
 Reflects judgment about the topic
 Provides the reader with a blueprint for what is to
come in the paper.
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1. TOPIC: School uniforms
2. TOPIC: Your parents and trust
3. TOPIC: Texting and driving
4. TOPIC: Changing high schools
5. TOPIC: Endangered species protection
6. TOPIC: Life on other planets
7. TOPIC: Nutritious foods
8. TOPIC: Going to college
9. TOPIC: Legalizing gay marriages
10. TOPIC: Lowering the driving
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How to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of a
thesis statement
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Broad Thesis Statements are claims that are vague, ambiguous
or over reading. These are claims that do not meet at least 2 of
the 3 criteria and/or attempt to address a topic with too many
issues to deal with in a given writing assignment.
Narrow Thesis Statements are claims that do not meet at least 2
of the 3 criteria and/or too specific and single-minded to be
developed into a thorough essay.
Use the topic-comment approach to specifically identify what
you believe to be your topic and the comments about the topic
By isolating the topics from the comments, writers can evaluate
the strengths and weaknesses of the comments they are
attempting to put forth.
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Directions: For each of the following statements, identify
whether the statement is strong, too narrow, or too broad. If
the statement is too narrow or broad, rewrite it to fix the
problem.
1. Media violence is harmful to society.
2. The death penalty is wrong.
3. School uniforms provide many benefits to students,
parents and educators.
4. Technology has changed our lives.
5. Violent crime is up.
6. The recall election will do more harm than good.
7. I like my apartment.
8. Taking care of older pets can be challenging.
9. Participating in volunteer work is essential to the
development of strong character.
10. The neighbor’s cat is unfriendly.
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Topic Sentence
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Evidence
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Major support/reasons for your position/thesis
Backs up your major support/reason
You can use facts, examples, and/or expert opinions
Make sure that you provide proper citations and works
cited when you are quoting someone else. You need 2-3
per body paragraph
One evidence may be more than one sentence.
Use as much detail as possible
Commentary
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Sums up your paragraph
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If the author's name is mentioned in the text
If the author's name is used in the text introducing the
source material, then cite the page number(s) in
parentheses:
 Branscomb argues that "it's a good idea to lurk (i.e., read
all the messages without contributing anything) for a few
weeks, to ensure that you don't break any of the rules of
netiquette" when joining a listserv (7).
 Use the same rule if you used the same author in the
previous quote
 Parenthetical documentation goes at the end of the
sentence. Period goes after the parenthetical
documentation.
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If the author's name is not mentioned in the text
If the author's name is not used in the sentence
introducing the source material, then include the author's
last name in the parenthetical citation before the page
number(s). Note that no comma appears between the
author's name and the page number(s).
 The modern world requires both the ability to concentrate
on one thing and the ability to attend to more than one
thing at a time: "Ideally, each individual would cultivate a
repertoire of styles of attention, appropriate to different
situations, and would learn how to embed activities and
types of attention one within another" (Bateson 97).
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If no author is identified
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If a source does not include an author's name,
substitute for the author's name the title or an
abbreviated title in the text or parenthetical citation.
Underline the title if the source is a book; if the
source is an article, use quotation marks:
The use of Customer Relationship Management
(CRM) systems has grown substantially over the
past five years as companies attempt to adapt to
customer needs and to improve their profitability
("Making CRM Work").
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Setting up the page
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Setting up the entries
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Title the page Works Cited
Center your title.
Continue with the header as in paper, if your paper ended on
page 5, then your Works Cited page is page 6.
Continue with the same set up as the rest of the paper, so
double space between all lines on the Work Cited page.
Begin each entry with the left margin.
Indent each additional line five spaces.
Single Spacebar after each period in a Works Cited page
(usually double spacebar after each period in a paper.
List entries in alphabetical order.
Don’t number your entries.
Easybib.com
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Attention grabber again
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Like when you warm-up and cool down when
working out, you must do the same with your
essays.
You could even create a circular effect with your
attention grabber in the introduction.
In a persuasive essay, this is your call to action
Restate Thesis with Main Points
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Don’t be repetitive
Use different words
Add you main points/3 reasons from each body
paragraph (topic sentences)
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Don’t forget to use transitions between each
paragraph and between different ideas within
each paragraph. Example transitions:
Above all
Also
Another fact to consider
Another reason
Another thing
Best of all
Consider that
Especially
For example
In addition
In the first place
In particular
More important
Most important
Remember
The last point to consider
Worst of all
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Double Space- Skip lines
On the first page only, include your heading on the top left
hand side of the page
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First and last name
Teacher’s Name
Class Name – Period Number
Due Date
On pages past the first page (thus not on the first page), you
must put your last name followed by the page number at
the top right-hand side of the page.
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Go to “View” -> click on “Header/Footer” -> click “right indent”
from the main toolbar -> type last name -> click the spacebar ->
click “insert page number” from header/footer toolbar -> click on
“page setup” from header/footer toolbar -> click on the “layout”
tab -> check the box marked “different first page” -> click “OK”
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Must have 1 inch margins all the way around
Only 12 point Times New Roman font is allowed
Indent the beginning of a new paragraph
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If you include dialogue, every time a different person
speaks, it should be in a new paragraph.
Don’t put extra lines in between paragraphs
Don’t bold, italicize or underline anything!!!
Don’t use parenthesis, unless citing in a research
paper
Give a creative title-
Can’t be bolded, underlined, change font type, color, or
put in a larger font.
 Centered
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Do not include slang (ex. “cause”, “gonna”, “hangin
out” ), except if it appears in the dialogue and
enhances the story
Don’t use contractions (didn’t = did not, I’m = I
am, They’re = They are, We’ve = We have)
Do not abbreviate words (ex. bc, etc.) or symbols
($, %, &, #, @) – you are not texting!!!!
Numbers one through nine must be spelled out,
you may use numbers for 10 and beyond. If a
number starts a sentence, the number must be
spelled out, no matter the amount of the number.
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Check for correct grammar, spelling, punctuation,
capitalization (the first word of a sentence, “I”, proper
nouns, etc)
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Be cautious of spell check because it will not pick up
homophone errors, like their, there, and they’re or too, to,
and two
Avoid Clichés
Avoid “very” – synonyms: awfully, dreadfully,
exceedingly, exceptionally, extremely, greatly, etc.
Avoid “a lot” – synonyms: many, several,
multiple, bountiful, plentiful, numerous, etc.
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The most important thing you can do for your
essay
All you have to do is turn your
outline/prewriting into sentence format.