Drafting a Paper
CHAPTER 3
The Short Essay
 Essays have three parts
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
 Thesis Statement
 What the essay is about
 Look at example on page 44
Paragraph Length
 No set amount of sentences per paragraph
 Use short paragraphs to isolate a point; therefore,
stressing it
 Type written page with four or more paragraphs
need rewritten
 Vary paragraph length
Paragraphs as miniature essays
 Topic Sentence => thesis statement
 Developing Details
=> body
 Closing comment or sentence => conclusion
Paragraph Development
 Developmental Paragraph (Important Term)
 Paragraph with a topic sentence and developing
details
5 kinds of Paragraph Development
 Examples (47)
 support a generalization with concrete information
Illustrations (47-48)
 little story, narrative, or anecdote that embodies an
idea
Details (48-49)
 component parts that make up the whole
 ex: individual steps in a procedure
Reasons
 answer the question why
 reasons are acceptable and respectable if the writer
basis them on established fact, close observation and
experience, or logical analysis
Mixed Material
 Mix of details, reasons, examples, and illustrations
Paragraph Unity (51)
 Unified
Paragraph (Important Term)
 Every sentence is about the topic sentence
 Reread first two paragraphs under
paragraph unity
Paragraph Coherence (51 – 52)
 Coherent Paragraph (Important Term)
Paragraph
in which a clear pattern of
thought emerges
 Achieve Paragraph coherence in three ways:
Appropriate
ordering principle
Providing transitions from one idea to
another
 Maintaining a consistent tone
Ordering Principles
 Way to achieve coherence
Time
 You can arrange material according
to when it happens
 past to present
 early to late
 old to new
Space (Physical Space) [53]
 Narrator stands in place and
proceeds from a natural or logical
order of progression
 left to right
 bottom to top
Importance (54)
 Ideas arranged in ascending order
of importance or value (least to
most)
 It is human nature to build towards
a climax
Using Transitions (55)
 Passing from one subject to another
 Symbols, words, phrases can make
a smooth passage
 Some transitional words: First,
next, then, finally
Consistency of Tone
 Tone (Key Rhetorical Analysis
Tool)
 Tone Defined
 The author’s attitude towards his or her
subject and audience
A Few Examples
 Formal
 Personal
 Emotional
 Joking
To Maintain a Consistent Tone
 Decide who is speaking => Point of
View (116)
 Omniscient- outside narrator (3rd
Person) knowing everything that is
happening
 Limited- one character is used. Only
know what that character knows, hears,
and sees
 First Person- narrator is a
character in the writing
 Objective or Dramatic- moving like
a movie camera recording only
what you can see or hear, never
delving into anyone’s mind or heart
 Consider whether the statement should
be made in the present tense or past,
the active or passive voice
Know what diction to use
 Diction (A Very, Very
Important Rhetorical Tool)
 Word choice and language used
(conflagration –vs- fire)
 Reread Example on page 56
Getting Started
 Introduction
 Have a thesis statement
 Do not have to write the introduction first
Ways to start a paper
 Allusion: reference to a person, work of art, event, or
literature
 Only effective if the audience knows it
 short narration
 startling question, observation, or line of dialogue
 definition of a key term
 striking contrast
 direct statement