The
Essay
Engineer
3
“GERS TEER C”
The Easy Way to Write Essays
Designed for:
*Expository Essays
*Argumentative Essays
* Descriptive Essays
* Instructional Essays
* Almost ANY Essay
The Essay Engineer is…
• “A Math Formula for Writing Essays”
• Originally Designed for Engineers
– (People who HATE to write.)
• Very User-Friendly
• A “Turn-Key Simple” System
A Snapshot...
• G-
General Thesis
Statement
• E - Explanation
• R - Reduce
• S - Specific Thesis
•
•
•
•
T - Topic Sentence
E - Explanation
E - Evidence
R - Restate/Relate
Statement
C - Conclusion
GERS - The Intro Paragraph
This opening paragraph makes a general
assertion, the General Thesis Statement,
then narrows the focus to a more specific
assertion, the Specific Thesis Statement.
GERS
• G - General Thesis Statement - The big,
general assertion. This is the ‘universal’
statement that tells what the paper will be
about.
• “There are many great sports that
can be played for free.”
GERS
• E - Explanation - Explains and if necessary
expands the GTS.
• “Some of these sports are Olympic
or professional, but some are strictly
for fun and skill-building.”
GERS
• R - Reduce - The transition point from
General to Specific.
• “However, one of the greatest sport
ever for building skills is pigeon
punchin’.”
GERS
• S - Specific Thesis Statement - This is where
the writer tells the readers exactly what the
essay will discuss.
• “Pigeon punchin’ is great because it
sharpens reflexes, builds coordination,
and is free!.”
• (These three topics will now be expanded and
explained in their own paragraphs.)
3
TEER
• TEER is the body of the essay.
• The exponential “3” represents
the three paragraphs in the body
of the essay.
• Each point in the STS gets its
own paragraph.
TEER
• T - Topic Sentence - Here the writer
expands on an idea from the STS above.
• “Pigeon punchin’ is a great way to
sharpen reflexes.”
EER
T
• E - Explanation - Here the writer explains
the Topic Sentence:
• “In other words, people who play
pigeon punchin’ will have faster
reflexes and shorter reaction time in
other sports.”
TE
ER
• E - Evidence - Okay, prove what you just
said:
• “A young Kansas boy named John
invented pigeon punchin’, and he
grew up to be the greatest highschool quarterback in Kansas
history, and went on to a full college
scholarship.”
TEE
R
• R – Restate/Relate: Here’s where the writer
sums up the paragraph, and relates it all
back to the specific thesis statement:
• “His experience is proof that pigeon
punchin’ is a great skill-building
sport.”
C - Conclusion
• C – Conclusion: Just as the opening paragraph
brought the essay from General to Specific, this
paragraph should take the essay from Specific to
General. Just ‘invert the first paragraph’.
• “Because it sharpens reflexes, builds
coordination, and is free, pigeon punchin’
is one of the greatest sports in America.
There are many sports, but pigeon
punchin’ is definitely one of the best.”
To Sum up...
• GERS TEER C is a simple, useful
method
• It is easy to use, easy to learn
• It fits practically any essay
• Even ‘non-writers’ can just ‘plug their
ideas in and design an essay’
For Discussion….
•
•
•
•
•
District 49 should require uniforms
The legal driving age should be raised to 18
High school should require an exit exam
The legal drinking age should be raised to 25
D49 should institute a high-school naptime.
(the Sizemore Amendment)
The President…
•
•
•
•
•
Who was the best president ever?
Who was the worst president ever?
Give three reasons to support your position.
Follow the Blueprint
Choose a president NOT from your lifetime!
– (That rules out Obamanation, Shrub I or II, and
Slick Willy. This is ENGLISH, not POLI SCI)
Choose best OR worst – not both
So what would YOU change about VRHS?
•Would you add a sport?
•Would you add an academic program?
•Would you cancel one of them?
•Is there some rule you would add or subtract?
Using the Essay Engineer, write a 5-paragraph essay on what
change you would implement.
•Be sure to use evidence to support your position
•Look beyond your own interests
•DON’T use 1st or 2nd-person pronouns (I, you, me, our, etc…)
Sacking Middle School Football
Many changes are being considered in Falcon District 49. As the
district grows, the administration is considering many changes to
make the district as safe and effective as possible. However, the
concept of eliminating middle school football is a concept that
deserves to be considered. Three reasons for eliminating middle
school football are; it is too expensive, it is too dangerous, and it is too
damaging to students’ futures.
First, middle school football is too expensive. That is money that
could be much better spent elsewhere. For the price of one football
team, complete with pads, helmets, uniforms, and other equipment,
the school could have a soccer team, a baseball team, and a softball
team. Many more students would be involved so eliminating the
football team would benefit more people.
Second, middle school football is too dangerous. Too many students
suffer long-term injuries. A middle-school student’s skeleton joints have
not yet fused, so he stand a much bigger chance of suffering an injury
that would have been less likely if he was only 1-2 years older when it
occurred, and his still-growing skeleton has less chance of recovering.
That’s why football should be reserved for high school only.
Finally, middle school football damages too many students’ futures.
Too many students develop too narrow a focus for their own good.
Middle-school students convince themselves that they will be the next
Brett Favre or the next Shannon Sharpe, and they decide that football is
more important than anything, including academics. But it never occurs
to them that only one in 1,500,000 middle school players will grow up to
even get a tryout with an NFL team, and that’s only if they graduate
college. Therefore, football causes some middle school students to focus
on the wrong path.
Because it is too expensive, too dangerous, and too distracting,
middle school football should be eliminated. There are many changes the
school board is considering, but this one definitely deserves thought.
Role Model…
• Who is the best role model in the entertainment
industry?
• (Entertainment can include music, sports, and
movies)
• Who is the worst role model in the
entertainment industry?
• CHOOSE ONE OR THE OTHER
• Give three reasons to support your position.
• Follow the Blueprint
Best Invention
• What is the most important invention
since the year 1011?
• Was it the computer? The telephone? The
telegraph? The car? The Railroad? A way of
controlling electricity? A way of controlling
fire? The airplane? Atomic power? Indoor
plumbing? Antibiotics? The toothbrush?
The refrigerator? The lightbulb?
• Give three reasons to justify your answer.
WHY was it the most important? Be
persuasive.
Best Invention
• Hints….
• Remember, the wheel and the house are a
LOT older than 1000 years.
• Fire and electricity are not inventions.
• Think – was there some previous
invention that made your first choice
possible?
• If you choose what I would have chosen,
take an extra ten points.
The Chosen…
• R – However, Chaim Potok’s novel The
Chosen is an interesting story because…
• R - However, Chaim Potok’s novel The
Chosen is a rather uninteresting story
because…
• Choose one and give three reasons why.