Effective Social Science Essay Writing
Why writing essays is important:
In life, we are judged by people constantly. Most of the time it is
based on how we look, how we talk, how we act, how we work.
Sometimes—and more often than we’d expect—we are judged by
people in another way:
How we write
Most of you don’t like to write because you never learned how to
do it well. We are going to change that this year by giving you
both an opportunity & a system that will make you more
persuasive—and therefore effective—writers.
Depending on the military branch, trade school, college,
university, or job you go into right out of school:
Writing will be important.
This is especially true for one reason: many times writing will be
the only chance you’ll get to make your point—your writing will
be the only thing representing you.
 Corporate headquarters will want a written market analysis or
sales projection report sent to them
 Your commander will need a written analysis of how to stop
civilian deaths in an occupied zone you control
 You’ll need a better-than-average written college application
essay or know how to write an essay or paper for a
demanding college professor (in a class you are paying for)
You will not have the opportunity to be behind the person as they
read your words and say to them over their shoulder:
“What I meant to say in that paragraph was . . .”
For if that was what you meant to say, why didn’t you write it that
way the first time?
HOW WE WILL WRITE ESSAYS:
1. UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION BEING ASKED
 RE-READ THE QUESTION AT LEAST TWICE
 UNDERLINE THE KEY WORDS
2. PLAN YOUR ANSWER BEFORE STARTING TO WRITE.
 YOU CANNOT JUST START WRITING AND BE
EFFECTIVE
 ORGANIZATION IS KEY TO EFFECTIVE WRITING
 CONTENT IS KEY TO EFFECTIVE WRITING (ie.
FACTS, EXAMPLES, IDEAS)
 MAJOR POINTS FIRST IS KEY TO EFFECTIVE
WRITING!
3.
THINK E-S-P! ECONOMIC
ECONOMIC:
SOCIAL POLITICAL
SOCIAL:
POLITICAL:
4. WRITE A COMPLEX THESIS STATEMENT
 A CTS WILL ALWAYS BEGIN WITH “ALTHOUGH”
IN THIS CLASS. YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE A CTS!
5. SKIP A LINE.
6. START IN WITH YOUR FIRST PARAGRAPH
 BACK UP EACH POINT WITH SPECIFIC FACTS
 KEEP “LIKES” TOGETHER: DON’T MIX UNRELATED
ITEMS (ie. TAXES, JOBS, AND MANUFACTURING IN
THE SAME PARAGRAPH WITH SOMETHING LIKE
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS)
 MAKE 2-3 POINTS IN EACH PARAGRAPH
 PARAGRAPHS = 8-10 DECENT SENTENCES
 2 OR 3 SENTENCES DO NOT MAKE A PARAGRAPH
NO MATTER HOW BIG YOU WRITE OR HOW MUCH
YOU INDENT!
7. WRITE A TRANSITION SENTENCE AND START YOUR
SECOND PARAGRAPH
 A TRANSITION SENTENCE INTRODUCES YOUR
PARAGRAPH AND MAKES A POINT YOU WANT TO
TALK ABOUT.
8. WRITE A TRANSITION SENTENCE AND START YOUR
THIRD PARAGRAPH. (THEN YOUR FOURTH, FIFTH,
SIXTH, SEVENTH PARAGRAPH, ETC.)
9. CONTINUE UNTIL YOU HAVE THOROUGHLY
ANSWERED THE QUESTION NO MATTER HOW
MANY, OR HOW FEW, PARAGRAPHS YOU USE
10. WRITE A WRAP-UP STATEMENT.
 THIS WILL ONLY BE ONE SENTENCE LONG!
 “SO IT CAN BE SEEN FROM THE ABOVE THAT
THE SILK ROAD HAD MORE OF AN IMPACT . . .
11. PROOF READ YOUR ESSAY.
 FORGET SOMETHING? MAKE CHANGES OR
ADDITIONS IN MARGINS OR AT END ON
IMPROMPTU ESSAYS
 USE SPELL/GRAMMAR CHECK ON TYPED WORK
OTHER TIPS:
 GET STARTED WELL AHEAD OF DEADLINE
 ASK FOR HELP IF UNSURE OF WHAT YOU NEED TO
DO
 IF YOU ARE ABSENT THE DAY A MAJOR WRITING
ASSIGNMENT IS DUE, HAVE A FRIEND BRING IN
YOUR ESSAY OR E-MAIL IT TO YOUR TEACHER OR
PROFESSOR!
 A NOTE ON TERM PAPERS, BIG PROJECTS,
IMPORTANT ESSAYS: THESE KINDS OF THINGS
ARE REAL WORLD KINDS OF THINGS WITH REAL
WORLD EXPECTATIONS AND CONSEQUENCES.
EXCUSES INVOLVING PRINTERS, CARS, CLUBS OR
SPORTS, “NOT UNDERSTANDING WHAT YOU WERE
SUPPOSED TO DO” OR A PART-TIME JOB ARE NOT
VALID IN THIS AGE OF INTERNET AND TEACHERS
OFFERING TO HELP YOU.
LEARN TO MANAGE YOUR TIME AND MATERIAL
OUTPUT SO THAT YOU DEVELOP THE SKILLS TO
CONTROL YOUR FUTURE, INSTEAD OF YOUR
FUTURE CONTROLLING YOU.
 This is my e-mail address:
crosby.washburne@gpschools.org
 I accept late writing assignments (up to two days), but to be
fair to others, it will cost you.
ALTHOUGH THE SILK ROAD CHANGED PEOPLES’ LIVES DUE TO THE
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BELIEFS AND IDEAS THAT SPREAD ALONG
ITS ROUTE, THE SILK ROAD HAD MORE OF AN ECONOMIC IMPACT
ON PEOPLE AND WORLD HISTORY DUE TO THE GOODS AND
TRADING NETWORKS AND SYSTEMS THE ROUTE FOSTERED.
ALTHOUGH THE SILK ROAD CHANGED PEOPLES’ LIVES DUE TO
THE GOODS AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS AND NETWORKS IT
FOSTERED, THE SILK ROAD CHANGED PEOPLES’ LIVES DUE MORE
TO THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL BELIEFS AND IDEAS THAT SPREAD
ALONG ITS ROUTE.
WHAT YOU SEE PRESENTED ABOVE ARE CALLED:
COMPLEX THESIS STATEMENTS
THEY ARE VERY POWERFUL TOOLS FOR SEVERAL REASONS:
1) THEY FOCUS YOUR WRITING RIGHT AWAY
2)
THEY LET THE READER KNOW YOU CAN CONSIDER BOTH THE
POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE ASPECTS OF AN ARGUMENT. THIS MEANS
YOU ARE A BALANCED, REASONABLE PERSON WHO CAN “THINK
DEEP” AND BACK YOUR OPINION WITH GOOD FACTS.
3) THEY DON’T TAKE A LOT OF TIME TO WRITE SO THEY ARE A QUICK
WAY TO BEGIN A TIMED ESSAY (NO FULL PARAGRAPH IS NEEDED
TO START YOUR ESSAY). YOU WILL WRITE FOR ME LIKE THIS ALL
YEAR FROM NOW ON!
NO CTS = LOSS OF POINTS
4) COLLEGE PROFS, MEAP AND ACT READERS, AND AP READERS LOVE
COMPLEX THESIS STATEMENT ESSAYS.