The Essay Roadmap
Ms. Thomas
British Literature
Get a plan!
Before writing an essay, you
need to plan it out. This is
called PREWRITING!
What is the topic?
 You’ve already completed this process, but a couple of topics
in Othello are the following:
 Deceit/Manipulation/Lying
 Hate/Love
 Reality vs. Appearance
 Racism
 Feminism/ Human Nature
 Animal/Monster Motif
 Language
The Thesis Statement
 First Type- Just a complete sentence that is declarative,
debatable, and specific.
* Iago is the most deceitful
character within the play
and ultimately causes his
own demise.
The Triple Point Thesis Statement
 In order to turn my Thesis Statement into a Triple Point
Thesis Statement, I must first come up with the 3 points that
I will be discussing in my essay.
1. Using love and passion against Roderigo.
2. Turning Othello and Desdemona against each other.
3.
By masking the truth so that it became unclear to even
himself.
I have to now add these points to my thesis statement.
My Triple Point Thesis Statement
Iago is the most deceitful character within
the play and ultimately causes his own
demise by negatively using love and passion
against Roderigo, turning Othello and
Desdemona against each other, and by masking
the truth so that it became unclear to even Iago
himself.
Next, we will discuss Introductions and Conclusions….
Introductions- First Impressions
 1) Hook: Description, illustration, narration or dialogue
that pulls the reader into your paper topic. This should be
interesting and specific.
 2) Transition: Sentence that connects the hook with the
thesis.
 3) Thesis: Sentence (or two) that summarizes one of the
overall main point of the paper. The thesis should answer the
prompt question.
Introductions
 This is an example of a Not-So-Great introduction:
In this story, there are many images that can explain how and
why Mrs. Carnavon, the heroine of the story, decides to put an
end to her bereavement. As far as adjectives are concerned, I
think that they can also give us some clues about the changes in
her mind. I shall first take ‘adjectives’ into account and then I
shall explain the four images that I find the most important.
* Personal Pronouns
* Nothing Specific
* Not Bold/Strong
Introductions
 This is an example of a BETTER introduction:
In The Cold House, after some reflection and a visit to the family
summer house, Mrs. Carnavon decides how she should adjust
to the death of her son: she should not treat the house as a
mausoleum. She reaches this decision after observing several
key objects. The imagery, and the particular use of important
adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story.
Accordingly, after outlining how and why the decision is made,
focus on the following image clusters are addressed: heat and
cold, images dealing with misunderstanding, and the imagery of
framed objects, such as photographs.
Conclusions- Last Impressions
 Introductions are general to specific and
conclusions are specific to general.
 An example of a Not-So-Good conclusion:
 As seen, the imagery, and the particular use of important
adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story.I was
able to show you what the specific clues in the story helped
Mrs. Carnavon come to her conclusion. I really enjoyed the
book and what it had to offer to me.
Conclusions
 This is an example of a BETTER conclusion (still not great!):
 As seen, the imagery, and the particular use of important
adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story. By
focusing on the following images: heat and cold, images
dealing with misunderstanding, and the imagery of framed
objects, such as photographs, one can see how Mrs. Carnavon
reached her conclusion . Without the focus on these specific
images, Mrs. Carnavon would never have moved on from her
son’s death and the story would be completely different.
Ziploc Bag Exercise
 Try to piece together the Introduction and Conclusion from
the Ziploc bags!
Partner Exercise:
 Get into groups of 2 and ask your partner to describe where
they live without using their address, street signs, or
landmarks.
 GO!
What’s next?
 Roadmap to Success:
 Thesis (Address):
 Topic Sentences (Street Names):
 Every paragraph should include a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of
the paragraph. A topic sentence also states the point the writer wishes to make
about that subject. Generally, the topic sentence appears at the beginning of the
paragraph. It is often the paragraph’s very first sentence. A paragraph’s topic
sentence must be general enough to express the paragraph’s overall subject. But it
should be specific enough that the reader can understand the paragraph’s main
subject and point.
Roadmap Continued
 Supporting Details (Landmarks):
 These supporting details can be found
in the primary (Othello) and secondary
sources.
 Non-Specific Details/ Off (Road Signs)
 These non-specific details don’t
always relate to the topic at hand
and they are sometimes known as
“fluff.”
 Now that you have a roadmap to guide you, writing the essay
is a
SNAP!!
Just turn all your points into complete sentences, add some
good specific details, sprinkle in a few examples, and you
have an
ESSAY!