What to do
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Understand the Topic
Research
Note Taking
Organizing Notes
Organizer
Write the Essay
Finishing Touches
 Once you get the assignment, make sure you go over it
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carefully and fully understand what it is you are to do
and how you will be marked.
Also check to see if you are banned from using certain
resources or must use certain resources.
Ask your teacher about any questions you have
BEFORE you start so you do not have to redo work.
Choose your topic
Your essay should be focused enough to be interesting
and informative but not so focused that you can not
find sources for it.
 Now that you have your topic settled you need to find some
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sources of information.
You might used some of the following:
Encyclopaedias – recent information, easy to read, will
lack details – good to use to get to know your topic NOT as
a primary source – check to see if you can use Wikipedia
Books – information will be reliable but may be out of date
Database – very specific information, often restricted
access – try using the library portal to gain access
Web pages – potential very good information but also risk
getting biased or even completely false information
 Once you have a source that is both relevant and reliable it
is time to take notes:
1. Record the source information. This will vary depending
on the source but is the information you will need to do
an entry for a Reference Page
2. Write your notes, you should have several types:
 Direct quotations
 Stats or other tables copied completely and accurately
 Summarized information
3. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as to many
notes! However if you do not have enough notes it is very
hard to write an essay. So if in doubt write it down!
 Once you have all the notes you think you need then it
is time to organize.
 Consider the various subtopics that your essay will
have – introduction, how they entered political /
military life, what they did as leader, how and why they
left politics / military, conclusion
 Read over your notes and using several different
coloured highlighters (or a letter system if you prefer)
place your notes into the various subtopics by colour
 Now it is time to start planning your essay, some
teachers might call this power notes, or a concept web.
What ever it is called it is more detailed then an
outline, think of it as a point form version of your
essay.
 This step can be done in a number of different ways –
only one of which will be discussed here. Talk to your
teacher about other ways of doing an organizer.
 It is suggested but not required that you type all of this
on a computer.
 As you move through all of this ALWAYS consider the
reader and what this will look like to them when they
read it.
 Now put your notes in the proper subtopics and put
them in the order that you will use them.
 Do make sure to include either the source of the notes
or something that will lead you back to the source. I
suggest numbering each source you use and then just
putting that number at the end of each note from that
source.
 Next add your thesis statement
 Now you can develop your conclusion
 Then look over your organizer does any section of it
seem to be lacking in information? If so go back and
research some more
 Finally read over what you have and ask your self, does
this make sense? Is there a good flow to this
information?
 If something in your organizer does not seem to fit
then feel free to cut it out.
Title
Introduction
 Attention grabber / Hook
 Thesis Statement
How they entered politics / military
 Fact 1
 Fact 2
 Fact 3
What they did as leader
 Major decision 1
 How it influenced the course of the war
 Fact 1
 Fact 2
 Major decision 2
 How it influenced the course of the war
 Fact 1
 Fact 2
How they left politics / military
 Fact 1
 Fact 2
Conclusion
 Restating thesis
 Opinion on if they were a good leader or not
 Support for opinion 1
 Support for opinion 2
 Support for opinion 3
 With your research and organizer done the majority of
the hard work is now over. All that is left is turning
your organizer into a properly formatted and well
written essay.
 Keep in mind that HOW you say something is often at
least as important as WHAT you say. You can have the
best ideas ever but if you write them like you were in
grade 3 no one will take you seriously.
 This is an essay spelling
and grammar are VITAL
make sure to check this
over carefully do NOT just
trust your word processer.
 The following excerpt
by Mark Eckman and
Jerrold H. Zar should
hopefully make this
point clear
I have a spelling checker,
It came with my PC.
It plane lee marks four my revue
Miss steaks aye can knot sea.
Eye ran this poem threw it,
Your sure reel glad two no.
Its vary polished in it's weigh.
My checker tolled me sew.
A checker is a bless sing,
It freeze yew lodes of thyme.
It helps me right awl stiles two
reed,
And aides me when eye rime.
Each frays come posed up on my
screen
Eye trussed too bee a joule.
The checker pours o'er every
word
To cheque sum spelling rule.
 This is a formal essay, that means you should be using
proper FORMAL English! Do NOT use:
 Slang
 Text or Web speak
 Contractions (ex. Don’t for do not, it’s for it is)
 Use with caution abbreviations and make sure that you
use the full form the first time you abbreviate.
Example: The Office of the Treaty Commissioner
(OTC) says that ...
 When using people’s names use either their full name
or their last name do NOT use just their first name.
 Do NOT use first person (I, we, etc.) outside of your
conclusion!
 Do NOT use big words or complicated sentences to
impress the reader. This just tends to confuse you and
cause problems. Good rule of thumb if you can not
define the word do not use it!
 Having said that do NOT dumb down your language.
 Make every attempt to make every statement in your
essay clear and to the point.
 What ever you do, do NOT be like Calvin.
 Do NOT just go right into your essay you need to get
the reader’s attention – you do not want them thinking
“Do I have to read this?”
 You could get there attention by:
 Telling a brief but interesting story related to the topic
 Giving an interesting quote related to the topic
 Using some interesting statistics related to the topic
 Ask some thought provoking question(s) related to the
topic
 What ever you do, do NOT be cheesy or try to kiss up
to the reader
 Next you need to work your way from what ever you
used to get the reader’s attention to your thesis
statement. This will take some time and require one
or more transition sentences.
 At the end of your paragraph will be your thesis
sentence(s) – it might be more than one but try to
avoid it and do not be more than two.
 Make sure that you are specific, one of the most
common mistakes people make is to be to vague.
 Avoid at all costs statements like:
 This essay will ...
 I will be talking about ...
 This is obviously the major portion of your essay and
contains all of your relevant facts.
 It is vital that the paragraphs in your essay be tied
together, otherwise your essay will lack flow and be
hard to read and understand.
 To achieve this the last sentence and first sentence in
every paragraph should be transition or segue
sentences tying the paragraphs together.
 This is a research essay, that means you looked up
information that other people collected.
 You MUST give them credit for their work otherwise it
is plagiarism and you get ZERO.
 The next few slides will go over some general rules but
make sure that you refer to the style guideline you
received in class.
 Use in-text citations whenever you:
 Use a direct quotation.
 Use statistics or a specific date.
 Restate, summarize, or paraphrase an idea, theory, or
opinion given by another author.
 Incorporate facts that are not common knowledge. A
general rule of thumb is, if you can find the fact in at
least three sources, it is common knowledge.
 In general terms the in text citation goes at the end of
the sentence(s) that come from a particular source.
 You may however put an in text citation at the end of a
paragraph if ALL of the information came from the
same source.
 You may NOT use one in text citation for several
paragraphs even if their information comes from the
same source.
 You MUST place an in text citation at the end of every
direct quotation used.
 Short Quotations:
 If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include
the author, year of publication, and the page number for the
reference (preceded by "p."). Page number is NOT required for
electronic sources.
 According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using
APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
 Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style"
(p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?
 She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones,
1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.
 Long Quotations – 40+ words
 Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from
the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a
new paragraph. Type the entire quotation on the new
margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent
paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new
margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout.
 Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time citing
sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the
fact that many students failed to purchase a style
manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)
 Paraphrasing, Statistics, or Specific Dates
 If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you
only have to make reference to the author and year of
publication in your in-text reference, but APA
guidelines encourage you to also provide the page
number (although it is not required.)
 According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult
citation format for first-time learners.
 APA style is a difficult citation format for firsttime learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
 This is your opportunity to finally say what you believe
about this topic.
 Given everything that you have now learned about
your person do you believe they are a good leader and
more importantly WHY.
 This needs to be much more than just a summary of
the person. It is YOUR interpretation of how good a
job your leader did after examining MANY sources.
 You will list any books / sources that you cited in your
essay
 You will list any books / sources that were significant
in your research but not cited
 You will NOT list books / sources just to flesh out your
reference page
 This will be done in APA style
 It is recommended but not required that you use the
web resource Son of Citation Machine at
http://citationmachine.net/ to help you create your
reference page
 Click on APA Style
 Choose from the sources that are listed on the left
 Fill in the blanks and click submit
 Copy and paste to your reference page
 The title is References centered at the top of the page
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but done in normal font with no bolding or
underlining
Your entries must be in alphabetical order
Entries should be double spaced
Entries should be done in a hanging indent style –
much like this bullet
Entries should NOT be bulleted OR numbered
Entries should NOT be divided into groups based on
type or any other way
 A title page will contain the following:
 Title of your essay – centred and in top 1/3 of paper
(done in a large size)
 The following goes under the title (in normal font and
size):
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Your name
Teacher’s name
Class
Due date
 Running header – a shortened version of your title and
the page number. The running header will be done all
in capitals. Also on the title page only it will include the
phrase Running head:
Remember that your paper should have the following:
 Title repeated on the first page of the actual paper,
centered but not bolded or underlined
 Level 1 headings for each of the sections EXCEPT for the
introduction – centered, bolded and in all upper case
 Level 2 headings for each of your major arguments in both
the pro and con – bolded and key words capitalized
While it is allowed by APA do NOT include the following:
 Author’s notes on the title page
 An abstract of the paper
 Level 3 headings
Formatting your paper, it should be:
 Typed
 Double Spaced
 1” margins all around OR 1” margin top and bottom and
1.25” on left and right sides
 Times New Roman or similar font
 Size 12 font
 Black ink on white paper
Do NOT:
 Put title on first page that is why you have a title page
 Put a header or footer on first page – you may put on the
rest of the pages
 Now that you are done your first draft you need to get
it ready to hand in.
 Read the essay over yourself – feel free to repeat this
step
 Have a friend or family member read over your essay –
feel free to repeat this step also
 Just before you print out your good copy read over the
essay one last time
 The following web pages may be able to help you if you
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run into problems and can not ask your teacher.
How to Write an Essay
http://kimberlychapman.com/essay/essay.html
Purdue OWL
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Evaluating Web Pages
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/TeachingLib/Guides/Inte
rnet/Evaluate.html
Son of Citation Machine http://citationmachine.net/
Now go forth and write.