Essay Study
FFree Write
The Essay
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=J4Xcn7LIXzg
Relevancy
Why do we have you write the formal essay?
Why do you need to learn the skills required to write
a formal essay?
Why?
•Formal tone – sound educated
•Analysing
•Connections – text to text, text to world, text to self
•Organizing thoughts - flow
•Clarifying
Some students want to
combines elements of writing – sentence, grammar,
critical thinking, basically the entire course
effective communication – all professions
organize thoughts
present ideas to sway audience
critique literature
real world – business presentation – emails,
mission statements
science labs
What does Andrew Marvell want?
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/marvell/coy.
htm
Pre-Assessment
What do you already know about the essay and
essay writing?
With which types of essays are you familiar?
What is the easiest part of the process?
What is the most challenging part of the process?
Terminology
Rhetoric
Rhetorical Mode
Audience
Thesis
Narration
Description
Exposition
Argument/Persuasion
Purpose
•Narration – tell a story
•Description – create a sensory picture
•Exposition – explain or inform
•Argument/Persuasion - convince
Narration in Non-fiction writing
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Tell a true story
Anedotes – great support for a thesis
Everyone loves a good story
Sequence of events – chronological or flashback
Transitions – next, after, as soon as, then,
finally
Point of view – be consistent
Setting – dates, places
Thesis
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Argument
“Destination” – Canadian Content, Intro
Controls the paper
Everything relates back to the thesis
Placement – beginning or end, sometimes in the
middle
• Explicit or implicit
• Rubric – Knowledge and Thinking
Audience
Who are you writing to?
What do they know?
What do they want to know from you?
“Eternal Glimpse”
1. What is thesis?
2. How do you know this essay has narration?
3. How are the events arranged?
4. What is the point of view?
5. Is this narration a good support for the thesis?
Explain your anwer.
Read a narrative essay.
Baba and Me
Escape to Paradise
Deficits
Only Little Girls Skip
How I learned to appreciate...
Brainstorming
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Free writing on the thesis
Mind mapping
Dot jot of ideas
What comes to mind? How easy will this thesis
be to defend?
Outline
• Graphic organizer, loose-leaf page, word
document– what works best for you?
• Thesis
• Dot jot points, proofs (quotations and page
references), explanation
• Consider organization – strong point, weakest
point, strongest point
Outline cont'd
Include topic sentences – Why?
Each topic sentence must relate to thesis
Quotations – Why?
Context for each quotation
Outline
• Graphic organizer, loose-leaf page, word
document– what works best for you?
• Thesis
• Dot jot points, proofs (quotations and page
references), explanation
• Consider organization – strong point, weakest
point, strongest point
Rough Draft
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Complete sentences
Paragraph structure
Topic and concluding sentences
Link paragraphs with transition words or
repetition of words
Editing
• Explore spell check suggestions.
• Make sure you have avoided “I think,” “You,”
slang and any other informal language.
• Read aloud to catch awkward sentences, missing
words, typos.
• Get a trustworthy editor – what parts are not
fully explained? What questions does your
editor have? Consider what should be changed.
Maintain your own voice – your paper should
sound like you.
Final Copy
• Title page – title of your essay (not the title of
your novel) goes in the centre; your name, date,
teacher’s name, course go in bottom right corner
• Double space
• Bibliography
Relevance – Transferable Skills
Casual Debate – Leafs vs Habs
Lawyer – Litigating
Letter of Application/Reference