Essay Writing:
Myth-Busters
http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Caeen3FpqAM
A Special Edition
Myth or Fact?
Test your knowledge!
MYTH: You need a title page
MYTH: You need a title page
BOTH!
 FOR
HIGHSCHOOL – MLA title page
 For university MLA papers, you should *not*
attach a title page
 Place the following information in the tip
left-hand corner of your first page:
 NAME
 COURSE
 PROFESSOR
 DUE
DATE
 LENGTH
MYTH: Place the thesis at the
end of the first paragraph
MYTH: Place the thesis at the
end of the first paragraph
FACT!
 Sentence-by-sentence
introduction:






format for
1) An interesting sentence (that is directly
related to your specific essay topic) to draw
your reader in.
2) Introduce the topic
3)Introduce story (Author, title, brief
synopsis)
4) Introduce sub argument #1
5) Introduce sub argument #2(-3)
6) State your thesis in 1-2 sentences
How to write a strong thesis: A
Checklist
 Does
your thesis statement do more than
restate the topic or question?


This essay will examine the role of time in
two plays.
In Play A and Play B, time not only structures
the dramatic action, but also functions as
the antagonist.
Thesis: A Checklist continued…

Does your thesis Statement present a position that
is debatable?

Margaret Atwood’s science-fiction novels paint a
bleak picture of the future.


This is too descriptive and merely states the genre and
summaries the content.
The Handmaid’s Tale’s dystopic world suggests
that our society will have a similar fate if
fundamentalists gain power.


This is better because it gives a more specific genre
and it makes an argument about religion in the book.
This thesis could still be developed even further: how
are the fundamentalists portrayed? What Biblical
figures appear in the book?
3 Popular Thesis Types:
 Refute
a popular assumption
 Contrast: compare city life to rural life in
“The Return”.
 Development: sense of horror developed
over the course of “The Lottery”.
MYTH: I can start a body
paragraph with a
quotation.
MYTH: I can start a body
paragraph with a quotation.
BUSTED
 Each
paragraph should begin with a
clear topic sentence: this topic sentence
should indicate what you will argue in this
paragraph and should be in your own
words.
 Strong topic sentences make for strong
papers: they are your signposts.
MYTH: Each paragraph
should discuss only ONE
main idea.
MYTH: Each paragraph should
discuss only ONE main idea.
FACT
 Each




paragraph should
focus on 1 main idea
Include at LEAST one quotation to be
examined and used for evidence
Be less than one page in length
Include a topic sentence
Secondary Sources
“He chose wisely”
 Make
sure you choose sources that are
reputable and related to your essay.
 Use the MLA Bibliography—on online
resource that is accessible through
“Online Resources”—to find journal
articles on your plays and topic
 When in doubt: make sure that the journal
is peer-reviewed, fairly recent (last 10
years), and has a substantial bibliography
Integrate Quotations

Make sure that you integrate all quotations into
your own sentences:

E.g Elizabeth Rex refutes the prevalent assumption
that there is one core and unchanging self. As
Trinh T. Minh-ha explains, “Identity, thus
understood, supposes that a clear dividing line
can be made between I and not-I” (375). Findley
complicates this hierarchical dichotomy: the
Queen struggles to accept both her “I” or
“woman” self and her “not-I” or “Prince” self. In
this play where identity is ever changing and
highly performative, the audience can never
discern a stable “I.” It is this instability and
doubleness, however, that must be accepted.
The building blocks for using
quotations:

Make sure to:




1) Introduce the speaker and/or context of the
quotation
2) insert quotation – REMEMBER: it must never
stand as a separate sentence unto itself – and
give page citation.
3) explain quotation: how does this prove or
relate to your idea/argument?
4) When citing from the story(primary source):
try to pick out and discuss the style as well as
content (e.g. metaphor, simile, meter, word
choice)
MLA Handbook, 7th Edition
Citing works in your essay
Short quotation




Should be integrated
in your own
sentence.
Place page # in
brackets
Place period AFTER
brackets
Ex: When Tessie
Hutchinson protests
that the lottery “isn’t
fair” and “isn’t right,”
this confirms to the
reader that the
winner of the lottery
is actually the loser
(Jackson 18).
Block quotation


4 lines or longer
Introduce the quotation, followed
by a colon.
Ex: Hemingway’s detailed description
of the setting at the beginning of “Hills
Like White Elephants” helps the reader
to visualize where the story takes
place:
The hills across the valley of the
Ebro were long and white. On this
side there was no shade and no
trees and the station was between
two lines of rails in the sun. Close
against the side of the station there
was the warm shadow of the
building and a curtain, made of
strings of bamboo beads, hung
across the open door into the bar,
to keep out flies (475).
 The
Works Cited
page should be



Double spaced
Should have the
title “Works
Cited”
centered, but
NO bold or
underline
Should follow
MLA style (see
Handbook)
MLA Handbook
The Works Cited Page
MYTH: I am graded on my
individual progress, hard work,
and attention to detail.
MYTH: I am graded on my
individual progress, hard work,
and attention to detail.
FACT!
MYTH: I should spend
most of my time WRITING.
MYTH: I should spend most of
my time WRITING.
BUSTED




Your Time should be equally devoted to: the
brain-storming stage, the writing stage, and
the editing stage.
Brainstorming: try writing all your ideas down
on 1 paper; try creating columns in order to
organize ideas
Editing: Giving yourself 1 day before you
begin to revise your essay will help ensure that
you catch more mistakes
Try reading your essay out loud to help catch
wordiness or awkward phrasing
MYTH: I should always use a
comma to breakup run-on
sentences.
MYTH: I should always use a
comma to breakup run-on
sentences.
BUSTED
 This
can only work if the two clauses in the
sentence are NOT BOTH independent
clauses.
 One must be a DEPENDENT CLAUSE or you
will have a COMMA SPLICE!
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vck6uK-kow
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