Bullet-Proof Essay
The Masterwork of Olga Ardulov
The Theory of Writing
Anyone can dribble a basket-ball, anyone can bake cookies, and
anyone can write a structured, complete essay.
The key is knowing what approach to take when writing, whether it
be a right or left brained emphasis. The good news for us tutors
is that this means we can teach any student to write a good
essay.
What does learning style have anything to do with writing essays?
Here it is -------------------------------------------->
The Brain
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The right brain:
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Random
Intuitive
Holistic
Synthetic
Subjective
And tends to look at the
big picture.
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The left brain:
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Logical
Sequential
Rational
Analytical
Objective
And tends to look at
individual parts.
The Right Brain
To help a right-brained student write an essay
a good strategy would be to use
diagrams and analogies. Allow them to
consider the essay as a setup of triangles
such as figure 1.1.
Your student should begin their essay with a
general idea of what they are going to
talk about. As the introduction comes to
it’s end and the thesis approaches the
idea of the paragraph will become more
specific. Explain the thesis to be, literally,
the point of their essay. The body should
consist of three paragraphs and can be
looked at as the base of your essay that
holds everything together. Finally your
student’s conclusion should start off with
a paraphrased thesis (the point of their
essay, once more) and expand to finalize
their thoughts once and for all.
The Left Brain
A left-brained student is prone to looking at
things in parts. To better help your
student, introduce a comprehensive
outline. A good suggestion is to use
words like “plug this in,” and, “formula.”
Introduction
I.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Body (3 paragraphs – same
structure)
II.
One of the best aspects of this outline is that
you don’t have to write everything in an
order. If your student has quotes and a
thesis but isn’t sure what to write about, it
is a beneficial for them to fill in what they
do have and build around it.
I.
II.
III.
IV.
V.
VI.
It is very important to remember that every
essay varies based on the individual
demands of each instructor. As a tutor it
is our responsibility to make sure that the
students meet the expectations of
instructors first and foremost.
HookAuthor, Title
(optional) evidence/summary
Thesis
VII.
Topic Sentence
Key Point
Evidence
2 sentences leading into a quote
Quote
2 sentences leading out of a quote
Conclusion
Conclusion
III.
I.
II.
III.
Paraphrased thesis
Reinforce evidence
Connect to society/ broaden horizons
Essay Parts and What to do With Them
Already mentioned in the outline are all the individual
parts that make up an essay.
It’s important to explain the pieces to help your
students be able to use this method on their own.
Here is a breakdown of the outline, I however, would
strongly urge tutors to go through and find their own
ways of explaining each part of the outline so that
both the tutor and the student understand exactly
what is expected.
The Hook
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The first thing that your reader will see is your hook.
A good hook can encourage your reader to keep
reading your essay.
Strong claims that may be considered shocking or
unusual would entice the reader to find out more
about what you have to say.
Analogies and metaphors can artistically kick-start
your essay and encourage the reader to apply the
analogy/metaphor after reading the essay if faced
with a similar topic.
The Evidence
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Evidence is important in the first paragraph
because it explains to the reader what you’re
going to talk about later and prepares the
reader for your thesis.
An alternative to evidence is giving a short
summary (if writing in response to a story).
The summary must be used carefully, and
isn’t recommended if the instructor doesn’t
specifically ask for it.
The Thesis
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A thesis is a proposition that is maintained by
argument. (as stated on Dictionary.Com)
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A good thesis is a claim that your student can support with
evidence.
Different instructors introduce different methods for writing
a thesis. Expectations vary from answering a question or
prompt posed by the instructor to creating their own thesis
based on their opinions and thoughts on a certain subject.
It is important to remember that a good thesis will have an
opinion, pick a side, or separate itself from a crowd of other
thoughts.
Topic Sentences and Key Points
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The topic sentence is the introduction to each body paragraph
(and conclusion).
 Transition words such as “therefore,” “nevertheless,” and
“despite.”
 These transitions are important to connect the body paragraphs
like the links of a chain.
 The topic sentence is a broad introduction and setup to what your
reader will be encountering in the following paragraph.
Key points are well…key.
 Key points set up the main idea for your paragraph. Although the
topic sentence explains what your reader will be reading about,
you key point is the focus of the paragraph.
 This is also where your student should connect their paragraph to
their thesis.
Evidence and Quotes
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Evidence is important to back up a claim. As long as your student
offers evidence their claims will hold more value.
Quotes are used to support evidence, and through evidence
support claims.
It is vital that the student transitions from their evidence to their
quotes with at least two sentences and then use at least two
sentences to support their quote afterwards.
 All evidence and any quote left unsupported can be interpreted
incorrectly by a reader.
 Support means:
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Tying the evidence and quote back to the key point.
Tying the evidence and quote back to the thesis.
Conclusions and What to do With Them
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Concluding sentences in paragraphs are
confusing and often fling students into a state
of depression. Typically, the problem is not
knowing what to say.
Conclusions should finalize the thoughts
introduced in the paragraph. A reminder to
the reader of what the maid idea was and
how the evidence and quote supported it.
Winding Down
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The concluding paragraph has almost no standards. The only
thing that every conclusion must have is a paraphrased thesis.
The rest of the conclusion is blown to the wind and the whims of
individual instructors.
Variables include but are not limited to:
 Summarizing the essay and reinforcing why a students essay has
been proven.
 Broadening the horizon of the essay and expanding the thesis to
include not only a specific situation but a general aspect of
society and culture.
As a tutor it’s important to remember that every instructor has
different expectations for essays. The first and foremost
responsibility when working on an essay with a student is to
check on the expectations of said instructor.
…In Conclusion
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Do’s:
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Encourage your student to know
their learning style
Give your student practice
outlines to fill in
Explain every individual step and
take your time helping your
student, remember that you
won’t always be there to remind
them what goes where
Remember that this isn’t the only
format that exists for essays
Tell your students when they do
something well
Have patience
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Don’ts:
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Reprimand the student for not
understanding the format
immediately
Run through the format without
really explaining anything
Just give your student a printout
of the format and expect them to
understand
FIN
In finally, aside from the guidelines I’ve
presented, stick to all the other guidelines an
ethical tutor should.
This isn’t the word of God, this is the word of a
19 year-old student with limited practice.
Have patience; WILL CONQUER!