ESSAY STRUCTURE ENGLISH VI

By: MARCO VALVERDE

Essay One
Part 1: Writing the Thesis

What You Should Know After Having Written this Essay How to write a thesis sentence that organizes the essays main points; How to write a title and introduction that will engage the readers interest; How to construct body paragraphs that are focused and well developed; How to write a conclusion that emphasizes the essays main point.

Objectives:

Thesis Sentence
Definition: a single sentence that states the essays main point;
It tells the subject of the essay; It expresses the writers opinion about the subject; It previews the main points of the essay.

Heres the Topic for Essay One:

No matter why youre in college, all of you have a similar goalto become more educated. Sometimes we think of education as a means towards wisdom, but its also true that education is no predictor of wisdom, that often the wisest people we know have no formal schooling.
Therefore, thinking of the people you know who are wise, who exhibit wisdom, write an essay where you define wisdom by breaking it down into qualities that a wise person must possess.

Writing the Thesis Sentence: Do it first, before you begin the essay
Determine what the prompt is asking you to do
Define wisdom

To define something, you can

List its characteristics Tell what its not

List Characteristics
Joyful Intellectually curious humble

Compassionate

A wise person is. . .

Open-minded

honest

Empathetic

Tell what its not

A wise person is not
Necessarily book-smart One who knows everything Arrogant or condescending Someone who imposes his will on others Necessarily the smartest person in the room Necessarily the richest or most successful person in the room

Once you have a reasonable number of characteristics listed

Choose three or four and write a sentence, listing them in order of importance

Sample Theses
A wise person isnt a know-it-all, but rather someone who is curious about and receptive to new ideas and experiences. Wisdom is the willingness to admit ignorance and the determination to acquire knowledge and use it well. A wise person is good humored, compassionate, and kind.

Each of these thesis sentences previews the main points of the essay (each main point is a different color) A wise person isnt a know-it-all, but rather someone who is curious about and receptive to new ideas and experiences. Wisdom is the willingness to admit ignorance and the determination to acquire knowledge and use it well. A wise person is good humored, compassionate, and kind.

Assignment 1.1:
Go to Blackboard and free write for ten minutes on the following question: What is wisdom?
How to free write: set a kitchen timer for 10 minutes and start it; Keep writing until the timer goes offdont stop for anything
If you run out of something to say, just repeat the last word you typed till you think of something new; Dont worry about proofreading for spelling or grammar; Dont THINK, just WRITE!

After youve free-written, write your thesis and send it to me Take a look at what your classmates postsometimes it helps give you ideas for your own writing.

The thesis should be

A clear, simple sentence that clearly states the three (no more than four points) youre planning to develop in the paragraphs of your essay; Once you have a working thesis, youre ready to begin composing the first essay.

Essay One
Part 2: Title and Introductions

Once you have a thesis, then

You can draft the title and The introduction; Please Note: Titles and intros are the most rewritten parts of most essays. Dont be afraid to revise back as you write forward on the essay.

The Title of the Essay

All essays need a title; The title should do three things:
It should indicate the essays subject. It should reflect the essays thesis. And it should attempt to capture the readers interest.

Examples of Titles:
Our Walls, Ourselves
National Geographic, article about the barriers between the U.S. and Mexico National Geographic, article about Australian ants O, The Oprah Magazine Where does faith come from? The New Yorkerwhat a game taught us The Austin Chroniclethe accelerating pace of global warming

Bulldog Ants

Seekers, Finders,

The Meaning of Life Writing the Climate

Writing the Introduction

An introduction should have three parts:
A lead-in, whose purpose is to capture the readers attention. A transition section, which logically links the lead-in to the thesis. And a thesis sentence that previews the main points of the essay.

 The Lead-In

Lets go through the parts of the intro

Its purpose is to capture the attention of the reader; It should be one of the strongest, most polished (most rewritten and tweaked) parts of your entire essay;

Remember. . .
You dont get a second chance to make a FIRST impression
You can use anything you want for a lead-in; if the technique youre using would genuinely interest you, would genuinely make you want to read your own essay, then it will probably do the same for anybody else.

Here are some lead-in techniques you can use:

Anecdote

Quotation

Tell a relevant story You can quote from someone famous or someone you know

Question
Analogy

Just make sure its a question your reader would really ask Compare the point youre going to make with something the reader can relate to Just make interesting sure theyre

Description

Startling Statement Contradiction

Describe a scene, person or thing

event,

Facts or Statistics Allusion

Say something unexpected Start off with some variation of the following sentence: Most people believe A, but actually. . .

Make a reference to something in literature, history or popular culture something your reader will know about and relate to

Transition
If the purpose of the lead-in is primarily to gain the readers attention, The purpose of the transition is to prepare the reader for the point the writer makes in the thesis. The connection between the two must be logical and seamless

Thesis
The last sentence of the introduction is the thesis sentence
The thesis should preview the main points of the essay; It provides a logical roadmap to guide the reader through the essay.

Think of the thesis as a road map and each point of the thesis as means of getting to the destination.

Body Paragraph 2: Midland

Body Paragraph 3: Fort Worth Conclusion: Dallas

Thesis: To get from El Paso to Dallas, a traveler must go through Odessa, Midland And Fort Worth.

Body Paragraph 1: Odessa

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR REMEMBER

Assignment 1.2
Send me a draft of your title and your introductory paragraph; The introduction should have a clear
Lead-in Transition Thesis

It should be between one-half and three-quarters of a page long. Proofread!!! Then post your intro on Blackboard and read your classmates.

Essay One
Part 3: The Body Paragraph

All body paragraphs have four parts:

Topic sentence Explanation of topic sentence Example Warrant

Topic Sentence
The topic sentence is usually the first sentence of the paragraph; It tells the subject of that paragraph; It expresses the writers opinion about the subject; It echoes a point already made in the thesis sentence.

For example,
If we use the thesis sentence, Wise people are Then the topic sentence for the first body paragraph is Wise people are generally even-

even-handed, compassionate
handed.

open-minded

and

ultimately

The topic sentence for the second body paragraph would be In addition, they tend to be
The topic sentence for the third body paragraph might be These two qualities contribute to the

open-minded.

third characteristica general compassion for other people.

Topic sentence

Explanation of Topic Sentence

Since every topic sentence expresses an opinion, its up to you, the writer, to clarify what you mean by your opinion; thus, following the topic sentence, you should use several sentences to explain what you mean.

Explanation of topic sentence

Example
Up until now, youve only expressed opinionyou have to prove your point with an EXAMPLE; An example is something from the real world (a story, a description, a fact) that illustrates the truth of your topic sentence; A good example SHOWS rather than TELLS.

Example

Notes about examples

Good examples are the longest part of the paragraph; They are specificparticular people doing specific things at a specific time; They make the reader SEE what you mean. Dont be afraid to stretch out in your examples with detail and dialogue.

Warrant
The warrant is the conclusion to the paragraph. It explains your point. To write the warrant, imagine that someone has asked you, So what? and then answer that question.

warrant

Youll repeat the same pattern with the next two body paragraphs
Topic sentence Explain the topic sentence Example Warrant

Assignment 1.3
In addition to sending me a draft of your title and introduction, Also send me a draft of your first body paragraph. I will send it back by the next day with comments and suggestions. Post the body paragraph on Blackboard and read your classmates.

Essay One
Part 4 Writing the Conclusion

A conclusion does three things:

It loops back to the lead-in It briefly summarizes your main points It warrants your thesis

Loop back to your lead-in

Whatever you did in the introduction to capture your readers attention, mention it at the beginning of the conclusion to signal that the paper is ending

Briefly summarize your main points

I havent had time to forget your main points because your paper isnt that long, So theres no reason to spend a full paragraph telling me again what you just told me in the body paragraphs. Give me just a brief summaryone sentence or less!

Warrant your thesis

The most important part of the conclusion is where you draw a conclusion Tell the reader what your main point is Imagine the reader has finished your essay and then asked you, So what? You need to have an answer ready.

Loop back to leadin Brief summary Warrant

Final Assignment
Your final essay is due by midnight, Sunday, June 10th. It should contain
A title A well-developed, 3-part intro At least three body paragraphs, with each body paragraph containing
A topic sentence Sentences that explain the topic sentence Example Warrant

A three-part conclusion

Final Assignment
After you send me your essay as an email file attachment, Post it on Blackboard and read what your classmates have posted. Good luck and Ill be in touch this week with extra help.