The Elements of an Essay

1. The Elements of an Essay

2. The Introduction • Interest catcher/Hook • Avoid: • Questions (avoid these throughout your essay) • Quotations • Definitions (your ideas are key) • “Imagine,” “Think” • Important introductory information • Thesis statement

3. Important introductory information • The titles, authors, and genres • Underline or italicize the titles of longer works; shorter works go in quotation marks • Do not call anything a book or a story! • Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (a science fiction novel) • The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (a novel) • “MTV’s ‘Teen Mom’ Makes for Teaching Moments” by Karen Grigsby Bates (an article) • Any other important background information your reader will need to know in order to understand your point • Pretend your reader is not 100% familiar with your topic

4. The thesis statement What does it do? Where does it go? • The thesis statement is one sentencethat states what you are going to prove in your essay. • It sums up your entire argument – before you begin to argue. • The thesis statement is the last sentence in your introduction – your first paragraph.

5. The three-point thesis • A three-point thesis makes three points: You will discuss each point in its own paragraph. • Since you are making a statement about the relationship between media and society in your thesis, your three points can be your three examples.

6. Body Paragraphs Topic sentence: States what you are going to prove in that paragraph and refers to a thesis point Elaborate: How does your topic sentence support your overall position? Specific evidence: Give a quotation that supports your point. Interpret: What does this quotation mean? How does it support your point? Conclude: Sum it all up and reference your thesis point.

7. Working with quotations • Lead ins • When you use a quotation, you must start off the sentence with your words and lead into your quotation – don’t just drop in your quotation after a sentence • Oedipus is clearly oblivious to the truth because he says, “Loxias said I was foredoomed / To make my mother my wife, and kill my father, / With my own hands shedding his blood. This the reason / Of my long estrangement from Corinth” (Sophocles 1024-1027). • Odysseus shows his leadership when he “drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches” (Homer 101-102).

8. More Punctuation • If the text you quote ends in a period, place that period after your citation. Do not put it inside your quotation marks. • Only include ending punctuation in your quotation if it is a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!) • “You are all grammar gurus” (Krug 3). • “This class is great!” (Vilardi 4). • “OMG, why am I stuck with Ms. Krug again?” (Valente 5).

9. Citations • Citations come after your quotation at the end of the sentence • Citations are necessary because they give the author credit for the words you quote • When you quote a work of prose, use the author’s last name and page number inside the citation. • (Bradbury46).  Period goes after citation

10. The conclusion • Restate thesis • Sum up each body paragraph in a sentence or two • Leave your reader with something to ponder

11. What Else? • DOUBLE SPACED!!! • Write using third person only • Write using present tense verbs • Proofread for misused words such as: two, to, too; a lot; their, there • Avoid using contractions • Double check for typos and spelling errors • Heading: • Upper left hand corner/double spaced • Your first and last name • Instructor’s name (Ms. Krug, obvi) • Class information: English 2 CP 1A • Date