Syllabus CHANGES

1. Syllabus CHANGES • Reading assignments: • Chapter 24: due June 24 • Chapters E, F: due June 29 • Chapters G, H: due July 1 • Essay due dates • Narrative: • First Draft due June 24 • Final due June 29 • Process: • FD due July 1 • Final due July 6 • Cause/Effect: • FD due July 8 • Final due July 13 • Argument: Final due July 20

2. Transitioning to Essays

3. From Paragraphs to Essays Transitioning

4. Paragraphs We’ve Studied • Various Patterns • Narrative • Exemplification • Description • Process • Cause/Effect • Compare/Contrast • Definition • Classification • Argument These are support paragraphs in an essay!

5. Comparing Paragraphs and Essays • Structure • Topic Sentence (main idea) • Support Sentences • Concluding statement (sentence reinforces main idea) • Writing Process—from journalistic considerations to final draft • Topic—neither too broad or too narrow • Structure • Introduction—ends with thesis (main idea) • Support paragraphs • Conclusion (start with concluding statement that summarizes essay) • Writing process—from journalistic considerations to final draft • Topic—neither too broad or narrow Paragraph Characteristics Essay Characteristics

6. Comparing Paragraphs and Essays • Topic Sentence • First sentence (of paragraph) • Full sentence • Not an announcement • Clear and specific • Unification, Development, Coherency • Follow a pattern • Thesis statement • Last sentence of introduction • Full sentence • Not an announcement • Clear and specific • Unification, Development, Coherency • Support paragraphs follow a pattern Paragraph Characteristics Essay Characteristics

7. Essay Writing Process • Consider your assignment—What, Why, Who • Prewrite ideas • What specifically will you focus on • What points relate to your topic • Brainstorm, Cluster, Freewrite, Venn Diagram • Organize points and develop a thesis statement (main idea) • May want to create an outline

8. Outlining Essays • Outlines • Provide guideline for keeping writer organized • Help writers quickly visualize organization • Help writers see if they have left out key points • Make sure writers follow thesis-and-support structure • Two types of outlines • Formal • Informal

9. Formal Outline • Major effects of smoking • COPD • Blood pressure • Cancers • Conclusion • Concluding statement • Attention Getter • Introduction • Attention getter • Thesis (state here) • Body • Causes of smoking • Peer pressure • Examples from adults • Media examples • Minor effects of smoking • Social rejection • Deterioration in appearance • Vocal changes

10. Informal Outline • Major effects of smoking • COPD • Blood pressure • Cancers • Conclusion • Concluding statement • Attention Getter • Introduction • Attention getter • Thesis (state here) • Body • Causes of smoking • Peer pressure • Examples from adults • Media examples • Minor effects of smoking • Social rejection • Deterioration in appearance • Vocal changes

11. Continue Writing Process • First Draft • Get the ideas on paper in essay form • Write or type • Revision • If type, double space and print • Make revisions on printed copy • Proofread • Read each sentence slowly to catch errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. • Final Draft

12. Introductions The First Paragraph in an Essay

13. Introductions • First paragraph in essay • How can we start an introduction? • Startling fact or statement • Story (true or hypothetical) • Question • Quote • Definition • Need to be attention-getting—make your audience interested

14. How Could You Start…. • An essay about World War II? • A description of a place important to your childhood memories? • An argument in support or opposition to euthanasia?

15. Why Do Essays Need Introductions? • Set the context • What will the essay be about? What will you tell the audience? • Set the purpose • Why is the topic and your POV about it important? • First thing audience reads • Catch their attention

16. Writing an Introduction • May want to save this for last • “We’ll know where we’re going once we get there.” • Even professional writers will save the beginning for last in writing

17. Thesis Statements • Last sentence in introduction • Reveals main idea of essay • Thesis : essay :: topic sentence : paragraph • Tells audience the point you want to prove • Gives the big picture • Tells audience where you will go in essay

18. Characteristics of a Thesis Statement • Must be a full sentence • Must be last sentence in Introduction • Must NOT be an announcement • Avoid statements like, “In this essay, I will write about…” • Must not be too narrow or broad • Tell exactly what you will discuss in essay

19. Divided Thesis in 5 Paragraph Essays • Five Paragraph Essay: • Introduction • 3 support paragraphs (each with a specific topic) • Conclusion • Divided Thesis: lays out the 3 topics for the three support paragraphs • Example: The three most important steps in hiring an employee include advertising the position, sorting through resumes and applications, and interviewing candidates before making the final hiring decision.

20. Divided Thesis Practice • Think of three topics related to the prompt below and draft a possible divided thesis for each • What three experiences would top your bucket list?

21. Support Paragraphs The Meat of the Essay

22. Support Paragraphs in Essays • These are structured just as we have learned • Start with Topic Sentence (main idea for that paragraph) • Continue with support sentences • End on a concluding statement to summarizes that paragraph

23. Support Paragraphs in Essay • Paragraphs should be parallel • Written in the same way • Same verb tense • Same voice (first, second, or third person) • May want to start with support para. first • Write support to see what point you prove • The pattern of paragraph is determined by assignment (narrative, process, etc.)

24. Support Paragraphs in Essays • Should have similar composition, for example… • Process—each is a major step in the bigger process • Narrative—each focuses on the details of a major event in the arc of the essay • Cause/effect • Each paragraph focuses on an effect • Each paragraph focuses on a cause • Each paragraph talks about cause and effect • One focuses on cause, another on effect

25. Support Paragraphs in Essays • Transitions • Keep writer organized • Help reader easily follow progression of ideas • First sentence of body paragraph should include a transition from one point to another

26. Transitions • Transitions Continued • Ways to transition • Use phrases and words (First, The next cause, Finally, etc.) • Use words/ideas from previous paragraph to transition • Example: While social rejection is a minor effect of smoking, chronic diseases present much more serious consequences for a smoker.

27. Support Paragraphs in Essays • Need three of these for 5 paragraph essays • Each paragraph focuses on a different main point • Example: outline for cause and effect essay • Body (support paragraphs) • 1st group of causes that share a main idea • 2nd group of causes that share a main idea • 3rd group of causes that share a main idea

28. Conclusions The Last Paragraph in an Essay

29. Purpose of Conclusion • Ending an essay on a final main point is too abrupt for your reader • Audiences like a review or sense of resolution • Use conclusion to review the main points covered in support • Start conclusion with a restatement of main idea • Endings need to be noteworthy • Complement the introduction’s purpose in reverse order

30. Conclusions—Cousin to Introduction Attention Getter Thesis Concluding Statement Attention Getter Introduction Conclusion

31. Structure of Conclusion • Concluding statement (restating the main idea) • Review the main ideas of each body paragraph (could restate topic sentences) • Attention getter (closing remarks) • Story • Quote • Predict what might happen, or what you hope will happen • Include a recommendation/call for action once you have identified that a problem exists

32. A Note about Conclusions… • No new information • Conclusions are meant to restate what has been presented, not give new points • i.e., A cause and effect essay would not present a new cause in the conclusion

33. Narrative Essay Tell a Story

34. Narrative Essays • Stories are powerful and interesting • Fictional or Nonfictional • Can be creative, particularly in fictional • Use description to add to details

35. Coherency in Narrative • Write in time order • Tells what happened, from the first event to the resolution event • If you feel confident, change around the time order • Start with the ending or a middle section and retrace what happened to lead to that ending

36. Coherency in Narrative • Could also include a flashback • Perhaps this is introduction’s attention-getter that leads to your main idea of the story • Should be relevant to main story

37. Tips about Narrative • Pick a topic that will give writer enough material for an essay • Be weary of run-on sentences • Map out a timeline • Go through the motions as well as the emotions

38. Tips about Narrative • Make sure your story has a point that the audience can identify with • Only include details that enhance the story and support the main idea • Sensory details are good

39. Tips about Narrative • Stories generally have an “arc” • Stories have a sense of direction—getting from point A to point B • Arcs follow this structure • Beginning • Introduction establishes setting, main characters • Plot building up to climax • Climax • Ending/resolution/epiphany of the life lesson

40. Tips about Narrative • Voice—keep consistence • Refers to whether your speaker/subject is in: • first person (“I”), • second person (“you”), or • third (he/she/it/they, the neighbor, the teacher, student, etc.) • Personal narratives would normally be written in “I” • Stories written about another person could be written in third person • Do NOT use “you”

41. Structure of Narrative • Introduction • Attention Getter • Flashback, quote, question, startling fact, etc. • Thesis • The moral of your story (what will reader learn) • Body • Event(s) 1—part of plot that begins the arc • Event(s) 2—continuation of the arc • Event(s) 3—plot that includes climax • Conclusion • Concluding statement—resolution • Attention Getter—resolution continued • Quote, startling fact, summary, etc.

42. Writer’s Block Overcoming the Monster

43. Writer’s Block • Occurs when writer has difficulty coming up with ideas about what to write • Merriam-Webster online: “psychological inhibition that prevents a writer from proceeding with a piece” • Usually a case of nervousness • This can be overcome

44. Overcoming Writer’s Block • Get ideas from class • Talk to your teacher, another student, a friend, or a tutor about your topic • Record yourself talking about it

45. Overcoming Writer’s Block • Prewriting • If you are bored with the topic, pick an aspect that interest you • If you just don’t want to do it, go from denial to acceptance

46. Overcoming Writer’s Block • Case of the nerves—stretching, meditating, tense up a muscle group and then relax and move to another muscle group • Mantra: I am going to do well. I know how to tell a story.

47. Overcoming Writer’s Block • Get the idea down • Even if it won’t be written well—work on fixing it later. • Start in the middle • Don’t think about writing for the teacher—think about writing for someone else • Believe that what you have to say matters—can be reinforced if you pretend you are someone else (a leader of an organization or a renowned writer)

48. In-Class Writing • Journal • Pick two topics that you can compare and contrast. Tell in what ways they are similar or different or both. • How do you define a “good student”? • Pick a controversial topic and write an argument paragraph in which you support a particular point of view related to that topic. Give evidence that supports your point of view and tell why an opposing point of view is not the POV to adopt. • Practice: Page 170-171 (Chapter 12 Review) Transitions worksheet • Narrative Essay