Essay Tips for the Rest of Your Life! (Part II!)

Essay Tips for the Rest of Your Life! (Part II!) Mr. Feraco 7 November 2007

When We Left Off… • We had just covered a thesis from one of my brave and willing junior students • While it’s strong in many ways, it can be streamlined and enhanced – particularly since the main thrust of the paper (homework should be banned because it isn’t effective) is so much simpler than the actual thesis

There’s a Lesson to Be Learned • Applying this “streamlining” principle to the rest of your writing can help you cut down on fluff! • While fluff makes for excellent padding (hence down comforters, pillows, etc.), it’s not nearly as useful when used to fill space • Fluff is deadly to write and read; the act of writing it bores you and saps your creativity, while audiences reading your work will feel alienated or ignored

Streamlining • This isn’t to suggest that the long, lyrical sentence be permanently laid to rest • If this were the case, how could I continue writing my massive blogposts? • I love long sentences – provided they’re long for a reason • I’m merely pointing out that simplicity is not (in and of itself) “bad” • In fact, some of you need to work on “simplifying” your diction! • While many of you spent a lot of time building up your vocabularies in preparation for the SATs, you’ll find that you won’t always use “SAT words” appropriately

The Careful Balance • Young writers have to walk something of a tricky tightrope • On the one hand, instructors often urge you to expand your vocabulary, to diversify your word choice, to avoid repetition • You also won’t know how or when to use your new words without putting them in context – and doing so takes practice, which isn’t always pretty • However, it’s important for you to grasp the concept of synonyms as imperfect matches • Not every synonym is interchangeable!

Here’s An Example • Let’s take a look at Jake Melton from P2 • According to his “Rumors” bio, Jake is about 6’5” and 200 lbs. • (Debate rages over whether his biography is reliable) • How do we describe this person? • Well, we want to say he’s “big.” • Do we say he’s “tall” or “huge?”

Big v. Huge v. Tall, Case No. 17 • Technically speaking, “big,” “tall,” and “huge” all refer to “great size.” • However, the connotations of “tall” and “huge” are very different • “Huge” seems to imply “massive” • “Tall” implies nothing about the thickness or width of the object’s frame; it merely means said object has “great height” • If you wanted to discuss Jake’s build, you’d use “huge”; if you wanted to discuss his height, you’d use “tall.” • As you can see, the two aren’t necessarily interchangeable! • Always consider context and connotation while writing!

Now for the Little Things • We’ve spent time going over stuff that really stands out in an essay – theses, formatting issues, diction, etc. • How about some aspects of writing that you may not have thought about lately?

Tensioning Trouble • Some papers featured a great deal of tense scrambling • This isn’t necessarily a huge problem from paragraph to paragraph, although it certainly isn’t a habit you’ll want to develop • However, tense changes within a sentence can throw your readers • It’s the equivalent of putting on a left-turn signal before making a hard right – if you give readers the opposite of what they expect, they may swerve off!

Navigating the Winding Passages • While paragraph structure forms the backbone of essay-writing, most writers don’t think about a “maximum” length for their paragraphs • In fact, most young writers are far more concerned with meeting a minimum length requirement for each passage! • However, you should try to have at least two paragraphs per page (as something of a general, informal rule) • If you’re paying attention to this rule, you probably won’t end up writing repetitive paragraphs; most page-length paragraphs simply move in circles, or inflate their length with unnecessary block quotes.

The Brightest Bulb Has Burned Out • At its core, paragraph structure is about keeping your ideas in the proper “order” • While all of your ancillary ideas will be linked by the central concept of the paper (the thesis), you’ll probably want to follow a specific/linear “path” while writing them down • Remember to include one big idea per paragraph (and a four-page paper gives you space for several body passages)

We All Have Someone That Digs At Us • Once you’ve established your ideas, it’s time to really dig in, really sink your teeth into them, and explore! • Remember to explore one idea at a time; if you jump from concept to concept too quickly, your audience may feel disoriented • Think about how jarring it’s felt when I’ve been switching topics between slides without including transitions – or transition statements!

Even Diamonds Start Out As Coal • Don’t be satisfied with a sentence after writing it for the first time! • You’ll want to keep some of them, of course – but many great sentences began their existences as inferior, messier statements • Be willing to revisit your work multiple times – not so often that the words start bleeding together (or, alternately, so many times that everything you write suddenly seems terrible), but often enough to reassure yourself that the essay you’re turning in represents your finest effort. • Break away from the rough/final model – multiple drafts!

Learn to Breathe • However, don’t do all of this the first time you write something down! • You have to be willing to get the words down on the page before you can start worrying about how they look as part of the whole. • If you don’t, you might forget something that you really want to say! • Don’t sacrifice your original thoughts because you’re trying to be a perfectionist on your first pass • Once the words are on the page, you can edit them, rearrange them, etc. – but you have to get a rough draft out first! • It’s hard for many young writers to feel comfortable with simply writing what they’re thinking • It takes practice!

So, to Summarize • So far, we’ve gone over: • Clarity/Streamlining • Connotation/Word Choice/Tense • Theses (Structure and Intent) • MLA Formatting/Paragraph Structure • Necessity of a Rough Draft/Multiple Drafts • Exploration/Research/Fluff Elimination • Not a bad way to start! • These are the elements you should concentrate on during your first draft – honing your purpose, getting the words out, and moving forward to the end of the paper • This gives your paper a sense of momentum – always helpful!

I’m On the Brink of Disaster, Staring Down the Consequences • After you’ve done all of this – established a thesis, mapped your ideas out, written out some rough sentences, streamlined your writing a bit, explored some concepts at a deeper level, revised your rough draft – you should be on your way. • However…what happens if the revision reveals disaster? What if your paper is too short now? What if it’s uninteresting? What if your statements feel flimsy and unsupported? • Hint: Revision usually reveals these things!

Not to Worry! • Again, at the end of this draft – maybe your first, maybe your second – you’ve fulfilled your length requirement (more or less), you’ve written out your main ideas, and you know why you’re writing (as well as where you’re taking the paper) • Now it’s time for a different sort of edit • We call this the “blow-up” edit

Didn’t You Rant About Padding Already? • Yes, but this is different. • It’s not uncommon to fall short of the length requirement after a good, rigorous edit – you’ve tightened up your language, emphasized important points, and eliminated your fluff. That’ll knock out a great deal of any rough draft! • Fortunately, this is where you can start adding evidence, and continue digging deeper from there!

A Little Tip • I write my essays in a variety of ways. • Sometimes I begin by typing every quote I could possibly use for my paper; this leaves me with a few pages of quoted material in an “evidence bank” before a single original word escapes my brain, and helps me remember what I want to write about as I go. • This makes it easier to insert quotes seamlessly into my writing as well; if I’m reviewing a paragraph, I’ll refer back to the “bank” and look for quotes that support my words • I’ll often delete some of my own words and replace them with a quote – but that “replacement” ensures that the quote will mesh well with the pre-existing sentence

Take It to the Bank • The Evidence Bank may sound like a lot of extra work to you, and it isn’t something everyone will want to use. • However, if you’re the type of writer who struggles to incorporate evidence, or who doesn’t like to interrupt your own writing with someone else’s words, this is a nice trick. • It makes quote insertion easy – and you’ll never lack support for an argument. • In fact, you can write your entire rough draft without any evidence, then insert your quotes, piece by piece, during the intermediate drafting stage.

Noooooooooooooooooo! • Will you end up deleting most of what you’ve typed? Yes – lots of the quotes you just typed will eventually disappear, as will much of your own earlier work. • While this may initially strike you as a colossal waste of time, you can’t get too attached to your words during the drafting stage! • You have to be willing to delete the words you’ve worked so hard to write, even if you’re worried you won’t hit your minimum length requirement • After all, we’re in the business of writing effectively – and no one writes perfectly the first time • Again, if you have the chance to make a diamond, you have to be willing to sacrifice some coal – even a lot of coal

This is Goodbye… • Don’t be surprised if your final drafts bear little resemblance to your rough drafts from now on • This is the hallmark of a mature writer; I’m hard-pressed to think of a single professional writer whose initial drafts look anything like their finished products • I do realize that you’re students – but now is as good a time as any to practice excellent writing habits. Challenge yourself!

During your final revisions: Make sure your sentences flow into one another reasonably well – avoid “forks in the road!” Avoid run-on sentences Don’t drown your paper in block quotes – your writing is the most important part of the essay Beware of hyperbole and qualifiers Monitor sentence variety Monitor your focus; if your focus differs from your thesis, edit the thesis! Let someone else look at your paper; we’re our own worst editors, especially since most of us are reluctant to read our own work aloud to ourselves Avoid first-/second-person perspectives in formal writing Polish, polish, polish! Some Final Notes

The Very Last Piece of Advice I Can Give You • Love what you write. • Seriously. • Take pride in the work you’re spending so much time creating, revising, and perfecting. • At the end of the day, I know most of you care about the grade you’ll earn on this paper; I know most of you care about the grade you’ll earn in my class. • I agree that both of these are important. • However, you won’t necessarily remember whether you got a B or a B+ a few years from now; you might just remember the rush you got when you finished a piece that made you proud, or the day something about the writing process finally “clicked” for you. • If any of you – any one of you – feel like writing will be easier for you from now on, this was worth it.

That’s All I Have to Say • Believe in yourselves. • Ask me for help. • Ask others for help. • Good luck!

Essay Tips for the Rest of Your Life! (Part II!)