Lecture 4: The Third and Fourth Steps in Essay Writing PDF

Lecture 4 The Third and Fourth Steps in Essay Writing ©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written  Four st...

Lecture 4 The Third and Fourth Steps in Essay Writing ©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further distribution permitted without the prior written  Four steps in essay writing: 1. Decide a thesis. 2. Support it with specific evidence. 3. Organize and connect specific evidence in the body paragraphs 4. Sentence revision ©McGraw-Hill Education  The Organization and Connection is Possible by Using: I. Common methods of organization; II. Transitions; III. Other connecting words. I. Two Methods of Organization: 1. Time order or chronological order; 2. Emphatic Order or saving the best till last : (placed in the last part of the paragraph or in the final supporting paragraph of an essay.) Illustration: p. 89 – 90, Langan; Practice: Part A and B, p. 91-92 ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common methods of Organization (1) Time order, or chronologic al. Typical Listing transitions: details as first, then, they occur in after, finally. time. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common Methods of Organization (2) Emphatic order. Typical Details are Transitions: for listed for one thing, emphasis, or next, most importance. importantly. ©McGraw-Hill Education  II. Transitions Purpose: To guide the reader by signaling the direction of the author’s thoughts. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common Transition Classifications Additio Tim Spac n e e First, Above, Next, below, moreover, then, also, to the next, right (or furthermo meanwhil re left), next e to ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common Transition Classifications Change- Illustrati Conclusi of- on on direction But, however, Last, yet, For example, for finally, on the therefore, instance, other consequent such as hand, ly instead ©McGraw-Hill Education  Other Transitions: Conjunctive Adverbs Common conjunctive A single Connects adverbs: Conjuncti word used However, two ve following a Moreover, independen Furthermore, Adverbs semicolon. t clauses. Therefore, Nevertheless, Additionally ©McGraw-Hill Education  Other Transitions: Transitional Phrases A group of Connects two Common Transition words used independent transition al Phrases following a clauses. al semicolon. phrases: For instance, in fact, in addition, on the other hand ©McGraw-Hill Education  Transitional Sentences Their purpose is to link, or connect, the …to that of the idea of one next paragraph. paragraph... ©McGraw-Hill Education  Practice of Transitions Activity 2, Underline transitions, p. 94-95, Langan Activity 3, Complete topic sentences with transitional sentences, p. 96, Langan ©McGraw-Hill Education  III. Other Connecting Words Synonyms – Repeated Use words Words – Use alike in key words to meaning to link ideas. connect ideas. Pronouns – he, she it, you, they, this, that Practice: Activity 4, p. 98, Langan ©McGraw-Hill Education  The Introductory Paragraph Key Featur es To attract the reader’s To supply background To reveal a plan of To present a attention and information necessary development for thesis encourage them to for understanding. the entire essay. statement. read onward. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common Methods of Introduction a general statement. an opposite idea or Start situation. with… your topic’s importance. a brief story or incident. a provocative quotation. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Common Methods of Conclusion a summary or final thought. End a thought-provoking quotation. with a prediction or … recommendation. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Titles A brief summary It may be easier to Some A writing A few words write your common suggestion title after features… : May serve your essay as a hook to has been your written. essay ©McGraw-Hill Education  Practice: Activities 5, 6, and 7, p. 102, 104, 107. , Langan ©McGraw-Hill Education  The Fourth Step in Essay Writing: Revise Sentences - Strategies to revise sentences effectively: 1. Use parallelism. 2. Use a consistent point of view. 3. Use specific words. 4. Use active verbs. 5. Use concise words. 6. Vary your sentences. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision #1 1. Parallelism – words in a pair or a series using the same kind of structure. Pair Smartphones allow us to communicate with friends and entertain ourselves. Serie s My job includes checking the inventory, initialing the orders, and calling the suppliers. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision 2. The point of view#2 must be consistent: Do not shift verb tenses/pronoun person unnecessarily In verb tense The gardener breaks up the hard earth with a shovel, adds peat moss and other compost, then blends the soil evenly. In pronouns Though we like most of our neighbors, there are a few we can’t get along with. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision #3 3. Use specific words rather than general to create vivid mental pictures for your reader. General: The plane landed at the airport. Specific: The United Airlines 747 landed at Reagan National Airport. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision #4 4. Strive to make your subjects do the action. Passiv The stream was diverted e: by the engineers. Action: The engineers diverted the stream. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision #5 5. Good writing is direct and concise, not wordy Wordy: In this paper, I am planning to describe the hobby that I enjoy of collecting old comic books Concis I enjoy collecting old comic e: books. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Revision #6 6. Sentence variety… …is the spice of writing, for similarity breeds monotony. There are four ways to execute sentence variety. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Variety #1: Coordination Bananas Add were on 1. A single Bananas another sale this independe are on independe week, so I nt clause: sale this nt clause bought a week. with a bunch for coordinatin my lunch. g conjunction : ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Variety #2: Subordination Even though I 2. Add a couldn’t afford dependent them, bananas clause were on sale (Subordination this week. ): ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Variety #3: A Special Opening or Phrase (1) -ed word: -ing word: –ly word: Puzzled by Hoping to Surprisingly 3. their buy fresh , bananas freshness, fruit, Add were on bananas bananas sale this … were on sale were on sale week. this week. this week. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Variety #3: A Special Opening or Phrase (2) “to” word preposition: group: At the corner Add To better market, … move bananas were produce, on sale this bananas were week. on sale this week. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Sentence Variety #4: Including Adjectives and Verbs Adjectives Verbs 4. Place I gently applied The truck adjectives or a sticky new bounced off a Band-Aid to the guardrail, verbs in a deep, ragged sideswiped a series: cut on my tree, and finger. plunged down the embankment. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Editing Tips (1) Type and set your essay in MLA format before editing. Type your edits Use grammar and after you have spell check fully worked applications. through your printed text. Focus on one Use a print sentence at a copy of your time. text. ©McGraw-Hill Education  - Editing - Sentence skills: ✔ Write complete sentences rather than fragments. ✔ Do not write run-on sentences. ✔ Use verb forms correctly. ✔ Make sure that subject, verbs, and pronouns agree. Eliminate faulty modifiers. ✔ Use pronoun forms correctly. ✔ Use capital letters when needed. ✔ Use the following marks of punctuation correctly: apostrophe, quotation marks, comma, semicolon, colon, hyphen, dash, parentheses. ✔ Use correct manuscript form. ✔ Eliminate slang, clichés, and pretentious words. ✔ Check for possible spelling errors. ✔ Eliminate careless errors. ©McGraw-Hill Education  Editing Tips (2) Knowing and using proofreading symbols may be helpful in economizing the editing process. ©McGraw-Hill Education