Freshmen: Read Books 13-18
online. Complete Frayer Models for 5 vocabulary words of your choice.
Sophomores: tips for your essay
A
thesis statement is the main idea of an essay. The thesis statement makes a general statement about the essay's topic a little more specific. The thesis is usually one or two sentences long, and it's always a statement, not a question. The thesis statement may be a concise and general summary of the main points of the essay, or it may be the logical conclusion to the argument made in the essay.
THE REVISION PROCESS – HAVING A WRITING CONFERENCE WITH YOURSELFRead your draft to yourself, at least once but probably several times. The best writers spend a lot of time reading over and thinking about what they have written.
Your next job is to make some decisions about what’s down there in that paper: the weaknesses of the piece – the parts that need more work – and its strengths – those parts that work so well you want to do more with them. In other words, your next job is to have a writing conference with yourself.
A writer’s biggest question is always, “What is it I’m trying to say here?” The questions below may help you find and shape what you’re trying to say.
QUESTIONS ABOUT INFORMATION1. Have I completely answered the question asked of me? (Take apart the essay question and take a look!)
2. Does my introduction follow the correct format?
3. Does my thesis statement clearly show the reader what my paper will be about? If not, how can I change it?
4. Have I shown (not told) by using examples? Do I cite my examples correctly?
5. Is there any part that might confuse a reader? Have I explained each part well enough that a reader will know what I mean?
6. Do I have too much information? What parts aren’t needed – don’t add to my point or story? Can I delete them?
QUESTIONS ABOUT QUALITY1. Generally – my essay should be free from opinions. Do I include words such as “I think, I believe, etc.?”
2. Each body paragraph should contain a new argument – are these arguments strong? Do I have a solid case here or does it sound like I’m just straining for information?
3. Do I use proper sentence structure or are my paragraphs littered with sentence fragments?
4. What don’t I like? Chances are if I don’t feel comfortable with a certain aspect of my writing, it needs to be changed.
HELPFUL TIPS1. Be sure to properly cite quotes. Here is an example of how to do so …
“They didn’t give us anything…they said that if we were ill we should die soon anyway and it would be a pity to waste the food” (Wiesel 102).
· Notice how the author's last name and the page number are listed in parenthesis with a period after the parenthesis!
2. Avoid juvenile language such as the following:
· (introduction) In my paper I will discuss…
· (conclusion) This was my essay about…
