Essay Structure and Writing A review Lord of

Essay Structure and Writing A review

Lord of the Flies Essay You will write a rough draft (either typed or hand written version of your essay, NOT AN OUTLINE) The rough draft is due April 1, Tuesday after Spring Break. This day, we will peer edit each other’s essays. You will have at least two peers read and provide feedback for your essay. If your rough draft is not done, you will receive a zero for the peer editing portion The good copy is due April 8

Essay Structure What is key is to remember that your supporting details (your body paragraphs) must have a clear topic sentence and must have a clear link to your thesis statement

Essay Structure - Introduction Introduce the topic (specify which topic you have selected) Used to grab the reader’s attention (please try to avoid rhetorical questions like, “have you ever felt savage? ”) List the three subtopics that the essay will discuss and that supports thesis The THESIS STATEMENT: one sentence that clearly explains the main focus of your essay – what it is you are arguing

How to write a thesis statement 1 st step is to distill the assignment into a specific question – you choose the question your essay will answer. 2 nd step – compose one or two complete sentences that answers the question Ex: if the topic was “write to the school board explaining the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class” The question you ask yourself is: “What are the potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class? ” And you can answer with: “The potential benefits of using computers in a fourth-grade class are improved computer and technology skills, improved classroom communication, and access to research materials. ”

How to write a thesis statement What makes a thesis statement strong? 1. A thesis statement takes some sort of stand – it makes a firm stance on one aspect, it does not play on both “It could have been the lady but there is also evidence to suggest it could have been the tiger behind the door…” NO! 2. A strong thesis expresses one main idea It has one main point (what you’re arguing) If you have more than one main idea you can confuse your reader. It shows you can’t decide on the argument, and so it is not as strong 3. A strong thesis statement is specific It shows exactly what the paper will be about, keeps it on topic, and states the order that you will demonstrate your argument

Essay Structure – 3 body paragraphs These paragraphs support your thesis by using evidence and facts that you found on your topic Must have direct quotes from the novel to support your thinking Must begin with a topic sentence – this is to alert the reader what you will be demonstrating in that paragraph that proves your thesis. It is one of the sub-topics you used in your introduction

Integrating Quotes All quotations must be part of a sentence, they cannot stand on their own! Take care with modifying quotations – you want to maintain the author’s original idea so you cannot represent it in a way that changes the original meaning Proper citation is as follows: Piggy demonstrates intellectual thinking and planning in Golding’s Lord of the Flies when he suggests using the conch as a tool to call meetings, “we can use this to call the others. Have a meeting” (12).

Essay Structure - Conclusion Brief summary of your essay where you restate your sub topic in a new way Restate your thesis statement End with a strong closing statement (usually one last fact that further demonstrates your thesis and wraps it up) Reminder: this is the last thing that the reader will see, therefore make it very strong so that you have won them over

Owl Purdue – a Great Resource https: //owl. english. purdue. edu/owl/resource/747/02/ Also has sections on essay writing English classes (and other humanities classes) use MLA citation

Essay Due Dates – Lord of the Flies Reminder: Rough draft is due April 1 (Tuesday we return from Spring Break) At least two peers will read and edit your essay – if your essay is not in a rough draft format you cannot receive peer editing credit We have a work period tomorrow (Thursday) with access to the laptops!) Essay Final Copy is due for April 8 (a week later) Have all chapters read when you return. There will be a short unit test April 4 to wrap up the novel. On Monday April 14, your unit questions package will be due