A STEPBYSTEP GUIDE TO WRITING ESSAYS PRESENTED BY red

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A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO WRITING ESSAYSPRESENTED
BY red

• IF I AM REQUIRED TO WRITE AN ESSAY, HOW DO I MAKE
  THE PROCESS EASIER?

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MOTIVATIONIF YOU WANT TO DO ANYTHING WELL, YOU
NEED STIMULUS.
How about these?

• FREE MONEY
• FREE STUFF
• SAVE
• EFFECT CHANGE
• GOOD GRADES

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THE BASICS

• READ THE SYLLABUS TO KNOW WHAT TYPES OF PAPERS
  YOU WILL COMPOSE AND WHEN THEY ARE DUE.
• QUESTION THE INSTRUCTOR ON WHAT EXACTLY IS
  REQUIRED, i.e., page/word count, citation style,
  etc..
• PLAN YOUR ATTACK
• BRAINSTORM
• RESEARCH(?)
• DREDGE UP MEMORIES (NARRATION)
• WRITE A PAGE A DAY

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WINNING REQUIRES PREPARATION

• READ THE TEXT WITH THE
• ESSAY IN MIND!
• WHAT IS THE RHETORICAL FUNCTION OF YOUR ASSIGNED
  ESSAY?
• SUMMARY
• REVIEW
• ARGUMENT
• COMPARE AND CONTRAST
• NARRATION

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WHAT THE HECK IS A PARAPHRASE (PUT QUOTE INTO
YOUR OWN WORDS)?

• ORIGINAL TEXT A man who views the world the
  same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted
  thirty years of his life.Muhammad Ali
• PARAPHRASE The human who carries the identical
  beliefs today, as an old man, that he did as a
  young man, squandered those years in between.
  (Muhammad Ali) (you still need to cite source)

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SUMMARY

• TITLE OF TEXT
• AUTHORS NAME DATE TEXT WRITTEN
• AUTHORS ARGUMENT (THESIS)
• PREMISES USED TO SUPPORT
• WHAT STATEMENTS DOES THE AUTHOR USE TO SUPPORT
  THE ARGUMENT?
• PARAPHRASE THEM IN YOUR NOTES (CITE PAGE NOS)

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REVIEW

• INITIALLY THE SAME AS A SUMMARY
• QUESTIONS TO ANSWER FOR YOUR CRITIQUE
• HOW DOES THE TEXT RELATE TO CLASS CONTENT?
• DOES THE AUTHORS ARGUMENT MAKE SENSE?
• DO YOU AGREE WITH THE ARGUMENT?
• IS THERE A COUNTER-ARGUMENT THAT IS BETTER?
• WHAT ARE THE AUTHORS CREDENTIALS?

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ARGUMENT/PERSUASIVE

• WHAT IS THE AUTHORS ARGUMENT, STAND OR STANCE?
• DO YOU AGREE?
• WHY?
• WHAT PREMISES DOES THE AUTHOR PROVIDE THAT YOU
  AGREE WITH? (PARAPHRASE THEM)
• ARE THERE OTHER SCHOLARS WHO SUPPORT THE CLAIMS?
  (FOR THOSE ESSAYS THAT REQUIRE MORE THAN ONE
  REFERENCE.)
• WHAT IS YOUR OPINION NOW THAT YOU HAVE DONE THE
  RESEARCH? DO YOU AGREE OR NOT? (SAVE FOR THE
  CONCLUSION)

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ARGUMENT, CONTINUED

• WHY NOT?
• WHAT ABOUT THE AUTHORS ARGUMENT DOES NOT MAKE
  SENSE? (PARAPHRASE)
• PROVIDE REASONS WHY THE ARGUMENT FAILS
• SCHOLARLY SUPPORT?

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COMPARE CONTRAST
DIVIDE NOTE PAPER INTO TWO PARTS TO TRACK BOTH
TEXTS

• TEXT ONE
• ARGUMENT
• SUPPORT
• CONCLUSION

• TEXT TWO
• ARGUMENT
• SUPPORT
• CONCLUSION

A B A B CONCLUSION
A A B B CONCLUSION
Use either format for your essay
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NARRATION

• UNCLE RED,
• WILL YOU TELL ME A STORY?
• ONCE UPON A TIME A BOY FOUND THAT IF HE USES
  VIVID DESCRIPTIONS, I.E., ADJECTIVES, METAPHORS,
  ALLEGORIES, ETC. THAT AROUSE THE READERS
  SENSESTOUCH, SIGHT, HEARING, SMELL, AND
  IMAGINATIONAND CONVEYS A LESSON ABOUT HIS LIFE
  HE LEARNED, THE TEACHER WRITES AN A ON HIS
  PAPER.

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WRITERLY V. READERLY

• WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY WRITERLY RED?
• YOU DID THE RESEARCH, WROTE THE PAPER, AND KNOW
  WHAT YOU MEAN
• YOU KNOW THE INFERENCES
• YOU KNOW THE INNUENDOS
• YOU KNOW WHERE THE INFORMATION IS GOING
• DOES YOUR AUDIENCE KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN?

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RED, I GET IT NOW! YOU MEAN THAT I SHOULD WRITE
WITH MY AUDIENCE IN MIND.

• WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE?
• IT IS NOT JUST YOUR INSTRUCTOR!
• HAVE YOU PROVIDED ENOUGH INFORMATION THAT WILL
  ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS THE READER MAY HAVE?
• WILL YOUR AUDIENCE FEEL YOU?
• OR WILL YOUR AUDIENCE BE CONFUSED?

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COULD YOU PROVIDE AN EXAMPLE OF AN OUTLINE?

• WHAT IS AN OUTLINE
• PROVIDES A SKETCH OF HOW AN ESSAY SHOULD PROCEED
• A BASIC OUTLINE PARES DOWN THE AMOUNT OF REVISION
  NECESSARY
• THE 1ST SUPPORTING PARAGRAPH
• ORGANIZES ARGUMENT WITH THESIS
• MAKES WRITNG THE ESSAY A STRAIGHT FORWARD PROCESS
• JUST FILL IN THE BLANKS
• A FEW QUOTES
• A FEW EXAMPLES
• CONCLUSION

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A FEW WORDS ON QUOTES

• A WRITER USES QUOTES TO DO THREE THINGS
• INTRODUCE SOMETHING HE OR SHE IS GOING TO
  EXPLAIN.
• PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR THE AUTHORS (YOUR)
  ARGUMENT.
• TO LEGITIMIZE THE WRITERS STATEMENT.
• FOR MORE INFORMATION ON CITING SOURCES SEE THE
  ACADEMIC RESOURCE PAGE ON THE STUDY HALL
  COMPUTERS MAINPAGE.

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SUMMARY, REVIEW, ARGUMENT, COMPARE AND CONTRAST
(CC)

• PARAPHRASE THE ARGUMENT AND ITS PREMISES IN YOUR
  NOTES
• MAKE AN OUTLINE OF THE ARGUMENT(S) (FOR C C)
  AND THE SUPPORT.
• WRITE PAPER
• READ PAPER AGAIN (AND AGAIN?) OR BETTER KNOWN AS
  REVISE/PROOFREAD

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RED, YOU WANT ME TO READ THE PAPER OVER BEFORE I
HAND IT IN?

• FIRST DRAFT IS USUALLY JUST AN ARRAY OF GOOD
  IDEAS THAT ARE NOT ORGANIZED.
• GRAMMAR AND SPELL CHECK ARE NOT THAT EFFECTIVE.
• DOES NOT KNOW WHICH WORD YOU INTENDED THERE OR
  THEIR?
• MISSES FRAGMENTS, RUNONS, ETC.

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ONE CAREFUL PERUSAL OF YOUR PAPER WILL INCREASE
THE GRADE ONE LETTER! (USUALLY)

• GOOD IDEAS POORLY PRESENTED
• BAD ARGUMENT WELL WRITTEN
• HAVE BOTH BOOYA!!
• PROFs RECOGNIZE A POORLY WRITTEN PAPER AND GRADE
  APPROPRIATELY
• WHATS 1 HOUR OF YOUR TIME?
• READ THE DRAFT OUT LOUD

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SUCCESS IS IN YOUR PREPARATION FOR THE TASK AT
HAND

• USE YOUR RESOURCES
• SEE THE PROFESSOR
• IF YOU CAN REVISE FOR A BETTER GRADE, DO IT!
• USE THE WRITING CENTER (KUY 402 FOR APPT)
• START EARLY, DO A LITTLE EACH DAY, REMEMBER YOU
  CAN WRITE IF YOU PRACTICE
• IF YOU NEED HELP SEE
• RACHEL
• RED

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• THANK YOU