Essay Writing Terms

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Essay Writing Terms

• Your writing packet glossary goes in alphabetical
  order

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essay

• A piece of writing on a particular subject comes
  from the French word essai which means to try
• We expect you to try your best on this essay.
• Saying I dont know or I dont get it is NOT
  trying.

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Voice

• The kind of words you use in your writing
• Formal Voice uses more formal and proper
  English does NOT usually use pronouns like I,
  me, my, mine, you, your, yours, we, our, ours
  also does not use contractions (examples its,
  cant, doesnt)
• Informal Voice uses more casual and non-standard
  English
• Examples slang, colloquialisms (conversational
  language)

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Introductory Paragraph
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Introductory paragraph/ Introduction

• The first paragraph of the essay which includes
  the hook, bridge, and thesis, usually in that
  order. The author and title of the text are
  mentioned here.

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Hook

• The first sentence of your essay which needs to
  grab the attention of the reader of your essay
• Hook ideas statistic, question, quote from text,
  quote from outside source, anecdote, emotion
  words/phrases that pack a punch

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Bridge

• The part of the intro paragraph that links the
  hook to the thesis
• Extra notes
• Usually 1 to 2 sentences. Maybe 3.
• Avoid summarizing the entire text!

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Thesis

• The main argument of your essay it should be
  specific and should NOT include any form of the
  words I think or I believe

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Body Paragraphs
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Body Paragraph

• The middle paragraph(s) of the essay where the
  support for your thesis is found the body
  paragraphs include (in this order) a topic
  sentence, evidence (quotes), explanations, and a
  concluding sentence.

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Topic Sentence

• The first sentence of a body paragraph which
  introduces the topic the paragraph will be about.

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Evidence/Example

• Usually a quote directly from the text it
  supports your thesis and needs a citation (page
  number) with it
• Added note
• Whenever you take a quote from a text, you need
  quotation marks around it.
• A quote can be more than one sentence from a
  text.

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Explanation/Link

• Where you explain the quote and how it relates
  (or links back) to the thesis

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Transition

• A word that transitions or shifts the reader of
  your essay to a new topic. Transitions should be
  used between and within paragraphs. (Examples
  therefore, also)
• Some transitions are composed of more than one
  word. (Examples as well, not onlybut also, in
  particular, this shows that)

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Concluding Sentence

• The last sentence of a body paragraph if another
  body paragraph follows it, it begins to
  transition the reader to the next topic of the
  body paragraph

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MLA In-text Citation

• When you include the page number of your quote
  after you write out the quote in a paragraph.
• Example An example of the narrators
  disappointment is when he says, He would never
  do these things with me (595).
• Notice where the last quotation mark goes and
  where the period goes.

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Concluding Paragraph
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Concluding Paragraph

• The last paragraph of the essay where the thesis
  is stated in a NEW way and the main arguments of
  the essay are summed up it NEVER presents new
  information

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Closer

• The last sentence of the essay that gives the
  essay a sense of finality

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Revising, Editing, and MLA Formatting
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Editing

• The process of checking spelling, punctuation,
  and grammar mistakes in your writing.

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Revising

• The process of adding to, deleting, rearranging,
  and changing what you have written as you reread
  and go back over it.
• Extra Note
• One of the best ways to revise is to read the
  essay aloud to yourself.
• You can revise as you write, but always go back
  once you have a draft written and keep revising.

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MLA (Modern Language Association)

• An association that sets the rules on how to
  format academic essays and how to cite
  information in essays

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MLA Header

• Contains (in this order and in the left corner)
  your name, professors name, course name, and the
  date written as Day Month Year. ( Date Example
  17 September 2013)
• Notice no comma separating month year
• Extra Note The header is double spaced along
  with the rest of the essay

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MLA Running Header

• Located in the header space of the page it
  contains your last name the page of the essay
• Extra Note
• The running head is aligned to the right
• Running means it will appear on every page.
  Putting in the header space will automatically
  put it on every page for you

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OWL Purdue

• A very useful website with information about
  essay writing, grammar topics, and MLA citation
  
• Link http//owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/