Developing Skills Part 2 Preparing for the W.S.T. Developing Skills Part 2

6 Steps to A Great Essay Analyze the Prompt Prewrite/ Pick a side Create a strong thesis Organize Draft Essay Revise 15 minutes 75 minutes The Six Steps to a Great Essay are… Analyze the Prompt Pre-write Create a Strong Thesis Organize Draft Essay What do you think the recommended time break down is for these steps? The recommended time break down is 15 minutes to analyze, pre-write, create a thesis and organize your paper. Then, 75 minutes to write and revise.

Is watching TV a valuable activity? BOARD ACTIVITY Review from last week… Is watching TV a valuable activity?

Analyze the Prompt 1. Analyze the Prompt A topic (T) One viewpoint (1VP) An opposing viewpoint (OVP) A command(C) Question + Call for Evidence Some people believe that watching television is a worthless or meaningless activity, while others view it as a valuable way to relax or gather information. Is watching TV a valuable activity? Make sure you support your position with reasons, explanations, and examples.

Analyze the Prompt 1. Analyze the Prompt A topic (T) Topic: watching television Some people believe that watching television is a worthless or meaningless activity, while others view it as a valuable way to relax or gather information. Is watching TV a valuable activity? Make sure you support your position with reasons, explanations, and examples. 1. Analyze the Prompt A topic (T) One viewpoint (1VP) An opposing viewpoint (OVP) A command(C) Question + Call for Evidence

Prewrite/ Pick a Side If you have an opinion: write it down! This may be your working thesis. If not… list ideas supporting both sides List counterarguments as they come to mind List exceptions too! Then pick a position YOU CANNOT BE IN THE MIDDLE MUST BE ON ONE SIDE OR THE OTHER Either entirely for, mostly for, entirely against, mostly against Claim from Opposite View + Refute

Watching TV is valuable Watching TV is NOT valuable Educational programs For kids Dora, Sesame Street, Personal example Good for visual learners For adults History channel, cultural programs, personal example, International TV can connect you to various cultures, cooking shows News Local news Local events, weather, traffic, local news National and International News Awareness of what’s happening in world, important things in our government Harmless way to relax, unwind Comedy shows laughter, personal example, you’re not harming anyone Exercise programs Poor Influence On children Kids exposed to violence Kids exposed to inappropriate language and content On adults Warped view of reality Make you feel not good enough Connection to poor health Linked to sedentary lifestyle, which can cause health problems Obesity, high blood pressure, hyper tension Linked to overeating Connected to mental health challenges Isolating, mindless Linked to poor body image addictive There are better uses of your time Not productive- you aren’t making anything, could be reading or learning EXCEPTION Parents should use parental control settings to prohibit kids from graphic content Work out programs are valuable

Creating a Strong Thesis Watching TV is not valuable because ____(1)____, ____(2)____ and ____(3)____. Filter your reasons in to 1 or 2 overarching themes. Check your thesis- make sure it does the following: Your thesis should hint at your reasons Your thesis should address the question Your thesis should reflect the order of your paragraphs. You may choose to drop/ add reasons- that’s ok! -Filter - Check for hint, address, reflect-

-Bubble- -Group- -Develop- Organizing: The Steps Bubble- put your ideas in bubbles Group- them into groups Develop- you need: 6 paragraphs 3 Reasons And Either a 4th reason OR a counter argument OR an exception You should have a variety of examples BOARD ACTIVITY: Topic Sentences -Bubble- -Group- -Develop-

Develop Keep your reason in mind! Do not stray from this. Vary the types of information you use Personal experience Facts Examples Details Exploration of logic Use ideas from your pre-write!

Counterargument/ exception/ Reason 4 Rearrange: Web Detail 2 Detail 1 Detail 3 Detail 2 Counterargument/ exception/ Reason 4 Reason 1 Detail 3 Working Thesis Detail 1 Detail 3 Reason 3 Reason 2 Detail 1 Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3 Detail 2

Watching TV Rearrange: Outline Introduction Hook Topic Thesis Reason 1 Topic sentence Detail 1 Detail 2 Detail 3 Reason 2 Reason 3 Reason 4/Counterargument/ Exception Conclusion Summarize main points Restate thesis

Try and do 2 on your own!! Look at the list of sample prompts 15 minutes: Analyze the Prompt, Pick a Side, Organize (quickly, not very detailed), Write thesis

Starting to WRITE -Keep on Track- -Topic Sentences- -Transitions- -Vocabulary- -Logic- -Proved Claims-

Things to focus on… Keep on Track Topic Sentences Transitions Refer to your outline/ web Topic Sentences Main idea of the paragraph Connect your paragraph to your thesis Transitions Use a variety! Vocabulary Sophisticated, but do not try to use words you are not experienced writing with!! Avoid logical fallacies Remember PHIL 1000/1001? Go look in your old text book! Ex: Sweeping generalizations Avoid unsubstantiated claims Be sure you can prove it! Or, someone else has proven it.

Topic Sentences Give you a preview about the upcoming paragraph Try to vary them- you do not want every sentence starting the same way! Avoid formulaic structures like “One reason why…” or “First… Second… Third….” Sometimes you might come up with a better topic sentence after you develop your 3 details.

Transitions To Add: To Compare: and, again, besides, equally important, finally, furthermore, nor, too, next, lastly, what's more, moreover, in addition, To Compare: whereas, but, yet, on the other hand, however, nevertheless, on the contrary, by comparison, where, compared to, up against, balanced against, vis a vis, but, although, conversely, meanwhile, after all, in contrast, although this may be true

Logical fallacies Dicto simpliciter Hasty generalization Post Hoc Contradictory Premises Ad Misericordiam False Analogy Hypothesis Contrary to Fact Poisoning the Well

Revise -Read out loud- -Flow- -Content- -Read it again- -Grammar- -Sentence Structure- -Know Your Mistakes-

Tips for Revision Read it out loud Read it again- possibly backwards! Flow Content Read it again- possibly backwards! Sentence Structure Grammar Focus on mistakes you know you tend to make

Part 4: Try a WST Practice Prompt Get one-on-one help with implementing techniques discussed in this workshop!

Questions? Credits Information for this presentation taken from: Testing Office Website, SCAA Website, and SCAA Presentation on UWSR