Rules and Helpful Tips For Essay Writing “The reason one writes isn’t the fact he wants to say something. He writes because he has something to say.” –F. Scott Fitzgerald, American author

Introduction Should grab your reader’s attention, sets up your argument, and leads into your thesis. A thesis statement condenses your argument into one or two sentences and serves as a guide for your reader. It is your MAIN CLAIM. Your thesis statement can often be seen as the answer (with reasons) to the question your paper should be exploring.

Thesis Statement For example, if you were asked to write a paper stating whether or not money was essential to the American Dream, why or why not, your thesis would respond to this question. Write a practice thesis now with this question in mind.

Thesis Examples Money is not essential to achieving the American Dream because money can’t buy you love or happiness. Money is definitely essential to achieving the American Dream because you need money for most everything, and if you don’t have money, you don’t have anything.

Body Paragraphs All body paragraphs should start with a TOPIC SENTENCE, a single idea that returns somehow to your thesis. These can be thought of as a mini-claim that you will prove with data in that paragraph. Example: You might think that money will make you happy, but it won’t buy your happiness forever. Example: Money makes the world go round, and without it, you wouldn’t own anything.

EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN, EXPLAIN!! After your topic sentence, explain what you mean. You must be specific when making a claim or stating an opinion. Give examples of why you feel the way you do. Elaborate on your ideas. If you are having a problem supporting your view, try pretending you are having a conversation with someone who might not agree with you. What would you say to them?

TEXTUAL SUPPORT/EVIDENCE=DATA The text is meant to support you, not the other way around. They are meant to echo your words, meant to act as proof for your argument. After you elaborate on your topic sentences, bring in the data to prove what your point. It is exactly what you did with The Pedestrian and for the summative. Unless the quote itself serves as a good topic sentence, save it for somewhere within the paragraph.

Using Quotes in Context Quotes must be relevant to your points. They must fit and make sense. Don’t just stick them in just to have them. They must flow and relate to what you are saying. You worked on this in your summative. EX: Money can’t buy you love. Your parents aren’t going to love you any more if you give them $5 a day. Your wife isn’t going to not love you if you lose your job. Love is ever-lasting, and true, unconditional love can’t be bought. The fact is that “there are some things money can’t accomplish” (Henry 57).

Introducing Author and Title Anytime you are writing about a piece of literature or referring to it in your essay, you must name the title and author for your reader. Many students choose to name title and author in their introductions, but if you don’t, you MUST do so before you mention the first quote. You can’t just say “the story.” EX: O. Henry’s story “Mammon and the Archer” presents many different views about money.

Reminder: Citing Textual Evidence You ALWAYS credit your authors, not your characters. Citations go AFTER the quote, and you only use last name of author and page #. Poetry uses author and line #. EX: “There are some things money can’t accomplish” (Henry 57). Punctuation goes AFTER your citation. Use your powerpoints for help on these.

Revising/Editing After you are done, ALWAYS go back and read what you’ve written. Ask yourself the following questions: Is my thesis clear and have I supported it throughout my paper? Do I have topic sentences for each paragraph, and do I work to stick to that topic? Does my evidence/data support what my own words and what I’m trying to say or does it contradict my words? Have I elaborated on my data to explain what it means, how it relates to my claim/thesis, etc? Have I cited all my evidence properly? Does my concluding paragraph wrap it all up for my reader? Have I avoided using “I” in this paper?