Writing Elaboration Strategies: Anecdotes

Elaboration Definition Elaboration means. . . Tell the reader more By adding sentences with more explanation using a variety of specific strategies, e.g., anecdotes, examples, definitions, descriptions, details, dialogue, quotations, statistics and facts, and specific details By adding explanation within sentences, e.g., appositives, phrases, and clauses

EXAMPLES - provide more specific information about something EXAMPLES - provide more specific information about something. This sounds like. . . The cats were all acting like they were crazy. For example, one jumped at me with all … We had a barrage of different weather last week: hail, rain, snow, and sunshine. My brothers always seem to pick on me. For instance, they may hide my soccer shoes, not answer the phone.

Anecdote: An anecdote is a small piece of a story inserted into an essay that helps make the point. This sounds like. . . Hey, I remember the time when I had to carry my . . . Once when I was in kindergarten, the kids would always. . . Not elaborated: You should try your hardest and never give up. Elaborated with an anecdote: You should try your hardest and never give up. One time when I was playing football our team was losing and starting to get discouraged. Then, our captain called a time out. “Okay team, we can do this,” he said. “Let’s change our attitudes and think about winning and play our best. Come on, let’s do it,” he encouraged us. That day, we did not give up.

Specific Details CONCRETE details are the specific, exact names of things. Using CONCRETE details will make your paper stronger, just like CONCRETE makes a building stronger. Concrete details are SPECIFIC.

General: The boy disrupted the class. Specific: Shortly after the class started, Miguel started talking and laughing with Humberto in the back of the class. The teacher’s face turned red and angry. She shouted, “That’s it, Miguel. Go see Ms. Sikes.” Miguel kicked a desk and slammed the classroom door as he left the room. We all looked down at our books and listened to the teacher.

Format to Follow 1st- State your point or reasoning in a topic sentence. 2nd –Ask yourself: “Have I seen this before?” 3rd – Write/say that example in 1-3 sentences. 4th – Close with a reference to your first statement. You should try your hardest and never give up. One time when I was playing football our team was losing and starting to get discouraged. Then, our captain called a time out. “Okay team, we can do this,” he said. “Let’s change our attitudes and think about winning and play our best. Come on, let’s do it,” he encouraged us. That day, we did not give up.

Try elaborating one of the following topics by adding an anecdote Try elaborating one of the following topics by adding an anecdote. You can make it up! Making fun of people is wrong. You should never make fun of someone. Getting to class on time is important. You should always follow directions. “Always laugh when you can, it’s cheap medicine”. Cheating is a form of lying that stops people from trusting you.