Introducing Essay 2 and Informative Writing Discussing the Prompt and Brainstorming Ideas

Why Write an Informative Essay? Informative writing is practical. It is the kind of writing you are most likely to write in the workplace It shares information on specialized topics Informative writing can help highlight important issues and causes, or subjects and subcultures that are not well-known. Informative writing can help dispel misconceptions, and fight against stereotypes and prejudice. Don’t forget: education is the enemy of hate and fear.

Keys to Informative Writing, continued EXPLAIN INFORMATION FOR YOUR READER Just because you have become familiar with the topic does not mean that your reader is. Give background and history that your reader will need in one or two paragraphs early on. Part of your job is to break it down and explain things in a logical, step-by-step manner. Make it interesting and easy to understand! EXPLORE QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS Find out what the current debates are relating to your topic. What is commonly known? What is not known? Readers like to read about controversy. If there is a controversy relating to your topic, discuss it! What fascinates you about this topic? Get your reader to SHARE your fascination by explaining and exploring what you find so fascinating.

Discuss the Prompt Pass out Prompt and Discuss Take notes on the prompt. Write ideas and questions on it! NOTE: We are no longer reading the essay for next Wednesday: “Back to School” p. 140. Instead we will read “Calling in Late” by Kate Zernike, p. 489

Structure of an Informative Essay The basic structure of an informative essay is very simple. It needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. The beginning needs to present the topic and grab the attention of the audience. It needs to include the focus sentence for the entire essay.   The middle will be the main bulk of the essay and it will contain all the important facts that you are covering. This is where the audience will get their questions answered. Remember to answer these questions: who, what, where, when, why, and how.  The end is a conclusion where you will summarize the essay. It should spur the reader or listener to learn more about the topic.

The Introduction Here is an example of the beginning of an informative essay:  You might not think that today is the day that you will save a life, but it might be. It is quite easy to save a life any day and it only takes a little bit of your time. I’m not talking about being a paramedic or fireman; I am talking about donating blood.

The Conclusion Here is an example of a conclusion for an informative essay: So that now you know how easy it is to donate blood, it’s time to take action. After all, you have plenty of blood, so why not share? When you do, you will feel good about yourself and you will save a life.

Subjects of Informative Essays Informative essays, sometimes called expository essays, can be used for many purposes. They can compare viewpoints on a controversial subject as long as they don’t include the author’s opinions. They may analyze data, like in a cause and effect situation, or educate the audience on ways to do something, like solving a certain kind of problem. An informative essay might educate the audience on how to open a bank account. Or how to buy a house Or understand your credit score An informative essay might explain the health benefits of a Vegetarian or Vegan Diet. Or the importance of exercise An informative essay might discuss the cost savings of Hybrid vehicles Or why having your air ducts cleaned is important Or what “green washing” is and how to identify real eco-friendly products

Steps in Creating an Informative Essay Most of the work on an informative essay is done before you actually sit down to type. Here are the general steps to take:    After you have chosen the topic, you will need to research and gather all the pertinent details on that subject. You need to ascertain what you already know about the subject and then decide what you would like to know. You will need to make a list of the important facts and then list the main steps in your paper. Make sure all your facts are accurate. You will need to write a topic sentence for each fact and write a focus sentence (thesis statement) for the entire essay.

Steps in Creating an Informative Essay Most of the work on an informative essay is done before you actually sit down to type. Here are the general steps to take:    3. Create an outline that will organize your facts in a logical way. Then you will be ready to make your first draft. 4. Editing is an important step for any writing project. Reading your essay out loud will help you notice places where the writing is awkward or unclear. If possible, have someone else read it and give you their ideas for improvement. Of course, you will need to pay attention for grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and other errors.

Finding Topics What are some “interesting questions” you could ask that might lead to a paper topic? Sometimes, the best way to jump start your own ideas is to look for examples of the kind of writing you want to do. Find examples of informative writing in magazines and newspaper. Feature articles are often informative but not “straight news” (i.e. reporting an event not exploring an idea. We want to focus on exploring ideas.

Verb Tense When Things Happen

Consistent Verb Tense When we write, we need to keep our verb tense consistent unless there we shift to talking about a different time and it makes sense to change the tense. This is a required (correct, appropriate) tense shift: Even though she cleans the counter every day, (present – habitual action) she found ants in her kitchen last week. (past)

Consistent Tense Cont. This is an unnecessary, incorrect tense shift: I went to Disneyland last week. We go on all of the rides and buy souvenirs. How can we correct this sentence? PAST TENSE: I went to Disneyland last week. We went on all the rides and bought souvenirs. PRESENT TENSE: I go to Disneyland all the time. We go on all the rides and buy souvenirs.

Consistent Tense Incorrect: I went to Disneyland last week. We go on all of the rides and buy souvenirs. Correct: I went to Disneyland last week. We went on all of the rides and bought souvenirs. The present tense verbs “go” and “buy” have been changed to reflect the fact that these events happened in the past (last week).

Adjectives Describing Things

Adjectives: Help with Details and Descriptions Consider the following sentence: “The dog jumped on the man.” What does the dog look like in your mind’s eye? What does the man look like? Do you think your mental picture is the same as the one the person next to you has? Why or why not?

Adjectives The sentence on the previous slide was missing adjectives. An Adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. They answer the questions “What kind?” “Which one?” and “How many?” Our original sentence could be rewritten: “The small, white, shaggy dog jumped on the tall, serious man.” Which words tell us more about the dog? Which words tell us more about the man? Adjectives are said to modify or describe the nouns they tell us more about. (So “small” modifies “dog” in our rewritten sentence, for example.)

Where can I put an adjective in a sentence? Adjectives can be placed in two different locations. Location 1: Before the word the adjective is modifying. Examples: Angry man Green car Late bus Location 2: After a linking verb. Example: The man is angry. (“Angry” modifies “man.”) Example: The flower smells good. (“Good” modifies “flower.”)

Two More Rules About Adjectives “Good” is an adjective. Only use it when you are describing a noun or pronoun. Example: “He sings good.” This is incorrect because “good” is modifying “sings,” which is not a noun or pronoun. The correct sentence is “He sings well.” When adjectives occur in a list, try reading the list with “and” in between each of the adjectives. If the “and” sounds natural, you need a comma. If the “and” does not sound natural, you do not need a comma. Example: He is a retired English teacher. (“He is a retired AND English teacher” sounds strange, so there is no comma.) Example: It was a gray, cloudy day yesterday. (“Gray AND cloudy” sounds natural, so you need a comma.)

Comparatives – things that are __ than __ Many adjectives have two additional forms that help us to make comparisons. The comparative form compares two people or things to each other. Example: Joan is smarter than her sister is. To make a comparative adjective: For words of one or two syllables, add –er to the base of the adjective. For words with three or more syllables, put the word “more” before the base adjective. Example: “The house was more beautiful after it had been remodeled.” NEVER use “more” and the –er ending at the same time. I am more smarter than the person who wrote this sentence.

Superlatives – things that are the most! A superlative adjective singles out one individual from a group of three or more. He is the slowest runner on the team. To make a superlative adjective: For words of one or two syllables, add –est to the base of the adjective. For words with three or more syllables, put the word “most” before the base adjective. Ex: “That was the most delicious meal I have ever eaten.” Once again, NEVER use the word “most” and the –est ending at the same time.

Find Examples of Informative Writing Feature Articles in Magazines often work well for this: LA Times Magazines Blog Articles These are only two examples. There are thousands.

For Tuesday: Monday, 8/11 In Class: Discuss Adjectives and Adverbs. Avoiding Common Problems in Essays. Due: ·         Pathways “The Buzz on Caffeine” p.89 Also start thinking about your topic for Essay 2. Come to class with some topic ideas.