SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY ESSAY ISSUES

THESIS/CLAIM  Your thesis statement/claim should not… be a fact. be a question. include any personal pronouns (I, me, etc.) Your thesis/claim should be debatable!

CLAIMS CONTINUED Types of claims  Claims typically fall into one of four categories. Thinking about how you want to approach your topic, in other words what type of claim you want to make, is one way to focus your thesis on one particular aspect of your broader topic.

EXAMPLES  Claims of fact or definition: These claims argue about what the definition of something is or whether something is a settled fact. What some people refer to as global warming is actually nothing more than normal, long-term cycles of climate change.  Claims of cause and effect: These claims argue that one person, thing, or event caused another thing or event to occur. The popularity of SUV's in America has caused pollution to increase.  Claims about value: These are claims made of what something is worth, whether we value it or not, how we would rate or categorize something. Global warming is the most pressing challenge facing the world today.  Claims about solutions or policies: These are claims that argue for or against a certain solution or policy approach to a problem. Instead of drilling for oil in Alaska we should be focusing on ways to reduce oil consumption, such as researching renewable energy sources.

REDUNDANCY  This is getting redundant…didn’t we already address this?  Don’t repeat your ideas!!!

AGREEMENT Let’s solve these problems… A student wouldn’t risk their life to save someone at school. Everyone is different in their own way. Letting tears run down our face. Should a person base their stance…? Teenagers don’t want to clean their room.

AVOID  “You”—only use “you” in rare occasions when you want to speak to your audience directly.  “That”—the word “that” is rarely needed. Try to write your sentences without it.

SENTENCE TYPES  Simple I went to the store.  Compound I went to the store, and I bought ice cream.  Complex After I went to the store and bought ice cream, I ate it all!  Compound-Complex After I went to the store and bought ice cream, I ate it all, and I didn’t share any with my kids.

MORE SENTENCE TYPE INFORMATION  For compound sentences, look for FANBOYS—for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so  For complex sentences, look for BA WAWBITS--before, after, when, although, while, because, if, that, since Sometimes “that” is invisible ex. I am surprised you don’t watch Amish Mafia. Dependent in the front, dependent in the back, in the front use a comma, in the back that’s whack. (Thank you Mrs. Kayser!)

SENTENCE ERRORS  Comma Splice A comma splice happens when you have two complete sentences, and you join them with just a comma. To fix a comma splice, put a period, a semi-colon, or use a comma + a FANBOYS word to create a compound sentence.  Run-on A run-on is when you smoosh together two sentences with no punctuation. This is also called a fused sentence. A comma splice is actually a type of run- on as well.  Fragment A fragment is when you don’t have a complete sentence. This is sometimes acceptable if you are trying to stylistically make a point, but it should usually be avoided.

APOSTROPHES    Singular possessive=add ‘s every time. Plural possessive=add ‘ only if the plural ends in s. Add ‘s if the plural doesn’t end in s. For example: Leaf, leaves, leaves’ Party, parties, parties’ Deer, deer, deer’s Woman, women, women’s Person, people, people’s

TENSE SHIFTS Let’s solve the problems: The gravel crunched and spattered beneath the wheels of the bus as it swung into the station. Outside the window, shadowy figures peered at the bus through the darkness. Somewhere in the crowd, two, maybe three, people were waiting for me: a woman, her son, and possibly her husband. I could not prevent my imagination from churning out a picture of them, the town, and the place I will soon call home. Hesitating a moment, I rise from my seat, these images flashing through my mind.