© 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Writing the Essay Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Structure of the Traditional Essay Parts of an essay: Introductory Introductory paragraph Body (supporting) Body (supporting) paragraphs Concluding Concluding paragraph

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Point and Support in an Essay Point and Support in an Essay essay thesis introductory paragraph support paragraphs that follow. In an essay, the thesis appears in the introductory paragraph, and the support appears in the paragraphs that follow.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Introductory Paragraphs should attract interest; attract the reader’s interest; advanceadvance the thesis; and previewpreview the major points that will support the thesis.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Common Methods of Introduction general statement 1: Begin with a general statement of your topic. idea or a situation opposite 2: Start with an idea or a situation that is the opposite of the one you will develop. importance 3: Explain the importance of the topic to your reader. incident or a brief story 4: Use an incident or a brief story. questions 5: Ask one or more questions. quotation 6: Use a quotation.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Body/ Supporting Paragraphs Body/ Supporting Paragraphs should begintopicsentence begin with a topic sentence that states the point to be detailed in that paragraph.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Transitional Sentences Transitional, linking, sentences Transitional, or linking, sentences are used between paragraphs to help tie them smoothly together. Many of the other patrons are even more of a problem than the concession stand. Ex.: Many of the other patrons are even more of a problem than the concession stand. (Concession stand reminds us of the previous supporting paragraph, while Many of the other patrons introduces the point to be developed next.)

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Concluding Paragraphs briefly restate thesis supporting points, briefly restate the thesis and the main supporting points, and present concluding thought subject of the paper. present a concluding thought about the subject of the paper. The End

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Common Methods of Conclusion thought-provoking question. 1: Include a thought-provoking question. prediction recommendation. 2: End with a prediction or recommendation.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Titles Titles Titles brief summaries Titles are brief summaries of what your paper is about. Exs.: How to Complain; Student Zombies Note: You should not underline or put “quotation marks” around the title, but you should CAPITALIZE all but small connecting words.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e The Writing Process: Prewriting Delete add Delete ideas you don’t want in your paper and add new ideas that occur to you. Shuffle Shuffle supporting ideas around to find the best order. Get down as many ideas and details as possible Get down as many ideas and details as possible about your subject.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e The Writing Process: Writing Your First Draft The Writing Process: Writing Your First Draft by hand revision.You can write out your first draft by hand and then type it into the computer for revision. cut, paste copy.If you compose directly onto the screen, however, you can benefit from the computer’s special features: cut, paste and copy.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e The Writing Process: Revising Substituting, adding, deleting, rearranging Substituting, adding, deleting, and rearranging can be done easily on the computer. hard copy revise first in longhand.If you prefer, print out a hard copy of your file and revise first in longhand.

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e Revising Content Make sure you have: an interesting introduction an interesting introduction a solid conclusion a solid conclusion an accurate title an accurate title a clear method of organization a clear method of organization transitions and connecting words transitions and connecting words

Chapter 17 © 2006 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. English Skills, 8e English Skills with Readings, 6e The Writing Process: Editing and Proofreading carefully grammar punctuation spelling Take sufficient time to carefully review your grammar, punctuation, and spelling.