Ms. Thomas British Literature The Essay Roadmap

Get a plan! Before writing an essay, you need to plan it out. This is called PREWRITING!

What is the topic? You’ve already completed this process, but a couple of topics in Othello are the following: Deceit/Manipulation/Lying Hate/Love Reality vs. Appearance Racism Feminism/ Human Nature Animal/Monster Motif Language

The Thesis Statement First Type- Just a complete sentence that is declarative, debatable, and specific. * Iago is the most deceitful character within the play and ultimately causes his own demise.

The Triple Point Thesis Statement In order to turn my Thesis Statement into a Triple Point Thesis Statement, I must first come up with the 3 points that I will be discussing in my essay. 1. Using love and passion against Roderigo. 2. Turning Othello and Desdemona against each other. 3. By masking the truth so that it became unclear to even himself. I have to now add these points to my thesis statement.

My Triple Point Thesis Statement Iago is the most deceitful character within the play and ultimately causes his own demise by negatively using love and passion against Roderigo, turning Othello and Desdemona against each other, and by masking the truth so that it became unclear to even Iago himself. Next, we will discuss Introductions and Conclusions….

Introductions- First Impressions 1) Hook: Description, illustration, narration or dialogue that pulls the reader into your paper topic. This should be interesting and specific. 2) Transition: Sentence that connects the hook with the thesis. 3) Thesis: Sentence (or two) that summarizes one of the overall main point of the paper. The thesis should answer the prompt question.

Introductions This is an example of a Not-So-Great introduction: In this story, there are many images that can explain how and why Mrs. Carnavon, the heroine of the story, decides to put an end to her bereavement. As far as adjectives are concerned, I think that they can also give us some clues about the changes in her mind. I shall first take ‘adjectives’ into account and then I shall explain the four images that I find the most important. * Personal Pronouns * Nothing Specific * Not Bold/Strong

Introductions This is an example of a BETTER introduction: In The Cold House, after some reflection and a visit to the family summer house, Mrs. Carnavon decides how she should adjust to the death of her son: she should not treat the house as a mausoleum. She reaches this decision after observing several key objects. The imagery, and the particular use of important adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story. Accordingly, after outlining how and why the decision is made, focus on the following image clusters are addressed: heat and cold, images dealing with misunderstanding, and the imagery of framed objects, such as photographs.

Conclusions- Last Impressions Introductions are general to specific and conclusions are specific to general. An example of a Not-So-Good conclusion: As seen, the imagery, and the particular use of important adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story.I was able to show you what the specific clues in the story helped Mrs. Carnavon come to her conclusion. I really enjoyed the book and what it had to offer to me.

Conclusions This is an example of a BETTER conclusion (still not great!): As seen, the imagery, and the particular use of important adjectives, is the key to a full understanding of the story. By focusing on the following images: heat and cold, images dealing with misunderstanding, and the imagery of framed objects, such as photographs, one can see how Mrs. Carnavon reached her conclusion. Without the focus on these specific images, Mrs. Carnavon would never have moved on from her son’s death and the story would be completely different.

Ziploc Bag Exercise Try to piece together the Introduction and Conclusion from the Ziploc bags!

Partner Exercise: Get into groups of 2 and ask your partner to describe where they live without using their address, street signs, or landmarks. GO!

What’s next? Roadmap to Success: Thesis (Address): Topic Sentences (Street Names): Every paragraph should include a topic sentence that identifies the main idea of the paragraph. A topic sentence also states the point the writer wishes to make about that subject. Generally, the topic sentence appears at the beginning of the paragraph. It is often the paragraph’s very first sentence. A paragraph’s topic sentence must be general enough to express the paragraph’s overall subject. But it should be specific enough that the reader can understand the paragraph’s main subject and point.

Roadmap Continued Supporting Details (Landmarks): These supporting details can be found in the primary (Othello) and secondary sources. Non-Specific Details/ Off (Road Signs) These non-specific details don’t always relate to the topic at hand and they are sometimes known as “fluff.”

Now that you have a roadmap to guide you, writing the essay is a SNAP!! Just turn all your points into complete sentences, add some good specific details, sprinkle in a few examples, and you have an ESSAY!