1. In Class Essay Guidelines
English B50
In Class Essay Guidelines

2. Hints to Remember
You’ll always be asked to take a position on an issue and support it using the article as evidence. As such, pay special attention to the boxed question at the close of each article, and make sure you provide a clear, focused answer to it in your thesis statement.

3. Introductory Paragraph
Your introductory paragraph should include three components: an opening hook, or attention grabber for your reader; an introduction of the issue and the article you will be referencing; and your thesis statement. Remember the acronym HIT (Hook, Info., Thesis)

4. Body Paragraph
Each body paragraph should contain a distinct reason in support of your thesis statement. This reason will be the topic sentence for the body paragraph. Don’t list multiple reasons in one paragraph, and don’t repeat reasons in separate paragraphs.
Each body paragraph should be well developed and contain at least one quote from the article (evidence). Each quote should be prefaced by a signal phrase (According to Jones,) and properly cited (para. 5).

5. Conclusion
In your conclusion, re-state your thesis in new words and summarize your main points. Make sure you emphasize the importance of the issue and your stance on it. Answer the “so what” question.

6. Revising and Editing
Revise and edit your papers carefully. Yes, these will be first-draft writing, but you should still take the time to proofread to correct as many errors as possible.

7. What NOT to do
Get off topic—answer the question! If you think you may be off topic, ask yourself, “Does my thesis statement answer the question asked of me? Does the information I am providing support my thesis statement?” If you answer “no” to either of these questions, you are off topic.
Plagiarize by taking sections from the article without giving proper credit. Make sure to use quotation marks around all direct words from the article.
Ignore the article altogether. Make sure you introduce it in your intro and quote from it in your body paragraphs.
Cut it short. Make sure your argument is well developed and convincing—it must be at least 400 words in order to pass.