1. The Elements of an Essay

2. The Introduction Interest catcher/Hook
Avoid:
Questions (avoid these throughout your essay)
Quotations
Definitions (your ideas are key)
“Imagine,” “Think”
Important introductory information
Thesis statement

3. Important introductory information
The titles, authors, and genres
Underline or italicize the titles of longer works; shorter works go in quotation marks
Do not call anything a book or a story!
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (a science fiction novel)
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson (a novel)
“MTV’s ‘Teen Mom’ Makes for Teaching Moments” by Karen Grigsby Bates (an article)
Any other important background information your reader will need to know in order to understand your point
Pretend your reader is not 100% familiar with your topic

4. The thesis statement What does it do? Where does it go?
The thesis statement is one sentence that states what you are going to prove in your essay.
It sums up your entire argument – before you begin to argue.
The thesis statement is the last sentence in your introduction – your first paragraph.

5. The three-point thesis
A three-point thesis makes three points: You will discuss each point in its own paragraph.
Since you are making a statement about the relationship between media and society in your thesis, your three points can be your three examples.

6. Body Paragraphs
Topic sentence: States what you are going to prove in that paragraph and refers to a thesis point
Elaborate: How does your topic sentence support your overall position?
Specific evidence: Give a quotation that supports your point.
Interpret: What does this quotation mean? How does it support your point?
Conclude: Sum it all up and reference your thesis point.

7. Working with quotations
Lead ins
When you use a quotation, you must start off the sentence with your words and lead into your quotation – don’t just drop in your quotation after a sentence
Oedipus is clearly oblivious to the truth because he says, “Loxias said I was foredoomed / To make my mother my wife, and kill my father, / With my own hands shedding his blood. This the reason / Of my long estrangement from Corinth” (Sophocles ).
Odysseus shows his leadership when he “drove them, all three wailing, to the ships, / tied them down under their rowing benches” (Homer ).

8. More Punctuation
If the text you quote ends in a period, place that period after your citation. Do not put it inside your quotation marks.
Only include ending punctuation in your quotation if it is a question mark (?) or an exclamation point (!)
“You are all grammar gurus” (Krug 3).
“This class is great!” (Vilardi 4).
“OMG, why am I stuck with Ms. Krug again?” (Valente 5).

9. Citations
Citations come after your quotation at the end of the sentence
Citations are necessary because they give the author credit for the words you quote
When you quote a work of prose, use the author’s last name and page number inside the citation.
(Bradbury46).  Period goes after citation

10. The conclusion Restate thesis
Sum up each body paragraph in a sentence or two
Leave your reader with something to ponder

11. What Else? DOUBLE SPACED!!! Write using third person only
Write using present tense verbs
Proofread for misused words such as: two, to, too; a lot; their, there
Avoid using contractions
Double check for typos and spelling errors
Heading:
Upper left hand corner/double spaced
Your first and last name
Instructor’s name (Ms. Krug, obvi)
Class information: English 2 CP 1A
Date