1. Essay Writing 101
CHY 4UR
Supplemental

2. Essay Writing
Learning Objective: We will feel confident in our ability to prepare for and write our essays!

3. Minds-On
1) What are the challenges students face in writing an essay?

4. 2) What are the key parts of an essay?

5. Essay Writing 101 U2000 words (no more than 2300 words) C 1500 words
At least 7 sources (the more, the better)
Around 6 paragraphs (this means 4 body paragraphs plus the intro and the conclusion)
Keep your thesis in the front of your mind... You must be proving it with every single sentence
Include at least 3 references per paragraph (direct quotations and/or indirect references)

6. Introduction About 200-250 words
Include a brief introduction to your topic... not too much... Just 2 or 3 sentences
Your thesis, make sure it is really clear. Get a couple of other people to read your intro over and make sure they can identify your thesis
Plan of development: write one sentence about each of your sub-topics.
Conclude with another reference to your thesis

7. Sub-topics
Your first sentence should both introduce your sub-topic and connect it to your thesis. If you need 2 sentences, that’s all right
Don’t worry about a sentence that lists your evidence for the paragraph. A better sentence just informs the reader that you will provide such evidence
Then, provide your proof and an explanation of how it proves your thesis.
You should have between 2 and 4 examples of evidence in each paragraph
Conclude with a sentence that summarizes your paragraph and reconnects to your thesis

8. References
You must reference any specific fact (dates, statistics, etc)
All quotations and indirect quotations
Ideas borrowed from one of your sources
Use Chicago Style for a history essay

9. Using quotes Don’t: Begin or end a paragraph with a quote
Use quotes where your own words would be better
Expect the quotes to prove your thesis all on their own

10. Do:
Use them wisely
Remember to insert the footnote number (endnote) after the closing quotation mark
Introduce and then explain your quotation
Use quotations to prove your point

11. Conclusion This is like your introduction but in reverse
Start by reflecting back on your thesis
Review the sub-theses that you used to prove your thesis
At the end, restate your thesis and try to come up with the significance of your research and the entire essay
About 200 words

12. Remember:
Title page with a catchy title (no pictures or borders please. Let your words impress me.)
Bibliography (alphabetical order by author’s last name)
The last page of your essay
Create your title page and bibliography in a separate file to avoid numbering them
Attach the mark sheet to the back of your essay

13. Write everything in third person
No contractions
No slang
Avoid the thesaurus… be very careful when you substitute words
Keep your thesis in mind with every sentence you write
Get someone to proof read for you… carefully