Writing Tips

1. Writing Tips

2. Topic Theme Thesis • Topic – Naming a Topic = WORD Example: Love, Friendship, Coming-of Age, Identity, Society, Money, Poverty, Participation • What about that topic? = THEME Example: Strong friendships are essential to overcoming teenage obstacles.   • THESIS = the so what? the cause, the because, the what is the result/effect as depicted in a SPECIFIC STORY. Example: In The Perks of Being a Wallflower Stephen Chbosky depicts that teenager need strong friendship to overcome their slew of obstacles or else they might fall into deep depression or even go as far as commit suicide.

3. Small Stuff (Language) • DO NOT write contractions. Write out do not (not don’t); write out it is (not it’s); that is (not that’s) • Commas go inside quotes, “The Road not Taken,” by Robert Frost… • Introduction quotes: DON’T just do this: “The kind of poetry that i needed to teach me the use of my own voice, did not exist in English at all it was only found in the language i speak and the way i expressed it “ But state, T.S. Eliot, or the narrator, or Frost writes “….”

4. (bigger) Small Stuff: Language • Write in Present Tense: Robert Frost uses free verse in his poems. • Writing Consistent tenses: He uses free verse and writes about topics like isolation. (Not he uses verse and wrote about topics) • Written artwork from different times shows (not show) • Modern poetry is (not are) • Transitional Words / Phrases to link paragraphs and sentences. Ex: Being able to not follow any rules, it allows the poet’s uniqueness to shine throughout the poem. The structure of modern poems is nothing  similar to traditional.

5. (small)BIG Stuff: Topic Sentences: • Why are they important? • Think of clothing store appearances or emails. How might they need show a topic? Why is it important? • You need to give the reader an idea of what the paragraph will be about! You might have great evidence but your topic sentences might confuse the reader or throw him/ her off.

6. Topic Sentence • A topic sentence is a sentence that captures the main idea of the body paragraph that will follow. • ** DO NOT keep your reader in the dark!! You want your reader to know what he or she will be reading in that paragraph • LOOK AT YOUR INTRODUCTORY PARAGRAPH AND YOUR THESIS STATEMENT TO DETERMINE THE DIFFERENT TOPIC SENTENCES FOR YOUR DIFFERENT PARAGRAPHS

7. Topic Sentences • LET’S LOOK AT MY THESIS Hence, even though some might argue that modernist poetry is a mere imitation of the past because there are hints of traditional elements…Modern poetry is in fact new, and uniquely unlike the traditional as demonstrated by Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of a Metro,” Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and Emily Dickenson’s “I cannot live with you.” • LETS SAY I WANT TO START WITH THE COUNTERCLAIM.. TURN IT INTO A TOPIC SENT: • BODY 1: Some say that modern poetry has elements used by traditional poets. • What will this paragraph be about? What might it include? • BODY 2: However, it in fact different, new, and something that has not been done before

8. Guided Practice Now go back to your essays: • Fix a topic sentence that needed to be fixed • If all your topic sentences are good, explain why they are good • Do you topic sentences have transitional words? If not, add appropriate ones. • Do your sentences have transitional words? If not add transitions.

9. Sample Topic Sentences The structure of modern poetry is different from traditional poetry. Modern poets usually do not use a rhyme scheme, but rather a beat so that their poetry flows. Modern poets get creative with their structure of the stanzas. Gwendolyn Brooks portrays this clearly in We Real Cool. There is two lines to each of the four stanzas. The sentences of this poem are three words long. This gives the beat of three sharp beats. The diction used makes a very strong tension??. Reading aloud this poem, the reader cannot help to recite it with a choppy tone. Brooks intended this, otherwise she would not have repeated this throughout the entire poem. This proves that modern poetry is completely new from traditional poetry, because traditional poetry has a soothing sound to it when it is being read aloud. The topics that the modern poets wrote about determines whether or not it is modern or traditional as well as the structure of a poem. The topics that are written about in modern poetry are different from traditional poetry. Traditional poets used to talk about nature, love, and passion. Modern poets talk about isolation, questioning of the mind, and uncertainty. Gwendolyn Brooks clearly portrays this in her poem, The Crazy Woman, lines five and six state, “I’ll wait until november/That is the time for me” The speaker is speaking about herself, saying that she is the opposite of what should be going on. She is thinking about herself and reflecting. This proves that modern poetry is completely different from traditional poetry because traditional poetry rarely ever talks about isolation, and reflection. These topics is what describes what the modern poets write about.

10. Sample Topic Sentences Speaking of language, Cummings’ infamous use of deviant morphology, or the morphing of words, is what sends the traditionalists wild. Considered “troublesome,” by those who prefer their poems accustomed, Cummings has a way with morphing words in a way that meld in flawlessly (The Poetic Use of Deviant Morphology). For instance, in both lines 6 and 13 Cummings uses ‘unbe’ and ‘sunly’ both words that should not seem coherent, but do in the context. ….

11. Argumentative Essay • Is a type of essay that asks you to take a STAND on particular issue or idea, usually expressed in the form of a quotation. You can either: • Prove Idea wrong = Refute • Prove idea right = Support • Good News: • You can express yourself! Show off your knowledge / way of thinking! • There is no correct answer. As long as you can prove it!!

12. CLAIM • Claim: The main idea or thesis of your argument. It includes: • Support/Evidence: The information that backs up your claim • Warrant: The Big idea that connects your support to your claim • An example: Standing in line and getting cut off by someone else.. • Claim: What? – Go to the back of the line • Support/Evidence: Why? – Because I was here first. I was waiting for 2 hrs • Warrant: So what? – First come, first served (Because I was here first, I should be served first, and you should go to the back of the line)

13. Counterclaim: Why is it important? Counterclaim: Against your argument / claim. Writers need to get into the reader's mind in order to be most persuasive. Strong writers address the counterargument in order to prove that their argument is more valid (true/correct) by DEBUNKING the opposite argument.

14. NTRODUCTORY PARARAPH: SHOULD INCLUDE: ( a) and b) can be reversed) • a) THE “HOOK” OR SIGNIFICANCE WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT? WHY SHOULD PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THIS TOPIC? • 

b) REASON OR BACKGROUND WHAT IS GOING ON IN THIS DEBATE? WHAT ARE THE TWO SIDES OF THE ARGUMENT: • 
c) OPTIONAL: CONSEQUENCE: WHY SHOULD PEOPLE TAKE YOUR SIDE? WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF THEY DON’T? • d) THESIS = CLAIM + COUTNERCLAIM

15. Sample Intro Paragraph (SIGNIFICANCE… WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?) Humans struggle to be different. Regardless of the time and place one is born into, he or she is trying to find a voice or a unique path. Yet, this search is more difficult than it seems. Our history and our past is always behind us – it is like a shadow that we cannot get rid of, a shadow that is always there no matter how many steps forward we attempt to take. It is difficult to break from the past, and REASON: BACKGROUND = SIDE 1 & 2I) there has thus been much debate about the ability to be original in various fields including music, fashion, and literature. Modern poetry is not an exception. In this literary movement, poets tried to be different from their forefathers. They wanted to “make [poetry] new” and separate from deemed traditional poets such as Walt Whitman and William Shakespeare. Still, even one of the movement’s jump starters, T.S. Eliot, stated that “immature poets imitate, but mature poets steal” acknowledging the relation and inevitability of the past being a part of the present and the future creators (Faber, 10). (SIDE 2)Yet, he is distinguishing between “imitating,” and “stealing.” If a poet is merely imitating then he is simply doing what has been done before; if one is stealing he or she is clever enough to take what was good and then make it his or her own. The modernist poets were, able to do just that and stray from their predecessors by experimentation with theme, style, and voice. (THESIS = COUNTERCLAIM…) Hence, even though some might argue that modernist poetry is a mere imitation of the past because there are hints of traditional elements, they do not fully comprehend the idea of originality. (+CLAIM) Modern poetry is in fact new, and uniquely unlike the traditional as demonstrated by Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of a Metro,” Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and Emily Dickenson’s “I cannot live with you.”

16. Body Paragraphs 1) Should PROVE YOUR THESIS 2) Should further discuss anything you mentioned in your introduction. EACH Body paragraph should include: • Transitional Statement and/or Topic Sentence • EVIDENCE: Direct Quotes from Poems, Research, and own paraphrasing • Concluding /Summative thought

17. Body Paragraph 2 • Step 1: Look back at your thesis: Chbosky, thus, illuminates that in order to feel accepted teenagers might do things that they do not want to do, (= first body) which go against their true nature. (= second body) • Step 2: Create a Topic Sentence about how doing things just to fit in might go against your nature. • Use a transitional word • Step 3: Use a direct quote: Introduce, Cite, Interpret • Step 4: Provide other evidence and conclusing thoughts

18. Transitional Words • Some transitional words to support your claim include: • Additionally, • Furthermore, • Similarly, • Some transitional words to make a counterclaiminclude: • However, • Nevertheless, • On the other hand, • Though, • ** Do not forgot to put the comma about the word**

19. Evidence: Using a Direct Quote • A direct quote is when you copy an author’s words directly from the text and use the exact wording in your essay. A direct quote can be more than one sentence. THESE ARE NOT YOUR WORDS SO PLEASE CITE! • Step 1: Introduce the Quote - Explain its context. When and why it comes up or who is speaking • Step 2: Insert quote • Step 3: Cite Quotes • Step 4: Explain

20. Evidence: Using a Direct Quote • STEP 4: Explain Quote: Put the quote in your own words and/or explain what the quote shows the reader. • Use key words to do so such as: • In other words, …. • In this quote, … • As this quote illustrates, … • For instance,… • Here, the author reveals… (make sure you insert a comma after any transitional phrases.)

21. Showing & Citing Evidence from a Poem • If you are writing an essay on how Langston Hughes is a modern poet. He has “new features / ideas and is something new: • Evidence 1: Less reliance on the use of rhyme (Free verse) WHERE IN THIS POEM IS THIS SHOWN??? • INTRODUCE In the first few lines of “As I Grew Older,” Hughes writes, SHOW: “It was a long time ago. / I have almost forgotten my dream/ But if it was there then, / In front of me, / Bright as a sun” (1-5). EXPLAIN: Here, Hughes does not use rhyme to capture the reader’s attention but free verse to create an image. TIE TO THESIS. • Evidence 2: Punctuation. WHERE?

22. Showing & Citing Evidence from a Poem • If you are writing an essay on Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken,” and talking about how its modern because he talks about isolation. WHERE IN THE POEM IS THIS SHOWN? • INTRODUCE : In “The Road Not Taken” Frost writes, SHOW “And sorry I could not travel both / and be one traveler, long I stood” (3-4). EXPLAIN: This clearly depicts how the speaker feels confined in his own body. INTRODUCE : Later, Frost writes, SHOW “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -- / I took the one less traveled by …” (18-19). EXPLAIN: He uses the em-dash to separate the two “I”s showing how he wishes he had two bodies, further illuminating his isolation.

23. Citing Evidence from a Poem • IN CITE CITATION: • Frost writes, “And sorry I could not travel both / and be one traveler, long I stood” (Frost, lines 3-4). • 1) INTRODUCE QUOTE: Who is speaking, • 2)Put a comma after you introduce the speaker • 3) Use a / to show eve ytime there is a new line in the poem • 4) CITE! Write the author and the lines, (Frost 2-3). • *** If you mention the author in the sentence, you only need to put the line numbers in the citation. • NOTE: TITLE OF POEMS and ARTICLES ARE PUT INTO QUOTATIONS: “The Road Not Taken,” “The Snow Man.”ONLY NOVEL TITLES ARE UNDERLINED

24. Citing Evidence from Research • When citing direct quotes from research: You should write the author’s last name and the beginning of the article title. If the author is not available, just write the article title or the website. • EXAMPLE: The Modernist Period lasted from the 1900-1965 and “was marked by sudden and unexpected breaks with traditional ways of viewing and interacting with the world. Experimentation and individualism became virtues, where in the past they were often heartily discouraged” (“Modernism”).

25. Works Cited Page • At the end of your essay you will dedicate to page to list all of the works you used (poems, research, handouts) • How to cite your poem: • For this essay, just simply write the author, title, date of publication, print. • Example: Frost, Robert. “The Road Not Taken.” 1920. Print • How to cite a website in a bibliography using MLA • The most basic entry for a website consists of the author name(s), page title, website title, sponsoring institution/publisher, date published, medium, and date accessed. • Last Name, First Name. "Page Title." Website title. Sponsoring Institution/Publisher, Publication Date. Medium. Date Accessed.

26. Some citation Websites • Easybib.com • PURDUE OWL: • https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/1/ • Bibme.org

27. Writing a persuasive Conclusion • In your conclusion you should: • 1) Restate your thesis in a slightly different / new way • 2) Briefly summarize the main points / arguments made in the essay. Connect introduction and body paragraphs • 3) Give a sense of completion and give the reader something to think about beyond the essay • Expand it to the world • What do you want your reader to take away from this essay?

28. Conclusion Strategies • The Conclusion is the place where you can really explore your ultimate conclusions of your topic. • What judgments can you make? • How can you make your reader think beyond? • Here are some strategies: • Call to Action: the writer implores the audience to change • Offer a Solution: the writer suggests some possibilities to resolve the problem posed • Make a Prediction: similar to a startling, this could be a warning or a encouragement.

29. Call to Action • Include a final appeal to reinforce your argument. • Clearly and forcefully state your desired action. • Give information needed to take the recommended action. SAMPLE: Daily mandatory homework for high school students serves no real worthwhile purpose to unnecessarily stress out students and teachers alike. Teachers and students are busy, stressed, preoccupied, and quite frankly, strung- out enough as it is without homework. It would be worthwhile to not put this in effect. Not simply because students might not want homework for seven classes every day of the week, but because it would be truly detrimental to everyone actively participating in the public school now in the future.

30. Offer a Solution • Restate the problem • Define and develop the solution. • Focus on the strengths of the solution. • Its more of a recommendation than call to action is • It stresses the solution the problem

31. Offer a Solution: Student Sample • According to high schools with the highest test scores across the country, homework is only necessary when an individual student doesn’t understand a concept, or needs additional practice. Therefore, mandatory homework in every class would be meaningless. Instead, teachers should assign homework on an individual basis. This solution would provide students with needed practice, without needless busywork for students, and endless grading for teachers. When students work on just their own weakness, rather than work assigned to the whole class, they will quickly see improvement and will be more motivated to stay in school.

32. Make a Prediction • Takes the argument a step further than a summary • Keeps the reader thinking after reading your essay • Is based on the main points (arguments), creating joy, hope, gloom, suspense, deeper thinking, revelation, etc. • Draws the reader’s attention to the significance of the argument

33. Make a Prediction: Student Sample • Imagine an empty classroom. As students trickle in, without a word, they immediately take out a piece of paper and a pencil to start writing down today’s homework assignment. The teacher walks to the front of the class to admire her focused students as they work silently. Ring! Class is in session. We can make this longed-for dream a reality. Our school’s motto has always been “Be the Best You Can Be” and if the required homework proposal is implemented, we really would be.