Parts of an Essay

1. Parts of an Essay • Introduction • Explanation of Issue/Problem • Background Information • Thesis Statement • Supporting Points (at least three reasons why you’re right) • Topic Sentences • Transitions (Metadiscourse) • Explanation of point • Counterargument • Outside source support • Conclusion (End your essay) • Final summary • Last words to reader • MLA • Internal Citations • Work Cited Page This is your essay check list.

2. Page Format • MLA Format Requires: Green – not relevant to RaiderWriter • 12 point font (Times New Roman or similar) • Double Spaced (entire paper – no extra spacing around titles) • 1 inch margins all around • Heading with Your Name, Instructor’s Name, Course, Date • Header with last name and page number in upper right hand corner 0.5” from the top edge of the paper • Title – centered (no separate title page) • Internal/Intext Citations to cite sources (No you cannot use footnotes) • Example. (Rowling 49) • Work Cited page You are required to use MLA format for your essays in this course. No, APA or Chicago or whatever will not do. You MUST use MLA. First step is to format your page according to MLA standards. See the Chapter 16 of your handbook.

3. Audience • What does it effect? • EVERYTHING • But pay special attention to: • Tone – Formal or Informal or In between • Word Choice – Is slang appropriate or not? • Supporting Points – Some ideas may prove more convincing to different groups of people. • Example: • If I was writing a paper on a need to change dorm quiet hours, I would take a much more informal tone if my audience were other students (trying to rally more to my cause), than if my audience where administration (trying to get my case heard). • For Draft 1.1 consider your purpose and audience in writing such an essay.

4. Thesis • What is a Thesis? • Operates as a cue to the reader by letting the reader know what is the most important idea of the paper. • It is the whole point of your paper! The thesis is what you are trying to prove. • Provides a map of where the paper is going. • Example Rhetorical Analysis Thesis: • Although Sven Birkerts provides interesting information on the potential outcomes of changing technology with regards to access and absorption of information, his article “Into the Electronic Millennium” paints a bleak future for the exchange of information through his pervading negative word choice, focus on adverse results, and admissions to apprehension.

5. Forecasting • Thesis statements can include a forecast, an overview or listing, of the supporting points that will backup and prove your thesis. If you have trouble with organizing your paper, this may be a useful tool for you. Simply follow your own map and go through the points you list. • Examples: • Typically, animated Disney sequels suck due to low production budget, shoddy scripts, and failure to lure back original cast. • In this example, my argument is “Disney sequels suck,” so my whole paper would be out to defend that one idea. The rest of my paper is then set in the list of points: budget, scripts, and cast. I would give each of those ideas a section (at least a paragraph) and discuss how these things mean that the sequels suck; thus proving my main idea or thesis. • In these days when the threat of plague has been replaced by the threat of mass human extermination by even more rapid means, there has been a sharp renewal of interest in the history of the fourteenth-century calamity. With new perspective, students are investigating its manifold effects: demographic, economic, psychological, moral and religious (Langer). • Notice here that the thesis statement is actually two sentences. One sentence to state the argument and a second to forecast the points. So yes, it is possible to have a thesis that is more than one sentence, but note that the main argument is expressed as one sentence.

6. Strong Thesis Statement • Takes a stand – Have a clear argument that is taking a side on a debatable issue. This most common mistake I see with argumentation are thesis statements like: “The pros and cons of something are...” If you are just listing the p&c’s then you are only reporting on an issue, NOT arguing for something. So yes, you MUST make a choice. In a rhetorical analysis, you are proving your analysis of the article. • Justifies discussion – Your argument MUST be a legit argument. Must be able to provide evidence. • Expresses one main idea – Your paper should be trying to prove ONE main idea. When you come up with a topic and argumentative thesis – make sure that you are not trying to write about multiple issues. • Is specific – Make it clear what you are arguing for (your side) but also what you are arguing about. If there are names, give them. For example, your first essay is on the story “Farewell to the Master.” You cannot argue on the subject, if your audience doesn’t even know the subject, so name it in the thesis statement. • Example – In Harry Bates’s “Farewell to the Master,” the character Gnut could be considered alive because [insert forecast of points]. • This tells a reader the subject (title and author) and the argument (life).

7. Which Thesis is Best?? There are some negative and positive aspects to the Banana Herb Tea Supplement. Because Banana Herb Tea Supplement promotes rapid weight loss that results in the loss of muscle and lean body mass, it poses a potential danger to customers. Banana Herb Tea has negative qualities. Customers should be warned about our product because it promotes rapid weight loss. Click on Audio Icon and Play For Answer

8. Introductions Strategies for Starting: Not sure how to get that first sentence on the paper. Here are a few ways to get over the “blank page blues”. Start with a quote: Epigraph – phrase or quotation set at the beginning of an essay which may serve as a preface, summary, counterpoint, or tone setter. Start with a question: Your thesis statement is often the answer to a question, so why not give the question that started the discussion. Story or anecdote: This could be a place to bring in the personal “I” Note: The personal “I” believe statements would NOT be useful in your supporting points, because the whole idea of analysis, is that you have more to go on than just your opinion. Your argument is more that “I say I’m right, so there.” Start with interesting or provoking facts: Shocking statistics would be one example. Something that can get your reader’s attention.

9. Introductions • What to Avoid: • The Place Holder Introduction where you don’t say anything about your intended argument. Usually using lots of vague language. • Example: “Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for enslaved people. The human characters in “Farewell to the Master” mistook Gnut as the servant because of behavior.” • The Beginning of Time Introduction where you give a historical account that has nothing to do with what you are arguing. • Example: “Since the beginning of time man has celebrated Christmas.” Multiple reasons why this is wrong. Bravo if you spot them. • The Dictionary Introduction where you begin with the COMMON info everyone already knows • Example: The dictionary defines {insert favorite four letter word here} as… • In your papers, you should define uncommon or field specific terms.

10. Introductions • What goes in an Introduction: • In addition to getting that first line or two written, it’s important to know what other information should be found in your introduction section. Notice I say section, not paragraph. Your introduction could be multiple paragraphs. Things to put in intro: • Explanation of Issue/Problem • Define your topic for your reader. Give specific details. Make sure everyone is on the same page with what is being discussed. • Background Information • This is anything that the reader needs to know in order to understand your topic and argument that isn’t a supporting point. • Thesis Statement • Before you get to the supporting points, ie, the meat of the paper, you need to state what you are trying to prove. The thesis should NOT be the first line of the paper. First, you need to at least explain the issue/problem, so the thesis will make sense. • For a rhetorical analysis, your subject is the article you are analyzing and your argument is that analysis.

11. Conclusions Strategies for Ending: As the intro is the beginning the conclusion is the ending. So it’s time to exit the paper, and here are a few ideas you can use if you are stumped on what to do with the final paragraph. The “So What” Game: Reader thinks: “So what should I take from this essay? Why is this important?” Use the conclusion as a space to explain why this is an important issue. Full Circle: Return to themes of introduction. If you started with a personal story, for example, end with it. The conclusion is another good place where your opinion can go into a paper. Propose a course of action: What do you want your readers to do with the discussion you’ve given? Make one last emotional or logical appeal to your audience. Provocative insight or quote: “I am turned into a sort of machine for observing facts and grinding out conclusions.” (Charles Darwin) Much like you can start with an interesting quote, so can you end with one. Perhaps there is a quote that really speaks to the argument you just made.

12. Conclusions What to Avoid: Sherlock Holmes Giving thesis at the end. You paper is NOT a mystery novel. Your thesis goes at the beginning of the paper, that way your reader knows what you are arguing throughout. Your supporting points make no sense, if your audience has no idea what they are supporting. You can, however, sum up at the end if you like. Th-th-thThat’s All Folks Short conclusion often with just a restating of the thesis. Your conclusion needs to be than a sentence restating the thesis or a reworded intro. Use this space effectively. Grab Bag Extra info that either has nothing to do with the argument or presents new points that should have been discussed in the body.

13. Supporting Points • Supporting Points: The reasons why you are correct. The proof to support your thesis. Remember, you entire paper is about supporting that ONE thesis statement. • Note: There really isn’t a set number of how many points you should have or how many paragraphs a paper should be (no really, the five paragraph rule is a lie made up by high school teachers in order to teach a billion children what an essay is). BUT for our purposes, and because I KNOW you like to have a number, you should have at least 2 or 3 points to support your thesis, and in this case your analysis. If you can come up with 3, then odds are you have a good argument to make. • A supporting point should have the following: A supporting point might be one paragraph or it could be multiple paragraphs, depending on the amount of info you need to cover. • Topic Sentences • Transitions (Metadiscourse) • Explanation of point & Examples

14. Supporting Points Paragraphs: Just like there REALLY is no rule on how many paragraphs an essay must have, there is REALLY NO rule as to how many sentences make up a paragraph. Again, if your high school teacher said “you must have 3 sentences” like mine did, she was simply using that as a tool in order to get you to write something. But if you think about it, you see paragraphs come in all lengths: from one word to entire pages – particularly if you think about dialogue in a fiction story. So how do you know how long a paragraph is? Each paragraph should be about one idea. So since each supporting point would be a different idea (a different reason for why your thesis is correct), then each would get its own paragraph. If your supporting point has multiple parts to it (like multiple examples) and is running long, you could go further and break that point into multiple paragraphs to discuss each example, but that would be up to you.

15. Supporting Points • Supporting Point Breakdown (aka the outline): • Each supporting point should do the following in one or more paragraphs: • Topic Sentence (State the point you are discussing, ie, the purpose of this paragraph) • Explain the Point – Why is this important? How is this going to prove your point? • Example/Proof/Outside Support – For analysis, you need to do more than just state the point, you have to prove it. So you will want outside material to help you. In the case of analyzing and article, you will want to bring in examples from the text of the article to show what you are talking about. • Explain your example/proof – Tell your reader how the example you brought in is showing your point. Tie the example back to the point you are making. Don’t assume your reader is going to make the connection that you did, so point it out. Explain your thinking. This is called showing your critical thinking skills, aka, how you got your idea in the first place.

16. Supporting Points • Topic Sentences: Let’s look more closely at what these are. • Topic Sentences will be the FIRST or SECOND sentence of your paragraphs. • Topic Sentences organize the paragraph and define what the paragraph is about. Remember each paragraph is about one idea (not matter how long or short). Topic Sentences should: • Relate to the thesis (how is this paragraph going to support the main idea) • Define the purpose of the paragraph • It’s like a tiny thesis statement! • Example: Using the Disney sequel thesis argument from earlier, here is what the first sentence of a supporting point for that could look like: • Money often determines the scope of a movie; therefore, the low budgets of Disney sequels are resulting in lower quality films. • In this example, I’ve stated that the paragraph that would follow this sentence will be about the money issue, and that is all I would discuss in this paragraph. I would research the budgets of various Disney films and use them as examples. The red portion of this statement is relating this back to that thesis statement, so that if this point is coming 5 pages into the paper, my readers have a reminder of what is being discussed.

17. Transitions Transitions – Move the reader from one idea to another smoothly. In between your paragraphs you should also work on using transitional phrases so that your paper flows smoothly and readers do not get jarred when moving between parts of the essay. They also work to show how parts of the essay are connected. Looking at connecting language can also be a clue to the structure of the article you are analyzing. Think of transitions as signals to the reader that the essay is going to move in some way. For example: using the topic sentence from before, I can add a transition to the beginning of it. If the supporting point “shoddy scripts” came before in the previous paragraph, I might say: In addition to shoddy scripts, money often determines the scope of a movie; therefore, the low budgets of Disney sequels are resulting in lower quality films. The green phrase, is a transitional phrase that moves from one point to the next and shows that the two are connected. In this case both ideas (both paragraphs) are working to prove the thesis statement.

18. Quoting/Paraphrasing Examples/Proof/Outside Support When it comes to using outside support, you MUST remember that the material belongs to other people. You MUST make it clear when you are using other people’s ideas and differentiate between them and your own thoughts. In this course we will discuss proper use of MLA guidelines for creating Intext Citations and a corresponding Work Cited Page. MLA intext citations and a Work Cited page will be required on Draft 1.1. Note: RaiderWriter doesn’t allow for separate pages, so just skip space between your essay or assignment and then start your Works Cited page. In a regular document, this would be its own page. Please make sure you read the MLA guidelines in the St. Martin’s ehandbook. This will cover citation format as well as proper quotation and paraphrasing.

19. Quoting/Paraphrasing Examples/Proof/Outside Support Quote: Using source info directly, word for word, from the source. If you read the St. Martin’s, then you know that quotes go in quote marks “...” to mark where the quoted material starts and stops. There are format rules for both short quotes (can just go in the line as is) and long quotes (over 5 lines – needs to be formatted as a block). Paraphrase: Putting that source into your own words. You might also call this summarizing the source info if you are summing up a lot of material rather than just putting a sentence into your own words. Either way it’s the source’s idea in your own words. But again, it’s still not your ORIGINAL idea. You cannot have more than four words the same as the original. Generally, I use quotation the most. I’d rather go ahead and present the info as the source did. I use paraphrasing when I’m trying to present the idea from the source but in less space than the source did – again that summarizing. But this is personal preference. Both Quotes and Paraphrases will be followed by an internal citation to show where the source material came from. Keep that in mind.

20. Quoting/Paraphrasing Examples/Proof/Outside Support Example: Source Material from “Farewell to the Master”. If I’m quoting from the story I will put the info in quotes: “The police pulled the slayer of Klaatu out of the tree. They found him mentally unbalanced; he kept crying that the devil had come to kill everyone on Earth” (Bates 1). If I’m paraphrasing the same info, I will not use quotes but put it in my own words: The man who killed Klaatu was mentally disturbed (Bates 1). Direct, word for word, must be in quote marks: “...”

21. Quoting/Paraphrasing Examples/Proof/Outside Support Source Introduction: The next part of integrating your sources/outside material into your paragraphs is going to be a source intro (another type of transition). These phrases will signal to the reader 1. that you are shifting from your thoughts to someone else’s and 2. where the info is going to come from. To introduce the source, either use the author’s name or the title to identify the source. If I’m quoting: As Harry Bates writes it: “the police pulled the slayer of Klaatu out of the tree. They found him mentally unbalanced; he kept crying that the devil had come to kill everyone on Earth” (Bates 1). If I’m paraphrasing the same info, I will not use quotes but put it in my own words: According to “Farewell to the Master” the man who killed Klaatu was mentally disturbed (Bates 1). Direct, word for word, must be in quote marks: “...”