How to write Essays

1. How to write Essays Transitions Words NOT to use Integrating Quotes Thesis Statements Concluding….

2. Transition Sentences • In both academic writing and professional writing, your goal is to convey information clearly and concisely, if not to convert the reader to your way of thinking. • Transitions help you to achieve these goals by establishing logical connections between sentences, paragraphs, and sections of your papers.

3. Transition Sentences • In other words, transitions tell readers what to do with the information you present to them. • Whether single words, quick phrases or full sentences, they function as signs for readers that tell them how to think about, organize, and react to old and new ideas as they read through what you have written.

4. Transition Sentences • Transitions are not just verbal decorations that embellish your paper by making it sound or read better. • They are words with particular meanings that tell the reader to think and react in a particular way to your ideas.

5. You might need to work on transition sentences if…. • Your instructor has written comments like "choppy," "jumpy," "abrupt," "flow," "need signposts," or "how is this related?" on your papers. • Your readers (instructors, friends, or classmates) tell you that they had trouble following your organization or train of thought. • You tend to write the way you think—and your brain often jumps from one idea to another pretty quickly. • You wrote your paper in several discrete "chunks" and then pasted them together. • You are working on a group paper; the draft you are working on was created by pasting pieces of several people's writing together.

6. How transitions work The organization of your written work includes two elements: • (1)the order in which you have chosen to present the different parts of your discussion or argument • (2) the relationships you construct between these parts. Transitions cannot substitute for good organization, but they can make your organization clearer and easier to follow.

7. Take a look at the following example: • El Pais, a Latin American country, has a new democratic government after having been a dictatorship for many years. Assume that you want to argue that El Paisis not as democratic as the conventional view would have us believe. One way to effectively organize your argument would be to present the conventional view and then to provide the reader with your critical response to this view. So, in Paragraph A you would enumerate all the reasons that someone might consider El Pais highly democratic, while in Paragraph B you would refute these points. The transition that would establish the logical connection between these two key elements of your argument would indicate to the reader that the information in paragraph B contradicts the information in paragraph A. As a result, you might organize your argument, including the transition that links paragraph A with paragraph B, in the following manner:

8. Transition Sentences • Paragraph A: points that support the view that El Pais's new government is very democratic. • Transition: Despite the previous arguments, there are many reasons to think that El Pais's new government is not as democratic as typically believed. • Paragraph B: points that contradict the view that El Pais's new government is very democratic.

9. Transition Sentences • In this case, the transition words "Despite the previous arguments," suggest that the reader should not believe paragraph A and instead should consider the writer's reasons for viewing El Pais's democracy as suspect. • Transitions act as the glue that binds the components of your argument or discussion into a unified, coherent, and persuasive whole.

10. Types of Transitions • Transitions between sections—Particularly in longer works, it may be necessary to include transitional paragraphs that summarize for the reader the information just covered and specify the relevance of this information to the discussion in the following section.

11. Types of Transitions • Transitions between paragraphs—If you have done a good job of arranging paragraphs so that the content of one leads logically to the next, the transition will highlight a relationship that already exists by summarizing the previous paragraph and suggesting something of the content of the paragraph that follows. A transition between paragraphs can be a word or two (however, for example, similarly), a phrase, or a sentence. Transitions can be at the end of the first paragraph, at the beginning of the second paragraph, or in both places.

12. Types of Transitions • Transitions within paragraphs—As with transitions between sections and paragraphs, transitions within paragraphs act as cues by helping readers to anticipate what is coming before they read it. Within paragraphs, transitions tend to be single words or short phrases.

13. Similarity • also, in the same way, just as ... so too, likewise, similarly

14. Exception/Contrast • but, however, in spite of, on the one hand ... on the other hand, nevertheless, nonetheless, notwithstanding, in contrast, on the contrary, still, yet

15. Sequence/Order • first, second, third, ... next, then, finally Time after, afterward, at last, before, currently, during, earlier, immediately, later, meanwhile, now, recently, simultaneously, subsequently, then

16. Example and Emphasis • for example, for instance, namely, specifically, to illustrate • even, indeed, in fact, of course, truly

17. Place/Position and Cause and Effect • above, adjacent, below, beyond, here, in front, in back, nearby, there • accordingly, consequently, hence, so, therefore, thus

18. Additional Support or Evidence and Conclusion/Summary • additionally, again, also, and, as well, besides, equally important, further, furthermore, in addition, moreover, then • finally, in a word, in brief, briefly, in conclusion, in the end, in the final analysis, on the whole, thus, to conclude, to summarize, in sum, to sum up, in summary   

19. Words, Words, Words It can sometimes take more time to "save" words from your original sentence than to write a brand new sentence to convey the same meaning or idea. Don’t be too attached to what you’ve already written; if you are willing to start a sentence fresh, you may be able to choose words with greater clarity.

20. Words, Words, Words • Awkward, vague, wordy etc….. Ex. "Having finished with studying, the pizza was quickly eaten." What is wrong with this statement?

21. Words, Words, Words • Correctly: "Having finished with studying, the students quickly ate the pizza."

22. Words, Words, Words • Misused words—the word doesn't actually mean what the writer thinks it does. • Example: Cree Indians were a monotonous culture until French and British settlers arrived.

23. Words, Words, Words • Revision: Cree Indians were a homogenous culture. Words with unwanted connotations or meanings. • Example: I sprayed the ants in their private places.

24. Words, Words, Words • Revision: I sprayed the ants in their hiding places. • Using a pronoun when readers can't tell whom/what it refers to. • Example: My cousin Jake hugged my brother Trey, even though he didn’t like him very much.

25. Words, Words, Words • Revision: My cousin Jake hugged my brother Trey, even though Jake doesn't like Trey very much.

26. Words, Words, Words • I came to the realization that • She is of the opinion that • Concerning the matter of • During the course of • In the event that • In the process of • Regardless of the fact that • Due to the fact that • In all cases • At that point in time • Prior to • I realized that • She thinks that • About • During • If • During, while • Although • Because • Always • Then • Before

27. Cliché's • Agree to disagree • Dead as a doornail • Last but not least • Pushing the envelope • Up in the air Simplified:

28. Words, Words, Words • When writing for your professors, think simplicity. Using simple words does not indicate simple thoughts. In an academic argument paper, what makes the thesis and argument sophisticated are the connections presented in simple, clear language.

29. Words, Words, Words • Keep in mind, though, that simple and clear doesn't necessarily mean casual. Most instructors will not be pleased if your paper looks like an instant message or an email to a friend. It's usually best to avoid slang and colloquialisms. Take a look at this example and ask yourself how a professor would probably respond to it if it were the thesis statement of a paper: "Moulin Rouge really bit because the singing sucked and the costume colors were nasty, KWIM?"

30. Repetition Vs Redundancy • Can be a good thing • Reiterates your point • Clarifies your argument • Creates cohesion between points • Interferes with clarity • Overuse of nouns, adjectives and terms • Does not allow for new ideas to appear

31. Words, Words, Words to NEVER USE in a formal essay • I, my, mine, we, ours, us • Contractions: shouldn’t, couldn’t, won’t etc. • You, your • Gonna - NEVER

32. Words, Words, Words to avoid unless used correctly • And also • Each and every • Due to the fact that • Etc. • Got • Interesting • Irregardless • Literallyvs Literarily • Lots and Lots of

33. How to Check…. • Am I sure what each word I use really means? Am I positive, or should I look it up? • Have I found the best word or just settled for the most obvious, or the easiest, one? • Am I trying too hard to impress my reader? • What’s the easiest way to write this sentence? (Sometimes it helps to answer this question by trying it out loud. How would you say it to someone?)

34. Inserting Quotations • Direct quotation involves quoting word for word one or more sentences from an author or source.When you quote, be sure to introduce your quotation with a signal phrase. A signal phrase is a clause that lets the reader know who the author or source is. In the following examples of direct quotation, note how the signal phrases precede the quotations:

35. Inserting Quotations • According to Karl Menninger, a Freudian psychoanalyst, "the wish to kill, unexpectedly robbed of certain external occasions or objects of unconscious gratification, may be turned back upon the person of the wisher and carried into effect as suicide" (54).(Notice how the phrase "a Freudian psychoanalyst" explains who Menninger is. Phrases that rename their subjects like this must always be enclosed in commas.)

36. Inserting Quotations • Menninger says that "suicide occurs when an individual thus treats himself as an external object, frequently identified with the very object toward which his love and hate, particularly his unconscious wish to kill, had been directed" (55). (The inclusion of the word "that" allows you to omit the comma. If you don't use "that," however, then you would need the comma.)

37. Inserting Quotations • Menninger says,"In Catholic countries there is usually a higher homicide rate, a lower suicide rate; in Protestant countries a higher suicide and lower homicide rate" (61). (The number in parentheses indicates what page the quotation is on. If your source doesn't have page numbers (e.g., a website), then do not invent any page or paragraph numbers here.)

38. Inserting Quotations • Paraphrase, instead of quoting the author word for word, involves putting the original phrasing into your own words. Be careful to substantially reword the original, however. If you leave just several words in a row unchanged, it will be considered plagiarism -- because you're essentially stealing someone else's phrasing.

39. Inserting Quotations • Freudian psychoanalyst Karl Menninger says that people who are deprived of the ability to kill others usually end up turning their murderous anger back upon themselves to commit suicide (54). (Notice how I've totally reworded this from the previous section. The rewording is my own phrasing.)

40. Inserting Quotations • Suicide occurs when an individual redirects his initially outward-directed hatred back upon himself (Menninger 55). (Notice that there is no signal phrase here, so I have identified the author in parentheses following the paraphrase.)

41. Citing Within the Essay • Use quotation marks around the quote ex. “To be or not to be” • Cite author’s last name and page number in parentheses ex. “To be or not to be” (Shakespeare, 31). • Put closing punctuation outside of the brackets. • NEVER put pg or page before the # ex. (pg 31)….NO!!!!

42. Integrating Quotations • NB: when using only one author in an essay, once you have identified the author once, you need only include the pages numbers throughout.

43. Inserting a Long Quote… • When you have a quote more than three lines you need to separate it from the text: Next line Tab 1X Write the quote, cite it, Do not put it into quotation marks

44. Example Example: Napoleon Dynamite was puzzled as to why Pedro wore his hood in such a way. He was informed that Pedro wanted it off for many reasons: Well, when I came home from school my head started to get really hot. So I drank some cold water, but it didn't do nothing. So I laid in the bathtub for a while, but then I realized that it was my hair that was making my head hot. So I went into my kitchen and I shaved it all off. I don't want anyone to see (Smith, 13). It was a dumb answer but it came from Pedro; what else could one expect?.

45. No, No’s!!! • Never end a paragraph with a quote. • Never insert a quote without a beginning introductory phrase or an ending phrase of explanation.

46. What is a Thesis Statement? • A thesis statement makes an argumentative assertion (point) about a topic and states the conclusions you have reached regarding the topic. • Makes a promise to the reader about the purpose, range and direction of your paper. • Is focused and specific enough to be “proven” in your paper (does NOT leave the reader guessing, does NOT take an extra 10 pages…..)

47. What is a Thesis Statement? • Is generally located near the end of the introduction paragraph. • Identifies the relationship between the pieces of evidence that you are using to support your argument.

48. Preparing to Write the Thesis Statement • You need to ask: Why did your teacher as you to do this particular task? Who is your audience? What kind of evidence do you need to support your ideas? What kind of writing style is acceptable? What are the rules of the paper? What is my claim or assertion? What is the evidence that supports this claim? In what order should I present my reasons?

49. Examples of Working Thesis Statements • Topic: Coaches treatment of team players. “You should treat people the same and not do things that favor one group over another”. Ask:

50. Examples of Working Thesis Statements • Revised: “Coaches should treat all team members equally and not favor one player over another”.