Tips on Writing Essays

1. Tips on Writing Essays

2. Assume that your readers are intelligent people who have read the text in question. • Your job is to explain the TOPIC so that they understand. • You do this by presenting facts and drawing conclusions. Approach

3. Read and re-read the text with your essay topic in mind. • Make notes as you go. Write down as much as you can. You may find use for it later. • When you have finished reading, go through your notes and organize. • Select the examples that best relate to the topic. Preparation

4. Start with a brief introduction that attracts your reader’s attention, presents the topic and outlines your basic approach to it. • The Body is where you develop your ideas using examples. • Your essay needs to be minimum description and maximum analysis. Avoid plot summary • When using your quotes, you must relate them to the topic, don’t expect the reader to do it for you. Writing

5. Link paragraphs together using transition sentences. • In good essays, thought flows from evenly from unit to unit. • The paragraphs build on each other, strengthening your argument with each new point. • Be sure that you remind the reader of how each paragraph relates to the topic. Writing

6. You can either write your examples in the order which they happened (chronologically) or another logical order. (possibly ending with the strongest example) • Choose a method most appropriate to your topic. • Make your conclusion brief. Writing

7. Give it a title that is both informative and attention grabbing. • Re-read your essay SEVERAL TIMES! • Read it out loud. • When you can’t find anymore changes, get someone else to read it. When finished

8. Do not… • …use “I”, “personally”, “me”. • …begin sentences with “but”, “and”, or “or”. Usually creates a sentence fragment. • …use a passive voice ex. ‘The ball was hit by the boy.’ The verb should follow the subject. ‘The boy hit the ball.’ Dos and Do not dos

9. Do… • Vary the length of your sentences. Don’t always write in short sentences because it will sound monotonous but be careful not make your sentences too complex because grammar becomes tricky. • Write in present tense. “Huck decides he will play a trick on Jim.”

10. Using apostrophe’s incorrectly. #1) Singular possessive nouns always end in ‘s. That is Harold’s jeep. That is Chris’s car. #2) When a plural possessive noun ends in s, just add an apostrophe. The boys’ hamster is a baby. The ladies’ boat will be launched on Tuesday. #3) When a plural noun does not end in s, use ‘s The women’s racquets don’t have strings yet. Try to avoid

11. Indefinite use of pronouns. Instead of continuously saying ‘his’ ‘he’ ‘they’ over and over, use the actual name. • Exclamation marks. • Abbreviations except etc. • Capitalizing things that are not Proper Nouns, Sentence openings and Titles. Try to Avoid

12. Quotations should be short. • Avoid ‘dropping’ quotes. Nature has an important role in Macbeth. “A falcon tow’ring in her pride of place was by a mousing owl haw’k at and kill’d” (Shakespeare 2.4.14-15). Using quotations

13. Quotes should be set up by the sentence. Act 1 Scene 6 describes an air that “nimbly and sweetly recommend itself unto our gentle senses” (Shakespeare 1.6.3-4). Using quotations

14. Multiple sources End each quote with author and page number in (parentheses) Example …Boo Radley” (Lee 78). Followed by the punctuation • Single Source Only the page number is needed. …Boo Radley” (78). Using quotations

15. Your work cited page needs to be set up like this: Author. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, year. Using quotations