Analyzing and Interpreting Literature - Basics of Writing Essays

To ensure that you're doing a good job of writing for your audience, what are four important questions to keep in mind?

- What is the reader's position with respect to you? - What is the reader's perspective? Does the reader have a particular role or position that makes him or her biased about the topic you're writing about, for example? - What level of knowledge does the reader have about your topic? - What do you want your reader to take away from what you write?

People write for many reasons. Some want to inform, others want to persuade while others aim to teach or train their audience. If you are concerned about what your readers think about you based on your writing, what does this represent?

A secondary objective of your writing.

What should you do when attempting to persuade your audience through an essay?

Determine the Strengths of Your Argument Anticipate Opposing Arguments Refute Opposing Arguments

Why should you write your intro and concluding paragraphs last when writing an essay?

In a good introduction to any essay, you should forecast for your reader the major points that you'll be making. This is a lot easier to do when you've already made your points. You can simply tick off for the reader in your intro paragraph the major points that you've covered in the body of your essay and in what order you've covered them. Similarly, in your concluding paragraph, you can just sum up the major points that you've made throughout your essay and restate your thesis.

What can you do to avoid running into the problem of finding yourself going down the wrong path with only a few minutes to course-correct before time is called for your essay?

Read and reread the essay prompt to understand what is being asked of you.

What are four basic steps to take when writing an essay under time pressure?

Read and reread the essay prompt; outline your major points before you begin writing your essay; try writing your introductory paragraph and then your concluding paragraph after you've written the middle, body paragraphs of your essay; and be sure to edit your essay.

Why is it wise to consider what level of knowledge the reader has?

So you can know how what terminology to use in your writing?

Why should you be aware of your reader's general perspective on an issue when you write?

So you can make an appeal to that group's interests.

Why should you save time to edit your essay?

To correct spelling, grammar, and sentence structure mistakes;and check if each paragraph serve a clear function that supports the thesis of your essay.

What are three examples of primary objectives, or purposes in writing?

To inform or describe, to persuade, and to entertain

What are five things to consider when editing your essay?

Your purpose is clear Your thesis statement is effective and clear Your main ideas are on point with your thesis There are sufficient details to support your major points Your points are organized well

Your first move should be to figure out what approach you need to take with the question by looking for _____________

key terms

What is an either/or fallacy?

the either/or fallacy presents a false this or that choice to the reader that ignores other reasonable options.

What is a thesis statement?

the sentence (or two) that communicates the main point of your essay.

What are logical fallacies?

Logical fallacies are flaws in reasoning that can throw your argument off track and confuse your reader.

What is 'tone' in writing?

a term used to describe an author's attitude toward his/her subject matter

What questions should you ask yourself when evaluating your essay?

- Do I have a clear thesis that conveys my main point? - Does each body paragraph contain a clear, logical argument? - Have I supported my points with specific facts and examples? - Are my body paragraphs organized in a logical way? -Have I made smooth transitions between paragraphs? - Are my introductory and concluding paragraphs clear and effective? -Have I made grammatical errors?

Where is the thesis statement usually located?

It usually appears in the first paragraph, and it's often the last sentence in the first paragraph.

synthesize

to combine separate materials to form a single product.

What does a five paragraph structure consist of?

an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement, three body paragraphs and a concluding paragraph.

What are overly broad generalizations?

Overly broad generalizations imply that statements apply in much broader contexts than they actually do

What is the last step in revising an essay that allows you to check for grammar and spelling mistakes, missing words, and typos that you might not have caught while making other edits?

Proofreading

What is refutation?

refutation is a fancy word for the act of proving something false.

Why should you focou-se on essay structure?

to understand the fundamental building blocks of good essays.

It's a good idea to understand your weaknesses when it comes to writing because _____

you can build your confidence by improving your skills one at a time.

What should you consider to ensure that you're writing effectively for your audience?

What you want your reader to take away from what you write.

What is an important secondary objective that underlies much of what you will write?

achieving what you want your reader to think about you based on your writing.

What should you do do if you find a paragraph that has gone off track?

consider whether it's so off point that you should delete it altogether or whether you can edit it to redirect its focus so that it's more in line with the main point of your essay.

What are non-sequiturs?

non sequiturs occur when conclusions don't follow logically from the statements that precede them

Why is planning out your major points in a rough outline important in essay writing?

By planning out your major points in a rough outline - and by sticking to that plan - you can help yourself stay on track with what you set out to say in your paper.

Why should you sketch out an outline before writing an essay?

By sketching all of this out in outline form - along with some supporting details - before you write your actual essay, you'll have an organized roadmap for where you want to go so you won't get lost or encounter any unexpected detours along the way. You can be sure when you start writing the actual essay that your ideas are all on-point.

What are some proofreading strategies?

- If working on a computer, use your word processor's spell checker and grammar checker before you proofread. Make sure to review each correction individually, however, as your computer doesn't always have perfect grammar or understand a certain spelling in an unfamiliar context. - Read your essay back to yourself. When you read your essay aloud, the little errors that you might normally glaze over suddenly pop out at you. If you're in a room that should be quiet (like a testing center), just read quietly under your breath so as not to disturb your classmates. - Read your essay backward. If reading aloud isn't your style, try reading your essay from the bottom up, starting with the last sentence of the last paragraph and working your way backward. This way, you take away the context of the sentences and have to look at each individually. - Figure out the types of errors you typically make, and proofread for one error at a time. For instance, if you tend mess up 'their,' 'they're' and 'there' a lot, look for this type of error in your paper first. Or if you have trouble with commas and semicolons, go through your paper and just check these punctuation marks. Make sure your tenses don't shift, that kind of stuff. Correcting for one error at a time makes it easier to not become overwhelmed and will make you a more efficient proofreader. Once you've covered the mistakes that usually trip you up, do a final general proofread for anything you might have missed. - Don't forget to proofread your changes. You may think you're finished with your proofreading, but if you've made any significant revisions - say you read your paper aloud and didn't like a particular section so you changed it - don't forget to proof these changes too. I'd be pretty embarrassed to count the number of times I've revised a piece of writing only to see some error crop up in a section I'd rewritten because I was too lazy to proofread it.

What should you do if you find that you've gone off on a tangent when writing an essay?

Determine the nature of the problem. Have you used the right approach in that paragraph but overloaded it with too many irrelevant details? You can take another look at your earlier one-sentence response to the essay question. If you find that you have sentences - or even a whole paragraph - that doesn't directly support that response, you'll know that you've gone off track. To solve this, edit out any information that's not central to the main point of the paragraph. You may need to add a few more supporting details or examples that actually work to support the main point of your paragraph.

What does non-sequitur mean literally?

It does not follow

Why is it important to know your reader's position with respect to yourself?

Knowing who your reader is in relation to yourself can help you determine how formal your tone should be.

It's important when writing an essay to be sure that you're responding directly to the question that's been asked and that you haven't gone astray. To keep yourself on track, remember to:

Look for key terms in the essay question so that you can be sure to provide an argument if you're asked to argue or provide an analysis if you're asked to analyze and so forth. Develop a one-sentence response to the question that reflects what's being asked before you write your essay so that you can be sure that your full answer is on-point. You can develop this one sentence into your thesis statement. Sketch out an outline of your major points and stick to it as you write. This will keep you from going on any major tangents. If you find that you've strayed off-point, work on editing out irrelevant information or adding points as needed.

What questions do you ask yourself in relation to the persuading of your audience?

What views and opinions do they already hold before they read your essay? Are they open and receptive to your point of view? Or are they more skeptical of your position?

As you review your practice essay in order to evaluate it, you should _____

see if you have supported your points with specific facts and examples.

What kind of detail is essential to support main points?

supporting details

Why should you think about what youwant your reader to take away from what you write?

to fulfill your basic purpose, and achieving what you want your reader to think about you based on your writing.