Organizing an Essay

Organizing an Essay

Parts of an Essay

Thesis

The main point summed up in a single sentence.

Poll

What is a Thesis?

• An essays argument

• The introduction of an essay

• The topic of an essay

• The conclusion of an essay

A Thesis

• Is the argument of essay is making

• Sums up the essay

A Good Thesis Statements Will Be

• Specific

• In the introduction

• Revised as you write

Multiple Select

Select all that a good thesis should be or do:

• Be in the introduction

• Be generic

• Hide information from the reader

• Explain exactly what you are going to say

• Once you choose one, you cannot change it

Introductions and Conclusions

Open Ended

What is the purpose of introductions and conclusions?

An Introduction Should

• Hook the reader's interest

• Explain what the essay is about using the thesis

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT true about introductions?

• The thesis statement comes near the end of it

• It explains what the essay is going to be about

• It comes at the end of an essay

• It should hook the reader's interest

A Conclusion Should

• Wrap up the essay in a thought provoking way

• Restate the thesis

Multiple Choice

Which of the following is NOT true about conclusions?

• They come at the end of an essay

• They should be boring

• It wraps up the essay

• It restates the thesis

Compare and Contrast

Open Ended

What does it mean to compare and contrast something?

Compare means to show how things are similar

Contrast means to show how things are different

Reason to compare and contrast

• To Explain

• To Evaluate

To Explain

You might use compare and contrast to explain which type of vehicle is used for off-road travel while another is used for cross-country travel.

To Evaluate

When you are evaluating, you are judging the items you are comparing and contrasting.

For example, you might compare and contrast different sports to find out which is the best to watch on TV.

Types of Organization

When you compare and contrast two items, you need to make sure you stay balanced.

Keeping Things Balanced

"As you begin to organize your writing, it's important to make sure that you balance the information about the items that you're comparing and contrasting. 

You need to be sure that you give them equal time in what you write.

If you cover character, setting, and historical accuracy for the book, for instance, you need to be sure that you cover the same elements for the movie." (rwt)

Multiple Choice

Why is it important to keep things balanced?

• It helps show which item is your favorite

• It give each item the same space in the essay

Different Strategies

There are two different strategies that we will talk about

Whole-to-Whole

"In this structure, you say everything about one item then everything about the other. 

For instance, say everything about the characters, setting, and plot for the book then everything about the characters, setting, and plot for the movie." (rwt)

Whole-to-Whole

In the conclusion, you would then explain why the similarities and difference are important.

Maybe the changes to the plot of the book for the movie differ so much that it basically is a different story.

Why choose Whole-to-Whole?

Whole-to-whole works best when you are trying to explain the differences between two items

Multiple Choice

What is a reason that someone would choose Whole-to-Whole?

• To evaluate

• To explain

Similarities-to-Differences

"In this structure, you explain all the similarities about the items being compared and then you explain all the differences. 

For instance, you might explain that the characters and plot were similar in both the book and movie in the one section. 

In the next section, you could explain that the settings were different." (rwt)

Similarities-to-Differences

In the conclusion you would then explain why the similarities and difference are important.

Why choose similarities-to-differences?

Similarities-to-differences allows you to evaluate two items. It is normally in the differences that you see why one item is better than the other.

Multiple Choice

Why might someone choose similarities-to-differences?

• To explain

• To evaluate

Open Ended

What is one thing you learned from this lesson?

Open Ended

What is something you are confused about?