Essay Writing

Essay Writing

Multiple Choice

An essay is considered an academic text. It sounds

• like everyday conversation

• professionally written

• well thought-out and researched

Punctuation

• Correct punctuation is CRUCIAL for your essay.

• Punctuation means using periods correctly in your sentence.

• Punctuation means using quotation marks correctly around your evidence.

Multiple Choice

Periods go

• at the beginning of a sentence

• at the end of a sentence

• in the middle of a sentence

Multiple Choice

Quotation marks are used to show when you are using someone else's words in your essay. If you don't use quotation marks, that is called

• plagiarism

• copying

• pirating

Essay Format

• An essay is NOT one giant chunk of text. Your essay needs to be broken up into paragraphs.

• A 5 paragraph essay is a great format to follow.

Multiple Choice

In a 5 paragraph essay, the first paragraph should include

• the conclusion

• an introduction

• evidence

Multiple Choice

In your first paragraph, or introduction, you should include:

• evidence

• your counterclaim

• your claim

Multiple Choice

A claim:

• gives specific details about your evidence

• presents the idea you are supporting throughout the essay

• states all the points you'll be making in the essay

Introduction

• the introductory paragraph of your essay DOES NOT include evidence

• it contains a hook to engage your readers

• it also contains your claim, which is a sentence that presents the idea you will be supporting throughout the essay.

• A claim statement is ESSENTIAL to your essay because it is what your entire essay is about.

Multiple Choice

What does an introduction NOT include:

• evidence

• commentary

• a claim statement

Body Paragraphs

• A 5 paragraph essay includes 3 body paragraphs

• Body paragraphs include your commentary on the subject as well as evidence to support your point

• Commentary is what you have to say on the topic. You need to introduce every body paragraph with commentary.

• Follow commentary with evidence. Evidence is text you've taken directly from an outside source to prove the point you are trying to make. Evidence always goes in quotation marks.

• Follow your evidence with another piece of commentary. DO NOT repeat what the evidence says. Use your own words to prove the point, supporting the evidence.

Multiple Select

Commentary is

• commenting on the evidence in your own words

• repeating what the evidence says in your own words

• your own words about the topic at hand

• using your own knowledge to support the evidence

Multiple Select

Evidence is

• text directly from a source to support your point

• what you have to say about the topic at hand

• put in quotation marks

• at the very beginning of a paragraph

• between commentary sentences

Open Ended

Why do you think it's important for your evidence to go in between two pieces of your commentary?

Multiple Choice

In a 5 paragraph essay, the fifth paragraph is for

• the introduction

• proving your point

• the conclusion

Multiple Choice

The purpose of the conclusion is to

• restate your ideas and conclude your essay

• include your last piece of evidence

• make one final point

Spelling

• Spelling words correctly is important for the flow or your essay. When you type an essay into Word or Google docs, you can use spell check to make sure your words are spelled correctly

• Capitalization is incredibly important when writing an essay. You need to capitalize the first letter of each sentence, after the period of your last sentence.

Multiple Choice

What button on a computer keyboard capitalizes a letter?

• control

• alt

• shift

Writing Complete Sentences

• Because an essay is an academic text, it should sound well thought-out and like you've put some time into your writing.

• You need to write WHOLE and COMPLETE sentences that could stand on their own if they needed to.

• A whole and complete sentence is one that you could take out of your essay and put on a separate sheet of paper and it still makes sense by itself.

Your Reader

• Assume your reader knows NOTHING about the topic you are writing about.

• You should write an essay in a way that explains everything! This will come in handy when you are writing commentary.

• Write your essay in a way that makes sense to someone who has never heard of the topic you are writing about.

Multiple Choice

How many paragraphs should your essay include:

• 4

• 5

• 6

Multiple Choice

How do you know if you've written a complete sentence?

• the first letter is capitalized

• it can stand alone without the sentences around it

• all the spelling is correct

• there is a period at the end of the sentence

Multiple Choice

When you are writing an essay, you should assume that your reader:

• has a lot of knowledge on the topic at hand

• knows a little bit about the topic, but you are teaching them more

• has never heard of the topic you are writing about

Open Ended

Why is it important for your essay to sound like it has been planned and well thought-out?