Essay WritingHow to make your case

A Good Essay… Gives the reader something to think

about. Provides a single statement (thesis)

that begins a one-sided argument. Proves that the presented thesis is

valid through a series of examples and observations supported by fact. (quotes)

Leaves little to no doubt.

The Difference between an essay and a report

A report is meant to simply inform the reader about a specific subject.

“Death of a Salesman is the story of a New York family in the 1950s.”

An essay creates an argument that demonstrates the informed opinion of the author.

“To Kill a Mockingbird shows how racial prejudice is the result of mob mentality, not individual opinion.”

Writing a good thesis A thesis is the heart of your

argument. It is the point you are trying to make.

A thesis consists of two parts:i) The overall argument:

PROPOSITIONii) The details or reasons that make

the proposition valid: ISSUES

Good Proposition vs. Bad Proposition Make an argument; don’t just state a

fact.“To Kill a Mockingbird is a story that takesplace during a time of racial oppression.”-This is undisputed. Nobody could argue this point.“The most important life lesson that To Killa Mockingbird teaches us is that prejudiceis not inborn, but learned.”

Issues: A matter of OpinionProposition: Women are superior to

Men

Issues: - Women are physically stronger

- Women are emotionally more stable

-Women are more intelligent -Women are socially more

adaptableOPINION + EVIDENCE = VALIDOPNION –EVDIENCE= INVALID

Evidence: Will your argument hold up in court?

Evidence can take many forms…Examples: An incident that demonstrates

the issues.Quotations: Actual lines from the source

Appeals to Authority: An expert opinion

Statistics and Illustrations: Actual data that proves your issue

Prewriting: before you beginClarify all the steps of your argument before

you beginProposition

Issue #1 Issue #2 Issue #3 Issue #4

Evidence (a) Evidence (a) Evidence (a) Evidence (a)

Evidence (b) Evidence (b) Evidence (b) Evidence (b)

Evidence (c) Evidence (c) Evidence (c) Evidence (c)

Evidence (d) Evidence (d) Evidence (d) Evidence (d)

The Thesis ParagraphStep 1: Begin with a sentence which

catches the reader’s interest. This should not be the proposition.

Sometimes what seems new and inventive has really just borrowed from a classic.

The Thesis ParagraphStep 2: In a literary essay, it is

necessary to state the title of the author and the work being discussed

Example: Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

OrDeath of a Salesman by Arthur

Miller

The Thesis ParagraphStep 3: State the proposition in a

single sentence.Example: The film Fight Club contains

many elements borrowed from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.

Do not explain the preposition at this point!

The Thesis ParagraphStep 4: State each issue in a separate

sentence for each.-The lead character of fight club is

forced to live in different sates of reality to cope with life, just like Willy Loman.

-Fight Club, like Death of a Salesman, deals with the fake desires of modern society.

-Fight Club examines the qualities of being a man, a theme quite prevalent in Death of a Salesman.

The Thesis ParagraphStep 5: Conclude the paragraph by

restating the proposition.

Fight Club has based much of its message on the themes raised first by Death of A Salesman

Paragraphs: The body of the essay

Paragraphs of the essay must follow a pattern to maintain unity.

Unity means that there is one idea per paragraph.

One issue =one paragraph

Paragraphs: the body of the essayLong essays (2500-5000 words) – the issues

will be stated in the thesis paragraph and which also subdivides the issue into several component parts. Each component will then have one paragraph explaining it. Then a concluding paragraph will summarize all the component parts of the issue before the author moves on to the next issue.

Thesis = Christmas DinnerIssues = All the different dishes on the table

(turkey, stuffing, gravy etc.)Component of the issue: the recipe of each

dish

Paragraphs: the body of the essayLong Essay:

Issue – stated in the Thesis ParagraphComponents of the issue – Also stated

in the Thesis Paragraph. Each component has a paragraph to explain it.

Concluding paragraph – Each Issue has a paragraph summarizing all components of the issue.

There is also a concluding paragraph summarizing all of the issues at the end of the essay.

Paragraphs: the body of the essayShort Essays (500 -750 words)

Don’t worry about components of the issue (the recipe)

Just focus on the issues themselves (the dishes)

One issue = One paragraphOne concluding paragraph

summarizing all the issues and the proposition.

Each paragraph…Step 1: Start with a transition. State

the issue in a single sentence.

Issue #1: The lead character of fight club is

forced to live in different sates of reality to cope with the hardships of his life, just like Willy Loman.

Each paragraph…Step 2: Explain the issue as necessary.

(This step will not always be necessary)

Tyler creates an alternate personality; Willy lives in the past.

Each Paragraph…Step three: Provide evidence to

support the issue. Either an ‘example’ or a ‘quotation’.

Tyler converses with his alternate personality in a hotel room in an attempt to understand the turn his life has taken.

Each Paragraph…Step 4: Explain how the evidence

supports the issue.Unhappy with his job and his obsession

with material things, Tyler created his alternate self as the embodiment of who he wanted to be.

The lead character of fight club is forced to live in different sates of reality to cope with like, just like Willy Loman.

Each paragraph…Step 5: Repeat steps three and four for

each piece of evidence.Willy Loman turns to the memory of

his dead brother for advice about whether he would be more of a service to his family by killing himself, “Does it take more guts to stand here the rest of my life ringing up zero?”(Miller, 126).

Each paragraph… Step 6: Sum up the issue and refer to

the proposition.

Tyler uses a modern version of Willy’s coping mechanism , showing the parallel between these works.

Citing your work Avoid plagiarism – you must cite all

quotations, summaries and paraphrases that are not common knowledge.

“Quotation marks are used around short, direct quotes from an outside source.”

Quotes 4 lines and longer must be separate from the body and indented 10 spaces from the left.

Quotations within quotations

Use a single quotation mark to enclose a quote within a quote.

According to Paul Eliott, Inuit hunters “chant an ancient magic song to the seal they are after: ‘Beast of the sea! Come and place yourself before me in the early morning!’”

Inserting Quotes 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).

Inserting Quotes 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)

Inserting Quotations Multiple sourcesEnd each quote with author and page

number in (parentheses)

Example …Boo Radley” (Lee 78).

Followed by the punctuation

Inserting Quotations Single SourceOnly the page number is needed.…Boo Radley” (78).

*For multi-source essay you can get away with just the page number if you have already identified where the quote comes from.

Works Cited page

Book:Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. New

York: Penguin, 1967.

Author. Title. Place of publication: Publisher, year.