essay writing handouts
TRANSCRIPT
Yourworkscite
dshou
ldapp
earo
naseparatepageatth
een
dofyou
ressay.Centerthe
wordsW
orksCite
datth
etopofth
epage.Entriesa
realphabe
;zed
bythefirstwordinth
ecita;o
n.Sou
rcesarecite
dusing
thesecoreelementsand
shou
ldbeinth
isorde
rfollowed
bythepu
nctua;
onm
arkssh
ownhe
re:
1.
Author.
2.
Title
ofsou
rce.
3.
Title
ofcon
tainer,
4.
Othercon
tributors,
5.
Version,
Read
below
tolearnmoreinform
a?on
abo
uteachofth
ecoreelemen
ts:
1.Autho
r:Be
ginwith
theauthor’slastnam
e,fo
llowed
byacommaandtherestofthe
nam
e.
2.Titleofso
urce:Bo
oks/web
sitessh
ouldbeinitalics.Ar;cles/sho
rtpoe
msa
reinquo
ta;o
nmarks.
3.Titleofcon
tainer:The
con
taineristh
elargerwho
leinwhichth
esourceislocated.Forexample,if
you
areci;ngapoe
minacollec;on
ofp
oems,th
eindividu
alpoe
misth
esource,w
hileth
e
collec;on
isth
econtaine
r(TV
serie
s,web
site;tle,collec;on
;tle
etc).
4.Othercon
tributors:Con
siderothercon
tributorstothesourcewho
shou
ldbecred
ited(editedby,
illustratedby,translatedby,etc.).Ifth
eircon
tribu;
onsa
rere
levant,include
them
inth
ecita;o
n.
5.Version
:Ifaso
urceislisted
asa
ned
i;on
ofawork,includ
eitinyou
rcita
;on(ex:3rded.).
6.Num
ber:Ifasourceisparto
fase
quen
ce,include
volum
e(vol.)andissue
num
bers(n
o.).
7.Pub
lishe
r:Ifthereismorethanone
pub
lishe
r,andtheyareallrelevantto
you
rresearch,list
the
minyou
rcita
;on,se
paratedbyafo
rwardsla
sh(/).
8.Date:W
henthesourcehasm
orethanone
date,useth
edateth
atism
ostrelevanttoyouruseof
it.Ifyou’reunsureabou
twhichdatetouse,gowith
thedateofthe
source’soriginalpub
lica;
on.
9.Loca?
on:C
ityloca;o
nno
treq
uiredinprin
tcita
;ons.Whe
reapp
ropriate,pagenu
mbe
rsareinclud
ed
byusingthefollowingform
at:p
p.#-#.Ifyou
areci;ngaweb
site,useth
eURLomiU
ngth
e“hWp://.”
You
mayadd
thedateyou
accessedtheinform
a;on
atthe
end
ofthe
cita
;on,butitisnotre
quire
d.
Wor
ks C
ited
Page
Info
rmat
ion
MLA
FORM
ATTI
NG
A St
uden
t’s G
uide
To
CITATIONEXA
MPLES
(Dou
ble-SpaceEn
tries)
Book
with
one
autho
rGleick,Jam
es.Cha
os:M
akingaNew
Science.Pen
guin,1987.
Book
with
twoau
thors
Gillespie,Paula,and
NealLerne
r.TheAllynan
dBa
conGu
idetoPeerTutoring.AllynandBa
con,2000.
Book
with
threeorm
oreau
thors
Wysocki,A
nneFrances,eta
l.Wri>
ngNew
Media:Theoryan
dAp
plica>
onsforExpan
ding
theTeaching
ofCom
posi>
on.U
tahStateUP,2004.
Ar?cleinam
agazine/ne
wspap
er
Poniew
ozik,Jam
es."TV
MakesaTo
o-CloseCall."T
ime,20Nov.200
0,pp.70-71
.Ar?cleinasc
holarly
journa
lDu
vall,Jo
hnN."The(Sup
er)M
arketplaceofImages:Television
asU
nmed
iatedMed
ia;o
ninDeLillo’s
W
hiteNoise."Arizon
aQua
rterly,vol.50,no.3,1994,pp.127-53.
Anen?
reweb
site
Upw
orthy.Cloud
TigerM
edia,M
ar.2012,www.upw
orthy.com.A
ccessed10M
ay2016.
Anar?cle/pa
geonaweb
site
Lund
man,Susan."Ho
wto
MakeVe
getaria
nCh
ili."eHo
w,w
ww.eho
w.com
/how
_10727_m
ake-
vegetarian-chili.htm
l.Accessed
6Ju
ly2015.
Onlinear?cleinasc
holarly
journa
lDo
lby,Nadine.“Re
searchinYou
thCultureand
Policy:CurrentCon
di;o
nsand
FutureDirec;on
s.”
SocialW
orkan
dSociety:TheInterna>
onalOnline-OnlyJourna
l,vol.6,no.2,200
8,
www.socwork.ne
t/sw
s/ar;cle/view/60/362.Accessed20M
ay2009.
AYouTub
evide
o
McG
onigal,Jane.“G
amingandProd
uc;vity.”YouTub
e,uploade
dbyBigThink,3Ju
ly2012,
w
ww.you
tube
.com
/watch?v=m
kdzy9b
WW3E.
Socialm
ediapost
@tombrokaw
."SCdem
onstratedwhyallthede
batesa
reth
een
gine
softhisc
ampaign."T
wiPer,22
Jan.2012,3:06a.m.,tw
iWer.com
/tom
brokaw
/status/160996868971704320.
6.
Num
ber,
7.
Publishe
r,
8.
Publica?
ondate,
9.
Loca?o
n.
© P
rest
o Pl
ans
Your
How
-To
Gui
de T
o Pr
oper
MLA
For
mat
ting
MLA(M
odernLanguageAssocia;o
n)isafo
rmaU
ngstyleused
tocite
essay
sourcesw
ithinth
ehu
mani;esdisc
ipline.Usin
gMLAstyleprovidescon
sistency
ofstyleinagiven
field,establishe
scredibility,andmakesiteasierforre
aders
tound
erstandatext’ssources.
Wha
tisM
LA&
WhyIsItIm
portan
t?
You
ressaysh
ouldbetype
d,dou
blespaced
,12
TimesNew
Rom
anfo
nt.Marginssh
ouldbeseta
t1inchonallsides,and
the
firstline
ofe
achne
wparagraph
shou
ldbeinde
nted
ano
therhalfinch(you
can
doth
isbypressingtab).Yourdocum
entsho
uldhaveaheade
rthatinclude
syourlastnam
eandthepagenum
bersinth
eup
perright-handcorner.U
se
italicsw
henusingthe;tleofalongerwork(novels,playsetc.).
Gen
eralIn
form
a?on
:
Intheup
perlen
-hand
cornerofthe
firstp
age,listyou
rnam
e,th
einstructor’sname,th
ecourse,and
thedate
(dou
blespaced
).Dou
blespaceagainand
centerth
e;tleofyou
ressay.Your;tle
shou
ldnotbebo
lded
,und
erlined
,italicize
d,
orinquo
ta;o
nmarks.
Jane
Sm
ith
Mr.
Jone
s En
glis
h 10
1
Janu
ary
2000
Smith
1
Ham
let’s
Pro
cras
tinat
ion
Will
iam
Sha
kesp
eare
’s m
aste
rpie
ce, H
amle
t, Pr
ince
of D
enm
ark
is a
trag
ic d
ram
a w
hich
revo
lves
ar
ound
the
them
es o
f bet
raya
l, ve
ngea
nce
and
proc
rast
inat
ion.
Thr
ough
cha
ract
eriz
atio
n de
velo
pmen
t, th
e re
ader
is a
ble
to se
e th
at H
amle
t’s
inab
ility
to a
ct p
lays
a si
gnifi
cant
role
in h
is
YourFirstP
age:
Whenyouuseinform
ationfro
manou
tsidesource(q
uoteorp
araphrase),you
mustu
se
aparentheticalcitatio
ntosh
owre
levantso
urceinform
ation.M
LAstyleusesth
eauthor-pagemetho
dwhichmeans
thatth
eauthor’slastnam
eandpagenum
ber(s)m
ustapp
eara
ftertheso
urce,and
afu
llreferencemustb
eprovided
onth
eWorksCite
dpage.Ifyouusethenameofth
eauthorwith
inth
etext,you
dono
tneedtoinclud
eitinth
ein-
textcitatio
n,butth
epagenum
bersmustalwaysb
eplacedinparenthesis.Foraso
urcewith
twoauthors,listb
othof
theauthors’lastnam
esand
pagenu
mber,ifavailable,inth
eparentheticalcitatio
n:Theauthorsclaimth
atsu
rface
readinglooksa
twhatis“evident,perceptib
le,app
rehensibleintexts”(B
estand
Marcus9
).Fortwosourcesb
ythe
sameauthor,iftheautho
r'snam
eisno
tmentio
nedinth
esentence,formatth
ecitatio
nwith
theauthor'sname
followedbyacomma,followedbyashortenedtitleofthework,followed,w
henapprop
riate,bypagenum
bers.Ifthe
author’slastnam
eismentio
nedinth
esentence,thenyouon
lyneedashortenedversionofth
etitleand
thepage
number,ifavailable.Visu
alstud
ies,becauseitissuchanew
discipline,maybe"too
easy"(Elkins,"Visu
alStudies"6
3).
In-TextC
ita?o
ns:
Robe
rtFroststated
that“po
etryiswhatg
etslostintransla
;on”(2
42).
Thisrelatestotheideath
at“po
etryiswhatg
etslostintransla
;on”(Frost242).
Whe
nyouuseanonlinesource,you
shou
ldinclud
einth
etextth
efirstitem
that
appe
arsintheWorksCite
den
trythatcorrespon
dswith
thatcita
;on(autho
rnam
e,
ar;cle;tle
,web
siteetc).Youdo
notneedtogiveanypageorp
aragraph
num
bersin
thetext.Youalsosh
ouldnotinclud
eanyfullURLsw
ithinth
eessay.You
mayuse
par;alURLslikeNY;
mes.com
aso
pposed
tohWp://www.ny;
mes.com
ifnecessary.
Also,for;me-basedmed
ialikevideo,;
mesarenow
cite
dinth
etext.
Anonlinefilmcri;
cstated
thatth
e2013versio
nofRom
eoand
Julietturns“whatsho
uldbe
a
hanky-requ
iredtraged
yintoaheadache-indu
cingtravesty”(Ebe
rt).
W
henyoudirectlyquo
tefrom
othersinyouressay,you
will
form
atth
emdifferen
tlybased
ontheirlen
gth.Below
areso
meofth
ebasic
guidelinesfo
rformaU
ngquo
tes:
Quo
ta?o
ns:
:Ifyou
add
wordsto
aquo
ta;o
n,you
mustu
sesq
uare
bracketsto
indicatewhichwordsareyou
rs.
AddingW
ords:
Somebe
lieveth
at“[Rom
eoand
Juliet]aredevoidofth
einne
rstrugglethat
makesfo
rgreattraged
y”(Smith
320).
Somebe
lieveth
at“theyaredevoidofth
e...struggleth
atm
akesfo
rgreat
traged
y”(Smith
320).
ShortQ
uota?o
ns:Ifyou
rquo
ta;o
nisfewerth
anfo
urtype
dlinesyou
shou
ldencloseth
equ
ota;
onin
quota;
onm
arks.With
regardsto
punctua;
on:p
eriods,com
mas,and
semi-colon
ssho
uldgoane
rthe
parenthe
;calcita
;on.Que
s;on
marksand
exclama;
onpoints
shou
ldapp
earw
ithinth
equ
ota;
on
marksifth
eyareparto
fthe
quo
ted
passage,butane
rthe
cita
;onif
theyareparto
fyou
rtext.
Somebe
lieveth
at“theyaredevoidof
theinne
rstrugglethatm
akesfo
rgreat
traged
y”(Smith
320).
Exam
ple:
LongQuo
ta?o
ns:Ifyou
rquo
ta;o
nismorethanfo
urline
sthe
quo
teis
‘blocked
’.Thism
eansyou
startthe
qu
ota;
ononane
wline
with
the
en;requ
oteinde
nted
halfaninch
from
thelenmargin.Dou
blespacing
iss;llused
,quo
ta;o
nmarksare
omiWed
,and
pun
ctua;o
nappe
ars
with
inth
equ
ota;
on.
Exam
ple:
Hedescribesth
ebrainfunc;o
nasfo
llows:
Abrain-de
adpersonisallegedtobe
deadbecausehisne
ocortex,th
eseat
ofcon
sciousne
ss,hasbeende
stroyed.
Hehasth
uslostth
eabilityto
think
andfeel.(Greenb
erg335)
Ifyou
omitwordsto
aquo
ta;o
n,you
mustu
sean
ellipsis(...)to
indicatewhe
rewordsweretakenou
t.Omic
ngW
ords:
TheDa
ngersO
fNotCi?ngIn
form
a?on
Plag
iaris
m o
ccur
s whe
n yo
u us
e inf
orm
atio
n, q
uote
s, or
idea
s with
out p
rope
rly
ackn
owle
dgin
g w
here
it ca
me f
rom
. PLA
GIA
RISM
IS C
HEA
TIN
G. A
ny ev
iden
ce
of p
lagi
arism
lead
s to
a mar
k of
zero
and
may
invo
lve f
urth
er d
iscip
linar
y ac
tion.
© P
rest
o Pl
ans
OTHER WORDS TO AVOID:Lots, a lot, well, fine, so, fun, great, very, said, got, very, nice, good, just, like, feel, kind of, sort of, for some reason, I think, I feel, personally, I believe, it seems to me, in which, maybe, seems, perhaps, thing, really
ACADEMIC DICTIONARY
Avoid these weak verbs:
It is important to maintain an intellectual voice! It pays to sound like you know what you are talking about. Try using some of these verbs instead when analyzing.
Use a thesaurus while writing! Don’t look up every word to change, but
choose key words that you think need to sound more formal and see if there is a better word choice you can make!
© Presto Plans
When you write formally, you want to try to avoid weak words and expressions. Although you can’t eliminate them all, if you use more formal
words and expressions in their place, your paper will sound much better.
Am, is, are, be, was, were (etc), gets, shows, makes, seems, uses, appears
Alludes Argues Asserts Clarifies
Compares Conveys Contrasts Creates
Expresses
Depicts Describes
Defines Demonstrates
Develops EmphasizesEstablishes
Explores Implements
Introduces Juxtaposes
Portrays Presents Proves Reveals Tackles
Transforms
Words that show the second idea ADD to the previous idea: also furthermore in addition first besides further again
Words that show a TIME or SEQUENCE relationship:
first next finally
Words that introduce an EXAMPLE:
For example for instance
Words that COMPARE ideas: However nevertheless in contrast on the other hand
yet in spite of this in comparison similarly likewise
Words that show EMPHASIS: by all means in fact indeed above all indeed of course
Words that show REASONS: because for this purpose
since for this reason
Words that show CAUSE and EFFECT: Consequently therefore hence thus resulting in as a result
USING TRANSITIONS
© Presto Plans
Transitions bridge the gap between ideas. They may be words or phrases used in the beginning, middle, and/or end of body paragraphs to lead the reader to a new idea and explain connections between the old and new ideas. Here are some transitions that you might find useful when you are writing your essay!
Transitional Words and Relationships:
AWachthissheettoapieceoflooseleaf,cutalongthedoWedlinesbelow,flipupthetabs,andcompletetheoutlineforeachsec;onofyourfinalessaybasedontheinstruc;onsoneachtab!
INTRODUCTION:
BODYPARAGRAPH1:
BODYPARAGRAPH2:
BODYPARAGRAPH3:
CONCLUSION:
Yourintroduc;onshouldincludeahook.Thisisonesentencethatgrabsyourreader’saWen;onandmakesthemwanttokeepreading.Itshouldalso
includeyourthesisstatementwhichisthemainargumentyouaretryingtomakewiththisessay.
Eachofyourbodyparagraphsshouldincludeasuppor;ngargumentthatprovesthethesisstatementyoumadeinyourintroduc;on.Inthisparagraph,yourfirstsentencewilltellthereaderwhattheFIRSTsuppor;ngargumentis.Then,youwillprovidereasons,evidence,andquotestosupportyourpoint.Finally,youwill
writeaconcludingsentence.Belowthistab,writeanoutlineforthisparagraphinpointform.
Eachofyourbodyparagraphsshouldincludeasuppor;ngargumentthatprovesthethesisstatementyoumadeinyourintroduc;on.Inthisparagraph,yourfirstsentencewilltellthereaderwhattheSECOND
suppor;ngargumentis.Then,youwillprovidereasons,evidence,andquotestosupportyourpoint.Finally,youwillwriteaconcludingsentence.Belowthistab,writeanoutlineforthisparagraphinpointform.
Eachofyourbodyparagraphsshouldincludeasuppor;ngargumentthatprovesthethesisstatementyoumadeinyourintroduc;on.Inthisparagraph,yourfirstsentencewilltellthereaderwhattheTHIRD
suppor;ngargumentis.Then,youwillprovidereasons,evidence,andquotestosupportyourpoint.Finally.youwillwriteaconcludingsentence.Belowthistab,writeanoutlineforthisparagraphinpointform.
Yourconclusionshouldrestateyourthesisforyourreaderandclosetheargument.
© Presto Plans
INTERACTIVE ESSAY OUTLINE
5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY OUTLINE
© Presto Plans
Topic:
Introductory Hook:
Thesis Statement:
Body Paragraph Idea 1 Body Paragraph Idea 2 Body Paragraph Idea 3
Conclusion:
5 PARAGRAPH ESSAY OUTLINE
© Presto Plans
Thes
is S
tate
men
t (M
ain
idea
/arg
umen
t)
Paragraph #1
Introduction
Paragraph #2
Body 1
Paragraph #3
Body 2
Paragraph #4
Body 3
Paragraph #5
Conclusion
Hook
Main Idea
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Detail 3:
Main Idea
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Detail 3:
Main Idea
Detail 1:
Detail 2:
Detail 3:
Concluding Thought:
Performance Indicators Not Yet Yes
IntroductionDoes your lead sentence let the reader know the topic of your writing?
Did you avoid “I will be talking to you about...”?
Is your intro going to convince the reader to continue reading?
ThesisIs your thesis a statement you can support with facts and/or evidence?
Is it within your introductory paragraph?
Is your thesis clear and relevant to your topic?
BodyIs your body at least 3 paragraphs?
Does each paragraph begin with a topic sentence relevant to your subject?
Is each topic sentence followed by supporting info specific to that sentence?
Are there clear transitions between your paragraphs?
ConclusionDoes your conclusion offer a brief summary of your piece?
In your conclusion, do you indicate that your thesis has been proven?
Does your conclusion leave the reader with something to think about?
SELF EVALUATION: ESSAY STRUCTURE CHECKLIST
© Presto Plans
Student: ___________________________________________ Class: _______________
Period: ______ Date: ______________________________
Thesis Statement: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
6 TRAITS REVISING & EDITING CHECKLIST
© Presto Plans
Content I selected a specific topic with a main idea. I included relevant ideas. I supported my ideas with effective details.
Organization I used my introduction to inform my readers of the topic. I put my ideas into a logical order and organized them into paragraphs. I used transitions between and within paragraphs to connect my ideas. I provided an appropriate conclusion.
Word Choice I included interesting words and specific language. I used figurative language (when appropriate).
Voice I made my reader interested in my topic. I showed that I care about my topic. I created strong individuality.
Sentence Structure I included a variety of sentence structures. I included a variety of sentence lengths and beginnings.
Conventions I included internal punctuation
(commas, semi-colons, colons, hyphens, parentheses, and apostrophes). I used correct spelling. I used correct grammar
(subject/verb, tenses, parts of speech, numbers, contractions, plurals).
MLA CRITICAL ANALYSIS CHECKLIST
© Presto Plans
Questionstoaskyourself Yes No
HaveIincludedmyfullname,myinstructor’sname,mycourseandthedatedouble-spacedintheupper-lefthandcorner?
Ismylastnameandthepage#onthetoprightofeachpage?
HaveIincludedacenteredtitleformyessay?
Doesmytitlehavecapitalletters?
HaveIunderlinedoritalicizedthenameofthestoryeverytimeitisusedintheessay?
IfIamwritingaboutastory,haveIincludedthetitleofthestoryandthefullnameoftheauthorinparagraph1?
Doesparagraph1haveaclearthesisthatmakesanargument?
Ismyintroductioninterestingandengaging?
HaveIchosensomethingspeciBicinthetexttoanalyze?
HaveIincludedabriefsummaryinparagraphtwowhichrelatestomyargument?
Doeachofmyparagraphsbeginwithatopicsentenceandendwithaconcludingsentence?
Doeseachparagraphdirectlyrelatetothethesisinparagraph1?
HaveIuseddetails,support,andquotestosupportmyclaims?
HaveIputtheauthor’slastnameandthepage#inbracketsaftereachquotation?
IfmyquotationislongerthanfourlineshaveItabbeditoneinchontheleftandtakenoutthequotationmarks?(blockedquotation)
HaveIincludedquoteswithinsentencessotheyaregrammaticallycorrect?
Aremyquotesrelevanttomyargument?
Ismylanguageandstyleacademicallyappropriate?
HaveIusedavarietyofsentences?
Arethereanyconventionproblems(spelling,grammaretc)?
HaveIrestatedmythesisintheconclusion?