‘The Academic Essay: A Practical Guide ‘What is an Essay? An esay isa pleco of wring sully fom en autho’ persona pint of view Essays ere ‘non-fiction or based on facts. MLA Formats A Brief Introduction MLA is an acronym for the Modem Language Association, MLA style is most commonly used to write papers and cite sources within the liberal ats and humanities, Here is the proper format for ALL papers. This INCLUDES drafts: 1. Spacing: Double spacing set throughout the essay 2. Font: Times New Roman - i2pt. 3. Student and Clas* Information Sée example I (below) 7 Title: Original and always centered - pserye the spot 6. 1 Indentation: Indent paragraphs by pressing TAB ones NO EXTRA SPACES BETWEEN DATE, TITLE, AND PARAGRAPHS Page Numbering: Begins on second page not on first © Example: Jones 2 - last name page # °° Dot ype the word page ot abbreviaio or pg. Sample Peds 1 MLA Forinatting Sally Student Mr. Montana TELACU English July 11,2014 Forever White: ‘The Syinbolic Rescuing of Mary Jemison ‘The captivity experience of Mary Jemison during the French and Indian war is not unlike many of the others experienced by white woma during America's formative years. What makes Jemison's narrative significant and worthy of analysis is that it does not end in hi taona fashion with eaisom or an escape nea, the narative ends with Jemison rejecting whité society and choosing to stay With her Seneca captors. NOTE: Nothing is in bold or unecessaily italicized. The essny speaks for itself based on content.Brainstorming Techniques ‘What is Brainstorming? Brainstorming is an activity used to generate many creative ideas that have no right ‘or wrong answers and are accepted without criticism. Effective brainstonming is characterized by fluency and flexibility of thought. Think of your brain as being an onion, and every idea isa layer of that onion. When you ‘write down one idea, it peels off a layer and exposes the one underneath, Then you can pee! off that layer and get to the one tinder there and so on and so on. Eventually, you empty out all your ideas, probably make a few new ones, and you have a long list of ideas that you can now sort through and use, It is inaportant to remember that if you don't peel off that first layer—you'll never find what's undemeath. Often, the good ideas will start 5 6 items down the list! How to brainstorm: You have a lot of ideas. Brainstorm to make a lst of those ideas. Write quickly! Think on the paper!!! (Note the word STORM - it should be intense!) Freewriting: Freewriting is the ultimate tool if you just don't know what to do! Ifyou are blocked, or ‘your ideas are simply too tangled up to put down ina list, freewriting is for you. If you hhave an idea in the back of your head but just can't quite pin it clown, this isthe technique that will pull that idea out. Freewriting is also a method for doveloring a small hint of an idea into a fully grown one. Freevriting is a ltl like fishing — you cast out with your pen, and hen you lt te deas swim to you, but they won't comeiyoa dont start Fshing for them! How to freewrite ‘The key to freewriting is to not think in your head, Do not think before you stati just pick up a pen and write; write on the topic if you can and if you cant, just write anything and try to get there eventually. Write full, flowing sentences (freewtiting looks like paragraphs, not like a list.) When you freewrite, you need not worry about correct punctuation, grammar, or spelling, The point of this kind of writing is flow, tot correctness. Don't re-read what you've written until after you've finished; we want to get your ideas spilling out of you. Ifyou vomry about if your ideas are writen down + "Tight" then you are not letting them flow. Clustering: ‘With clustering, you Will start with’ a gerieral idea. You can wiiteit down on a pi of paper and draw a circle around it. After you've done this, you will want to write down other ideas on the outside of the circle and connect your ideas with a series of lines, Clustering isa technique which will allow you to simply orgenize your ideas, Once you are done brainstorming, your must organize your ideas into an outline,‘Warnings: 0 Don't make your title offensive. No profane or foul language. You want to give the potential reader the best possible view of yourself. Don't make the title too obscure or too-unclear, "The tle soul give the potetal reader some idea of what the essay is about. 1 Don't get too stressed out about finding the perfect tile. The important thing is finishing the essay and lotting people read it. O. Hfal else fils a simple informative title will do just fine. Writing an Introduction Most forins of writing require some form of introduction, Commonly, the introduction consists of one introductory paragraph, In longer works or for complex topics, the introduction might be several pardgraphs or even longer. A non-fiction book, for instance, often has a full chapter that serves as the introduction. An Introduction Serves Three Purposes 5: Itgives readers an idea of what the paper is about -- Movie preview @ It provides a reason for readers to keep reading — Grabs attention @ Sets up argument — Information in the intro funnels directly into the thesis ‘The introduction is extremely important. What is the paper shout Somie midthods for letting readers know inhude: 2 Providing background or history for the topic Clearly siate the main points to be discussed 1 A clear and specific thesis statement Building Reader Trust with the Introduction In order for-readers to tfust the’ waiter, the introduction must be well written with strong vocabulary and good grammar. The goal is to hold the reader's attention. Remember that while you want to exeité your readers’ interest, you-also want to soutid as though you know the topic you are writing about. asdaty, ley atom Be ere the points to be discussed in the essey. Do be aware of what is expected by your reader. Some fields dismiss stories and anecdotes as irrelevant, for instance. And while one group of readers might think it boring to say: "This paper will discuss the topic of how to write anintroductory paragraph"; another group of readers might not only expect you to be that blunt, but also might dismiss the writing as poor writing if such a sentence did not appear by the end of the introduction, For the purposes of this class, I will not allow the use stories and anecdotes in the introduction. I want your introductions to get directly to the point es you will mostly be writing persuasive or argumentative essays with a detailed thesis statement, teThe Noun ‘A noun may be a person, plate thing of idea. In a Sentence, twill be used a3 a subject or an object. Noun as the subject of the verb ‘The boy ran away. BOYis the subject of the verb RAN. Noun as the object of the verb. He threw the ball. BALL is the object of the verb THREW. Noun as object of preposition. We went to the store. : STORE is the object of the preposition TO. “Note: Ifa word is describing or modifying another word, it is NOT anoun. ‘That is John's car. John's is telling about the car, so it is am adjective, not a noun.Plural Nouns A plural noun names more than one person, place, or thing, or idea: Adding s to most singular nouns makes them plural, Example: book--books Ifa singular noun ends with sh, ch, x, orz, add es to make the word plural. Example: beach ~--—-- beaches Ifa singular noun ends with a consonant followed by y, change the y to land add es'to make the word plural. Example: baby babies: If the singular noun ends with a vowel followed by y, just add s to meke the word plural. Example: boy---——-boysPossessive Nouns A possessive noun shows ownership or belonging, Ifa noun is singular or if it is plural but does not end in s, add an apostrophe plus an s {'s) to the end to make it possessive, Example: John's pen: child's book: car's door. Ifa noun is plural and ends with an s, add an apostrophe (°) to the end. Example; cats’ collars: boys’ room: dancers' shoes WPronouns Pronouns take the place of nouns, or refer to nouns, There are three kinds of pronouns: personal pronouns, relative pronouns and indefinite pronouns, Personal Pronouns Just like nouns, personal pronouns can be used as the subject of a verb, or as the object of a verb or preposition. But there are different pronouns subjective and objective uses, Subjects I, you, he, she, it, they, we, who Objects Me, you, him, her, it, them, us, whom. Tran the race. He gave mea dollar, You should give it to her, Relative Pronoun ‘There are only three of these pronouns! Who, Which and That ‘These pronouns refer to a noun eatlier in the same sentence. They are used to join two ideas into one sentence without repeating a nown. ‘The man is standing by the door. The man is my father, ‘The man who is standing at the door is my father. The school burned down. ‘The school was the first in the state. ‘The school, which bumed down, was the first in the state. *Note: lif that is used this way, it is a relative pronoun, Butifit precedes a noun, itis being used as an adjective. ‘3