ESSAY WRITING

—The French form of the word comes from the Latin verb exigere, which means "to examine, test, or to
drive out."

—Essence of the academic essay: to encourage students to test or examine their ideas concerning a
particular topic.

Types/Genres of essay writing:

● Expository essays
● Descriptive essays
● Narrative essays
● Argumentative (Persuasive) essays

A. EXPOSITORY ESSAY

—Requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set
forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. This can be accomplished
through comparison and contrast, definition, example, the analysis of cause and effect, etc.

—The structure is held together by the following:

● A clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph of the
essay.
● Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.
● Body paragraphs that include evidential support
● Evidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal).
● A bit of creativity!
● A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the
evidence provided.

— A complete argument

the expository essay must be complete, and logically so, leaving no doubt as to its intent or
argument

— The five-paragraph Essay

common method for writing an expository essay

● an introductory paragraph
● three evidentiary body paragraphs
● a conclusion
B. DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY

— Describe something—object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc. This genre
encourages the student's ability to create a written account of a particular experience. What is
more, this genre allows for a great deal of artistic freedom

—Guidelines for writing

● Take time to brainstorm
● Use clear and concise language.
● Choose vivid language.
● Use your senses!
● What were you thinking?!
● Leave the reader with a clear impression.
● Be organized!

C. NARRATIVE ESSAYS

— When writing a narrative essay, one might think of it as telling a story

—telling a story from a certain viewpoint, and there is usually a reason for the telling.

—Guidelines for writing

● If written as a story, the essay should include all the parts of a story.
● When would a narrative essay not be written as a story?
● The essay should have a purpose
● The essay should be written from a clear point of view.
● Use clear and concise language throughout the essay.
● The use of the first person pronoun "I" is welcomed.
● As always, be organized!

D. ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

— investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence, and establish a position on the
topic in a concise manner

— call for extensive research of literature or previously published material. Argumentative

assignments may also require empirical research where the student collects data through
interviews, surveys, observations, or experiments.

—structure is held together by:

● clear, concise, and defined thesis statement that occurs in the first paragraph of the essay
 ● Clear and logical transitions between the introduction, body, and conclusion.
● Body paragraphs that include evidential support.
● Evidential support (whether factual, logical, statistical, or anecdotal).
● A conclusion that does not simply restate the thesis, but readdresses it in light of the
evidence provided.

— A complete argument

must be complete, and logically so, leaving no doubt as to its intent or argument.

— The five-paragraph Essay

● an introductory paragraph
● three evidentiary body paragraphs that may include discussion of opposing views
● a conclusion

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ELEMENTS OF ESSAY WRITING

1. THESIS
—statement of an essay that determines the primary focus. The thesis statement is where you
make your primary argument.

2. OUTLINE
—outline of material to create the most effective
structure. Create one heading for each paragraph, including your introduction and conclusion.

3. INTRODUCTION
— Mention any background information or general information that is pertinent to the topic.
summarize the point you intend to make in the body of your essay.

4. BODY
—supporting paragraphs that back up your thesis. Each paragraph should contain at least one
point to confirm your thesis with any necessary supporting information.

5. CONCLUSION
— summarizes the principal points made throughout the body. Confirm why your thesis is correct
using the points from your supporting body paragraphs.

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QUESTIONS BEFORE, DURING, AFTER READING
How Can You Stretch Students' Thinking?

—The best way to stretch students' thinking about a text is to help them ask increasingly challenging
questions.

● "Why do you think the author chose this particular setting?"

● "Why do you think the author ended the story in this way?"
● "Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from the point of view of the daughter?"
● "What does the author seem to be assuming about the reader's political beliefs?"

— Another way to challenge readers is to ask them open-ended questions that require evidence from the
text to answer.

● "What does Huck think about girls? What is your evidence?"

● "Which character in the story is most unlike Anna? Explain your reasons, based on evidence from
the novel?"
● "What is the author's opinion about affirmative action in higher education? How do you know?"