ESSAY Wahoo, I love

WRITING writing essays!

How to write an amazing, fantastic, persuasive,

engaging and effective introduction, paragraph(s)
and conclusion ☺
What is a Literary essay?
• An ESSAY is an ARGUMENT

• An essay is an argument because the purpose of an

essay is to take position on a question, and then argue
your viewpoint based on evidence.

• ALWAYS WRITTEN IN THE PRESENT TENSE

Planning
• Planning is a vital step to writing an effective essay.
• Writing a plan will help you!
a) write more logically
b) write more coherently
c) write faster – you will get more done in less time.
The question
• The play, Othello, reveals how manipulation of
weaknesses in characters results in injustice.

Critically discuss this statement in an essay of 400 – 450

words (2 – 2½ pages)
Okay… but what is the question REALLY?
➢ Manipulation
➢ Iago
➢ Weaknesses in characters
➢ Othello: jealousy, emotions, insecurities, trusting, self-
righteous
➢ Desdemona: loyalty to friends and husband
➢ Cassio: peer pressure, weak, disregard for Bianca
➢ Brabantio: prejudice
➢ Roderigo: lack of intelligence, easily persuaded
➢ Emilia: please husband, ignorant to true colours
➢ Injustice
➢ Desdemona’s death
➢ Desdemona’s death justified
➢ Proof of Cassio’s affair with Desdemona
➢ Emilia’s death – disillusioned
Your new favourite words…

•TAKO - Introduction
•TEXAS - Body
•LATE - Conclusion
 What is TAKO?

• T - Title (must be underlined!)

• A - Author
• K - Key Words
• O - Outline of the main points you will provide in
your essay

• If you remember TAKO, you will always know what

to write in your awesome introduction!
Your introduction

• An effective
introduction will tell the reader
precisely what your essay is going to be
about, and the main point/argument that
you are making.
 How do I structure it though?
• Sentence one: introduce the text you are writing about AND a
basic restatement of the question.

In the play Othello by William Shakespeare the

manipulation of weaknesses in certain characters result in
irreversible injustice.

In the novel The Life of Pi by Yann Martel…

 Sentence two: thesis statement

• Tells the reader your purpose in writing the essay.

• You elaborate on the given question and add examples

from the text that will help to prove your point.

• VERY SHORT – don’t give it all away yet.

But what is my point?

• Characters have weaknesses

• These weaknesses are exploited or manipulated

(SYNONYM)

• This leads to injustices.

Expand your point?

• Which characters?
• What are their weaknesses?
• Who exploits these weaknesses?
• How does this character do this?
• To what injustice does this lead?
• Iago preys on Othello’s insecurities and lack of control of
his emotion. Othello’s wife, Desdemona, has an
extremely trusting nature and Iago uses this to awaken
the jealousy within Othello. Cassio is too weak a
character to be overlooked by the sly Iago and shares
Iago’s derogative view of women. This view also has an
influence of injustice toward Emilia who becomes a
victim of Iago’s manipulation of weaknesses.
 Each of these point will turn into a
paragraph
 How many paragraphs will we have?

 Iago preys on Othello’s insecurities and lack of control of

his emotions.
 Desdemona has a trusting nature and Iago uses this to
awaken the jealousy within Othello.
 Cassio is too weak a character to be overlooked by the sly
Iago and shares Iago’s derogative view of woman. This
view also has an influence of injustice toward
 Emilia who becomes a victim of Iago’s manipulation of
weaknesses.
 Check TAKO

In the play Othello by William Shakespeare the manipulation of

weaknesses in certain characters result in irreversible injustice.
This is evident in Iago’s preying on Othello’s insecurities and lack
of control of his emotions. Othello’s wife, Desdemona, has a
trusting nature and Iago uses this to awaken the jealousy within
Othello. Cassio is too weak a character to be overlooked by the sly
Iago and he shares Iago’s derogative view of women. This view
also has an influence of injustice toward Emilia who becomes a
victim of Iago’s manipulation of weaknesses.
There’s the introduction …
DONE AND DUSTED!
Next up… TEXAS

• TEXAS is an acronym for the key

components of each paragraph.
 T EXAS
• T: Topic sentence (Your main idea)

• E: Elaboration (Add more information to your central idea)

• X: eXample(s) and evidence (Back up what you are saying with

examples)

• A: Analysis (This shows that….)

– tell the reader what you have
learnt/what your argument means

• S: Summary (Therefore….) Sum up your argument.

 It can go on forever…

• The more examples you have, the better.

• BUT REMEMBER: You only have a maximum of 450

words so you will not be able to have more than 5
examples.

TEXaXaXaXaS – Examples and analysis always go

together. The one cannot exist without the other
What is a TOPIC SENTENCE?

• A topic sentence tells the reader what your paragraph is

ABOUT.
• This includes WHO, WHAT, WHY, WHEN, WHERE.
• The topic sentence states the TOPIC or SUBJECT of the
sentence; a short, one sentence introduction.
• Remember you only present ONE idea per paragraph
What is our first point?
• Iago preys on Othello’s weaknesses

T > Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well
as his insecurities, are exploited by Iago. This results in a miscarriage
of justice: his murder of Desdemona.
The Explanation…
• This gives further details about your topic sentence. Explain it in
more DEPTH
• The explanation should be 2-3 sentences long.
Here we go
T > Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well
as his insecurities, are exploited by Iago.
+
E > Othello feels insecure because he married a woman from a
different race, a higher class and who is much younger than him. He
then places his trust in his ensign, Iago, but this proves to be a grave
error as it leads to the unjust murder of Desdemona.
 eXamples

• The examples and proof for the idea that you have outlined in
your topic sentence/explanation.
• The examples need to SUPPORT the point that you are
making.
T > Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well as his
insecurities, are exploited by Iago.
+
E > Othello feels out of place in the Venetian society and his trusting nature
causes him to place faith in his ensign, Iago. This, however, proves to be a
grave error as it leads to the unjust murder of Desdemona.
+
X > Othello feels insecure because he married a woman from a different race,
a higher class and who is much younger than him.
 You need to state why the example is relevant to the
topic.

 This shows that… because…

 From this the reader can understand that….
Because….
T > Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well as his
insecurities, are exploited by Iago.
+
E > Othello feels out of place in the Venetian society and his trusting nature
causes him to place faith in his ensign, Iago. This, however, proves to be a
grave error as it leads to the unjust murder of Desdemona.
+
X > Othello feels insecure because he married a woman from a different race,
a higher class and who is much younger than him.
+
A > This weakness is easiest to exploit because he has a lack of sophistication
and has a limited experience of female company.
eXample and Analysis - again
T > Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well as his
insecurities, are exploited by Iago.
+
E > Othello feels out of place in the Venetian society and his trusting nature causes
him to place faith in his ensign, Iago. This, however, proves to be a grave error as it
leads to the unjust murder of Desdemona.
+
X > Othello feels insecure because he married a woman from a different race, a
higher class and who is much younger than him.
+
A > This weakness is easiest to exploit because he has a lack of sophistication and
has a limited experience of female company.
+
X > His lack of emotional balance is also demonstrated as he descends into barbaric
behavior after Iago suggests that his wife is being unfaithful.
+
A > His irrationality makes him vulnerable to Iago’s innuendos, resulting in an
obsession with vengeance.
Summary
• Short and snappy and might even be in the same sentence as the
analysis.

A > His irrationality makes him vulnerable to Iago’s innuendos,

resulting in an obsession with vengeance and the unfair murder of
Desdemona.
 Our first paragraph
Othello’s jealousy and lack of control over his emotions, as well as his
insecurities, are exploited by Iago. Othello feels out of place in the Venetian
society and his trusting nature causes him to place faith in his ensign, Iago.
This, however, proves to be a grave error as it leads to the unjust murder of
Desdemona. Othello is insecure because he married a woman from a
different race, a higher class and who is much younger than him. This
weakness is easiest to exploit because he has a lack of sophistication and has
limited experience of female company. His lack of emotional balance is also
demonstrated as he descends into barbaric behavior after Iago suggests that
his wife is being unfaithful. His irrationality makes him vulnerable to Iago’s
innuendos, resulting in an obsession with vengeance and the unfair murder
of Desdemona.
Does is answer the question?

• Does it have:
• Manipulation?
• Weakness of a character?
• Injustice?

Whoo Hoo!!
Repeat
• TEXAS now has to be repeated at least 2 -3 times
(depending on word count).

• YOU CAN NEVER ONLY HAVE ONE EXAMPLE

• For the purpose of the topic, each TEXAS / paragraph

will be about a different character.

• Be sure to ANSWER THE QUESTION!

L A T E - Conclusion
• L = Link to the question

• A = Author’s purpose

• T = Topic / Theme

• E = End well
L A T E - conclusion
• L = link to question/key words identified in introduction.
• You need to prove that you have answered/addressed
the question. Restate your argument here!

>The inherent weaknesses in various characters are

manipulated, leading to injustice.
• A = Author’s purpose. Why did the author do this? What
does the key ideas in your essay show about their
purpose? What were they trying to make the reader
think about? This is your thoughtful analysis!

• > One cannot help but consider one’s own friendships

and wonder if warning signs of betrayal are not
evident.
➢ T = Topic/theme = You need to connect the topic of your
essay to a major theme.

> This manipulation links to the theme of loyalty and

destruction as well as appearance versus reality, because
people are not always as trustworthy as they appear.
• E = End well! ☺ End your essay in a way that is
memorable. It could be a quote, an opinion, a thought-
provoking statement, a rhetorical question, etc… Give
the reader something to ponder!
• Or just structure your LAT in such a way that it IS the
good ending
 Put it all together – editing is
necessary
L >The inherent weaknesses in various characters are
manipulated, leading to injustice.

A > One cannot help but consider one’s own friendships and
wonder if warning signs of betrayal are not evident.

T> This manipulation links to the theme of loyalty and

betrayal as well as appearance versus reality, because
people are not always as trustworthy as they appear.
So let’s change it up a bit
The inherent weaknesses in various characters are
manipulated, leading to injustice. This manipulation links
to the theme of loyalty and betrayal as well as
appearance versus reality, because people are not always
as trustworthy as they appear. When looking at the given
examples, one cannot help but consider one’s own
friendships and wonder if warning signs of betrayal are
not evident.

And there’s your good ending! ☺

 Important things to remember!
• Don’t just describe - analyse

• Be Specific

• Use formal language: Avoid slang, do not use contractions (don’t, can’t
etc.), avoid made up words (and quotes!).

• Do not repeat words

“Important”
• Rather than say that something is “important” over and over again, try
using some different words.
• For example:

• Useful Vital
• Influential Critical
• Concerning Noteworthy
• Significant Powerful
• Perceptive Telling
• Valuable Of consequence
• Insightful Far-reaching