Week 3, day 2

Lecture Notes from Patterns for College Writing, 12th ed. - pages 51-65; 211-216

* PLEASE NOTE: there will be discrepancies in page numbers as well as content between the 11th and 12 ed.

52 - listing of different types of essays and the pattern of arrangement followed by each

** PARTS OF THE ESSAY

53 - Introduction
53-54 - Different ways of opening an essay--choose one of these strategies to begin your introductory paragraph for your first formal essay:
          a. begin with background information
          b. your own original definition--NOT a dictionary definition
          c. an anecdote or story--such as Steven Johnson used
         d. a question--but ONLY ONE; one strong question that forces the reader to think is better than 3 weak questions; also: a thesis statement should NEVER be a question
         e. begin with a quotation that will be connected to the thesis--as Nicholas Carr did
         f. begin with a surprising statement--as Brent Staples does: "My first victim was a woman . . . "
         g. begin with a contradiction--example: Many people think that after the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, the colonists defeated the British army in battle after battle . . . ."
         h. begin with a fact or a statistic

55- What NOT to do in the introduction
          DON'T apologize
          DON'T use a dictionary definition
          DON'T announce what you intend to do
          DON'T wander off topic

Body Paragraphs - Requirements:
55 - unified - note: topic sentences are good ideas, especially for novice writers
57 - coherent - *transitions are essential
     - well developed
58 - effective support
       "real" or concrete evidence -- not generalizations or hypothetical situations
       specific examples that are thoroughly explained
59 - each paragraph must support the thesis

60 - Conclusion
61 - different ways to conclude an essay
62 - What NOT to do in the conclusion

* Weak writers SHOULD use a formal outline

Pages 211-216:

212 - 213 -- What body paragraphs do in exemplification essays

213 -- Planning the exemplification essay
213 -- what the thesis does
214--providing adequate examples that develop ideas & use a fair range of examples
215--Same basic steps of arrangement, but body paragraphs/ examples arranged carefully