Download Essay Writing Basics: A Step-by-Step Guide and more Papers Humanities in PDF only on Docsity! ESSAY WRITING BASICS You must give yourself TIME to prepare or research, and to do important pre-writing steps BEFORE you start writing your essay. AND be sure to make time for RE- WRITING too! Time: friend or foe, it marches on! ESSAY WRITING BASICS 1. Consider the Purpose 2. Write a Thesis Statement 3. Outline 4. Draft 5. Read & Revise 6. Edit, Proofread, & Correct Pre-Writing & Re-Writing (Repeat steps 5 & 6 as many times as necessary) ESSAY WRITING BASICS 2. Thesis Statement What’s Your Point??? • Thesis = Idea • A thesis statement states the main point of an essay. • Your thesis statement should NOT say what your paper is ABOUT; it should say what you are trying to PROVE. • Without a thesis, your essay is pointless! THESIS STATEMENTS • Paper Topic – Compare child-rearing practices in the colonial and Victorian periods. • Bad Thesis Statement – Children in the colonial and Victorian periods were similar yet different. (off topic, vague, and pointless) • Slightly Less Bad Statement – “Child-rearing practices in colonial and Victorian America were different in many ways.” (on topic, but still too vague) • Much Better Thesis Statement – “Children in colonial America had to grow up much more quickly than children in Victorian America.” A GOOD THESIS STATEMENT TELLS • Who • What • When • Where What’s Your Point??? ESSAY WRITING BASICS 3. Outlines THE CURE FOR WRITER’S BLOCK! What steps will you take to PROVE your point? • Introduction – Thesis statement – List or summarize propositions • Body – proposition #1 • evidence / examples – proposition #2 • evidence / examples – proposition #3 • evidence / examples • Conclusion – list or summarize propositions again and drive home the point that you have provided enough evidence to prove that your propositions are true and together they have proven your thesis statement. THINK OF EVERY ESSAY AS AN ARGUMENT (a series of propositions, supported by evidence, leading to a logical conclusion) ESSAY WRITING BASICS 6. Edit & Proofread • Editing: – checks for correct grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and citation format • Both will help eliminate minor errors (and some major ones!) that could confuse or distract your reader and make you look sloppy, lazy, or disorganized. • Proofreading: – checks for typos, margins, paragraph indentions, and other technical problems ESSAY WRITING BASICS Summary: 1. Consider the Purpose 2. Write a Thesis Statement 3. Outline 4. Draft 5. Read, Revise, Repeat 6. Edit, Proofread, & Correct THIS is the draft you hand in! Give Yourself Time!
