Essay Writing: Myth-Busterswatch?v=Caeen3FpqAM A Special Edition Myth or Fact? Test your knowledge! MYTH: You need a title page MYTH: You need a title page BOTH! FOR HIGHSCHOOL MLA title page For university MLA papers, you should *not* attach a title page Place the following information in the tip left-hand corner of your first page: NAME COURSE PROFESSOR DUE DATE LENGTH MYTH: Place the thesis at the end of the first paragraph MYTH: Place the thesis at the end of the first paragraph FACT! Sentence-by-sentence format for introduction: 1) An interesting sentence (that is directly related to your specific essay topic) to draw your reader in. 2) Introduce the topic 3)Introduce story (Author, title, brief synopsis) 4) Introduce sub argument #1 5) Introduce sub argument #2(-3) 6) State your thesis in 1-2 sentences How to write a strong thesis: A Checklist Does your thesis statement do more than restate the topic or question? This essay will examine the role of time in two plays. In Play A and Play B, time not only structures the dramatic action, but also functions as the antagonist. Thesis: A Checklist continued Does your thesis Statement present a position that is debatable? Margaret Atwoods science-fiction novels paint a bleak picture of the future. This is too descriptive and merely states the genre and summaries the content. The Handmaids Tales dystopic world suggests that our society will have a similar fate if fundamentalists gain power. This is better because it gives a more specific genre and it makes an argument about religion in the book. This thesis could still be developed even further: how are the fundamentalists portrayed? What Biblical figures appear in the book? 3 Popular Thesis Types: Refute a popular assumption Contrast: compare city life to rural life in The Return. Development : sense of horror developed over the course of The Lottery. MYTH: I can start a body paragraph with a quotation. MYTH: I can start a body paragraph with a quotation. BUSTED Each paragraph should begin with a clear topic sentence: this topic sentence should indicate what you will argue in this paragraph and should be in your own words. Strong topic sentences make for strong papers: they are your signposts. MYTH: Each paragraph should discuss only ONE main idea. MYTH: Each paragraph should discuss only ONE main idea. FACT Each paragraph should focus on 1 main idea Include at LEAST one quotation to be examined and used for evidence Be less than one page in length Include a topic sentence Secondary Sources He chose wisely Make sure you choose sources that are reputable and related to your essay. Use the MLA Bibliographyon online resource that is accessible through Online Resourcesto find journal articles on your plays and topic When in doubt: make sure that the journal is peer-reviewed, fairly recent (last 10 years), and has a substantial bibliography Integrate Quotations Make sure that you integrate all quotations into your own sentences: E.g Elizabeth Rex refutes the prevalent assumption that there is one core and unchanging self. As Trinh T. Minh-ha explains, Identity, thus understood, supposes that a clear dividing line can be made between I and not-I (375). Findley complicates this hierarchical dichotomy: the Queen struggles to accept both her I or woman self and her not-I or Prince self. In this play where identity is ever changing and highly performative, the audience can never discern a stable I. It is this instability and doubleness, however, that must be accepted. The building blocks for using quotations: Make sure to: 1) Introduce the speaker and/or context of the quotation 2) insert quotation REMEMBER: it must never stand as a separate sentence unto itself and give page citation. 3) explain quotation: how does this prove or relate to your idea/argument? 4) When citing from the story(primary source): try to pick out and discuss the style as well as content (e.g. metaphor, simile, meter, word choice) MLA Handbook, 7 th Edition Citing works in your essay Short quotation Should be integrated in your own sentence. Place page # in brackets Place period AFTER brackets Ex: When Tessie Hutchinson protests that the lottery isnt fair and isnt right, this confirms to the reader that the winner of the lottery is actually the loser (Jackson 18). Block quotation 4 lines or longer Introduce the quotation, followed by a colon. Ex: Hemingways detailed description of the setting at the beginning of Hills Like White Elephants helps the reader to visualize where the story takes place: The hills across the valley of the Ebro were long and white. On this side there was no shade and no trees and the station was between two lines of rails in the sun. Close against the side of the station there was the warm shadow of the building and a curtain, made of strings of bamboo beads, hung across the open door into the bar, to keep out flies (475). The Works Cited page should be Double spaced Should have the title Works Cited centered, but NO bold or underline Should follow MLA style (see Handbook) MLA Handbook The Works Cited Page MYTH: I am graded on my individual progress, hard work, and attention to detail. MYTH: I am graded on my individual progress, hard work, and attention to detail. FACT! MYTH: I should spend most of my time WRITING. MYTH: I should spend most of my time WRITING. BUSTED Your Time should be equally devoted to: the brain-storming stage, the writing stage, and the editing stage. Brainstorming : try writing all your ideas down on 1 paper; try creating columns in order to organize ideas Editing : Giving yourself 1 day before you begin to revise your essay will help ensure that you catch more mistakes Try reading your essay out loud to help catch wordiness or awkward phrasing MYTH: I should always use a comma to breakup run-on sentences. MYTH: I should always use a comma to breakup run-on sentences. BUSTED This can only work if the two clauses in the sentence are NOT BOTH independent clauses. One must be a DEPENDENT CLAUSE or you will have a COMMA SPLICE ! vck6uK-kowvck6uK-kow This Essay Workshop has been brought to you by: