Essay Writing: The...

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Essay Writing: The Personal/Narrative/Expository/Persuasive "The continuous movement back and forth from specific instance to general significance, from fact to meaning, from the sensory and emotional to the intellectual-such is the art of the essay." --Carol Burke and Molly Best Tinsley, The Creative Process Genre and Characteristics Prompts Examples Note how an expository or persuasive essay is often ALSO a personal essay or narrative. The writing CAN, and often is, both. Do not collect and grade these. Follow the first step in the creative processbrainstorming. Provide open-ended prompts for students so they learn to create topics on their own. Give 5-10 minutes every day to write and share YOU MUST write and share with the students Brainstorm using these prompts for a few days then choose one to “polish” and turn in as a draft on Monday. Use real world examples of writing in these genres instead of previous test samples Look at transitionsnote how varied they arenot from a list or a chart Notice how thesis statements and topic sentences are often implied, not stated Conclusions do not often “restate” Note how the organizational “pattern” is rarely just one type and not always clear. Notice how the typesmerge, blend. See the PERSONAL in all of them. Personal Essay Through the writers words we learn something new about the world, or an experience. The writer can employ a lot of techniques to make this happen. The only rule is that the responses have to be based on something true related to you. A-Z (write an A-Z piecefirst sentence starts with A, second with B, etc.) I believe(make a list- read an example or two) 26 Orange Fear 3 incidents involving hair List all the sounds you love and hate George Orwell: Shooting an Elephant Tony Hawk: Do What You Love Yasir Billoo: The Right to Be Fully American Howard White: The Power of Hello Patrick Welsh: txting away ur education ----------------------------------------------- Places to find more articles: ECNing Wiki collection of articles Kelly Gallagher Site for Article of the Week New York Times in Education English Teacher’s Friend Delicious Tag Time Magazine Online NPR This I Believe Essays ----------------------------------------------- Publication: Enter your This I Believe Essay See the PUBLICATION page for updates to markets and contests that publish student work. Personal Narrative the goal is to instruct, to help others in their understanding of something through an episode from the writer’s experiences using story The only rule is that the responses have to be based on something true related to you. a small moment share blue they never even knew… it wasn’t the best idea… Expository inform, explain, describe, or define the subject to the reader a tool made with two hands my name a place heres how it worksPersuasive convince the reader to perform an action, or convince the reader of your point of view Is technology improving communication or hurting it? danger Teenager or adult? The best ___ is ____ (make a list of as many as you canlater choose one to write about)

Transcript of Essay Writing: The...

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Essay Writing: The Personal/Narrative/Expository/Persuasive

"The continuous movement back and forth from specific instance to general significance, from fact to

meaning, from the sensory and emotional to the intellectual-such is the art of the essay."

--Carol Burke and Molly Best Tinsley, The Creative Process

Genre and Characteristics

Prompts Examples

Note how an expository or persuasive essay is often ALSO a personal essay or narrative. The writing CAN, and often is, both.

Do not collect and grade these. Follow the first step in the creative process—brainstorming.

Provide open-ended prompts for students so they learn to create topics on their own.

Give 5-10 minutes every day to write and share

YOU MUST write and share with the students

Brainstorm using these prompts for a few days then choose one to “polish” and turn in as a draft on Monday.

Use real world examples of writing in these genres instead of previous test samples

Look at transitions—note how varied they are—not from a list or a chart

Notice how thesis statements and topic sentences are often implied, not stated

Conclusions do not often “restate”

Note how the organizational “pattern” is rarely just one type and not always clear.

Notice how the “types” merge, blend.

See the PERSONAL in all of them.

Personal Essay Through the writer’s words we learn something new about the world, or an experience. The writer can employ a lot of techniques to make this happen.

The only rule is that the responses have to be based on something true related to you.

A-Z (write an A-Z piece—first sentence starts with A, second with B, etc.)

I believe… (make a list- read an example or two)

26

Orange

Fear

3 incidents involving hair

List all the sounds you love and hate

George Orwell: Shooting an Elephant Tony Hawk: Do What You Love Yasir Billoo: The Right to Be Fully American Howard White: The Power of Hello Patrick Welsh: txting away ur education ----------------------------------------------- Places to find more articles:

ECNing Wiki collection of articles

Kelly Gallagher Site for Article of the Week

New York Times in Education

English Teacher’s Friend Delicious Tag

Time Magazine Online

NPR This I Believe Essays

----------------------------------------------- Publication: Enter your This I Believe Essay See the PUBLICATION page for updates to markets and contests that publish student work.

Personal Narrative the goal is to instruct, to help others in their understanding of something through an episode from the writer’s experiences using story

The only rule is that the responses have to be based on something true related to you.

a small moment…

share

blue

they never even knew…

it wasn’t the best idea…

Expository inform, explain, describe, or define the subject to the reader

a tool

made with two hands

my name

a place

here’s how it works… Persuasive convince the reader to perform an action, or convince the reader of your point of view

Is technology improving communication or hurting it?

danger

Teenager or adult?

The best ___ is ____ (make a list of as many as you can—later choose one to write about)

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EDNA’s Shoe: An exercise to define types of writing

Directions: Ask a student to volunteer his/her shoe

for the class. Place the shoe on top of a desk or place

where everyone can see it. Present the acronym EDNA

to the students and have them copy it.

EDNA

Expository Descriptive Narrative Argumentative

DAY ONE

Expository

Explain that this is now Edna’s shoe. And the first part is to explain the purpose of the shoe. That is the E- expository. Expository writing informs or explains the author's subject to the reader. In this

case, the students are going to Explain the purpose of the shoe. Set the timer for 3 minutes and tell them to write as much as they can in that 3 minutes. Take a minute to share. Make sure they are writing in expository form.

Descriptive

Now they will write for 5 minutes. Set the timer. And this time they will write to describe the shoe. Remind them to use all their senses and figurative language. Take a few minutes to share. Be sure they are writing descriptively.

Narrative

Next they will write the narrative, the story, about the shoe. Be creative. Use dialogue. Include a setting and characters. Set the time for 8 minutes. Challenge them to write the entire time. Take a few minutes to share. Be sure they have understood narrative writing.

Argumentative

Finally, they are going to write the argument about the shoe. Edna doesn’t want her shoe back. She wants to leave it here and go buy another pair. Convince, persuade her to keep THIS shoe. Use humor, sarcasm, sincerity, sympathy, reasons. Set the timer for 10 minutes and challenge students to write for the entire time. Take a few minutes to share. Address the characteristics of the Argumentative essay. Explain that it is also called Persuasive essays. Review all the types. Give student back his/her shoe. DAY TWO: Discuss that idea that essays can often combine these elements. Ask students to look back through their papers to see if they did this. Perhaps they argued (argumentative) to keep the shoe by using a story (narrative). Maybe by explaining how the shoe works (expository), they also described it in rich detail (descriptive). Ask them to write for 15 minutes. Their topic is “shoe.” No other requirements. They can pull ideas from any of the things they wrote yesterday or create something brand new. When they are finished, share with a partner, see if they can define the “types” used and label as such.

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Tamara Doehring Six Traits of Writing and Beyond www.teacherofwriting.com

A Quick LOOK at the Writing Process

Observing: question and notice details in the world Pay special attention to the little details in your surroundings and think about something you can write about in class.

Brainstorming/Prewriting Brainstorm a list of all the things you noticed that you could write about. Choose a few from your list and add a few more details or ideas to each.

Drafting Write a brief paragraph about one of the ideas you wrote down.

Revising Look over your piece and change to better verbs and nouns. Add any details you might have left out. Remove anything that seems unnecessary.

Sharing Ask a peer to look at your paragraph and suggest a way to improve. Read it aloud to hear the fluency.

Revising Make changes suggested by peers and any other changes you feel are necessary. Read aloud again to listen for fluency--change sentence structure and/ or length to improve fluency.

Final Revision and Editing Check carefully for any spelling and/or grammatical mistakes. Publishing Write a final version as neatly as possible and place a copyright symbol next to your name.

You must engage in frequent and

authentic writing to truly understand the process. There are no

exceptions.

Tamara
Rectangle
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Wood Polish I never go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Ever. I can sleep through anything. I don't know why I did that night. Passing to the bathroom, I stopped on the landing that faces the first floor. My mother was sobbing, which was no surprise. She’s never been quiet or easy to hide. When she lived with us, I never had a friend inside the house. Not once. It was filled with piles of trash. We put the Christmas tree up on a pile of trash, if it went up at all. After she left, my dad took 64 large trash bags out of the house from her room alone. I don’t even know what the stuff was. None of it was mine. I would let my room get really messy, just like the rest of the house, but then I'd go on a cleaning spree. I'd use wood polish on everything, including the windows, because I thought it smelled like home where a mother lived. And then I’d shut my door, sit on my bed and gorge on my domestic cleanliness. I’d bloat myself with it and blur my vision as I passed through the rest of the house. I was in this state when I got to the kitchen. The crying was louder, so I knew I was in the right place. I unblurred my eyes a little and saw little white dots all over the counter and in the sink. Focus, focus. They were pills. Prescription medication from my father's back surgery and some others I didn’t recognize. She was on the floor, in a heap, her obese limbs tangled in themselves, helpless. The phone was off the hook. "Hello?" I asked tentatively into the mouth piece. "Kristen! Oh!..." I recognized my grandmother's voice at once. The "oh" said everything: "I'm so glad someone found her!" and "I'm so sorry you just walked down on your mother dying." But all she said was, "I called an ambulance." I hung up and walked back upstairs to my sister's room. I sat on the edge of her bed for a few seconds and then grabbed her big toe and pulled. I whispered, "Mom tried to kill herself. Come help me get her ready for the ambulance, OK?" I repeated myself calmly and put her sandals in front of her feet. She kicked them away and ran past me. "Dad," she screamed "Dad! Get downstairs! NOW!" I remember passing by my room on the way back down and catching a saving breath of wood polish. I held it in for as long as I could and ambled back to the kitchen. My mother was screaming to my sister, "I did this for you!" I thought about saying that it was a lie, that no matter how many fights they got in, my mother would never sacrifice her life for either of us, even out of spite. But that night she treated herself to a prescription medication buffet. I thought about saying it, but I didn't think anyone would care. The heaving, blubbering, 300-pound woman on the kitchen floor upstaged me. And that was fine, because she was my mother, and she was dying. But she didn't die. Somewhere between dizzying red and blue lights, screeching sirens, hospital vending machines, the "Late Late Show" in the waiting room, and the next two days, my mother was alive and in a psychiatric ward. We visited her every day after school as calmly as we would have turned on a family comedy and sat around eating Chex Mix together, if we were that kind of family. Chex Mix and sitcoms weren't our thing, but we got really good at the crazy mom routine. I love hospitals. I love the commotion, the bustle and the sense that for every life that can't be saved, another can be brought into the world. In the hospital, I loved floors one through four. I hated the fifth floor. I hated my mother for being there. The fifth floor smelled like a combination of Lysol, stale cigarettes and puke. You had to go up to a desk surrounded by glass and say who you wanted to visit and show identification. My dad always stood up really straight and talked in a clear, precise voice. It was like he was being interviewed, and if he said the wrong thing; the hospital could turn back the clock and let her die in the emergency room. But he always passed the test. Without having to be told, we took everything out of our pockets and left it behind. No key rings, no pens, and, depending on who was behind the desk, usually no belts. My sister always said she wanted to take off her shoelaces because they might be a strangling hazard, and we laugh. The guard laughed. It was funny. Like I said, we were good at this. Someone would come forward and unlock the metal door, with its three or four locks and complicated password system, deposit us quickly on the other side, and lock us in. By then it didn't matter if my father had passed the test, or if my sister had made a joke, or if we knew the routine inside and out. We had let our mother go crazy. We were guilty. We deserved to be stuck in that bright white prison with its doorless bathrooms and stainless steel mirrors. We could never leave. But a half hour would pass, and my mother would purr rehearsed and memorized affirmations of self-worth at us from her drugged stupor, and we'd ask her if she needed anything, and she'd make us a list, and we’d tell her we weren't allowed to bring in most of it, and she’d blink at us through glazed eyes and repeat her affirmations, and the nurse would come to set us free. At the end of one visit, my mother presented me with a coloring book page, with a kitten on it. "I colored it in for you during free time," she said with a proud smile. I still have the picture somewhere at the bottom of my closet. I think it used to be a kitten, but it’s been sprayed with wood polish so often, it’s just a blob of faded colors. It’s beautiful that way. This essay was awarded the grand prize—$5,000—in the 2006 Kaplan/NEWSWEEK “My Turn” Essay Competition. The author, Kristen, is a southern New Jersey high school student. Because of the intensely personal nature of her account, and out of respect for her family, her full name is being withheld.

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Battle of the Sexes

By: Samantha Roppolo, Mesquite, Texas

Yellow, yellow, green! The tires screech, entwined in hot smoke; the whole shot is mine. Victory is at the tip of my

fingers. I can feel my heart pounding harder and harder as the engine roars through the gears. I seal off the threat in the

left lane as I shift to fifth smoothly. The finish line is a blur, but victory is crystal clear. The gearheads in the strands

applaud, with adrenaline erupting from their cheers. I exaggerate my exit from the vehicle, and the crowd freezes. I can

feel their stare beating down on me. As I gaze into the astonished crowd, I hear only one thing: "It's a girl?"

In elementary school, I was the poster child for tomboys. I was fascinated with wrestling, spitting, adventure, and even

bugs. My best friend Eric, also my neighbor, just happened to be a member of the opposite sex. We were inseparable.

He taught me everything I needed to know to succeed in the world—well, in our world. However, as time progressed,

hormones did as well. Eric found a new fascination and deserted me. I found refuge in a rival, my cousin. She was a

"girlie girl;" her persona was bedecked with makeup and Jonathan Taylor Thomas. Her ideas began to converge on mine,

and I found myself in a dilemma. Was I supposed to play tag, or dress-up? Throughout my pre-teen years, I found myself

torn between two opposing worlds, girl and boy. Then, in my freshman year of high school, all my questions were

answered.

Freshmen are introduced to many variables of the high school equation: new friends, enemies, curriculum, cliques and

schedules. Yes, these factors did drive my interests, but aside from school, I discovered a parallel world where I was able

to fuse my girlie side and my tomboy side into a grease monkey. My vice was a 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air. It was a rich,

royal blue with a substantial hint of metal flake. The body was straight, not haunted or aged by rust. I was ignorant

about cars, but I knew that this forgotten idol was my stepping stone into the parallel world I so desperately wanted to

enter. My dad, Nick, is nostalgic and he loves all three of the "Tri-Fives".

With his knowledge of classic cars and my growing passion for these icons, we formed a team. When "Out of the Blue"

came into our midst, it was stock and our goal was to customize it into a show/race car. It started as a simple dream,

constricted by a budget. Inevitably, it evolved into more that just a dream.

I love art because it gives me control; I am able to see change as it happens. I was able to do that with the Bel Air: I

rebuilt the engine and the transmission and then I was able to customize the car. I changed it from a plain stock paint

job into a complex work of art; by mixing the old-school flame style with the contemporary flame style, I created

something pure. Now when I look at "Out of the Blue," I do not see just a car, I see my reflection in the paint on my

canvas. I no longer need to decide between my girlie side and my tomboy side because they are both covered—the

tomboy is replaced by the grease monkey and an artist replaced the girlie side. They no longer contradict each other but

rather they complement one another. Once my car was customized as a show car, the dream expanded toward the

quarter-mile stretch.

The battle of the sexes has been an issue since the dawn of time. For me, the battle reaches its peak with racing. When I

step out of my car after winning or losing, the crowd is always shocked that a girl raced with same skill and

determination as a guy. The 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air evolved onto a classy custom race car. With its transformation, I also

grew into an artistic gearhead who likes to race. I know what I am capable of because I have pushed myself to learn,

work, practice and create. I know that when the yellow light turns to green and my foot hits the pedal, I am not only

proving myself to the world but also reassuring myself who I am, and what I am striving for.

Samantha Roppolo, a student at Poteet High School in Mesquite, Texas, earned second place and a $2,000 prize in the

2006 Kaplan/NEWSWEEK "My Turn" Essay Competition.

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Narrative Vignette

You Have an and You Want to be Personal Narration

Objective: Students will use questioning strategies to provide proof to expand opinion statements with concrete examples. Time: One class period Instructions: • Model on the overhead or the board a personal statement. [e.g. I am good at quilting.] • Instruct students to write a sentence that makes a statement about something at which they are good. • Ask student volunteers to share their opening statements of opinion. • Tell all students to “Prove It”: to prove their statement. Ask if they have any trophies, honors, compliments, prizes or products. Show students by modeling.[e.g I was invited to exhibit my quilts at our local public library.] • Invite students to share their written proofs to show possibilities to those who are slower in responding. • Then ask them “Who Says So?”, modeling with the teacher’s. [e.g My friends and family say my quilts are beautiful and ask me to make them one.] This step adds detail and personalizes the example. Extension: • Students could write a narrative vignette. A teacher model might begin: [Last year I made a quilt for my sister’s baby. She loved it. . . . etc.] Invite students to exchange with a peer or read aloud to the class. Finally, ask students to make a comparison. The teacher might model:[e.g. I’d rather make quilts than crochet.] Once more, students share. Target Skill • DEFINITION: What do you mean? • PROVE IT: Give a specifi c detail. • AUTHORITATIVE QUOTE: Who says so? • NARRATIVE VIGNETTE: Tell a one or two-sentence story. • COMPARISON: Use an –er or –est word or a “rather than” sentence.

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www.EnglishTeachersFriend.com

Trust me… a prewriting brainstorming outline for a persuasive paper or speech Topic of persuasion: _________________________________________________________________________ Who is your audience? _______________________________________________________________________ What tone do you need to take with this particular audience? Why? __________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Your angle. Your opinion. _____________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Facts to support your position: ________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Personal story /examples to support your position. Do not get overly sentimental or too narrow. The story should be one that represents what others experience. It should not be specific to a single person. __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ What arguments will the other side make? _______________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ How will you address and discount those arguments? ______________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________

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Sample Formula Essay as a Model

From http://lklivingston.tripod.com/essay/sample.html

The essay below demonstrates the principles of writing a basic essay. The different parts of the essay have been

labeled. The thesis statement is in bold, the topic sentences are in italics, and each main point is underlined.

They are marked here just so that you can more easily identify them.

"A dog is man's best friend." That common saying may contain some truth, but dogs are not the only animal

friend whose companionship people enjoy. For many people, a cat is their best friend. Despite what dog lovers

may believe, cats make excellent housepets as they are good companions, they are civilized members of

the household, and they are easy to care for.

In the first place, people enjoy the companionship of cats. Many cats are affectionate. They will snuggle up and

ask to be petted, or scratched under the chin. Who can resist a purring cat? If they're not feeling affectionate,

cats are generally quite playful. They love to chase balls and feathers, or just about anything dangling from a

string. They especially enjoy playing when their owners are participating in the game. Contrary to popular

opinion, cats can be trained. Using rewards and punishments, just like with a dog, a cat can be trained to avoid

unwanted behavior or perform tricks. Cats will even fetch!

In the second place, cats are civilized members of the household. Unlike dogs, cats do not bark or make other

loud noises. Most cats don't even meow very often. They generally lead a quiet existence. Cats also don't often

have "accidents." Mother cats train their kittens to use the litter box, and most cats will use it without fail from

that time on. Even stray cats usually understand the concept when shown the box and will use it regularly. Cats

do have claws, and owners must make provision for this. A tall scratching post in a favorite cat area of the

house will often keep the cat content to leave the furniture alone. As a last resort, of course, cats can be

declawed.

Lastly, one of the most attractive features of cats as housepets is their ease of care. Cats do not have to be

walked. They get plenty of exercise in the house as they play, and they do their business in the litter box.

Cleaning a litter box is a quick, painless procedure. Cats also take care of their own grooming. Bathing a cat is

almost never necessary because under ordinary circumstances cats clean themselves. Cats are more particular

about personal cleanliness than people are. In addition, cats can be left home alone for a few hours without fear.

Unlike some pets, most cats will not destroy the furnishings when left alone. They are content to go about their

usual activities until their owners return.

Cats are low maintenance, civilized companions. People who have small living quarters or less time for pet care

should appreciate these characteristics of cats. However, many people who have plenty of space and time still

opt to have a cat because they love the cat personality. In many ways, cats are the ideal housepet.

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Sample “CATS” paper

No Thanks, We’re Dog People.

When my daughter was just three years old, she practiced Tai kwon do in a dojo next to a pet store. Three times

a week after practice we stopped in to see the kittens. While my husband and I tried to lure her to the puppies—

we were both dog people—she always stationed herself by the kittens. She would ask every time, “Can we?” to

which my husband and I would simultaneously reply, “No way.” After six months of this routine we convinced

ourselves that this was the type of responsibility she could use. Plus, she had worked the guilt card pretty good.

We were so excited as we surprised her one day by saying she could pick out a kitten to take home.

“Just one?”

It wasn’t the reaction we were expecting. But she proceeded to tell us, rather maturely for a three year old, that

she would rather not take one if it meant splitting up these two brothers whom she’d grown so fond of. Suckers

again, we soon walked out with two black and white Maine Coon kittens.

My daughter named them Ed and Eddy and their playfulness was constant entertainment in our home for

months to come. In true kitten fashion, they sprang from behind corners, climbed curtains, and chased anything

we rolled in front of them. Christmas that first year was a riot, as they practically knocked the tree down on a

daily basis, chasing each other through the branches, swatting at ornaments, and attacking garland. Most nights,

we left the television off and played with the kittens instead.

As our family grew to include another daughter, these kittens-turned-cats, were not jealous or despondent.

Instead, they remained the constant in our older daughter’s life. When our focus had to be on the new baby, Ed

and Eddy were there cuddled up to their girl, her arms wrapped around their big warm bodies like teddy bears.

Their loyalty never waned.

A small tragedy hit our family when we lost Eddy to a neighbor’s pit bull. Although I never thought much about

the impact the cats had on our family, it became obvious in those next months as we all mourned the loss. Of

course, my oldest daughter was the most upset and cried for weeks, but even my husband and I, self-proclaimed

“dogs-are-better-than-cats people” felt a strong loss. Our home wasn’t the same. Ed seemed lonely and sad. The

familiar eyes that greeted us routinely every morning were no longer there.

We moved on, of course. That same daughter who brought those kittens home twelve years ago, will be

heading to college in just a few more years and Ed will have reached old age. Already he shows signs. He is

needier than ever, wanting to go outside every morning at 4 am and let back in by 6:15. He eats less and sleeps

more. And even though my daughter still changes his litter box and cuddles him when he comes near, their

relationship is one of shifting priorities.

Soon, as if Ed were an elder family member, we will be taking care of him, our obligation driven by love, not

by necessity. My husband and I can accept that. We’ve finally admitted that, in general, cats are okay.

As for our Ed—you couldn’t ask for a better companion.