160 09 nov12
TRANSCRIPT
Part 1:How to Nail Your Essay
November 12, 2009
Today
1. Essay Workshop: Part 12. Jeopardy Quotation Selection
1: Read Comments from Earlier
1: Read Comments from Earlier
FormatStructureContentSentence-levelDocumentation
2. Talk to Your Instructor
3. Start Early
Topic Brainstorming Thesis Outline Research Draft Revision Final
4. Brainstorming
1. Start with every example that strikes your topic
2. List them all3. Start grouping in logical categories
4. Brainstorming/Outlining
Is Gertrude a good mother?
Topic
•Wants him to get out of his funk (1.2.68)•Unaware of Hamlet’s digs (1.2.75)•Wants him to stay at Elsinore (1.2.119)•More interested in R&G as Hamlet’s friends, not using him (2.2.19)•Diminishes “ov’r hasty marriage 2.2.56)•Wants to cut to the chase (2.2.97)•Want the extant reading (2.2.114)•Aware that he walks (2.2.161)•Wants the cause to be Ophelia (3.1.39)•Unaware of mirror in the play (3.2.210)•Polonius recognizes Gertrude as a buffer (3.4.1)•Gertrude unaware of Hamlet’s accusations (3.4.38)•Oblivious (3.4.50)•Understanding through her son (3.4.69)•Bothered by accusations (3.4.84; 181)•Looking for excuses (3.4.96; 127; 4.1.6))•Looks for advice (3.4.164)•Runs to Claudius (4.4)•Rats out Hamlet in favour of Claudius (4.5.124)•Helpful to other children: wants to listen to Ophelia to relieve her madness•Delivers news to Laertes that Ophelia is dead (4.7.134)•In the sword fight, Gertrude is on Hamlet’s side (5.2.230)
4. Brainstorming/Outlining
Is Gertrude a good mother?
Topic
•Wants him to get out of his funk (1.2.68)•Unaware of Hamlet’s digs (1.2.75)•Wants him to stay at Elsinore (1.2.119)•More interested in R&G as Hamlet’s friends, not using him (2.2.19)•Diminishes “ov’r hasty marriage 2.2.56)•Wants to cut to the chase (2.2.97)•Want the extant reading (2.2.114)•Aware that he walks (2.2.161)•Wants the cause to be Ophelia (3.1.39)•Unaware of mirror in the play (3.2.210)•Polonius recognizes Gertrude as a buffer (3.4.1)•Gertrude unaware of Hamlet’s accusations (3.4.38)•Oblivious (3.4.50)•Understanding through her son (3.4.69)•Bothered by accusations (3.4.84; 181)•Looking for excuses (3.4.96; 127; 4.1.6))•Looks for advice (3.4.164)•Runs to Claudius (4.4)•Rats out Hamlet in favour of Claudius (4.5.124)•Helpful to other children: wants to listen to Ophelia to relieve her madness•Delivers news to Laertes that Ophelia is dead (4.7.134)•In the sword fight, Gertrude is on Hamlet’s side (5.2.230)
5. Outline
6. Thesis
Concession-refutationExample: Although experts say that eating burnt
food can cause cancer, a child who refuses to eat a burnt marshmallow at summer camp could face more immediate consequences of social alienation.
Example: While Harlen may appear as a liar, he actually distinguishes between harmful lies and untruths that help people, justifying his transgressions of sincerity.
6. Thesis (cont’d)
Has to be an argument Cannot just be a restatement or
summary of plot Can begin as a “working thesis” that
changes as you write the paper Comes as the last sentence of the first
paragraph (the introduction) Can include a path (the main major
points you will be making)
6. Thesis: Example
7. Paragraph Mechanics
Is 6-12 sentences long—easy reading.
Begins with a topic sentence Is indented Expresses ONE idea Includes a transition Get away from the strictly five paragraphs!
7. The Perfect Paragraph
Topic Sentence
Topic Sentence
Point #3
Point #3
Point #2
Point #2
Point #1
Point #1
Concluding Sentence to Summarize and
Transition
Concluding Sentence to Summarize and
Transition
7. 4-F Test
FocusTopic Sentence
Fine PointsDetails
FlowTransitions
FinalityConcluding Sentence
8. Quote Integration
Frame all quotes with your own writing Spend as much time or more explaining each
quote as the quote is long Change tense or pronouns from original that
do not mesh with your own framing text Only put a comma before the quote if it
could be replaced with the word “that” Commas and periods belong inside quotation
marks Page number comes after the quote
8. Quote Integration
Use present tense when discussing any type of text or author.
Herrmann displays the statistics from her ethnographic survey she conducted in 1995.
She highlights a study that concludes “working women, even managers and professionals, perform 79% of the housework.”
8. Tense
The article was about the gender differences in garage sale sellers and buyers.
The author discussed how female buyers differ from male buyers.
8. Number
The article begins with a quote from Lisa McFarren who states that “I’ve known many men to have a garage sale.”
The author explicitly states that “my field research indicates there is indeed a division of labour.”
8. Quote Integration
Spend as much space discussing the direct quotation as is the length of the quote.
Quote too long? Summarise Paraphrase, or Use ellipses.
8. Block Quotations
Remember: spend the same space on the quote as the discussion
No quotations around a block quote Use a block quote if format of original is
important (eg poetry and stanza breaks) Use a block quote if quoting more than
three lines in your own writing
8. Other Direct Quotation Rules Never drop a quote without discussion of
it Too much altering (with brackets and
ellipses)? Summarize or paraphrase Use “sic” to denote any errors in the
original quote
9. Introduction
Gripping first sentence Background Narrow thesis Path No low-content spots No diving into details yet Write this last
10. Conclusion
Restate topic sentences (using new wording)
Remind the reader of how great your paper was
Write this second to last
Taking Stock