ESSAY ARCHITECT Written by Kristen Bowers for Secondary Solutions ISBN 0-9772295-9-9 2006 Secondary Solutions. All rights reserved. A classroom teacher who has purchased this guide may photocopy the materials in this publication for his/her classroom use only. Use or reproduction by a part of or an entire school or school system, by for-profit tutoring centers and like institutions, or for commercial sale, is strictly prohibited. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, translated or stored without the express written permission of the publisher. Created and printed in the United States of America. Secondary Solutions The First Solution for the Secondary Teacher www.4secondarysolutions.com 2006 Secondary Solutions - 1 - Essay Architect
Table of Contents ABOUT THIS ESSAY WRITING SYSTEM... 4 TEACHING THE SKILL OF ESSAY WRITING... 5 TEACHER GUIDE PART I: PREPARATION... 6 Essay Writing Terms... 7 Structure of the Essay... 9 Quiz #1 Essay Structure and Terminology... 11 Types of Essays... 13 Argumentative/Persuasive Essays...14 Cause and Effect Essays... 15 Compare and Contrast Essays... 16 Descriptive Essays... 17 Expository Essays... 18 Literary Analysis or Response to Literature Essays... 19 Reflective/Narrative Essays... 20 Quiz #2 Essay Types and Organization... 21 Essay Organization... 23 Reading an Essay Prompt... 24 TEACHER GUIDE PART II: PRACTICE... 25 Writing Effective Titles... 27 Writing Grabbers... 28 Writing Focus Statements... 30 Writing Better Thesis Statements... 32 Writing Topic Sentences... 34 Writing Powerful Challenges... 36 Audience, Tone, and Purpose... 37 Teacher Guide: Piecing an Essay Together... 39 Piecing an Essay Together... 40 Essay #1: Scrambled Expository...41 Piecing an Essay Together: Essay #1... 42 Essay #1: Complete Product... 43 Essay #2: Scrambled Compare/Contrast... 44 Piecing an Essay Together: Essay #2... 46 Essay #2: Complete Product... 47 Teacher Guide: Evaluating Essays... 48 Evaluating Essays... 49 Essay #3: Expository... 50 Essay Evaluation Rubric... 51 Essay #4: Expository... 53 Essay #5: Reflective/Narrative... 54 Essay #6: Literary Analysis/Response to Literature... 55 Essay #7: Expository... 56 Essay #8: Expository... 57 Essay #9: Expository... 58 Essay #10: Descriptive... 59 TEACHER GUIDE PART III: PERFORMANCE... 60 Pre-Writing Essay Planner A... 61 Pre-Writing Essay Planner B... 62 Pre-Writing Essay Planner C... 63 Essay Organizer... 64 Peer Editing Checklist... 66 2006 Secondary Solutions - 2 - Essay Architect
TEACHER GUIDE PART IV: POLISH... 67 Words to Avoid... 68 Word Choice... 69 Show, Don t Tell!... 71 Building Bridges... 72 Helpful Hints... 74 More Helpful Hints... 75 TEACHER GUIDE PART V: LITERARY ANALYSIS/RESPONSE TO LITERATURE... 76 Finding Supporting Quotations... 77 Literary Analysis/Response to Literature Essay Organizer... 78 Incorporating Quotations... 81 Literary Analysis/Response to Literature Peer Editing Checklist... 83 TEACHER GUIDE PART VI: WRITING RESEARCH PAPERS... 84 Writing Research Papers... 86 Finding Research Information... 88 Using Research Notes Pages... 89 Using Sources Pages... 90 Research Notes... 91 Sources... 92 Finding Internet Resources... 93 Evaluating Internet Sources... 94 MLA Format and Style... 95 Sample Works Cited Page: MLA Format... 97 Research Paper Peer Editing Checklist... 98 Essay Topic Ideas... 99 ANSWER KEY TO QUIZZES... 104 2006 Secondary Solutions - 3 - Essay Architect
Name Period Essay Writing Terms Title Introduction Grabber Focus Statement Thesis Statement Thesis Support Topic Sentence Body Paragraph Details Conclusion Modified Focus Modified Thesis Challenge Bridge Audience Formality Tone Purpose Organization Flow the name of your essay; should capture your audience s interest the first paragraph of an essay; includes grabber, focus statement, and thesis statement the first sentence of an essay; should grab the reader s attention; can be a question, exclamation, or powerful statement the topic or subject of your essay in complete sentence form; must be written in the form of a statement your opinion on the topic; must be written in the form of a statement a brief phrase that supports your thesis; used in the planning stages; eventually become topic sentences for body paragraphs thesis support in sentence form; the first sentence of a body paragraph; introduces the focus of the body paragraph a paragraph of support for the thesis; must have topic sentence and details and/or examples facts, statistics, sensory details, incidents, anecdotes, and examples that support the topic sentence of a body paragraph the last paragraph of an essay; includes a modified thesis and a challenge to the reader a restated focus statement in the concluding paragraph; should remind readers of the original topic a restated thesis statement; should remind readers of your opinion on the topic a provocative question, quotation, vivid image, call for action, warning, or suggestion to the reader; leaves reader thinking about your essay a transition word, phrase, or sentence connecting paragraphs; designed to help essay flow smoothly the reader(s) of your essay determined by the audience, the level by which you choose your words for an essay the attitude of the essay; word choice and word arrangement determine the tone the reason you are writing your essay (to express yourself, to inform your readers, to entertain, to describe, to analyze, etc.) the order in which your paragraphs and/or details are arranged the efficiency of an essay; good flow means that the essay is easy to read and paragraphs and ideas are well-connected 2006 Secondary Solutions - 7 - Essay Architect
Name Period Essay Writing Terms Title Introduction Grabber Focus Statement Thesis Statement Thesis Support Topic Sentence Body Paragraph Details Conclusion Modified Focus Modified Thesis Challenge Bridge Audience Formality Tone Purpose Organization Flow 2006 Secondary Solutions - 8 - Essay Architect