Rules of Writing Essays REMINDERS — Check list – Flashcards

RULES OF ESSAY WRITING: MLA: Double space 1" margins Times New Roman 12 font

2. Thesis statement at/near end of introduction paragraph. THESIS STATEMENT STRUCTURE: Subject + Action Verb + Direct Object + plus how/ through what The thesis statement controls the entire essay for topics The rest of the essay is about your thesis statement (DO NOT CHICKEN WALK)

Use 3rd person pronouns — sometimes 1st - if called for if writing personal essays or a letter to Grammy. NEVER USE YOU................. only for giving directions and HOW TO books.

Upper level, academic --appropriate vocabulary — simplistic and to the point. Avoid high level words that mean nothing. Make them enhance your meaning.

Tell them what you are going to talk about, tell what you will tell them , and then tell them what you told them. Opening Paragraph, body paragraphs, conclusion paragraph

8. Use ACTION verbs — avoid passive verbs Is, are, was, were , be, being, been.

Use TRANSITION WORDS between ideas. transitions are phrases or words used to connect one idea to the next •transitions are used by the author to help the reader progress from one significant idea to the next •transitions also show the relationship within a paragraph (or within a sentence) between the main idea and the support the author gives for those ideas •different transitions do different things....

Paragraphs must contain a topic sentence. The information in the paragraph must support the topic sentence with concrete details (facts, paraphrase, or quote) that relate to the topic sentence

YOU MUST CITE all paraphrases and quotes — follow them with explanations of how they relate or support the topic sentence or thesis, Reference info such as author name, full tile of the work, publication year etc.

Summary sentence at end of every paragraph/section TO BRING THE ESSAY TOGETHER.

ADDITIONS indeed, further, as well (as this), either (neither), not only (this) but also (that) as well, also, moreover, what is more, as a matter of fact, in all honesty, and, furthermore, in addition (to this), besides (this), to tell the truth, or, in fact, actually, to say nothing of, too, let alone, much less additionally, nor, alternatively, on the other hand, not to mention (this), INTRODUCTIONS such as, as, particularly, including, as an illustration, for example, like, in particular, for one thing, to illustrate for instance, especially, notably, by way of example, Reference: speaking about (this), considering (this), regarding (this), with regards to (this), as for (this), concerning (this), the fact that on the subject of (this) SIMILARITY similarly, in the same way, by the same token, in a like manner, equally likewise, IDENTIFICATION that is (to say), namely, specifically, thus, CLARIFICATION that is (to say), I mean, (to) put (it) another way in other words, ADVERSATIVE TRANSITIONS These transitions are used to signal conflict, contradiction concession, dismissal, &c. CONFLICT but, by way of contrast, while, on the other hand, however, (and) yet, whereas, though (final position), in contrast, when in fact, conversely, still EMPHASIS even more, above all, indeed, more importantly, besides CONCESSION but even so, nevertheless, even though, on the other hand, admittedly, however, nonetheless, despite (this), notwithstanding (this), albeit (and) still, although, in spite of (this), regardless (of this), (and) yet, though, granted (this), be that as it may, DISMISSAL either way, whichever happens, in either event, in any case, at any rate, in either case, whatever happens, all the same, in any event, REPLACEMENT (or) at least, (or) rather, instead Causal Transitions: These transitions signal cause/effect and reason/result, etc. . . Cause/Reason: for the (simple) reason that, being that, for, in view of (the fact), inasmuch as, because (of the fact), seeing that, as, owing to (the fact), due to (the fact that), in that since, forasmuch as, CONDITION on (the) condition (that), granted (that), if, provided that, in case, in the event that, as/so long as, unless given that, granting (that), providing that, even if, only if, EFFECT / RESULT as a result (of this), consequently, hence, for this reason, thus, because (of this), in consequence, so that, accordingly as a consequence, so much (so) that, so, therefore, PURPOSE for the purpose of, in the hope that, for fear that, so that, with this intention, to the end that, in order to, lest with this in mind, in order that, so as to, so, CONSEQUENCES under those circumstances, then, in that case, if not, that being the case, if so, otherwise SEQUENTIAL TRANSITIONS: These transitions are used to signal a chronological or logical sequence. NUMERICAL in the (first, second, etc.) place, initially, to start with, first of all thirdly, (&c.) to begin with, at first, for a start, secondly, Continuation: subsequently, previously, eventually, next, before (this), afterwards, after (this), then CONCLUSION to conclude (with) as a final point, eventually, at last, last but not least, in the end, finally, lastly, DIGRESSION to change the topic incidentally, by the way, Resumption: to get back to the point, to resume anyhow, anyway, at any rate, to return to the subject, SUMMATION: as was previously stated, so, consequently, in summary, all in all, to make a long story short, thus, as I have said, to sum up, overall, as has been mentioned, then, to summarize, to be brief, briefly, given these points, in all, on the whole, therefore, as has been noted, hence, in conclusion, in a word, to put it briefly, in sum, altogether, in short,