Essay Writing Workshop. Transitioning into a New Type of Writing

Transcription

1 Essay Writing Workshop Transitioning into a New Type of Writing

2 Finishing off Literary Criticism - Let s take a brief look at how you can use literary criticism in your own assignments.

3 The Hamburger Essay Don t fret - even if you are comfortable with this style, you can upgrade it to a more complex style. A way to transition into a new style of essay writing is trying a 5 section essay.

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5 The 5 Section Essay

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7 Essay Feedback, Part 2 Getting ready for ENG4U

8 Overview 1) Communication and Application 2) Thesis 3) Titles 4) Quote Modification 5) Introductions 6) Paragraphs and Transitions

9 1) Communication and Application 1. Present tense; Double check this in every essay! Your whole Essay needs to be in one consistent tense, do not flip flop for any reason! 2. Font is 12 pt, Times New Roman for everything! 3. I did not take off marks for this, but ENG4U will grade harshly if you pencil/pen items into your paper. 4. No spacing between paragraphs or title!

10 2) Thesis - What you used to write William Shakespeare s Macbeth shows how characters can be corrupted by power. Macbeth, the main character of the play, usurps a King he respects. The protagonist also kills his own allies whom he sees are a threat. Macbeth also ignores the suffering of his family. William Shakespeare s Macbeth shows that the dominant theme of the play is power corrupts. - Grade 9 and 10 rulebook says have a general thesis. This is TOO general for the university level.

11 2) Thesis - Try this instead: William Shakespeare s Macbeth shows how characters can be corrupted by power. Macbeth, the main character of the play, usurps a King he respects. The protagonist also kills his own allies whom he sees are a threat. Macbeth also ignores the suffering of his family. William Shakespeare s Macbeth shows how a person will sacrifice the lives of others to gain power for themselves - This statement is more refined and reflects your analysis.

12 3) Titles Great effort in making titles, however, this is the way the titles should be done: The American Nightmare: Death and Destruction An Analysis of the American Dream in The Great Gatsby Don t underline your whole title!

13 4) Quote Integration With proper quote integration, you will need to change the tense to match the rest of your paper. Instead of this: It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself...

14 When Nick meets Gatsby, he is entranced by him and describes how,...[gatsby s face] underst[ands] you just as far as you wan[t] to be understood, believe[s] in you as you would like to believe in yourself... 4) Quote Integration When Nick meets Gatsby, he is entranced by him and describes how, It understood you just as far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself... The quote turns into:

15 4) Quote Integration I m glad it s a girl. And I hope she ll be a fool - that s the best thing a girl can be in this world, a beautiful little fool.

16 5) Introductions

17 6) Transitions Concluding Sentence (from 1st body paragraph): Although Macbeth knows that the King will reward his success, he kills Duncan anyways, thus proving that Macbeth is corrupted by his quest for power. AVOID: Secondly, Macbeth kills his own friends to fulfill his personal agenda. INSTEAD: Not only does Macbeth kill authority figures, but he also sacrifices his friendships to secure his power. Banquo, for example, is a character loyal to Macbeth but

18 6) Paragraphs

19 indent In addition to the play being a tool for educating students on the history of Anti-Semitism, students will also learn to challenge how they view situations of bullying and discrimination. In the Merchant of Venice, students receive conflicting information about Shylock; the information forces the reader to create their own conclusions about the character. For example, Shylock is described by other characters (such as his daughter and former servant) as a greedy household master who values possessions over relationships. However, Shylock does show that he cares about social justice and the well being of his daughter, concepts which are sometimes separate from wealth (insert quotation). This is important because students will be challenged to not take the viewpoints of characters in the play at face value, which will in turn help students to explore and interpret different point of view in the conflicts they encounter in their own lives. The Merchant of Venice provides learning opportunities that extend past the learning goals of an English class.