Writing a College Essay

WRITING PROCESS:
1. Invention      ( Prewriting )   Generate ideas; Don’t edit yet   Brainstorm
2. Drafting Get your ideas down   Write a rough draft     Writing as Discovery
     Don’t edit/proofread yet  Don’t censor  Reread and highlight
3. Revision  Add transitions   Add/rearrange/delete paragraphs  Proofread later  Recursive process

CHOOSING A TOPIC SO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
• Narrow your focus: paradoxically, you’ll have more to say and in more depth (college)
• Read and reread the text for clues (like Sherlock): then draw conclusions
• Start with an original, provocative idea (not just an example)
• Thesis: is a claim, an argument, something debatable that you have to prove
• Main claim is not just stated, but developed throughout every paragraph
• Avoid an example-based essay.
• Choose examples that support your claim
• Balance Bull writing (all assertions) and Cow writing (all examples)
• Learn to move seamlessly between assertion, support, assertion, support
• TEA π: topic (claim, not example)evidenceanalysis (shows how example supports your claim)
 
            THINK ABOUT STRUCTURE (and Trade-offs)
5-π Essay
Introduction
Thesis with 3 loosely-related points (economics, manners, marriage)
Point 1: Economics
Point 2: Manners
Point 3: Marriage
Conclusion: repeats thesis

• Formulaic, easy to plug in ideas, superficial on all topics, which are not well-related, overbroad focus, not a strong college-level essay which requires more depth, thought

Chronological Structure
Introduction; Thesis
Beginning of book
Middle of book
End of book
Conclusion: repeats thesis

• The default way to organize, but is moving chronologically the best way to build your argument? Re-think and re-organize this essay’s structure

Example-Based Essay
Introduction with Thesis
Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Conclusion: repeats thesis

• Cow writing with only one undeveloped, unexplored assertion (in intro); says nothing at all, merely completes the assignment.

 Thoughtfully-Structured Essay
Introduction
Thesis with narrow focus, clear claim, and an although clause
Claim 1: with examples that support it
Claim 2: with examples that support it
Claim 3: with examples that support it
Claim 4 (counters, Best Opposing Argument): Refutes BOA
Conclusion: refocuses on the central point and pulls together all the sub-points

• Most difficult to organize, but best chance of having the organization contribute to the thinking and development of your claim; can be 3, 4, 5, or 6 paragraphs, whatever works best for your ideas. Takes time to figure out. Paragraphs may need to be rearranged as you write or in revision. Most effective. Best essays, but takes thought and practice.

Blogging in the English Classroom

from The Digital Writing Workshop by Troy Hicks (Heinemann 2009)
(feel free to comment here or on your own blog)
"teachers could invite students to use a blog to post comments on a teacher-initiated discussion. Yet this would not be new, as it is simply using a traditional pedagogy (teacher-led discussion) with a new technology. Instead, if students used blogging in the ways that bloggers do--to reflect on their own ideas, comment on other blogs, and synthesize their readings from other sources--this would make the process new in the sense that students would be utilizing the full capacity of blogs as a literary practice, not just replicating traditional practices in an online space" (16)
How can we use blogging in new ways as a running and interactive commentary on your reading, writing, and discussion?

Analyze these introduced characters:
p.3, 16 18Mary, Kitty, Lydia
p.13-15 Charlotte Lucas
p. 17-18 Caroline Bingley
p.42, 45-7 Mr. Collins
p.49 Mr. Wickham
p.4-7, 10, 82 Phoeby
p.4-7, 8-20 Janie
p.12-20, 22-25, 89, 114 Nanny
p.21-27 30 Logan Killicks
p.28, 34, 87 Joe Starks
p.94 Tea Cake
p.139 Mrs. Turner
p.1-4 townspeople (gossips)
p.10-11 pear tree

How do Hurston and Austen introduce characters?

Begin your writing process by annotating Pride and Prejudice and brainstorming a list of ideas about how Hurston and Austen introduce characters. Upload a paragraph to turnitin.com by Sun. Aug. 29 at 10: on the topic. (Enroll in class id # 3367771 password: shakespeare.) Continue brainstorming ideas for your 3-5 page, college-level essay due Sun. Sept. 12. Narrow down your focus. Should you compare how Hurston vs. Austen introduce male characters, say Darcy vs. Tea Cake? Do you want to focus on the first then subsequent introductions of protagonists? Do you want to show similarities or contrasts between Hurston and Austen? How will structure such an essay? What examples will prove your point? What is your point? Make it a point to work on figuring out what you want to say.

BBC Adaptation of Pride and Prejudice on YouTube

Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet in the BBC adaptation

Below are links to YouTube clips from the classic BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, a work that every senior will read this year.

Meet the Bennets

Mr. Darcy Proposes

Professing Love