Essays Need an Interesting Main Point!

Get to the Point!

Your essay needs an interesting main point or it will just be a series of examples. Make sure you dig deep and discover your best, most provocative idea. Write and re-write until your thesis sentence (and the sentences before it) clearly communicate your idea.

First English IV blogging assignment: Post your Thesis

1. Open your blog and on the top right of the menu bar, click on ‘New Post.’
2. Type in a title (a working title for your essay that communicates your main idea).
3. Type in a working thesis. This can approximate the actual sentence or sentences you plan to use OR in plain language it can state what the main idea of your essay is.
4. Click “SAVE.” You can EDIT your thesis by clicking on the pencil icon in the lower right.
• Make sure your thesis clearly communicates a claim or point that is debatable or controversial (not just an obvious fact, such as Austen introduces characters with foils).
• Avoid a list (especially a list of three): “Austen uses Showing, Telling, and Foils to introduce characters.”  Some examples follow:
     #1             Conflicting First Impressions
Austen employs town gossip as a method of introducing character, implanting first impressions in the reader’s head.
     #2              Different Character Introductions for Different Authors
Austen adopts the voice of the class-conscious public while Graham Greene gives open-ended impressions to let the reader decide.
      #3              The Dichotomy of Character Introductions
Austen introduces characters in two ways: first, since superficial details are of the utmost importance to her society, she supplies superficial information before the reader meets the character. Second, Austen describes the characters’ actions to set up a contrast that readers must resolve for themselves. add sentence?
  #4                     Austen Teaches Readers
By introducing Darcy and Bingley through gossip and the opinions of others, Austen creates first impressions that she will later break down, teaching readers not to prejudge anyone.
  #5                   Mr. Bennet, the Lovable Bully
Despite Bennet’s imperfections as a prudent father, his witty perceptions make him an ironically likable figure who satirizes his surrounding, lending the reader a detached perspective on Austen’s world.
  #6                  An Examination of Class and Economy through Mr. Hurst
Despite his seemingly weak presence in the novel, Hurst is the epitome of the triviality of Austen’s class-conscious aristocracy, a representative of all she satirizes. (most votes!)
   #7                How Minor Characters Help Develop Major Ones
Darcy’s basic demeanor, general façade and even integrity are continually judged by the biases of others. He is often compared negatively with others, such as Wickham and Bingley, and is rarely characterized directly by the narrator. Darcy’s multidimensional and nuanced nature is depicted by a complex cast of minor characters, who flesh out his complexities over time.
 
 Which is your favorite and why?  #6? #7
What do we expect from a title? Catchy, not interchangable, main idea
What do we expect from a thesis? Clear writing, predicts essay's point, not too wordy, direct but doesn't oversimplify

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