(cid:37)(cid:51)(cid:51)(cid:33)(cid:57)(cid:0)(cid:55)(cid:50)(cid:41)(cid:52)(cid:41)(cid:46)(cid:39) (cid:53)(cid:70)(cid:66)(cid:68)(cid:73)(cid:74)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:1)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:70)(cid:1)(cid:35)(cid:66)(cid:84)(cid:74)(cid:68)(cid:84)(cid:1)(cid:71)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:78)(cid:1)(cid:85)(cid:73)(cid:70)(cid:1)(cid:40)(cid:83)(cid:80)(cid:86)(cid:79)(cid:69)(cid:1)(cid:54)(cid:81) (cid:42)(cid:79)(cid:67)(cid:75)(cid:0)(cid:45)(cid:65)(cid:67)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:78)(cid:90)(cid:73)(cid:69) (cid:48)(cid:69)(cid:77)(cid:66)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:75)(cid:69)(cid:0)(cid:48)(cid:85)(cid:66)(cid:76)(cid:73)(cid:83)(cid:72)(cid:69)(cid:82)(cid:83)(cid:0)(cid:44)(cid:73)(cid:77)(cid:73)(cid:84)(cid:69)(cid:68) Dedicated to Janet © 2007PembrokePublishers 538 Hood Road Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 3K9 www.pembrokepublishers.com Distributed in the U.S. by Stenhouse Publishers 480 Congress Street Portland, ME 04101-3400 www.stenhouse.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information, storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Every effort has been made to contact copyright holders for permission to reproduce borrowed material. The publishers apologize for any such omissions and will be pleased to rectify them in subsequent reprints of the book. We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publish- ing activities. We acknowledge the assistance of the OMDC Book Fund, an initiative of the Ontario Media Development Corporation. LibraryandArchivesCanadaCataloguinginPublication Mackenzie, Jock Essay writing : teaching the basics from the ground up / Jock Mackenzie. Includes index. ISBN 13: 978-1-55138-210-4 ISBN 10: 1-55138-210-5 1. English language—Rhetoric. 2. Essay. I. Title. PE1471.M25 2007 808’.042 C2006-906978-6 Editor: Kat Mototsune Cover design: John Zehethofer Typesetting: Jay Tee Graphics Printed and bound in Canada 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Introduction 5 1 What is an Essay? 6 Defining the Essay 6 The Shape of the Essay 7 Acting Out an Essay 11 The Essay Outline 12 2 First Things First 15 Formal vs. Informal Writing 15 Creativity 17 Narrowing a Topic 18 3 Assessment and Marking 23 Marking the Essay 23 Checking Along the Way 25 Using Assessment Tools 27 A Final Word on Marking 29 4 Before Writing Begins 32 Planning the Essay 32 Gathering Information 43 Deciding on a Thesis Statement 51 5 The Body of the Essay 53 Developmental Paragraphs 53 Methods of Development 58 6 Beginnings and Endings 60 The Introductory Paragraph 60 The Concluding Paragraph 70 7 After Writing 75 Revising 75 Editing 80 8 Types of Essays 86 The Personal Essay 86 The Persuasive Essay 87 A Final Word: Celebrate 90 Bibliography 92 Index 93 Introduction Introduction Welcome, and thank you for being someone who reads introductions. It gives methechancetointroduce thebookyouareabouttoreadasacompilation of ideasandactivitiesthatIhavegleanedduringalifetimeofteaching.Italsocon- tainssomeofthebestpracticesofteacherswithwhomIhavehadthepleasureof working. This book is intended for teachers, especially those who teach in middle schoolorjuniorhigh.Itisanintroductiontoessaywriting,abookthatwillhelp teachers help students write better essays. Although I have not taught at the high-schoollevel,Ibelievethatthisbookmightbeofassistancetomanyteach- ers there as a review of the basics—just don’t expect it to bethe “goto” source for the upper grade levels. IhavewrittenthisbookinthewaythatIwouldwantonewrittentohelpmeif Iwerestillintheclassroom.ThesequenceisbasicallytheonethatIusedduring the latter years of my career—start at the beginning and continue until the parade is over. Included are notes and exercises for students, explanations of whathasworked(andwhathasn’tworked)forme,andtipsforteachingpartic- ular concepts. I hope my asides shed light on the business of teaching, not just the essay, but many of the prerequisites to essay writing. Within each chapter, thematerialispresentedaslessons.AndbecauseIwantedtomakethisresource as user-friendly as possible, reproducible forms and templates for assignments or notes have been placed within each of the lessons. Students often do not understand why they have to write essays. Middle- schoolstudentsaskifitistoacquireaskillneededinhighschool(“Preparation H” syndrome); high-school students believe it’s a skill required in college. As teachers, our task is to foster inquiring minds. The skills required to write an essayarethesameskillsrequiredtowriteaspeech,toprepareapersuasiveargu- ment, to prove apoint, to explain anidea—and onthe list goes.Ifwecanhelp our students acquire these skills as we “teach” the essay, we will have assisted theminaccomplishingtrulyvaluablelifeskills.Inmyexperience(aphraseoften repeatedinthepagesthatfollow),essayshaveabadreputationamongstudents. Ifwecanteachessaywritinginawaythatengagesandchallengesthem,wecan change their opinions about essays and writing. Poet Donald Hall once said, “The best writing is like the letter O. But the writer only writes the letter C. It is the reader who fills the gap with his or her own experience.” I am not suggesting that this book is the “best writing.” I am suggestingthatonceyouhavereadit,ataskremains.Yourtask,dearreader,isto fill in the gaps for your students. Massage the information to suit your needs, mold the materials so that they are appropriate for your classes, and make it your own. Best wishes. Introduction 5 WhatIsanEssay? 1 What Is an Essay? The only place where “success” comes before “work” is in the dictionary. Istartwiththisquoteforthesimplereasonthatsomeofwhatweneedtoknow aboutessaysisnotparticularlyentertaining.Itmightevenseemlikework.Hang in there; it gets better. Defining the Essay M.H. Abrams notes that the essay is “Any short composition in prose that undertakestodiscussamatter,expressapointofview,orpersuadeustoaccept a thesis on any subject.” Forme,theessayhasalwaysbeenathingforteachinginthespring.Iseethe planning, researching, and writing of an essay as a major project. A variety of prerequisite skills—idea gathering, topic narrowing, topic sentence and para- graphwriting,andmore—arerequired.AsthemonthsfromSeptembertoFeb- ruary or March pass, I try to build the anticipation toward the opportunity for essay writing. I think about how Tom Sawyer convinced his friends to white- wash Aunt Polly’s fence: “…Ireckonthereain’toneboyinathousand,maybetwothousand,thatcan do it the way it’s got to be done.” That’s how I try to make essay writing—a task worthy of care, attention, and anticipation. Althoughhowyouactuallydefineanessaywilldependonyouandyourclass, you will probably want to cover the following in a very basic way: (cid:127) the purpose of an essay (cid:127) the basic structure of an essay (cid:127) how the essay structure fulfills the purpose (cid:127) types of essays (cid:127) what an essay is not When the time finally arrives, I use cloze notes to reinforce how we, as a class, have defined the essay. I believe that cloze notes take the drudgery out of note taking,providetheessentialskeletonfortidynotes,reinforcethekeyelementsof whatisbeingstudied,andshowstudentsthatyouareusingnotetakingforarea- sonable, helpful purpose and not just to give yourself an extended coffee break. 6 Essay Writing The Defining the Essay: Cloze Teaching Tip Exercise on page 8 has blanks for students to fill in; the completed (cid:1)Note that the very first idea in the cloze exercise underscores the notion that an essay version on page 9 can be used as an is anopportunitythat allows a student to choose a topic of personal interest and the overhead projection. challenge to explain it to others. The Shape of the Essay Formanyoftoday’sstudents,anessayisfivetosevenparagraphsofprosewrit- ingthat explains orpersuades. Theactuallengthofthe bodyofthe essayisnot particularlyrelevant.Whatisimportantisthatstudentsunderstandthegeneral overview of the essay. Iliketobeginwithapicture.MystudentsknowthatIpromotevisualization, soitdoesn’tcomeasasurprisetomostofthemthatIhaveaPictureofanEssay (page 10) up my painter’s smock. For another example of a visual tool, In class, I just draw a bunch of lines on the board. As this is a teacher refer- see the Picture of a Paragraph on page ence, I jazzed up my artistic rendition to create what you see on page 10—but 54 and the formula for a topic the essence is the same. I take students through my Picture step-by-step. sentence (page 55). 1. The introductory paragraph is relatively short. On a classroom whiteboard I draw my lines in green to symbolizeGo. It is the beginning and invites the reader to proceed.The concluding paragraph—in red to symbolizeStop—is also quite short. 2. The body paragraphs are longer than either the introduction or conclusion. The left margins are as straight asan arrow, as a teacher’s path to the coffee machine, or as a Sunday-school teacher’s sense of humor. While the right margins are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, a politician’s promise, or a principal’s path to the point he is trying to make, they are straight enough to centre the writing as would a picture frame. Arrows join the paragraphs, showing that the preceding one is connected to the latter. 3. The sentences in blue on my classroom whiteboard are the topic sentences. Topic sentences, in individual paragraphs, will have been taught earlier in the year and in previous grades. When I am drawing and coloring the essay picture, I will remind students of the concept of a topic sentence, but won’t dwell on it until we look at some exemplars (see pages 56–57). Teaching Tips (cid:1)I often draw an arrow from the concluding paragraph back to the introduction because the “cyclic return” is such a common technique. (cid:1)When hyphens are included, I use this opportunity to give a mini-lesson on syllabication. (cid:1)See page 56 if your students need a lesson on varying positions for the topic sentence. What Is an Essay? 7 Defining the Essay: Cloze Exercise Name: ______________________________ An essay is an opportunity to ___________________________________________________ and to _____________________________. In its most basic form, an essay is five ______________ written about _____________________________. One paragraph _______________ the topic, three body paragraphs tell _________________________, and the final paragraph acts as a ________________________. An essay is a series of paragraphs where you : __________________________________________________, then you __________________________________________, and then you _______________________________________. An essay is “any short composition in prose that undertakes to (cid:1) discuss a matter, (cid:1) _________________________________, (cid:1) or________________________________________(main idea) on any subject.” What an essay is not: (cid:1) an_____________________ —a longer piece found in a newspaper or magazine (cid:1) a ______________________ —an account or a statement of facts (cid:1) a ______________________ —“Hey, essay, how’s it goin’? Whassup?” © 2007Essay Writingby Jock Mackenzie. Pembroke Publishers. Permission to copy for classroom use. 8 Defining the Essay: Cloze Completed An essay is an opportunityto find out about a topic of interest to you and to explain it to a reader. In its most basic form, an essay is fiveparagraphswritten about a topic of your choice. One paragraphintroducesthe topic, three body paragraphs tellabout the topic, and the final paragraph acts as a conclusion. An essay is a series of paragraphs where you: Tell ’em what you’re gonna tell ’em, then youTell ’em, and then youTell ’em what you told ’em. An essay is “any short composition in prose that undertakes to (cid:1) discuss a matter, (cid:1) express a point of view, (cid:1) orpersuade us to accept a thesis (main idea) on any subject.” What an essay is not: (cid:1) anarticle—a longer piece found in a newspaper or magazine (cid:1) areport—an account or a statement of facts (cid:1) agreeting—“Hey, essay, how’s it goin’? Whassup?” © 2007Essay Writingby Jock Mackenzie. Pembroke Publishers. Permission to copy for classroom use. 9