Essay Tips

Stage 5 – Draft (bring to class on Friday Jan. 9  for peer evaluation) – go step by step to add the “fancy parts” and fix up your content. If you have any corrections to make to the sub-topics, do them in the outline before you convert them from table to text.

2014-15 (Young and Old Workers)

MsG_Essay_Draft1_Dec_2014

MsG_Essay_Drafts2+3_Dec_2014

MsG_Essay_Draft4_Dec_2014 (yet to finish conclusion and implications)

MsG_Essay_Draft5_Dec_2014 (need to finish implications)

MsG_Essay_Draft6_Dec_2014 (need to tidy up implications and work theory in) – Dec. 23

MsG_Essay_Draft7_Dec_2014 (mostly finished except for theory in implications)

MsG_Final_Essay__Jan_2015 (Congratulations! I hope you feel the same sense of achievement as I do now when you finish your essay.)

 

Last Year (Precarious Work)

Ms_G_Sample_Draft_1 (first)

Ms_G_Sample_Draft_2 (added conclusion)

Ms_G_Sample_Draft_3 (added part of implications)

Ms_G_Sample_Draft_4 (finished implications, rest of definitions)

Once you get your outline back, please start working on your draft, piece by piece, incorporating Ms G’s comments. For the body of the essay, turn your outline table into paragraphs. (Eliminate the heading column. Highlight the rest of the table: go to the layout menu, click on convert table to text.) Remember that it is worth your while to make the changes; if you improve on the evidence and/or argument mark on the essay, Ms. G will excuse your thinking and/or application mark for the outline.

Each sub-topic becomes a paragraph. You can introduce each paragraph with a general topic sentence if you want. You don’t need to but it does improve flow. Make sure your heading is clear and descriptive. It improves flow (eliminates choppiness) if you add sentences between your pieces of evidence.

You should incorporate key concepts and define them (and cite) where necessary. Bold all key concepts so they are easily visible. Don’t forget that you need at least one theory or school of thought.

For peer evaluation, it is better to bring something than nothing. We will be using the Essay Editing Checklist (in your CCA package) so please make sure you have it with you.

15_HSB4U_Essay_Editing_Checklist_Marks

Tour Guide Analogy:

You (the writer) are the tour guide, I (the reader) am the tourist. Be kind to me.  I could easily get lost if you didn’t structure the essay properly: the intro is to welcome me, catch my interest and tell me what’s going to be on the tour. The conclusion / implications paragraphs are there to remind me of what you wrote and show me that you’ve reflected on the process.

Buying Into the Intro / Conclusion / Implications

If you look at the rubric you will see that considerable amounts of marks are available for the structural elements. It is definitely worth investing time in these things.

Intro

Here’s a different way to see the intro – as a conversation between you and the reader (who doesn’t know anything about your topic):

• Catchy intro –  hey reader, here’s an interesting piece of info (a stat) you might not know about my topic
• List of questions/issues that drove your research – hey reader, here are some questions that guided me while I was researching this topic
• Sub-topics that resulted from these questions – hey reader, here are the sub-topics I ended up researching as a result of those questions
• Thesis – hey reader, here is what I’m going to prove in this essay

HSB4M Sample CCA Essay Introduction

HSB4M Sample CCA Conclusion & Implications

 Setting Aside Drafting Time

Take out your agenda. Plan when you will work on the structural elements of your essay. Don’t write them at the last minute. They require multiple drafts to get them right. Polish and perfect. Get feedback.

Incorporating Definitions

Go back to your list of key concepts from the Proposal. Whenever you use a term in your essay, define it and BOLD it. Look at the knowledge section of the rubric: there are marks for using and defining key concepts appropriately.

13_Writing Tips & Structure Tips

14_Common grammar errors HSB

16_New HSB4U_Research_Paper_Rubric

 

 

Final essay is due at the beginning of class on Wed. Jan. 14. Essays will not be accepted after this date unless you have spoken to me about exceptional circumstances.

Please make sure the essay is double-spaced, includes page numbers, and has the rubric attached. Don’t forget the Reference page. Title page should include:

• Your name
• Title of the essay (not the topic)
• Date
• Course Code (HSB4U)
• Teacher name (Ms. please)
• School

 

 

 

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