December
19
ELA A10: Dec 19
- Students are continuing to write their essay based on the two essay questions given to them yesterday.
- Some students began with their introductory paragraph, instead of following the assignment to write the body paragraphs first.
- We discussed, in an awkward way, the importance of only listing the topics of the body paragraphs in the thesis and not before that. I am finding that a lot of students write their intro using three sentences to explain the three topics they will write and then add their thesis sentence. It is repetitive and uninteresting for the reader.
- Some ‘Things to watch for’ in essay writing we discussed:
- Try to keep the verb tense consistent. (Don’t switch back and forth between past and present. Pick one and follow through.)
- Avoid the use of contractions in a formal essay. (Write out the two words a contraction usually combines, such as ‘do not’ instead of ‘don’t’ or ‘will not’ instead of ‘won’t’.)
- Avoid personal pronouns and first person opinions. Instead of saying “I believe the reasons for this are… ” say simply “The reasons for this are…”
- Of ultimate importance, avoid, at all costs, saying “In this essay I will discuss………” No!!!!!!!! That’s a no-no! Never tell someone that’s reading your essay that they’re reading an essay. It’s elementary and we are much more advanced in writing than that.