...starting a paragraph with a topic sentence, your audience may immediately identify your topic. This construction also helps you, the writer, stay focused on your subject. Consider the following example of an essay introduction: The first sentence is the topic sentence: It tells the readers they will learn about past narratives. The sentences that follow the topic sentence relate to the topic sentence because they provide examples of past narratives. Finally, the last sentence is the thesis of the essay, which expresses the author’s position on the topic and previews what the entire paper is about. You learn more about writing effective introductions later in this course. Supporting Paragraphs Every paragraph after your introduction must be a supporting paragraph. A supporting paragraph supports or proves your thesis. All supporting paragraphs must include a topic sentence. You may then develop the supporting paragraphs within your paper by using one or more of the following methods: • Examples and illustrations • Data, facts, or historical or personal details • A simple story, or narrative • Descriptions • Division and classification • Analysis • Process analysis • Definitions • Cause-effect • Comparison-contrast • Argument The previous paragraph about journals used examples to support the topic sentence. Consider the paragraph following the introduction:...
Words: 1214 - Pages: 5
...How to Say Nothing in 500 Words by Paul Roberts, an essay, discusses common mistakes made by college freshmen in academic writing. During my semester of Intro to Expository Writing, my academic writing has greatly improved. My writing started as “Elementary school was like a fairytale; there was a pretty princess and a handsome prince, but I was an evil villain.” And has grown to “Through her diction, Walls creates various tones in order to convey to her audience that despite obstacles, it is possible to escape from a dysfunctional family in hopes of a brighter future.” Using How to Say Nothing in 500 Words, I will be evaluating my own writing by discussing my strengths, weaknesses, and how I have grown as a writer. Writing narratives have always been a personal struggle for me. Unless I passionately come up with a story, and immediately write it on paper, my narratives are bland. It is hard to write personal life-changing stories when I have a deadline. One weakness of mine is using colorful words. For example, a sentence from my personal narrative was written as “It was magnificent with its stained green carpet and plenty of wooden bookshelves stocked with colorful books.” In retrospect, this is how it could have been written, “The spacious library had wooden bookshelves stuffed with leather-bound books, which rested on gritty emerald carpet.”...
Words: 582 - Pages: 3
...CLRC Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Introduction Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark ...
Words: 797 - Pages: 4
...essay writers run into is “How to write an essay.” usually roughly all essays follow a common structure of writing which comprises of an introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Once the writers are lucid about the technique of writing an essay and how to write an essay outline, the next step that they face up to is how to move toward a particular research paper topic. And what type of writing works best? Students often complain about a certain type of essay they have been assigned with. It seems to them that writing within essay type boundaries doesn’t allow them to think out the box, limits their potential. But writing a paper without any directions could be even more confusing than the class assignment you got. Do not think about the limitations as of the prison walls, but as of the walls in your room where you feel free to paint murals or change nothing whatsoever, simply being in control of it, being yourself. Tweet Quick Navigation through the Types of Essays Page Basic Types: Narrative, Descriptive and Persuasive How Can We Help Personal Essays Argumentation Essays Information Essays Analysis Essays Description Essays Structural Essays Download Free Sample of Essay Essay Sample Essay Free Sample (Click the image to enlarge) Essay Free Sample Basic Types: Narrative, Descriptive and Persuasive The most valuable skill when writing an essay is to know exactly what you are dealing with. That’s why...
Words: 2955 - Pages: 12
...When comparing Paul McHenry Roberts narrative essay "How to Say Nothing in 500 Words" and Maya Angelou's descriptive essay "Sister Flowers", Roberts essay holds superior because he uses 2nd point of person, relate-able topics, and problem solving strategies in his essay. By using descriptive language, an author has the power to tantalize their readers simply by word usage. Descriptive language "refers to words that are vivid, expressive, and highly specific to the topic" (Connell & Sole, 2013). For example, in the essay "How To Say Nothing in 500 Words", the author sets the mood by stating, "It's Friday afternoon, and you have almost survived another week of class" (Roberts, 2013). All college students, the author's intended audience, can relate to anticipating the weekend, and a break from the stresses of college coursework. In speaking directly to the reader, second-person point of view, the author, Paul McHenry Roberts, establishes an intimate connection. Roberts uses humor within the body of the essay as well, furthering the connection between himself and his audience. Roberts states, "All subjects, except sex, are dull until someone makes them interesting." (Roberts). He further goes on about how to set up a unique paper. Roberts lists examples of different topics throughout this essay. He creates an informative essay about writing on much-debated topics by thinking outside the box. As Roberts illustrates by stating" Picture poor old Alfy coming home from football...
Words: 919 - Pages: 4
...CLRC Writing Center Structure of a Personal Narrative Essay “Narrative” is a term more commonly known as “story.” Narratives written for college or personal narratives, tell a story, usually to some point, to illustrate some truth or insight. Following are some tools to help you structure your personal narrative, breaking it down into parts. The “Hook” Start your paper with a statement about your story that catches the reader’s attention, for example: a relevant quotation, question, fact, or definition. Set the Scene Provide the information the reader will need to understand the story: Who are the major characters? When and where is it taking place? Is it a story about something that happened to you, the writer, or is it fiction? Thesis Statement The thesis of a narrative essay plays a slightly different role than that of an argument or expository essay. A narrative thesis can begin the events of the story: “It was sunny and warm out when I started down the path”; offer a moral or lesson learned: “I’ll never hike alone again”; or identify a theme that connects the story to a universal experience: “Journeys bring both joy and hardship.” “Show, Don’t Tell” Good story telling includes details and descriptions that help the reader understand what the writer experienced. Think about using all five senses—not just the sense of sight—to add details about what you heard, saw, and felt during the event. For example, “My heart jumped as the dark shape of the brown grizzly lurched...
Words: 797 - Pages: 4
...Converting Ideas to Third Person for College Level Writing by Professor Adri-anne Jones In most instances, college freshmen enter college knowing how to write their ideas in first person, I and second person, you but have had little if any experience with third person writing. Therefore, many first-year college students are not prepared to write the typical academic essay and research paper. For the most part, the purpose of writing in the academic environment is to inform, to report, and to persuade. Therefore, the writing style is expected to be formal since students will be engaged in writing research papers, essays, book reports, critiques, proposals, and responses to literary writings. In these formal and academic writing situations—in most cases—the focus is on the subject and not the writer. Therefore, it is crucial that college freshmen learn to master third person writing before they complete their course requirements for freshman composition. Even though argument and persuasive writing is based on the writer’s personal opinion or position on an issue, the writer’s opinion is most often presented in third person. Rather than to write I think . . . or I believe . . . or I feel . . ., the writer should simply state his or her opinion without making a first person reference. For example, the academic writer should avoid such statements like I feel that the restoration of prayer in public schools could likely remedy the lack of discipline in classrooms...
Words: 1135 - Pages: 5
...N I N G O B J E C T I V E S 10 1. Identify the purpose and structure of narrative writing. 2. Recognize how to write a narrative essay. Rhetorical modes simply mean the ways in which we can effectively communicate through language. This chapter covers nine common rhetorical modes. As you read about these nine modes, keep in mind that the rhetorical mode a writer chooses depends on his or her purpose for writing. Sometimes writers incorporate a variety of modes in one essay. In covering the nine rhetorical modes, this chapter also emphasizes these as a set of tools that will allow you greater flexibility and effectiveness in communicating with your audience and expressing your ideas. rhetorical modes The ways in which we effectively communicate through language. 1.1 The Purpose of Narrative Writing Narration means the art of storytelling, and the purpose of narrative writing is to tell stories. Any time you tell a story to a friend or family member about an event or incident in your day, you engage in a form of narration. In addition, a narrative can be factual or fictional. A factual story is one that is based on, and tries to be faithful to, actual events as they unfolded in real life. A fictional story is a made-up, or imagined, story; the writer of a fictional story can create characters and events as he or she sees fit. However, the big distinction between factual and fictional narratives is based on a writer’s purpose. The writers of factual stories try to recount...
Words: 14947 - Pages: 60
...I would categorize my senior year as one of wild progression when it came to my writing. Senior year mirrors my sophomore year almost exactly when it comes to just pure progression. In that sophomore year, I greatly improved in an area that had irked me for years, the organization of content, and I grew in other critical areas throughout the course of this year. While I would consider my writing far more refined than it was in 10th grade, there are still multiple core elements that I always work to improve. The first few journals last semester echoed the thoughts of a teen who refused to take risks in his writing, who couldn’t be told his faults without a fear of personal attack. Last year the majority of my writing was for AP courses, and...
Words: 951 - Pages: 4
...Chapter three is the first of the narratives, and describes the work Ann Preston, who was a graduate of the first class of the Women’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, and eventually became the professor of physiology at the school, and later a dean. Most of her writing was anonymous, a strategy referred to as “cross dressing,” as she presented herself as a “regular” (male) physician, and was only distinguishable as a woman by her work in prevention and hygiene which were considered to be feminine interests at the time. Wells argues that this strategy was functional in protecting the integrity of the college, but had personal and professional costs for Preston. In chapter four, Wells compares theses written by the female students of the Women’s...
Words: 417 - Pages: 2
...On Becoming a Writer 1 On Becoming a Writer English Composition April 27, 2013 On Becoming a Writer 3 The main idea of the essay is the fact that the author always had the desire to be a writer but he was faced with the difficult of writing during his time at school, his English classes were very hard and confused. The others points I found on this essay is: * The author faced and thought that only the rich people could write and that being a writer as professional did not have a good future, but even that he had begun to think about being a writer. So in his third year at college things changed for him. * When his class assigned to Mr. Fleagle, he was waiting another sad and dull year because the Mr. Fleagle was recognized as a person with no inspiration, no glare, his way of dressing or even his physical characteristics made the students in the city do not have a good conception of Mr. Fleagle. * Another important point that the author cites in his essay is he was not disappointed for a long time, because he expected an antipathetic professor. Also he cites the teacher wanted his students to like Macbeth, but the teacher didn’t know how to influence the students’ whit that passion he had for Macbeth. The author makes a citation which one the teacher always used in the classroom and is very interesting “do not you see”, the author claims it as his teacher was placed in front of students in a tone of mild surprise ignorance of them. ...
Words: 750 - Pages: 3
...Roen−Glau−Maid: The McGraw−Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life, 2/e II. Using What You’ve Learned to Share Information The McGraw-Hill Guide: Writing for College, Writing for Life, Second Edition 4. Writing to Share Experience © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2011 13 Reading, Inquiry, and Research ■ PART 2 | Using What You Have Learned to Share Information 57 TANYA BARRIENTOS Se Habla Español MEMOIR he man on the other end of the phone line is 1 Tanya Maria telling me the classes I’ve called about are firstBarrientos has rate: native speakers in charge, no more than six stuwritten for the dents per group. Philadelphia “Conbersaychunal,” he says, allowing the fat vow- 2 Inquirer for more than els of his accented English to collide with the sawedtwenty years. off consonants. I tell him that will be fi ne, that I’m familiar with 3 Barrientos was born in Guatethe conversational setup, and yes, I’ve studied a bit mala and raised of Spanish in the past. He asks for my name and I in El Paso, Texas. Her first novel, Frontera Street, was supply it, rolling the double r in Barrientos like a pro. published in 2002, and her second, That’s when I hear the silent snag, the momentary Family Resemblance, was pubhesitation I’ve come to expect at this part of the exlished in 2003. Her column “Unchange. Should I go into it again? Should I explain, conventional Wisdom” runs every the way I have to half a dozen others, that I am Guaweek in the Inquirer...
Words: 9852 - Pages: 40
...DPC2205-Writing Assignment Group: Courts and Police Beat Date: 07th of May, 2013 Lecturers: Ms. Alexis Stephens and Rhonda Hamlin Topic: Review of the story, “The Danger a Single Story” by, Chimamanda Adichie Group Members: Shivanah Hunte 11/0832/0945 Authavia Dos Santos 11/0807/1530 Kwame Gilhuys 11/0807/1389 Tarfara Pompey 11/0807/2414 Ryan Forde 11/0807/0858 The story being reviewed is titled “The Danger of a Single Story”; it is based on the perception that the media, journalists and story tellers only allow viewers and readers to see and read one side of the story. Chimamanda gave examples from her childhood, college life and her adult life to support her claims in the danger of telling a single or one side of a story. After viewing the video, as a journalist we learn that, what is depicted by the media and the press is what the viewers and readers will assume the individual’s life to only be and images portrayed by the media, is what people believe and conclude the situation to be. Secondly, aspiring journalist, storytellers and writers would believe that writing should be based on trend, this example was depicted in the video as Ms. Adichie explained her first set of stories were based on what she had read, therefore she believed that her writing should have taken the same pattern. These lessons can be applied...
Words: 692 - Pages: 3
...citations and references since WritePoint capability in this area is limited. NOTE: WritePoint comments are computer-generated writing and grammar suggestions inviting the consideration and analysis of the writer; they are not infallible statements of right/wrong, and they should not be used as grading elements. Also, at present, WritePoint cannot detect quotations or block-quotes, so comments in those areas should be ignored. Please see the other helpful writing resources in the Tutorials and Guides section of the Center for Writing Excellence. Thank you for using WritePoint. Personal Responsibility Danielle Fairley GEN/200 May 22, 2012 April Miller Personal Responsibility Begin your [Eliminate second person (you, your) in academic documents and avoid addressing the reader directly. Prefer third-person pronouns (he, she, they, it)] paper [This title could be more inspiring. Labeling it a "paper" or an "essay" is redundant (what else could it be?), and only a few words as a title are not very explanatory (or intriguing to the reader). An ideal title has between six and a dozen words ] here. Double space the entire document. Be [If this is not in a title, avoid the imperative mood (a command) in academic writing because it addresses the reader personally (an unwritten "you," which is the second person narrative mode)] sure to indent the first line of each paragraph between...
Words: 975 - Pages: 4
...Sometimes I wonder if I’m going to get this huge growth spurt in my writing in one day and just magically turn into an award-winning writer overnight, but huge growth spurts in writing never happen overnight so that thought is probably unrealistic. Growing as a writer happens over time and through many trial-and-error pieces of work. No good writer has started out at their best, but instead, they grow into it because they learn new things in the course of their writing career. Over the course of this semester, I have grown more as a writer than I did in the first three years of high school combined, so yes, I did have a growth spurt as a writer, but it didn’t happen all at once and I am not finished growing. This semester, I have had to write...
Words: 858 - Pages: 4
