TABLE OF CONTENTS:

TOPIC: PAGE #:
➢ 1. The Writing Process 1-8

➢ 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS 9-14

➢ 3. THESIS STATEMENTS 14-15

➢ 4. INTRODUCTIONS 15-17

➢ 5. CONCLUSIONS 17-18

➢ 6. MLA FORMAT 19-20

➢ 7. Additional Resources 20
 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
KEY TERMS TO KNOW:
TERM: DEFINITION/EXAMPLE:

Prompt

Requirements

Brainstorming

Graphic Organizer

Draft

Formatting

Revision/Revising

Editing/
Proofreading

ATTACKING THE PROMPT:

1. Cross out any extraneous 2. Circle key action verbs that

“fluff” words or phrases instruct you to do something

3. Draw an arrow from each circled 4. Rewrite a shortened version of the

word to what the word tells you to do prompt below the original

PRACTICE ATTACKING THE PROMPT:

Often in works of literature, a relationship between two characters leads to problems. From a
work of literature you have read in or out of school, select two characters whose relationship
leads to problems. In a well-developed essay, describe the characters’ relationship and how it leads
to problems, and explain how their experience is important to the work as a whole.

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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
ONCE YOU KNOW WHAT THE PROMPT IS ASKING YOU
TO DO, IT’S TIME TO BRAINSTORM.
BRAINSTORMING STRATEGIES:
FREEWRITE: BULLET POINT LIST: CUBING:
When you freewrite, you let your Jot down lists of words or phrases Cubing enables you to consider your
thoughts flow as they will, putting under a particular topic. You can topic from six different directions;
pen to paper and writing down base your list on: just as a cube is six-sided, your cubing
whatever comes into your mind. You brainstorming will result in six “sides”
don’t judge the quality of what you ● the general topic or approaches to the topic.
write and you don’t worry about ● one or more words from Take a sheet of paper, consider
style or any surface-level issues, like your particular thesis or your topic, and respond to these six
spelling, grammar, or punctuation. If claim commands:
you can’t think of what to say, you ● a word or idea that is the 1. Describe it.
write that down — really. The complete opposite of your 2. Compare it.
advantage of this technique is that original word or idea. 3. Associate it.
you free up your internal critic and ● anything else that suits the 4. Analyze it.
allow yourself to write things you assignment 5. Apply it.
might not write if you were being You might even try making multiple 6. Argue for and against it.
too self-conscious. bullet point lists until you’ve Look over what you’ve written. Do
narrowed down your ideas. any of the responses suggest
anything new about your topic?
Does one side seem particularly
fruitful in getting your brain moving?
Could that one side help you draft
your thesis statement?

CLUSTERING/MAPPING/WEBBING: JOURNALISTIC QUESTIONS: PURPOSE & AUDIENCE:

1. Take your sheet of paper In this technique you would use the Think about the parts of
and write your main topic in “big six” questions that journalists rely communication involved in any writing
the center, using a word or on to thoroughly research a story. or speaking event act: purpose and
two or three. The six are: audience.
2. Moving out from the center 1. Who? What is your purpose?
and filling in the open space 2. What? What are you trying to do? What
any way you are driven to fill 3. When? verb captures your intent? Are you
it, start to write down, fast, 4. Where? trying to inform? Convince?
as many related concepts or 5. Why? Describe? Each purpose will lead you
terms as you can associate 6. How? to a different set of information and
with the central topic. Write each question word on a help you shape material to include and
3. Start to cluster. Circle sheet of paper, leaving space exclude in a draft. Write about why
terms that seem related and between them. Then, write out some you are writing this draft in this
then draw a line connecting sentences or phrases in answer, as form.
the circles. Find some more they fit your particular topic. You Who is your audience?
and circle them and draw might also answer into a tape Who are you communicating with
more lines to connect them recorder if you’d rather talk out beyond the grader? What does that
with what you think is closely your ideas. audience need to know? What do they
related. already know? What information does
that audience need first, second,
third? Write about who you are
writing to and what they need.
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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
ONCE YOU HAVE BRAINSTORMED YOUR IDEAS, IT’S TIME
TO ORGANIZE THEM AND MAKE SURE THEY FLOW.

GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS:
SINGLE BODY PARAGRAPH GRAPHIC ORGANIZER:
Topic Sentence:

CONTEXT:

EVIDENCE:

ANALYSIS:

CONCLUSION SENTENCE:

“For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.”

- Benjamin Franklin
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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
FULL FIVE PARAGRAPH ESSAY GRAPHIC ORGANIZER:
INTRODUCTION:
Hook:

TAG (TITLE, AUTHOR, GENRE) & BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

THESIS STATEMENT:

BODY PARAGRAPH #1: BODY PARAGRAPH #2: BODY PARAGRAPH #3:

TOPIC SENTENCE: TOPIC SENTENCE: TOPIC SENTENCE:

CONTEXT: CONTEXT: CONTEXT:

EVIDENCE: EVIDENCE: EVIDENCE:

ANALYSIS: ANALYSIS: ANALYSIS:

CONCLUSION/TRANSITION SENTENCE: CONCLUSION/TRANSITION SENTENCE: CONCLUSION SENTENCE:

RESTATE THESIS: CONCLUSION:

RECAP ALL MAIN POINTS:

CLINCHER/”MIC DROP”:

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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
ONCE YOU HAVE ORGANIZED YOUR IDEAS, IT’S TIME TO
WRITE A DRAFT.
(This essentially means typing up and formatting the information already written in your graphic organizer.)

THE FINAL STEPS OF THE WRITING PROCESS:

DRAFTING *Note: These steps will look

different and vary from
assignment to assignment. I will
REVISING always provide you multi-step
directions and detailed checklists to
guide the process.

EDITING

Where can I get a

one-on-one writing
EVALUATING
conference to help me with
ANY of the steps during the
writing process?
FEEDBACK
➢ In the Writing Center (E207) any
period during the school day or
after school Mon.-Thurs.
➢ By setting up an after school
conference time with Ms. Fischer
before the essay is due.

“Rewriting is the
essence of writing well
— where the game is
won or lost.”
— William Zinsser

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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REVISING AND
EDITING MY WRITING?

REVISE VS. EDIT

ARMS CUPS

Add words and/or sentences Capitalization (proper nouns, etc.)

Remove any unnecessary words Usage (of nouns and verbs - make
and/or sentences sure they agree)

Move or change a word or Punctuation (periods, quotation

placement of a sentence marks, commas, semicolons,
apostrophes, etc.)
Substitute or trade words or
sentences for new ones Spelling (proofread, check for
homophones and commonly
misspelled words, etc.)

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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
GENERAL REVISION TIPS:

1. Find your main point. What are you trying to say in the paper? In other words, try to
summarize your thesis, or main point, and the evidence you
are using to support that point. Try to imagine that this paper
belongs to someone else. Does the paper have a clear thesis?
Do you know what the paper is going to be about?

2. Identify your readers and your What are you trying to do in the paper? In other words, are
you trying to argue with the reading, to analyze the reading,
purpose.
to evaluate the reading, to apply the reading to another
situation, or to accomplish another goal?

3. Evaluate your evidence. Does the body of your paper support your thesis? Do you offer
enough evidence to support your claim? If you are using
quotations from the text as evidence, did you cite them
properly?

4. Save only the good pieces. Do all of the ideas relate back to the thesis? Is there anything
that doesn't seem to fit? If so, you either need to change your
thesis to reflect the idea or cut the idea.

5. Tighten and clean up your language. Do all of the ideas in the paper make sense? Are there
unclear or confusing ideas or sentences? Read your paper out
loud and listen for awkward pauses and unclear ideas. Cut
out extra words, vagueness, and misused words.

6. Eliminate mistakes in grammar and Do you see any problems with grammar, punctuation, or
spelling? If you think something is wrong, you should make a
usage.
note of it, even if you don't know how to fix it. You can always
talk to Ms. Fischer or a Writing Center teacher about how to
correct errors.

7. Switch from writer-centered to Try to detach yourself from what you've written; pretend that
you are reviewing someone else's work. What would you say
reader-centered.
is the most successful part of your paper? Why? How could
this part be made even better? What would you say is the
least successful part of your paper? Why? How could this part
be improved?

“I have rewritten — often several times — every word I have ever

published. My pencils outlast their erasers.”
- Vladimir Nabokov
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 1. THE WRITING PROCESS
GENERAL EDITING & PROOFREADING TIPS:
1. Spelling ● Do not solely rely on your computer's spell-check—it will not get everything!
● Be especially careful of words that have tricky letter combinations, like "ei/ie.”
● Take special care of homonyms like your/you're, to/too/two, and there/their/they're, as
spell check will not recognize these as errors.

2. Left out and doubled Read the paper slowly aloud to make sure you haven't missed or repeated any words. Also, try
reading your paper one sentence at a time in reverse—this will enable you to focus on the
words individual sentences.

3. Sentence Fragments Sentence fragments are sections of a sentence that are not grammatically whole sentences. For
example, “Ate a sandwich” is a sentence fragment because it lacks a subject. See that each
sentence has an independent clause. Remember that a dependent clause cannot stand on its own.

4. Run-on Sentences ● Review each sentence to see whether it contains more than one independent clause.
● If there is more than one independent clause, check to make sure the clauses are
separated by the appropriate punctuation.
● Sometimes, it is just as effective (or even more so) to simply break the sentence into two
separate sentences instead of including punctuation to separate the clauses.

5. Comma Splices ● Look closely at sentences that have commas.

● See if the sentence contains two independent clauses. Independent clauses are complete
sentences.
● If there are two independent clauses, they should be connected with a comma and a
conjunction (and, but, for, or, so, yet, nor). Commas are not needed for some
subordinating conjunctions (because, for, since, while, etc.) because these conjunctions
are used to combine dependent and independent clauses.
● Another option is to take out the comma and insert a semicolon instead.

6. Subject/Verb ● Find the subject of each sentence.

● Find the verb that goes with the subject.
Agreement ● The subject and verb should match in number, meaning that if the subject is plural, the
verb should be as well.

7. Sentence Structure Read through your sentences carefully to make sure that they do not start with one sentence
structure and shift to another. A sentence that does this is called a mixed construction.

8. Parallelism Look through your paper for series of items, usually separated by commas. Also, make sure these
items are in parallel form, meaning they all use a similar form.

9. Pronoun ● Skim your paper, searching for pronouns.

● Search for the noun that the pronoun replaces.
Reference/Agreement ● If you can't find any nouns, insert one beforehand or change the pronoun to a noun.
● If you can find a noun, be sure it agrees in number and person with your pronoun.

10. Apostrophes ● Skim your paper, stopping only at those words which end in "s." If the "s" is used to
indicate possession, there should be an apostrophe, as in “Mary's book.”
● Look over the contractions, like “you're” for “you are,” “it's” for “it is,” etc. Each of these
should include an apostrophe.
● Remember that apostrophes are not used to make words plural. When making a word
plural, only an "s" is added, not an apostrophe and an "s."

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
WHAT IS A BODY PARAGRAPH?
● Whenever you are assigned to write just one paragraph in response to a
prompt, that one paragraph is considered a body paragraph.
● You will also write body paragraphs as the middle paragraphs in a longer essay
(Think of the typical five paragraph essay: Introduction, Three Body
Paragraphs, Conclusion).

WHAT GOES IN A BODY PARAGRAPH AND IN WHAT

ORDER?
1. TOPIC SENTENCE

2. CONTEXT

3. EVIDENCE/QUOTATIONS/CITATIONS

4. ANALYSIS/EXPLANATION

5. CONCLUSION/TRANSITION SENTENCE

*Note: When in doubt, follow this recipe for every body paragraph that you write. Any time you write a body paragraph for an
English essay, it should look like this. Plus, believe it or not, any time you answer a question (in English class or any other
class) in a paragraph, this is a great format to use! So, what does it all mean?

TOPIC SENTENCES:
A topic sentence...

TOPIC SENTENCES DO: TOPIC SENTENCES DO NOT:

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
TOPIC SENTENCES CONTINUED:
Every paragraph must begin with a topic sentence that follows these rules. You can structure your topic sentence in any way
you want as long as you include all of the necessary components. Here are some general frames to get us started.

GENERAL TOPIC SENTENCE FRAMES:

(Argument) because (support/evidence). (Example) shows (argument).

Because (support/evidence), (argument). (Argument) is shown through (example).

CONTEXT:

SPEAKER AUDIENCE SITUATION

GENERAL CONTEXT RULES:

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
EVIDENCE/QUOTATIONS:
You already mentioned your evidence in your topic sentence, but the next part of body paragraph is where you explain your
evidence in detail.

PARAPHRASED EVIDENCE: DIRECT QUOTATIONS:

QUOTATION INTEGRATION METHODS:

1Introductory Phrase +
comma,
DEFINITION + EXAMPLES:

or
Speaker + verb + comma,

DEFINITION + EXAMPLES: 2
Full Sentence + Colon:

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
EVIDENCE/QUOTATIONS CONTINUED:
QUOTATION INTEGRATION METHODS:

3 FLOW
DEFINITION + EXAMPLES:

Or
WEAVE

*Note: You will never use a semicolon (;) to

integrate a quotation.

MLA CITATION RULES:

EXAMPLE OF A PROPERLY INTEGRATED QUOTE USING

CONTEXT AND AN MLA CITATION:

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
analysis/explanation:
WHAT IS ANALYSIS?
Merriam Webster defines “analyze” as “to study (something) closely and carefully: to learn the nature
and relationship of the parts of (something) by a close and careful examination”.

In English class,

ANALYSIS HAS TWO BASIC PARTS:

2. Connect
1. Explain your
quotation to your
quotation
overall argument

*Note: Analysis is a major

English-class word that you
will hear, see, and say
hundreds of times this year
Deeper Levels of
and beyond. Analysis is the
part of the essay that students Textual Analysis
most often skimp on. Don’t
skimp on analysis! Analysis
should always be the biggest
and most detailed section of
your body paragraph.

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 2. BODY PARAGRAPHS
CONCLUSION/TRANSITION SENTENCES:
Once you prove the main point of the paragraph, you need to end your paragraph with a conclusion or transition sentence.
As the names imply, there are two main techniques available: the conclusion sentence or the transition sentence.

CONCLUSION SENTENCES: TRANSITION SENTENCES:

3. THESIS STATEMENTS
Where do thesis A strong thesis statement/claim must...
statements typically
go in an essay?

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 3. THESIS STATEMENTS
FACT VS. INFERENCE
FACT: INFERENCE:

Reminder: Your paper topic may shift or change as you write, so you may need to revise your
thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

4. INTRODUCTIONS
WHAT GOES IN AN INTRODUCTION PARAGRAPH AND IN
WHAT ORDER?

1. HOOK

2. T.A.G (Title, Author, Genre)

3. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

4. THESIS STATEMENT

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 4. INTRODUCTIONS
HOOKS
WHAT IS A HOOK?

A hook is the first sentence of your introduction paragraph. It

is meant to HOOK your reader’s attention and get them
interested in the topic of your specific essay.

GENERAL HOOK TIPS:

1. CONTENT: To brainstorm, write down all of the most interesting things
about your essay. Is there something surprising in what you have written? Does
a specific image, idea, or moment come to mind?
2. AUDIENCE: Try to explain the most interesting aspect of your essay to
someone else. Determine the aspect of your essay that would be the most
interesting and compelling to someone who has no idea what you are going to
say in the rest of your paper.
3. TONE: A hook should always match the tone of the rest of your essay. Avoid
informal language, slang, personal pronouns, etc.
4. TRANSITION: Don’t forget to transition from your hook/opening lines
into the more specific content of your introduction.
*Note: Writing a strong hook is HARD WORK. The perfect first line of your essay may not be easy
to come by, but don’t focus on that first. Sometimes it is easier to write the entire essay, and then
go back and think of the appropriate hook.

T.A.G

Title of Work
Author of Work Genre of Work
(in italics)

FRAME: In the (genre) (Title) by Author, (start background information here)...

EX: In the novella Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck, ...

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 4. INTRODUCTIONS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
BACKGROUND INFO. SHOULD MOVE FROM...

Start with some brief general BROAD

information about the work
you will be writing about. TO
(setting, key characters,
background etc.)
SPECIFIC Then, transition into more
specific details/events that are
relevant to your specific essay
topic and overall argument.

After you have included 2-4 sentences of background information, transition

into your thesis statement. Your thesis should be the last sentence(s) of your
introduction paragraph.

5. CONCLUSIONS
WHAT GOES IN A CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH AND IN
WHAT ORDER?

1. RESTATE/REPHRASE YOUR THESIS STATEMENT

2. RECAP ALL MAIN POINTS

3. CLINCHER/”MIC DROP”/FINAL THOUGHTS

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 5. CONCLUSIONS
THESIS RESTATEMENT
Start your conclusion by restating and rephrasing
(NOT REPEATING VERBATIM OR COPY AND PASTING)
your original thesis statement. Try using new wording or rearranging how your
thesis is phrased.

RECAPPING MAIN POINTS

Revisit the main ideas of each of your body paragraphs in the order in which you
wrote them. Remind your reader of your main points. Try including a sentence
recap per body paragraph. Make sure you are not just repeating your topic
sentences.

CLINCHER/”MIC DROP”

The final lines of your entire

essay are
SO IMPORTANT!

For your clincher, you want to “zoom out” and leave your reader with your final
thoughts and ideas on the topic. Try connecting your specific topic/argument to a
broader idea or concept. Bring the topic back to the “real world”. Remember: this
is the last thing they will read about your topic after all of your hard work
supporting your claim with evidence and analysis!

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 6. MLA FORMAT
GENERAL FORMATTING CHECKLIST:
❏ Times New Roman font and 12 point font size
❏ Paper evenly double-spaced throughout
❏ (NO extra spaces above/below title or in between paragraphs).
❏ Also make sure that under “format” on your word processor, paragraph, the line-spacing
for Before Paragraph and After Paragraph are both set to 0. The default setting in some
versions of Word add extra spaces, which does not follow MLA format.
❏ 1-inch margins
❏ For older versions of Word: Go to file, page set up, and margins. Make the
top/bottom/left/right margins 1 inch. Do not worry about the gutters or the header/footer.
❏ For newer versions of Word: Click the Page Layout tab. Select Margins. Select Normal,
with Top, Bottom, Left, and Right all set to 1”.
❏ For Google Docs: Click File, then Page Setup. Type 1 for Top, Bottom, Left, and Right.
❏ Correct heading (in the top left corner – double spaced)
❏ Your Name
❏ Teacher’s Name
❏ Class (English 1 ACP or English 1 Honors)
❏ Date (in international format: 12 September 2018)
❏ Correct header that is in Times New Roman Font
❏ For old versions of Word: Go to View, Header and Footer, type in your last name, a space,
and then hit the button in the Header/Footer box on the screen that has a # icon on it
(insert page number). Then hit the “align right” icon in the formatting toolbar (Hint: if you
hover your mouse over the icon, words will pop up that describe what that icon does).
❏ For new versions of Word: Click the Insert tab and select Header and Footer. From the
Header & Footer menu, click Header. Then select the first option (just includes text on the
top left). To place information on the right side of the page, click Insert Alignment Tab in
the Position group of the Design tab, click Right, and then click OK. Type your last name.
Then, add the page number by clicking the Insert tab, clicking Quick Parts, clicking Field, and
then click Page Number.

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 6. MLA FORMAT
CONTINUED:
❏ Correct header that is in Times New Roman Font
❏ For Google Docs: Click Insert, Page number, then select the image that has the page
numbers on the top right hand corner. Type your last name on the left side of the number
and press space. (Tip: If your header is at the very top of the page, you must hit “enter”
twice to move it down to .5”)
❏ Correct essay title format
❏ Centered, Times New Roman 12 point font, NOT bolded, italicized, or underlined, no extra
spaces before or after, and title is original and creative in content (so not: Summer
Reading Essay or Odyssey Essay)
❏ Press TAB key to indent all new paragraphs
❏ Numbers: write out all numbers below 100 (except dates)
❏ Always use formal language
❏ No first or second person, no contractions, no slang or inappropriate language
❏ Always use present tense verbs (when writing about literature)
❏ Cite quotes using (Author Page #) format

7. ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
● The FHS Writing Center (E207)
○ Open all periods of the school day (including lunch) and most days after school until
roughly 3:00 pm.
● Your English Teacher
○ If you are struggling with something specific or simply want some eyes on your work,
schedule a writing conference with Ms. Fischer.
● Your Classmates
○ We will often do peer editing exercises in class. Always take your classmates’
feedback seriously and apply it to your work!
● The Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
○ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/purdue_owl.html
● The UNC Writing Center Website
○ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/
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