This document provides an agenda for a class on online writing. It discusses common writing errors such as incorrect spacing and missing words. It then covers revision strategies like eliminating repetition. Guidelines are provided for finding errors by reading work backwards and aloud. Examples of redundant words and phrases are listed that should be removed. Suggestions are given for eliminating repetitive sentences and words that begin sentences or paragraphs. A review of MLA format is also included. Homework assigned is to read about logical fallacies, post the third edited essay, study vocabulary, and bring the revised essay and textbook to the next class.
Writing a high school essays involves having an understanding of what the writer is thinking about. The writer should know how to express himself in words and then break the essay into three parts, The introduction, the discussion and the conclusion highlighting the thesis statement in the essay.
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Or, strategies for successful essay writingThings to avoid in .docxgerardkortney
Or, strategies for successful essay writing
Things to avoid in essay writing!
Write a creative title for your essay
Consider that the title is the first opportunity you have to inform your reader about the thesis of your essay
NEVER just write “Evaluation Essay”
Capitalize the title correctly
Format the essay with double-spacing and page numbers
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The purpose of an introduction is to:
engage the reader
provide background information
present the thesis
Unless necessary for contextualization, save the evidence to support your claims in the body paragraphs.
Don't serve the main meal at the same time as the appetizer!
Too many details in the introduction:
"Air travel is a form of travel in vehicles that can sustain flight". (Really? No kidding!)
Don't start your essay with a definition of what is probably unnecessary: obesity, global warming, cell phones, the internet, etc.
The purpose of simply taking up space is too obvious and wastes opportunity to craft useful sentences that further your essay.
ONLY use a definition if writing about something truly obscure.
Avoid Useless "definitions"
The trick to avoid these words: insert “as opposed to?”
Basically, very, really, literally, truly, personally (as opposed to...?)
Here is a link to a good page about writing concisely: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/writing-concisely/
Using Words that Do Not Add Meaning
In this essay I will prove...
I will discuss...
As said in the previous paragraph….
As mentioned before...
Avoid these space fillers! Instead - just write what you are saying.
Don't waste space saying what you WILL write about or what you already wrote.
Example:
Wrong: In this essay I will argue that cell phones should not be used while drive.
Better: Cell phones should not be used while driving.
Announcing Yourself to the Reader
Did you ever get tired of reading essays with questions?
Do you think that these questions would be stronger written as statements?
Are all the questions necessary?
Do they engage the reader?
Especially in a repeating pattern: did you ever wonder, did you ever think, why is it that... blah blah blah?
STOP!
And if writing a question, remember to use a question mark when creating a question, even if it's a rhetorical question.
Rhetorical Questions
Avoid Pointing the Camera at Yourself:
I think, I believe, I feel, in my opinion...
Write what you think in a statement
The reader will know what you think by what you write.
ONLY use “I” when framing a direct response:
“I agree/concede/argue/claim…”
Remove yourself
You didn't actually write the paper, but you're really good at introducing other people's quotes!
Stringing them together is almost writing a paper, right?
Not quite!
The reader needs to hear your voice and your ideas that are supported by the evidence, not replaced by them.
After using a quote, be sure to explain how it supports the claim in the topic sentence and the thesis.
Don’t .
This PPT was made to be presented in the 4th semester of the subject 'Academic Writing' at Nahdlatul Ulama University of Sidoarjo, to be precise at the English Education Department.
Presented by:
1. Sofa Mar'atus Sholicha
2. Vivi Anggraini Ramadhania
3. Khotimatuz Zakiyah
2. Agenda
You should have one clean copy of your
revised draft for these exercises.
Common Writing Errors
Incorrect spacing
Missing Words.
Revision Strategies
Eliminating Repetition
Review; MLA review
3. Common Writing Errors
Incorrect spacing Missing Words.
This error can be corrected This error too can be
by careful reading. Turn on corrected by careful reading,
your grammar checker. especially reading aloud.
• Several qualities will mark • An example: "I would
the successful happy to meet you," which
candidate:confidence, is missing the verb "be."
trustworthiness,
competence-- and desire.
5. 1. Read your work backwards, starting with the last sentence
and working your way in reverse order to the beginning.
Supposedly this works better than reading through from the
beginning because your brain knows what you meant to write,
so you tend to skip over errors when you're reading forwards.
1. Read your work out loud. This forces you to read each word
individually and increases the odds that you'll find a typo.
1. Always proofread a final printed version of your work.
Proofreading on a computer monitor is more difficult than
going over it on paper.
2. Give yourself some time. If possible, let your work sit for a
while before you proofread it. When you clear your mind and
approach the writing anew, your brain is more able to focus
on the actual words, rather than seeing the words you think
you wrote.
7. Eliminate Redundant Words and
Phrases
1. absolutely certain: Certainty has no room for doubt; it's absolute.
2. absolutely never: Never is always absolute.
3. ask a question: It's impossible to ask anything except a question.
4. ATM machine: The M in ATM means machine.
5. basic essentials: If they are essentials, they must be basic.
6. close proximity: You cannot have far proximity. Delete close
7. combined together: If you combine things, they have to be together
8. completely finish: Can you partly finish? Delete completely.
9. continue on: Can you continue off? Delete on.
10. month of July: Everybody knows July is a month.
8. Remove Repetitive
Sentences
• Another common occurrence in writing is
repetitive sentences. Although they may
seem necessary for effect or emphasis, they
actually attribute to wordiness.
• Consider the sentences, “The oven had quit
working. It was broken.” The second
sentence, while it may corroborate the
first, is repetitive. Removing it unclutters the
writing without altering or diminishing the
meaning.
9. How to Eliminate
Repetition
• Rule 1 - Words beginning sentences
• Never start two consecutive sentences with the same word.
• I have seen instances of six sentence paragraphs with each
sentence starting with the same word. Fixing this will
immediately elevate your writing
• Rule 2 - Words beginning paragraphs
• There should be at least four (4) paragraphs starting with
different words before you use the same paragraph starting word
again.
• This provides the reader with a smoother ride through your
essay
• Rule 3 - Do focused page scans for other repetitions
• Scan each page for extensive repetitive use of particular words.
The time you take to find all instances of repetitions in your work
10. More suggestions
• Rule 4 - Never repeat a descriptive phrase
• Some writers get a bit carried away when they devise
a great phrase. They start to use it every few pages -
or several times on the same page. Don't turn your
own brilliance into a cliché or an avoidable error.
• Rule 5 - Make finding repetitions a separate
editing run on your essay
• Because eliminating repetition is such an important
part of producing high quality work, make this a
separate editing run on your essay.
11. Check for Repetition in your
Essay
• Look for redundancies.
• Small little; perfectly clear
• Look for repetitive sentences.
• I went to the store. At the store I bought
ice cream.
• Look to see if you are using the same
words to begin sentences or paragraphs.
• There are; Later; At the ranch; Mary
13. Review MLA
• Last name and page number in header, on right
side, .5 inches from the top.
• Heading double-spaced and correct. Check the date
format.
• Title is original, centered, not bolded or underlined.
• Margins are 1” all around
• Quotations, summaries, and paraphrases are cited
correctly.
• A Works Cited page contains a complete list of
sources used in the preparation of the essay.