The document provides guidance on writing an informative essay about Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. It includes notes on the essay requirements, such as writing in MLA style with 5 paragraphs, including an introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion. The essay must analyze Lincoln's purpose and how he used rhetorical devices to support his purpose. Students are instructed to complete a cluster mapping chart in class and a graphic organizer as homework that outlines the hook, thesis statement, 3 main points, and zinger conclusion.

1. Gettysburg Address Bellwork
• Grab a textbook from the cart.
• In your notebook, write and answer the following questions. Use
complete sentences and cite evidence from the text to support your
answers (10 min).
1. What was the main — central or most important — idea in the
Gettysburg Address?
2. Identify Lincoln’s purpose in writing the Gettysburg Address.

2. Informative Essay Notes

3. 5 Steps to Writing a Perfect Essay
1. Pre-Writing
• Brainstorming, Clustering/Idea Mapping, Freewriting
2. Organizing and Planning
• Choosing an organizational strategy and mapping out points
3. Drafting
• First stage of writing — pencil/pen to paper
4. Revising and Editing
• Reread, share, revise
5. The Final Copy

4. Organizational Strategies
• Definition
• Describing the most important
characteristics or features of a
subject. Used to explain what
something is.
• A good teacher is someone who
helps students reach their fullest
potential.

5. Organizational Strategies
• Classification
• Grouping people or things into
categories. Used to break a larger
topic into smaller parts or groups
(e.g., breeds of dogs, types of
stars, movie genres)
• Some parents challenge their
children at every step, while others
just shake their heads and say
nothing.

6. Organizational Strategies
• Comparison/Contrast
• Examining similarities and
differences between two or more
subjects. Used to show how two
or more things are alike or
different (e.g., vegetarians vs.
meat eaters, cars vs. bicycles)
• Both solar and wind power aim to
produce clean energy. However,
solar power utilizes panels to
harness energy, while wind power
uses turbines.

7. Organizational Strategies
• Cause/Effect
• Explaining why something
happened, why certain conditions
exist, or what resulted from an
action or condition. Used to show
how an event, main idea, or trend
is the direct result of another.
• The Titanic sank because it hit an
iceberg. The iceberg punctured the
ship, causing it to take on water.

8. Organizational Strategies
• Main Idea and Details
• Introducing an important idea and
details, such as facts, statistics, or
examples.
• A lack of sleep can lead to many
problems. Over time, it can
weaken the immune system. It
also causes moodiness. Perhaps
most dangerous of all, sleep loss
leads to serious accidents.

9. 1
2
3
4
5
Introduction
Body
Conclusion

10. Introduction
• Hook/Grabber — Begin your essay in a creative way that grabs the
reader’s attention.
• A quote — “As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about
what they can.” Julius Caesar said this…
• Fact — Cigarette smoke has been called ‘a lethal cocktail’ of paint stripper,
toilet bowl cleaner, lighter fluid, mothball chemicals, death chamber poison
and rocket fuel.
• Open-ended question — Most teens have money to spend thanks to an
allowance or after-school job, but do they have the money management skills
to go along with that income?
• Anecdote — Until a disaster catches a community off-guard, most people
never stop to think about what they would need to survive away from the
comforts of home.

11. Thesis Statement
• A single sentence at the end of your intro paragraph
• Tells your opinion on the topic (what you’re discussing or trying to
prove) — what’s your point?
• Directs reader to your main pieces of evidence

12. Thesis Machine
• Step 1: Topic _________________________________________
• Step 2: Issue _________________________________________
• Step 3: Position + Rationale
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________

13. Body Paragraphs
• Contain supporting details/subtopics of essay.
• Include facts, definitions, concrete details, and examples to explain
the topic. Body paragraphs elaborate on your subtopics in order to
support your thesis statement.
• To be effective, your elaboration must be well-chosen, relevant
(related to your topic), significant, and sufficient (enough to make
your point).

14. Body Paragraphs
Thesis Statement: While fossil fuels continue to be an important resource, the use of biofuels is becoming more
common in the field of transportation.
As the threat of global warming grows and the
cost of gasoline and diesel increases, the use of
biofuels as an alternative energy source
becomes more and more attractive. The
potential for biofuels to both help reduce
carbon dioxide emissions and to save on fuel
costs has spurred many companies to adopt
greener policies that involve changing over to
biofuel-powered forms of transportation.
For example, one trash collection company in
Houston has begun running their trucks on
methane from decomposed organic trash.
Another company in Massachusetts began
running their trucks on biodiesel to save money
when conventional diesel prices started to soar.
Even the aviation industry has started to
investigate the possibility of using biofuels in
plane travel.
Biodiesel is a type of biofuel made
either from oily plants like soybean or
from used cooking oil. Being a biofuel, it
is nontoxic and, therefore, not harmful
to the environment.
Another type of biofuel is ethanol,
which is made primarily from sugarcane
or corn. The United States and Brazil are
the largest producers of ethanol.
A third type of biofuel is methane,
which comes from the decomposition of
biomass.

15. Transitions
• Transitions are words or phrases that help connect ideas in a piece of
writing.
First, I think that she is studying hard.
Second, I believe that she is a bright student.
Finally, I know that she has great potential.
In conclusion, I feel that she deserves to win the scholarship.
In summary, we should offer her some financial help.

16. More Transitions
• Adding information — Not only did my brother break his leg, but he
also bruised his rib.
• Giving Examples — He often eats strange foods. For instance, he once
ate cow brains.
• Showing a similarity — Houseplants require much care and attention.
Similarly, outdoor plants must be cared for properly.
• Explaining or Emphasizing — The bookstore sells cards. In fact, they
have the best cards around.

17. Brainstorm List of Transitions

18. Conclusion
• A good conclusion:
• Follows from and supports the information or explanation presented
in the introduction.
• Explains why the information is important or what effects might
follow.
• Zinger — thought that makes the writer remember your essay; it
should remind the reader of the most important thing you want
her/him to remember. Surprises, evokes an emotional response, or
provokes the reader to think.

19. 1
2
3
4
5
Introduction
Body
Conclusion
• Hook
• Thesis Statement
• Idea #1 ______________________________
• Idea #2 ______________________________
• Idea #3 ______________________________
Transition
Transition
Transition
Transition
• Restatement of thesis
• Zinger

20. Gettysburg Address Essay
Write an informative essay in which you explain:
• Lincoln’s purpose in the Gettysburg Address
• How he supported his purpose using rhetorical devices (e.g. allusion,
repetition, parallelism, ethos, pathos, logos)
• Requirements:
• MLA style (we will discuss this next class)
• 5 paragraphs (intro, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion)
• Use one sentence that contains parallelism (must be your own sentence,
cannot be a quote from the speech)
• A well-written and clear thesis statement
• A hook/grabber and a zinger
• Effective use of transitions

21. • In Class: complete the cluster mapping chart for your essay.
Homework: Complete the research paper graphic organizer that
includes the following:
• Hook/Grabber
• Thesis statement
• 3 main points (different rhetorical devices used and how they
supported his purpose(s))
• Zinger
Both the cluster chart and thesis statement graphic organizer are due
next class.