West Hills Essay Format

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West Hills Essay Format
Introduction to the Format
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The West Hills Essay Format is just a way to
organize your thoughts logically. It is useful
for lots of different kinds of writing, but this
year, we'll primarily be using it to analyze
literature. To understand the basic ideas
behind this way of writing, think about a lawyer
in a courtroom. The lawyer's goal is to prove his
or her case, right? Well, in an essay, you are
the one who is trying to prove something. We call
that the THESIS.
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A THESIS is something that you are trying to
prove.
It is a statement, and it includes something that
you are trying to prove.
It does NOT include any facts.

You could find facts that would prove your
THESIS. This is your evidence.
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REVIEW A THESIS is a statement that includes
something to prove about what youve read. It has
no facts. You could offer evidence to prove it.
The evidence would be facts.
EXAMPLE The Wicked Witch of the West in The
Wizard of Oz was responsible for her own fate.
Question Is this something to prove, or is it a
fact? Could you argue about it?
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The statement is a THESIS because it fits our
description. EXAMPLE The Wicked Witch of the
West in the Wizard of Oz is responsible for her
own fate. We could argue that what happens to
the witch is actually not her fault. We could
also try to find evidence to prove that she IS
responsible. Therefore, this is a THESIS.
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REVIEW the rules for deciding if a statement is a
THESIS A THESIS is something that you are
trying to prove. It is a statement, and it
includes something that you are trying to prove.
It does NOT include any facts. You could find
facts that would prove your THESIS. This is your
evidence.
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With a partner, look at the sample
THESIS statements and, using the rules, decide
whether or not each statement is really a THESIS.

• Cinderella had two step sisters.
• West Hills is a large campus.
• There are 2,400 students on our campus.
• Goldilocks has great disrespect for others.
• 5. School starts too early in the morning.

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Once youve determined whether something is a
THESIS or not, you can move on to proving your
THESIS with evidence. At West Hills, we call this
evidence CONCRETE DETAIL (CD)
CONCRETE DETAIL (CD) Facts or quotes that cannot
be argued. These can be statistics, quotes from a
story, or things that actually happened. They are
used to prove your THESIS.
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• PRACTICE
• CONCRETE DETAIL Facts, quotes, things that
  cannot be argued.
• There are 2,400 students at West Hills.
  (Assuming the number is accurate, is this a
  CONCRETE DETAIL or a THESIS?)
• 2. The witch said, I want those ruby slippers,
  and Ill do whatever it takes to get them!

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3. Snowboarding is the most challenging sport of
all. 4. Boys and girls should not attend the
same school. 5. Nine out of ten teens who drive
follow the rules, according to a survey taken by
the Department of Motor Vehicles. 6. Parrots are
annoying pets. 7. My parrot talks an average of
six hours per day.
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REVIEW
The THESIS is what you are trying to prove.
The CONCRETE DETAIL (CD) is the evidence that
proves the THESIS.
The COMMENTARY (CM) explains why your CONCRETE
DETAIL (CD) proves your THESIS. It does not have
fact in it. It is your interpretation of the
CONCRETE DETAIL (CD).
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Lets look at some examples
THESIS West Hills is too large.
CD For example, there are 2,400 students
attending the school.
CM With this many students in one school,
counselors and teachers dont have nearly enough
one-on-one academic interaction with students.
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THESIS West Hills is too large. CD For
example, there are 2,400 students attending the
school. CM With this many students in one
school, counselors and teachers dont have nearly
enough one-on-one with students.
(This is a THESIS because it is NOT a fact, but
an opinion, or something to prove.)
(This is a CD because it is a fact. It cannot be
argued.)
(This is a CM because it does not contain fact,
and it explains why the CD proves the THESIS.)
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These 3 components are the foundation of the West
Hills writing program. After a THESIS, we write
what is called a CHUNK. A CHUNK is one CONCRETE
DETAIL combined with 2 COMMENTARY statements.
CD CM CHUNK CM
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SAMPLE CHUNKS THESIS West Hills is a large
campus. CD1 For example, there are 2,400
students attending the school. CM With this
many students in one school, counselors and
teachers dont have nearly enough one-on-one with
students. CM In a large student body, it is
easy for a student to fall through the cracks and
become overwhelmed, and with this high
student-to-adult ratio, it is possible that these
students will not get the help they need.

Chunk