Essay

1
Essay

• Beware of little expenses a small leak will
  sink a great ship. -Benjamin Franklin.
  Sometimes its difficult to see how the small
  things we do every day can have major
  consequences in the long run. Have you had any
  personal experiences that prove the truth of
  Benjamin Franklins words? Think about habits
  either good or bad that can make a big
  difference over time. Write an expository essay
  that explains how small, everyday habits can have
  a big impact over time.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

2
Essay

• If your actions inspire others to dream more,
  learn more, do more, become more, you are a
  leader. John Quincy Adams. There are many
  qualities that make someone a good leader. Think
  about people you know who have a talent for
  leadership. What qualities or behaviors make
  them effective leaders? Write an expository
  essay that explains what makes a person a good
  leader.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

3
Essay

• In 1955 medical researcher Jonas Salk introduced
  an effective polio vaccine. At the time polio
  was considered the biggest threat to public
  health, yet Salk refused to profit by patenting
  the vaccine because he was more concerned with
  preventing disease than with personal gain.
  Although many people work to benefit themselves,
  some people choose to put others first. Think
  carefully about this statement. Write an essay
  explaining whether people should be more
  concerned about others than about themselves.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

4
Essay

• Look at the photograph
• on the right. Write a story about the power of
  imagination. Be sure that your story is focused
  and complete and that it has an interesting plot
  and engaging characters.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

5
Essay

• Jane Austen (1755-1817) and Franz Kafka
  (1833-1924) are considered great writers. Their
  books continue to sell, and they are widely read
  and studied in schools everywhere. Neither of
  them however, received much recognition while
  they were alive. Should people do things only to
  be recognized? Think carefully about this
  question. Write an essay explaining whether a
  person must always be acknowledged in order to
  have accomplished something.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

6
Essay (part 1excerpt)

• Read the following excerpt from John Graves
  Goodbye to a River.
• Rain Even in gray heaped cities it has a privacy
  and a sadness. Tented, cocooned in warmed quilted
  feathers (the pup lumped snug between your
  calves you had sworn you wouldnt, but in the
  night he wheezed and shuddered on the chewed
  blanket brought for him), you come awake to its
  soft-drumming spatter and the curl of the river
  against a snag somewhere, and move your shoulder
  maybe against the warmth of the bag, and the
  shoulder prickles in separate knowledge of its
  wellbeing, and the still cold is against your
  face, and that tiny blunt wedge of sheltered
  space is all that exists in a sensed universe of
  softly streaming, gently drumming gray sadness
  beyond the storm flaps. And the sadness is right,
  is what should be. Knowing you do not have to get
  up at all, for an hour or for two hours or for a
  year, you lie there warmly sad and then you go
  back to sleep without dreaming.

7
Essay (part 2 excerpt)

• And after the hour or the two hours or the year
  (though, without logic or the need for it, it is
  only now grayish dawn at the crack between the
  flaps), a fox or a coon or just the constantly
  rehearsed utile fear that grips wild things spurs
  a blue heron into action and he flies downriver
  screaming with precise panic Help! Help! Help!
  Help! except that with distance it becomes the
  same old querulous Frawnk, frawnk! of all your
  life. The pup, though, it being the pristine
  first herons Frawnk, frawnk! of his life, tenses
  and gruffs in the bottom of the bag. The rain has
  stopped there is only a staggered drip from the
  leaves of the mesquite. A cardinal chits, and
  what lies outside the canvas wedge is no longer a
  void but a tentative stir of leaves and light,
  wings, and water, and the ragged beginnings of
  breeze.

8
Essay
Think carefully about how Graves describes the
world both inside and outside his tent. Write an
essay analyzing how Graves uses a description of
the natural world to reflect his own emotions.
What do you need to write about? What kind of
writing are you doing? What do you need to
include in your essay? How long should your essay
be? How many paragraphs?
9
Essay

• Write an essay describing which animals played
  key roles in the liberties being lost on the
  farm?
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

10
Essay

• Some places have a magic all their own. Think
  about your favorite place and why it means so
  much to you. Why do you like it there? What sort
  of things do you do there? Write Write a story
  about the impact of your favorite place on your
  life.
• What do you need to write about?
• What kind of writing are you doing?
• What do you need to include in your essay?
• How long should your essay be? How many
  paragraphs?

11
What is Literary Writing?

• There are two forms of Literary Writing that can
  appear on STAAR.
• Narrative
• Response to Literature or Analyzing Literature
• What is a Narrative Writing?
• A narrative is a story that tells about people
  (or animals) doing something at some time and
  place.
• There are three basic types of narratives
• Personal
• Biographical
• Fictional

12
Writing about your own experience

• A personal narrative tells about a real
  experience that happened to the writer. When you
  write a personal narrative, do the following
• Use the first-person voice (I, me, my, we, our).
• Focus on one important experience or time.
• Show the reader why the experience was important.

13
Writing About Someone Else's Experience

• A biographical narrative tells about a real event
  that happened to a person other than the writer.
  When you write a biographical narrative, do the
  following
• Use the third-person voice (he, she, him, her,
  they).
• Study the experience and, if possible, interview
  the person.
• Show the reader why the experience was important.
  

14
Writing About a Made-Up Experience

• Make up interesting characters.
• Create a conflict, a problem the characters must
  overcome or solve.
• Tell whether the characters succeed or fail.

15
Response to Literature or Analyzing Literature

• A response to literature examines the theme,
  plot, characters, or other aspects of a chapter,
  story, book, or poem. Here you'll find help for
  writing a variety of papers in response to
  literature.
• Literature naturally stirs up thoughts and
  feelings. One way to explore those thoughts is to
  write a response to literature.
• Here are three basic ways to respond to
  literature
• Plot Summary
• Character Sketch
• Theme analysis

16
Telling What Happened

• A plot summary simply tells what happens in a
  story. When you write a plot summary, do the
  following
• Focus on important events.
• Reflect on what the plot means.

17
Organize a Plot Summary

• Most plot summaries are organized by time. The
  following transition words and phrases show time
  organization.
• First
• to begin
• at the start
• soon
• later then
• Next
• Afterward
• in the end

18
Describing a Character

• A character sketch focuses on describing an
  important character. When you write a character
  sketch, do the following
• Describe the characters appearance.
• Describe the characters personality, strengths,
  weakness, and goals.
• Show how the character changes during the story.

19
Organizing a Character Sketch

• The parts of a character sketch can be organized
  in different ways
• Physical appearance organize by location from
  head to toe.
• Personality organize by importance, covering the
  main character traits.
• Character change organize by time, telling how
  the character changes.

20
Studying Meaning Theme Analysis

• A theme analysis focuses on the message the
  author is sharing about life. When you write a
  theme analysis, do the following
• Focus on how the conflict reveals the theme, or
  message.
• Show what the characters learn during the story.
• Reflect on what the author feels about the
  characters and conflict.

21
Organizing a Theme Analysis

• A theme analysis may be organized in any of the
  following ways
• Time order show how the theme develops from the
  beginning to the end.
• Order of importance show the main parts of the
  theme.
• Logical order show how different ideas fit
  together.

22
What is Expository Writing?

• Expository writing is a type of writing that is
  used to explain, describe, give information, or
  inform.  The text is organized around one topic
  and developed according to a pattern or
  combination of patterns.  The writer of an
  expository text cannot assume that the reader or
  listener has prior knowledge or prior
  understanding of the topic that is being
  discussed.  Since clarity requires strong
  organization, one of the most important
  mechanisms to improve skills in exposition is to
  improve the organization of the text.  The
  patterns that follow are frequently used to
  create an expository essay.  Additionally, more
  than one pattern may be used within an expository
  essay.

23
Description

• The author describes a topic by listing
  characteristics, features, and examples.  It
  provides details about how something looks,
  feels, tastes, smells, makes one feel, or sounds
• Cue Wordsfor example, the characteristics
  are...

24
Sequence or Process

• The author lists items or events in numerical or
  chronological order.
• Cue Wordsfirst, second, third next then
  finally

25
Comparison

• The author explains how two or more things are
  alike and/or how they are different. A comparison
  essay usually discusses the similarities between
  two things, while the contrast essay discusses
  the differences.  

Alike
Different
26
Cause / Effect

• The author focuses on the relationship between
  two or more events or experiences. The essay
  could discuss both causes and effects, or it
  could simply address

27
Problem / Solution

• The author states a problem and lists one or more
  solutions for the problem. A variation of this
  pattern is the question- and-answer format in
  which the author poses a question and then
  answers it.
• Cue Wordsthe problem is the dilemma is puzzle
  is solved question... answer

28
What every Expository Essay should have!

• Expository writing is intended to convey the
  writer's knowledge about a topic.  While
  different patterns may be employed to create the
  essay, every essay contains the same features 
  the introduction, the thesis, the body
  paragraphs, and the conclusion.  The introduction
  is the first paragraph in the essay.  The
  introduction contains the thesis statement, one
  sentence that summarizes the main idea of the
  essay.  The body paragraphs follow the
  introduction and explain the main topics. 
  Lastly, the conclusion is the final paragraph
  that restates the main topics and the thesis. 
  Every expository essay contains these features,
  in this order.

29
Expository v. Literary Story

• Expository writing has distinct features that
  distinguish it from creative writing.  The
  content of an expository essay is factual and
  straight-forward while the content of a creative
  story is imaginative and symbolic.  Expository
  essays are written for a general audience but
  creative stories are designed for a specific
  audience.  The writing style of an expository
  essay is formal, standard and academic, while a
  creative story uses an informal and artistic
  style.  The organization of an expository essay
  is systematic and deliberate on the other hand,
  the organization of a creative story is more
  arbitrary and artistic.  Finally, the most
  important difference between the two types of
  writing is the purpose of the text.  An
  expository essay is written to inform and
  instruct, while a creative story is written to
  entertain and captivate.