Students absent on Friday should take The Scarlet Letter chapter 14-24 quiz.

FYI...The pre-essay reflection you are handing in today is the same as the Meta-cognition Reflection Piece mentioned in the initial essay assignment handout.

10/26: Review elements of a good essay.  

Work on your first draft, which will be due tomorrow. You should have at least three typed pages.

Think of your essay as an answer to a question. As you write, don't lose sight of your question or your answer (your thesis).  Remember this especially as you write your body paragraphs.

Who is your audience? Who do they represent? What do they value?

What are the characteristics of a good introductory paragraph?

What are the characteristics of a good body paragraph?

What are the characteristics of a good closing paragraph?

Strategy suggestion...

Initially, write your body paragraphs sans direct quotes (try paraphrasing), and then embed quotesonce you have expressed your main point and explained why your point is valid and important to proving your thesis.  

Some less confident writers build their paragraph structure around their quotes rather than the other way around.  Such paragraphs often end up lacking coherence/flow and sufficient analysis because the author is relying too much on the quotations to fill space.  Don't be that author.

Avoid to be verbs: am, are, be, being, is, was, were.  They often result in passive voice or wordy, flabby sentence constructions. They have their place, but don't overuse them.  If a teacher has told you to write more concise sentences, this is a good place to start, start here.

Also, try to limit your use of filler words like this, that, those. Notice in the crossout above how a verb of being (is) followed one of offender filler words (this) resulting in a longer phrase than the replacement? Typical.

10/27: first draft due...underline your thesis and your topic sentence for each paragraph/peer reviews

10/29: 2^nd draft due; peer review

10/30: next-to-final draft due

11/2 to 11/4: Final draft due