1) WRITING PROCESS

2) WRITING ADVICE

3) FREEWRITING

4) BRAIN-STORMING

5) OUTLINING

6) COMMON ERRORS

7) JOURNALS

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ESSAY BASICS

• Titles
• Introductions
• Theses
• Topic Sentences
• Transitions
• Conclusions

EDITING/PROOF-READING

DOCUMENTATION

LITERARY CRITICISM

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POS

ERRORS

MECHANICS

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030

101

102

BARD

HOME

·  do not write about the first topic or idea that comes to mind

·  make a list of the arguments that come quickly to you; then shun the list & actually think

·  in your essay, admit and then dismiss the typical position(s) taken on a particular subject

·  select the hardest, least popular, most difficult position to defend

·  avoid the clichéd or stereotypical response

·  * “Don’t worry too much about figuring out what the instructor thinks about the subject...”

·  make abstraction/generalization, but then back it up with concrete/specific details & examples

·  show rather than tell

·  do not support generalizations with more generalizations (problem with Example essays)

·  keep it simple; avoid wordiness (do not try to impress instructor with big words or many words--"thesaurusitis")

·  fluff vs/ real stuff (real content= proof, examples, details)

·  no euphemisms

·  do not hedge, preface, waver, apologize, announce....just make your point

·  “it seems to me, as I see it, in my opinion, at least from my point of view” OR "in this essay I will, I'm going to write about . . . ”

·  avoid pat expressions, tag phrases, idiomatic expressions (they were once forceful)

·  “last but not least, few & far btw, from point A to B, for all intents & purposes, the truth of the matter, over my dead body, parted as best of friends, to the ends of the earth, work fingers to the bone, when all is said & done, told her time & time again, in the twinkling of an eye . . .”

·  specific, concrete, appeal to the 5 senses, invoke an emotion, produce a mental picture

·  heart beat (pounded, throbbed, fluttered, danced); she sat (lounged, sprawled, coiled); hot (blistering)

·  CAUTION: do not suppose that the fancy word is always the best

·  connotations, word associations, loaded words

·  (+) mother, patriotism, liberty, fireside, sacrifice, childlike; (-) mother-in-law, intellectual, liberal, capitalist, radical, salesman, Communist, terrorist

·  CAUTION: eschew loaded words, for they do not substitute for thought; in the end, you’ve said nothing & such remarks are effective only with the most naive readers

·  non-descriptive words with such general meaning

·  slang adjectives

·  nice, cool, a lot, things, stuff

·  the best writing advice is to write what you know

·  stay within your sphere of experience and interest