GENERAL INFORMATION


The Essay is a formal piece of writing.
Essays should be typed. If you are unable to type it then it MUST be printed on plain white paper with no holes, using one inch margins, skipping lines and in blue or black ink.

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ESSAY FORMATING GUIDELINES

The Title Page:
Titles should be somewhat original, NOT the title of the book or work studied. If the title of the work is part of the title, it music be underlined.
Title pages should be clear of all art or text art.


Title pages should include the following information:

1. Title (centered near the top middle of the page, NOT enlarged)
2. Your Name (Bottom-right corner of the page)
3. Teacher's Name
4. Course Code
5. Date

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   Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah

blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah,

Looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong Quotation. Talk talk

talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk
talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk
talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk talk.

Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah.

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Short Qutotations = less than three typed lines    

• Blend into the text of the your essay using quotation marks.

For both long and short quotations use parenthetical referencing. This means indicating the author's last name and the page number using parentheses immediately following the quotation. If you are using more than one work by the same author, be sure to also indicate the title of the work.

For examples see "Citation - MLA/APA Guide - Parenthetical Refrences".

ESSAY STYLE GUIDELINES
GRAMMER
Avoid:

      Contractions (Don't   =   Do not,  Can't   =   Cannot)
Slang and colloquial expressions (Dude, ppl, cuz)

Be careful using:

• Which
• It
This, That, These, Those
• And, But (especially starting sentences)
• Verb Tense
• They're, Their, There

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STYLE
Avoid:

• 1st and 2nd person pronouns (I, you, us, we, your)
• "I believe..", "In my opinion..."
• Possibly, maybe perhaps
• Subjective words such as good, better, best

You will psychologically strengthen your essay if you take out:

• if
• there
• a lot
• questions
• not
• In the novel/play
• The audience/reader

ESSAY CONTENT GUIDLINES

Introduction

Step 1 = General Statement (1 sentence)

• should include a general noun i.e the topic

Step 2 = Specifics (4 or 5 sentences)

• narrow the focus of the topic
• the more sophisticated essay will use "Target Vocabulary"

Step 3 = Thesis (1 sentence)

• must be arguable, therefore it must have a counter thesis and not be personable

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Idea Paragraphs    (Also known as Body Paragraphs.

You need at least three ideas in order to successfully support your thesis.
Step 1 = Topic Sentence (see info below)

Step 2 = Sub Topc Sentences - further clarifies topic of the paragraph.

Step 3 = Lead = information used to introduce your quotation

Step 4 = Evidence/Support - use direct quotations from novels and other sources

Step 5 = Conclusion - wrap up with a support statement

Steps 3 and 4 may be repeated as necessary within a paragraph.

**Topic Sentences - (three jobs which must be completed)

1 - concise link to thesis

2 - introduces topic

3 - transition words are used to distinguish between ideas i.e. new topic

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Conclusion

Step 1 = Reworded thesis

Step 2 = Specific summary of key ideas from body paragraphs

**No new material or quotations

Step 3 = General Statement - should revisit topic

**Something for the reader to think about

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NOTE: all information from "Documenting Sources" section came from the following text:

Dawe, Rober, and Paul Malott, Reference Points. Toronto:
  Prentice Hall, 2001