Transcript Writing Formal Essays PPT

Writing a Formal Essay
Composition
Is About…
 Knowing how to communicate
effectively.
 Understanding what instructors
expect in a formal essay.
Mature Writing
 Voice: adult, formal, educated.
 No slang language:
 guys, back in the day, 24/7, w/out
 Avoid immature adverbs:
 really, totally, actually, so, definitely/defiantly
 Do not questions EVER.
 No questions as hooks.
 Do not write in first-person, unless
specified. No I, we, our.
Mature Writing Cont’d
 Use precise, mature vocabulary.
 Use a thesaurus.
 Instead of saying bad, say dreadful.
 Instead of saying good, say superior.
 Do not use contractions.
 Avoid “fluff” writing. Do not try to fill space
– teachers know when you’re doing this.
 Avoid split infinitives.
 NO: to really write well.
 YES: to write really well.
Mature Writing Cont’d More
 Never speak to the reader or reference the essay
you are writing.
 “In this essay…”
 “This quote shows…”
 “The first example …”
 All verbs should maintain a consistent tense
 Literature is always discussed using present tense
 Do not use abbreviations.
 Any number that can be written out in two or less
words should be spelled out
 Ex: 2 is incorrect; should be written as two, but 103
is correct; not one hundred and three
Language
 Avoid all vague language:
 Things and stuff are not acceptable words.
Replace with specific nouns.
 There are many things a writer can use.
 There are many techniques a writer can use.
 Do not use like except as a verb or in a
simile.
 NO: This would be like if a criminal was set free.
 YES: This would be similar to setting a criminal
free.
Cliches
 Avoid clichés.
 If you’ve heard that saying before, you
can say it better if you use your own
words.
 Examples:

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Be true to yourself.
Love stinks.
All in a day’s work.
Bored to tears.
Eye for an eye.
Indefinite Pronouns
 Never use you in an essay (second-person).
 Do not use they, this, or it unless you’ve
already stated the noun the pronoun replaced.
 They said on the news it would rain today.
 The weatherman said it would rain today.
 Avoid using which. Students tend to create
wordy sentences when using which.
 Wordy: Today is May 5th, which is my favorite
day of the year.
 Concise: May 5th is my favorite day of the year.
Topic and Clincher Sentences
 Topic sentences and clinchers:
Should…
•
•
•
•
Act as summary sentences.
Act as a thesis supporter.
Be persuasively worded.
Reflect the same idea in
different wording.
Should not…
• Quote.
• Simply inform the reader.
Sources
 Wikipedia is NOT an acceptable
source – EVER!!!
 The World Wide Web should be the
last resource you use for research.
 Begin your research in the library:
 Books, journals, magazines, newspapers
 Library databases – SIRS, Ebscohost,
ABC-Clio, etc.