Essay WritingFormal Literary Essay

Relevancy

Why do we have you write the formal literary essay?

Why do you need to learn the skills required to write a formal literary essay?

Thesis

•Argument•Controls the paper•Destination•Everything relates back to the thesis•Explicit or implicit•Placement – Beginning or end, sometimes

even in the middle•Rubric – Knowledge and Thinking

Audience

• Who will read your writing?• What do they already know?• What do they want to know?

Purpose

• Narration – tell a story• Description – create a sensory picture• Expository – inform or explain• Argument/Persuasive - convince

Prewriting

•Choose a topic, then refine a thesis•Brainstorm•Free write on the thesis•Mind map•Dot jot of ideas•What comes to mind? How easy will this

thesis be to defend?

Outline

•Graphic organizer, loose-leaf page, word document– what works best for you?

•Thesis •Dot jot points, proofs (quotations and

page references), explanation•Consider organization – strong point,

weakest point, strongest point

Outline cont'd

Include 3 topic sentencesEach topic sentence must relate to thesis

3 quotations/topic sentenceContext for each quotation

Outline

•Graphic organizer, loose-leaf page, word document– what works best for you?

•Thesis •Dot jot points, proofs (quotations and

page references), explanation•Consider organization – strong point,

weakest point, strongest point

First Draft

•Complete sentences•Paragraph structure•Topic and concluding sentences•Link paragraphs with transition words or

repetition of words

Editing and Revising•Explore spell check suggestions.•Make sure you have avoided “I think,”

“You,” slang and any other informal language.

•Read aloud to catch awkward sentences, missing words, typos.

•Get a trustworthy editor – what parts are not fully explained? What questions does your editor have? Consider what should be changed. Maintain your own voice – your paper should sound like you.

Final Draft

•First page includes your name, course code (ENG 4U1), teacher’s name, date in the upper left hand corner of your page

•Pagination – put your last name followed by page number in upper right hand corner (use a header)

•Double space•Follow MLA format for citations•Works Cited page (not numbered)

Relevance – Transferable Skills

Casual Debate – Leafs vs HabsLawyer – LitigatingLetter of Application/Reference