Practice Essay

Below are the steps that you should be utilising when preparing and writing an essay response. Today you will be starting an essay response which will be due to me by Monday. You are responding to the following question:

William Shakespeare's tragic love story, Romeo and Juliet, appeals to teenage audiences in 2010 because the themes that are explored are similar to the issues that young people are encountering in their daily lives. To what extent is this statement valid?

 

Essay Development Steps:

Step 1: Underline key words/phrases

 

Step 2: Determine whether you need to ask any questions about the task.

 

Step 3: In your own words, explain what you believe the question is asking.

 

Step 4: Brainstorm possible responses/key ideas/main points

Step 5: Devise a thesis statement (this answers the question).

Step 6: Devise topic sentences for each main body paragraph (need to link directly to thesis statement).

Step 7: Find evidence for each main point.

Step 8: In dot point format, explain how evidence links/proves main point.

Step 9: Is there a way your first main point links to second and so on

Step 10: Are there any conclusions/evaluations to be made after considering all main points?

 

*Completed at least up to step 10 before test*

Step 11: Attempt introduction. NB. This statement needs to be clear.

Step 12: Attempt main body paragraphs.

-Topic sentence

-Explain

-Evidence

-Expand/elucidate/evaluate

-Concluding/linking statement

 

Step 13: Attempt conclusion. Revisit your thesis and main points but don’t simply re-write. A conclusion implies that you have come to a final resolution of some sort.

Step 14: Look back at question and plan, then read over essay to ensure you have

a)Answered the question

b)Completed all steps of your plan

Step 15: Make any changes that that were needed after previous step.

Step 16: Proof-read and edit - focus on technical elements: spelling, grammar, tense, sentence structure, expression, capital letters, punctuation, word choice, paragraphs deal with 1 idea only, underlined text title.

Step 17: Final read through