Improve Your College Academic Essays

By Harry Grover Tuttle

This Improve Your College Academic Essays ebook will guide you as you write your college academic essays. Each essay section walks you through the essay format with many examples. Each section breaks the the writing process into many small manageable parts. A peer assists you as the peer goes through a very systematic review of your writing for each subpart of the writing process. You have many opportunities to improve your essay writing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Harry Grover Tuttle
• Release date: Jan 8, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370675357

Harry Grover Tuttle

BA,MS from SUNY at Oswego, Ed.D. from SUNY Buffalo (UB)Taught middle, high and college language courses

Book preview

Improve Your College Academic Essays

By Harry Grover Tuttle

Copyright 2017 Harry Grover Tuttle

Smashwords Edition

All Rights Reserved, World Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the copyright owner, except brief quotations for the purpose of reviews.

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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Table of Contents

Introduction

Writing Process Overview

Practice Argument Essay for Don Quixote

Argument essay

Contrast essay

In-class essay

Conclusion

Bibliography

About the Author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

This Improve Your College Academic Essays ebook includes many improvements from the previous ebook, Improve Your College Academic Writing. Writing students asked for full length lines so they could write in the book. An ebook lacks that capability. In the same manner, they wanted bigger graphics such as the Graphic Organizer so they could actually write in the graphic. Furthermore, students requested an enlarged Revise and Edit section at the end of the each essay. This section has grown from a few short paragraphs to three pages. This Revise and Edit section now includes many of students' most common writing errors. In addition, many sections were enlarged with more explanations and examples.

This book focuses on improving your college academic writing. Academic writing consists of writing for colleges courses and, possibly, for business. This type of writing involves proving a thesis; many writers refer to this type of writing as prove-it writing. Furthermore, academic writing relies on providing supporting details or facts, not on personal opinion. Academic writing does not include personal writing such as poems, short stories, narratives, and personal biographies. This writing usually uses the third person such as he, she, or they; it does not use the first person singular, I, or plural, We, or second person, You.

In the usual writing process, you go through a Pre-Write, a Write, a Revise, and a Publish stage. Probably, you have not revised your writing until after you have finished your draft of the whole essay. This book integrates the Revise stage into the Pre-write and Write stages. When the Revise stage becomes part of the Pre-Write and Write stages, you have more opportunities to have your work reviewed and to make improvements. Using the techniques in this book, you receive feedback after individual part or step of the Pre-Write and Write stages. Each step of your writing provides you with feedback.

This book guides you through the Pre-Write and Write stages with the built in Revise stage. You are encouraged to have another student peer review your writing. The other student will do many peer reviews during your writing process. Each peer review includes a very systematic analysis of your writing; the peer review is not a look it over and give a personal reaction review. Most of the reviews focus on verifying if you have proven your thesis. For example, your reviewer may be asked, Does each category prove the thesis? Since you will receive peer feedback at each step of the Pre-Write and Write stages, you can continually make improvements to your writing.

In addition, this writing guide breaks the writing process down into many distinct steps. For example, in the Pre-Write stage, you do each step individually such as the topic, narrow the topic, write the thesis, generate ideas, organize the ideas into categories, evidence and detail, and write topic sentences. You receive feedback on each step so that you make critical changes to your writing.

**** Return to Table of Contents *****

Writing Process Overview

Writing Process

The writing process consists of four stages.

- Pre-write

- Write

- Revise and Edit

- Publish

The Writing Process with Built-In Peer Review

Notice that in the following model Revise is integrated into the Pre-Write and Write stages.

Pre-write

- Select a topic. (Peer review and revise.)

- Write your thesis. (Peer review and revise.)

- Generate ideas. (Peer review and revise.)

- Identify from the idea generation the major categories, evidence, and details. (Peer review and revise.)

- Complete the graphic organizer. Use complete phrases, not single words. (Peer review and revise.)

- Write your topic sentences.

Write and Revise

- Write the first body paragraph. (Peer review.)

- Revise the first body paragraph based on peer review. Bold all changes

- Write all the body paragraphs. (Peer review.)

- Revise the body paragraphs based on peer review. Bold all changes

- Word process the introduction and conclusion. (Peer review.)

- Revise the introduction and conclusion based on peer review. Bold all changes

- Put the whole essay in its usual order of introduction, body paragraph 1, body paragraph 2, body paragraph 3, and conclusion. (Peer review.)

- Revise the essay based on the peer reviews. Bold all changes.

- Edit the essay.

Publish

Hour Glass Essay Overview

The academic writing in this book utilizes the Hour Glass essay format. Look at the visual of the hour glass and notice that the widest and most general sentences are at the beginning and the ending of the essay. Notice how the top part of the top triangle, the attention getter, starts out broad and then narrows down. The three subsequent body paragraphs prove this narrowed thesis. The bottom triangle starts out narrow to restate the thesis and then goes out as wide as the beginning attention getter.

Introduction -5% of the total essay, three to four sentences maximum

- Attention Getter / Hook

- Bridge / Reducer / Funnel (Reduce down to the thesis; use restated verb)

- Thesis + may list the three categories

Body Paragraphs -90% of the total essay

3 Body paragraphs – each

- Topic sentence (Paraphrase the thesis and state the category)

- Evidence 1 + Detailed example

- Evidence 2 + Detailed example

- Evidence 3 + Detailed example

Conclusion – 5% of the total essay, three to four sentences maximum

- Paraphrase the thesis and list the three categories

- Extend out the topic

Enlarged Hour Glass Essay Format

Introductory paragraph (5% of the total essay or about three to four short sentences)

- Attention Getter / Hook (Use a quotation, mini-story, question or statistics; has a very general statement

- Bridge / Funnel / Reducer (Reduce down to the thesis by 1-reducing the big attention getter topic down to the smaller thesis topic and 2-using a synonym for the verb from the attention getter in the Bridge.)

- Thesis (state the topic and the strong position) + list the three categories in one to three words.

Body Paragraphs -(90% of the total essay. All information in the body paragraphs directly and obviously prove the thesis.)

Body Paragraph 1

- Topic sentence. Paraphrase the thesis and list the category in one to three words

- Name the first evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the second evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the third evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

Body Paragraph 2

- Topic sentence. Paraphrase the thesis and list the category in one to three words

- Name the first evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the second evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the third evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

Body Paragraph 3

- Topic sentence. Paraphrase the thesis and list the category in one to three words

- Name the first evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the second evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

- Use an Evidence transition word. Name the third evidence in one to three words. Provide a precise detail (Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?)

Conclusion – (5% of the total essay or about three sentences)

- Paraphrase the thesis and list the three categories in one to three words each.

- Extend out the topic to a very general topic. Do not repeat any information from the essay.

The Writing Assignment

Listen carefully or read carefully to understand both the topic of your essay and the type of type of essay you are to write. Your professor will probably identify the type of essay such as a comparison essay. The professor may either give you a topic or you may have to create your own topic. In this Writing Process overview, you will write an argument essay as a sample. This chapter provides an overview of an argument essay; a subsequent chapter provides in-depth information.

Pre-Write (In-Detail)

Your professor may give you a topic for your essay. Probably, the topic tends to be a big topic with many parts.

Topic For your prove-it essay, start with a one to three word topic like Sports, Class Attendance, or Paying jobs.

Your topic _______________________________

* Peer review: Have another student react to your topic.

1 Does the writer state the topic in one to three words? Count the words.

2 Can you understand what the topic is?

Revisions: Make any necessary changes to the topic.

Narrowed Topic

Next, as you look at the topic, you realize that the very general topic can contain many possible subtopics. You will narrow the topic down to a specific aspect. Break the big topic down into a specific aspect. For example, you may break sports into such narrowed topics as high school sports, park sports, professional sports, contact sports, sports with expensive equipment, co-ed sports, winter sports, or middle school baseball.

Your topic ________________________

Your narrowed topic ________________________________

* Peer review: Have another student react to your narrowed topic.

1 Draw one line under the topic and two lines under the words that narrow the topic.

2 Has the writer narrowed down the topic to something that he or she can prove in a few pages?

Revisions: Make any necessary changes to your narrowed topic.

Thesis Statement

A thesis combines the topic and your strong position or viewpoint about the topic. Think of a bicycle with two wheels; one wheel is the narrowed topic and the other wheel is the strong position. Both wheels are necessary to move the bicycle forward.

Thesis = topic + strong position.

Examples: The sentence All students should wear uniforms contains the topic of all students and the strong position of should wear uniforms. Look for both the topic and strong position in this sentence: Home schooled children receive a better education than public school students. Avoid statements such as Students work on the weekend or Exercise is good. These statements lack a strong position about the topic.

Strong position: Identify your definite position or viewpoint about the narrowed topic. What do you believe about your narrowed topic? For the topic of high school sports, maybe you feel that:

High school students should not play football.

No high school sport ought to cost more than one hundred dollars to play.

High school baseball causes excessive injury.

High school intramural programs must allow students of all ability to play.

What is your strong position about your topic?

__________________________________________________________________________

* Peer review: Have another student react to your strong position.

1 Does it state the writer's specific position, perspective, or viewpoint about the topic? Put a box around the topic and underline the specific position about the topic.

Revisions: Make any necessary changes to your position.

The thesis

- Proves a single main point such as Street drugs cause mental conditions. However, Street drugs cause mental conditions, poor family life, and poverty contains too many points for a thesis. The writer needs to pick one aspect and prove it.

- Is specific. Drugs harm people is too general. What type of drugs? What people? What does harm mean?

- Is one short sentence such as "Parents develop their child's mental