How to Write an Essay

By Maggie Sokolik

What does it take to write a good essay? This book covers the basics of grammar, sentence construction, and paragraphs, and then outlines how to plan and write an essay. You will find writing prompts, vocabulary lists, and editing exercises (with suggested answers).

 

This text was written to accompany the online course of the same name, the first of two courses offered by College Writing Programs of the University of California, Berkeley through edX.org. For students in the course, this book offers additional ways to practice writing, editing, and reviewing the materials. However, the materials here are independent of the course, and function as an effective study of the essay writing process.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wayzgoose Press
• Release date: Nov 3, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497708587

Maggie Sokolik

Maggie Sokolik, Ph.D. was born in Olympia, Washington. She is a writer/editor living in the Bay Area. She graduated from Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and received a Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics from UCLA. She directs the writing program at UC Berkeley. She is also the instructor for a popular online writing course, College Writing 2x, as well as the BerkeleyX Book Club, both offered through edx.org. These courses are offered free of charge to readers and writers around the world, and have attracted over a quarter million students to date.

Book preview

How to Write an Essay

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

MAGGIE SOKOLIK

Wayzgoose Press

How to Write an Essay

Third Edition Copyright © 2022; 2013 by Maggie Sokolik

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the copyright owner. Dramatic works contained within this volume are intended only as reading material, and their inclusion does not imply the granting of performance licenses, which must be arranged through the author.

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Edited by Dorothy E. Zemach. Cover design by DJ Rogers, Book Branders.

Published in the United States by Wayzgoose Press.

CONTENTS

Introduction

1. Good Grammar and Sentences

Overview

Keys to Improving Your Writing

Why Is Grammar Important? (Or, Do I really need to learn grammar terminology?)

The Connection Between Grammar and Writing

What Are Parts of Speech?

Parts of a Sentence

Writing Beautiful Sentences

Writing Concisely

Table 1. Wordy vs. Concise Writing

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Freewriting

Controlled Writing

Editing and Proofreading

Vocabulary Check

Resources for Grammar Terminology and Information

2. Paragraphs and Topics

Overview

Noticing Paragraphs

Two types of paragraphs

Coherence and Development

Coherence

Development

Signposts and Transitions

Example Paragraph with Transitions

Organizing Paragraphs

Finding a Topic to Write About

Starting Your Paper

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Freewriting

Controlled Writing

Editing

Vocabulary Check

Resources for writing effective sentences and paragraphs

3. Thesis Statements

Overview

What Isn’t a Thesis Statement?

Thesis Statements in Academic Writing

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Freewriting

Controlled Writing

Editing

Vocabulary Check

Resources for Thesis Statements

4. The Essay

Overview

What Is an Essay?

Beginning Your Essay

Planning Your Writing

Writing Longer Papers

Finding Sources of Information

Libraries

The Internet

Talking to Experts

Software for Outlining

Bibliographies

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Freewriting

Controlled Writing

Editing

Vocabulary Check

Resources for Essay Writing Information

5. Improving Your Writing

Overview

Introductions

Conclusions

What is Revision?

Proofreading Techniques

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & RESOURCES

Freewriting

Controlled Writing

Editing

Vocabulary Check

Resources for Writing and Editing Information

Answer Key

About the Author

About the College Writing Books

50 Ways to Practice Writing

INTRODUCTION

This book can accompany the online course, College Writing 2.1x, How to Write an Essay, the first of a series of two writing courses offered by College Writing Programs of the University of California, Berkeley through edX.org. This book offers additional ways to practice writing, editing, and reviewing the materials for the online course.

If you have purchased this book and are not taking the course, you will still find use for the materials, which are written to be usable independent of the course.. However, because the course is offered free of charge, we recommend that you look for the schedule on the http://edx.org website and join the live course. This will give you the opportunity to learn along with other students from around the world.

1

GOOD GRAMMAR AND SENTENCES

Decorative puzzle pieces

Overview

This chapter covers the basics of grammar terminology. For some readers, this will be nothing new. However, you should try to understand all the terms and be able to identify parts of sentences and grammatical terms easily. This makes talking about your writing easier, because we will be using the same vocabulary.

Keys to Improving Your Writing

Write often! It doesn’t matter what you write. Write about your day, something that you observed, reactions to your reading, etc. You will find suggestions for ideas to write about in this book.

Share your writing. If you are in the course, be sure you post to the discussion boards and get and give feedback to your peers. If you are using this book without taking the course, you might want to start a blog, form a writing group, or find other ways to share your writing with readers.

Be patient. Learning to write well is a lifelong process. Keep working on it, and you will improve.

Find good resources. This book will provide you with lots of links and information. Keep it organized on your computer or in a notebook. Look for additional sources of