CHOICE BOOK ESSAY

Final Essay Edit & Revision

Organization of Ideas

Hook - First sentence gets the reader’s attention.

Introduction to the novel- One to three sentences about the characters, setting, plot and author of the play.

Thesis - This sentence MUST have subject and opinion.

Roadmap - Briefly describes how thesis is going to be proved.

Opening paragraph(Label each part & evaluate quality)

Organization of Ideas Part 2

Topic Sentence – States subject of paragraph and uses opinion to tie to thesis.

Concrete Details – Contains two to three direct quotes from the novel.

Commentary – Contains at least two CMs for every CD.

Transition – Ends with a transition or conclusion sentence.

Body paragraphs(Label each part. If not present write a note.)

Conventions: Commas, Commas, Commas

Commas are used to separate introductory elements, break up lists, and set off conjunctions.

The above sentence is an example of what comma use?

Conventions: Commas to separate a list of parallel items

When you have parallel items in a list, commas mark off each item in the series.

Remember: always keep your items parallel.

Fix: Katie likes books music exercise and

crafts. Kate ate the chocolate cake drank the

milk and the iced tea.

Conventions: Commas with conjunctions

Commas are ordinarily needed before conjunctions that link independent clauses. Such conjunctions include and, yet, but, or, nor and so.

Remember: do not insert the comma after the conjunction.

Fix: Rodney’s father is enthusiastic about the contest

but, he’s not pinning his hopes on it. Dr. Rizzo remembers what a happy hellion he

was as a child and so he knows how intoxicated Rodney must be with his power.

Conventions: Commas after introductory subordinate clauses

When you forget to put a comma after such an introductory clause, your readers are likely to slide past the place where the main idea of the sentences begins, stop in confusion and then have to reread from the beginning to understand your sentence.

Fix: Although Rodney seems cherubic at first

glance he excels in creating havoc.

Conventions: Titles

If you write your paper on a computer, italicize all titles. If your paper is handwritten: underline titles of works published

independently (books, newspapers, films, CDs).

Put in quotes titles that are published within larger works (short stories, chapters of books, songs).

Ex: I love the novel A Tale of Two Cities. I love the novel A Tale of Two Cities.

Conventions: Citations

You must give credit to the source when you use someone else’s words. These citations need to include the author/speaker’s name and if applicable the page number.

Ex: Dickens notes the contradictory nature of Pre-Revolution France when he states “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”(1).

The contradictory nature of Pre-Revolution France is captured by the famous words "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”(Dickens 1).

My mother once told me that “High school will be the best and worst part of your life.”

Voice: How to use “I”

Use I only when referring to an anecdote or personal story. Try to avoid using I when it is meant to show ownership. Evermond’s actions remind me of my

tyrannical sixth-grade teacher Ms. Spann. Both Ms. Spann and Evermond treated

children as if they were terrible nuisances. NOT: I believe that Ms. Spann and Evermonde

treated children as if they were terrible nuisances.

Ideas: TLPC

Transition – tie to sentence above

Lead-in – what is going on in story when passage occurs

Passage – copy just what you need

Citation – give credit to the source

The prisoner in The Pit and The Pendulum uses willpower and quick thinking to survive torture. “Yet one minute and I felt that the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the loosening of the bandage”(Poe 12).

The prisoner in The Pit and The Pendulum uses willpower and quick thinking to survive torture. He entices the rats to chew through his bindings; as they work he notes, “Yet one minute and I felt that the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the loosening of the bandage”(Poe 12).

Ideas: Commentary

CM1 states importance of the CD.

CM2 ties the CD to the thesis statement.

The prisoner in The Pit and The Pendulum uses willpower and quick thinking to survive torture. He entices the rats to chew through his bindings; as they work he notes, “Yet one minute and I felt that the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the loosening of the bandage”(Poe 12). He smeared meet juice on the bandages to get the rats to eat through them. He did not know if it would work, but it did.

The prisoner in The Pit and The Pendulum uses willpower and quick thinking to survive torture. He entices the rats to chew through his bindings; as they work he notes, “Yet one minute and I felt that the struggle would be over. Plainly I perceived the loosening of the bandage”(Poe 12). Knowing he could not free himself, the captive found another resource, the disgusting rats. Because of his quick thinking and ability to withstand a very intense situation he survived both the rats and the pendulum.