How to Write an Essay(and win the House Cup)

6 May 2013

R. Wheadon

Today’s Plan1) How to Structure an Essay

1) Thesis2) Organization3) Conclusion4) Integrating Evidence

2) Works Cited

Thesis StatementA thesis statement is “a single sentence that formulates

both your topic and your point of view” (42)A strong thesis is crucial to a strong paper. A weak

thesis and poor organization can take a good idea and make is unreadable.

A thesis statement helps you as well. Once you know what you want to say, you have a way to organize your essay and you can eliminate any points that don’t support your main argument.

An Essay Question The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling features

many allusions to classic mythology and culture. How do these elements -- whether referential names, Latin (or mock Latin) spells, or archetypal journeys -- function throughout the series?

Weak Theses J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books are very

popular, just as Greek myths used to be widely known and appreciated. In the series, Rowling uses allusions to Greek literature, like characters’ names and supernatural creatures.

The Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling, is immensely popular. Many children who would not spend time reading have learned to love reading. In the series, Rowling references classical literature, particularly Greek and Roman texts. Because children like to read Rowling’s books, more kids might read myths.

Stronger Theses J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels are filled with

references classical sources and stories. By alluding to Greek and Roman literature, the series encourages young readers to develop an interest in classical works.

By tapping into classical source material, J.K. Rowling is able to take a familiar framework -- that of fate versus choice -- and use it to come to a different, modern conclusion. While in Greek myths and stories, fate always prevails, Harry’s choices dictate the shape of the series.

Introductory Paragraph

An introductory paragraph is like a roadmap for your reader. It should contain: Your thesis, stated clearly and preferably at the

beginning of the paragraph A summary of the points that support your

argument A transition into the paragraph that follows

Sample Introductory ParagraphBy tapping into classical source material, J.K. Rowling is able to

take a familiar framework -- that of fate versus choice -- and use it to come to a different, modern conclusion. While in Greek myths and stories, fate always prevails, Harry’s choices dictate the shape of the series. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry decides to be in Gryffindor, setting the stage for the unfolding drama between Harry and Tom Riddle. Harry also becomes friends with characters who are socially shunned for their intrinsic or ‘fated’ characteristics, namely Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Finally, Harry’s links to the prophesy -- and the ways in which he undermines it -- show that it is his free will that dictates the series’ end. By setting the series up as an epic journey that relies heavily on Greek and Roman myth, Rowling works to subvert the idea that fate always triumphs over choice. For Harry, every choice he makes asserts his freedom.

Thesis Point One Point Two Point Three

Body Paragraphs Body paragraphs are the meat of your argument. Each should

should add substance to your thesis and work to prove your argument. They can be structured like this: Topic Sentence (the point the paragraph makes) Evidence (quotations from the text or paraphrasing) Explanation of Evidence

NOTE: Do not simply re-state the topic sentence as an explanation. You must explain why your evidence proves your point.

Be sure every paragraph works with your thesis. Having a strong introductory paragraph will help with this process.

Concluding Paragraph Conclusions should wrap-up your paper in a

convincing and interesting way. Conclusions should re-state your thesis and

summarize your paper, but they shouldn’t be repetitive. As conclusions are your last words to your reader, try to be memorable and persuasive.

Sample Concluding ParagraphWhile the Harry Potter series relies heavily on an archetypal

journey and draws upon classical source material, the novels differ in one crucial way: Harry is able to determine the end of his journey, even when his ending is said to be fated for him. By choosing his house, making allies regardless of social prejudice, and deciding how to end his war with Voldemort, Harry shows that choice is more important than prophesy, free will more powerful than fate. As Dumbledore says in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are” (245). That Harry so often chooses, against the backdrop of fate, makes Rowling’s series a powerful challenge to the myths upon which it draws.

Thesis Point One Point Two Point Three

Incorporating Evidence An excellent paper integrates evidence in a

way that is both easy to read and convincing Evidence that is included in an awkward way

will weaken your argument There are two primary ways to incorporate

evidence: through paraphrasing and through quoting

Paraphrasing A paraphrase must be in your own words and it must be true to

the source content When to paraphrase:

When you want to reference a certain point in a text When you need to discuss factual information When you want to use someone’s ideas (with credit), but

wording is not important When you want to present a counter-argument, and then

refute it in your own words To save space when discussing a text (if wording is not

crucial to your argument)

Sample Paraphrasing: Original 1

“They died in a car crash, you nasty little liar, and left you to be a burden on their decent, hardworking relatives!” screamed Aunt Marge, swelling with fury. “You are an insolent, ungrateful little --”

But Aunt Marge suddenly stopped speaking. For a moment, it looked as though words had failed her. She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger -- but the swelling didn’t stop. Her great red face started to expand, her tiny eyes bulged and her mouth stretched too tightly for speech. Next second, several buttons burst from her tweed jacket and pinged off the walls -- she was inflating like a monstrous balloon, her stomach bursting free of her tweed waistband, each of her fingers blowing up like a salami … (Prisoner of Azkaban 27)

Sample Paraphrasing: 1Plot Summary: Shortly after Prisoner of

Azkaban opens, Harry’s summer takes a turn for the worse: his Aunt Marge comes to visit and she insults him so thoroughly that he causes her to inflate like a giant balloon in a fit of rage (27).

Paraphrase: Harry’s growing anger problems first appear in Prisoner of Azkaban, when he causes Aunt Marge to inflate like a balloon because she insulted his parents (27).

Sample Paraphrasing: 2Original: “Paraphrasing is a handy tool for any writer. If you know how to paraphrase, you can take long paragraphs that contain pertinent information and condense them. This is particularly helpful if you’re writing papers with a set length, such as 750 words. It’s important to remember, however, that paraphrasing ought to be in your own words, so that it isn’t plagiarism!” (Wheadon 6).

Paraphrase: Good paraphrasing, Rebekah Wheadon notes, is an important skill to develop as it helps save space in short essays; conversely, poor paraphrasing can lead to accidental plagiarism (6).

Types of Quotations There are three methods of integrating quotations: the

standard method, block quotations, and weaving It is important to remember that a paper shouldn’t be

completely comprised of quotations -- a paper that has too many quotations doesn’t allow space for your own ideas, which should be the focus of your essay

Quotations bolster your argument, and thus you should only include relevant quotations

Sample Quotation: What Not To Do

Standard Method 1 (Poor): Grimmauld Place is, indeed, a grim old place. “He could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building” (Order of the Phoenix 59).

Standard Method 2 (Poor): Harry’s anger at his Aunt Marge made her inflate. “She seemed to be swelling with inexpressible anger -- but the swelling didn’t stop” (Prisoner of Azkaban 27).

Standard Method 1: Grimmauld Place is, indeed, a grim old place, as Harry notes that he “could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building” (Order of the Phoenix 59).

Standard Method 2: The adjectives that are linked to Harry’s initial impression of Grimmauld Place work together to create a sense of illness that points to Sirius’s mental condition and foreshadows his death. He describes the place as “damp,” “rotting,” “derelict,” “gloomy,” “age-blackened,” “threadbare,” “peeling,” “crooked,” and, most importantly, “foreboding” (59). It is, Harry feels, “like the house of a dying person” (Order of the Phoenix 59).

Sample Quotation: Block

In Order of the Phoenix, Harry’s observations about Grimmauld Place are crucial, as they link the house to Sirius’s later mental condition. Harry enters the house and notes:

The others’ hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person. He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. (59)

The house is dark, secretive, and, as Mrs. Black’s portrait indicates, angry. It is, in short, the perfect mirror to Sirius, who has become “hard and bitter” since his return to his family home (77).

Sample Quotation:Weaving

starting commentary → supporting quotation → ending commentary

The Hunger Games showcases a heroine who, like Wonder suggests, “combines physical prowess and revolutionary politics” while maintaining “her immense compassion and familial commitment” (27, 34). Katniss’s devotion to her sister, Rue, and Peeta play on the “trope of the self-sacrificing heroine” (Wonder 14), anchoring her softer and more feminine nature in the readers’ minds while she fights, kills, rebels, and manipulates with what Kay calls “masculine aplomb” throughout most of the novel (87).

Works Cited — SamplesWheadon 7

Works Cited

Fowles, Jib. “Advertising’s Fifteen Basic Appeals.” Reading

Popular Culture. Eds. Michael Petracca and Madeleine Sorapure.

Boston: Prentice Hall, 2011. 111-130. Print.

Mikei Red Reishi Mushroom. Advertisement. Alive Nov. 2011:

82-83. Print.

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. New York: Laurel-Leaf,

2007. Print.

QuestionsContact: rkwheadon@gmail.com