Bronxville High School
The Delia Selby Writing Handbook In 2006 Ms. Delia Selby took it upon herself to collect and coordinate the styles of writing being taught in the Middle School and High School English and Social Studies classes. Her hours of work resulted in a binder full of materials. We the members of the High School English and Social Studies departments have taken a portion of that to use to instruct our incoming students. This handbook is just a small testament to the hardwork, dedication and caring that Ms. Selby has given to the students of Bronxville for over 40 years. We and future generations of Bronxville students thank her for all she has done in teaching the art of writing.
How to Write A Thesis?
The Thesis Statement
An essay's controlling purpose, or thesis, is the heart of the essay. Without a clearly stated thesis, most essays are doomed to wander, with little possibility of arriving at a destination. A thesis provides an essay with the necessary focus for development. A thesis is a statement which can be developed through the use of evidence. It is usually presented in the first paragraph of an essay and is supported and developed with evidence in the following paragraphs. The final assessment and implications of the thesis (drawn from the evidence) provide material for the essay's conclusion. Some essays are based on thesis statements which require evidence for development but are not controversial (e.g. "Many 20th century novels are based on stories from mythology"). The development of such a thesis is a relatively simple matter. The process consists of determining the relationship among the main groupings of your evidence, and expressing these relationships in sentence form.
The thesis statement is the controlling idea of your paragraph or essay. This controlling idea must have a point of view. In other words, what do you want the reader to learn by reading what you have written? What is the big idea? Take a position. Here is an example of a nonstarter. Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492. This will not work as a thesis. Where is it going? What is the point of this paragraph? Where is your thinking going? Better. The moment Christopher Columbus landed in the new world, history considered him the first imperialist.
Why? The writer states that Christopher Columbus is predatory. He is a taker. The reader can expect a negative or critical point of view. The reader will read this and be able to agree or disagree with your interpretation of a historical person and event. Example One. The Aztecs and the Incas are prototypes of destruction and creativity. [Note: The point of view is the use of compressed concepts.] Example Two. Often portrayed as barbarians, the Mongols allowed the passageway of ideas from East to West, so necessary for the eventual rise of Europe. [This could be an argumentative essay. The student will have to deal with barbarian, likely in the first body paragraph, and then the rest of the essay can concentrate in the types of knowledge and technology that flowed to the West to make it possible to cross the Atlantic and to give birth again to humanism.]
The Thesis Statement Is Also the Controlling Idea Of An Essay Exam Question
Example One. Discuss the fall of the Roman Empire. There are many reasons the writer will focus on what he or she considers essential. In this case the writer chose the following: The Roman Empire fell because of decay from within and attack from without. [This is an example of a persuasive essay.] What's the trick? Answer the question in a one sentence statement that has a point of view. Example Two. Discuss the character of Frankenstein. Frankenstein is the tragic hero because he knows what others do not know: in the real world innocence succumbs to the commonplace. [A persuasive essay] Example Three. Discuss the reasons for the fall (or the suicide) of Anna Karenina. Anna Karenina must fall because she puts romantic love before the love of motherhood. [A persuasive essay] Example Four. Discuss the causes for World War II. World War II was caused not by Hitler's policies against the Jews but by his aggressions against other nations. [An argumentative essay] Example Five . To what extent is Stalin the savior of Russia? Like it or not, Stalin's brutal efficiency turned the Soviet Union into an industrial giant in fifty years although the costs were high—too high in terms of human life. [A persuasive essay]
How to Structure the Paragraph Step One-Thesis
1.
Although the thesis is the last sentence in the introduction begin by creating your thesis statement. What does a thesis do? It states your main idea in one sentence. A. This sentence may be two closely related sentences connected by a semicolon. Example: Mr. Putin appears to be the authoritative ruler of Russia; a new tsar has returned with the legislative body co-opted to formalize the decrees of the executive and with a cabinet drawn from the old KGB. B. This sentence may contain a dependent and independent clause. A clause has a subject and verb; a dependent clause cannot stand alone. Example: Since Mr. Putin has assumed the presidency of Russia, he has replaced the democratic trends inaugurated under President Yeltsin with authoritative tendencies reminiscent of the dictatorships of the past. [Note: the dependent clause cannot stand alone. It is dependent to carry meaning through the main clause that can stand alone. Helpful adverbs to begin dependent clauses are as follows: if, because, although, though, unless, when, while, supposing that, now that, no matter how, so that, after. C. The thesis may contain two clauses connected by and, but, for. Example: Mr. Putin appears to be the new dictator of Russia, and he has curtailed the powers of the legislature, the news media, and the local parliamentary legislatures. D. The thesis may contain two clauses connected by a semicolon. If there is a relationship between these two clauses signaling cause, condition, and contrast, begin the second clause with a consequently, however, nevertheless, then, therefore Example: Mr. Putin has gathered the reigns of government into the office of the Presidency; consequently, Russia is coming to look more and more like a dictatorship of old.
Step Two- Topic Sentence
2.
Every paragraph must begin with a topic sentence. What is a topic sentence? —the specific, narrowed main ideas of an essay. Those who are new to writing or who are making an effort to improve their writing will want to keep their topic sentence at the beginning of your paragraph(s). Example from The Writer's Handbook. Topic sentences establish a focus a/attention at the beginning of a paragraph. In a well-designed paragraph, the reader should be able to anticipate what is to come in the rest of the paragraph. Topic sentences orient readers by identifying-what the paragraph is about and how it will be developed. When writers stay within the limits they establish, paragraphs are easier to follow. They feel unified, since they don't seem to digress or run off the point.
Examples of Thesis and Topic Sentence From The Bookseller Essay
Example One. Thesis: Although Mansur and Leila come from the same family, the differences in their standings in society due to gender cause them to lead completely different lives. Topic Sentence: In the Khan household, Mansur is treated like a prince, subordinate only to his father, while his sister, Leila, the youngest member of the family, is subordinate to everyone and is treated like a servant. Example Two. Thesis: Bibi Gul and Leila are both women in a society where men are the law; however, they have entirely different roles in their family, because of their difference in age which defines their position within the family. Topic Sentence: Leila as the youngest in the family makes her the servant, and Bibi Gul the mother of men allows her the privilege to determine all marriage relationships. Example Three. Thesis: Fearless before the Communists and Taliban, Sultan gathers a collection of books on Afghani history, and literature earning himself recognition as a forward looking man, but in his household he cannot separate himself from the patriarch's role as tribal leader. Topic Sentence: Typical of the middle class male in Islamic Arab society. Sultan's character is one of duality, at once both modem and traditional.
Pre-Writing
Suppose a writing assignment requires you to argue for or against a particular procedure or rule at this school. Only if you are able to collect information about your topic can you learn how to select the proper items and put them into an order which could result in an organized paper. Similarly, your paper will be more effective if you have a clear sense of who your audience is; your word choice would be different in such a paper addressed to the superintendent from one addressed to your classmates. You will be competent in pre-writing if: a. you know how to select and narrow a topic in the light of whom you are addressing and for what purpose; you know how and where to get information, whether from your own observations and experiences or from those of others; b. you know how to arrange your material into a clear order;
c.
you know how to express your purpose in the form of one sentence.
2. Composing. The three composing skills, unlike many pre-writing and refining skills, are capable of lifetime development. The ability to expand a topic comes from maturity and study as well as from practice. The ability to order your ideas is learned without great difficulty and can always be developed. The ability to express your ideas in proper words and proper sentences is dependent as much on the extent and the nature of your vocabulary as it is on your study and practice. The term style is used to refer to this composing ability. You will be competent in composing if: you are able to develop your thought adequate to and consistent with your controlling purpose; b. you are able to write complete sentences which are varied according to intended effect, which show proper relationships among ideas, and which conform to standard usage; c. you are able to choose words which most accurately convey your thoughts, which are appropriate to the tone of the paper, and which convey an original flavor.
a.
3. Refining. The refining skills come into play after a paper is written. They are abilities which enable you to make what you have written more forceful and to make it correct, according to the standard which is referred to as edited American English. First, revising skills are general and, like the composing skills, can be developed indefinitely. Second, editing skills are very particular and can actually be mastered while you are in school, although it is the rare student who masters them all. In this regard, it would be most useful for you to keep one very important truth about editing skills clearly in mind. Doing so will save you many needless concerns. Some editing skills can be mastered much more easily and permanently through a certain amount of formal instruction in grammar. The chief reason for mastering editing skills is to enable you to put your writing in acceptable form, and instruction in grammar is one method of helping you to master these skills. You will be competent in refining if: a. You are able to proofread and revise your paper for clarity of thought and adequacy of development; b. you are able to proofread and revise your paper for expression of sentences and words; c. you are able to proofread and correct your paper for any mechanical problems; d. you are able to proofread and correct your paper for acceptable usage. The act of proofreading means that you are able both to detect and to correct unacceptable elements.
Writing, like all other forms of communication, is a two-way social process; therefore, a reader of your writing may reasonably expect: 1. That it will be clear in its purpose, its organization, its diction, its sentence patterns, and its use of punctuation; 2. That it will be correct in grammar, spelling, and general mechanics; 3. That it will be appropriate—to your purpose and to your stated or implied reader(s); 4. That it will be logically effective in development. To the attainment of this general objective, you must work: 1. To improve your ability to read critically; 2. To stimulate your interest in and to understand the ways in which our language works; 3. To become more aware of your capacities and responsibilities in the use of language.
English Spelling List
The following words are often misspelled by students. Your teacher may lower the grade of any paper which contains misspellings or misuse of these words. In addition, he may add words to the list. See your grammar handbook for spelling rules. accept/except accessible accommodate achieve acknowledge acquire acquaintance adolescent affect/effect all right allusion/illusion a lot already/all ready always ambiguity among analogy analyze/analysis anonymous answer apparent argument beginning behavior believe benefit brake/break buy/by capital/capitol category character choice choose/chose/chosen committee conceivable connotation conscious/conscience consistent criticize/criticism definite/definitely descendant description desperate does/doesn't embarrass environment etc. excellent existence finally forfeit forty/fourteen/fourth grammar innocence it/it's judgment lead/led library license loneliness/lonely lose/loose/losing manageable meant minor/miner misspell mysterious naive necessary ninth/ninety occasion occur/occurred occurrence pastime peculiar performance
personal/personnel piece/peace playwright pleasant possess precede prejudice principal/principle privilege probably proceed/procedure profession psychology quiet/quite/quit really receive recommend referring/refer repetition rhythm/rhyme sense separate similar sincerely soldier sophomore succeed/success surprise
than/then their/there/they're therefore through/thorough/threw tomorrow too/two/to tragedy truly until vacuum vehicle villain weather/whether were/we * re/where whose/who's woman/women writing/writer your/you're
Social Studies Spelling List
apartheid behavioral bourgeoisie business Byzantine compel competition. complement compliment constitution control cooperate corollary desert diffusion enterprise evolution executive familiar fiscal government heredity independence indigenous
judicial legislative linguistics Mediterranean megalopolis monarchy neolithic nuclear parallel Parliament peasant peer physical prairie principal principle representative secede similar sovereignty subsistence tariff temperature theory voting
Can You Follow Directions and Go Beyond the Facts?
Analyze Categorize Classify Compare Contrast Criticize Deduce Defend Define Describe Diagram Discuss Distinguish Enumerate Evaluate Explain Illustrate Interpret Justify List Outline Paraphrase Predict Prove Relate Review State Summarize Synthesize Trace Verify
Break down the problem and draw a conclusion Place items under labeled headings Place items in related groups Tell how things are alike/similar Tell how things are different Make a judgment and support your opinion Come to a conclusion Give details to support a statement Give the meaning Give an account in words or present a picture Use pictures, graphs, charts, or maps to show a relationship Consider different viewpoints and present all sides of an issue Tell how something is different or similar to other things List all possible items Make a judgment based on evidence and support your judgment Make something clear giving reason or cause Give examples, pictures, charts, diagrams or concrete examples to clarify your answer Express your thinking by giving the meaning as you see it Give evidence by supporting your statement Write in a numbered or ordered fashion Use a shortened form to organize main ideas Put in your own words Present solutions or conclusions Provide factual evidence to back up a statement Show the relationship among concepts Examine the information thoroughly by commenting on important statement Write what you believe and back it up with evidence Condense the main points Combine parts or pieces of an idea or event Describe in steps the progression of something Establish the accuracy of a point of view with supporting evidence