3: The Writing Process

Overview

Writing the college essay is a matter of answering a series of questions, of following a sequence of steps towards creating a coherent written document that explores a topic for greater insight and understanding. Initially, we will explore the basic elements of the writing process:

• Thesis driven
• Primary pattern of development
• Coherent, unified paragraphs
• Strong, clear introductions and conclusions
• Proper use of relevant, authoritative sources
• Properly formatted (MLA format)

NOTE: Please refer back to this page throughout the term for help with crafting the specific elements of your assignments. Major handouts will also be housed in the “Supplemental Course Documents” section (on the left-side navigation bar) and posted throughout upcoming learning modules when we are addressing a specific element of the essay writing process. But here you can find most, if not all, of the technical material you will need to write competent, engaging college-level essays.

Thesis-Driven Essays

• A strong thesis does not just state your topic but your perspective or feeling on the topic as well. And it does so in a single, focused sentence.
• A strong, clear thesis tells the reader clearly what the essay is all about about and engages them in the big idea of the entire essay.
• Consult the “Thesis Statements” handout or follow this link to the OWL thesis statements
  discussion.

BEST: A thesis is strongest when the writer uses both the specific topic, and their educated opinion on it, together for writing a detailed and clear main point.

• Thesis statements are usually found at the end of the introduction.
• Thesis statements are almost always a single sentence long, two tops.
• Thesis statements often reveal the primary pattern of development of the essay.
• Watch this video on writing a “Killer” Thesis Statement
• Watch this video on writing an effective Academic Thesis Statement.
  

Primary Pattern Of Development

• Many college essays follow a primary pattern of development for laying out their ideas and expressing their primary thesis.
• A pattern of development is the way the essay is organized, from one paragraph to the next, in order to present it’s main point and support for it.
• Some essays use a combination of patterns to communicate their ideas but usually a primary pattern is established to present the overall structure of the essay.

BEST: Patterns of development work best when they are used consistently and in conjunction with the structure and theme of the primary thesis statement.

• Patterns include:
  • Narration & Description
  • Exemplification
  • Cause & Effect
  • Comparison & Contrast
• There are several more variations of patterns of development but these are the most common and the ones we will be exploring this term.
• The chapters in your textbook explore these patterns of development and present them in clear, easy to follow steps for invention, drafting and revising your essay.
• Consult this handout on the basic understanding and uses of the primary patterns of development.
• Consult this handout on the patterns of development discussed as the modes of essay writing.

Coherent, Unified Paragraphs

• Strong essays are built with strong, coherent and unified paragraphs.
• Body paragraphs need to be arranged according to your primary pattern of development.

BEST: When the writer uses paragraphs to present a single, coherent and well-developed thought in support of their overall thesis.

• A body paragraph is a developed single thought that is laid out according to a certain, logical structure.
• A strong, clear topic sentence that states the main idea of the paragraph (which will likely be a sub-point that is helping you to develop and explore your thesis).
• A strong, clear body paragraph will include several (two-four) sentences of development and support of your topic sentence: including quotes, summaries and paraphrases of relevant sources and your substantive responses to the source material.
• A strong paragraph will have a closing sentence of summary and transition into the next paragraph.
• Consult this handout on how to construct coherent, engaging and unified paragraphs: Constructing Paragraphs or click on this link to the OWL Website.
• Watch this video on Writing Effective Paragraphs.

Strong, Clear Introductions and Conclusions

• Consult the “Beginnings & Endings” handout.
• The introduction should grab your reader’s attention, focus it on your general topic and move towards your specific, engaging thesis.
• The conclusion should provide a restatement of your main idea (thesis), provide a sense of finality or closure, and possibly challenge the reader with a “so what?” moment.

BEST: When the writer uses both to grab and focus the reader’s attention on the main point of their essay.

• Both should clearly state the main point of the essay (thesis).
• Both should grab and focus the reader’s attention on the greater topic and larger significance of the thesis.
• Both should provide a sense of momentum for the reader to move through the essay with clarity, confidence and full awareness of the essay’s main point.
• Watch this video on writing effective introductions and conclusions.
• Here’s another video on Effective Introductions and Conclusions.
  

Proper Use of Relevant, Authoritative Sources

• The “essay” format itself is intended to get the writer to explore an topic by beginning with an idea and then going out into the world and finding relevant, authoritative sources to help develop, test and explore that idea.
• Authoritative sources do more than just back up the ideas we have. They challenge us to dive deep into the topic we are exploring to get their full complexity and broad application.
• Consult the “Evaluating Sources” handout.
• Consult this handout on how to effectively blend sources into your essay.

BEST: When the writer uses both together for writing a detailed account of some memorable experience.

• A strong essay will include enough relevant, authoritative and reliable sources to help develop and explore the topic and thesis.
• A strong essay will comment effectively on sources by integrating them into the larger topic, making them “talk to one another” and commenting on them in ways that stays true to their original intent and blends them into the writer’s main point and primary pattern of development.
• A strong essay will include a variety of sources from various academic, professional and popular institutions to provide a wide array of perspectives on the topic and thesis under discussion.

Consult theLibrary Databases and our WR 122 Library Guide for help in finding and using relevant, authoritative sources.

Watch this video on Searching the Databases.

Watch this video on Evaluating Sources.

Properly Formatted (MLA)

• Essays in Humanities classes are formatted according to Modern Language Association (MLA) format.
• Formatting can be a frustrating and time-consuming process so we will work on it in sections throughout the term. Stay calm and focused and learn how to use the tools that will assist you in proper MLA formatting.

BEST: When an essay is properly crafted and formatted, the reader is able to clearly and easily follow the ideas and trace outside information to its original sources.

MLA involves three primary components when getting your essay into proper format:

1. Formatting of the first page of your essay
2. Proper use of “in-text” citations (citing sources you use in the body of the text of your essay)
3. Properly formatted “Works Cited” or “Works Consulted” page.

• Consult the MLA Style Guides nn the MHCC Library Website.
• Note that on the MLA Style Guides site there is a section called “Citation Builders” which will help put sources into proper format for you. Note also that in most newer versions of Microsoft Word there is an MLA template you can select to automatically put your document in MLA format. Lastly, sources taken from the MHCC Library databases will already be listed at the bottom of the article in MLA format. Simple copy and paste the citation from the database entry to your Works Cited page (making sure to the entry is: in proper alphabetical position, double-spaced and in proper “hanging” format”).
• Consult this handout on how to put your essay in MLA format.
• Consult thistemplate on how to construct your first essay.
• Watch the following video on how to use MLA Format (8th Edition).
• Watch the following video on how to use MLA Format for MAC (8th Edition).
• Watch the following video on how to create the MLA Works Cited Page (8th Edition).