ENGL&101 – English Composition I (Online) – The Harlem Renaissance

Helpful Tips for Writing Essays

The point: Form your own ideas and support them with an argument. You think about an issue, an idea, a text, or several texts in a complex (critical) way, and then come up with the argument you want to make. Essay-writing is a challenge; if it were easy, you wouldn’t need college.

1.THESIS STATEMENTS: The “backbone” of an essay is the thesis, which is your argument, your opinion, the point of your essay in a nutshell. It is a focused, complex, relevant, and arguable claim. A good thesis makes a claim that not everyone will agree with and which needs further support and explanation. A good claim looks beyond what is obvious to say about a given subject and is more than one sentence. It may be rewritten several times as you draft.

Thesis statements that don’t work because they are not arguments:

  1. A list with no overall point: “This essay mentions gangs, art, and food.” Remember, your task is to find a specific angle from which to argue. Though you will summarize in your essay, your thesis should not be a summary.
  1. A statement of the obvious: “The Hughesessay discusses a magazine he tried to start.” This is an observation, which is only the first step to analysis.
  1. An unprovable opinion: “The Fisher essay is confusing.” Your opinion, while valid, is not analysis; like observations, opinions are only the first step.

Here’s an example of a solid thesis statement:

1) In his essay “The Caucasian Storms Harlem,” Rudolph Fisher describes the process of gentrification in what had previously been black-dominated neighborhoods. This is an issue that still affects areas of major American cities and during our current economic downturn presents a troublesome problem for those trying to get a foothold on the American dream.

Why is this a good thesis statement? Apply the criteria. In what ways could it be better?

Focused; Arguable; Relevant; Complex;Needs further support and explanation

2.INTRODUCTIONS: Grab your reader’s attention; tell him or her what they need to know before embarking on the rest of your argument. Introductions can also lay out a map for how you will go about proving your argument. For this reason, usually the introduction is the LAST part of the paper you write. You may write an initial introduction to get the ball rolling, but once you complete your paper, you should go back and rewrite the intro. How can you know where your paper will go until you write it?

Save the nitty-gritty details for the supporting paragraphs. Do not list all of your supporting evidence. Usually, the thesis statement goes toward the end of you introduction.

The attention-gettinghookat the beginning of your introduction should be an intriguing question or statement. It is not random, but instead relates directly to your topic. Avoid: hokey claims, clichés, obvious statements, or dictionary definitions. Do not spend time thinking of a hook at the outset. It is much easier once you have the paper written or mostly written.

3. MAIN BODY OR SUPPORTING PARAGRAPHS: The strength of an essay comes from detailed, in-depth explanation that braces your thesis statement. The thesis ALWAYS requires supporting explanation.

Paragraphs come in all shapes and sizes. There is no minimum or maximum sentence limit. A paragraph expresses some specific idea or piece of evidence about your argument, and is unified by that specific idea. Sometimes it takes more than one paragraph to make a point. If your thinking is complex (and it should be!) then essay writing will be an exciting dance of paragraphs. How you break them down depends on how you decide to organize your paper. Generally speaking, a paragraph reaches its end when you have finished talking about a given specific point and are ready to move to the next piece of supporting evidence.

Develop and explain your main idea sloooooowly, using concrete details as support. The name of the game is detail. Move slow, provide context, explain things, use specific details. Slooooow.

4. CONCLUSIONS: Think of the conclusion as a pushing forward of your argument, not a shutting down or a recapitulation of what you’ve already proven. DO NOT RESTATE OR SUMMARIZE your argument. Do not repeat yourself.

Try to give your reader something further to think about. It is sometimes a good idea to ask additional questions in your conclusion. You want your argument to cause your reader to ponder things further, not think they’ve closed the lid on the subject. For example, if you were writing that paper about George Saunders’ diction, you could maybe pose a question at the end about fiction’s relationship to advertising, or to science. Or you could ponder a little about the purposes of satire. You could even invite the reader to think about the consumer’s own responsibility in parsing truth in advertising. Ideas for further thinking and a sense that your argument matters, that’s what you’re after. Though, as was the case with your introductions, you want to avoid clichés and vague statements.