Writing Strategies and Essay Skills
UCHS/APUSH
AP United States History
Writing Strategies and Essay Skills
#2
There are a definite number of "cornerstones" that lend themselves to elevated scores for essays on the AP College Board Examination, future work in college, and beyond. The blue print for a more direct, coherent, descriptive, and analytical essay hinges on the following key elements:
The use of a complete introductory paragraph is a key component that is often lacking in student essays. Using instructions for an introductory paragraph's overall structure found on the preceding page, you must slow down and organize your thoughts and truly diagnose the possible superstructure of the assigned essay. It is extremely important to work on this particular element of an effective essay. Stop and Organize!
A critical factor present in the opening paragraph is the THESIS, (located in one or two sentences).
1. opening sentence
2. Sentence with organizational list of structural points.
Another important facet to the opening paragraph is the inclusion of selected key words or phrases that indicate judgment, and analysis by the student.. Be aware of such words when writing your essay:
1. "controversial"
2. "turning point"
3. "inevitable"
4. "more importantly"
All of these comments indicate a higher degree of sophistication for this essay compared to others. This displays judgment, analysis of ideas to present a definite use of thesis/interpretation in the essay rather than a straight narrative composition that only recites facts. This is extremely important. Students need to develop the skill of prioritizing their organizational list of factors/main ideas and indicate primary v. secondary causation, repercussion, or some other aspect of varying degrees of importance for their list. It is rare that anything ever happened or didn't happen due to factors that share exact degrees of relevance. A select list of "buzz words" that jump from the paper and scream judgment and analysis are:
1. ironic9. interwoven
2. key10. dramatic
3. significant11. provocative
4. primary12. predominant
5. secondary13. imperative
6. precarious14. any indicator of degree of causation
7. delicate
8. deliberate
NOTE: Stay away from absolutes (never, always, completely, etc.)
Supplementary paragraphs should have clear and relevant topic sentences that follow the organizational list in the introductory paragraph. The supplementary paragraphs can be quite clutter by any English teacher's standards. For the AP Exam it is imperative that the student unleash an avalanche of names, dates, people, bills, pieces of literature, ideas, etc. that are germane to the essay. In my grading of essays I specifically look for the use of factual and or conceptual information by the student. Therefore, the more check marks in the left hand margin the student receives, usually the higher the grade. I would strongly recommend working on this expectation from the first essay of the year. This is a strong characteristic of essays on the AP College Board Exam that go beyond an 8 or 9 and on to the grandiose levels of 10 to 15.
BULK, BULK, BULK, PILE IT TO THE SKY, THAT IS OUR BATTLE CRY!
The essays on the National Exam are to be Expositions and not just narrative essays. Expositions state a thesis ( a case, a point, judgment, etc. ). Therefore, there is one possible pit-fall to some of the ideas in the preceding section. Don't just tell a story and spit out tons of details, present those details within the context of a thesis.
Students need to appreciate the complexity of history. Be aware of the multiplicity of events, emotions, ideas that impact human history. Students should reveal this appreciation of the fragile and complex nature to human history by avoiding overtly simplistic comments in their essay ( e.g. something is "bad" or "good"; 'great"; "fantastic" ) . Students should stay away from absolute phrases and the idea of single causation.
The vocabulary and narrative style of the essay should be attended to.The verbs used in an essay are a critical element in presenting a more sophisticated and descriptive essay. In conjunction with their adjectives and other descriptive tools, the students should strive to go beyond the more mundane verbs. For example:
"The assassination caused the war..." v. "The assassination provoked the outbreak of the war..."
"The diary showed the prejudice..." v. " The diary vividly illustrates the deep prejudice..."
Note the choice of verb tense. Past tense for past action but...documents (old and new) currently reveal information and insights...therefore, the use of present tense is acceptable when referring to documents. It is quite important that students use a variety of "wonderful verb" when referring to documents:
1. reveals6. implies
2. illustrates7. demonstrates
3. portrays8. indicates
4. exemplifies9. symbolizes
5. depicts10. etc.
The verbs will vary in degree of strength (endorsement of the document), e.g. "exemplifies" v. "implies". The choice of verb reveals the students' judgment as well as the nature of the document's information
The students should also employ additional modifiers to enhance the descriptive power of their essay. Adjectives and adverbs are sadly lacking in most student expositions written for the National Exam. Effective use of modifiers/descriptive phrases can expand and enhance the essay's thesis. An example of an expanded use of needed modifiers to increase the descriptive nature of a sentence is:
"Smith's letter to Abernathy strongly portrays Jackson's belligerent attitude towards the Bank of the US."
Students should avoid the use of first person in an exposition!It is understood that the thoughts and ideas within the essay are theirs or those sources cited.
I hope these tips are helpful. It is one of, if not the most difficult tasks of teachers within Social Studies, to teach essay skills. GOOD LUCK!