Tips for Crafting a Short Essay
English 10A, Ms. Christopher
>> The world is not made up of five paragraphs essays! There is
a time and a place for this type of writing (YES, ON THE SOL
WRITING TEST!), but we need to know how to write shorter and
longer essays. We need to know how to write them WELL.
>> How you put together these shorter essays depends on the
purpose of the writing assignment and the audience. For short
essay answers on MY tests, here are some tips:
1. Organization is very important! You have a lot to say,
and not much space in which to write. Think ahead! Don’t
just start writing -- plan out how you will proceed.
Just because you are writing only one or two or three
paragraphs does not mean you should not have an outline.
Do an outline!
2. Start with a topic sentence -- include your main points
here.
3. Elaborate on each point with SPECIFIC examples from the
text, your life, literature or art in general, whatever the question
is asking. I place great emphasis on SPECIFIC examples -- so
do other teachers. Get used to it...it’s an effective habit to start
now. Being specific shows what you know. Being vague shows
you don’t know.
4. Conclude -- restate -- wrap it up!
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