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Ten List:
Practical Tips for Writing
1. Have a point and clearly state it!!!!!
Your point will be your thesis statement.
A strong thesis is absolutely essential to a successful essay. Without it, your essay will seem unfocused and fuzzy—it will seem to have little direction, and readers may have a hard time understanding what you wanted to accomplish. A clear thesis, on the other hand, helps you and the reader stay on track. Without an clear thesis, it will be impossible to write a well developed, unified, coherent essay.
If you want to write an effective thesis, begin by remembering a simple equation:
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THESIS = subject + assertion (judgment/opinion/interpretation/meaning)
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As expressed above, the thesis names your general subject and makes an assertion about that subject. It states the topic and the point you want to make about that topic.
Even history, biography, and autobiographies have theses statements, such as "The Grand Canyon was even more magnificent than I had imagined." OR "Our vacation enabled us to learn the true meaning of sharing." OR "Thomas Jefferson was a man of vision."
If you are writing a cause and effect essay, make sure that your thesis indicates that this is the type of essay.
Likewise, if you are writing a literary analysis essay, and you intend to argue that the author uses symbolism, imagery, and metaphors to represent ---, name these three techniques in your thesis.
Your thesis can be more than one sentence; however, for a five-page essay, you do not want a thesis that is more than two sentences. For a two-sentence thesis, you can use a semi-colon to separate the sentences.
2. Think of your audience as the ignorant reader; click here for explanation
3. Topic and concluding sentences are important:
Your topic sentences should:
1) state the main idea of the paragraph AND function as a mini-thesis
2) connect the new paragraph to the previous one (transitioning is usually a matter of using one word-- however, similarly, furthermore--or a short phrase--in contrast to).
Your concluding sentences should:
1) offer a summary of the paragraph (its meaning; your point)
2) state how the preceding paragraph connects to/supports your overall argument. How does this paragraph fit with the rest of your paper and with your thesis? How is this paragraph a part of your argument?
4. Give paragraph transitions (usually located in the topic sentence of the "new" paragraph): However, in addition to, in contrast to, furthermore.
5. Explain every example, piece of evidence, and/or quotation:
You will first want to introduce your quotation/example AND integrate it (grammatically and stylistically) with your ideas.
Before you give an example (whether in your own words or in the form of a quotation), you must have already explained and examined the topic/subject of the example.
You cannot give an example of something, when you have not been examining that something. For example, just because you are examining stem cell research, does not mean that you can give a quotation/example about adult stem cell research unless you have been specifically examining (and adequately introduced) adult stem cell research.
Likewise, you must also transition to your quotation/example (notice the transition).
6. Never let a quotation be its own sentence: Concerning punctuation, you have three options:
A. Introduce the quotation with a complete sentence (long phrase) and a colon.
Example: Thoreau ends his essay with a metaphor: "Time is but the stream I go a-fishing in" (160).
B. Use an introductory or explanatory phrase, but not a complete sentence, separated from the quotation with a comma.
Example: Thoreau asks [states, writes, claims, and so on], "Why should we live with such hurry and waste of life?" (163).
C. Make the quotation a part of your own sentence without any punctuation between your own words and the words you are quoting (you will usually use that).
Example: According to Thoreau, people are too often "thrown off the track by every nutshell and mosquito's wing that falls on the rails."
The above explanations and examples from: http://www.ivcc.edu/eng1001/handout_quotations.htm
7. Have a title that is fitting with the scope of your project AND that is interesting.
8. Use an introductory and concluding hook:
Introduction hook: http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2002/introductions.html
Concluding technique: http://brainstorm-services.com/wcu-2002/conclusions.html
Great website: http://iws.ccccd.edu/WriteStuff/visual.html
Examples: http://iws.ccccd.edu/WriteStuff/intros.html
1301 Students: MyCompLab > Resources > Writing > The Writing Process > Drafting > Writing Introductions [and Writing Conclusions]
9.
Research
Read
Look it up: look up any information that you do not know--whether it is how to cite a film, how to spell a word, how long your essay should be . . . look it up!
Follow directions!!!!!
10. Use the college's resources:
Ask A Librarian (email a librarian)
Online CCCCD Writing Center/Tutor
Onsite Writing Center/Tutor:
Spring Creek campus: Room D-224, Tel: (972)-881-5843
Central Park campus: 548-6857 Rm. B-117
Preston Ridge: Tel No: 972 - 377 - 1576, ROOM F - 118
MyCompLab Online Tutor: Go to the Composing space and click on Tutor link in right menu bar (only available to 1301 students)
Smarthinking--another Writing Center/Tutor available through CCCCD:
Before your request for online tutoring can be processed, you must e-mail the following information to Michele Boverie, Tutor Coordinator/Advisor::
1. Your name
2. Your e-mail address
3. Course
4. Student ID (CWID)
5. Mailing address
6. Home, cell, and work phone
7. Present grade in course (A, B, C, D, or no test yet.)
8. Are you currently seeing an ACCESS (disability) advisor?
9. Are you a DARS (Dept. of Assistive & Rehab. Services) client (formerly TRC)? TCB client?
She will e-mail your confirmation, username, and password for the online tutoring service. A minimum of five business days is required to process your request. Please allow extra processing time during the first two weeks of classes.