Quick and Easy Tips to Improve Your Essay Writing Ability

As a culminating activity for the literature circle unit, your writing task will be to identify the author’s central theme (for narrative works) or thesis (for sociological works) and either challenge, defend, or qualify the author’s idea through your own original argument, research that supports or refutes the author’s ideas, and quotations from the actual literature circle novel. Challenge: A demand for explanation or justification of the thesis and support in the novel; a calling into question. In other words, disagree with the argument(s) the author poses and support your dissent with an original argument, identification of logical fallacies, and research to support your view. Defend: To support or maintain the writer’s thesis, as by argument or action; justify. In other words, agree with the argument(s) the author poses and support your agreement with outside research. Qualify: To modify, limit, or restrict, as by giving exceptions. In other words, agree with portions of the writer’s thesis and take exception with other parts.  Support the points you agree on with examples; support your dissent with your own argument and outside research. Your essay must be at least two to three complete typed, double-spaced pages, including an introduction, a conclusion, and body paragraphs.

Your introduction must include a clear, strong, argumentative, concise original thesis statement. Each of your body paragraphs must strategically and effectively quote your literature circle book and research sources in a way that enhances that body paragraph’s main idea and does not disrupt the flow of your thoughts. NO FLOATING A QUOTE! NO Quotations may be used as topic sentences! You must identify rhetorical strategies employed in the literature circle book within key passages of development of thesis/theme in order to effectively make your argument. A minimum of two outside sources must be included in your paper. The outside sources can serve one of three purposes: further elaboration on the given theme/thesis and its connection to the real world; criticism of the theme/thesis for which you are arguing (in which case you must effectively attack the given source); or, support of the theme/thesis for which you are arguing (in which case you must effectively use the source as a tool of ethos).

Both your literature circle book and your outside sources must be properly cited (according to MLA style) parenthetically within the text of your essay. You must produce a works cited page (which will include your literature circle book and your outside sources); it must be properly formatted according to MLA style. Make sure the theme/thesis you’ve identified in the book includes a judgment of some sort. “Family” is not a theme. “Family is the one group of people in your life you can truly rely on in times of crisis” is a theme. “Teamwork” is not a theme. “Teamwork is the only way one can reach his/her goals” is a theme.  “The tipping point” is not a thesis.  “Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do” is a thesis. When identifying rhetorical strategies within the book, make certain to include a discussion of how these given strategies impact the author’s overall message. Don’t feel limited in your choices for outside sources on this essay. Books, Internet sites, periodicals, interviews, movies, music lyrics, etc. are all acceptable.  No more than one Internet site may be used.