Lesson
1: Creative Writing in English. Essay.
Type of the lesson: English essay
writing practice
Age of students: 18-19 (2rd year students)
General
topic of the unit:
Creative Writing in English
Topic
of the class: Essay
writing
Goals
of the class:
develop essay writting skills, and the ability to express personal opinion of
the topic, learning new words.
Goals
of the activity:
develop essay writting skills
What is an essay?
An essay is a piece of writing,
usually from an author's personal point of view. Essays are non-fictional but
often subjective; while expository, they can also include narrative. Essays can
be literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of
daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author.
The definition of an essay is
vague, overlapping with those of an article and a short story.
The word essay derives from the
French infinitive essayer, 'to try' or 'to attempt'. The first author to
describe his works as essays was the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592).
Inspired in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation of whose Oeuvres
morales (Moral works) into French.
Many students' first exposure
to the genre is the five paragraph essay, a highly structured form requiring an
introduction presenting the thesis statement; three body paragraphs, each of
which presents an idea to support the thesis together with supporting evidence
and quotations; and a conclusion, which restates the thesis and summarizes the
supporting points. The use of this format is controversial. Proponents argue
that it teaches students how to organize their thoughts clearly in writing;
opponents characterize its structure as rigid and repetitive.
Your task will be to write an essay in five paragraphs follow these
steps:
STEP 1. Choose a topic
Choose a topic which interests and challenges
you.
BUT for
this time topic will be:
Family or Job, What to choose in modern life?
Family or Job, What to choose in modern life?
STEP 2. Find information
Surf the Net.
Find
articles or interesting stories on this topic, which you can refer to.
STEP 3. State your thesis
Do some critical thinking and write your
thesis statement down in one sentence. Your thesis statement is like a
declaration of your belief. The main portion of your essay will consist of
arguments to support and defend this belief.
You may
also use quotation of famous people. But don’t forget to name whose this
quotation is.
STEP 4. Write down outline
Write down
shortly main ideas in logical order.All
points must relate to your topic.
You have
to follow this structure:
INTRODUCTION - State your thesis and the purpose of your research paper
clearly. What is the chief reason you are writing the paper? State also how you
plan to approach your topic. Is this a factual report, a book review, a
comparison, or an analysis of a problem? Explain briefly the major points you
plan to cover in your paper and why readers should be interested in your topic.
BODY - This is where you present your arguments to support your thesis
statement.
CONCLUSION - Restate or reword your thesis. Summarize your
arguments. Explain why you have come to this particular conclusion.
STEP 5. Organize your notes
Organize all the information you have
gathered according to your outline. Critically analyze your research data.
Using the best available sources, check for accuracy and verify that the
information is factual, up-to-date, and correct.
Opposing views should also be noted if they help to support your thesis. This is the most important stage in writing a research paper.
Opposing views should also be noted if they help to support your thesis. This is the most important stage in writing a research paper.
Do not include any information that is not
relevant to your topic, and do not include information that you do not
understand. Make sure the information that you have noted is carefully recorded
and in your own words, if possible.
STEP 6. Write your fist draft
Start with the topic in your outline. Try to organize your thoughts logically.
STEP 7. Check your draft
1. Is my thesis
statement concise and clear?
2. Did I follow my outline? Did I miss anything?
3. Are my arguments presented in a logical sequence?
4. Are all sources properly cited to ensure that I am not plagiarizing?
5. Have I proved my thesis with strong supporting arguments?
6. Have I made my intentions and points clear in the essay?
2. Did I follow my outline? Did I miss anything?
3. Are my arguments presented in a logical sequence?
4. Are all sources properly cited to ensure that I am not plagiarizing?
5. Have I proved my thesis with strong supporting arguments?
6. Have I made my intentions and points clear in the essay?
Re-read your paper for grammatical errors.
Use a dictionary or a thesaurus as needed. Do a spell check. Correct all errors
that you can spot and improve the overall quality of the paper to the best of
your ability. Get someone else to read it over. Sometimes a second pair of eyes
can see mistakes that you missed.
STEP 8. Type final paper
Your essay should be typewritten and printed.
You need
to fulfill this task for next class.
Links that can help:
The lesson is very creative. Material is presented in a logical sequence. Masha gives some interesting links which can help to write a good essay. This task can help students to develop and improve their speaking skills. I think her mark should be 5.
ОтветитьУдалитьHi, Masha! I like your blog) Your lesson is very useful. It gives a lot of helpful information about writing an essay. It also can be useful when you short of time: you can give a detailed description of home assignment, without waisting much time in class. The links above are also necessery, they help students with tips on how to write a good essay. I think your lesson deserves 5 points.
ОтветитьУдалитьi am very interested in your blog! i like your idea! i like that you lesson has structure. you do everything step by step. i think it will be interesting for students. good work, i give you 5 points.
ОтветитьУдалить