Template for An Essay: For Those Who Like
Structure
I.
Introduction: Briefly explain the context of the film or
story you are writing about. Do not give
extensive plot summary, only what is necessary to get to your thesis.
II.
Thesis
should appear at end of opening paragraph.
It should contain the argument in miniature.
III.
Three
body paragraphs should each expand on or illustrate your thesis; each should
contain ONE example from the text or film.
These paragraphs should follow sandwich model: claim, evidence, analysis
of evidence.
Example
of sandwich paragraph:
Sentence
1 (top piece of bread): your claim
Molly
consistently outsmarts her captors, proving that she is not as “Neolithic” as
they assume.
Sentence
2: (meat): evidence
When
she thinks of ways to trick the tracker, such as when she leaves in the rain to
cover their tracks, misleads them with a bag belonging to Daisy and hides in
the trees with her charges, she shows she is always imagining how to evade
capture.
Sentence
3: (bottom piece of bread) analysis and paragraph conclusion
The
viewer actually watches how Molly demonstrates her intelligence and skill. In fact she consistently proves that she is
smarter than those who are bent on “retraining” her mind for an inferior life.
IV.
Conclusion:
here try to reach for a philosophical reflection on the purpose or main theme
of the film or story in relation to your argument. Both here and in
introduction you may also wish to include some relevant contextual or
historical information (about the Stolen Generation, Moore River Settlement,
the reason behind the book about young Arabs in America).
We will discuss
citing sources in class. If you are
absent, just follow MLA format for film or book. These are easy to look up.
General Rules
about Essays:
1.
use
the present tense
2.
assume
your reader has read the text*
3.
use
quotations for direct speech or passages
4.
if
passage is more than 25 words indent (center)
5.
heading:
your name, course, date, essay # and my name
6.
include
works cited at bottom of page—alphabetical
*don’t say Molly evades her captors by hiding in trees (observation); say when Molly evades her captors, it shows her cleverness (analysis).
