6 Paragraph Essay

The 4 parts of an introduction

the hook grabs the readers attention

A hook is also called an attention grabber or opener. After reading it, readers should WANT to read your essay--"School is boring." Would you want to keep reading that essay? NO. Hooks should be INTERESTING, AMUSING, SURPRISING, PROVOCATIVE

If someone says, "uh, who cares?" or "no duh" then you need to find a stronger hook.

Weak hooks:

There has always been racism, and it's bad.

In the world people have many points of view.

Tom Robinson is a character in Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird.

Wouldn't you rather read... Every 5 seconds a student dazes off into the obis due to droning unimaginative teachers ... OR President Obama states that teachers in 2015 are not not allowing student's to succeed at their full potential due to the lack of imagination in the classroom.

Here are some attention grabbing tips:

• a surprising fact or statistic
• a provocative point of view
• an interesting historic, political anecdote
• a thought-provoking question

The link connects the subject of the hook to the subject matter of the thesis

With all of that said...

The thesis statement should not be longer than one or two sentences.

Hook

Your hook might be about a random topic, but the link will connect it to the thesis in a few sentences. The link helps the brain make a connection between the two.

The link will also be the place where you introduce the title and the author of the novel you are analyzing.

Once you have an opinion you are ready to write your thesis.

A thesis has a subject+ opinion and answers the prompt

• your opinion will not be stated as "in my opinion.."
• you still cannot include I..
• if you need to start by doing so, that might be helpful

To Kill A Mockingbird is titled as so because it contains the undisclosed message that is a sin to kill a mockingbird. In the novel, Boo Radley, the mysterious neighbor, slowly reveals himself to be the helpful, innocent, mockingbird.

The thesis statement provides the central claim the essay is trying to prove

The only way to have a good thesis is if it's L.A.M.E

Romeo and Juliet's hasty decisions lead to their death.

Limited- You should not have a really broad thesis. Example: Mockingbirds are helpful. How? Helpful to whom? When? In what ways?

Arguable- A reasonable person must be able to disagree with your thesis. Example: Tom is proven guilty. No way? Really? Duh. It says this in the book. It's not a thesis it is a fact.

Meaningful- Interesting and meaningful to the topic you are discussing.

Exact- It has to be clear, concise, and avoid vague language. Example: Racism is bad. What does bad mean? The same goes for words like nice, good, interesting. DIG DEEP.

link

bridge

thesis

6 Paragraph Essay

Think of your bridge as a road map that tells the reader what is ahead.

This is simply a way for readers to preview each individual paragraph. It's just like directions from your house to the school.

Your bridge delivers the topics in the same order your reader will encounter them! (this is essentially your "reasons" from your G.O)

The introduction

Evidence

An introduction grabs the readers attention, sets the tone of the essay, makes a central claim that the essay will prove, and provides a brief preview of the content so readers know where they are headed.

The evidence is the factual information you find in the novel.

1. Set-up the quotation. Do not just drop it in the paragraph.

2. The quotation is word for word from the text. Including periods, commas, and accent marks. Every quote needs to be surrounded by "quotes"

3. Every quote needs a parenthetical citation.

Atticus explains to his children that people need to look at situations from other perspectives by "climb[ing] into [someone else's] skin and walk[ing] around in it" (Lee 33).

Aunt Alexandra explains that it is her own fault the children are hurt because she "had a feeling about this" ( Lee 307).

& MLA Format

Claim

The "mini claim" is also known as the topic sentence and is similar to a thesis.

Explanation

The purpose of the body paragraph is to prove the mini claim, therefore each paragraph is given something to prove.

The even bigger idea is that each body paragraph will prove the thesis from your introduction.

* Remember your paragraphs will go in the order of the bridge (and should probably go most important last)

This is where you analyze The quote you chose

Once you state the claim and provide evidence you need to explain it, so the reader understands the connection.

This part is your words and your ideas. This is the why! This is your point of view! Don't rush this part!

Who would you hire?

title your essay!

4 body paragraphs

A title gives the reader a instant preview of your essay, and it should be interesting

Do not italicize, bold, or underline

Capitalize the first last & important words

These 4 paragraphs are the meat of your paper. Each paragraph will provide a claim, evidence for that claim, and an explanation of the evidence and how it makes the claim true

EEEEERR...

Mockingbirds

Mockingbird Symbol

TKAM Essay

6 Paragraph Essay

Sin to Kill a Mockingbird

the essay

The 6-paragraph essay is also known as the hamburger essay. It is a structured traditional essay . The point is to make a central claim (your thesis) and then prove the claim is correct by citing evidence. In the end, your essay will be a thoughtful persuasive argument.

MLA Format

transitions

Conclusion

Transition tips

You need transitions to go from one paragraph to another without sounding awkward

This gives the reader closure.

heading

Spacing

Transition words also need to be used as you go from sentence to sentence.

FONT

https://www.msu.edu/~jdowell/135/transw.html

This answers the question 'so what?'

Whole essay is double spaced

Including heading

You do not repeat ALL of your ideas; it is more of a quick summary.

Typically the first half of the sentence will be about the previous paragraph and the second half of the sentence will be about the next paragraph. This can come at the end of one paragraph or the beginning of a next.

Top left corner:

Your name

Teacher's name

Name of class

Due Date

Header

Margins

12 pt.

Times New Roman

All black

1" margins all around

Insert > header

Tab right

Last name and page #

quoting & Parenthetical citations

MLA Works cited

Lists all the sources you have used

A parenthetical citation comes right after a quote and tells the reader where to look on your works cited.

Quoting Tips

Work cited VS Work Cited

Is your quote on two pages? (Lee 22-24).

Is your quote longer than 4 lines on a word document? (if it is it better be SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT!)

Atticus says, "You never really understand a person... until you climb into his skin and walk around in it" (Lee 33).

Will be the last page of your paper!

• Insert a colon
• Click return or enter where you would normally type the quote
• Tab over twice
• Insert the quote with no quotation marks
• End with parenthetical citation
• Go back to normal indentation.
• https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/03/

First line is not indented! Any thing after that is indented one tab

• Lee refers to the authors last name
• The number refers to the page you can find it on IN THAT BOOK
• Notice comma before the quote?
• Notice the period after the parenthesis?
• Notice the ellipsis?

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