SOME COMMON ERRORS TO AVOID

STRUCTURAL MISTAKES IN WRITING AN IN-CLASS ESSAY:

1) You mismanage your time. As a result of spending too much time developing an introduction or body paragraphs, you either don't finish in time, or you don't leave yourself enough time to carefully reread and edit your work. A simple solution to this is to keep an eye on the clock or wear a watch.

2) You start arguing one position, but you change your mind. Remember, you will have a week to read over the two prompts. At this point, you should be clear both about the argument you are developing, as well as the support you're going to use to back up that argument. It's okay to understand what the opposition might say in argument, but you don't want to lose track of your overall thesis.

3) You simply restate what you read in the essay without making it clear in your thesis what your own argument is. Remember, this essay should be an argumentative response to a prompt. We want to know what you think about what the writer has said.

4) You simply agree or disagree with the writer, only using his or her text to show what the writer is saying. Remember, as with #3, we want to know what you think about what the writer has said--we don't simply want to read again what we're already familiar with.

5) You write a clear thesis and plan of development, but your body paragraphs detour from the plan of development. They address other subjects, and it is unclear how they support the thesis.

6) Your support in the body paragraphs is generic and unconvincing. Because you fear that you will bore your reader with details, you, in fact, lose your reader and fail to support the thesis because of your lack of specific support.

7) In writing the topic sentences of the body paragraphs, you forget to make clear how those topic sentences relate to the thesis. Your body paragraphs then appear to operate in isolation rather than function as an integral part of the essay.

Thank you Prof. Dana Ferris, CSUSacramento - ESL Composition Coordinator, for the folllowing helpful handouts!

ESSAY EXAM STRATEGIES

1. Preview the exam. Be sure you understand what the prompt is asking for! Highlight key words in the question and in the instructions.

2. Think & make notes:

            §         key points

            §         thesis sentence

            §         informal outline

3. Get started. Do NOT write a rough draft on scratch paper!

4. Develop your answer with:

§         a clear introduction

§         several supporting paragraphs that develop your thesis

§         facts, examples, details & information from readings

5. Leave time to proofread & edit your essay!

SUGGESTED SCHEDULE (120 minutes)

15 min.: Go over the question. Highlight key words & instructions.

15 min.: Plan your essay. Write a thesis statement and a brief outline of your supporting points, including information from the readings.

70 min.: Write your essay. Check your outline as you go along. Plan to write at least 4-6 well developed paragraphs (10-15 minutes per paragraph).

20 min.:Proofread & edit your essay.Watch out for:

*missing words

*words you're not sure about

*missing noun or verb endings

*punctuation errors, especially with quotations

*verb tense problems

Preparing for an Essay Exam Based On Readings

Read & reread both essays very carefully. Be sure you understand the main ideas & key supporting points.
Complete a synthesis exercise.
Be sure you have identified useful quotations, facts, statistics, etc. that you might want to include in the essay.
Think about the ideas raised in the two essays and about what your own opinion is about them. See if you can think of any examples or arguments from your own knowledge or experience that will support your viewpoint.
Be aware of your own weaknesses as a writer (e.g., organization, development, misunderstanding the question, not following instructions, verbs, word choice, etc.). Come into the exam with ideas about how you will try to avoid problems in those areas.

Essay Feedback Checklist

Feedback Key:

4 = Excellent 3 = Good 2 = O.K. 1 = Poor 0 = Did not address this

_______________________________________________________

I. Assignment, Purpose, and Ideas

0 1 2 3 4 The essay addresses the instructions in the assignment.

0 1 2 3 4 The essay has a clear controlling idea & purpose.

0 1 2 3 4 The main ideas are clear.

0 1 2 3 4 The ideas are effectively supported with specific details.

0 1 2 3 4 The reading(s) is(are) discussed in the essay (if required).

0 1 2 3 4 The reading(s) is(are) correctly analyzed and used

effectively to support your ideas in the essay.

II. Organization

0 1 2 3 4 There is a clear beginning (introduction), middle (body),

and end (conclusion).

0 1 2 3 4 The introduction effectively explains the topic and

controlling idea(s) of the essay.

0 1 2 3 4 The body paragraphs are logically ordered and clearly

connected to the controlling idea.

0 1 2 3 4 The conclusion summarizes the main ideas of the essay and

talks about their importance or general applications.

III. Language & Mechanics

0 1 2 3 4 There are few errors in grammar, word choice, or

punctuation.

0 1 2 3 4 The essay has been spell-checked and carefully proofread.

0 1 2 3 4 Ideas from the readings have been correctly introduced and

punctuated.

IV. Revision

0 1 2 3 4 There is significant revision between this draft and the

last draft

(Grammar, errors such as spelling and sentence structures, are fixed, and more ideas are added and developed as instructor suggested.)

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