English 1406
Writing and Reading Critically
Questions and answers about essay writing (23 September 2010)
Why are you making us do this again?
I assume you mean filling in a card. The first exercise asked you to state your expectations for the course and your worst nightmare for the course. This time I want you to ask a key question that you need answering about essay writing. You will be writing essays soon. As you can see from the questions below, almost every aspect of essay writing is covered. That’s why I had the class write down one question on a card (anonymously).
What type of citation will we be using in this class for essays? i.e. MLA, APA.
The English Department uses either M.L.A. or Chicago. In an introductory course like this you should be aware that methods of citation are important, but more important for senior students (Honours and Graduate students especially). It’s important to establish how to cite titles of books and titles of stories. It’s also important to learn how to quote correctly, provide parenthetical page references and to provide a list of sources (including your text) at the end of the essay.
Are you willing to proofread our essays if we ask you? (obviously not everyones but if we come during office hours asking for feedback).
The simple answer is no. I am prepared to discuss your essay with you during office hours, but I am unable to proofread them for you. That is part of your task in writing and submitting the essay.
Do you grade particularly on the grammar of the essay or on the person’s idea?
I take both grammar and ideas into consideration when marking essays. The ability to present your ideas simply and directly will be rewarded.
How much will grammar and formatting play a part in the marking of essays?
Much of the course is a dialogue between the instructor and student on the subject of writing. If you make grammatical errors, I will indicate them and expect you not to repeat them in successive essays. Let’s keep formatting as simple as we can. It’s important, but not as important as writing clearly. However, good formatting usually accompanies clear writing.
How to write an essay that will get an A?
A well written essay that addresses the question, asserts a strong and focused thesis and supports it with well chosen illustration will earn an A.
If we run out of things to say before the minimum amount of worlds, do you want us to keep writing just to take up space?
The key to reaching a 1000 words is to develop a strong thesis and then to illustrate it. If the thesis is provable and captures something important in the text (while answering the question) you won’t have difficulty finding the illustration and reaching 1000 words.
How would you assess the importance of content and style relative to each other?
It’s important to have something to say. Read the novel or story closely. Take notes from your reading. Write as clearly as you can when communicating the fruits of your reading. Content and style are usually linked in good essays.
What’s the average grade for the essays you’ve marked in this course?
I honestly can’t say. I mark each essay on its merits. The university could, I am sure, produce statistics of this sort, but I don’t worry about class averages. I trust I am able to give the essay the mark it deserves.
Do you believe a thesis statement should come organically after some thought has come into writing, or do you believe an outline should be used for a template of how your essay should be written?
There is a template in Joanne Buckley’s Fit to Print: A Canadian Student’s Guide to Essay Writing (Seventh edition, 2009). See “The Literary Essay.” That’s the format I want you to use. Try to see the thesis as one arguable statement (that answers the question). It’s usually best placed at the end of the first paragraph and forms the backbone of the argument that follows.
Having mostly written essays in French, I’m wondering if there’s a big difference in essay structure in French and in English?
I consulted a colleague in the Department of Languages and Literatures and I understand that in French essay writing is rigid in structure. I’m not sure what structure you were encouraged to follow. However, in English essay writing structure is also the key to a successful argument. You are allowed a certain amount of flexibility, but not when it comes to keeping the focus on one arguable statement.
How do you like in-text references to be done? Also do you require a reference page for every essay?
It’s best to place page references in parenthesis and then list your source at the end of the essay. If by reference page, you mean a listing of the text you used and any sources, the answer is yes, you need to provide this for every essay.
What will you be basing our marks on when grading the essays? What resources are available to learn how to properly cite sources used in the essay?
I base my marks on how well you answer the question, how well you write and how well you structure the argument. If there are grammatical problems in the writing then this will go a long way to suggesting a mark.
Are you an unfair professor in terms of marking papers?
I don’t think so. You should ask students who have taken my courses. However, if you are a student who has difficulty writing grammatical English you might think I am unfair to indicate your errors when I see them. Some grammar errors are slight and can be easily corrected. Often students have never been made aware of them. However, others such as comma splices, run on sentences and fragments seriously impede communication, as does poor punctuation. In my defense, I have been at this business a long time. I think I have learned a few things. Fairness is an important factor in helping students to learn. I offer students in my class many chances to improve their writing. I then count the two highest marks.
Can you show us an example essay (one from a past year) that you have marked so we can get a feel for your marking style? Also so we can get a feel for your expectations of our essays.
There are sample essays in Joanne Buckley’s Fit to Print (2009). You will soon get a feel for how I mark when you write your first essay. My expectations will be clear as well if you look through my answers to the good questions that students in the class have asked me.
How would you describe/write the perfect essay?
An excellent essay is clearly written, well organized and has a strong and focused thesis that responds to the question being asked. The excellent essay has strong topic sentences that keep the argument on track and is clearly the product of a thoughtful reader.
Do you mark the first couple of essays as hard as you would mid-semester?
I mark all essays at what I think is the same standard. However, I am not a machine. Marking is a subjective art. Instructors learn with experience how to mark fairly and effectively. I’m looking for the same elements in your first paper as in your final one or one in the middle of the semester.
What are the main things you look for in an essay? Anything specific to you as a professor? Do you have personal preferences for what you want in an essay?
I’m looking for a thesis in the opening paragraph. I’m looking for sentences that are simple and direct. My approach to writing has been much influenced by William Zinsser’s book On Writing Well (now in its 25th anniversary edition). Zinsser’s philosophy is to remove clutter from your prose, choose strong and active verbs and to accept that the art of writing is the art of revision. I don’t think it is too idiosyncratic of me to insist on sentences that are simple and direct.
When you look at essays do you focus more on structure, ideas, or an even mix of both?
It’s a mix. An essay must have structure, but a good structure comes from recognizing that a focused idea should drive the argument.
How do you create good thesis and topic sentences?
Your read the text closely, choose a question you understand, then draft one arguable statement (not two or three) that addresses the question. You then line up your illustration and ensure that each successive paragraph connect to the idea expressed in the thesis. The topic sentences guide and control the argument.
How to properly do footnotes, quotations and bibliographies?
We prefer parenthetical page references these days (with a full list of sources at the end of the essay). Footnotes are meant to elaborate on something in the argument. You would be unlikely to need them in an argumentative essay. Quotations are tricky and you need to decide whether to follow the MLA or Chicago style. They need to be punctuated correctly. Bibliographies are not needed. Use instead a List of Cited Sources (usually just the text, but sometimes it can include other sources). All sources must be acknowledged.
Why do you think essays are an important part of this course?
The essay is a way to learn how to express ideas clearly, logically and forcefully. It’s important to talk and converse about books, but it is even more important to learn how to express oneself about them in writing.
How do you write good transition or “bridging” sentences?
You write good bridging sentences to ensure that the argument maintains the focus of the thesis statement in your first paragraph (usually the last sentence in that paragraph). When you move from one idea to the next these ideas have to be connected.
What kind of topics will we write about for the books? E.g. a book report or about a theme in the book?
I want you to write about the theme of the book. I try to base my topics on class discussion and offer a reasonable choice of topics. Choose the one you understand best. I want you to write an argumentative essay in response to the question so you must have a good idea what that entails.
My question is if you will help with our/my essay if we get stuck and unsure about what to write?
Of course, you can come and talk to me and I will try to help you get unstuck. I also offer to read the first paragraph of every essay that you write. I can tell from the first paragraph if you have a viable thesis or not. I don’t read drafts or proofread essays.
How do you write a strong thesis statement?
You assert in a sentence your response to the question. The thesis is a generality. Think of it as one arguable statement. Often, students come from High School with a fixed notion that they must have three things to talk about. I am asking you to choose just one. If the idea is good enough it will carry the whole essay and give it focus.
Our high school English teacher told us that the titles of our essays need to be interesting. He said if they are not then our professor would not mark them. Is that true? Ex: boring – essay one. Interesting – conflict. Hamlet vs. his father’s ghost.
I prefer no title. I prefer that a student write the question they are answering at the top of the paper so I can see immediately if the first paragraph responds to it. Don’t waste your energy on snappy titles. In my experience the snappier the title the further away it is from the subject of the essay. It’s not true that professors like interesting title. This professor doesn’t like titles at all.