Writing an Essay Lee Zimmerman

The following list is meant to remind you of the sort of things I hope you’ve worked on in your
writing (and perhaps other) courses. The list form isn’t meant to imply that writing is as simple
as following these steps (“writing made easy by following these 4 simple rules!”). The kind of
essay I’m asking you to do is a form of critical thinking, not rule following. Assignments like the
one I’ve given you are, in some ways, occasions for you to work on the project of “really”
thinking.

1. Please have a thesis—something that can be argued. It should be clear what this is,
usually by the end of the first paragraph. Try to make it precise as possible. Don’t try to
keep a secret until the conclusion, but rather put the main idea up front. (Often one will
discover one’s real thesis in the process of writing a first draft, so that it often appears in
the conclusion. So, after you’ve written the first draft, see if your “conclusion” [or some
version of it] is the real thesis.)
The thesis doesn’t have to be a single sentence. Still, it can be very useful to have a
sentence that begins, “In this essay I want to argue/show how. . . . .” That can force you
into saying (and being clear with yourself about) what the core argument of the essay is.

2. It should be clear how each paragraph contributes to the argument—what step it covers.
Each paragraph should have a topic sentence, asserting exactly what the paragraph will
show.

3. The paragraph should actually address what the topic sentence claims it will.

4. Often, the best way to begin a paragraph is a “bridge” sentence. (I’ve found this to be
among the most helpful things to keep in mind when I’m writing my own essays, and it
has been especially important in helping others write cogent, focused arguments.)
(Words like “this,” because they refer the reader back to something, are very useful in
bridge sentences.)
A bridge sentence (or you call it a “transition”) briefly connects the previous
paragraph to the new one, helping the reading see how we “get” from one paragraph to
the next. For example, if the first sentence in a paragraph is, “What underlies all this
sound and fury?” then we know that the previous paragraph established the existence of a
lot of sound and fury, and this new paragraph will address where the “underlies” the
sound and fury (why is the sound and fury there? Where does it come from? etc.
Another example. “It can be hard to comprehend the consequences of crossing these
tipping points.” This tells us that the previous paragraph(s) explained what tipping points
are and this one (the one this sentence introduces) will try to describe the consequences
of crossing them. (The key word is “these:”)

5. A bridge sentence is a particular example of the larger issue of “signposting.” Try to

make sure your reader knows where you are in the argument at all times—that the reader
is never “lost,” or wondering about why something they’re being told is important to the
overall argument. (The tricky thing, of course, is that this requires you to know where
you are in the argument and why what you’re writing is relevant to it—which, again, is
hard.) Here’s a (partial, obviously) list of some possibly helpful “signposting” words
(I’ve emphasized what I think are the most useful ones):

above all
accordingly (meaning “and so”)
admittedly
again
also
besides
but
certainly
consequently (meaning “and so”)
finally
first
for example
for instance
furthermore
hence (therefore)
however
in addition (besides, also)
in conclusion
indeed (in fact)
in fact
in particular
instead
in summary
just as. . ..so too
likewise (and)
moreover
more specifically (for example)
nevertheless (but)
nonetheless
on the other hand
rather (however, instead)
second
similarly
so
still
then (thus, therefore)
that is (meaning, “in other words” or “that is to say”)
therefore
though
thus (therefore, so)
to sum up
 yet

6. Use specific evidence. This can be summary or paraphrases of some material, but the
most important kind of evidence involves quotation. When you quote, be sure the
pertinence of the quotation is clear; use the quote to help you make your point, rather
than asking the quote to make it for you; that is, digest the quote into your argument. The
most focused way of doing this is usually working the quotation into the syntax of your
own sentence. (We’ll discuss this a bit in class.) For quotes from our class texts (or
handouts), parenthetical citations of page numbers will suffice (no need for a
cumbersome footnotes or endnotes).

7. Try to make an outline, or whatever kind of blueprint will help you think about and
clarify the structure of your argument. (A list of paragraphs and what each one will do).

8. Unless you have a particular reason and discuss it with me, please don’t use outside
sources. This is an analysis, not a research paper: it asks you to make an argument, not to
draw on arguments others have made (unless, again, that seems important for your
particular argument). (Online sites like “Shmoop,” Gradesaver,” Cliff’s Notes,” etc., are
especially unhelpful. They don’t engage the books in the ways we do in class, or the ways
I’m asking you to do in the paper.)

9. Don’t plagiarize (use anyone’s words or ideas as your own without citation). If you have
questions about what qualifies, please discuss it with me beforehand. The Hofstra
Academic Integrity site has a decent discussion of what plagiarism is:
http://libguides.hofstra.edu/SOM_CopyrightResources?p=2455610. (I ask you not to use
outside sources, but in assignments that do ask for that, it’s important that if you paste
something into your notes from some on line source that you be sure to indicate to
yourself, in your notes to yourself, that it’s not your words or idea and what the source
is.).
A word about ChaptGPT (and other AI). Using it without quoting it is plagiarism. But
it cannot digest quotation into its own sentences or, more generally, actually make
arguments based on close readings of textual evidence (sometimes it simply makes up
quotes that aren’t in the text or are from some other text).

10. If the essay is a comparison or contrast, it's usually best to organize around issues of c/c
(so that you’re going back and forth between the two things, rather than having the essay
split into two long sections). This helps you formulate exactly what the issues are, and
thus helps keep the essay analytic, as opposed to lapsing into summary. If you do a c/c,
be sure the point of the c/c is well-defined; that’s your thesis. (As with everything
mentioned on this Writing Advice list, there is plenty of explanatory material available on
line about this “back-and-forth” method. Here’s one:
https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/compare-contrast-assignments
9. For literary texts, assume the reader has read the text(s) you’re writing about, so you don't
need to summarize, unless you’re doing so to clearly make a specific point. The reader
knows the text but doesn't know your argument. (Summarize? No! Analyze/argue?
Yes!) (It sometimes helps to think of you presenting a case to a jury.)

10. Some of this list draws on a particular good book around writing: John Trimble’s Writing
with Style. You can look at the book itself, at
file:///C:/Users/englzz/Downloads/Writing_with_Style.pdf.