BOOK OF WRITINGÂ BY:ALESSANDRA NAJARRO
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Table of Contents Introduction
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About the Author
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Dedication
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PUNCTUATION and CAPITALIZATION
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PARTS OF SPEECH
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PHRASES and CLAUSES
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SENTENCES
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PARAGRAPHS
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ESSAYS
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THE END
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Introduction Hello, this book is about grammar and all movies from Illumination Entertainment. A subdivision from Universal and I chose this topic because I like movies and I happened to be watching the movie at the time, although I do enjoy the movies, especially The Lorax. This book will go through all the levels of grammar from small details to larger details like punctuation to writing essays.
About the Author Alessandra Najarro is a high school student from Bravo Medical Magnet. She’s an 11th grader who has a passion for watching movies. She struggled with grammar for years and after much time spent learning she has awoken her inner grammar spirit. So, she has decided to write this book after her long journey to hopefully help others with their grammar.
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Dedication To my sister and her ongoing struggle with grammar. Hopefully she will use this to help her.
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PUNCTUATION and CAPITALIZATION Punctuation - 1. . Minion’s goal in life is to diligently serve a fearless evil master. 2. , The minions have had many unsuccessful masters, like T.Rex or Napoleon. 3. – Gru was a professional villain from 1960–2013, and then he quit villinary but came back as an AVL agent to stop the villain El Macho. 4. - When Kevin, Bob, and Stuart set out on a mission to find a boss they encounter the world’s first-ever lethal super-villiainess. 5. : The Despicable Me movie mentions eight minions: Stuart, Tom, Bob, Carl, Phil, Kevin, Tim, and Dave. 6. ; Kevin and Bob the minions have two huge eyes; Stuart has only one large eye. 7. ? How were loyal minions mysteriously created? 8. ! The Minions served Count Dracula nearly 589 years ago! 9. ‘ Gru didn’t like Margo, Edith, and Agnes when he first met them. 10. “ ” Gru unexpectedly wins the glorious “villain of the year” award before he sets out on his Moon Heist. 11. … Scarlet Overkill is my favorite character… she’s great... she’s not that bad…well, just a little...I really liked when she...yeah, she’s not that great...okay, she’s bad...extremely evil. 12. [ ] In the beginning of Despicable Me Gru tells Miss Hattie in Spanish that her face is “como un burro [like a donkey].” 13. ( ) Gru attempts to retake his shrink ray from Vector by replacing the little girls (Margo, Edith, and Agnes) cookies with cookie robots. 14. / After Gru is refused money from the Bank of Evil for his Moon Heist rocket, the girls decide to encourage him to build his own rocket w/out the Bank of Evil’s help.
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Capitalization 1. RULES: 1) Capitalize the First Word of a Sentence The little girls from Despicable Me like to dance ballet and sell cookies for the orphanage. 2) Capitalize Names and Other Proper Nouns Agnes, Margo, and Edith are all sisters who were adopted by Gru. 3) Don’t Capitalize After a Colon (Usually) There is only one animal that Agnes would die for: unicorns. 4) Capitalize the First Word of a Quote (Sometimes) Agnes’s signature line from the movie Despicable Me is “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die.” 5) Capitalize Days, Months, and Holidays, But Not Seasons Gru and his twin brother, Dru were born in September and then separated at birth by their parents. 6) Capitalize Most Words in Titles The movie Minions came out in 2015 and the movie Despicable Me came out in 2010. 7) Capitalize Cities, Countries, Nationalities, and Languages The movie Minions takes place mostly in London, but also in New York and Orlando. 8) Capitalize Time Periods and Events (Sometimes) Kevin, Stuart, and Bob traveled to Villain-Con in sunny Orlando, Florida, after discovering the nefarious Scarlet Overkill was in search of new henchmen.
PARTS OF SPEECH NOUNS 6
Types of nouns: · Common Nouns: name a class of people, places, things, or ideas. EX: Minions, bedroom, Freeze Ray unicorn plushie, villains ·
Proper Nouns: give the name or title of a particular person, place, thing, or idea (must be capitalized). EX: Paradise Mall, Salsa & Salsa, Bank of Evil, Super Silly Fun Land, Miss Hattie’s Home for Girls ·
Compound Nouns: consist of words used together to form a single noun. EX: bedroom, ice cream, lipstick,
· Concrete Nouns: refer to material things, to people, or to places. EX: banana, robots, book, lipstick taser
· Abstract Nouns: name ideas, qualities, concepts, emotions, or attitudes. EX: evil, happiness, playful, sarcasm
Functions (How nouns are used): · Subject (comes before the verb) Gru ordered immediately for the minions to begin making the rocket to steal the Moon. · Direct Object (comes after the verb and answers what or whom) Agnes asked Gru for a new white and large unicorn plush. · Indirect Object (answers to who or to whom) Bob and Stuart gave the new unicorn plush to Agnes before she went to sleep.
PRONOUNS Pronouns take the place of nouns that have been established. Personal: Nominative (subjects) Objective (objects) I/we me/us you/you you/you 7
He, she, it, one/they him, her, it, one/them Possessive My, mine our, ours Your, yours your, yours His, her, hers, its, one’s their, theirs Relative: Nominative who That
Objective whom that those/ this
Possessive whose of that
Interrogative: who, which, what, whatever, whoever Reflexive: (personal pronouns plus the suffix –self o r –selves) Used only: when the action verb is directed toward the subject of the construction: He pushed himself harder than the rest of the villain She taught herself most of her fighting tricks. to intensify a point: The minions themselves built the rocket. Even if he had to do it alone, he will save the girls h imself. Demonstrative: this, these
that, those
Indefinite: all, another, anybody, anyone, anything, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything, everywhere, few, many, much, neither, nobody, none, no one, nothing, one, other, several, somebody, someone, such.
VERBS Verbs show the time, action, and state of being of a subject.
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Tense: verbs indicate time via tenses: simple past past past perfect past progressive simple present
present present perfect present progressive
present perfect progressive future future perfect
Types: There are at least eleven (11) types of verbs:
auxiliary verbs (helping verbs) linking verbs (verbs that do not describe action, but connect the subject of a sentence to other parts of the sentence – usually the predicate) lexical verbs (main verbs) dynamic verbs (indicate action) stative verbs (describe a condition) finitive verbs (indicate tense) nonfinitive verbs (infinitives or participles) regular verbs (weak verbs) irregular verbs (strong verbs) transitive verbs (verbs followed by a direct object) intransitive verbs (verbs that do not take direct objects)
Voice: Voice is the form of the verb that indicates how it relates or interacts with the action. The English language has two voices: ACTIVE and PASSIVE. Active:The girls got adopted by a villain. Passive:The villain has adopted the girls.
Verbals: (VERB FORMS NOT USED AS VERBS)
Gerund: word ending in “ing” used as a noun. · El Macho loves e ating salsa and chips. Participle: word ending in “ing” or “ed” used as an adjective · The girls delivered cookies to Vector’s d eserted mansion. Infinitive: verb preceded by the word “to” (to go, to jump) used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs · Agnes likes to eat lots of delicious food.
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ADJECTIVES Adjectives modify, describe, limit, and identify nouns and pronouns. · Kinds: Demonstrative, Common, Proper Demonstrative: T his new villain is worse than the last one. Common: The girls in the series Despicable Me had cheerful, energetic, and c heeky personalities. Proper: In the movie Despicable Me 3, the villain El Macho loves mexican food.
ADVERBS Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. · Endings –ly, -wards, -wise Rosita from the movie S ING has a lovely voice. · Conversions (Example: “Educational” becomes “Educationally”) At the beginning of the movie, Meena was u nfortunately cast as a stagehand and not as a singer. · Types: Manner, Frequency, Degree, Place, Time Example Types: (Create one example each related to your subject) Manner – Rosita auditioned shyly for a singer part. Time – R ehearsal and practices for the final show in SING began immediately. Place – The final show in the movie SING was held outside. Degree – Buster Moon’s directing and production skills enormously improved during the final show. Frequency – Buster Moon frequently has overdue fees to pay to the bank.
CONJUNCTIONS Coordinating (FANBOYS): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so 10
Correlative: Either/or; neither/nor; not only/but also; both/and; whether/or; as/so Subordinate: after, though as, as if, as long as, as thought, because, before, if, in order that, provided that, since, so, so that, that, though, till, unless, when, where, whereas, while. Relative pronouns: w ho (refers to people), which (refers to nonliving object or animals), that (may refer to animals or nonliving objects)
PREPOSITIONS Prepositions link nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other parts of the sentence. Prepositions are NEVER followed by verbs. There are one-word prepositions and complex prepositions. These are some common one-word prepositions: aboard, about, above, according to, across, across from, after, against, along, alongside, alongside of, along with, amid, among, apart from, around, as, as far as, aside from, at, away from, back of, because of, before, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, but (except), by, by means of, concerning, despite, down, down from, except, except excluding for, for, from, from among, from between, from under, in, in addition to, in behalf of, including, in front of, in place of, in regard to, inside, inside of, in spite of, instead of, into, like, near, near to, notwithstanding, of, off, on, on account of, on behalf of, onto, on top of, opposite, out, out of, outside, outside of, over, over to, owing to, past, prior to, to, toward, under, underneath, until, unto, up, upon, up to, versus, with, within, without.
INTERJECTIONS 11
Interjections are the final part of speech. A – Ahh, ahoy, aha, ahem, alas, arrggh, aw B – Blah, brrr, bingo, bravo, bam, bazinga, bleh, boo, boo-yah, bah hambug C – Cheers, congrats, catching, cripes, crud D – Damn, darn, darnit, dang, drat, duh, dear, E – Eureka, eek, eh, er, encore, eww F – Fie, fiddlesticks G – Gak, gee, gee whiz, geez, gadzooks, golly, good grief, goodness, goodness gracious, gosh, gesundheit H – Hey, hmm, hooray, huh, hello, ha, ha-ha, holy cow, hallelujah, holy smokes, humph, hurray, hot dog, huh? K – Ka-ching, O – oh, oh oh, oh dear, oh my, oh my God, oh well, ouch, ow, oww, oops, oy, ooh-la-la, P – Phooey, presto, please, pshaw, pow, phew, pooh R – Rats, S – shoo, shh, shoop-shoop, T – Tut-tut, thanks, U – Uh-huh, uh-oh, ugh, um, umm V – Viva, voila W – Whammo, wham, whew, whoa, wow, whoops, Y – Yay, yeah, yikes, yippee, yes, yuck, yum, yo, yahoo, yummy Z – Zap
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Transitions of Logic Chart
Milder
Stronger
Addition
a further and and then then also too next another other nor
further furthermore moreover in addition additionally besides again equally important first, second finally, last
Comparison
just as ... so too a similar another... like
similarly comparable in the same way likewise
Contrast
but yet and yet still otherwise or though but another rather
however still nevertheless on the other hand on the contrary even so notwithstanding for all that in contrast alternatively at the same time though this may be otherwise instead nonetheless conversely
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Time
then now soon afterward later shortly earlier recently first, second, third next before after today tomorrow
meanwhile at length presently at last finally immediately thereafter at that time subsequently eventually currently in the meantime in the past in the future
Purpose
to do this so that
to this end with this object for this purpose for that reason because of this
Place
there here beyond nearby next to
at that point opposite to adjacent to on the other side in the front in the back
Result
so and so then
hence therefore accordingly consequently thus thereupon as a result in consequence
Example
that is specifically in particular for one thing
for example for instance an instance of this this can be seen in
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Summary and Emphasis
in sum generally after all by the way in general incidentally naturally I hope at least it seems in brief I suppose
in short on the whole as I said in other words to be sure in fact indeed clearly of course anyway remarkably I think assuredly definitely without doubt for all that on the whole in any event importantly certainly
PHRASES and CLAUSES Phrases – groups of words that function as a part of speech. Noun Phrase: A group of words consisting of nouns or pronouns and their modifiers that function as a noun. All the minions wanted to be led by a super villain. Verb Phrase: A group of words consisting of verbs working together and that function as a verb. The Lorax felt that the boy and his family would be cutting down a lot of trees. Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, and functions as an adjective or an adverb. Max was treated brutally by the animals living inside the sewer pipes. Appositive Phrase: A group of words that include all the words that modify an appositive and function as an adjective - IT MUST BE SURROUNDED BY COMMAS.
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The lorax, speaker for the trees, didn’t like that the Once-ler was cutting down trees for his inventions. Verbal Phrases: A group of words that begin with a verbal and ends with a noun. ● Gerund Phrase verb ending in -ing that functions as a noun. Running from the dogcatchers, Max and Duke were saved by Snowball. ● Participial Phrase word ending in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) that functions as an adjective. Johnny’s dad quickly rushed out from prison to see his singing son. ● Infinitive Phrase verb preceded by the word “to” (to read, to study, to write) that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. Ted’s grandmother felt it was time to get rid of O’Hare and start to grow natural trees.
CLAUSES Clauses – groups of words with BOTH a subject and a verb that function as parts of speech. There are TWO kinds: Independent and Dependent (called “Subordinate”) INDEPENDENT – CAN stand alone as a complete sentence, known as a simple sentence pattern. Ted went to find the Once-ler to get a real tree for Audrey. DEPENDENT (SUBORDINATE) – CANNOT stand alone as a complete sentence and MUST begin with a SUBORDINATE CONJUNCTION. There are seven (7) kinds: Noun Clause: Used as the noun in a sentence and may function as a subject, a predicate noun, a direct object, an object of a preposition, an indirect object, or an appositive. ○ Whoever raised him made Ted into an ambitious person. ○ What the Once-ler did shocked Ted. ○ That the Once-ler was sad was painfully noticeable. ○ The animals thoroughly ransacked what he had for food. 16
Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause. Some adjective clauses begin with an introductory word: ○ The movie S ING had the ending that I hoped for. ○ This is the city where citizens buy air to breath. ○ The world’s change that you wanted is one step closer to becoming a reality. Some adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns: ■ Buster is the one who got on the news. ■ There goes the villain whose status is usually villain of the year. ■ The Once-ler tells the story of the disappearance of trees to anyone that brings the materials asked. ■ Is this the unicorn plush that you so desperately want? ■ Margo is the girl who shyly danced with the boy. ■ The shrink gun that you wanted was sadly stolen. ■ Edith is a little girl who easily shrugs off criticism. Adverb Clause: Used to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in an independent clause, introduced by a subordinate conjunction and used to indicate time, place, cause, purpose, result, condition, and/or concession. Modifying verbs: ■ El macho hid his lair where nobody could find it. ■ When the trees fully disappeared, the Once-ler then realized what he did. ■ Gru quickly went to the girl’s dance recital because he realized he cared and loved them. ■ Duke acted as if he owned the whole house for himself. Modifying adjectives: ■ Snowball looks cute, but is twice as evil than a conniving snake. ■ Ted is as ambitious as his grandmother. Modifying adverbs:
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■ Rosita worked harder than the other contestants typically did. Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun. ○ The minion who finishes first will earn a banana.
Elliptical Clauses: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted. ○ When driving, Gru must watch out for smaller cars. Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ The job that most interests E.B. is clearly a drummer, not an Easter Bunny. Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ The Lorax, who has orange hair, protects the trees and speaks on their behalf.
SENTENCES
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Sentence – a set of words that contains a subject and a predicate and conveys a statement, command, question, or an exclamation.
Sentence Parts Subject – what/who the sentence is about The Minions quickly searched for super villains after each one died. Predicate – what the subject does The Minions quickly searched for super villains after each one died.
Sentence Types Declarative – a sentence that makes a statement (ends with a period mark) Minions love to eat bananas and serve super villains. Imperative – a sentence that makes a command (ends with a period mark) Save the girls from Vector immediately. Interrogative – a sentence that asks a question (ends with a question mark) Why would anywho not love christmas? (anyWHO from the grinch, from whoville) Exclamatory – a sentence that expresses great emotion, passion, excitement (ends with an exclamation mark) I hate Christamas and Whoville!
Sentence Patterns 19
Simple Sentence: A sentence that is just one independent clause. El Macho is a Mexican who is actually a secret undercover villain. Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses, but no dependent clauses - connected by FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions) or a semicolon (;). E.B. is an Easter Bunny who doesn’t like Easter, but he loves to play the drums. Complex Sentence: A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. Real Trees used to exist in Thneedville, though they don’t anymore. Complex-Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. Johnny hates being the getaway driver for the heist, he prefers to sing or play the piano, but there’s no opportunities in the beginning of the movie. Loose Sentence: A sentence that contains an independent clause plus a subordinate construction (either a clause or phrase) with your main point at the beginning. Parenthood changes people's lives, no matter who you ever are, even if you're an evil villain. Periodic Sentence: A sentence in which the independent clause is given at the end of the sentence in order to create interest or generate suspense with the main point coming at the end. No matter who you are, even if you’re an evil villain, parenthood will change your life. Parallel Structure: A sentence using the same pattern of two or more verbs or ideas that match in tense or structure to show that they are of equal importance and to help the reader comprehend what is being written - this sentence requires symmetry.
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Who’s during Christmas in Whoville tend to go shopping, to go caroling, and to go partying. Balanced Sentence: A sentence where phrases or clauses at the beginning and the end parallel each other by virtue of their likeness of structure, meaning, or length - this sentence requires symmetry. Whoville buys many Christmas gifts to give and the Grinch steals many Christmas gifts to destroy. Chiasmus: A sentence that includes a repetition of ideas (words, phrases, or clauses) in inverted (reversed) order - this sentence requires symmetry. The trees made the Once-ler what he is, and he would be nothing without them. (before everything went wrong) Asyndeton: A sentence that leaves out conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose. Minions are typically small, three-fingered, yellow, banana-lovers. Polysyndeton: A sentence that uses multiple conjunctions in close proximity to each other between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose. Minions are typically small and three-fingered and yellow and the ultimate lovers of bananas. Anaphora: A sentence that features the purposeful repetition of a word, words, or a phrase at the beginning of several successive clauses in order to place emphasis and draw attention. For many fans, Despicable Me 1 had originality, while for others Despicable Me 1 was too cliche, but most will agree that Despicable Me 1 is family-friendly. Epistrophe: A sentence featuring several phrases or clauses ending with the same word or words. Buster Moon spends all his days working for his theatre, his nights thinking about his theatre, his dreams are spent thinking about his theatre [so much] that it can feel like he lives only for his theatre.
Sentence Errors 21
Run-On/Rambling/Fused Sentence – a sentence construction error where two or more independent clauses are connected incorrectly without punctuation. Rosita had an extreme amount of work of her 25 children her busy schedule due to her passion for singing dancing. [WRONG] Rosita had an extreme amount of work BECAUSE of her 25 children AND her busy schedule due to her passion for singing AND dancing. [RIGHT] Comma Splice – a sentence construction error where two or more independent clauses are connected incorrectly using commas The Grinch hated Christmas with every bone in his body, he wanted to destroy their gifts to pieces, dressed as Santa Claus. [WRONG] The Grinch hated Christmas with every bone in his body. He wanted to destroy their gifts to pieces; dressed as Santa Claus. [RIGHT]
Fragment – incomplete sentence pieces that are not connected to or do not form an independent clause Because of Snowball’s uncaring family. [WRONG] Because of Snowball's uncaring family, he did not like humans. [RIGHT] Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers – modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that add description; a misplaced modifier describes the wrong part of a sentence and a dangling modifier is missing the part it’s supposed to modify At Vector’s headquarters the girls gave Vector the cookies that were robotic. [WRONG] At Vector’s headquarters the girls [gurls] gave the cookies that were robotic to Vector. [RIGHT] (like Gru says girls→ “gUrls”) Double Negative – combining two or more negative words in a sentence in a way that is supposed to produce a positive force O’ Hair saw that it wouldn’t do him no good to plant trees. [WRONG] O’ Hair saw that it would not do him any good to plant trees. [RIGHT]
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PARAGRAPHS Paragraphs – a group of sentences that together convey a shared purpose structured around the same topic. Introductory Paragraphs (Introductions) Hook (Lead) – can begin with the title Anecdotal (Brief story to set the mood and intro the topic) Ex. The teenage mind is a complex system that works differently from the rest, and it’s due to the fact that they have an underdeveloped brain. Their brain is not fully developed as adults and will not be fully developed till the age of about 25. They have bad sleeping habits, terrible eating habits, overuse their technology, they have even worse organization and decision making skills, they struggle grasping certain aspects that are taught, and overall are not the best at taking care of themselves. The brain impacts not only how they act, but also how they think and feel. It contributes to all those negative thoughts that go around in their brains all day or all the stressors that make them lose hope and create habits that not only hurt them, but make them spiral even further into that black hole in their minds. Teens don’t know how their brain works so they can’t stop from spiraling, stop from making bad decisions, and creating bad habits. Query Based (Question that brings the reader to the topic) Ex. Can learning about the brain and taking this advice really help? Thesis Statements (the purpose of a piece of writing – usually one sentence in length, but can be longer depending on the purpose – must be something that is arguable) Assertion (claim - a subject + a “so what” about the subject Ex. The brain contributes to all those negative thoughts that go around in teens brains all day or all the stressors that make them lose hope and create habits that not only hurt them, but make them spiral even further into that black hole that's in their minds. Fact (empirically verifiable but often difficult to argue extensively about - better used as 23
evidence to support a claim) Ex. Their brain is not fully developed as adults and will not be fully developed till the age of about 25. Opinion (personal position on a topic) Ex. Changing and improving the way your brain is wired helps change your life and the relationships around you. Belief (social, religious, or political in nature – an opinion held by many to be a fact, though it is not necessarily factual) Ex. Teenagers are very emotional and dramatic. Generalization (uses absolute or statistical pronouns: all, always, every, never, none, most, half – avoid using this type of thesis statement unless citing the source of the data) Ex. Teenagers always act so dramatic for everything. Document Based (cites a specific source, author, and position on a topic) Ex. In Change Your Brain, Change Your Life (Before 25), D r. Jesse Payne argues that teenagers can change their life by learning the functions of the most important parts of their brain that contribute to all their emotions and thoughts. Theory (a statement that can be tested and potentially proven - often answers a research question) Ex. Teenagers can improve their brain to change their lives. Clarification/Expansion of Thesis (could extend the thesis, preview the evidence supporting the thesis, give the purpose of thesis, establish the importance or significance of examining the intricacies of the thesis – this could be several sentences long) Ex. Dr. Jesse Payne in this book outlines all the functions of the most important parts of the brain that contribute to all these emotions and thoughts, so that teens learn not only about their brains, but also about how they’re harming them and what they should do to better improve their life, and along with the advice he also quotes many patients he’s had over years of working with teens at the Amen Clinics and research on teenage brains. Ex. The author explains the functions of the brain and how they contribute to all these thoughts in order to encourage teenagers to learn more about it and help their brain.
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Ex. Taking some of the advice given from Dr. Jesse Payne, teens will improve their brain, ultimately changing their lives.
Body Paragraphs (must have echoes of the thesis in each AND present evidence to support or expand on the thesis) Topic Sentences (must specifically indicate the topic of the paragraph and focus on one subject and/or area of evidence or support – could start with a “Transition of Logic” that connects to the previous paragraph to give context) (Now every sentence in this paragraph must be related to the connection between fast food and health) Ex. Additionally, multiple sources indicate that teenagers' brains don't develop important parts till later on in life leading to swayed decisions. Presenting Evidence from Quotations (quotes should NEVER be used as individual sentences – quotes should be embedded within sentences) ORIGINAL QUOTE – “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic”(Payne ?). Ex. According to several researchers, “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic” (Payne ?). Ex. “The prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel 25
strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic,” several researchers agree. Ex. Unfortunately for teens, “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic,” according to several researchers (Payne ?). Ex. Unfortunately for teens, “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions…[and] teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic” (Payne ?). Ex. Unfortunately for teens, “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions… [so]teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama… [and]When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic” (Payne ?). Examining the Evidence Paraphrasing (rewording of a quote into other words of the same length without quotation marks, but still citing the source - useful for examining the quote and transitioning to your analysis of the quote) ORIGINAL QUOTE – “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with 26
high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic”(Payne ?). Ex. PARAPHRASE – Teenagers don’t have a fully developed prefrontal cortex, which is in what facilitates logic, insight, and helps in understanding past experiences, so when teens in high school deal with drama and emotions they respond in a way that uses their emotions more than logic (Payne ?). Summarizing (condensing larger quotes or sections - useful for closing the examination of the quote/evidence and transitioning to your analysis of the quote) ORIGINAL QUOTE – “ “the prefrontal cortex is what facilitates logic, insight and an understanding of past experiences, as it filters out the nonsense that often spews out of our emotions. The problem is that teenagers do not have a developed prefrontal cortex to supervise the onslaught of emotions and drama that comes with high school. When they feel strongly about something, they will often make a decision based on their emotions rather than logic”(Payne ?). Ex. SUMMARY – The prefrontal cortex is the last part of teens brains to develop and when dealing with highschool they often use their emotions instead of logic to make decisions. Abstract Examples (hypothetical, “what if” examples that do not refer to a source – AVOID USING THEM AS EVIDENCE – but useful for examining the quote) Ex. Teenagers might succeed more if they learned about their brain. Concrete Examples (actual examples that do refer to a source – useful for enhancing your analysis of the quote) Ex. A study from G eorgia State University in 2006 shows that when hamsters face stress for over 33 days, it causes them to overeat and gain weight specifically abdominal fat, which has been linked to a lot of serious diseases like cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Closing Sentences (must end the discussion of the topic within the paragraph with a transitional or culminating word – possibly an adverb – and should echo the thesis of the essay) 27
Ex. Clearly, valid authorities on the subject of teenage brains agree about its late development of the prefrontal cortex and its relationship to decisions made with emotion.
Closing Paragraphs (Conclusions – should not be mere summaries of the previous paragraphs of your essay) Consequences of Disregarding the Thesis (establishing the potential consequences of disregarding the implications of the thesis – CREATING A COUNTERARGUMENT – could be one or more sentences) Ex. If teens didn’t need to learn how to optimize and help their brain, there probably would not be such an abundance of teenagers needing therapy and help. Statement(s) of Extension (extending the consequences of disregarding the implications of the thesis – could be one or more sentences) Ex. As such, the international profusion of teenagers needing therapy and help seems closely connected with the lack of education of how their brains work and how to optimize their brain. Reestablishing the Significance of the Thesis (could be one or more sentences) Ex. Thus, as studies indicate, tennagers brain does not develop until later on making it plausible that the reason for lack of good decisions stems from the lack of activity from the prefrontal cortex. Final Sentence (connects to the hook and finishes the essay – the “Smoky the Bear”/”Drop the mic”/dot dot dot moment…) Ex. So given the amount of teens needing therapy and help associated with mental health problems, maybe it’s time to start teaching them how their brain functions.
ESSAYS Essays – An Essay is a short piece of writing or short academic composition. Types – Persuasive (Argumentative)- Meant to target the audience to do something or not to do something. Argumentative essays are meant to present 28
arguments in favor of something. They typically have an additional 4th body paragraph that is meant to present opposing arguments. 1358 Expository (Informative)- Essay that exposes things in details to make readers understand without any complications. Definition or Description- Essay that describes something to make readers feel, smell, see, taste, or hear what is described. Process (How-to)- Essay that outlines a process step by step, that describes how to make or break something in a way the reader understands it fully and is able to do it after reading it. Compare and Contrast- Makes a comparison, a contrast, or both between 2 different or similar things. Cause and Effect- Helps readers understand their cause of things and effect on other things. Analytical/Critical- Analyzes something, like analyzing a piece of literature from different angles. Evaluative- Composition that offers a value of judgements regarding a particular subject according to a certain set of criteria. Interpretive- Essay that provides an analysis and interpretation of another piece of writing. Narrative (Tells a story)- A short story written in an essay format Personal Statement/Anecdote- A short scene or story that teaches a lesson and is usually taken from a personal experience. Research- An essay that revolves around a research question meant to be answered through research on a relevant piece of literature Timed- An essay that answers a question given and is timed Document Based Question (DBQ)- An essay or series of short answer questions that is answered using your own knowledge and a combination of several sources provided. Synthesis- essay that is meant to synthesize many different ideas in order to make a judgement about their merit and demerits. Strategies/Planning Tips/Steps – Pre-writing/Prompt Analysis/Outlining- When you begin to figure out what you're going to write about, and how you're going to write it. Think about the structure, the order, and what the question(s) are asking you. Researching/Evaluating of Sources- when you search for sources that support or relate to your topic, subject, or purpose of your essay. After you see if they are qualified enough to be cited. Work Cited Page –
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MLA Format- MLA (Modern Language Association) format is for arts and humanities. When citing you make it into a (author, year, page) format. Ex. (Jones, 2006, p.34) When writing your works cited page it’s called “References” and the author's name in references is written as last name, first letter of first name. Ex. Jones, A. In the header on the right there is the page numbers. You write the title of the essay and then the page number. For the rest it is the same thing except with two. Ex. cover page: TITLE 1 Ex. other pages: TITLE 2 Subheadings and heading must be used. APA Format- APA (American Psychological Association) format is for technical works found in social sciences. When citing you make it into a (author page) format. Ex. (Jones 34) When writing your works cited it's called “works cited” and the author's name in it is written as last name, first name. Ex. Jones, Anna In the header on the right top corner you write your last name and then the page number. Ex. Jones 1 Subheadings and headings are not necessary, but may be required.
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