Book of Writing
The Series Written By Miguel Villa
Table of Contents TOPIC
PAGES
INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………….. 3 ABOUT THE AUTHOR ………………………………………………………….. 4 DEDICATION …………………………………………………………………… 5 PUNCTUATION AND CAPITALIZATION ……………………………………… 6 PARTS OF SPEECH ………………………………………………………………. 8 PHRASES AND CLAUSES ………………………………………………………. 17 SENTENCES ………………………………………………………………………. 20 PARAGRAPHS ………………………………………………………………….... 23 ESSAYS ……………………………………………………………………………. 26
Introduction I wrote this book because of a fun project for my English class using many templates that our English teacher would provide us with and it was up to us to write with whatever we chose. Some sections were longer than others but we all would have more than enough time to complete each section and even be rewarded with bonus points for finishing a section ahead of time. After nearly the entire first semester, this book will finally be done and I will be able to insert all the pieces of my book into an actual book. I believe that the most fun I had with this project was because of having creativity on the subject that I chose. The subject that I chose for this book was from a video game series called “Fire Emblem”. Fire Emblem is a Japanese tactical strategy game created by Nintendo and Intelligent Systems with its premise being mainly a story about war and a hero, mainly the protagonist goes to war in order to stop it and bring peace into their continent. Each game has its own unique story and characters and settings I’ve had a lot of fun playing each game and it holds a special place in my heart which is why I chose it.
About the Author My name is Miguel Villa I am a growing boy born with a family of immigrants nearly when I was just a baby in Mexico. I was taken to America along with my family and my family was the first who would choose to stay in America with hopes and dreams carrying us through. I am a young brother with a family of 6 where I have grown up always being curious and wanting to learn more in life and am determined to do my best and will keep going for the sake of my family and for my future to reach my goals. I learned to write with the help of my mother where she would teach me Spanish letters in our small home in Mexico when I was very young, but that all changed for me when my family moved from Mexico to California I entered Kindergarten in elementary school where they taught me how to read, write, and speak English. It wasn’t easy for me at first since the Spanish language was all I knew but as the years went by I got the hang of it and soon I was able to speak a bit and write a couple of sentences. Now I am here much older and making significant improvements in understanding most of the English writing and I shall continue to improve on my English skills.
Dedication To: My older sister who introduced me to the series and everyone else who enjoys the series!
Punctuations ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
. Period End of a sentence and can also be used for abbreviations. , Comma Used to switch words around in a list. – Em Dash Replaces a comma and parenthesis. - En Dash Replaces a comma and parenthesis. : Colon Whatever comes next such as a list and answers or questions. ; Semicolon Separating clauses that are related to one another. ? Question mark Ends an interrogative sentence. ! Exclamation point Ends an exclamatory sentence. ‘ Apostrophe Contraction, Possession, and the quote mark. “ ” Quotation marks Start and end of a quote. … Ellipsis Something is unsaid. [ ] Brackets Something is being added. ( ) Parentheses Parenthetical information not necessary information. / Backlash Used for decisions
Punctuation Examples ● ● ● ● ●
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Period - Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light was the first Fire Emblem game released on April 20, 1990, starring the iconic first lord Marth. Comma - Alm and Celica fought fiercely to liberate their continent of Valentia from witches, monsters, and the dragon Duma. Em Dash - Marth and his friends were forced into another war when they discovered that the Earth-dragon Medeus was revived. En Dash - Seliph’s army consisted of the children of his deceased father’s army all no more than 16-18 years of age but they still fought to liberate their homeland and rid of the Loptous church. Colon - Leif and his army were captured by the Manster army but thankfully a group of the Liberation Army came and set them free but without any weapons, Leif and his army had only one objective: escape from the Manster army without being spotted. Semicolon - Roy obtained the legendary weapon the Binding Blade; Roy was now able to promote to a Great Lord. Question mark - “Ugh we’ve been walking for days now how long ‘till we reach the Dragon’s Gate Eliwood?” asked Hector. Exclamation point - “I am the Demon King, Formotolis, now fear my wrath as I consume this world into darkness!!” roared the Demon King to Ephraim and Eirika in their final battle. Apostrophe - The twin blades Ragnell and Alondite were created from the Goddess and gifted to the legendary warrior Altena and were deemed unusable deeming them Altena’s blade. Quotation marks - “I am Sanaki Krish Altina 13th Empress of Begnion” quoted Sanaki many times to the people of the Greil Mercenaries. Ellipsis - Without the orbs to power the Fire Emblem will we be strong enough to defeat Medeus…” wondered Marth scared to face a stronger version of Medeus. Brackets - After successfully defeating Medeus once and for all Marth and Caeda [his fiance] restored peace to the continent of Archanea and were happily married. Parentheses - Corrin was a strange human he lost his memory and knows next to nothing about where he is and why he’s here (except that he’s hungry). Backlash - Professor Byleth had a choice to join/fight against his old classmates from the Golden Deer, Blue Lions, or the Black Eagles.
Capitalization ● ●
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Capitalize the first letter of a sentence - In the year 776, Leif and his army stood up to the Manster army in the country of Thracia which lasted until 777. Capitalize names and other proper nouns - Elincia was a respected princess hailing from the country of Crimea and after a long and harsh battle against the Dain Army, Elincia and her army were victorious and Crimea was freed and the princess would soon rule her land as the Queen of Crimea. Capitalize most words in titles - The creator of Fire Emblem was a man named Shouzou Kaga.
Parts of Speech Nouns Types of nouns: · Common Nouns: Name a class of people, places, things, or ideas. EX: Bandits, Commoners, Nobles, Manaketes, Greenhouse. · Proper Nouns: give the name or title of a particular person, place, thing, or idea (must be capitalized). EX: Garrech Mach Monastery, Marth, Tellius. · Compound Nouns: consist of words used together to form a single noun. EX: Hideout, Shopkeeper, Safekeeping. · Concrete Nouns: refer to material things, to people, or to places. EX: Medallion, Swords, Emblem. · Abstract Nouns: name ideas, qualities, concepts, emotions, or attitudes. EX: Courage, Integrity, Determination. Functions (How nouns are used): · Subject (comes before the verb) Sigurd warned the Queen of Silesse of the upcoming invasion from the neighboring kingdoms. · Direct Object (comes after the verb and answers what or whom) Ephraim asked Eirika if she was okay with them traversing separate routes in order to end the war much faster. · Indirect Object (answers to who or to whom) Ethelyn gave her husband, Quan, the legendary weapon, Gae Bolg.
Pronouns Pronouns take the place of nouns that have been established Personal: Nominative (subjects) I/we you/you He, she, it, one/they
Objective (objects) me/us you/you him, her, it, one/them
Possessive My, mine Your, yours His, her, hers, its, one’s Relative: Nominative who That
our, ours your, yours their, theirs
Objective whom that those/ this
Possessive whose of that
Interrogative: who, which, what, whatever, whoever Reflexive: (personal pronouns plus the suffix –self or –selves) Used only: when the action verb is directed toward the subject of the construction: After the death of the late king, Lambert, Gilbert beings to questioning himself if he was at fault for not arriving in time to save him. to intensify a point: Long ago before Marth was born, his great grandfather, Anrid, sealed the dragon Medeus himself without any soldiers and only his Falchion at hand. 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. 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 al (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: Eliwood was worthy of wielding the Blazing Sword, Durandal. (Eliwood is the subject) Passive: The Durandal twitched and showed its powers to the three lords. (The three lords are the subject but are treated as objects) Verbals: (VERB FORMS NOT USED AS VERBS) Gerund: word ending in “ing” used as a noun. Professor Hanneman dedicated most of his life researching crests and their powers among the people. Participle: word ending in “ing” or “ed” used as an adjective · Dedue loves nature and would often be seen gardening the plants at the greenhouse. · Micaih and the Dawn Brigade would have to cross through the dreaded lands of the Daen desert. Infinitive: verb preceded by the word “to” (to go, to jump) used as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs · Now that Ike was fully promoted into a noble he was now able to lead the Greil Mercenaries.
Adjectives Adjectives modify, describe, limit, and identify nouns and pronouns. · Kinds: Demonstrative, Common, Proper Demonstrative - Those vulneraries were being kept secured from the enemy. Common - The celebration came to an abrupt end when Emperor Arvis revealed his true motives and plan to execute Sigurd and his army. Proper - Once the people of Loptour took over the land of Jugdral they forced many of the people to obey and practice the Loptourian teachings or suffer grave consequences.
Adverbs Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. · Endings ● Some nobles of Euturia cowardly fled when they found out that Roy’s army was marching towards their lands ● Despite the harsh and cold climate from Illya, Roy and his army marched onwards to free the country from the clutches of Bern. ● Roy needed to bring the Fire Emblem otherwise the door to the Bern kingdom would refuse to open and they wouldn’t be able to defeat Zephiel. · Conversions “Casual to Casually”, “Manual to Manually”, “Shocking to Shockingly” ·
Types: Manner, Frequency, Degree, Place, Time
Example Types: (Create one example each related to your subject) *Manner – Sigurd rushed urgently to Deirdre when she fell ill during her pregnancy. (How did he arrive?) Time – The apostle, Sanaki, secretly fleed Begnion almost immediately when she heard the priests were planning her assassination. (When will she leave?) Place – Finn casually sat in the fields watching Nanna and Leif playing together. (Where was he?) Degree – Lysithea was the youngest girl at the academy at only 15 years of age she enrolled in the academy because she was greatly gifted in dark magic that some considered her a prodigy. (How good is she?) Frequency – No matter how hard Forrest tried to appease and make his father proud his father would frequently be disappointed in him. (How often is he disappointed?)
Conjunctions Coordinating (FANBOYS): for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so 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: who (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 Interjections are the final part of speech.
A aha, ahem, ahh, ahoy, alas, arg, aw B bam, bingo, blah, boo, bravo, brrr C cheers, congratulations D dang, drat, darn, duh E eek, eh, encore, eureka F fiddlesticks G gadzooks, gee, gee whiz, golly, goodbye, goodness, good grief, gosh H ha-ha, hallelujah, hello, hey, hmm, holy buckets, holy cow, holy smokes, hot dog, huh, humph, hurray O oh, oh dear, oh my, oh well, oops, ouch, ow P phew, phooey, pooh, pow R rats S shh, shoo T thanks, there, tut-tut U uh-huh, uh-oh, ugh W wahoo, well, whoa, whoops, wow Y yeah, yes, yikes, yippee, yo, yuck
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
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 in order to
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
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 bandits pillaged the villages that were defenseless. Verb Phrase: A group of words consisting of verbs working together and that function as a verb. Because Makalov didn’t pay back his debt he was forced to be working hard for the Greil Mercenaries for free. Prepositional Phrase: A group of words that begins with a preposition and ends with a noun, and functions as an adjective or an adverb. Despite Lyn’s hatred for pirates and bandits, her army had no choice but to climb aboard the pirate ship if they wanted to get to the Dread Isle. 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. Fargus, the pirate leader, allowed Lyn and her army to take them to their destination with his pirate ship if they could beat him in a duel .
Verbal Phrases: A group of words that begin with a verbal and end with a noun . ●
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Gerund Phrase verb ending in -ing that functions as a noun. Fighting alongside his friends has helped Marth feel more confident in himself as a leader and grow stronger. Participial Phrase word ending in -ing (present participle) or -ed (past participle) that functions as an adjective. The Archbishop assigned Professor Byleth his first mission with his students to take down a small group of bandits in the abandoned ruins of the Red Canyon. Infinitive Phrase verb preceded by the word “to” (to read, to study, to write) that function as nouns, adjectives, or adverbs. With the Binding Blade in hand, Roy and his army knew it was time to march for Bern and defeat King Zephiel
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. Micaih raised and took care of Sothe as her own little brother. 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. ○ Where Alm grew up changed his position. ○ Don’t kill whoever surrendered. ○ That the commanders were rooting for victory. ○ Raphael remembered what he had for dinner. Adjective Clause: Used to modify a noun in an independent clause. Some adjective clauses begin with an introductory word: ○ This is Sacea where the land is separated into tribes. ○ This is the legendary sword Ragniell, only that I can wield it. ○ The tome that you wanted wasn’t listed in the shop today. Some adjective clauses begin with relative pronouns: ■ Alm was elected the leader of the Deliverance Army and the one who got the most votes from the group.(ONE is the antecedent of WHO and is modified by the adjective clause.) ■ Amelia left with her trainer whose been helping Amelia get stronger for months now. (TRAINER is the antecedent of whose and is modified by the adjective clause.) ■ Bernadetta decided to cook a nice meal for Raphael and called him informing him that the meal was ready. ■ So Constance what is the dream that you so desire? (that is the direct object of desire) ■ Seliph and Leif were the best of friends whom he loved to spar with. (whom is the direct object of challenged.) ■ The message to the Dawn Brigade to which you sent for peace was denied. (which is the object of the preposition to.) ■ Gatrie was a young strong man who casually shrugged off whatever damage his enemies dealt with him. (who is the subject of shrugs.)
Adverb Clause: Used to modify verbs, adjectives, and adverbs in an independent clause, introduced by subordinate conjunction, and used to indicate time, place, cause, purpose, result, condition, and/or concession. Modifying verbs: ■ Goldea blocked off all of its borders where only the dragon laguz could enter. (place) ■ When night fell it was time for the Greil Mercenaries to strike the Begnion soldiers with an advantage at hand.. (time) ■ The Daein army was forced to retreat because the army was too weak to handle the Greil Mercenaries. (purpose) ■ Elincia was nervous at first but she soon gave a passionate speech as she was the new Queen of Crimea. (condition) Modifying adjectives: ■ The Lehran’s Medallion would seal the Dark God away as long as there were no major wars happening in the continent of Tellius. (how much) ■ The Mad King Ashnard was as cruel as the Dark God themselves. (to what extent) Modifying adverbs: ■ Ike trained much much harder than his companions did. (condition) Relative Clauses: Dependent clause that begins with a relative pronoun. ○ The student who wins the tournament at the white heron cup shall be nominated a dancer. Elliptical Clauses: Adverb clauses in which part of the clause is omitted. ○ When training, Dimitri always gives his best effort. Essential Clauses: Clauses necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ The class that interests Lysithea the most is Gremory class. Nonessential Clauses: Clauses that are NOT necessary to the meaning of the sentence. ○ Ilyana is a master at thunder magic, and she is always very hungry, she eventually was promoted to a higher ranking in her kingdom.
Sentences 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 Ryoma waited patiently for 25 days before attacking Corrin. ● Predicate – what the subject does Ryoma waited patiently for 25 days before attacking Corrin. Sentence Types ● Declarative – a sentence that makes a statement (ends with a period mark) Learning how to use weapons better will help the army wield stronger weapons. ● Imperative – a sentence that makes a command (ends with a period mark) Learn to use better weapons now. ● Interrogative – a sentence that asks a question (ends with a question mark) Does no one want to wield better weapons? ● Exclamatory – a sentence that expresses great emotion, passion, excitement (ends with an exclamation mark) - These weapons are so much stronger! Sentence Patterns ●
Simple Sentence: A sentence that is just one independent clause. - Most of the units in the army are weak in the beginning.
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Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses, but no dependent clauses - connected by FANBOYS (coordinating conjunctions) or a semicolon (;). - Some chapters in the game can be hard, but they can all be cleared.
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Complex Sentence: A sentence with one independent clause and at least one dependent clause. - Before fighting, check for any enemy who can be recruited.
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Complex-Compound Sentence: A sentence with multiple independent clauses and at least one dependent clause. - Whether your units are trained or not, all chapters can be completed, but they take a lot of strategizing.
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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. - Every story is unique, no matter what game you played or what order you play them in.
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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 what game you played or in what order you played them in, every story is unique.
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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. - The main lord tends to start out weak, work hard to get stronger as time passes, and end off succeeding in the end.
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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. - Retainers spend almost their whole life protecting their master and leaving along wherever their master goes.
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Chiasmus: A sentence that includes a repetition of ideas (words, phrases, or clauses) in inverted (reversed) order - this sentence requires symmetry. - Worldbuilding and the story make Fire Emblem what it is and it would be nothing without it
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Asyndeton: A sentence that leaves out conjunctions between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose. - Main lords are typically weak at the start, get stronger as the story progresses, and promote near the end in order to become very powerful.
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Polysyndeton: A sentence that uses multiple conjunctions in close proximity to each other between words, phrases, or clauses for a rhetorical purpose.- Main lords are typically weak at the start and get stronger as the story progresses and promote near the end in order to become very powerful and, ultimately, change the fate of the world for everyone.
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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 some people, the modern Fire Emblem games are the best ones to play, for others some say that the modern Fire Emblem games are the worst ones to play, but many can agree that each game is unique to play in its own way.
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Epistrophe: A sentence featuring several phrases or clauses ending with the same word or words. - Sigurd was heavily in love with Deirdre, Sigurd would often spend his battles worrying about Deirdre, he would fight his hardest for Deirdre, he would do all that he can to protect their newborn child and Deirdre, he would cherish his moments with Deirdre that it felt like fate that Sigurd was destined to be with Deirdre.
Sentence Errors Run-On/Rambling/Fused Sentence – a sentence construction error where two or more independent clauses are connected incorrectly without punctuation. Ike’s army wanted to stay at camp for a while they needed to prepare weapons for the battle ahead they had nearly no time at all. [WRONG] Ike’s army wanted to stay at camp for a while BECAUSE they needed to prepare weapons for the battle ahead AND they had nearly no time at all. [RIGHT] ●
Comma Splice – a sentence construction error where two or more independent clauses are connected incorrectly using commas Ike’s army wanted to stay at camp for a while, they needed to prepare weapons for the battle ahead, they had nearly no time at all. [WRONG] Ike’s army wanted to stay at camp for a while. They needed to prepare weapons for the battle ahead; they had nearly no time at all. [RIGHT] ●
Fragment – incomplete sentence pieces that are not connected to or do not form an independent clause Because the army nearly had no time. [WRONG] Because the army nearly had no time, they had to prepare much faster. [RIGHT] ●
Misplaced/Dangling Modifiers – modifiers are words, phrases, or clauses that add a 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 the Mila’s temple, Mila bestowed the Falchion to Alm that was very powerful. [WRONG] At the Mila’s temple, Mila bestowed the Falchion that was very powerful to Alm. [RIGHT] ●
Double Negative – combining two or more negative words in a sentence in a way that is supposed to produce a positive force Roy knew that it wouldn’t do his army no good to fight the kingdom of Bern with such a weak army as it would be suicide. [WRONG] Roy knew that it wouldn’t do his army any good to fight the kingdom of Bern with such a weak army as it would be suicide.[RIGHT] ●
Paragraphs A group of sentences that together convey a shared purpose structured around the same topic. Introductory Paragraphs (Introductions) Hook (Lead / Opening Statement) – can begin with the title Anecdotal (Brief story to set the mood and lead the reader into the topic) Over the hundreds and hundreds of centuries, the manaketes have lived for many years. They were powerful dragons ruled by the Divine Dragon, Naga. However, as the years went by some manaketes slowly began to lose their sanity as they grew older their sanity seemed to weaken and they had no idea why until Naga created the dragon stone to prevent the manaketes to lose their sanity and degenerating, but in the process, manaketes would stay in a human form and be significantly weaker, but was age the real factor behind the cause? Query Based (Question that brings the reader to the topic - avoid second person POV “you”) Is age the cause of a manakete’s sanity to decrease over time? Thesis Statements (the purpose of a piece of writing – usually one sentence in length, but can be longer depending on the purpose – must be arguable) Assertion (claim - a subject + a “so what” about the subject) - Aging slowly causes the body and organs to rot. Fact (empirically verifiable but often difficult to argue extensively about - better used as evidence to support a claim) - Manaketes can live for more than hundreds and hundreds of centuries. Opinion (personal position on a topic).- Many factors could influence the degradation of a manakete other than age. Belief (social, religious, or political – an opinion held by many to be a fact, though it is not necessarily factual – often involves a judgment) - Most of the dragons refused to use the new stones as they believed it would ruin their pride and power. 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)- Most of the dragons who went insane were very old. Document-Based (cites a specific source, author, and position on a topic)- In Tiki’s Diary, she writes down about her witnessing the deterioration of the fire and ice dragons and seeing them go insane. All she could dream of was fear of her being a terrifying monster and killing humans. Theory (a statement that can be tested and potentially proven - often answers a research question) - Aging can affect someone mentally and even a person’s sanity. Clarification/Expansion of Thesis (could extend the thesis, preview the evidence supporting the thesis, give the purpose of the thesis, establish the importance or significance of examining the intricacies of the thesis – this could be several sentences long) Naga expands on Tiki’s claim by providing the many dragons the process of deterioration and how their flesh slowly starts rotting and their organs stop functioning and everything they once knew fades away from their mind and all that they can think of is to kill. She mentions and vividly explains these gruesome details in order to persuade the other dragons into using the dragon stones This information is about the connection between dragon stones and the health risk that come through potential aging outcomes that might lead to the potential extensions of the dragon race as a whole. (establishing the importance or significance of thesis)
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) - Additionally, multiple sources indicate that overusing the power of a dragon stone has a dramatic impact on health and can potentially kill the user. Presenting Evidence from Quotations (quotes should NEVER be used as individual sentences – quotes should be embedded within sentences) - ORIGINAL QUOTE – “You can't overuse dragon stones. It's far too powerful for some and could potentially hurt yourself.” Nowi and other manaketes can agree, “Overusing dragon stones can be a dangerous risk to a person's health”... “Overusing dragon stones can be a dangerous risk to a person's health” according to Nowi and other manaketes. (-Nowi)... Unfortunately for users, “Overusing dragon stones can be a dangerous risk to a person's health” according to Nowi and other manaketes. Unfortunately for users, “Overusing dragon stones can be a horrible risk to a person's health” according to Nowi and other manaketes. .... Unfortunately for patrons, “Dragonstones … effects … people’s health and sanity” 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 – “You can't overuse dragon stones. It's far too powerful for some and could potentially hurt yourself.” PARAPHRASE – People’s health may be negatively impacted by overusing a dragon stone. 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 – “You can't overuse dragon stones. It's far too powerful for some and could potentially hurt yourself.” . SUMMARY – Overusing a dragon stone can be dangerous as well. Abstract Examples (hypothetical, “what if” examples that do not refer to a source –AVOID USING THEM AS EVIDENCE – but useful for examining the quote).- Manaketes could be much healthier and stronger if they didn’t use their dragon stones as often. Concrete Examples (actual examples that do refer to a source – useful for enhancing your analysis of the quote) . A study in the power of dragons and manaketes True Power Hidden in the Stone shows how a young manakete who never used her dragon stone was more happy and innocent than a manakete who frequently used their dragon stone and when a girl used her dragon stone her power was much more superior than the other manakete whose power was only about half as strong. 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) Clearly, valid research about the subject promotes the many benefits a dragon is with a dragon stone in hand.
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) - If dragon stones truly benefited nothing to the dragon race and only consume a dragon’s strength then there shouldn’t have been so many cases of degradation. Statement(s) of Extension (extending the consequences of disregarding the implications of the thesis – could be one or more sentences) - As such, the mass amount of degradation of dragons seems to be very closely connected with age and affects every currently known dragon tribe. Reestablishing the Significance of the Thesis (could be one or more sentences) Thus, as the prevalence research indicates, dragons who carry their pride and strength about themselves – carry out the risk of losing their sanity and causing atrocities to everyone. Final Sentence (a closing statement that connects to the hook and finishes the essay (finish your argument) – the “Smoky the Bear”/”Drop the mic”/dot dot dot moment…) - So now that most of a dragon’s health and mental problems are associated with age, maybe the dragon stones that were given to them are indeed the haven to living a long and peaceful life…
Essays An essay is an academic composition and the writing is of a specific topic that a person wishes to write about and it could be long or short.
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Types Persuasive (Argumentative): A persuasive essay is meant to convince the target audience to do something or to not do something. Expository (Informative): An expository essay exposes things in detail to make the reader understand without any confusion. Definition or Description: A genre of writing meant to explain, illustrate, or clarify something to the reader in order for the reader to understand. Process (How-to): The idea of an expository essay is to provide information on a balanced topic without being biased and having a neutral tone. Compare and Contrast: A comparison essay makes comparisons and contrasts between two things. Cause and Effect: A cause and effect essay finds the cause of something and then the effect on something else. Analytical/Critical: An analytical essay analyzes something such as literature and a critical essay is written on literary pieces to evaluate the bases of any merits or demerits. Evaluative: Critical Essay Interpretive: Analytical Essay Narrative (Tells a story): A narrative essay is more of a short story but a narrative essay is written in the essay format. Personal Statement/Anecdote: A short and interesting story. Research: A research essay is all about a research question given that is meant to answer the specific question through research and relevant reading. Timed: An essay that must be written in a limited amount of time. Document-Based Question (DBQ): The main question that is mainly used in timed writing essays. Synthesis: Synthesize different ideas to make a judgment about the merits or demerits.
Strategies/Planning Tips/Steps Pre-writing/Prompt Analysis/Outlining: A simple essay contains mostly 5 paragraphs which include the introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion about your topic. Researching/Evaluating of Sources: Sources are very important for an essay as they can support your claim and it is also very important to find a trustworthy source that isn’t biased or outdated as well as consisting of false information.
Work Cited Page MLA Format: The MLA format is more commonly used in order to cite sources with the language arts, cultural studies, and other types of humanities disciplines. APA Format: The APA format is more commonly used in order to cite sources with only the social sciences.