SJCS Writing Handbook The Essay

Writing instruction at St. Joseph’s is oriented towards mastery of the essay form. Students begin with the most essential building block of writing, the sentence, before moving on to the more complicated paragraph and ultimately, the essay itself. An essay is defined as a “group of related ideas leading to or from a reasoned conclusion.” Every essay includes a thesis statement which summarizes the aim of the writing Although the essay form is standard, its purpose helps to define its mode.

The Modes of Writing

A mode characterizes what an author is attempting to accomplish by means of their writing. A mode is determined by the purpose and audience of the writing. At St. Josephs, students will be introduced to three primary modes of academic writing: argumentative, narrative, and informative. Additionally, students will be provided with numerous opportunities to develop their capacity for creative writing as a critical means of non-academic expression. Each mode has its own methods, elements, and aims. There are numerous types of compositions that can fit under a particular mode. Additionally, students use common patterns of development regardless of the mode they are utilizing. A pattern of development is the strategy a writer chooses to organize his or her ideas in order to support their thesis. These recognized patterns include the following:

● Cause and Eect

● Compare and Contrast

● Definition

● Problem and Solution

● Induction and Deduction

● Classification and Division

● Illustration

● Narration

● Analogy

● Process

Argumentative Mode

In the argumentative mode of writing, the author seeks to express a fact-based position in order to persuade the reader to agree or take action on a specific issue. Students use evidence to understand a debatable issue and take a position on that issue by making a claim. A debatable issue is one with which reasonable individuals could disagree Stating an obvious fact would not count as a “debatable issue” as reasonable individuals would not disagree over a clearly established fact. Additionally, stating one’s feelings on an issue would not be considered a “debatable claim” as feelings are not generally debatable. The writer using the argumentative mode attempts to answer the question, “why do you say that?”

In the argumentative mode, students use rhetorical appeals by considering and employing the concepts of ethos, pathos, and logos. Students anticipate and preemptively respond to objections to their claims (counterclaims) and are able to recognize and draw attention to common logical fallacies.

Examples of argumentative compositions would include the following:

● Argumentative Essay

● Persuasive Paragraph

● Proposal

● Editorial

● Persuasive Essay