We have spent the last few weeks reviewing and evolving our definition of the essay. I'm sure you have some thoughts about this process.
I would like two posts. In the first:
Please tell me at least one valuable lesson you have learned so far that was not clear before. Please also tell me what aspect of the essay you will focus on for this year. Finally, relate at least one feature of the essay that remains sketchy or unclear. Do you feel this was valuable?
In the second:
Respond to the post of another student, either attempt to clarify that student's questions (yep, give it a shot) or relate to something that student has said regarding the essay.
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ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson that I have learned so far this year is that Sin is not just a biblical term, but it also can be secular as well, not just the normal like stealing or killing but maybe something that you fell uncomfortable with like for me I hate it when people smoke in open areas. If I ever did that I would consider myself a sinner in that category. One aspect of the essay that I will focus on this year is that not everyone ends their life by being redeemed. I wrote my essay about how Leisel never actually overcame her sin to achieve redemption and so I now believe that not everyone recieves redemption. I do not really feel sketchy or unclear on anything.
ReplyDeleteSo far a valuable lesson I have learned is how to perfect my essay. Especially introductions and TLQ. In the essay I will focus on the mean of the quote, or the persuading part of the essay.I still feel uncomfortable with writing the mean/ persusion of the essay but, I think with practice I will learn how to broaden my views rather than just state facts. I also learned that sin does not have to always relate biblically.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Kenneth I learned that sin is not always related in biblical terms. Although I feel that Liesel did find redemption, I also understand your point of view that not everyone wants redemption.
ReplyDeleteI learned that I need to pay so much more attention to a prompt than I thought was ever possible. This is definately where I'll try to improve to get my whole essay to actually mean something... I don't thnik anything is really sketchy or unclear, but I do know I could use more practice throughout the essay, practice makes perfect!
ReplyDeleteIlliana, you have a good point when you say that we should (or at least you should) broaden our views. This does indeed make the essay more interesting because after we've stated a fact, we really don't have anything else to say. How do we prove something that's already proven true?
ReplyDeleteFrom everything we have gone over in English so far, one thing that has helped me the most would be how to write an effective thesis statement that is simple. I've also learned how to perfect my TLQ. Going over our essays and our essays has been very beneficial to me because I've learned some simple steps that I did not previously know. Out of everything we've learned so far, the only thing I'm not as confident about wouldn't actually be the essay itself, but how to properly do S/M/M.
ReplyDeleteYAY! Finally the essay is FINISHED!
ReplyDeleteI feel that all the time we spent on the essay was well worth it because I did learn so much from the different workshops. I know never to use passive voice. I learned that topic sentences should not be facts. I learned that thesis statements MUST be universal. It was so weird for me because i used to think I knew exactly how to write essays, but after this week i have learned SO much. This year I am definetly going to focus on perfecting my thesis. By the end of this year, I want to be able to make a thesis on spot. For me, thesis' are the most diffucult part of the essay. One part of the essay that remains sketchy to me is the conclusion.
I agree with Kenneth, I did learn that "sin's" meaning can be often disputed about, because it can have so many different meanings to any individual person. Sin can be determined by religion, personal values, society, etc. Sin is portrayed in everyones mind differently, and I really think we got into its deeper meaningntoday in class.
ReplyDeleteSARAH:
ReplyDeleteSay Mean Matters are diffucult to me, but in my opinion you do a say mean matter like this:
SAY: the qoute itself
MEAN:say how it relates to your thesis, and remember NOT to state the obvious.
MATTER:the universal meaning, this is where you kind of make it relate to the world, and you get the BIG meaning, and look outside the box.
i dont know if this is even right but that is the way I look at it, and sorry if this does not help and is confusing haha
Alexander Hoover: I learned that answering the prompt in all aspects is harder than one would originally think. Answering all the details and staying on one track when replying to the prompt. I learned how to stay on track when answering the prompt. This year I will focus more on my intro and conclusion paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteAlexander Hoover: I agree with Julien and Kenneth. I agree with Julien's statement about how a person has to pay much more attention to the prompt more than thought. I also agree that there are some parts of the essay that i will also need to improve on. I agree with Kenneth about the learning more about sin, and I also expressed how I actually felt about sin and redemption for once, ever, in class today...
ReplyDelete(Not actually Jason, its Codi Myers) Something that I learned from the workshop was the definition of sin. Up until this class I had just thought that sin was something that the bible or your parents tried to guilt you into confessing. The fact that it is just a misstep gives a different insight on exactly how to redeem sin. Something about essay structure that is sketchy to me is when to use past or present tense.
ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson I have learned so far is that a thesis is supposed to be universal! That certainly was not something I knew before. I will focus on really answering the entire prompt, I think I more tend to skim the prompt and already start forming my argument and what I want to say. One thing I am unclear and a little sketchy about would be concluding sentences of paragraphs, I tend to never feel like I really completed my thought. Yes, I think this entire experience was valuable.
ReplyDeleteCodi Myers: I agree with Julien. You really do need to read the prompt carefully in order to receive a high grade. I remember that when I was in middle school/9th grade that I would just skim the prompt, not answer the question and be confused when I received a poor grade.
ReplyDeleteGrace- for me, in the conclusion I try to draw together all the points that I made in my essay (which came from my thesis). I focus on tying together what my intentions were in writing the essay, I think about what point it is I am making and what I am trying to prove. I always focus that it is the last thing the reader is going to be seeing, so I make sure I have proved my argument and that everything ties into and supports my thesis...hope I helped a little!
ReplyDeleteDuring this essay process I learned ways to improve my essays. I learned all about the say mean matters and what you are supposed to do. I learned how to perfect TLQ and never to use passive voice. I still do not really understand conclusions that well though.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julien. I learned that the prompt takes a lot of time to fully understand and interpret. I also agree with Alissa. I did not know the thesis was universal and it was great to find out.
ReplyDeleteI learned about the proper way to create a say/mean/matter because previously I had never did it the way I was supposed to do it for the Book Thief. I am probably going to try and focus on the conclusion and introduction more this year. One thing that could have used an improvement was my conclusion, but other than that I feel that this was valuable because it helped to refresh my essay skills after summer break.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Derek because although I feel my essay skills are improving, I still do not feel as comftorable as I should be with conclusions.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most important valuable lessons I have learned during this essay process is that I must not make an $800 mistake. I must answer the prompt clear enough so that the reader can know what question is being asked of me. This will also be the aspect of the essay that I will follow this year, answering the prompt clearly. If I can do this, I believe that the rest of the essay will just fall into place. One piece of the essay that I still believe is sketchy and unclear is wrapping my essay up with a good conclusion. i have trouble restating the thesis in different words.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace because I believe that the writers workshops we did helped out a lot. We also both think that the conclusion is sketchy.
ReplyDeleteSo far this year I have learned more about the thesis of an essay. I now understand how important it is to actually follow the prompt and answer the question. I have also learned how the thesis is almost the base of your essay and everything builds off of that. I think I will try to focus more on improving my thesises and also the format of essays. I was in a non honors class before and so the strict MLA structure is somewhat new to me. I think that this year I will try to spend more time on my essays so they can be more clear and better written. One thing I am still somewhat unsure about is the topic sentences. I understand that they branch off the thesis but I'm confused how you make them an opinion as opposed to a fact.
ReplyDeleteMadeline.
I agree with Alissa. I think that the most valuable thing I learned was how important thesises are. I also never knew they had to be universal which is a completely new concept and changes how you have to write the thesis.
ReplyDeleteMadeline.
One valuable lesson I learned so far this year is that a thesis statement has to be universal. I had always thought that it was just the main topic of the essay, not something that can be applied to other circumstances. This year I will focus more on the introduction and conclusion. One thing i am unclear on is the concluding sentences, I never feel like mine is strong enough and proved my point for that paragraph
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cody. I do not think my conclusion sums up my entire essay very well. In my conclusions I don’t believe that I have a strong enough way to end my essay.
ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson I have learned so far is that a thesis does not have to have three parts and HAS to be universal. What I will have to work on this year are my body paragraphs and the comments after my quotes. I will also have to work on my Say Mean Matters. I understand both the Say part and the Matter. But, I don’t understand how I can write the Mean and the Matter but not say the exact same words in both boxes.
ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson that I have learned is to answer the topic question for an essay, otherwise that essay will recieve a bad grade. This year, I will try to focus on the thesis. I feel that I am not the best at writing thesises and that I still have much to learn in making the thesis universal. One thing that I am unclear about is how to write a good conclusion. I do think that this was valuable because it helped me refresh my memory after a long summer.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Julien. I know more than ever to pay close to attention to what the prompt wants me to do. I know that if I want to find the deeper meaning of the prompt, I must first answer it and then go ahead and add to my essay.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have learned is that a thesis statement cannot include any proper nouns (such as Leisel Meminger) and it has to be general. After your thesis statement, you can then include the proper nouns and make it more specific. This year, I will focus on my say/mean/matters and making sure they relate to my thesis statement so that when I come to write my essay I have everything I need. One part of the essay that is still unclear to me is the rule that you cannot have any sentences like, "The shoe was bought." But you must have sentences like, "The woman bought the shoe." I felt this unit was very helpful because it reminded me to use quotes as evidence and to comment about the quotes.
ReplyDeleteFor Tanzia, you should put what the quote means under the "Mean" section and how it relates to a theme under the "Matter" section. This way you will be talking about the quote in your "Mean" section and a theme in your "Matter" section. MS G ROCKS!!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Grace. The conclusion is also still a little confusing to me. I'm not sure exactly where to start and what you need to prove in your conclusion or if you are just supposed to summarize what you have already written.
ReplyDeleteA valuable lesson that I have learned from these four weeks would be that the thesis statement is so much harder to write when it has to be universal. That is a big step for me from 9 Honors last year. I have come to learn that a universal statement is much more affective in an essay. This year I would really like to focus on paying attention to answering the prompt fully. It is way more difficult than I thought. One thing that is a little unclear to me is if we should or should not use words from the prompt in our thesis. I heard two different things on separate days so I would like for that to be cleared up. This helped me a lot! :)
ReplyDeleteCodi, I agree. I have problems with tenses too. It's hard! :/
ReplyDeleteI know the book is a living thing when you write about it, but when is it appropriate to write in the past tense?
A valuable lesson that i learned was how to make my thesis sentenceuniversal, but also on one level. I will focus on topic sentences this year, i have had problems with them and i want to improve upon them. onclusions are still unclear to me, i get confused as to what to put in them. These past few weeks have been very valuable to me.
ReplyDeleteI agree with sam, thesis statements must be general. Also, the rule of the passive voice is also confusing to me too. Using quotes and commenting on wuotes is also important.
ReplyDeleteHow to write an essay. I was never great at writing essays because I never quite under stood the whole process until now. Although my favorite part of the essay is writing a thesis, I think I need to focus more on finding the evidence and KEEPING ON TOPIC. On my past essays, teachers would always write that I was going off topic but I never understood why or how. Since now I understand what it means to stay on topic, I will make sure I work on that. I felt the only thing we didn't touch so much on is the conclusion, and the conclusion still seems like a little bit of a mistery to me. All of this information was ULTRA VALUABLE, and greatly appreciated!! I am way more confident in writing my essays then when I used to be!
ReplyDeleteKelly:
ReplyDeleteIn our thesis, we can use the words from our prompt because it does help show that we are answering the 800$ question, and makes things more clear, but at the same time you need to be able to keep your thesis universal and not use any specific names or anything else that relates to the book. You also don't need to use the words from the prompt. As long as your getting your point across, and your thesis is universal, it doesn't really matter if you use the wording from the prompt.
The main thing i learned was proper SMM structure. I have always mixed up my mean and matter, and I have corrected these mistakes. Additionally, I have learned more about creating a thesis statement. My structure used to be all over the place, and it looked more like a Frankenstein-like mix of a topic sentence and a TLQ, just plain ugly.
ReplyDeleteJessica: I also had problems with essay structure. I used to think of the rules of limiters, making it harder to write something creative and new. I now see them more as guidelines, or like a mold that I use to keep my essay simple and understandable.
ReplyDeleteone valuable lesson I have learned during this year is how to write a well focus ed essay. one of my previous problems would be staying on topic through out the essay but now im fine. one aspect I would like to focus on through out this year would be commentary after quotes. I feel this is one of the hardest parts of an essay. one aspect that remains unclear is how to write a good conclusion. I would like to learn how to put together a concluding paragraph. I really think these exercises really helped
ReplyDeleteblake I feel you are right on the say mean matter comment. I completely forgot about us learning it. I think it is a great skill to have when writing essays
ReplyDeleteDeni D. Sahbegovic here.
ReplyDeleteLike finding a shiny pearl in an oyster shell, I have learned an invaluable lesson in that essays should be kept clear, concise, and easy to read. Forgive me, but I have this unfortunate habit of making my sentences overly complictated, which makes the essay complicated, and thus unreadable and unbearable. This year I shall keep my points short and simple, yet effective. I would be lying if I said I was sketchy about MLA - I may be alone when I say this, but I love using the MLA format because that's the best way to show my evidence.
Teh year has taught me much in only the first few weeks. The most important lesson, by far, was that a thesis must be universal. I never before thought that the main message and purpose of an essay should be related to life in general. this year i have decided to focus my efforts on improving both my topic sentences and my conclusion, my weak areas. although the say mean matters are becoming clearer i still feel a tad bit confused about them
ReplyDeletethe*
ReplyDeleteNatnael, you are not alone when you say that you used to stay out-of-topic during an essay. It has plauged me for years, but like you, I have also overcome it. As for the conclusion, it isn't the easiest paragraph to write about, but it should be able to restate your ideas (but not by reusing the same words) and be able to show how it has a universal theme.
ReplyDeleteAs it needs to be said, I completely agree with Iliana, Kenneth, and Sarah about the meaning of sin and how it isn't always biblical.
Blake, what you said about the SMM structure confussed me too. i also had trouble with the mean and the matter, but thanks to the lovely and beautiful ms. gerber i finally understand it more.
ReplyDelete* I meant "plagued". Excuse the typo.
ReplyDeleteI have learned to look way deeper into the rubric of an essay, as Ms. G would say, to hydroplate. Before being enlightened by the amazing Gerber, I would read the rubric once, maybe twice and get on with figuring out what I was going to write in my essay. I seriously do not think that I have ever read a sentence so many times in a row in my life. It was insanity. I have pages and pages of different thesises that I was trying out. I have learned to take my time, and find a thesis that I truly believe in, so that I will make the best arguments to back myself up as possible. I had a problem with making my thesis universal and using an abstract noun in it. The part of the essay I would like to focus on this year is connecting my say mean matters with my thesis, that way writing my essay will be much easier in the long run. One thing that I am unclear on is topic sentences, for some reason it is just super hard for me to write good one, that connects to the thesis and introduces what I am writing. I definitely think that this information was valuable, I just need to continue to use all of it while writing essays so it will just come to me eventually.
ReplyDeleteI have actually learned so many valuable lessons from writers workshop. The most valuable lesson that I have learned so far was that the thesis statement is supposed to be short and simple. It NEEDS to answer the prompt. That was the most important lesson because sometimes I have trouble sticking to the prompt. I tend to start talking about something else. I definitely want to focus more on the introduction paragraph and mainly the thesis statement for the essays this year. I think that the conclusion is still a bit sketchy to me, but I am sure we will work on it soon.
ReplyDeleteI definitely was making the same mistake as you were Kendall. I would write a thesis that had to do with the rubric, but then, I would slowly but surely drift further and further away from the point of the essay as it ended.
ReplyDeleteHallie:
ReplyDeleteFor your topic sentences, remember that they are not supposed to be facts. You are allowed to use the person's name that you are writing about in the topic sentence. Also, remember that a good topic sentence needs persuasion. It is important to have your own opinion that is arguable. Somebody else who is reading your paper should be able to agree or disagree with you. Well, I hope this is right.
One of the things that I now feel comfortable with after this essay is passive voice. Before writing this essay I did not have a clear example in my head of what passive voice was, but now I do. Now I feel that I can write an essay without using passive voice. I also learned how to write a great thesis statement. I learned that it is important to keep you thesis statement short and simple, and to make the statement a general truth. One last thing I learned about writing a great essay is that it must be in the present tense.
ReplyDeleteHallie, I totally agree with you. I definitely learned that you have to look at the deeper meaning of the prompt you are answering and not just look at what is on the surface. I also wrote pages of different thesis statement trying to find the one that was perfect for what I was trying to prove. I learned that it is normal to rewrite your thesis many times, and that is what is expected.
ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson that I have learned so far in the class is that sin has a variety of different connotations- the definition of sin is an opinion. I have discovered through my own analyses of sin that it does not have to define your identity in the world and that if you truly want to overcome sin, only you can determine when redemption has been achieved. One part of my essay that is still a bit sketchy is how someone can live through depressing circumstances and reach redemption, but still be depressed. That is valuable because it makes one wonder how someone can live a happy life after witnessing traumatizing events.
ReplyDeleteI have learned more these past weeks about essay writing than ever before. My problem from before was that i was too strict with the format. My theis staements were boring because i would list my three topics and not keep it simple. I have also found the importance to topic sentences and that they are basically a small thesis for that paragraph.
ReplyDeleteCODI:
ReplyDeleteI agree with you 100%. Before writing the essay on The Book Thief, I honestly had a stereotype on the definition of sin- that it was biblical, such as pre-marital sex or stealing. And to help you understand the past and present tense issue, it is because literature is and will always be "alive" and "active".
^^^^
ReplyDeleteRight Ms. G?!?!?!
I think the most major thing I've learned in this essay unit is the thesis work. So this year I plan to focus on them, specifically making sure the prompt is fully answered, and make my thesises amazing. I'm still kind of confused on the mean vs. matter. This section was very valuable because at some point in high school, everyone needs a teacher to disect the makings of an acceptable essay.
ReplyDelete-sarah manning
i agree with Casey because before i entered this class i probably could not determine what a sentence with passive voice was. Passive voice kills all of the feeling to an essay and i will make sure to keep it out of my essay.
ReplyDeleteOne valuble lesson I have learned so far is the connotation of sin. Half the time when we were talking about sin in the begining of our essay writing process I thought we were talking about biblical sin. Then after the discussion we had, I now know that there are many connotations of sin. Mostly the idea of the sin is your own opinion or perspective. In my essay, the sin was her life of loss. This year I plan to work on the flow of my essay, so it is not choppy. I am a little confused about the mean and the matter. They tend to be one big mess in my essay.I felt this was valuable because I realized how much I had forgotten this summer.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Casey. Although, I personally had a hard time trying to fit all my thoughts on my thesis into one short sentence, it is important to learn and know that that is what a thesis statement requires.
ReplyDeleteOne valuable lesson I learned so far is to refine my thesis, and to make it universal. All my theses from essays last year focused on the obvious, concrete events in the novel. Now, I can develop theses that are more universal in meaning. This is important because the thesis is the central idea of the essay, and a bad thesis ruins it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Sarah, that it's important to answer the prompt. I, too, find the s/m/m difficult.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely right Danielle. Literature is a living thing and therefore in present tense. Nicely articulated.
ReplyDeleteI agree with alex on refining my thesis. I learned a lot on how to polish it and make it universal
ReplyDeleteAnisha,
ReplyDeleteSpot on explanation about the essay and its part, in fact, a very nice summary. Excellent. As always, thanks for doing my job for me.
My peeps,
ReplyDeleteWonderful responses and some pretty impressive denotations of the essay features. Couple things just for clarity.
A thesis statement is universal as opposed to "general." Remember you want to be precise in both your language and what your claim.
Say/Mean/Matters are, indeed, an enormous pain, but they are effective in helping nail that commentary and analysis. Again, Say includes a lead in that sets the context for your quote.
Mean is analysis of that quote and just that quote. Analyze don't summarize - interpret what it means.
Matter is a focus on that abstract noun - consider theme, consider how this quote applies to the novel as a whole. Look at how rhetorical devices convey that meaning, and finally and most importantly, how does this quotes prove your thesis.
Awesome work here. Why are you guys so smart?
Because we all work hard for it.
ReplyDelete