Discuss what you feel has been the most beneficial piece of information you have learned about the construction of thesis statements, introductory paragraphs, or, in general, essays. How can you see this information benefitting you outside of the AP Lit. exam?
19 Comments
Gallagher Martin
1/9/2015 01:53:35 am
I'm already perfect at essays so it didn't beneficent me in any way. Although it is important to note than the title and author must be introduced in the first paragraph. The exercises we did in class will help us with our organization skills and keeping consistent throughout all of our essays. I can see this helping us outside of the AP Lit exam when applying for scholarships or writing letters of recommendation for people.
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Corben Davis
1/9/2015 03:03:16 am
The most beneficial piece of advice that I have learned when writing an essay is to plan ahead. I usually just jump right in and then half way through want to change my mind, but its to late. It is also much more fluent and faster when writing if you already have planned out what you are going to write about. That way you don't have to keep pausing and think "what goes next?". It only takes a few minutes to plan an essay which is not to much to give up when writing it will go quicker. Planning ahead outside the AP exam can go a long way also. Planning in general can help with everything.
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Ian Ediger
1/9/2015 03:04:13 am
I feel that the best piece of information that I learned from the construction of thesis statements is to start broad and to narrow it down to the point. I feel that it will help with my organization skills, and also help in college when I have to write college essays, or when writing scholarship essays.
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Nate Crain
1/9/2015 03:04:23 am
I always kind of skipped over the intro paragraph because it's hard for me to get started. I feel slightly better about getting an essay going. My brothers-in-law have told me that writing doesn't go away when you leave school. You get a pay-check instead of a grade for them. Also it helps when asking for grant money.
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Josie McClendon
1/9/2015 03:05:39 am
My ability to write a thesis statement has not always been the best but the way that we have been practicing has been helping a lot. I also liked hearing how other people write their thesis statements to find out what is good and bad. Being able to write a good thesis statement really helps when it comes to writing a good essay which is really important in college.
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Laura Peck
1/9/2015 03:07:11 am
I have learned a lot about how it is important to have a broad statement at the beginning of your essay. I’m also learning different ways to write a broad statement. When thinking of beginning statements, my mind often goes directly to the dumb and cheesy statements that usually occur in middle school essays, but after talking them over in class, I realize that they are much more than that (thank goodness). I hope that by stretching my brain to think of relevant broad statements for my essays I will teach myself how to connect various things together and have more analytical thoughts.
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Alexis Young
1/9/2015 03:07:44 am
The most beneficial piece of information I've gotten out of these essay lessons would probably have to be the entire introduction paragraph and how to construct it. It makes a whole lot more sense now that it's explained that first you state the thesis, add title and author, and finish with a broad statement. I also enjoyed getting a bit more information about how to put together a thesis. Clearly, a good thesis sets up a good essay, so it's nice to know more about how to make a good one.
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me again hehe
1/9/2015 03:08:41 am
I meant the other way around, to start with a broad statement and end with a thesis. Sorry d:
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Megan Avila
1/9/2015 03:09:09 am
I believe that being more specific in my intro paragraph will help me. I tend to be pretty non-specific, mainly so I allow myself more BS-ing opportunities as I work my way through the essay itself. This safety net has worked out pretty well for me thus far, however, I seriously doubt that my BS game will be this strong during college. Therefore, the level of specificity I have in my intro paragraph will potentially boost my material.
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Riley Bahre
1/9/2015 03:09:27 am
Though I consider myself fairly above average when it comes to writing an essay, it's never a terribly bad idea to look for ways to improve my "craftsmanship" so to speak. For instance, I often find my conclusions to be lacking a bit of conviction (though not a terribly common trend), and every once in a while I would find a way to veer slightly off topic. In this respect; I appreciated the lesson (or refresher) over proper organization, and I would hope that this bit of information will be of assistance when writing for a scholarship or higher-level employment. In short, it was worth my time.
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Hannah Marshall
1/9/2015 03:11:41 am
I have learned a lot about the importance of using a broad statement to tie your thesis statement into your main point. With Young Goodman Brown, writing the thesis statement has helped me see which areas I need to work on and has helped me to improve.
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Mallory Harger
1/9/2015 03:14:53 am
I think the most beneficial thing I have learned so far about the essay, is to turn the prompt into a question. I always got stuck figuring out what in the world to do. Turning the prompt into a question helps me establish a destination for my writing. Another beneficial thing, is the broad opening. I never knew how to begin my essays. The broad opening statement helps me narrow my essay into a simple idea. The picture with the two triangles and two squares helps a lot as well. Knowing I don’t have to do three body paragraphs helps. I am so used to the three body paragraph style.
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Riley Burghart
1/9/2015 03:15:20 am
The most beneficial piece of information I have learned in regards to a thesis statement is the connector piece. I always used to start off my thesis statements with something like "Hawthorne demonstrated ____ in his piece, "Young Goodman Brown."" I know that's not such a big deal, but I hated how my thesis statements would be the same structure regardless of my essays. Learning that I should have an opening statement, then my usual beginning sentence, then my thesis statement.
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Madison Hoffman
1/9/2015 03:18:45 am
The most beneficial piece of information I have learned about the construction of introductory paragraphs is to write the thesis statement and then go back and create a broad statement and then a connection statement containing the title and author. I think it's easier to identify the thesis and purpose of the essay first and then create a broad opening sentence. I think it will be a lot less complex to create opening sentences when writing essays in the future.
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Dakota Cavanaugh
1/9/2015 03:26:06 am
The concept of splitting up the entire introductory paragraph into multiple parts was very helpful. I have had troubles with coming up for the first introductory sentence for essays. The broad idea is a good concept and, if tied in correctly, could be very useful for starting essays. Thesis statements are already pretty easy, and the connection sentence in the middle is new also a piece of cake. But, all in all, the overall idea of how it all fits together was very helpful. I think this will come in handy for the ap exam in May.
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Sierra Gant
1/9/2015 03:27:26 am
The structure of introductory paragraphs is a lot more clear to me know. The three step process helps me organize it correctly. I've never thought that the broad statement was a part of it, but it makes sense. The organizational triangle and square chart will help my essay flow more easily from one paragraph to the next. It will help me during college to write good essays.
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Stephanie Farney
1/9/2015 04:48:13 am
The most beneficial piece of information I learned was to taper your introduction to a point. If my teachers would have taught introductory paragraphs like that from day one, I never would have struggled with them. The diagram helped me visualize the exact purpose of a thesis, which helped a lot. You can really apply that principle to any persuasive argument to make it more cohesive.
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Amanda Wilde
1/11/2015 06:54:12 am
Learning about the form of an introductory paragraph has helped my writing style greatly. I had no idea how to even begin to put it together. The form with the triangle on top, then the two squares, and a triangle again on the bottom gave me a great visual that I can now picture every time I write. This could help me not only on the AP Exam but also in the near future in writing my college essays.
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Elijah Brockway
1/11/2015 11:49:50 am
Probably the only thing that I can say helped me out was the relatively common-sense idea of rewriting the prompt as an actual question, if only because it'll give me a bit more ability to organize my own thoughts prior to writing. That's always a useful thing, especially when your response to types of stress like having to write an essay for an important exam is to stop focusing on it. As for how it can benefit me outside of the exam, all the scholarship essays. Gotta be able to get all of the money possible, after all.
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