EFFECTIVE SOCIAL SCIENCE ESSAY WRITING



Effective social science essay writing

Why writing essays is important:

In life, we are judged by people constantly. Most of the time it is based on how we look, how we talk, how we act, how we work.

Sometimes—and more often than we’d expect—we are judged by people in another way:

How we write

Most of you don’t like to write because you never learned how to do it well. We are going to change that this year by giving you both an opportunity & a system that will make you more persuasive—and therefore effective—writers.

Depending on the military branch, trade school, college, university, or job you go into right out of school:

Writing will be important.

This is especially true for one reason: many times writing will be the only chance you’ll get to make your point—your writing will be the only thing representing you.

• Corporate headquarters will want a written market analysis or sales projection report sent to them

• Your commander will need a written analysis of how to stop civilian deaths in an occupied zone you control

• you’ll need a better-than-average written college application essay or know how to write an essay or paper for a demanding college professor (in a class you are paying for)

You will not have the opportunity to be behind the person as they read your words and say to them over their shoulder:

“what i meant to say in that paragraph was . . .”

For if that was what you meant to say, why didn’t you write it that way the first time?

How we will write essays:

1. Understand the question being asked

• Re-read the question at least twice

• Underline the key words

2. Plan your answer before starting to write.

• You cannot just start writing and be effective

• Organization is key to effective writing

• Content is key to effective writing (ie. Facts, examples, ideas)

• Major points first is key to effective writing!

3. Think E-S-P! Economic Social Political

Economic:

Social:

Political:

4. Write a complex thesis statement

• A CTS will always begin with “Although” in this class. You will always have a CTS! (no CTS = loss of points)

5. Skip a line.

6. Start in with your first paragraph

• Back up each claim with specific evidence

• Keep “likes” together: don’t mix unrelated items (ie. Taxes, jobs, and manufacturing in the same paragraph with something like religious beliefs)

• Make 2-3 points in each paragraph

• Paragraphs = 8-10 decent sentences

• 2 or 3 sentences do not make a paragraph no matter how big you write or how much you indent!

7. Write a transition sentence and start your second paragraph

• A transition sentence introduces your paragraph and makes a point you want to talk about.

8. Write a transition sentence and start your third paragraph. (then your fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh paragraph, etc.)

9. Continue until you have thoroughly answered the question no matter how many, or how few, paragraphs you use

10. You must analyze your claim and evidence to be an effective writer. This mean you have to show the reason something is important or the impact it has on your argument.

11. Write a wrap-up statement.

• This will only be one sentence long!

• “So it can be seen from the above that the Silk Road had more of an impact . . .

12. Proof read your essay.

• Forget something? Make changes or additions in margins or at end on impromptu essays

• Use spell/grammar check on typed work

Other tips:

• Get started well ahead of deadline

• Ask for help if unsure of what you need to do

• If you are absent the day a major writing assignment is due, have a friend bring in your essay or e-mail it to your teacher or professor!

• A note on term papers, big projects, important essays: these kinds of things are real world kinds of things with real world expectations and consequences. Excuses involving printers, cars, clubs or sports, “not understanding what you were supposed to do” or a part-time job are not valid in this age of internet and teachers offering to help you.

Learn to manage your time and material output so that you develop the skills to control your future, instead of your future controlling you.

• This is my e-mail address:

crosby.washburne@

• I accept late major writing assignments (up to two days), but to be fair to others, it will cost you.

Although the silk road changed peoples’ lives due to the social and political beliefs and ideas that spread along its route, the silk road had more of an economic impact on people and world history due to the goods and trading networks and systems the route fostered.

Although the silk road changed peoples’ lives due to the goods and economic systems and networks it fostered, the silk road changed peoples’ lives due more to the social and political beliefs and ideas that spread along its route.

What you see presented above are called:

complex thesis statements

They are very powerful tools for several reasons:

1) They focus your writing right away

2) They let the reader know you can consider both the positive and negative aspects of an argument. This means you are a balanced, reasonable person who can “think deep” and back your opinion with good facts.

3) They don’t take a lot of time to write so they are a quick way to begin a timed essay (no full paragraph is needed to start your essay). You will write for me like this all year from now on!

No cts = loss of points

4) College profs, State Standardized Test readers, SAT & ACT readers, and AP readers love complex thesis statement essays.

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