VWO 6 Writing an essay Class 8 (22-23)

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 6

VWO 6 - Writing Class 8

Today

Class work

- using formal language

- using punctuation 

Individually

- practise correct use of punctuation

Lesson objectives 

• Ik weet hoe ik op de juiste manier formele taal gebruik.  
• Ik weet welke interpunctie ik wanneer moet gebruiken.

Formal writing
Remember the following rules while writing a formal essay:

• Do not address your readers with 'you'. Doing this, can result in overly broad assumptions.
  You would feel the same way if something like that happened to you. 
• If this is not the case for the reader, they might stop reading your essay. Instead, say something like:
  Logically, one could feel angry when something like that happened. 

Formal writing
Remember the following rules while writing a formal essay:

• Avoid using contractions, such as I'm, they're, haven't, can't, etc. Instead, write out the complete words:
  This cannot be the case.
  Making this statement does not have the correct effect. 

Formal writing
Remember the following rules while writing a formal essay:

• Avoid using slang expressions.  Slang expressions are used in spoken language; however, they should not appear in a formal piece of writing. 
  Yeah, you could say that. 
  You guys understand what I'm saying. 
  Stuff like that seem interesting. 

Formal writing
Remember the following rules while writing a formal essay:

• Avoid using non-standard language, i.e. words that are not actually words. 
  This ain't right.
  I wanna talk about that.
  Anyways, ... 
  
  

Formal writing
Remember the following rules while writing a formal essay:

• Avoid using informal linking words at the start of your sentence. 
  But this is not the case here.  
  Because I believe something different. 
  And now let's talk about something else. 
  Instead, use:
  However, this is not the case here.
  As I believe something different. 
  Moreover, introducing a new point of discussion. 

www.oxbridgeessays.com

www.oxford-royale.com

Punctuation

• A period, 
• Question mark, 
• Comma, 
• Exclamation point,
• Quotation,
• Colon,
• Semicolon

Period and question mark:

Period (.):

• Ends a sentence.
• Abbreviations (afkortingen) 

Mrs. Bird is a great mother. She works for the U.N.

Question mark (?):

• At the end of a (direct) question.

Are you sure he is 17 years old? 

Exclamation point, colon and quotation:

Exclamation point (!):

• To end a sentence with a very strong feeling.
  I love this idea! 

Colon (:):

• In front of a list.
  
• To introduce direct speech.
  He said: "I want to go home!"

Quotation ("..."):

• Direct quote or to indicate an unusal word. 

  "I can help you!" said Henry.

Semicolon

Semicolon (;): 

•  is used to join two sentences, especially in front of a formal linking word:
  

I went to the grocery store today; I bought a ton of fruit; apples, grapes, and pears were all on sale.

She said that she was ill; therefore, she wouldn't be at his party.

 I have a big test tomorrow; nevertheless, I would love to go out tonight.

Apostrophe ('):

• Possesion 's (Jonah's book,  James's room, the boys' soccerteam.)
• Contracted forms (I'm, you're, it's, etc.)
• Letters and numbers (the year '78, she has straight A's)

Comma (,):

• A pause in a sentence.
• Numbers (2,780).
• Directly addressing someone (Wait for me, Mark.).
• Listing things (I need water, bread, candy, and pizza.).
• Multiple adjectives (The grey, moody dog had a lovely, sweet and cute sister.).
• After yes, no, honestly, to be honest, however (Yes, I want to eat pizza.)
• Before which, and linking words (My laptop, which is three years old, makes a strange sound.)

Practice using punctuation

Add the correct punctuation to the text on the handout. 

Mrs. Smith was a woman who didn't know the difference between its and it's. One day, her husband Mark said: "Isn't it a bit late for you to learn the difference. To which Mrs. Smith responded: "No, I really want to know when I have to use its or it's. It can't be that hard." Her husband scratched his big, grey beard. He didn't know how to explain the difference to his wife. Honestly, he didn't even know if he knew the difference himself. However, he did know someone else who could help her: James the neighbours' son. James was a 24-years old, handsome secondary school English teacher. Yet, he wasn't that happy to teach Mrs. Smith. He found her quite an extraordinary, strange, and stupid lady. She always yelled at him from across the street: "You are looking good, boy! Honestly, it's such a lovely sight to see you!" James' cheeks always turned red at these remarks and now he had to be even closer to the lady. However, in the end he agreed to help her. He spend three weeks teaching her the difference between its and it's. It was truly an impossible task. To be honest, James did not think Mrs. Smith would ever learn the difference. Then one day, she said the following sentence: "It's been a pleasure to spend these days with you, James. Honesty, I have always known the difference. It's just that I wanted to spend more time with you. The truth is, I have always been in love with you. It's you and your adorable smile. Its radiance always lights up my days."

Revising your essay

• After having written your entire essay, it is time to revise and re-write certain parts. 
• You can do this according to three steps: 

1. Look at the essay as a whole
2. Dive into each paragraph
3. Polish the language 

1. Look at the essay a whole

• You are going to start by looking at what you're saying.
• Check whether you've met all the objectives of the assignment
• Check whether all your argument relate to your thesis statement
• Check whether everything appears in a logical order, or should you maybe put another paragrah first? 
• Check whether your paragraphs logically follow each other, are there any linking words? 
• Check whether each topic sentence clearly states the main idea of the paragraphs 

2. Dive into each paragraph

• Check whether each sentence in your paragraph supports your topic sentence 
• Check for redundancies - are you repeating yourself? If you've said something before, delete. (exception is the summary) 
• Check for inconsistencies - do your arguments contradict each other?  

3. Polish the language

• Now you are going to look at how you say things.
• Check whether your sentences aren't unnecessarily complex 
• Check whether some sentences aren't too long. If so, change them into shorter, more direct sentences. 
• Check whether some sentences aren't too short and incomplete. If so, combine sentences using linking words. 
• Cut every unnecessary word. 
• Check whether you've made any spelling or grammatical errors.
• Check whether you've started every sentence with a capital letter and ended it with a full stop. 

What to do? 

Check your language use and punctuation in your essay. 

• Did you use formal language? 
• Did you not use any of the language that you aren't supposed to use? 
• Did you use formal linking words? 
• Did you choose the correct punctuation? 

Correct any mistakes you've made and/or add formal linking words to your practice essay. 

Today

... we have discussed using formal language. 

... we have looked at the correct usage of punctuation. 

Next class

Final practice essay. 

Have a nice weekend!