Essay for Looking for Alaska

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 3

How to tackle the essay.

Writer’s block can be painful, but this’ll help get you over the hump and build a great outline for your essay.

Narrow your focus by looking at the "Themes" and choose a question that interests you.

Build out your thesis and paragraphs.

Find the Perfect Quote to Float Your Boat

Title

Few things in a test are as intimidating as a blank sheet of paper staring back at you from where a great essay needs to be.

Luckily, there's a simple cure: a title. Just a few words and that blank sheet is much less blank. While you're at it, also jot down your assignment—it'll keep you focused as you make your way through the essay.

Once you've got all that, click on the book you're writing about, and head over to the next step to dive in.

What's the question you're being asked? (If it's not in question form already, turn it into a question.)

Look at the essay questions and choose one that interests you. 

NARROW MY FOCUS

Select one or more Themes that you want to write about:

MY FUZZY IDEA

Start with a Fuzzy Idea for your paper

Later, you'll turn this into a Thesis Statement.

STRUCTURE YOUR THOUGHTS

What are the Reasons to believe in your Fuzzy Idea?

In a traditional essay, you'll need at least three reasons — one in each of the middle paragraphs — to support your main point. 

What are the Proof points (quotes or facts) to support your Reasons?

A reason is only as good as the concrete proofs that support it.

Aim for at least three solid proofs for each reason.

WRITE A PARAGRAPH

Now that you've thought deeply about your reasons and proofs, it's time to transform them into solid paragraphs. The middle paragraphs of a traditional essay are the meat and potatoes of your paper. (Or alternatively, for all you vegetarians out there, the rice and beans.)

Either way, the middle paragraphs are the place where you fill your reader up with the hearty goodness of reasons and proofs. No matter how tasty the special sauce of your thesis may be, you'd better make sure your middle paragraphs have real substance or you'll risk leaving your readers unsatisfied, hungering for more.

And since — to paraphrase Bob Marley — a hungry reader is an angry reader, we'd better get busy serving up the good stuff.

The recipe is simple. The middle paragraphs are the place in your essay where you'll need to back up your primary argument. To do that, you'll need the reasons and proofs that you developed in the last few steps.

WRITE A PARAGRAPH

Give your paper its substance by writing your middle paragraphs based on your reasons and proofs.

Each of your middle paragraphs should simply consist of one reason, followed by the related proofs you wrote in the last step.

That way, each paragraph will be devoted to exploring just one main idea (or reason). Once you have finished exploring that idea and supporting it with the evidence of your proofs, it is time to write the  next paragraph.

Develop a Thesis Statement

Now that you've put together a solid outline for your paper, it's time to tighten up your original fuzzy idea to create a proper thesis statement.

What's a thesis statement, you ask? A thesis statement is a short, sharp declaration of purpose for your entire paper, a one-sentence distillation of your entire argument. The point of a thesis statement is to set an agenda for the rest of your paper, clearly identifying its purpose and previewing its main ideas. The thesis statement serves as a road map to your paper, letting your readers know what to expect from the rest of your essay.

Now, there are good thesis statements and bad thesis statements.

Good thesis statements are:

Concise

Specific

Debatable 

Logical

Interesting

Okay, let's do this.

Okay, let's do this.

our Fuzzy Idea is:

Now rewrite your Fuzzy Idea into a Thesis Statement:

INTRO PARAGRAPH

Now you've got a sharp, strong thesis statement and a robust outline for the middle paragraphs of your essay. The hardest part is over. (Congrats!) Now you just need to find the perfect frame to show off your masterwork in the best possible light.

That's exactly what your intro paragraph should be.

There's no one right way to write an introduction, but your goals should always be the same:

Grab your readers' attention.

Pull them into your essay.

Build up to your thesis statement.

CLOSING PARAGRAPH

YOUR ESSAY

Write a Conclusion

Your conclusion paragraph should neatly wrap up all the ideas that you've already developed in your paper, leaving your readers with a clear statement of what they've learned in your paper and why it was important.

The traditional formula for doing this calls for you to do some combination of these things:

Restating your thesis

Restating your claims for why your topic and argument are important

Addressing opposing viewpoints and reiterating why readers should support your position rather than alternatives

Raising larger implications raised by your paper and posing further questions for future exploration

If you do any or all of these things well, your conclusion will naturally answer the "So What?" question.

SHARPEN YOUR PARAGRAPHS

You've already got all the makings of a great paper -- intro, thesis, body, and conclusion. Now it's time to go back and polish your writing.

Does each of your paragraphs work as a paragraph, built around one clear idea, with a topic sentence supported by reasons and proofs?

Does each of your paragraphs flow smoothly into the next?

Do your paragraphs build on each other to support your thesis?