Teacher's Guidelines

[Jonathan]

A 'Writer's Workshop' forum! What a great idea!

I see this as a golden opportunity to share some of my English teacher's writing techniques. He's handed out these sheets of paper to all his students, with 'guidelines' that tell you how to write. It's almost comical how strictly he wants us to follow his guidelines :D. He doesn't really care what you write about, as long as you use his guidelines. But that's good, it makes it easy for us to get good marks in English. The guidelines might even work on other English teachers, so try them! My teacher would be very happy :D

Anyway, here are the guidelines. There are different guidelines, depending of what kind of text you're going to write:

Summary-Response Paper. If you're going to read an article or a text, write a summary and include your own views, you should follow these guidelines:
[list=1] Read the article carefully and mark the main ideas.

Write all the main ideas on a separate sheet of paper.

Select the major ideas from your sheet and arrange them in the same order as the author of the article organised them.

Introduce the summary with a sentence that mentions the author and the title of the article as well as the name of the magazine or book where the article was published.
The introduction also includes the main idea of the whole article.
You can use phrases like:
In the article "Testing the Human Spirit" Jane-Marie Franklyn says that...
"Polar Bear Invasion", an article in TIME by SPencer Davies, states that...
According to author Scott Logan in his article "Natives Fight Back" (Newsweek, February 10, 2002), ...

The body of the summary includes the main ideas arranged in the same order as the author organised them. Remind your reader that you are summarising by using the author's name (or the pronouns he or she) to introduce the main ideas. You can also use the title of the article or a synonym like The article..., The study..., The report...
Use suitable reporting verbs:
"Testing the Human Spirit" describes ...
The report demonstrates that ...
Scott Logan suggests that ...
According to Davies, the study revealed ...

The conclusion of the summary briefly presents the recommendation(s), the solution(s), the result(s), or the prediction(s) of the author of the article.
Scott Logan concluded with a recommendation to ...
Spencer Davies believes that the solution could be to ...
In the end Jane-Marie Franklyn says that ...
According to Peter Bowles, the results of the research is/was that ...

When you read you form positive or negative feelings or opinions about the ideas in the article. You agree or disagree with the author. You have your own thoughts about the ideas in the article. This is what you express in the response paragraph(s).
Make it clear that you move from the objective summary to writing about what you think by using words like
I think that ...
In my opinion ...
I agree with .../I disagree with ...
Logan is wrong ...
Remember to give reasons why you think so.[/list=1]

[Jonathan]

The Argumentative Essay. To be able to express your opinion in a convincing way and present arguments that will influence your readers or listeners are skills that you will need not only in school but during the rest of your life whenever you stand up for or against something.
An argumentative essay is an essay that is written to win readers over to the writer's point of view, or make the readers take a particular action. You must present arguments and show evidence that will influence the readers. Opinions need evidence. Once an opinion has this evidence it becomes an argument.
Since the writer and the readers can't see or hear each other, writing persuasive essays demand careful planning and analysis of the audience. It is crucial to identify who you are writing to so that you can design your arguments accordingly and efficiently.

Guidelines
[list=1] Introduction. Start out with a short introduction that captures your readers.

A quote:
"Democracy is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it", author Chris Anderson says.
An image:
The mind, like a parachute, functions only when it's open.
Something extraordinary:
Did you know that the IQ of broccoli is around 10?
Something personal:
Going to school this morning, something strange happened to me ...
A zooming-in technique:
More than six billion people inhabit the planet and try to live in harmony. On each continent nations have been born and cities founded. In each part of the city people create an atmosphere of belonging together. Even in the smallest unity of society - the family - there need to be rules in order to keep this harmony.
A zooming-out technique - where you do the opposite of the zooming-in:
In the family, each member cares for the others. The same idea guides the decisions of city councils as well as governments on a national level and all around the world.

Background. Provide your readers with necessary background information explaining the important facts of your case.

Thesis statement. Give your opinion, which will be the governing main idea of your essay.
A very effective thesis statement is an although-because sentence. This sentence will include the most important arguments on both sides and thus show that a controversy exists. It also has the advantage of giving the reader a basic plan for the essay.
Although vegans point out that people who eat vegetarian food live longer, I believe that a varied fare including meat and fish is better for you, because it naturally contains all the nutrients we need to stay healthy.

Arguments. Support your thesis statement (opinion) with evidence. Try to find three strong arguments for your point of view. Finish with the strongest.

Refutation of counter-argument(s). In order to convince as many readers as possible, bring an argument against your own idea. Being able to anticipate any counter-arguments shows that you have explored the subject thoroughly and are familiar with the arguments of the opposition, arguments which you then tear to pieces (refutation), either by repeating an argument from step 4, or by producing a new one. You can introduce the counter-argument(s) with a suitable transition:

Now, some people claim that ...
Some people objects to ...
Opponents of this idea/position/opinion argue that ...

After each opposing viewpoint, you must refuse that counter-argument - tear it to pieces. Show the beginning of your refutation by using a suitablle transition, such as

However ...
In contrast ...
But how can ...
Although/Even though ...
Despite/In spite of ...

Conclusion. In your conclusion you can either - very briefly - repeat your opinion or main idea and your three arguments, or you may wish to connect with the introduction by repeating or rephrasing what you started out with at the beginning.[/list=1]

[Jonathan]

Interpretation: Interpreting a Work of Literature (or a Film). An interpretation explores the meaning of a novel , a short story or a film - a meaning that is based on your personal understanding of the work.

Guidelines:
[list=1] When you read the novel or the short story, or watch the film, decide what aspect or aspects - according to you - make up the main idea or message, the main thread that runs through the whole work.

While reading, make sure you take notes summarising any passages in the book or film that illustrate and support the main idea. It could be parts of the plot or descriptions of characters and their relationships to each other. It could be thoughts expressed in conversations between characters, or thinking that takes place in the mind of one character. Remember that the challenge is to find an interpretation that you can support with evidence from the book or film!
Also mark and write down quotations that you might want to include in your interpretation - lines that you find especially well formulated and to the point.

Start your interpretation with an introduction. State the name of thework and the author (or director) and offer some essential background information: what kind of book or film it is, and a brief summary of the work to orient readers. Make sure you include a thesis statement that expresses the main idea in a sentence or two.

In the body, you will support and illustrate your interpretation (the main idea in the thesis statement).
You can organise the body of your essay chronologically, following the main thread from the beginning till the end, or you can start with the most important and apparent example or element of support for your main idea and then move on to examples in other parts of the book or film.

The conclusion very briefly summarises your interpretation. It should reinforce your case by for example hitting home your strongest piece of evidence once again.

Whenever you mention the author of the story or the director of the film, give his/her full name. If you only use one name, use the family name.

When you refer to titles of books or stories, use underlining or italics.
Please note that in titles you use capitals foe all the important words, but not for the smallest ones like prepostitions and linking words (and, or, as etc.)[/list=1]
If anyone has survived reading through all of my rubbish and actually had use for the guidelines, please tell me!

[Lalaith]

Gosh! Are you allowed to use this sheet during a test (I mean the guideline sheet)?

[Jonathan]

Yes, we are allowed to have a quick peak at our guideline sheets during the tests. But by now,we know most of the guidelines by heart, so we can do without the sheets.

[Elvellyn]

You have a really cool teacher, Jonathan. My English teacher just reads stuff out of the little book.

I'll have to remember these methods for next time I'm writing a paper. Thanks for posting them.:)

[Lalaith]

I never follow any guidelines if I write something. It's all about intuition.

[samwiselvr2008]

My english teacher thinks that students should not be told how to write, she only gave us one guidline sheet, and that was for the state writing test, since the graders of that are picky. She says that it limits our ability to write or something like that, wich I agree with, and am happy that she says that. She even lets us pick our own subjects sometimes!!!

[Gwaimir Windgem]

I have a tendency to agree with samwiselvr. I don't like all the rules and regulations, makes me feel rather...cramped (not the best word, but me no spekka Anglish!:p) Though I suppose it's most likely actually good for us.

[Lalaith]

I think some guidelines can help you if you don't have the talent to write (oh, that sounds so arrogant) but if you really know how to write a good story, you won't need it (even more arrogant)

[Jonathan]

I agree completely that these guidelines are not necessary at all if you know how to write and how to use the language. But they are a free ticket for me to get good marks in English :D
I just thought it would be fun if I posted the guidelines here. I hope you don't think I can't write anything without them, because I can. I really can. I REALLY can! You folks must believe me!!! :D

[Lalaith]

Well, I believe you.
If there would be a easy way - without taking risks - to get a good mark I would use it too. But I have to go the difficult way and try it without guidelines.

[IronParrot]

I've never used one of these guidelines before in my life, though I've been provided with them from time to time. I guess they could be helpful for people who are writing argumentative or analytical papers in English for the first time... a lot of the things suggested seem a bit obvious to me, but maybe that's just my problem.

However, there comes a point - very quickly - when using such a guideline sheet completely collapses as a strategy. First of all, people who grade papers like well-written ones, but not if they are all written the same way, because that's boring and tedious and tires very quickly. Secondly, this could in fact stunt your growth as a writer, if you stick to it too rigidly. In short, don't write an overly prosaic essay - unless your name is Margaret Atwood, in which case you can get away with it.

Third, a lot of these suggestions fall flat after about the ninth grade or so, like the one to start with a captivating quotation or remark. In later years, you will be graded on your argumentation first, and your rhetoric second; focus on "Matter" and "Manner as it pertains to presenting Matter". There comes a point when you have to write under a maximum word limit, and rhetoric seriously becomes a waste of space.

The best path to writing good essays is to read good essays. I recommend practically any opinion piece in The Economist, for argumentative essays; for literature analysis, it's more difficult to find good sample papers (book reviews are not a good example, because they are too general), but they are out there.

My personal guidelines can be summarized into three sentences - I don't know where this is from, but I commonly hear it said this way:

- Say what you're going to say.
- Say it.
- Say what you said.

That will maintain some form of structural integrity, as far as organization is concerned. Content analysis, on the other hand, should be as original as possible.

Also: as far as those guidelines go, maybe it's acceptable right now for you to go "I believe" and "I think" - but academically speaking, first-person is unacceptable (even at the high school level in some cases), so don't make it a habit.

[samwiselvr2008]

Okay, I believe you, and I would do it to to pass English!

[Jonathan]

That's why I don't apply these guidelines unless I'm writing English essays.
When I write in my native language I never use any guidelines, yet I write as a god if I may brag a little.

[Lalaith]

When writing in English I will always choose the easiest story. We have several opportunities and I will always take the essay about "What's your hobbie" and such silly things. It's easy to get an A for such a stupid topic.

[Gwaimir Windgem]

yet I write as a god if I may brag a little.

A little? ;)

[Mark of Cenla]

I am a high school English teacher, so I find all of this to be quite interesting. I spend a bunch of time showing my students revising techniques. I show them examples of nearly every writing assingment, and they almost always have a lot of choice of topics. Quite often they can pick whatever topic and writing genre they want.

Good luck to everyone on your writing endeavors.

[Elvellyn]

Thanks Mark.:)

When I'm writing for my own personal amusement I, naturally, don't use any guidelines. But my English teacher and the people who grade our standardized end of the year writnig test are all for the whole "structured and organized" thing in papers.:rolleyes:

[Lalaith]

Originally posted by Mark of Cenla
I am a high school English teacher, so I find all of this to be quite interesting. I spend a bunch of time showing my students revising techniques. I show them examples of nearly every writing assingment, and they almost always have a lot of choice of topics. Quite often they can pick whatever topic and writing genre they want.

Good luck to everyone on your writing endeavors.
Thanks!
When we write in english it is different, because it is not our native language. but even worse is Spanish, were we won't be able to form a sentence within 5 minutes.