English Semester 2 Study Guide

Argumentative essay notes 

• Needs all parts of an essay

  • Introduction

    • Hook, background info, and thesis(claim)

  • Body paragraphs

    • Support claims by appealing to the audience and supported through logic, emotion, and morals. 

    • Addresses the other side of the argument (counterclaim) 

    • Disclaims counterclaim through a rebuttal. 

• Conclusion

  • Wraps up the essay usually by:

    • Referring back to the introduction

    • Restating the thesis (ALWAYS)

    • Usually summing up main points

• Claim- the writer’s stance or overall argument. 

  • This is the thesis- the point the writer is arguing (last sentence of introduction). 

  • Needs to be supported by:

•  Evidence- research or text examples

• Reasoning- your own logical and critical thinking

• Counterclaim- a claim that disagrees with the writer’s claim. 

  • Essay should: 

    • Acknowledge the counterclaim 

    • Use evidence to support the counterclaim but then refute it through the rebuttal. 
      

• Rebuttal - Reasoning ( Sometimes with evidence) that disagrees with the counterclaim

  • Reason why the counterclaim isn't as strong as the claim

    • The BUT in the counterclaim

• Structure of basic persuasive essay

  • Introduction paragraph

    • Hook: opening statement (which is usually the first sentence)

    •  Background information (Author and book at least)

    • thesis statement (claim). 

• 1st body paragraph

  • 1st reason

  • Evidence from text to support reason

  • Explanation of how the evidence supports the reason

• 2nd body paragraph

  • 2nd reason

  • Evidence from text to support reason

  • Explanation of how the evidence supports the reason

• 3rd body paragraph

  • Counterclaim

  • Reason 1 for counterclaim

  • Evidence to support counterclaim 

  • How does the evidence support the counterclaim

  • Rebuttal to counterclaim through logic and/or evidence 

• Conclusion paragraph

  • Restated thesis

  • Sum up main points

Appositive and prepositional phrases

Prepositions:

• Preposition: a word that shows the relationship between a noun (or pronoun) and it’s object

  • Examples: 

    • The plate in on the table

      • On = preposition

• Prepositional Phrase: made up of the preposition and the object of the preposition

  • Examples: 

    • The train goes through the tunnel

      • Through = preposition

      • Tunnel = object of the preposition

Appositives:

• Appositive: a noun or pronoun that follows another noun or preposition (it identifies and explains it)

• Appositive phrase: a noun or pronoun and it’s modifiers that follow another noun or pronoun

  • Examples: 

    • Our English teacher, Ms. Campbell, it s good teacher

      • Ms. Campbell = appositive

Ethos, Pathos, Logos used for supporting your argument

Logos

Appealing to the audience by using facts and statistics.

An argument should have a majority of  logos statements.

Some examples may include;

• Direct statistics and verified facts

• Citations/Quotations from experts & authorities

• Informed opinions

• Literal and historical analogies

Pathos

• Appeal to the audience’s emotions

• Ex. Drunk driving offenders should receive harsher punishments because my   daughter was killed by a drunk driver.

• Okay in ads, politics, everyday life, and informally, but not for academic purposes usually 

• Preferably used in hooks

• Often when using Pathos, it is crucial to trigger the reader with emotional topics or sentences.

• Consist of:

  • Emotionally loaded language & stories

  • Vivid descriptions

  • Emotional tone

  • Figurative language

  • Connotative meanings

Ethos

• Refers to source credibility

• Using credible sources and sounding credible

  • You can sound credible by:

    • Using the right language for the right audience

    • Restrained, sincere, fair-minded voice

    • Correct grammar/vocabulary

• Often uses celebrities

  • This makes people think “if this person likes this, I will too”.

Citations

In Text Citations

• When you quote or paraphrase a source in a paper, you must include an in-text citation. The citation  comes directly after the quote or paraphrase. The punctuation for the sentence goes after the citation. 

• If you mention the author’s name/ title in the same sentence as the quote or paraphrase, you do  not need the author’s name in the in-text citation:  

• If there are no page numbers on your source, just leave that out of the in-text citation. 

• Example: Smith stated that mortality rates for these infants are declining (32). 

• According to “Critical Infant Care,” “50% percent of babies are malnourished”

Work’s Cited

• The last page of your essay should be a works cited page. The page should be double- spaced with the  title (Worked Cited) centered. The list should be in alphabetical order. Each line after the 1st line of each entry should be indented. 

• Website: Author. “Title of the page.” Website Name (Container). Name of publisher or  sponsor, Creation/revised date. URL. Date Accessed. 

• Can be with or without an author (look at slides for examples).

Avoiding Plagiarism

• Keeping track on the sources used, and use your original thoughts from the borrowed content

• When using someone else’s work as a base, either paraphrase their words, or directly quote them

• Use in-text citations and create a reference list following your academic institution’s citation style.

• Run your essay through a plagiarism checker before submission to catch any unintentional similarities with other content

Good Slides Requirements

• 6 and 6 (6 points, 6 words or less)

• Put less points on each slide and make more slides

• Put the essentials on the slides; say the extras (details, explanations- have notes with you if you will forget) 

• Know what you are talking about

• Practice before you present. Make sure you can pronounce everything you are going to say. 

• Don’t stand in front of the slides

• Don’t face the slides; face your audience

• If you are presenting with a group, be attentive to others in your group.

MLA Format

• Font Style: Use a standard font style such as Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri.

• Font Size: Typically, use a 12-point font size for the main body text.

• Emphasis: Utilize italics or bold to emphasize key points or titles.

• Indentation: Begin each new paragraph with an indentation, usually 0.5 inches.

• Spacing: Double-space the entire document for readability.

• Hierarchy: Use different levels of headings to indicate the organization and structure of your content.

• Consistency: Maintain consistent formatting for headings and subheadings throughout the document.

• Text Alignment: Align text to the left for standard readability unless specified otherwise.

• Direct Quotes: Enclose direct quotes within quotation marks and properly attribute them to the source.

• Title Case: Capitalize the main words in the title: "The Reality of John Johnny."

• Spacing: Double-space the entire text for clarity.

• Indentation: Begin each paragraph with an indentation.

• Alignment: Align text to the left for standard readability.

• Quotation Marks: Use double quotation marks (" ") for direct quotes within the text.

• Attribution: Attribute quotes to their sources within the text.

• Italics: Use italics to emphasize certain words or phrases within the text.

• Title: Use a larger font size or bold text to indicate the title of the document.

• Subheadings: Use a slightly larger font size or bold text for subheadings to indicate different sections of the text