First off, I don't actually ever write out a plan for my essays I just write what I feel. Not everyone can write this way and in fact, most people can't...at least not very well so planning is essential
Note: I don't care aboot spealing in these Lessons...especially since it would be a good practice for the not-so-good-at-spelling-people to find my spelling errors and feax them...cuz I don't spell very well all the time and I need to improve
First off when you plan...especially on an essay about a story, poem, novel, play, etc that you have read...make points at random. (You are saying C'est what?)
When you have found a few points, try to add more ideas to it...so here's an example:
I read Lord of the Rings
My Notes:
Gandalf is a Wizard
Ok, now the teacher says that you have to write an Essy on:
EZ When you read something, after you are done write down a bunch of random stuff you remember about it. When you are giving the actual question from the teacher on what you are supposed to do, look at your points and see if any of them talk about what (s)he is asking for
Frodo has to save Middle Earth
Strider is actually the heir to the throne of Gondor
Elves are sexy...I mean...Legolas is an Elven character that is in the Fellowship of the Rings
The fires of Mount Doom can destroy the Ring
Sauron wants his ring back
Ring Wraiths have sharp pointy knives and want to stab Frodo to death
Well now, let's look at the notes and see what ones actually fit this (the bolded lines are good for the essay and underlined are the ones that would be good to put in the essay because the deal with the topic)
My Notes:
Gandalf is a Wizard
Ok, now that we have those 2 main points, you can now add more detail in point form specificly about them.
Sauron wants his ring back:
Ring Wraiths have sharp pointy knives and want to stab Frodo to death:
-Sauron sends Wraiths to find Frodo and stabbity stab him to get the ring back
Yay ^-^
INTRO:
A: Topic Sentence:
B: Topic Sentence:
C: Topic Sentence:
Closing Statement
Some of this might need explaining so here it be:
A motivator is the first sentence in an essay and it's supposed to catch a reader's interest. They are usually an interesting statement, a quote, a fact, a question or a comical sentence. It basically is the first introduction to your essay...
Bad Example of a motivator for this essay:
Good Example of a motivator for this essay:
After your motivator you need a thesis...a thesis (something I hate because teacher's make it confusing) is basically a sentence or paragraph that says "Hey, my essay is about this...live with it."
Bad Example of a thesis for this essay:
Good Example of a thesis for this essay:
Now the more or less hard part is over. After this it's a repeat of 3 times or more of the EXACT same THING...yes writing essays is like bludgening your head against a wall repeatedly...unless of course it's a really interesting idea or something...
Anyways the next part of this is your first paragraph...this should be a general topic and when you reach your last paragraph (before your conclusion) it should be very specific. So start off with something nice and easy but still interesting. To start off any of your paragraphs you NEED a topic sentence. All it is would be a sentence that basically sums up what you're going to talk about in the essay. I kinda forgot this is still only an outline so when you write this out it has to be in an outline form. So instead of writing that interesting paragraph like I said, just write out key points under your topic sentence...so thus far your pretty outline should look like this:
INTRO:
A: Topic Sentence: In the beginning of Frodo's journey to destroy the One Ring he faced many dangers, although they were at first minor they were still a harship to overcome.
B: Topic Sentence: Frodo's journey to Mount Doom was filled with danger especially in the closet form, his companions.
C: Topic Sentence: Sauron and the Black Riders
Closing Statement
Now if you were listening at all you could actually finish up the rest of your outline up to the closing statement without me explaining it so let's go on to the last part.
Your conclusion...or closing statement is probably the easiest paragraph in your whole essay. All you have to do is repeat your main points (say it in a slightly different way, copy and paste is a big ZERO) and then reconfirm your answer to the question. After that you just think if a sentence that is relevant to the essay that would be a good note to leave it on and Voila you are done ^-^
But not to leave you hanging here are 2 completed outlines for the essay and one that is bad.
Question: What Dangers did Frodo have to overcome in order to destroy the One Ring of Power?
Bad Example of an Outline
INTRO:
A: Topic Sentence: Frodo fights a tree.
B: Topic Sentence: Legolas fights a huge battle at Helm's Deep and wins it because he's hot
C: Topic Sentence: Legolas is god because he is tall blond and handsome.
Closing Statement
Good Example of an Outline
INTRO:
A: Topic Sentence: In the beginning of Frodo's journey to destroy the One Ring he faced many dangers, although they were at first minor they were still a harship to overcome.
B: Topic Sentence:
C: Topic Sentence:
Closing Statement
Frodo has to save Middle Earth
Strider is actually the heir to the throne of Gondor
Elves are sexy...I mean...Legolas is an Elven character that is in the Fellowship of the Rings
The fires of Mount Doom can destroy the Ring
Sauron wants his ring back
Ring Wraiths have sharp pointy knives and want to stab Frodo to death
-he is the evil dark lord
-his ring gives him power
-if he gets his ring back Middle Earth will fall
-Sauron controls the Ring wraiths.
-he is a giant eyeball sitting on a tower
-his ring controls people to take it back to him
-They are big, black...uh...big, black CLOAKED, creepy old men on horses that used to be Kings but fell under Sauron because they were consumed by the power of some piddley arse minor rings...
-They are scary
-They have sharp pointy knives that inflict immortal pain on whomever they stab
-Do not seem very resistant to water
-Not too swift
-Need cough candies for their voices
So now what about the things that are underlined? Well you just write them in your outline where appropriate...if you can't find a place for them, it isn't important but they are great explaning material, fillers and transistion sentences to make your essay sound better.
Well on to making an outline
Most every outline you will ever write is the EXACT SAME THING..the shell of it looks like this:
-Motivator
-Thesis
-first point
-second point
-third point
-first point
-second point
-third point
-first point
-second point
-third point
-Recap points
-Strong sentence ender
Legolas is so hot, he is an elf and he has a bow and arrow and he is the most godly figure of a man in the whole wide world!
To think, the smallest person in all of Middle Earth overcame the largest, most terrifying force in order to save the world from total destruction.
Legolas is really hot and helps to save Middle Earth. Frodo is in a lot of danger a lot but Legolas is with Gimmli and Argorn so he can't help Frodo. If Legolas was with Frodo the world could have been saved a lot easier. Frodo had a hard time destroying the ring.
Frodo faces many dangers along his journey to Mordor in order to destroy the One Ring and save Middle Earth.
-Motivator: To think, the smallest person in all of Middle Earth overcame the largest, most terrifying force in order to save the world from total destruction.
-Thesis: Frodo faces many dangers along his journey to Mordor in order to destroy the One Ring and save Middle Earth.
-first point: Trivial encounters like the Great Oak Tree
-second point: Frodo's first encounters with Ring Wraith
-third point: The control of the Ring over Frodo
-first point: Borimere trying to take the Ring from Frodo
-second point: Gollum seeking the Ring and pretending to be good to get it.
-third point: Frodo himself unable to give up the Ring due to the power it has over him.
-first point: Black riders dog Frodo the entire way nearly killing him many times.
-second point: Sauron is slowly destroying Frodo through the ring
-third point: Frodo must survive purest evil
-Recap points: Frodo faced many dangers from minor to extremly major. Frodo faced things that could destroy everything he held dear and also take away his own life.
-Strong sentence ender: Without the tale of the little hobbit that conquered the world's evil where would our own world be? Would we still believe that good always wins over evil or would we fall to the will of power?
-Motivator: LEGOLAS IS SO FRICKEN HOT, he is the world's sexiest Elf and he helps Frodo to destroy the One Ring of power, they face a lot of trouble along the way.
-Thesis: Frodo goes through a lot of crap to save Middle Earth from total destruction. He fights with things all the way there and Legolas helps him and Legolas makes girls drool.
-first point: The tree is big.
-second point: The tree is beaten by Tom Bombadil
-third point: Legolas wasn't there to save Frodo.
-first point: Aragorn and Gandalf help save the King of that Horse Country.
-second point: Legolas keeps count of how many goblins he's killed in competiton to Gimmili
-third point: Legolas is god
-first point: Legolas always looks good when in trouble.
-second point: Legolas saves people, he saves Frodo
-third point: Legolas should have been the main character.
-Recap points: Legolas is hot, godly and the savior of Middle Earth and the problems that Frodo faced would have been nothing if Legolas had been with him.
-Strong sentence ender: Legolas is hot.
-Motivator: To think, the smallest person in all of Middle Earth overcame the largest, most terrifying force in order to save the world from total destruction.
-Thesis: Frodo faces many dangers along his journey to Mordor in order to destroy the One Ring and save Middle Earth.
-first point: Trivial encounters like the Great Oak Tree
-second point: Frodo's first encounters with Ring Wraith
-third point: The control of the Ring over Frodo
-first point
-second point
-third point
-first point
-second point
-third point
-Recap points
-Strong sentence ender
