PLP is a program that is always striving to find the future of education, but this doesn’t mean we don’t do traditional work. The second part of our Storytelling Unit (the first being our Book Trailers) was to create what is known as a Synthesis Essay. This is an essay which supports it’s argument through drawing connections with other sources, and in our case would be answering the driving question…

“How do authors use text to teach us more about ourselves?”.

With over two weeks of preparation, we were able to formulate a thesis, collect our best supporting ideas, touch up our grammar and formatting abilities, and produce a solid argument that you can learn about below.

Click the picture below to read my essay:

Preparation

After our book trailers went through their final drafts, it was time to move on to preparing for our synthesis essays. We started off as we do with most projects, which is learning the process which we will be following. For our essays, we would use the writing process which closely resembles the launch cycle. It begins with an idea, writing and revising, and eventually publishing. The first step for us would be considering the PAR of our essay, or our purpose, attitude, and role. This would help us find a tone which would properly convey our message.

After deciding our PAR, we were able to create our thesis. The thesis is the main point in which you will be proving throughout your essay with supporting details. Our thesis had to relate to our driving question, but didn’t have to be an exact answer to it. When reading books, I have always noticed I have a greater connection to the characters then I do to their movie counterparts. Many people argue this is because of bad portrayal by the actors, but I say it has to do with perspective. In my opinion, text allows you to best see the point of view of the characters, which is why I decided on my thesis to be:

“Text is the best way to allow people to see new perspectives”

After the thesis came the supporting details, which we would draw from our sources. These include our choice books, the graphic novel The Complete Persepolis, the classic film The Breakfast Club, and any other sources we wished to include. My main supporting topics included:

1. Text is one of the most effective means of communication

2. Text creates a safe and non-judgemental environment

3. Text leaves many details to our imaginations

When we had our supporting details, we were ready to begin…

Writing The Essay

Writing this essay was not like the writing tasks before it. The formatting we had to use was very specific, and we would only have one class to finish. When the timer begun, everyone got to work and the room was near silent. We were each given a scrap piece of paper in which we could record our points on, which I think in future essays would have been a good idea to utilize. The hour and a half flew by and before I knew it, the bell rang. Luckily I was able to finish by the deadline, but I think I should have taken more time to proofread.

Questions

1. What is the most important step when preparing for an in-class essay?

Most people would say it’s coming up the thesis, but I would argue it is actually coming up the supporting details. These are what make up the meat of the essay, and what will convince your reader whether your opinion is valid or not. This is also the step that will be the most time-consuming, and should have the most thought put into it.

2. What is my biggest strength in writing?

I would say it’s my vocabulary. I have always been one to use advanced language when speaking and writing, which I noticed does make my writing sound more professional. I think I will be able to use this strength to write great research papers in the future, as long as I can improve in my spelling, grammar, and overall flow.

3. What is the most difficult part of preparing for an in class essay?

For me, it was organizing my ideas. When my thesis was ready, I brainstormed several different points I wanted to talk about, but struggled in finding a way to connect them all. With only three main categories I could talk about, I found a lot of good points that just wouldn’t fit in the space I had. Even when I had them narrowed down, finding connecting sentences proved to be a difficult task.

4. What is the importance of writing essays and practicing the writing process?

It may seem pointless to write works of text that only your teachers and class get to read, but it’s how we learn the crucial skills we will need for our futures. Writing will be a major part of our university education, along with the portfolios we will need to get in to the schools in the first place. Jobs that are in scientific, mathematical, business, or political fields all require communication through writing. Essays are also the way that we learn to take our opinions and ideas and formulate coherent arguments. If you cannot communicate your ideas well, people will not listen no matter how important they are.

Revisions and Reflection

This assignment marks the first proper essay I have ever written, and I feel I have done a good job with it. After our in class writing was complete, we got to read our classmate’s essays and give them feedback. Most of my critique was related to misuse of commas and spelling errors. After this, our teacher, Ms. Maxwell, also read over them to give us our final feedback and mark the true completion of our essays. I think next time, like I mentioned before, a good idea would be to write down my points before I start my essay, and to take more time to spell check afterwards.

What’s your opinion on my essay? Leave your thoughts in the comments.