The following list of terms is taken from the Jane Schaffer guide to writing multi-paragraph essays.
| Essay | An organized piece of writing that develops a thesis by giving your thoughts (commentary) about a subject supported by evidence (concrete detail). |
| Introduction | The first paragraph in an essay. Also called the introductory paragraph, it should accomplish three things: (1) catch the reader’s attention; (2) set the tone or show the writer’s attitude toward the subject; (3) present the thesis, most often at the end. In literature papers, the introduction usually includes the title, author and type of literature (sonnet, novel, etc.) |
| Body Paragraph | A middle paragraph in an essay. It develops a point you want to make that supports your thesis. It usually begins with a topic sentence and contains at least two sentences of concrete detail and four sentences of commentary. |
| Concluding Paragraph | The last paragraph in an essay. It may sum up your ideas, reflect on what you said in your essay, say more commentary about your subject, or give a personal statement about the subject. Your concluding is all commentary and does not include concrete detail. It does not repeat key word from your paper and especially not from your thesis and introductory paragraph. It gives a finished feeling to your whole essay. |
| Thesis | A sentence with a subject and opinion (also called commentary) about the main idea of your paper. The thesis statement controls the direction of the essay; the entire composition will support the ideas/opinions in this statement. The thesis statement comes somewhere in your introductory paragraph and most often at the end. |
| Pre-writing | The process of getting your concrete details down on paper before you organize your essay into paragraphs. You can use any or all of the following: bubble clusters, spider diagrams, outlines, line clustering, or columns. |
| Concrete Detail(CD) |
Specific details that form the backbone or core of your body paragraphs. Synonyms for concrete detail include facts, specifics, examples, descriptions, illustrations, support, proof, evidence, quotations, paraphrasing, or plot references. |
Commentary(CM) |
Your opinion or comment about something; not concrete detail. Synonyms include opinion, insight, analysis, interpretation, inference, personal response, feelings, evaluation, explication, and reflection. |
Topic sentence(TS) |
The first sentence in a body paragraph. All commentary, it develops the essay’s thesis and acts as a thesis statement for the paragraph. |
| Concluding Sentence (CS) | The last sentence in a body paragraph. It is all commentary, does not repeat key words, and gives a finished feeling to the paragraph. |
| Shaping the Essay | The step that is done after prewriting and before the first draft of an essay; it is an outline of your thesis, topic sentences, concrete details, and commentary ideas. |
| First draft | The first version of your essay (also called the rough draft). |
| Final draft | The final version of your essay. |
| Peer response | Written responses and reactions to a partner’s paper. |
| Chunk | One sentence of concrete detail and 2 sentences of commentary. It is the smallest unified group of thoughts that you can write. |
| Weaving | Blending concrete details and commentary in a body paragraph. You can do this after you master the format. |
| Ratio | The ratio of 1 part concrete detail (CD) to 2+ parts commentary (CM). |
| Word counts | The minimum length per paragraph to earn a “C.” |
In addition to the JS terminology, the following terms are
useful to writers. These terms, which teachers often use to comment on papers,
are explained more fully in the Elements of Language and Warriner’s.
| Parenthetical Citation | Sources of concrete detail (quotations, paraphrases, etc) enclosed within parentheses and placed within the body of the paper (at the end of the sentence in which the CD appears). Follow MLA format. |
| Works Cited Page | A separate page at the end of an essay listing all the sources that are actually cited in the essay. Do not list works that you consulted but did not cite. |
| Plagiarism | Using other authors’ words or ideas without giving them proper credit. This is a serious breach of the school’s academic integrity policy and even so-called u |
| Paraphrasing | Restating someone else’s idea or words in your own words. |
| Quotation | Directly using someone else’s words. Quotations are preferable to paraphrase or summary when the original words are especially strong. (See page XX on ways to integrate quotation |
| Literary present tense | Use of present tense of verbs when writing about literature. For example, in discussing one of Emily Dickinson’s poems, you might write the following sentence: In “Because I could not stop for Death,” Dickinson compares death to a carriage driver. The verb compares is in the literary present. Even though Emily Dickinson has been dead for many years, you still use present tense to talk about what Dickinson continues to do through her writing. |
| Unity | Quality of a paragraph in which all supporting sentences work together to develop the main idea, usually stated in the topic sentence. |
| Coherence | Quality of a paragraph in which the relationship between ideas is clear—the paragraph flows clearly. Coherence is achieved through using transitional words and arranging chunks or ideas in one of these logical orders: chronological, spatial, order of importance. |
| Transitions | Words that serve as bridges between what has been read and what it about to be read. Transitions help readers move from sentence to sentence; they also alert readers to more global connections of ideas between paragraphs. |
| Elaboration | To refine, support, and develop an idea. A paragraph’s supporting sentences elaborate on the paragraph’s main ideas. |
Created by D.K. -Advisor- Mrs. Reed