Term

Abbreviation

Definition and examples

Essay

A complete treatment of a topic, including I¶, 2 to 3 B¶, and a C¶

Concrete detail

CD

A fact; something that can be supported with evidence; any text taken from the story, be it narration or dialogue; paraphrases

You MUST have a page citation to support this.

We will no longer be using “For example,” “In addition,” or “Furthermore.”

Paraphrase

Putting something into your own words

You MUST have a page citation to support this.

Commentary

CM

Analysis or explanation

You can think “This means/shows/proves that…,” but don’t write it.

Thesis statement

thesis

A statement containing both a subject and an opinion.

Example:  San Diego is the most beautiful city in the world.

o       “the most beautiful” is opinion because someone could argue it; therefore, this is a thesis statement

Anti-example:  San Diego is a city in southern California .

o       This is all fact.  There’s nothing to argue; therefore, it is not a thesis statement. It is a CD.

Major thesis

MT

The controlling idea of the essay. It’s the main point you are trying to prove and generally appears as the last sentence in the introduction paragraph.

Body thesis

BT

The controlling idea of each paragraph.  It is a subset of the MT.  These are sometimes called the topic sentence, but not by me.

Introduction paragraph

Intro¶

or

I¶

The opening ¶ of an essay, this sets up the reader for what to expect.  It starts in general terms and ends with the MT.

Order:  General, general, bridge, MT

Bridge sentence

bridge

Helps the reader transition from the general statements at the beginning of the I¶ to the specifics of the MT.  Contains author and title

o       “This is masterfully displayed by Orson Scott Card in his novel Ender’s Game.”

Body paragraph

Body¶

or

B¶

Begins with a BT, followed by 2 or 3 chunks, and ends witha CS. 

Order: BT, CD, CM, CM, (CM), CD, CM, CM, (CM), CS

Any paragraph missing any of these elements is incomplete and will earn an overall essay grade of no better than 59%.  That’s an F, kiddos.

Chunk

CD, CM, CM

Optional 3^rd CM okay

There should be 2 or 3 of these in each ¶.

Conclusion sentence

CS

Restates the BT

Same idea, but DIFFERENT words.

Example: “Tom is a selfish brute.” & “Tom thinks only of himself and uses his strength to get what he wants.”

Conclusion paragraph

Conclu¶

or

C¶

The last ¶ of an essay, this reminds the reader of the main points you made by restating the BTs or CSs and the MT

Order: BT1 restate, BT2 restate, MT restate, general sent.