Organizing Essays — Course Objectives

At the end of this course, you will be able to say:

I can...

recognize organizational patterns within essays

write organized paragraphs, thesis statements, and topic sentences

write personal essays with choice of patterns which match purpose

use different kinds of brainstorming techniques to get ideas for writing a paper

learn how to organize writing through outlining

identify thesis statements in writing

write thesis statements for topics given

identify and make corrections to parallel structure

write the main topic sentences for an essay, given a specific thesis statement

relate each topic sentence to the thesis statement, and to the content of the paragraph

plan each paragraph to support a thesis statement

support each topic sentence with appropriate examples, evidence, etc.

write an interesting, effective introduction to an essay

write a relevant, effective conclusion to an essay