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Table of Contents

Introduction - Overview of the Course ............................................................... i
  Philosophy ...................................................................................................... i
  Where Does that Leave Us?................................................................................ ii
  How it works .................................................................................................. iii
  Tools of the Trade ........................................................................................... v

Writing at a Glance .......................................................................................... 1
  The writing process in brief ............................................................................... 2
  The components of good academic writing ........................................................... 3
  A word about essay writing and faith .................................................................. 7

Part One—Preparation for Essay Writing .......................................................... 11
  Laying the foundation ..................................................................................... 12
  Before pen goes to paper ................................................................................ 12

Module One: Musical Language ....................................................................... 15
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Module Two: Powerful Association ................................................................... 26
  Hook me up! ................................................................................................. 26
  Powerful associations ..................................................................................... 29
  Instructions .................................................................................................. 29
  Word labels .................................................................................................. 32

Module Three: Keen Observation of an Idea ..................................................... 42
  Keen observation of an idea ............................................................................ 42
  And now a note to your moms: ........................................................................ 48

Module Four: Telling the True Truth ................................................................. 50
  Barriers to truth telling ................................................................................... 51
  The danger of truth-telling .............................................................................. 52
  Sentence ..................................................................................................... 58
  Word ........................................................................................................... 59

Module Five: Collage Writing .......................................................................... 60

Module Six: Incubation and Brooding .............................................................. 68

Part Two—Essay Writing ................................................................................. 70
  Argument ......................................................................................................70
  Section 1: Get inside their heads ...................................................................... 71
  Section 2: Pick a fight .................................................................................... 74
  Family Feuds ................................................................................................. 74
  Put it in writing .............................................................................................. 79

Module Two: What is an Essay? ....................................................................... 81
  The expository essay ..................................................................................... 81
  Samples ....................................................................................................... 84
Module Three: Open and Closed Form Writing .................................................. 86
  Inside the essay ............................................................................................ 86
  The closed form essay .................................................................................... 87
  Open sesame ................................................................................................ 87
  Open form writing .......................................................................................... 87

Module Four: The Value of Good Questions ....................................................... 90
  Planning your exploratory essay ........................................................................ 91

Module Five: Exploratory Essay ...................................................................... 94
  Guidelines for Writing the Exploratory Essay ........................................................ 96
  Drafting Your Essay in a Week .......................................................................... 98
  Student Sample #1 ...................................................................................... 101
  Student Sample #2 ...................................................................................... 104
  Student Sample #3 ...................................................................................... 107

Module Six: The Five-Paragraph Expository Essay .......................................... 111
  Thesis and support ....................................................................................... 111
  What makes a strong thesis? .......................................................................... 114
  Changing your reader’s view ........................................................................... 114
  A thesis with tension .................................................................................... 116
  Thesis statements with tension ...................................................................... 119
  More about thesis statements ........................................................................ 122

Module Seven: Points and Particulars ............................................................ 123

Module Eight: Paraphrasing and Summary ..................................................... 129

Module Nine: Expository Essay Guidlines and Rubric ........................................ 137
  Outline of Five Paragraph Essay ...................................................................... 138
  Hot tips for introductions and conclusions ......................................................... 143
  Student samples .......................................................................................... 149
  Rubric for essay evaluation ............................................................................ 157


Appendix I: Citing Sources ............................................................................ 160

Appendix II: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Essays ........................... 163

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