Smith 1
Joe Smith
Navarro
ERWC
25 September 2014
Center Title Not Bold or Underlined, Skip Only One Space Between Header and Intro.
This is where your introductory paragraph belongs. Note that there are no extra spaces between the title and the first sentence. This is where all of your background information is for your thesis statement. Never put evidence in your introduction. Evidence belongs in the body of your essay. The last sentence of your introduction should be your thesis statement. The thesis statement must always be something that is provable, meaning you can prove why you are right. This is where your thesis statement belongs, meaning: where you stand on the argument.
The topic sentence of your first body paragraph belongs here. It should drive the rest of your paragraph. The topic sentence is what you are trying to prove. This should always relate back to your thesis statement. Every time you want to use evidence, you must be sure to introduce it first. Give your reader some context so she knows where the information is coming from and why it relates to your thesis and topic sentences. After introducing your quote, “Then you use quotation marks to signify that you are using someone’s ideas. Be sure to cite the source by putting the author’s last name and page number in parentheses after the quotations end” (Rosenblatt 4). Now the most important part of writing an essay is explaining how or why this piece of evidence helps support your ideas. You should write two to three sentences that convey the significance of the evidence you use. Each paragraph should have two pieces of evidence that support your topic sentence and thesis. Please underline your introductions to quotes and highlight actual quotes. DO THIS AT LEAST THREE TIMES!
PARAGRAPH B
PARAGRAPH C
The conclusion of your essay should be the answer to the question “so what?” You have written your entire essay to prove your thesis. So what? Why should your reader care? This is where you should make connections to the real world beyond the texts that you have used to write your essay. This is where you summarize your points and restate your thesis so that your reader is so sure of your opinion that they will have no further questions and they might actually change their minds if your evidence is solid, your explanation makes sense, and you have used academic language and rhetorical devices to convince them.
NOTE: The last piece of your essay should be the Works Cited. The Works Cited shows your reader your resources. They are always organized in alphabetical order by author’s last name or if there is no author listed you should use the title of the piece. If your Works Cited can fit at the end of your essay you may include it. If the entire Works Cited will not fit, then make a separate sheet for your Works Cited.
Works Cited
Krikorian, Greg. “Many Kids Called Unfit for Adult Trial.” The Sacramento Bee. 3 March 2003.
Liptak, Adam. “Ruling is Awaited on Death Penalty for Young Killers.” New York Times. 4 Jan
2005. Print
Lundstrom, Marjie. “Kids are Kids-Until They Commit Crimes.” The Sacramento Bee.1 March
2001. Print
Neale, Leslie, dir. Juvies. Prod. Odom, Tracy. 2004. Film.
Helpful YouTube videos
*Go to this site if you need help in formatting the header and page number:
(They do not write the date correctly in this video and they do not use the font Times New Roman, make sure you do)
*How to cite in your essay:
If you need more help, like if you do not have the author’s last name, etc. visit this page and scroll down until you find what you need
*Using Citationmachine.net:
(Do not worry that this is for a PowerPoint Presentation, it can apply to any MLA Works Cited page)
*To create a Works Cited (watch from time 1:30):