Zachary Falconer

Dagher
Essay Draft~ What to Expect for our Conference
Remember: If you are struggling with your essay, do not hesitate to check out the Writing
Resources Center for assistance. Do not wait. Take action. Youll be glad you did.
http://writing.uncc.edu/writing-resources-center
TO DO:
Bring in your essay draft for our next class period, either a paper copy or on a laptop.
Your essay does not need to contain an introduction or conclusion at this point, nor does
it have to be complete.
I will be meeting with you in your small groups to answer questions and offer
suggestions in helping you develop your draft. In order for me to help you, you should
have the answers to the following questions ready before we meet. Post your questions
to me the night before our next class period:
1. How can I help you most in my response to your essay?
a. I am looking for help on how to successfully put together sources into the paper
smoothly.

2. What particular parts, passages or decisions are you unsure about?

a. My Opening paragraphs

3. What are your questions for me as you develop your essay?

a. I am trying to develop a good essay and get across my idea of what should be
done. How can I do this successfully? How much should I use from my sources I
found? Should it be more of my thoughts or the facts?

The section below was taken directly from your Extended Inquiry Project, posted the third
week of class. I copied it here for you to note what I am looking for in your essay.
Step 5 The essay
What have you learned about your subject? What conclusion(s) can you draw? Once you
synthesize your findings, what is most important? What ideas does your research support?

How you shape your essay will depend on the information youve found and the approach
youve taken. Your essay may take the shape of an argument, where you set out to take a side on
an issue thats arisen. It may be informational in that youre providing background information
or other findings that shed light on your study. You may find yourself explaining something
making clear something thats been misunderstood or misrepresented.
You may find that there are several ways you can go with the essay itself. In that case, dont try
to do a lightweight job of everything; instead, choose a direction/topic and cover it in depth.
Formulate a working thesis idea. What, ultimately, are you setting out to show in your essay?
What, in a sentence or two, do you conclude about what youve found out, and what personal
conclusions can you come to from it? What do you want your readers to know and understand
about what youve discovered? This sentence may not actually appear in your essay (but it may),
but it will help keep you centered on what your focus is, and when someone else reads it, they
should be able to sum up your essay with the same idea.
I am expecting your essay to be 4-6 pages with an additional Works Cited page. It may be longer
but if it goes long, be sure you are not being repetitive or going off the subject youre
addressing. It may be shorterbut if so, make sure that you have made every point convincing to
readers who know nothing about your subject and left nothing essential unexplored.
Other things about your paper that Im looking for (ie, what I want or what a good essay of this
project should contain):
MLA documentation and heading. This is the four line, double-spaced heading + an
evocative title + both a Works Cited page at the end and internal citations that match the
Works Cited list.
Synthesized sources. That is, you dont rely on just one article or book or interview, but
you weigh the variety of information to add balance and variety to your essay. That
probably means at least three of your sources from your Annotated and probably no more
than six. (If you add or change from your Annotated list, write another entry for the
Annotated for the new source.)
Your voice. That means you can use the first person I. You are the principle
investigator and your conclusions are yours after careful study. You dont need, however,
I think and I feel and I believe, because those and similar statements are inherent in
your essay. Its your point of view. Mostly hearing your voice means youve synthesized
and understood well the information youve gathered, and you are able to convey the
larger ideas to the reader with convincing, clear syntax.

An accompanying reflection. Ill give you a list of questions that will be similar to other
reflections. The most important thing is that you consider not so much what your
decisions were along the way, but why you made them.