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ENGL000 Study Guide

Site: Saylor Academy
Course: ENGL000: Pre-College English
Book: ENGL000 Study Guide
Printed by: Guest user
Date: Monday, September 16, 2024, 3:03 PM

Table of contents

Navigating this Study Guide

Study Guide Structure

In this study guide, the sections in each unit (1a., 1b., etc.) are the learning outcomes of that unit. 

Beneath each learning outcome are:

  • questions for you to answer independently;
  • a brief summary of the learning outcome topic; and
  • and resources related to the learning outcome. 

At the end of each unit, there is also a list of suggested vocabulary words.

 

How to Use this Study Guide

  1. Review the entire course by reading the learning outcome summaries and suggested resources.
  2. Test your understanding of the course information by answering questions related to each unit learning outcome and defining and memorizing the vocabulary words at the end of each unit.

By clicking on the gear button on the top right of the screen, you can print the study guide. Then you can make notes, highlight, and underline as you work.

Through reviewing and completing the study guide, you should gain a deeper understanding of each learning outcome in the course and be better prepared for the final exam!

Unit 1: The Importance of Writing and Getting Started

1a. Explain the many reasons writing is valuable

  • How can writing help us, both in and out of school?
  • What are some ways that writing has been valuable to humanity?
  • How is writing different from other forms of expression and other disciplines of academic study?

Writing has many benefits for both us as individuals and for society. Writing things down can help us remember things in our day-to-day lives, writing a good essay can help us get a good grade, and writing a good cover letter can help us get the job we want. However, on a grander scale, writing can be seen as a type of immortality. It has allowed us to connect with people and societies that are long gone. Reading about humans of the past has made it feasible to pass knowledge forward and help humanity progress. It is also fun to think about our words and how we can live beyond our short life spans.

Writing can also be revised and improved upon. Unlike speech, you can always go back to things you wrote and clarify or change them. In addition, writing allows you to develop your own unique style. And while in many disciplines, there is only one right answer, once you learn how to avoid errors in writing, there are about a million ways you can go about it, and as the author, you get to decide what you like best! Lastly, writing is powerful and empowering. Published works of writing have changed the world, but even on a personal level, being able to effectively express your thoughts, ideas, and opinions is empowering. Being able to write well can help you get where you want to go in life.

To review, see:


1b. Distinguish the differences between speech and writing

  • Why is interaction such an important difference between speech and writing?
  • What are you doing if you write in such a way that you anticipate reader questions?
  • Why is the environment in which we are communicating important to consider?

There are many things that writing and speech have in common, and reading written work aloud is a great way to catch certain types of errors. However, there are also some very important differences. The biggest is that you do not have the benefit of interacting with your audience when you write. This means that you must anticipate potential reader questions. When you write with your reader's needs and possible questions in mind, your writing will be more effective, and you can avoid readers getting confused or drawing incorrect conclusions from what you say. 

Whether it is writing or speech, communication, by its very nature, is entirely based on the environment in which it is taking place – what we call language communities. A language community is a communication context (the group of people you are communicating with) that shapes your language choices. When communicating in college, for example, you will need to adapt to the expectations of a different environment than what you might be used to with your friends, family, or coworkers.

To review, see:


1c. Identify purpose and audience

  • Why is it important to consider purpose and audience as you begin any writing task?
  • What are key questions you should ask that will shape your language choices?

As you begin any kind of writing task, it is vital to consider why you are writing and what you want to accomplish. It is also important to consider who will be reading your writing and what their needs and expectations will be. Ask yourself what knowledge level your audience will have and what their point of view toward the topic may be. Considering purpose and audience should be the first step you take before you start to plan out what you might want to say and how you might go about saying it.

To review, see:


1d. Define the four keys to good writing

  • How can the four keys to good writing help you achieve error-free and effective writing?

When you are writing, there are four major factors that you need to consider to write in such a way that it makes the job of the reader easy. It is vital that:

  1. you have unity (you stay on topic);
  2. you support what you are saying with evidence and examples;
  3. your writing has coherence (ideas are organized logically and are connected to one another); and
  4. your writing uses correct sentence skills with effective word choices, sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and consistency (but don't worry about this part until you are proofreading to create a final draft).

To review, see:


1e. Outline the basic structure of a paragraph

  • What are some of the key features of an effective paragraph?
  • How can an outline help you see (in an existing piece of writing) or plan (in a piece of writing you are putting together) the structure of a paragraph?
  • Why is it important to understand the structure of a paragraph?

A paragraph will always open with a topic sentence, which will be the first sentence in a paragraph and will preview what the paragraph is about. It should also raise a question that will be answered in the body of the paragraph. After the topic sentence, most paragraphs should have three main supporting ideas that answer the question raised by the topic sentence. These main ideas should be introduced in shorter sentences that include a transition and raise additional questions. Main ideas should then be followed by specific supporting examples and details. Good writing is basically just swinging back and forth between general statements that raise questions and specific statements (examples and details) that answer those questions.

Question-based writing means that you are anticipating reader questions and getting to a level of specificity that your readers will no longer have questions. Outlines (which can be used to analyze how a paragraph is structured or which can be used in planning to write a paragraph) use letters and numbers to indicate main ideas and supporting details, with items that are more to the left being more general, while items that are indented (more to the right) are more specific.

To review, see:


1f. Distinguish between personal and source-based writing

  • What is the difference between personal and source-based writing?
  • What kind of topics and messages would qualify as personal writing?
  • How can personal writing be powerful?

Personal writing is writing that does not require outside sources to support its statements because it is based on your experiences and opinions. Sharing your own stories and truths can help you reflect on your life and progress, allowing you to better understand and learn from your experience. An exciting way to think about personal writing is that you are the expert and are telling a story that no one else in the world can tell. It is important to state that you are writing about yourself when you do personal writing because otherwise, you may need outside sources to substantiate your statements. 

To review, see:


1g. Explain prewriting strategies to plan and develop a piece of writing

  • Why is it a good idea to do some prewriting before you start writing?
  • What are the key steps of prewriting?

Before you begin a piece of writing, it is vital that you think and plan, which is called prewriting. By generating ideas, focusing on those ideas, and organizing them before actually writing a first draft, you will make the writing process much easier and end up with a more effective piece of writing.

The prewriting steps are:

  1. Idea generation: Producing ideas, examples, and details that may be used in the writing task, such as by freewriting, listing/brainstorming, or questioning.
  2. Idea focus: Find a specific topic and message (what you want to say about that topic) and group your details and examples into three main supporting ideas.
  3. Idea organizing: Organize your generated ideas and create a blueprint of how you will put them together, such as by clustering or outlining.

To review, see:


Unit 1 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • coherence
  • language communities
  • prewriting
  • question-based writing
  • sentence skills
  • support
  • topic sentence
  • unity

Unit 2: Unity and Support

2a. Explain why staying on topic is important

  • Why is it important to stay on topic when you write?
  • Why is it difficult to stay on topic?

Staying on topic is vital if you want your readers to understand what you are trying to express. Because the audience for a piece of writing does not have the benefit of interaction, they cannot ask questions if you go off-topic or go into a tangent. Staying on topic will not come naturally to you because it is the opposite of how your brain works. Writing effective topic sentences is a perfect way to help you stay on topic because a good topic sentence raises a question. The paragraph that follows is simply an answer to the question raised, and you can use that topic sentence as a sort of test for all the sentences that follow. For each sentence in the paragraph, ask yourself if it answers the question raised by the topic sentence. If the answer is "no", that sentence is off-topic.

To review, see:


2b. Compose effective topic sentences

  • What purpose does a topic sentence serve in a paragraph?
  • How can an effective topic sentence help you stay on topic in an essay?

Topic sentences are the first sentence of most paragraphs (with introduction paragraphs and conclusion paragraphs being an exception). Their job is to preview what the paragraph will be about, letting readers know what to expect. A topic sentence should contain the topic and what you plan to say about the topic (or the message). It should also be a relatively short sentence that raises a central question, which can act as a guide to your paragraph. Every single sentence in the paragraph that follows the topic sentence should be an answer to that central question. 

When writing a topic sentence, avoid making an announcement, being overly broad or narrow, or having more than one topic or message.

To review, see:


2c. Define the Three Es of writing (evidence, elaboration, explanation)

  • What is the goal of good writing?
  • Why are evidence, elaboration, and explanation important?
  • What are the relationships between evidence, elaboration, and explanation?

No matter what type of writing we are talking about, probably the most important factor of good writing is that it accurately communicates what the author intended. If you are trying to get across information or explain an opinion, you want readers to finish reading and be informed or otherwise understand why you think the way that you do about a topic. If you are telling a story, you want them to feel like they are right there. You want your readers to finish reading whatever you have written and be able to picture what you are saying. To do this, it is vital that you support your statements with evidence, elaboration, and explanation to demonstrate how they are true.

  • Evidence will include examples, case studies, and statistics that show how something is true.
  • Elaboration means adding details to what you are saying. It is generally more specific and tells readers more about your evidence.
  • Explanation is similar to elaboration in that it will further clarify your evidence. However, the explanation will either go into further detail (answering any questions raised by your elaboration) or show how different pieces of evidence relate to one another to support the topic sentence or thesis statement.

For right now, think of a thesis statement as serving a similar purpose as a topic sentence only for a multi-paragraph essay – don't worry, we'll talk more about this term later. Explanation can involve defining terminology, explaining relationships between ideas, or explaining how evidence or elaboration shows the topic sentence or thesis statement to be true.

To review, see:


2d. Identify potential reader questions

  • Why is it important to anticipate reader questions?
  • What is a technique you can use to determine if potential reader questions are answered within your writing?

You must anticipate potential reader questions to ensure that your writing expresses what you want to say clearly and effectively and to make the job of the reader easy. Doing this will involve putting yourself in their shoes and closely reading your sentences to consider what readers will likely want to know. It is important to remember that your readers will not be able to ask you questions or interact with you, so you have to consider these things in the writing process. A technique to determine if potential reader questions are answered within your writing is to put yourself into an objective point of view and read your sentences one at a time. If you weren't writing this, what questions might you ask?

To review, see:


2e. Apply strategies to create specific details that bring writing to life

  • In addition to anticipating reader questions, what are some ways to effectively support your ideas?
  • How can being specific in your writing help you to more effectively answer potential reader questions?
  • What is the difference between showing and telling?

Part of anticipating reader questions is being specific in your writing. Being specific means using precise language to create a picture in your reader's mind. Instead of telling them that "he stopped the car", show them that "Victor slammed on the brakes of his rusty blue Honda". Some tips regarding how to be specific are to:

  1. use exact names and specific quantities;
  2. use lively verbs;
  3. use language that appeals to the five senses (sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch);
  4. use direct quotes; and
  5. give examples.

Using these techniques will also help to answer potential questions. If you say that you had to move "heavy" hay bales at your job, readers will ask, "how heavy?" By using a specific quantity and saying that you had to move 40-pound hay bales at your job, you are anticipating that question and giving readers a clearer picture of the work you do at your job.

To review, see:


2f. Identify "red flags" that can make writing unclear

  • What are some examples of "red flags" that you need to be careful about using in your writing?
  • What is the problem with these kinds of words – why should you be careful about using them?

In writing, "red flags" are going to be words or phrases that you need to be careful about using. They are not necessarily "wrong" but should always be double-checked. Some red flag words include words like "thing", "stuff", "event", "place", "goal", "a lot", and "dream". These words are problematic because they automatically raise a question. Words like "thing" and stuff" don't really have any meaning on their own, and even words like "place" or "goal" are going to raise the questions, "what place?" or "what goal?" If you use words like this, you must define what the "thing" is or what the "event" is, to avoid reader questions.

A final red flag word is the word "you". "You" is problematic on a few different levels, and unlike some of these other red flag words, it should probably be avoided in most types of writing. "You" is what is called second person, which means that it is a point of view directed at the reader. While you want to consider reader needs in your writing process, you do not want to address them directly because it can make assumptions about them or come across as pushy. Using the second person "you" is also generally going to be off-topic because you are usually going to be writing about yourself (which has nothing to do with your readers) or about other people, places, or ideas (which also are not related to your readers). 

To review, see:


2g. Distinguish main ideas from supporting ones

  • What is the easiest way to distinguish main ideas from supporting ones?
  • What is the relationship between a main idea and a supporting example/detail?

An essay should generally go back and forth between general statements that raise questions and specific statements that answer questions. The easiest way to distinguish between main ideas and supporting ideas is that the main ideas should clearly answer a question. Supporting details that follow a main idea should answer the question raised by the main idea. Writing that is well-supported should get to a level of specificity where readers no longer have questions.

To review, see:


Unit 2 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • elaboration
  • evidence
  • explanation
  • second person

Unit 3: Coherence

3a. Choose a logical approach to organizing ideas

  • Why is it important to put ideas in an order that is logical and easy to follow?
  • What two major organization patterns might you use for ideas in a paragraph or essay?
  • What will determine the order you put your ideas in?

The goal of all good writing is to make the reader's job easy. Coherence means organizing and connecting your ideas, which is key to readers following what you are saying.

Part of this means putting ideas together in an order that is logical and easy to follow. Two common organizational patterns include chronological order, which means in order of time, and emphatic order, which means in order of importance (or "emphasis", the root word of "emphatic"), specifically from least to most important. There is no single right way to organize ideas in a paragraph or essay, and chronological and emphatic orders are just common approaches. Ultimately, as the author, you will get to decide what order makes the most sense to you based on the nature of the topic.

To review, see:


3b. Explain the importance of showing the relationships between ideas

  • Why is it important to show the relationships between ideas?
  • What is a common way you might go about connecting ideas?

A paragraph or essay is more than just a pile of sentences put together. A key part of an effectively written paragraph or essay is how ideas are connected to one another to create a smooth and easy experience for readers. A common way to do this is to use connective words and phrases called transitions. These transitions demonstrate relationships between ideas. Like mortar holding together bricks to create a solid wall, transitions hold together different ideas and examples in a piece of writing to express a key point.

To review, see:


3c. Apply the use of transitional words and phrases to indicate relationships between ideas

  • What are the seven types of relationships that transitions can show?
  • When trying to decide what transition word or phrase you want to use, what should you consider first?

There are seven different types of transitions. These include:

  1. Addition words (showing a relationship between one idea and something else you want to say about it)
  2. Time words (showing a relationship between ideas/events happening at different points in time)
  3. Space words (showing a relationship between ideas/items in a physical space)
  4. Change of direction words (showing a relationship between ideas that are in opposition or conflict with one another)
  5. Illustration words (showing the relationship between a general idea and a specific supporting detail)
  6. Cause/effect words (showing a relationship between an idea which is a cause and an idea which is an effect)
  7. Conclusion words (showing a relationship between an idea that is the last one or final point in a piece of writing and the writing that comes before it)

Before choosing a transition word or phrase, consider what kind of relationship you are trying to illustrate.

To review, see:


3d. Explain the use of content transitions as another way to connect ideas

  • How does a content transition work?
  • Why are content transitions useful?

A content transition is a sentence that refers to what was just said to connect that information with what is about to be said. For example, to transition from talking about easy work to great coworkers, instead of saying, "Second of all, I work with really great people", you could say, "Even better than the easy work, the people I work with are great". Content transitions are particularly useful in longer essays because they can help prevent the repetition of common transitions (like "second", "in addition", and "also") by giving you a greater variety of ways to connect ideas. 

To review, see:


Unit 3 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • chronological order
  • content transition
  • emphatic order
  • transition

Unit 4: Using Sentence-Level Skills to Proofread and Polish a Piece of Writing

4a. Describe how sentence skills fit into the writing process

  • Why are sentence-level skills the last step of the writing process?
  • What is the key to learning all the rules regarding word choice, grammar, punctuation, and spelling and ensuring that you follow them in your writing?

Effective writing should be error-free, use good word choices, and use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling. That said, please think of sentence skills as the final step in the writing process – if it helps, think of them as a kind of polish you put on your writing. If you worry about sentence-level issues in the planning and drafting phases of writing, you will curtail your creativity. Worry about these issues only after you ensured that you have good topic sentences, that your ideas stay on topic, that you have clear main ideas and plenty of specific supporting examples, details, and explanations, and that you put ideas in a logical order and provide connections and transitions that show relationships between ideas. While there are a lot of sentence-level skills and rules to learn, the more you practice using them in your writing and looking for how they are used in what you read, the easier they will become.

To review, see:


4b. Identify the structure of a complete sentence

  • What are the three things a sentence must have to be complete?
  • What kind of word indicates that the noun/s following it cannot be the subject?
  • What are the two types of verbs?
  • What are two types of verbs that do not function as verbs?

A sentence must have a subject, a verb, and a complete thought to be complete. Subjects are nouns (people, places, things, or ideas) that are "doing" verbs, but remember that not all nouns are subjects. When there is more than one noun in a sentence (which is often the case), the easiest way to find the subject/s is to ask who or what is doing something (the verb). You can also rule out nouns that are not the subject by finding nouns that are part of a prepositional phrase. A preposition is a word that shows a relationship between nouns (such as "from", "in", and "with"). Also, keep in mind that specific nouns called pronouns (such as "I", "he", "she", "it", and "they") can be subjects. Lastly, many sentences contain more than one subject.

Verbs are words that indicate an action or being. There are two types of verbs: verbs of action and verbs of being. Verbs of action are a bit more obvious and include words like "run", "study", "eat", and "hold". Verbs of being (sometimes called "linking verbs") are a little more difficult to identify because they don't imply any action. Verbs of being include "is", "was", "were", "are", "am", and "be". You can rule out two verb forms when looking for verbs in a sentence: verbs that end in "-ing" and verbs with "to" in front of them. Also, like subjects, a sentence can contain more than one verb. Lastly, there are a lot of words in the English language that can act as a noun or a verb, so it is important to identify how a word is being used.

To review, see:


4c. Identify and correct fragments

  • What is the definition of a sentence fragment?
  • What are "red flags" that indicate that you might be looking at a fragment?
  • Once you have found a fragment, what are the two ways you might go about fixing it?

A fragment is an incomplete sentence that is missing one of the three components required of a complete sentence (subject, verb, and complete thought). Sentences that open with a dependent word (a word that shows a relationship between different parts of a sentence), such as "although", "because", or "when", must be looked at closely to make sure they are not fragments. Dependent words create what are called "dependent clauses" (clause simply means "word group"), which must be followed by a second clause that completes the thought. Other red flags that might indicate that a sentence is a fragment are sentences that open with "such as", "including", "especially", or "for example" and sentences that contain (particularly toward the beginning of the sentence) verbs that end in "ing" and verbs that have "to" in front of them. 

Once you have found a fragment, there are two ways to correct it. The first method is to attach the sentence to the sentence that comes before the fragment or the sentence that follows the fragment. This is the easiest method since fragments often happen when you accidentally place a period and capital letter where you didn't mean to. Read the fragment as part of the sentence before and the sentence after it to determine which way sounds best. Also, if you use this method, you do not need a comma if you attach the fragment to the sentence before it; however, if you attach it to the sentence after it, you do need a comma. The second method to fix a fragment is to plug in what is missing. This method will likely involve overhauling the sentence to ensure it has these three key parts a sentence needs to be complete.

To review, see:


4d. Identify and correct run-ons

  • What is the definition of a run-on or a comma splice?
  • What are the four ways you can fix a run-on or comma splice once you find one?

A run-on is a sentence that contains two or more independent word groups (clauses) without the proper punctuation or connective language. A comma splice is a type of run-on in which a comma is placed between the independent word groups, but since a comma is not a strong enough punctuation to connect independent clauses, a comma splice is still a run-on (and an error). You can often identify a run-on or comma splice by reading the sentence aloud and listening for places where there seems to be a hard pause or where a new idea starts. 

The four ways to fix a run-on or comma splice are:

  1. use a period and a capital letter;
  2. use a semicolon (;);
  3. use coordination (a comma and a joining word such as for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so); or
  4. use subordination (add a dependent word to make one group of words need the other group to be complete)

To review, see:


4e. Apply correct punctuation for an effective sentence

  • Why is punctuation important?
  • What are the seven comma rules?
  • How are semicolons, colons, and dashes used?
  • How are apostrophes used?

The rules for punctuation use establish a common set of expectations between writers and readers. Punctuation helps convey what the author intended to say. As a writer, you want to use punctuation appropriately to express your ideas as clearly as possible. 

There are seven rules about commas:

  1. put a comma before "and", "but", "for", "or", "nor", "yet", and "so" when they connect two independent clauses;
  2. put a comma between items in a series;
  3. put a comma after an introductory word, phrase, or dependent clause that doesn't flow smoothly into the sentence or before an afterthought added at the end;
  4. put commas around the name of a person being spoken to;
  5. put commas around interrupters – expressions that interrupt the flow of the sentence;
  6. put commas around defining or amplifying material – material that, if left out, will not affect the sense or main idea of the sentence; and
  7. use a comma between speech in quotation marks and the rest of the sentence.

Semicolons (;) are used to separate items in a list when some of those items already contain commas. They are also used to join two sentences (and can be used to correct a run-on sentence). Colons (:) are used to announce, introduce, or direct attention to a list, a noun or noun phrase, a quotation, or an example/explanation. Dashes are used to set off material for emphasis, indicate sentence introductions or conclusions, mark "bonus phrases", or break up dialogue.

Apostrophes (') have two uses: to show possessive form (such as "the dog's toy") or to form a contraction ("I'm" instead of "I am").

To review, see:


4f. Evaluate a sentence for correct word use

  • What makes confused words tricky?
  • What are the two most common types of confused words?

Confused words are words that people commonly mix up and use incorrectly. They are tricky because spell check will not catch them. You have to train your eyes to see them so you can check them when you proofread the final draft of a piece of writing. There are two types of confused words. Homonyms are words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings (such as "their", "there", and "they're"). The second type of confused words are words that may appear or sound very different but which have similar meanings that are easily confused (such as "advice" and "advise" or "less" and "fewer").

To review, see:


4g. Evaluate a sentence for consistency (parallelism, tense, and point of view)

  • Why is consistency important?
  • What does it mean to use parallel sentence construction?
  • What does it mean to be consistent with verb tense?
  • What does it mean to be consistent with your point of view?

To make the job of your readers easy, it is important to be consistent in your writing. Parallel sentence construction (also called "parallelism") means that words or phrases in a pair or series should be structured similarly. Parallelism problems will likely sound awkward when you read them aloud, and this can be a great way to catch this error in your writing. For example, in the sentence "I resolved to lose weight, to study more, and watching less TV", it is clear that the last item, "watching less TV", is different from the other two items in the series ("to lose…" or "to study…") and should be changed to match ("to watch…").

In addition to parallelism, you must be consistent with verb tense. Verb tense refers to when a verb is taking place, and you must use verbs that are consistent with when something happened. If you are describing something that happened in the past, you need to be sure to use all past tense verbs. 

Lastly, you need to be consistent with the point of view (as expressed through the pronouns used). Pronouns are non-specific nouns that refer to specific nouns and include words like "she", "you", "him", "they", "I", and "us" (to give a few examples). Pronouns are used to avoid repetition. For example, instead of saying "The dog chased the dog's toy", the repetition of the word "dog" can be avoided by using the pronoun "she" to refer to the dog.

There are basically three general points of view: first person, second person, and third person. First person is from the author's point of view, using pronouns like "I" and "me". Second person is a point of view that directly addresses the audience with pronouns like "you" (and is not typically used in academic or professional writing). Third person is sometimes called the objective point of view and is expressed with pronouns like "he" or "them".

To review, see:


4h. Use diction to avoid awkward wording and create effective sentences

  • What does it mean to use effective diction, and why is it important?
  • What are some problems with wordiness, repetition, and non-active wording?

Diction means "word choice" and breaks down into many errors to avoid and concepts to consider in your writing. Writing that utilizes good word choices and avoids some of the diction problems discussed in this unit will be vivid and concise and will make the reader's job easy. 

The first of these issues is slang. Slang is informal language, such as what you might use with family and friends or in text messaging. In those less formal contexts and particularly in speech, there is nothing wrong with slang, but because it is generally specific to time and place, it is best to avoid slang in academic or professional writing. 

Another diction issue is avoiding wordiness and avoiding wordy phrases (such as "due to the fact that"). This does not mean avoiding complex ideas or descriptive language; it means avoiding using more words than are necessary to get across a point. Remember that words have the important job of getting across a message. Words that do not contribute to the meaning of your sentence take up space and make your writing more difficult to read and understand. 

A third diction issue is avoiding repetition. This means avoiding repeated words or phrases in a sentence and avoiding repeated ideas. The latter of these two repetition problems is much more difficult to identify because repeated ideas do not necessarily use the same words but do not add anything to the writing overall.

A final type of diction issue is non-active wording. The English language is very action-driven, so to have strong diction that makes your writing jump off the page, it is important to keep your sentences active. Non-active wording breaks down into a few different problems that should be avoided.

Passive voice means that the subject of a sentence is not doing the verb (such as saying "The ball was chased by the dog" instead of "The dog chased the ball"). Another form of non-active wording that can be problematic is the overuse of verbs of being (words such as "is", "was", "were", "are", "am", and "be"). Instead of saying "There are deer living…", say "Deer live…". The last non-active wording issue is nominalizations. Nominalizations are when verbs are changed into nouns (such as saying "make a payment" instead of just saying "pay"), and they can take away from the vividness or strength of your writing. 

To review, see:


Unit 4 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • clause
  • comma splice
  • coordination
  • dependent word
  • diction
  • fragment
  • homonym
  • nominalization
  • parallel sentence construction (parallelism)
  • passive voice
  • point of view
  • preposition
  • pronoun
  • run-on
  • slang
  • subject
  • subordination
  • verb
  • verbs of being
  • verb tense

Unit 5: Writing a Multi-Paragraph Piece of Writing

5a. Outline the basic structure of a five-paragraph essay

  • What is the basic structure of a five-paragraph essay?
  • What are some of the similarities between the structure of a paragraph and the structure of a five-paragraph essay?

At this point, you have had a lot of practice organizing and supporting your ideas to write good paragraphs. These paragraphs will be the building blocks for almost all of the other writing you will do both in your time in college and in the professional world. While there will be some new things to learn, much of what you do in writing a longer essay is identical to what you have been doing to write a paragraph. You will still want to use those same three prewriting steps: idea generation, idea focus, and idea organization. Also, you will still be considering the four keys to good writing we have discussed throughout this course. 

The basic structure of a five-paragraph essay is:

  1. Introduction paragraph that ends in a thesis statement
  2. Body paragraph #1 (about the first main supporting idea)
  3. Body paragraph #2 (about the second main supporting idea)
  4. Body paragraph #3 (about the third main supporting idea)
  5. Conclusion paragraph

To review, see:


5b. Compose an effective thesis statement

  • What is the purpose of a thesis statement?
  • Where is a thesis statement located?
  • What are the three parts of a thesis statement?

An introduction should grab the reader's interest and preview what the essay will be about. A thesis statement will let readers know what to expect in the essay. It will act as a transition between the introductory material (which should guide readers toward the topic without giving away the main ideas) and the body paragraphs (which should provide evidence, explanation, and examples supporting the main ideas).

A thesis statement should be located at the end of the introduction. A five-paragraph or otherwise relatively short essay (with no more than four main ideas) should contain the topic, the message, and a plan of development (the main ideas). Please note that the first two of these three parts (topic and message) are familiar as the two parts of a topic sentence. A thesis statement acts as an essay map, letting readers know what to expect in a multi-paragraph essay in the same way a topic sentence lets readers know what to expect in a paragraph.

To review, see:


5c. Explain how to craft effective introductions and conclusions

  • Why are introductions important?
  • What should an introduction do?
  • What should an introduction not do?
  • What are some ways to go about writing an introduction?
  • What are the three things you need to know about writing a conclusion?

The introduction is the first paragraph (or series of paragraphs, in longer essays) of a multi-paragraph essay. Introductions are very important because you grab the readers' attention and get them interested in continuing to read. Introductions can be tricky to write because while you want to get readers interested in your topic, you have to be careful not to give away any of the main ideas or examples that belong in the body paragraphs of the essay. There is no single right way to write an introduction, and in fact, it is probably a good idea to try a few different ideas and write a few other drafts so you can decide what you like best. 

Some of the different approaches you might consider include:

  1. introduce your topic on a broad or general note;
  2. introduce your topic using contrasting ideas;
  3. introduce your topic with an anecdote (a short story);
  4. introduce your topic with a startling statement or statistic; or
  5. consider the approach used in shaping the essay to determine how to begin the introduction. For example, if the approach to the essay is focused on developing the definition of a word, describing its etymology – the history of the word – can be a good way to write the introduction.

Conclusion paragraphs are often very short. They should restate the thesis (that is, the main three ideas discussed in the essay) and contain some kind of closing statement – maybe about what you learned or how you might go forward. The last thing you need to know about a conclusion is that it should NOT contain any new information or statements that might raise new questions.

To review, see:


5d. Explain how to apply three keys of good writing to a multi-paragraph piece of writing

  • What are some of the additional considerations you must make when writing a multi-paragraph essay (as opposed to a single paragraph)?
  • What is a content transition, and how is it helpful?

In a multi-paragraph essay, you must think about unity, support, and coherence on two levels. You still need to think about staying on topic within paragraphs with all paragraph content supporting the topic sentence; however, you now also need to think about staying on topic and supporting the thesis statement in all of the paragraphs in the essay. In addition, with a longer essay, you will need more evidence and examples to support each of the three main ideas previewed in the thesis statement. Lastly, you will think about coherence on two levels. You need to have ideas in a logical order and use transitions to connect ideas within paragraphs. You will also need to put the big ideas of the essay in a logical order and use transitions to move readers smoothly from one paragraph to another.

In particular, this will create the need for a third piece in the topic sentences of a multi-paragraph essay: a transition. Using transitions like "first" or "in addition" is perfectly fine, but you might also consider using content transitions that you learned about in Unit 3. Content transitions are particularly nice when writing longer pieces because they can help prevent repetition. In a longer essay where you need to think about showing connections within and between paragraphs, content transitions give you a little more variety and choice as to how you go about showing relationships between ideas.

To review, see:


5e. Explain how to compose a five-paragraph essay

  • What are the key components of a five-paragraph essay?

A five-paragraph essay should open with an introduction that includes a hook that gets readers interested in reading the rest of the essay and that ends with a thesis statement that previews what the rest of the essay is about (including the three main ideas in the order they will be discussed). Plan to do some prewriting and consider writing a few different drafts that approach the introduction differently to determine what you like best. 

From there, each of the three body paragraphs should detail one of the three main ideas previewed in the thesis statement. Each of the three body paragraphs should:

  • open with a topic sentence that states the main idea that will be explored;
  • include a transition that moves readers from the paragraph before into the new material;
  • generally have three supporting ideas for the main idea it explores (it can be helpful to utilize a question-based approach by moving back and forth between general statements that raise questions and specific statements that answer them); and
  • contain transitions within to help readers smoothly move from one idea to the next

The final paragraph will be a conclusion, which should restate the three main ideas, contain a closing thought, and not contain any new ideas or overly general statements that raise new questions. 

After writing the entire essay, go back through it slowly to proofread for sentence-level issues. Make sure words are spelled correctly and that you are using the correct version of any confused words; every sentence contains a subject, verb, and if it contains a dependent word, a complete thought; that sentences containing more than one clause are using proper connective language and punctuation (and that there are no run-ons/comma-splices); all writing is consistent with no parallelism, verb tense, or point of view issues; writing is specific and vivid; and that there are no diction problems. 

To review, see:


Unit 5 Vocabulary

This vocabulary list includes terms you will need to know to successfully complete the final exam.

  • anecdote
  • etymology
  • thesis statement