Introduction to Academic Essays AK

Organization: Introduction Paragraphs

1. Exercise: Evaluate thesis statements (Answers will vary, examples provided)

   1. Prompt: What causes poverty?
      1. Effective
      2. Not effective, incomplete sentence
      3. Not effective, is a consequence, does not introduce any ideas about the cause
      4. Not effective, too detailed
      5. Not effective, announces
      6. Effective
   2. Prompt: Does advertising encourage us to buy things we do not need, or does it tell us about new products that may improve our lives?
      1. Not effective, personal I should be more formal and complex
      2. Effective
      3. Not effective, incomplete sentence
      4. Not effective, example of advertising, not a response to the prompt
      5. Effective, but could be improved because it does not clearly show it is an opinion thesis
      6. Not effective, announces

Organization: Conclusion Paragraphs

1. Exercise: Restate a thesis (Answers will vary, examples provided)

   1. The dignity and bravery that Rosa Parks demonstrated during the Civil Rights movement made her an influential leader.
   2. Divorce is often caused by finanical problems and miscommunication.
   3. The education of citizens and storage of commodities are two important ways that governments can prepare for disasters. 

Organization: Example Essay

1. Exercise: Analyze an essay

   1. Yes
   2. Yes (Some of the most impactful inventions of the nineteenth century that changed the way we live were the telephone, the bicycle, and plastic)
   3. Yes (The telephone was an important invention because it enabled real-time communication with people in another location. Another very important invention from the nineteenth century was the bicycle because it was a unique form of transportation available to anyone. Finally, plastic was a revolutionary invention because it made certain products cheaper, but it also introduced a new attitude into society.)
   4. Yes, they match the order of the thesis statement
   5. Yes
   6. Yes
   7. Yes
   8. Yes 
   9. Yes (It is obvious that these three nineteenth-century inventions dramatically changed the way people lived.)
   10. Prediction