HOW TO WRITE A Types of Essays DON’T BE A

COPYCAT
NARRATIVE ESSAY
PERFECT ESSAY Purpose: A narrative essay tells a story about an event.
Helpful Hints:
Need to write an essay? Does the assignment feel as Pick a topic that really interests you. Your excitement will come Plagiarism is presenting an idea
big as climbing Mount Everest? Fear not, brave adventurer. through your writing. or piece of writing as your own
You’re up to the challenge! The following step-by-step tips Tell your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. original work when it was actually
Add fun or exciting details to highlight dramatic or unexpected created by someone else. It’s a serious
Will help you with this monumental task.
moments. offense and will get you into trouble.
Use descriptive words to help give your reader a sense of what it is Obvious examples of plagiarism include
BRAINSTORM. Sometimes the subject matter of your essay is assigned to you, sometimes it’s not. like to be there.
Either way, you have to decide what you want to say. Start by brainstorming some ideas, writing down buying an essay from the Internet and

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any thoughts you have about the subject. Then read over everything you’ve come up with and consider handing it in as your own, or copying
which idea you think is the strongest. Ask yourself what you want to write about the most. Keep in from a friend. Plagiarism can also occur
mind the goal of your essay (The four main types of essays are described on the next page.) Can you EXPOSITORY ESSAY by not citing your sources, so be careful.
achieve the goal of the assignment with this topic? If so, you’re good to go. Purpose: An expository essay gives facts and information about
a person, place, thing, or idea. Book reports, research papers, and In writing, you must give credit
biographies are types of expository writing. whenever you use information taken
WRITE A TOPIC SENTENCE. This is the main idea of your essay, a statement of your Helpful Hints: from another source. This is called citing

2 thoughts on the subject. again, consider the goal of your essay. think of the topic sentence as an
introduction that tells your reader what the rest of your essay will be about.
Dig deep in your research to find interesting details.
State your topic right away.
Use transitional phrases to make your essay flow smoothly.
your sources. Follow these basic
guidelines to avoid plagiarism:

 Take good notes when researching.

OUTLINE YOUR IDEAS. Once you have a good topic sentence, you need to support that main Keep a list of all research material
you use, including the details (title,
idea with more detailed information, facts, thoughts, and examples. These supporting points answer DESCRIPTIVE ESSAY
3 one question about your topic sentence- “Why?” This is where research and perhaps more author, page numbers, web sites,
Purpose: A narrative essay tells a story about an event. etc.) about where you got specific
brainstorming comes in. Then organize these points in the way you think makes the most sense,
probably in order of importance. Now you have an outline for your essay. Helpful Hints: pieces of information.
Pick a topic that really interests you. Your excitement will come  Use your own words. Copying
through your writing.
sentence structure but changing a
Tell your story with a clear beginning, middle, and end.
ON YOUR MARK, GET SET, WRITE! Follow your outline, using each of your supporting few words is still plagiarism. Don’t
Add fun or exciting details to highlight dramatic or unexpected
moments. use more than three words in a row

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points as the topic sentence of its own paragraph. Use descriptive words to get your ideas across the
reader. Go into detail, using specific information to tell your story or make your point. Stay on track, Use descriptive words to help give your reader a sense of what it is taken directly from another source.
making sure that everything you include is somehow related to the main idea of your essay. Use like to be there.  Plagiarism is not restricted to
transitions to make your writing flow. textbooks-don’t copy material from the
Internet, either.
 Place quotation marks around any
5 WRAP IT UP. Finish your essay with a conclusion that summarizes your entire essay and restates PERSUASIVE ESSAY phrase or sentence you take directly
your main idea. Purpose: A persuasive essay tries to convince the reader of your from another source, and cite it.
point of view using facts, statistics, details, and logic to make an
argument.  Double-check your final text with
your notes. Be sure you’ve given
PROOFREAD AND REVISE. Check for errors in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and Helpful Hints:
credit where credit is due.

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grammar. Look for ways to make your writing clear, understandable, and interesting. Use State your opinion in the topic sentence.
descriptive verbs, adjectives, or adverbs when possible. It also helps to have someone else read your Use evidence to support your point of view.
work to point out things you might have missed. Then make the necessary corrections and changes in Consider the opposing views.
a second draft. Repeat this revision process once more to make your final draft as good as you can. Present a strong conclusion.
Beware! Plagiarism can result in
suspension or expulsion from school.