How To Write

an Essay.
A guide for year 7's.
 What is an essay?
• An essay is a piece of writing that informs the reader about a text you
have read.
• We write essays to presents your point of view on a text. Think of it
like a formal way to inform your reader about elements within the
book.
• Essays are usually in response to a topic, question or prompt.
• Every essay require you to use evidence! Evidence is usually quotes
from the book.
• In schools we use essays to show what we have learned in class.
 Analyse Don't Summarise
One thing you need to make sure of is that your essay is not just a
summary that describes the characters or events.
For example 'The Boy With Two Lives is a book about a boy who
migrates to England and endures the pressures of assimilation to another
culture '.

Your essay is an analysis that explains the real meaning that lies beneath
the text's words. For example ' The Boy with Two Lives highlights the
difficulties of assimilation through the negative relationship between
Abbas and Medhi.'
 Unpacking The Essay Question
How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of family (theme) in
The Boy With Two Lives?
We are going to do a practice essay on the above prompt. For this you will get a
chance to write each component of an essay, plus practice using quotes as
evidence. Think of it as if you are a literary detective trying to prove your case.

How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of family in The Boy With
Two Lives?
Who do we classify as family? How would we define family / chosen family?
Who does not meet this definition?
What other relationships are present in the text?
 Activity - Unpacking The Essay Question
We need to think of x3 examples that we can write about in our essay. What are three
examples where the text explores the theme of 'family'. Discuss in your table groups.

Example 1: Abbas has a

strong relationship with
his mother in the first half
of the novel. The rare
times he is able to contact Example 2: ... Example 3:...
her show how important
family is and how much it
rejuvinates his spirirt.
 What is in an essay?
Fabulous work team, we now have enough to talk about in our essay but
how do we structure our writing? When you write an essays you are
responding to the question about the text. So to make sure you cover
everything, your essay needs to have :

• An introduction, to introduce the text and your

discussion. (The head)
• Body paragraphs that give evidence to your point
of view. (The body)
• Usually they have a conclusion too that
summarises what you have said. (The feet)
 Writing an Introduction.
To make sure you are covering everything in your Introduction, use the
following acronym. Your essay must provide your read with the
following information:

T- Text & Type (Is it a novel/movie/play?)

A- Author (Include the author's full name)
C- Context (What relevent learning with help the reader)
S - Signposting (List the three ideas you will discuss)
Activity - Introduction
Now it is time to write your own TACS
introduction.
Respond to the below question:
How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of
family (theme) in The Boy With Two Lives?
Example:
The text The Boy With Two Lives is a memoir written by Abbas
Kazerooni that explores true events in his life. His novel recounts his
experiences as a refugee coming to England in 1989 and the
relationships he made across his community at the boarding school.
Kazerooni highlights the importance of family through the experiences
of young Abbas as he relies on his blood family for emotional support,
leans on his chosen family for help, and through the contrast of his
neglectful guardian Medhi who fails to meet Abbas's needs.
Writing a
Body
Paragraph
A year 7 guide
Next: Body
Paragraphs.
• The body paragraphs are the 'guts'
of the essay.
• You explore ideas and themes
supported by evidence.
• If you just retell the story, you are
not writing an essay!
• We use TEEL to structure our
paragraphs.
 Writing a Body Paragraph.
T- Topic Sentence : A sentence introducing the topic or idea you will
examine.
E – Evidence : A quote or example from the text that proves this
topic or point.
E – Explanation : Your interpretation of what this evidence is
showing.
L – Link : How this relates back to the topic or idea. A summary of
what you have said.
Topic Sentence.
• The T in TEEL stands for for topic sentence.

• A Topic sentence tell us what to expect in the paragraph, what

you will be discussing.

• This is also called signposting.

• Your goal is to create a topic sentence that shows the reader

EXACTLY what you are saying.
Here are some examples of topic sentences:
For Blood Family:
When Abbas calls home to speak to his Maman, he is reminded just how important his family are because
of the positive way contacting them makes him feel.

After the death of his Maman, Abbas struggles to remain calm until he is reminded by Mrs G to keeping
living life to the fullest for his mother's sake.

For Chosen Family:

The way Nancy and Bryan fill in as parental figuires in Abbas' life by nurturing and protecting him at times
from Medhi shows how important families are.

Positively, Fereydoun and Nadine close the novel in a position as Abba's guardians which leaves the reader
with a lasting impression of how important it is to be supported by people you view as family.
 Activity - Topic Sentence
Now it is time to write your own topic
sentence.
Respond to the same question, using one of the
examples you created in part 1
How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of family (theme) in The Boy With Two Lives?

Think about your introduction and how you might begin the next paragraph to make sure you are not repeating yourself too much.
Evidence and Explanation.
Now we have done our topic sentence, we need to provide evidence and explain
how this demonstrates your point of view.

Examples of evidence are:

• Quotes
• Discussion on aesthetics (Movies
or graphic novels)
• Narrative pacing or arc
• Characterisations
 Evidence and Explanation.
• Find evidence and explain it within our TEEL
paragraph. Your evidence MUST be from the book.

• Pretend you are talking to aliens , you need to ensure

they understand exactly what you are discussing, how
the evidence proves your point and why you are
saying this.

• Ask yourself, is this evidence the strongest for my

point of view? What else in the text shows something
similar? Why does the text make you think it?
 Evidence and Explanation.
• It would be best if you aimed to pick a quote between 2 and
6 words, but it is essential to remember that this is a guide,
not a rule.

• Single-word quotations can be powerful as long as they

obviously link between the text and your analysis. For
example, it doesn't have much impact if I quote that Abbas
was a 'immigrant' when discussing his experiences.
However the quote 'gypo' when discussing the negative
views of Kevin and byproxy society is powerful because it
provides context on the views of refugees at the time.
 Activity - Speech Marks for Quotes.
Incorporating quotes into your own sentences is a great way to use
evidence, but where do the speech marks go? Discuss in your table
groups.

Look at page 134

Abbas thinks that it is nice to be someone's pride and joy, when reflecting on
how kind Nancy and Brian were being to him.

Look at page 150:

It is very clear that Abbas values people trying to support him like family
when he says Nadine and Fereydoun did everything they could to make me
feel welcome. Showing the importance of family.
 Activity - Speech Marks for Quotes.
Look at page 218:

Once Abbas was homeless he could no longer imagine being looked after,
protected, sheltered, because he wasn't able to feel a family connection; chosen or
blood relation.

Look at page 236::

When Abbas writes to Medhi explaining that he hurt everyone around [him] and
that he was running away and will not bother [him] again he was cutting ties with
him for good. This negative relationship shows how important family is by
contrasting the positive ones with this abusive one.
 Evidence and Explanation.
When you are discussing evidence from the text you need to explain how it shows your
point of view. We do this by using an active verb.

You need to think about:

• Does the evidence show something specific?
• Or does it imply/infer something about the book?
• Or does it emphasise an underlying meaning?

Example of evidence & explanation:

Draggo gives Abbas a poem after his Maman's death that encourages him to keep going and it
means a lot to him as he could 'imagine her saying these words to [him]'.This shows that even
after her death she remained important to Abbas as his most supportive family member and
emphasise how important family is.
Active Verbs.
Here are some example verbs for you to use within your own
essay.
Alludes to Personifies
Attests Establishes Portrays
Clarifies Exemplifies Questions
Confirms Explains Reflects
Considers Exposes Represents
Creates Explores Reveals
Depicts Highlights Shows
Determines Hints Signifies Suggests
Displays Illustrates Underscores
Emphasizes Indicates
Linking Sentence. A linking sentence should link
back to the main point of your
essay while summarising what
you have stated.

Example of linking sentences:

Through exploring how communication gives Maman and Abbas hope, the
reader is highlighted to how vital their relationship is and left with the
impression that family connections are powerful.
Activity - TEEL
Now it is time to write your own TEEL
paragraph.
Continue your response to the below
question:
How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of family
(theme) in The Boy With Two Lives?
 Writing a Body Paragraph.
T- Topic Sentence : A sentence introducing the topic or idea you will
examine.
E – Evidence : A quote or example from the text that proves this
topic or point.
E – Explanation : Your interpretation of what this evidence is
showing.
L – Link : How this relates back to the topic or idea. A summary of
what you have said.
 Sample Paragraph.
Although Kazerooni shows the reader that a family is of great importance, he also highlights
that families can be defined through relationships that show mutual love and respect. When
Abbas is being neglected by his legal guardian Medhi, he turns to the paternal figure of Brian
and the maternal figure of Nancy. It becomes very apparent to Abbas how much they care
when Brian buys him a cricket bat because he 'wanted [Abbas] to have [his] own bat.' Abbas
was so moved and 'shocked that Brian would care enough to spend this much money' on him.
His relationship with Nancy seems to grow even further when, on her deathbed, she says to
him, 'You will do great things' and that 'I have grown to really love you.' These examples
highlight the necessity of these bonds to the character Abbas who needed people around him to
support him while feeling isolated and alone from the family he once had. Through this, the
reader can learn that it's essential to feel supported by your family and, by extension, people
you can trust enough to call family.
 Essay Checklist.
• In your introduction, can the reader tell your overall argument/contention in response to the
essay questions?
• Does your essay have an introduction and 2-3 paragraphs.
• In your paragraphs, have you used the strongest evidence possible to prove your argument?
• When you finish your essay make sure there are no spelling mistakes or grammatical errors.
• Use formal/mature language.
• Capitals have been used correctly, think about author, character names and places.
• Do not use first person!
• Quotations marks have been used correctly, either side of every quote. & Integrated into your
writing.
Writing a
Conclusion
A year 7 guide
 Writing a Conclusion.
In a conclusion you are aiming to emphasise your main point while
finishing up your essay. Make sure you:

• Restate the main argument of your essay. Think about the theme and
question you are discussing.
• Summarise each individual argument you made in about one
sentence ( TEEL Paragraphs)
• Final sentence/closing line. Try ending on something powerful
 Example Conclusion
How does the author Neil Gaiman explore specific themes in the graphic novel CoralineHow does Abbas
Kazerooni explore the importance of family (theme) in The Boy With Two Lives??

In conclusion throughout the text, Kazerooni shows through the retelling of experiences
relating to family, extended family and chosen that it is important to feel connections to
maintain feeling positive and stable. This was clear through the relationship with his
Maman, through the multiple people he connected with who championed him despire not
being blood relatives and through the comparison to how his guardian treated him versus
the people he met from aymestry and name. The fact that the author begins and finishes the
first and last chapter respectively by highlighting Abbas' feelings on family confirms to the
reader the importance of family.
Activity - Conclusion
Now it is time to write your own
Conclusion.
Continue your response to the below
question:
How does Abbas Kazerooni explore the importance of family
(theme) in The Boy With Two Lives?