Polishing & Revising your Essay on Hamlet Films

Polishing & Revising your Essay on Hamlet Films

Pay attention to all these details while Polishing & Revising your Essay on Hamlet Films

Areas to work on:             opening  analyze film more

 MLA header      title    MLA punctuation  introduction          

 thesis sentence      organization            clarity of syntax

 more precise word choices   development of main idea

 clarify & exemplify main idea  narrow main idea [] film details

 topic sentences   body ¶s   closing sentences of  paragraphs   

 conclusion   comma splice  agreement  ‘s  Works Cited 

A or A-

-outstanding, sharp insight into films -clear and consistent mastery -a few minor errors

-effectively, insight-fully develops a point of view on the issue -demonstrates outstanding critical thinking -use clearly appropriate examples and details from films

-v. well organized & clearly focused -demonstrates clear coherence -smooth progression of ideas

-exhibits skillful use of language -uses varied, accurate, apt   vocabulary

-demonstrates meaningful variety    in sentence structure

-free of most errors in grammar,  usage, & mechanics

The Best essays have the following:

Thesis is interesting, arguable, incisive; limited in scope; developed

Structure is: logical, progressive (not just a list), invites complications, counterarguments, with links between points; coherent, well-organized paragraphs •

Evidence is: convincing, well-chosen; readable and understandable, well-analyzed •

Analysis is: fresh; more than summary; shows how evidence supports thesis; Quotes: well-chosen cited correctly

Style is: clear, conversational yet sophisticated; diction level appropriate to audience; smooth, a pleasure to read

Ideas: Be very observant in comparing films and infer insightfully from small details significant differences in interpretation.

Give Evidence that describes what you see on the screen very evocatively and infers insightfully from those visual details.

The Picky stuff:

·          Include an MLA header with last name (space) page number

·          Include a properly formatted and separate MLA Works Cited page listing films and Hamlet

·          Use apostrophes. Avoid fragments.

·          Start every body paragraph with a clear claim in a topic sentence, supply evidence from the play and the films, and then analyze the evidence to show how it supports your claims

·          Use effective paragraphing: paragraph unity, not too many ideas per paragraph, reinforce the main idea in the last sentence

·          Make your thesis specific about what is different in both films.

  Turning in your (awesome) English IV college-level essay:

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·         LETTER: On the back of the back page, write a ‘Dear Dr. Forman’ letter:

o   Describe in some detail your writing process, from brainstorming to reading the texts to discussing in class to drafting in class to revising at home, to writing on paper to writing on an iPad or laptop to revising to editing to proofreading. Which steps were difficult?

o   What were the biggest challenges you faced? (And how did you try to overcome them?)

o   What went well in this essay that you are proud of?

o   By the time you start college, based on this writing this essay, what new goals do you have for your essay writing? (more vocab/sentence level or more ideas?)

o   What is the best idea you came up with in you essay?

·         CORRECTIONS: Maximum two minor errors per page. It’s not too late to make neat black ink corrections. Pass the essay to the right and ask the person NOT to mark anything, but to proofread carefully for typos or errors and then to ask you if you yourself want to neatly correct them.

·         It’s not too late to add or change a title, to make an ink header, or make simple, neat corrections (but not too many). Look over your essay before you turn it in.