Ultimate Writing Guide

Ms. Girardin's

Guide to writing

Waggener high school edition

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Index

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• Continuity Check

• Types of Writing

• Grammar Check

• Responding to a Claim with Reasons

• Phases of Writing

• Typical 3.5 Outline

• Analytical Essay Outline

• Introduction Paragraph

• The Hook

• The Topic

• The Claim

• The Reasons

• Points/Body Paragraphs

• Conclusion Paragraph

• Restate the Claim

• Reference the Hook

What type of writing are you doing?

CREATIVE

INFORMATIVE

THE PHASES OF WRITING

CUTTING CORNERS CREATES SLOPPY RESULTS

PRE-WRITE

DRAFT

CONTINUITY CHECK

EXTERNAL REVIEW

REVISE

PUBLISH

GRAMMAR CHECK

Introduction

Typical 3.5 Essay

Reason 1

3.5 stands for "3 point, 5 paragraph" essay. This is the standard format for most essays. This outline is flexible as it can easily adapt to more or fewer reasons.

Reason 2

Reason 3

Conclusion

Introduction

Analytical Essay

Reason 1

an analytical essay builds an argument where the writer presents and explains his/her/their claim using factual evidence and opinionated reasoning

blank printable writing guides

Reason 2

editable digital writing guides

Reason 3

shortcut to transitions

Conclusion

DO DON'T

ANALYTIcAL ESSAY

guidelines

DO

DON'T

have the same number of body paragraphs as you have reasons in your claim

introduce any new ideas in your conclusion

cite quotation in text & include a properly formatted work cited page

use first or second person

jump around - use transitions smoothly go from reason to reason

use formal and academic language and tone

The Hook

Introduction

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

A hook gets the reader's attention. It generally starts broad and narrows down to the topic. It can be a shocking fact, a funny story, a question, etc.

Reason 1

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze the use of a rhetorical appeal in a Super Bowl commercial.

Have you ever felt insecure before? This feeling is something that many people have experienced at some point in their life. Being confident in yourself and in your skills is an important mindset to have in life, but also in sports. Trusting your teammates and trusting yourself is very much needed, but that isn’t possible when you’re not confident in what you do. The beauty company, Dove, convinces kids to be confident in themselves in their ad, “Hard Knocks; A Dove Big Game Ad,” through the use of pathos. Pathos is a persuasive technique that appeals to the audience’s emotions, it could be any kind of emotion such as happiness, anger, sadness, shock, etc.

Reason 2

Reason 3

Conclusion

~10th grade student, class of 2026

The Topic

Introduction

The topic introduces the text, ideas, subject that the essay is about. It includes pertinant details like author, date of publication, etc. You might also define uncommon, or advancerd, terminology here.

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

Reason 1

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze the use of a rhetorical appeal in a Super Bowl commercial.

Have you ever felt insecure before? This feeling is something that many people have experienced at some point in their life. Being confident in yourself and in your skills is an important mindset to have in life, but also in sports. Trusting your teammates and trusting yourself is very much needed, but that isn’t possible when you’re not confident in what you do. The beauty company, Dove, convinces kids to be confident in themselves in their ad, “Hard Knocks; A Dove Big Game Ad,” through the use of pathos. Pathos is a persuasive technique that appeals to the audience’s emotions, it could be any kind of emotion such as happiness, anger, sadness, shock, etc.

Reason 2

Reason 3

Conclusion

~10th grade student, class of 2026

The Claim

Introduction

This is the key statement in your entire essay. Everything else you write must relate to what you put in this sentence. It is your opinion on the topic.

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

Hint: Answer the prompt using the same language and you will probably have a pretty strong claim

Reason 1

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze the effectiveness of Denzel Washington's speech, Fall Forward.

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze how the speaker used rhetoric to be persausive.

Reason 2

“Fall Forward” is an effective speech because Washington uses ethos and pathos to persuade his audience to not give up so easily when you fail, and that it’s okay to fail but never give up.

The speech, "Ain’t I a Woman," by Sojourner Truth, uses pathos to convince people that women should have rights. The speech creates pathos by using the persuade techniques: direct address, emotional appeal, and rhetorical language.

Reason 3

~10th grade student, class of 2026

Conclusion

~10th grade student, class of 2026

The Claim

Introduction

claim: a statement that "blah" is true If you are asked to write about something, you are being asked to inform, or give an educated opinion, about something. The CLAIM STATEMENT is usually 1-3 sentences that convey the main idea of your writing. This is the key statement of your entire essay. Everything else you write must relate to what you put in this statement. You are stating your opinion about the subject of your writing. IOW, you are CLAIMING "blah."

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

Reason 1

Start by responding to the prompt, using as much of the same language as possible.

Reason 2

What is the theme of the short story, "Harrison Begeron?" What is Vonnegut's message in the story?

Reason 3

The theme of the short story, "Harrison Bergeron," is freedom. Vonnegut's message in the story is that equality is not the same as freedom.

Conclusion

Reasons

Introduction

If the claim is your explination or opinion on "blah" then the REASONS are HOW or WHY you think that. What from the text/speech/film/artwork/etc/ made you respond to the prompt as you did? HINT: Don't go into too much detail here. Just provide a quick introduction, or preview, of your evidence.

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

Reason 1

Ask yourself why you responded to the claim as you did. If you wrote:

Your answer to "how do I know this?" becomes your REASONS.

Reason 2

The theme of the short story, "Harrison Bergeron," is freedom. Vonnegut's message in the story is that equality is not the same as freedom.

The theme of the short story, "Harrison Bergeron," is freedom. Vonnegut's message is that equality is not the same as freedom. I know this because of how Vonnegut protrays the characters of George, Hazel, and Harrison.

Reason 3

Conclusion

How do you know that Vonnegut is saying that equality is not the same as freedom.

These REASONS will become the three points you will develop in the next paragraphs of your essay.

The Reasons

Introduction

Reasons refers to broad ideas that support your claim. You will explain and give supporting evidence for your reasons in the body paragraphs of your essay.

• Hook
• Topic
• Claim
• Reasons

Hint: The number of reasons you have, generally matches the number of body paragraphs you will have.

Reason 1

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze the effectiveness of Denzel Washington's speech, Fall Forward.

Example: the prompt for this essay was to analyze how the speaker used rhetoric to be persausive.

Reason 2

“Fall Forward” is an effective speech because Washington uses ethos and pathos to persuade his audience to not give up so easily when you fail, and that it’s okay to fail but never give up.

The speech, "Ain’t I a Woman," by Sojourner Truth, uses pathos to convince people that women should have rights. The speech creates pathos by using the persuade techniques: direct address, emotional appeal, and rhetorical language.

Reason 3

~10th grade student, class of 2026

Conclusion

~10th grade student, class of 2026

Restate the Claim

Introduction

Since the claim is what the entire essay is about, it makes sense that restating the claim will sum up your entire essay. Restating the claim is a nice way to remind your reader of your argument.

Reason 1

Introduction Paragraph

Conclusion Paragraph

The “Hard Knocks: A Dove Big Game” ad uses pathos effectively as a way of promoting their new program that will help boost the confidence of young girls who play sports. Giving people who struggle with insecurity confidence to be themselves.

Have you ever felt insecure before?This is something that many people have experienced at some point in their life. Being confident in yourself and in your skills is an important mindset to have in life, but also in sports. Trusting your teammates and trusting yourself is very much needed, but that isn’t possible when you’re not confident in what you do. The beauty company, Dove, convinces kids to be confident in themselves in their ad, “Hard Knocks A Dove Big Game Ad” through the use of pathos.

Reason 2

Reason 3

~10th grade student, class of 2026

Conclusion

• restate claim
• reference hook

Reference the Hook

Introduction

Referencing the hook makes the reader of your essay feel like they have been lead on a tour and dropped back off at the starting point. It is a nice way to bring your essay full circle.

Reason 1

Introduction Paragraph

Conclusion Paragraph

The “Hard Knocks: A Dove Big Game” ad uses pathos effectively as a way of promoting their new program that will help boost the confidence of young girls who play sports, giving people who struggle with insecurity confidence to be themselves.

Have you ever felt insecure before?This is something that many people have experienced at some point in their life. Being confident in yourself and in your skills is an important mindset to have in life, but also in sports. Trusting your teammates and trusting yourself is very much needed, but that isn’t possible when you’re not confident in what you do. The beauty company, Dove, convinces kids to be confident in themselves in their ad, “Hard Knocks A Dove Big Game Ad” through the use of pathos.

Reason 2

Reason 3

~10th grade student, class of 2026

Conclusion

• restate claim
• reference hook

Now that you have got your main ideas out and "on paper," you can begin the checklist for making sure your essay is strong and representative of your best work.

DATa

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

Grammar Check

Continuity Check

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External Review

+ Info

check it

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat.

The prompt for this essay was to analyze the use of a classic rhetorical appeal in a Super Bowl Ad. This example is from a very well written essay. The argument is strong and clearly explained. It just needs some attention to grammar.

DATa

LOREM IPSUM DOLOR

The second reason why this ad shows ethos is because in the ad the celebrity named Jennifer Aniston was holding an uber eats bag stating that “ In order to remember something you have to forget something else”. This evidence tells us the viewer that this is ethos because the ad is using a celebrity to endorse their product, WHICH IN TURN MAKES US TRUST THE PRODUCT! IF A CELEBRITY WE TRUST USES UBER EATS THEN IT MUST BE RELIABLE!.

The second reason why this ad shows ethos is because, in the ad, the celebrity named Jennifer Aniston is holding an Uber Eats bag stating that, “In order to remember something you have to forget something else.” This is ethos because the ad is using a celebrity to endorse their service, which makes the viewer trust the service. People often think, if a celebrity uses this service then it must be reliable.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut lorem est, scelerisque non nunc quis, eleifend elementum ex. Proin tempus convallis consequat.

+ Info

grammar

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Need help starting REASONING sentences?

Need help starting EVIDENCE sentences?

VS

• This means
• This evidence supports the claim because
• This relates to the claim because
• It can been reasoned that
• The author is saying . . . which connects to the claim because
• In other words,

• The author says,
• The speaker says,
• [Character's name] says,
• For example,
• For instance,
• To illustrate the point,

Author's name

20xx

Conclusion Paragraph

• restate the claim

• reference the hook

CREATIVE WRITING

• novels
• fictional stories of length

• short stories
• fiction with a fully developed theme but shorter than a novel

• poetry
• lyric writing that focuses on feelings or ideas using carefully chosen rhetoric

• drama (plays & screenwriting)
• a piece of writing intended to be performed

• memoirs & personal essays
• non-fictional accounts of people's lives
• can be biographical or autobiographical

refers to:

INFORMATIVE WRITING

refers to:

• explanatory writing

• what something is, how it works, and/or why it was developed
• usually biased

• expository writing
• exposes the deeper reality of something through investigation
• argumentative writing
• establishes an opinion supported by evidence
• persuasive writing
• informative writing
• explains a single topic - factual

analytical essays

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Introduction Paragraph

• Hook

• Topic

• Claim

• Reasons

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Grammar Check

Have you

• started every sentence with a capital letter
• used capital letters elsewhere only for proper nouns?
• ended sentences with periods, questions marks, or exclamation points?
• have you used quotation marks?
• do you have a comma before the quotation marks?
• do you have commas after transitional phrases?

• corrected spelling or grammar mistakes identified by the program you are using?
• You ARE allowed to use Grammerly to improve your writing!
• do you have run-on or incomplete sentences?
• indented or left a line between paragraphs?
• made sure your subject/verbs/nouns "agree?"
• tried to use parallel structure?

need an example?

Got an idea?

Let the communication flow!

With Genially templates, you can include visual resources to wow your audience. You can also highlight a particular sentence or piece of information so that it sticks in your audience’s minds, or even embed external content to surprise them: Whatever you like! Do you need more reasons to create dynamic content? No problem! 90% of the information we assimilate is received through sight and, what’s more, we retain 42% more information when the content moves.

• Generate experiences with your content.
• It’s got the Wow effect. Very Wow.
• Make sure your audience remembers the message.

Continuity Check

• Have you followed the guidelines for the type of writing you are creating?

• Try reading your paper aloud or printing it out to check for incomplete thoughts or mistakes.

• Do you guide the reader with transitions appropriate to the type of writing you are creating?

• Do you use an appropriate tone and/or voice?