The Rough Draft Is Just That The First Version Of An Essay B

The Rough Draft Is Just That The First Version Of An Essay Before Wr The rough draft is just that, the first version of an essay. Before writing your rough draft, you've selected your topic; you might have conducted some research; you've considered your audience, and you've probably outlined the major points you want to cover. If you've got all that ready, then you need to set aside some quiet time to write that rough draft. Let's go over the parts to your draft and how to best put them on paper. The first paragraph in your essay is the introduction.

I taught my students that a good introduction, unlike a picnic, has an ANT. Here's how my acronym works.

A is for Announcement. Announcements are meant to get your attention. You're going to get the reader's attention with an arresting fact, an amusing story, or some intriguing idea.

N is your Need Statement. If you're writing an argumentative essay (and most of your AP Literature essays will be argumentative), this is where you prove that your topic is one worth considering. Answer this question - why would your audience need to know about this topic? T is your Thesis. That's the direct statement of the position you take in your essay.

A convenient place to drop that thesis statement is at the end of your introduction. Pro tip - once you have your thesis statement written, take a moment to stop and write it on a sticky note. Post that note on the edge of your screen or next to your paper if you're handwriting. If you're going to take the trouble to write a rough draft of your essay, you want to get as much right as possible on the first time through. The easiest big mistake to make when writing a rough draft is getting off topic.

By keeping your thesis in plain sight, you can ask yourself, every few sentences, 'Does this support my thesis?' If the honest answer is no, you can quickly correct course and get back on topic. Since you planned out your topics ahead of time, now you can write the body paragraphs. These are the paragraphs in the middle of the essay. If the introduction is the head and the conclusion is the tail, then everything in the middle is the body. Stick to one major topic per paragraph and state that topic in a clear sentence early in your paragraph.

The rest of the paragraph should contain evidence that supports the point you made in your topic sentence.

Here's another pro tip: if you're writing about literature, you can't just add details from the story and expect them to prove your point. You have to explain why you picked those details and how they prove your point. That's your analysis, and all the best papers have it. Keep writing your body paragraphs until you've covered all your topics.

Try to avoid topics that aren't going to give you a full paragraph. By that, I mean if your topic can be covered in one or two sentences, you probably don't need that topic, or you can lump it in with another idea. As you're writing, be aware of your voice. When writing academic papers, it's easy to fall into passive voice. Passive voice is when the subject of the sentence isn't the do-er in the sentence.

Instead of saying 'Sarah wrote her essay' (active voice), you'd say, 'The essay was written by Sarah.' That's passive voice, and it's weak. Sarah is the one doing the writing, but the essay is the subject of the sentence.

Weak! Even when you're writing that rough draft, you can keep your ear open for passive voice and stop it before it spreads to the rest of your essay. When you're done with the body, it's time to draft out the conclusion.

Conclusions are one of the hardest parts of the paper for me, so I don't worry too much about them in the drafting phase. Generally, I want to come back to my thesis, to remind the reader that I proved what I set out to prove. Unless you've written ten pages, you don't need to spend more than a sentence in summary.

So, what to do with the rest of your conclusion? Pro tip - try synthesizing.

Avoid summarizing. You've made all these points in your paper, and you've provided examples, so here's your chance to explain how all those points fit together to support your thesis. At this point, set your draft aside. In the ideal world where student writers never procrastinate, you'll have a few days before you need to do any revision. It's best to give yourself at least a day before you come back to your draft. Then you'll see it with fresh eyes, and you'll be ready to polish it into a gem of an essay.

Paper For Above instruction The process of drafting an essay is fundamental to effective writing, particularly within academic contexts such as AP Literature. Understanding the key components—introduction, body, and conclusion—and the strategies for their development ensures a coherent and persuasive essay. The initial step involves crafting an engaging introduction that captures the reader's attention, clearly states the need for the discussion, and presents a well-defined thesis. An effective method taught for introductions is the ANT acronym: Announcement, Need, and Thesis. This structure helps set the tone and purpose of the essay, ensuring the reader understands what to expect.

Maintaining focus throughout the essay is crucial. A practical tip for this is to keep the thesis statement visibly present—physically or mentally—so that each paragraph and sentence can be continually evaluated for relevance. For body paragraphs, adhering to a single main idea per paragraph is vital. Each paragraph

should open with a clear topic sentence that states the point, followed by evidence and analysis connecting the evidence to the point. When discussing literature, in particular, it is not enough to merely include details from the text; writers must analyze these details to demonstrate their relevance and support for the main argument.

Moreover, avoiding passive voice enhances clarity and strength in writing. Active voice clearly identifies the doer of the action, thereby making sentences more direct and impactful. For example, "Sarah wrote her essay" is more vigorous and straightforward than "The essay was written by Sarah."

The conclusion should serve as a succinct summary and synthesis of the argument—referring back to the thesis and showing how the body paragraphs collectively support it. Instead of merely recounting points, effective conclusions demonstrate how various aspects of the essay fit together to reinforce the overall argument. Post drafting, it’s advisable to set the work aside, ideally for at least a day, to review it with fresh eyes. This pause facilitates better revision and polishing, transforming the rough draft into a refined academic essay.

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