How to Start an Essay Get out 1 new piece of paper to jot down some notes. Title them: How to Start an Essay.

How to Start an Essay

Get out 1 new piece of paper to jot down some notes. Title them:

How to Start an Essay

What NOT to do:• DON’T start with a question!• DON’T start with a sound!• DON’T say “I’m going to tell you

about…”• DON’T start by repeating the

prompt!• DON’T talk to the reader!

Start your essay 1 of 2 ways:

1. Peak

2 2. Picture

*Most exciting part of the story (mountain peak = climax!)

Jump your reader into the middle of a story and leave them at the climax wanting more!

Prompt: Convince your principal that we should keep sports,

even with limited funds.

Student Example:My heart raced as I shot the ball and it danced

on the rim, teasing me with the possibility of a point. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. The buzzer went off and with a swoosh the ball fell in. Victory. Victory by one point. This wouldn’t be possible if basketball was taken away.

Paints a picture in the reader’s mind through sensory images

(see, hear, smell, taste, touch)

Prompt: Convince your principal that we should

keep field trips, even with limited funds.

Student Example: Adrenaline is snaking through my

bloodstream, almost like I drank four Monster energy drinks. I can’t sit here tearing at my patience any longer. Metal bars twist over us as we are getting ready to take off on the ride of our lives. I stared down at the 30-story track that we’d soon drop down at 200 miles per hour. Band class had paid off this time. Our end-of-the-year field trip would be one that I would not soon forget.

Acknowledgements

• Thank you to Mrs. Pepe at LJPS for allowing access to this PowerPoint.

• Some of the original frames were deleted by Mrs. Dewrell.