Composition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · Quick reference

Composition& Essay Writing

Grades 7–12 · College8 pages

The writing process · the canons and appeals of classical rhetoric · thesis and outline · paragraphs · introductions and conclusions · transitions · eight kinds of essay · research and sources · quoting and plagiarism · style · common errors · revision checklists · rubric

1Writing process2Classical rhetoric3Thesis statements4Outlining5Transitions6Paragraphs7Intros & conclusions8Model essay9Narrative, descriptive, expository10Argument & fallacies11Compare & cause12Literary analysis13Essay exams14Style & concision15Sentence variety16Research paper17Evaluating sources18Quoting & plagiarism19Common errors20Revision checklists21Self-check rubric

1The Writing Process

Purpose: teach (inform, prove), delight (hold interest), move (change a mind or a deed)
Audience: what the reader knows, believes and needs; write for a sensible reader who missed class
Occasion: assignment, length, form, deadline; the prompt’s verbs (section 13)

Four questions before the first word

Who will read it? Why: to teach, delight or move? What exactly is my claim? How long, in what form, by when?

Invention: finding material

Brainstorm a list; freewrite 10 minutes without stopping; cluster ideas around a center word.
Ask who, what, when, where, why, how.
Visit the topics (the course’s five rooms): definition, comparison, relationship, circumstance, testimony.
Read and take notes; record every source as you go.

“Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.” (Habakkuk 2:2, KJV)

Copy, imitate, invent

Classical schools taught writing by imitation. Benjamin Franklin, reading the Spectator, “took some of the papers, and, making short hints of the sentiment in each sentence, laid them by a few days,” then rewrote them and compared (Franklin, Autobiography). Try it with a paragraph you admire.

Drafting

Write straight through; fix later. Leave [brackets] for a missing fact.
Stuck on the opening? Draft the body first.
Keep the thesis and outline in view.
Save each version with a date.

2Classical Rhetoric

The five canons
Canon	Latin	Question it answers	In an essay
1 Invention	inventio	What can I say?	research, the topics, the stasis, the thesis
2 Arrangement	dispositio	In what order?	outline; the parts of the oration; strongest point last
3 Style	elocutio	In what words?	correct, clear, fitting (decorum), well ornamented
4 Memory	memoria	How will I hold it?	know the material; notes and practice for a speech
5 Delivery	pronuntiatio, actio	How will I present it?	voice and gesture; for a paper, clean format and final copy

Rhetoric (Aristotle): the art of finding, in each case, the available means of persuasion. Logic tests whether an argument is sound; rhetoric makes sound arguments win a hearing.

The three appeals
Appeal	Rests on	Built by
Ethos	the writer’s character: good sense, good character, goodwill	accuracy, fairness to opponents, careful citation
Pathos	fitting feelings in the reader	concrete examples, a story, vivid detail
Logos	reasons: the enthymeme and the example	evidence, sound inference, answered objections

Logos is the backbone; ethos and pathos carry it.

Six parts of the oration
Part of the oration	In an essay
Exordium	introduction: win attention and goodwill
Narratio	background: the facts the reader needs
Partitio	thesis and forecast
Confirmatio	body: the proofs
Refutatio	answer the objections
Peroratio	conclusion: sum up and move

Kind of oratory	Time	Asks
Deliberative (assembly)	future	expedient or inexpedient?
Judicial (court)	past	just or unjust?
Ceremonial (praise, blame)	present	honorable or shameful?

The four stases
Stasis	The question
Fact	Did it happen?
Definition	What is it?
Quality	What kind is it: good, bad, serious?
Procedure	Who should decide, and how?

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

3Thesis Statements

Weak to strong
Weak	Why	Stronger
Pets are nice.	vague	A family dog teaches children responsibility, patience and loyalty.
In this essay I will talk about Rome.	announces	Rome fell less to barbarians than to debased coins, crushing taxes and divided rule.
Homework has pros and cons.	fence-sits	Homework helps when it is short and practices one skill; long busywork harms.
Washington was the first president.	a fact	Washington’s greatest act was giving up power, twice.

Topic, fact or thesis?
	Example
Topic	King Alfred and the Danes
Fact	Alfred defeated the Danes at Edington in 878.
Thesis	Alfred saved Wessex less by battle than by building: fortified towns, a new fleet and schools.

A thesis for every kind of essay
Essay	Sample thesis
Expository	Good bread needs only four things: flour, water, salt and time.
Argument	Every high school should require a year of formal logic.
Literary analysis	Dickens makes Scrooge’s change believable by first letting him see his own past.
Compare	Athens and Sparta both trained sons for the city: Sparta for war alone, Athens for war and debate.
Cause-effect	The Erie Canal made New York the chief port by cutting freight costs from the Great Lakes.
Narrative	the point of the story: The night the barn burned taught me what neighbors are for.

Classical thesis and final heads

A classical thesis is a general question (Should a ruler build schools?); a hypothesis is one case (Should Alfred?). Test a proposal by the final heads: lawful, just, expedient, possible, honorable?

Thesis statement: one sentence that states the claim the whole essay will prove
Four marks: (1) one sentence; (2) a claim, not a topic or a fact; (3) arguable but defensible: a reasonable reader could disagree, and you can prove it in the space; (4) a forecast of the reasons, in order

The “Prove it” test

Could a sensible reader disagree? If not, it is a fact.
Can I prove it in the pages I have? If not, narrow it.
Does every body paragraph prove part of it?
Revise the thesis last: the draft often discovers the real claim.

A pattern to start from

Although [the best objection], [claim] because [reason 1], [reason 2] and [reason 3].

4Outlining

Sentence outline (model)

Thesis: Alfred saved Wessex less by battle than by building: fortified towns, a new fleet and schools.

I. Fortified towns (burhs) gave every district a refuge.

A. No farm lay far from a walled town.

B. Each town owed a fixed number of men for its walls.

II. A new fleet met the raiders at sea.

A. Alfred’s ships were longer than the Danish ships.

B. They fought before the raiders could land.

III. Schools and English books trained leaders.

A. A court school taught nobles’ sons to read.

B. Alfred had key Latin books put into English.

IV. Objection: Edington won the war. Answer: only the building kept the victory.

“to write unto thee in order” (Luke 1:3, KJV)

Ways to order the points
Order	Use it for
Chronological	narratives, processes, history
Spatial	description: near to far, top to bottom
Importance	arguments: strong, weaker, strongest last (the Homeric or Nestor order)
Problem–solution	proposals
Cause–effect	explaining why, or what follows
Comparison	block or point by point (section 11)

Titles

Name the subject and hint at the claim: Fortress and Book: How Alfred Saved Wessex. Use title case. Your own title takes no quotation marks, italics or bold in MLA; APA sets it in bold.

Outline form

Levels: I. → A. → 1. → a. Indent each level.
Never a lone I or A: divide only into two or more.
Keep headings parallel (all sentences, or all phrases).
A sentence outline puts the topic sentence of each paragraph in place: the draft nearly writes itself.

The five-paragraph essay

A scaffold, not a cage: introduction, three body paragraphs, conclusion. Learn it in Grades 7–8; then let the number of body paragraphs follow the number of reasons the thesis needs. A research paper uses the same plan, each part grown into several paragraphs.

5Transitions

Relation	Words and phrases
Addition	also, moreover, besides
Comparison	likewise, similarly
Contrast	however, yet, in contrast
Concession	granted, admittedly, of course
Cause, effect	therefore, thus, as a result

Relation	Words and phrases
Example	for example, namely
Emphasis	indeed, in fact, above all
Sequence	first, next, then, finally
Place	above, beyond, nearby
Conclusion	in short, on the whole

Using them well

Fit the word to the relation: however turns; therefore concludes.
Use them at the turns, not on every sentence.
Link paragraphs by echoing the last idea.
Punctuate: The ford was closed; therefore, we waited.

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

6Paragraph Structure

The body paragraph
Part	Its job
1 Topic sentence	states the one point of the paragraph, tied to the thesis
2 Evidence	facts, examples, quotations, testimony
3 Explanation	shows how the evidence proves the point: usually the longest part
4 Link	ties the point back to the thesis or leads to the next

A body paragraph in a school essay usually runs 80–120 words.

The quotation sandwich (Traditional)

Introduce the quotation, quote it, then explain it. Never let a quotation stand alone as a sentence.

Model paragraph

(1) Alfred’s first defense was a ring of fortified towns. (2) After the Danes nearly took his kingdom in 878, he built walled towns, called burhs, placed so that no farm in Wessex lay far from shelter, and he fixed how many men each town owed for its walls. (3) These towns changed the war: raiders who had once struck and vanished now met a garrison within a day’s ride, and a burh could hold out until the army arrived. (4) Walls of earth and timber, more than any single battle, kept Wessex English.

Start a new paragraph

for a new point; a new time or place; a new speaker in dialogue.
to give a long paragraph a breathing space, splitting it at a real turn.

Unity: every sentence serves the topic sentence; cut or move the stranger
Coherence: sentences connect: old information first, new last; repeated key terms; clear pronouns; transitions at the turns
Development: enough proof to satisfy a doubtful reader

Kinds of evidence
Evidence	Weight
Facts, sound data	strong
Quotations from the text	strong in analysis
Expert testimony	strong if qualified
Examples	good; better in numbers
Analogy, story	illustrates; rarely proves

7Introductions & Conclusions

The funnel: general to specific, then back out

Introduction: hook, bridge, thesis
Honest hook	Example
Scene	In the winter of 878, a king hid in the marshes of Somerset with a few loyal men.
Question	What makes a beaten king worth remembering?
Striking fact	The scholar-king did not begin to read Latin until he was nearly forty.
Quotation	“A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength.” (Proverbs 24:5, KJV)

The bridge narrows from the hook to the thesis in 1–3 sentences; the thesis usually ends the paragraph.

Openers to avoid

a dictionary definition (Webster’s defines…)
Since the dawn of time…; In this essay I will…
a string of questions; an apology

Conclusion: restate, gather, send off
Conclusion move	What it does
Restate	the thesis in fresh words
Gather	the reasons into one view
Send off	a call to act, a look ahead, an echo of the hook

No new argument or evidence.

8A Model Essay, Annotated

Part	Fortress and Book (a short argument essay; original)	What it does
Introduction	In the winter of 878, King Alfred of Wessex hid in the Somerset marshes with a few loyal men while Danish armies held most of England. That spring he won at Edington, but kings had won battles before and lost their lands the next year. Alfred saved Wessex less by battle than by building: fortified towns, a new fleet and schools.	hook (a scene) · bridge · thesis with a forecast, last
Body 1	Alfred’s first defense was a ring of fortified towns. He placed walled burhs so that no farm lay far from shelter, and he fixed how many men each town owed for its walls. Raiders who had once struck and vanished now met a garrison within a day’s ride.	topic sentence · evidence · explanation; the strong reason first
Body 2	Next, Alfred took the war to sea. He ordered ships longer than the Danish ships, so that raiders could be met before they landed. Though the new crews were not always skillful, a coast with a fleet behind it was no longer an open door.	transition Next · concession Though · the weaker reason in the middle
Body 3	Most important, Alfred built minds. He gathered scholars, opened a school at court and had the books he thought most needful put from Latin into English. Some say Edington alone saved Wessex; yet that victory lasted only because towns, ships and readers were ready when the Danes returned in the 890s.	Most important: strongest last · the objection answered (refutatio)
Conclusion	Alfred’s sword won a spring; his walls, ships and books won a century. The towns kept the land, the fleet kept the coast and the schools kept the faith and the language. A people that means to last could do worse than build as he did: something to defend it, and something worth defending.	restate in fresh words · gather · send off

The Grade 7 five-paragraph scaffold. A full essay adds evidence and citations; the facts are standard history (the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Asser).

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

9Essay Types: Narrative, Descriptive, Expository

Type	Purpose	Usual order	Key moves
Narrative	tell a story that makes a point	chronological	scene, conflict, rising action, climax, resolution; dialogue; show, don’t tell; past tense, first or third person
Descriptive (ecphrasis)	make the reader see	spatial or by impression	one dominant impression; all five senses; concrete nouns, exact verbs; figures of speech
Expository: process	explain how	steps in sequence	materials first; one step per sentence or paragraph; warn before the hard step
Expository: definition	explain what	class, then difference	A canal (term) is a waterway (class) dug for boats or irrigation (difference); examples and non-examples
Expository: classification	sort into kinds	one kind at a time	one principle of division; kinds that do not overlap and leave nothing out

Expository writing also explains by illustration (examples), comparison and cause and effect (section 11). Formal exposition is in third person, present tense.

Narrative: show, don’t tell
Tell	Show
Ben was nervous.	Ben read the first line of his speech four times and still could not say it.
The room was old.	Dust lay in the folds of the curtains, and the clock had stopped at ten past four.

A model of description

Dickens stacks exact participles to fix one impression: “a squeezing, wrenching, grasping, scraping, clutching, covetous, old sinner!” (Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol, 1843).

Dialogue

New paragraph for each new speaker.
Comma or end mark inside the closing quotation mark: “Wait,” she said.
Use said most of the time; let the words carry the feeling.

10Persuasive & Argument Essays

Parts of an argument
Part	What to do
Claim	the thesis: what should be believed or done
Reasons	why: usually two to four
Evidence	facts, examples, testimony for each reason
Counterargument	the best case against you, stated fairly
Concession	grant what is true in it
Rebuttal	show why your claim still stands

Persuasive writing uses all three appeals to move to action; an academic argument leans on logos and treats objections at length.

Enthymeme: find the hidden premise

Ben should lead the team, because he is the most experienced player. The unstated premise: the most experienced player should lead. If a reader would reject the hidden premise, state it and defend it.

Three kinds of claim
Claim of	Asks	Example
Fact	Is it so?	Alfred’s ships outran the Danes’.
Value	Is it good?	Alfred was the greatest English king.
Policy	What should be done?	Our school should teach logic.

Fair dealing

Steelman: state the other side so well that its holders would accept your wording.
Quote opponents accurately and in context.
Order the proofs strong, weaker, strongest; put the rebuttal before the strongest or just before the conclusion.
“He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.” (Proverbs 18:17, KJV)

“be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15, KJV)

Fallacies to avoid (Logic course, Unit 3)
Fallacy	What goes wrong	Example
Ad hominem	attacks the person, not the argument	Ignore his bridge design; he failed algebra once.
Appeal to authority	cites someone not expert on the point	A famous pitcher says this cereal sharpens memory.
Appeal to the many	popular, so true (bandwagon)	Everyone is buying it, so it must be best.
Appeal to tradition, novelty	old, so good; new, so better	We have always done it this way.
Appeal to pity, fear, force	feeling or threat in place of reasons	Pass this law or the town will be ruined.
Red herring	changes the subject	Why fuss about my essay when the roof leaks?
Straw man	attacks a weaker version of the view	You want less homework? So you want students to learn nothing.
Begging the question	assumes what it should prove	This paper never prints errors, because it says it is accurate.
Complex question	a question that hides a claim	Have you stopped wasting the budget?
False dilemma	only two options offered when there are more	Either we cancel the game or someone gets hurt.
Hasty generalization	a broad rule from too few cases	Two cousins disliked the book, so teenagers dislike it.
Slippery slope	one step must lead to disaster, unshown	Allow one late paper and soon no one will turn one in.
Post hoc	after it, therefore because of it	I wore my red socks and we won.
Equivocation	a word shifts meaning midway	A feather is light; light is not dark; so a feather is not dark.
Composition, division	whole and parts confused	Each brick is light, so the wall is light.

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

11Compare-Contrast & Cause-Effect

Two ways to arrange a comparison

Comparison essays

Compare like with like, on the same points, in the same order.
Block suits short essays; point by point keeps long ones clear.
End with a verdict: what the comparison shows. The classical syncrisis sets two lives side by side, as Plutarch paired a Greek and a Roman.
Plan with a two-column chart; similarly, likewise, whereas, unlike, in contrast.

Cause-and-effect essays

Show the chain: each link must really cause the next.
Separate immediate causes (the spark) from underlying ones (the dry wood).
A necessary cause must be present; a sufficient cause is enough alone.
Two things together are not proof one caused the other; after is not because (post hoc).
because, since, as a result, consequently, led to, therefore.

12Literary Analysis

The moves

Read closely, twice; mark repeated words, images and turns.
Claim how and why, not what happens: summary is not analysis.
Prove it with short quotations, each introduced and explained.
Write in the literary present: Scrooge refuses, not refused.
Name the author in full once, then by last name (Shakespeare, never William or Will).
Titles: long works in italics; poems, stories and chapters in “quotation marks.”

Quoting poetry

Mark line breaks with a slash and cite line numbers: “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? / Thou art more lovely and more temperate” (lines 1–2). After the first citation, give numbers alone: “thy eternal summer shall not fade” (9). Quote four or more lines (MLA) as a block.

Close-reading questions

What repeats? What changes (where is the turn)?
What is odd, surprising or left out?
Which words carry two meanings?
How does the form (meter, rhyme, line and sentence length) fit the sense?
Why does it end where it does?

Terms of analysis

Theme: the insight about life the work develops (a sentence, not a word)
Plot: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution
Conflict: a struggle: with another person, nature, society, oneself, or God
Point of view: first person; third person limited; third person omniscient
Character: round or flat; dynamic (changes) or static
Setting: time, place and circumstances

Tone · mood: the author’s attitude · the reader’s feeling
Symbol: a concrete thing that stands for more than itself
Imagery: language that appeals to the senses
Irony: verbal (says the opposite), situational (the unexpected), dramatic (the audience knows more)
Foreshadowing: hints of what is coming
Allusion: a brief reference to a known work, person or event

Citing the text
Work	Cite (MLA)
Prose	(Dickens 23): author and page
Poem	(lines 1–2), then (9)
Verse play	(Ham. 3.1.56): act, scene, line
Bible	(King James Bible Online, Ps. 1.3)

Formats in full: the MLA & APA Citation sheet.

Summary (weak)	Analysis (strong)
In Sonnet 18 Shakespeare compares someone to summer.	Sonnet 18 turns a compliment into a boast: by the last line, the poem, not the beloved, is what lasts.

13Essay Exams & Timed Writing

Prompt verb	Do this
Analyze	break it into parts; show how the parts work together
Compare	show likenesses (and usually differences)
Contrast	show differences
Define	give the class and the difference, with an example
Describe	give the features, in a clear order
Discuss	examine it from more than one side

Prompt verb	Do this
Evaluate	judge its worth by stated standards
Explain	make clear how or why
Illustrate	give examples
Justify	give reasons for a position
Summarize	give the main points briefly
Trace	follow a development in order

Timed essay (40 min)	Minutes
Read the prompt, plan, write a thesis	5
Draft introduction, body, conclusion	28
Reread, fix, proofread	7

Under the clock

Underline the verbs and every part of the prompt; answer all of them.
Answer the question in its own words in the thesis, in the first paragraph.
Jot a short outline in the margin before drafting.
Out of time? Outline the rest so the grader sees the plan.

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

14Style & Concision

Wordy	Concise
due to the fact that	because
at this point in time	now
in order to	to
the question as to whether	whether
has the ability to	can
in the event that	if
a large number of	many
it is important to note that	(cut it)
each and every	each
end result	result
made a decision	decided
conducted an analysis of	analyzed

“Vigorous writing is concise.” (William Strunk Jr., The Elements of Style, 1918)

“The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:10, KJV)

Clear and strong

Active voice by default: The council approved the bridge. Passive when the doer is unknown or unimportant: The bridge was built in 1820.
Strong verbs: decided, not made a decision.
Concrete words: oak, plow, 40 miles, not things, a lot, far.
Formal register: no slang; in academic prose avoid you and contractions; cut I think.

Classical style

Four virtues: correctness, clarity, ornament, decorum (fit to subject, reader and occasion)
Three levels: plain (to teach), middle (to delight), grand (to move)

Lincoln’s three times

Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg moves through time: “Four score and seven years ago” (past), “Now we are engaged in a great civil war” (present), to “that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom” (future). Conclusions can make the same turn.

Cut the deadwood Fix it

It is a fact that there were many soldiers who, due to the fact that they were tired, were not able to march in the morning.26 words

Many tired soldiers could not march in the morning.9 words

Schemes and tropes
Figure	What it is	Example
Antithesis	contrast in balanced form	“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” (Dickens, 1859)
Anaphora	repeated opening words	“we cannot dedicate… we cannot consecrate… we cannot hallow this ground” (Lincoln)
Tricolon	three parallel parts	“of the people… by the people… for the people” (Lincoln)
Chiasmus	reversed order, A B · B A	“The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27, KJV)
Metaphor	calls one thing another	“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105, KJV)
Simile	a comparison with like or as	“he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psalm 1:3, KJV)
Rhetorical question	asked for effect, not answer	“If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31, KJV)
Litotes	understatement by denying the opposite	“a citizen of no mean city” (Acts 21:39, KJV)
Personification	human action given to things	“Let the floods clap their hands” (Psalm 98:8, KJV)

15Sentence Variety

Four sentence structures
Structure	Example
Simple: one independent clause	The walls held.
Compound: two or more independent clauses	The walls held, and the raiders left.
Complex: one independent + a dependent clause	Because the walls held, the raiders left.
Compound-complex	Because the walls held, the raiders left, and the farmers came home.

Copia: one thought, many ways

Renaissance schools, after Erasmus, had students rewrite one sentence dozens of ways. The book delighted me. → I read the book with delight. → Few things have pleased me more than that book. → What a delight that book was! → The book was a feast. Keep the best; learn from all.

Vary the openings
Open with	Example
an adverb	Slowly, the fog lifted.
a prepositional phrase	At dawn, the bells rang.
a participial phrase	Seeing the sails, the watchman shouted.
an adverb clause	When the tide turned, we rowed.
an infinitive phrase	To reach the town, we crossed the ford.
a transition	Even so, the bridge stood.

Keep it parallel

Pairs and lists take the same form: to read, to write and to speak, not to read, writing and to speak.
Balanced halves ring: Alfred lost a battle but won a kingdom.

Loose sentence: main clause first, details after: Alfred held on through cold, hunger and defeat.
Periodic sentence: main point saved for the end: Through cold, hunger and defeat, Alfred held on.
Rhythm: follow a long sentence with a short one. It wakes the reader.

Combine choppy sentences Fix it

The Danes came by sea. They came in spring. They burned the abbey.choppy

Sailing in with the spring, the Danes burned the abbey.combined

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

16The Research Paper

	Step	What to do
1	Question	Narrow a topic to a research question (How did Alfred defend Wessex?); survey an encyclopedia, but do not cite it.
2	Search	Catalog and databases; subject headings; Boolean AND, OR, NOT; “exact phrases”; citation chaining (mine bibliographies).
3	Evaluate, take notes	Test each source; a source card per source (citation, number); a note card per idea (source, page; Q, P or S).
4	Thesis & outline	Turn your answer into a working thesis; sort note cards into the outline.
5	Draft	Cite as you write: every quotation, paraphrase, summary and uncommon fact.
6	Revise & document	Three passes (section 20); build the Works Cited or References list; check each in-text citation against it.

Kinds of sources

Primary: evidence from the time or person: letters, diaries, speeches, laws, records, an original experiment
Secondary: a later study of primary sources: histories, biographies, journal articles
Tertiary: summaries of secondary work: encyclopedias, textbooks

Source card and note card (model)

Source 3: Whitlock, Clara A. Burhs and Books: King Alfred’s Wessex. Ridgeline Press, 2019. (fictional)

Note card: heading Burhs: placement · source 3, p. 42 · P (paraphrase): Towns were sited so no farm lay more than a day’s walk from one.

Annotated bibliography: each citation followed by 2–5 sentences: what the source says, how reliable it is, how you will use it

AI chat tools

Never cite an AI chat tool as a source; its answers are not a fixed, accountable text.
It can invent quotations, facts and whole books; verify everything in a real source.
Submitting its writing as yours is plagiarism.

A good research question

is open (how? why?), focused and answerable from sources you can reach.

17Evaluating Sources

Five questions
Ask	Of a secondary source
Author	Who wrote it? What training, what record?
Publisher	Who stands behind it: university press, journal, agency, a stranger?
Evidence	Does it cite sources you could check?
Purpose	To inform, to sell, to campaign? Who gains?
Date	Is it current enough for the subject?

“at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” (Deuteronomy 19:15, KJV)

Weighing a witness
Ask	Of a primary source (a witness)
Nearness	Was the writer there, and how soon after?
Means of knowing	Could the writer actually know this?
Motive	Any reason to bend the truth?
Corroboration	Do independent witnesses agree?

A statement against interest (admitting what hurts one’s own side) is unusually believable.

On the web

Read laterally: leave the page and see what other reliable sources say about the site and its author.
Check provenance: trace a quotation, statistic or image to where it first appeared.
A domain (.org, .edu, .com) does not prove reliability.
Red flags: no author, date or sources; outrage in capitals; mostly ads.
The Bereans “searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11, KJV)

18Quoting, Paraphrasing & Plagiarism

	What it is (always cited)
Quotation	exact words, in quotation marks
Paraphrase	your own words and sentence pattern, about as long
Summary	the main idea only, much shorter

One passage, four ways

Original: “From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books.” (Franklin)

Paraphrase: As a boy, Franklin spent nearly every coin he got on something to read (Franklin).

Summary: Franklin loved books from childhood (Franklin).

Patchwriting (plagiarism, even if cited): From a child Franklin was fond of reading, and his little money was laid out in books.

Weaving in quotations

Signal phrase, comma: As Franklin recalls, “…”
Woven: Franklin’s money was “ever laid out in books.”
Colon after a full sentence: He names his first love: “…”
[Brackets] for a changed word; ellipsis (…) for omitted words; never change the meaning.
Long quotations become block quotations: over four lines of prose or three of poetry (MLA); 40 words or more (APA).
Signal verbs: argues, observes, notes, reports, concedes, insists, warns.

Plagiarism: passing off another’s words or ideas as your own: missing quotation marks or citation, patchwriting, a borrowed paper, AI-written text
Common knowledge: undisputed facts found in many general sources (Washington was the first president) need no citation; when in doubt, cite

“Thou shalt not steal.” (Exodus 20:15, KJV) A citation pays an honest debt. Formats: the companion MLA & APA Citation sheet.

CompositionComposition & Creative Writing · Grades 7–12 · continued

19Common Errors

Error	Wrong	Right
Fragment	Because the river rose.	The town flooded because the river rose.
Comma splice	The walls held, the raiders left.	The walls held, so the raiders left.
Run-on (fused)	The walls held the raiders left.	The walls held; the raiders left.
Subject–verb agreement	The list of names are long.	The list of names is long.
Pronoun agreement	Each student brought their book.	Each student brought his book (or his or her; or The students brought their books).

Error	Wrong	Right
Vague pronoun	This shows he was wise.	This decision shows he was wise.
Tense shift	He climbs the hill and saw the fleet.	He climbs the hill and sees the fleet.
Person shift	When a student reads, you learn.	When students read, they learn.
Dangling modifier	Walking to town, the rain began.	Walking to town, we felt the rain begin.
Faulty parallelism	to read, writing and to speak	to read, to write and to speak
its / it’s	The town lost it’s wall.	The town lost its wall.

Error	Wrong	Right
Apostrophe plural	The Dane’s came in ship’s.	The Danes came in ships.
Quotation punctuation	He called it “a refuge”.	He called it “a refuge.” (American style)
Dropped quotation	a quotation standing alone as a sentence	introduce it and explain it
Unsupported claim	Everyone knows Alfred was great.	give the evidence and cite it
Wordiness, clichés	at the end of the day	say it plainly: finally

Grammar and punctuation in full: see the English Grammar & Punctuation guide.

20Revision & Editing Checklists

Pass 1 · Argument & structure

Is the thesis one clear, arguable sentence?
Does every body paragraph prove part of it?
Are the points in the best order (strongest last)?
Is the best objection answered fairly?
Reverse outline: write each paragraph’s point in the margin; does the list make sense?

Ways to see again

Set the draft aside a day; read it aloud.
Peer review: one strength, one question, one suggestion. “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” (Proverbs 27:17, KJV)

Pass 2 · Paragraphs & sentences

Does each paragraph have a topic sentence, evidence, explanation and link?
Is every quotation introduced and explained?
Are transitions at the turns, and right for the relation?
Cut needless words; prefer active voice and strong verbs.
Vary sentence length; check parallelism.

Large to small

Argument, Paragraphs, Proof: revise in that order, so you never polish a sentence you are about to cut.

Pass 3 · Proofreading & format

Spelling (read backward, word by word), capitals, punctuation.
Every source cited in the text and listed at the end; the two match.
Format: margins, spacing, font, heading, page numbers, title.
Title: fresh, specific, in title case.
Read the final copy aloud, from paper, slowly.

Revise: from Latin revidere, see again: the large things first
Edit: sentences and words
Proofread: the last look for slips

21Self-Check Rubric

Criterion	4 · Excellent	3 · Good	2 · Developing	1 · Beginning
Invention: thesis & ideas	clear, arguable, insightful thesis; ideas fully developed	clear thesis; ideas mostly developed	thesis vague or obvious; thin ideas	no real thesis
Arrangement: order	every paragraph serves the thesis; strong order; smooth transitions	organized; a few weak links	some paragraphs wander	hard to follow
Evidence & citation	apt, explained evidence; every source cited correctly	good evidence; minor citation slips	thin or unexplained evidence; citation gaps	little evidence; uncited borrowing
Style	concise, varied, fitting; strong verbs	clear; some wordiness	wordy or flat; tone slips	unclear
Mechanics & format	nearly error-free; format exact	few errors	errors distract	errors block meaning

Score each row 1–4; the total is out of 20. Multiply by 5 for a percent: 17 points = 85%. Score your own draft first and revise the lowest row.

Scale (course grading)
Points	Percent	Grade
18–20	90–100	A
16–17	80–89	B
14–15	70–79	C
13 or less	below 70	revise and resubmit

Before you hand it in

Every part of the prompt is answered.
Heading or title page in the style asked for.
Source list on its own page, alphabetized, hanging indents.
You can defend every sentence if asked: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21, KJV)