Essay Writing Advice


Student Questions:

I thought I'd deal with the question

 "How does Gary Soto in his poem 'Oranges' convey his narrator's first romantic experience using figurative language, characterization and imagery, including other appeals to senses" 

so does that mean I have to talk about 
the figurative language in paragraph #1, 
characterization in paragraph #2 and
imagery/senses in a third paragraph? 

I also can't really see the difference between the point and the explanation in the PEE chain... For example if I write that "the reader can really feel the fog through the poem" is that a point of the 3rd paragraph or the explanation of an imagery?

My answers:
First, don't worry about essay writing not being your strong point... generally ones writing style and confidence evolves over time :-)

Second, the trick when writing for me is to know you can adapt and change the essay questions. So, if you are not motivated by 'figurative writing', just drop that part from the essay question.

Third, the next trick is to take things step by step. That is, set aside an amount of time only to write about imagery (including senses). Once you're done, ensure that all that information fits inside one paragraph. As you are doing so, keep all comments to do with imagery and characterization to one side to use in the next paragraph.

Fourth, realise you don't need to finish this paper over the holidays. You will have 4 hours of in class writing to work on the paper. 

Next for the PEA.

Point: the reader can really feel the fog through the poem
Example: "Fog hanging like old / Coats between the trees" 
Analysis: as the girl and the boy become more comfortable with each other the world becomes less threatening and so the fog seems to decorate an untidy room, rather than oppress the characters. 



I hope you can help me, thank you in advance nevertheless.

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