Essay Unit

Today we read essays like writers, searching to see what the author did when he wrote his essay. Here's the list the students came up with:

• The author used repetition to keep the big idea in our minds.
• The author wrote about two topics–back-and-forth–and then connected them.
• The author gave us background knowledge.
• The author used mini-stories.
• The author has a clear, focused message.
• The author used rhyming and alliteration.
• The author made his message like a puzzle–you had to fit the pieces together to understand it.
• The author included herself in the essay.
• The author used a listing technique to organize the essay.
• The author wrote the essay and directly asked the person questions in the writing.
• The author varies the size of his paragraphs.
• The author used a surprising lead.
• The author used strong word choice.
• The author used figures of speech.
• The author’s voice showed generosity.

As you can see, the students discovered how rich and unstructured the world of the essayist is!