Writing the Essay

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WRITING CLASSES & RESOURCES for students of all ages

does your student need to write an essay? Let me help!

What is The Five-Paragraph Expository Essay?

In short, this course is everything your student needs to craft a perfect five-paragraph essay from start to finish.

*Pre-recorded videos make this uber-convenient.

*Real instructor feedback -- with a detailed evaluation! -- makes this invaluable.

*Engaging presentations, worksheets, and checklists make this a no-stress step-by-step process.

Who should take this course?

Whether your student is a budding young writer or seeking to strengthen their essay-writing skills, this course is a roadmap to crafting compelling essays with confidence.

Taught to more than 600 students worldwide, this course walks students through the process of brainstorming, organizing, writing, and revising a full five-paragraph expository essay.

Besides the informative videos and helpful worksheets, your student will also receive a detailed evaluation that critiques organization and content as well as grammar, style, and overall writing skills.

How does a course work?

This particular class is broken into eight segments. Each focuses on a particular aspect of essay-writing, from the initial understanding of an essay's organization to the final process of revision.

For each section, you'll download the materials, watch the videos, and complete the assignment. Most students take 1-2 weeks. Sure, you can do it in a day... or in a month. Go at your own pace. I'm ready when you are!

At the end, you will have a fully-revised five-paragraph expository essay with a detailed evaluation, and you'll be on your way to writing more advanced forms of essays.

What about that feedback?

One of the most critical means for growth as a writer is receiving detailed, professional feedback -- and with this course, you get it!

Each submitted essay will receive a full instructor evaluation. This includes a checklist (given to students beforehand) that details the expectations for each part of the essay. The purpose of the checklist is a quick view for students to identify what they still need to work on.

The second part of the evaluation is detailed instructor feedback. For this, I look at four categories: the hook and introduction, the paragraphs (with feedback for each body paragraph), the conclusion, and the overall writing style.

For writing style, I evaluate basic skills (correct verb tenses, use of language, vocabulary, transition language, and grammar in general) and how advanced the writing is: Is there repetition? Can the student explain complex ideas clearly? Does the student use variety in sentence lengths and openers?

Additionally, I include a scan of the essay with corrections and comments. You'll soon be on your way to writing more advanced forms of essays.

Course outline

Section 1: What's an essay?

Welcome! We'll start by discussing what an essay is: How is it structured? What are the components? We'll also talk about what "expository" means and generate a list of possible topics for your essay.

Section 2: Brainstorming

Not everybody likes brainstorming... but yes, it's important! We'll discuss how and why to brainstorm, what to do if you don't know where to start, and how NOT to accidentally plagiarize by using good note-taking habits.

Section 3: Organizing your information

Now that you have all this great brainstorming, what do you do with it? We'll answer that question by using the bucket method. At the end of this section, you'll understand how to organize your information into buckets (each representing one body paragraph) and then transfer that info into a graphic organizer to plan out your essay.

Section 4: Writing the body paragraphs

Now for the fun part... writing! Earlier in this course we looked at how to write a perfect paragraph (topic sentence, supporting sentences, concluding sentence). Now, it's your turn to write three of your own body paragraphs using your graphic organizer.

Section 5: Evaluation the body paragraphs

In case you thought you were done with the body paragraphs... you're not! Evaluating and revising is an important element of writing, so in this part of the course, we'll evaluate your body paragraphs for organization, content, and writing style.

Section 6: Writing the thesis

It's time to write the thesis. This should be easy - if you've done your body paragraphs correctly! Question: How is a thesis like a chicken foot? Watch this video to find out!

Section 7: Writing the introduction

The introduction is only three sentences (and you've already written the thesis), yet it is critically important. We have to grab your reader's attention, first of all, and then clearly move from your hook toward your thesis.

Section 8: Writing the conclusion

At last, we come to the end. The conclusion of your essay is an upside-down introduction, so we'll begin your conclusion with a restated thesis and then move outward to end with a solid final thought. Then, you're done! You just need to submit your essay for a full evaluation.