Here are some guidelines to help

The outline is your skeleton. You should always make an outline of what you plan to write even if you are writing the essay on a test. It only takes a few minutes to do and helps you figure out what you want to say before you say it. It is what you want to say in point form.

The first step to making your outline is to decide what you want to prove. Every essay states an opinion. That opinion is called a thesis statement.

After you decide what you will argue, you must think of at least three reasons why your opinion or thesis statement is valid. These are your three main points.

Your evidence is your proof. It is the facts that support each of your main points which in turn support your thesis. No thesis can be proven without facts.

Remember your outline is your skeleton! Your points should be brief. You will flesh it out in your essay.

Once you have decided what your opinion is and come up with three main points that will support it, the next step is to take this skeleton and to flesh it out.

This is where you will make your sandwich: you will add an introduction, body and conclusion.

You already know what you are going to say because you made an outline, so you will begin by talking generally about your topic. Introducing general information and/or definitions that will help your reader understand the argument you are about to present. Your thesis will appear at the end of your introductory paragraph. Depending on your teacher, your thesis may appear as, “I will prove…” or “This essay will prove…” In Canadian History and in Global Geography, you will write in first-person: “I will prove…”

This is where you will take the main points of your essay and the evidence that goes along with each point and flesh it out. Make sure you explain clearly how these facts prove your points. Don’t expect the reader to make the connection between the facts and your points on their own even if it seems obvious to you. You may also want to address any arguments that could be used against your opinion, and explain why these arguments are not valid.

The conclusion sums it all up. Again, you will restate your three main points briefly and explain why you have proven your thesis. You should end on a high note; you may want to end with a call for action, depending on your topic.

Proofread your essay! If possible, have a friend, parent or teacher proofread your essay before you submit it. DO NOT RELY ON SPELL CHECK! Some words have more than one spelling and it will not pick these errors up.

-A bibliography at the end listing ALL the works you used in your paper- in alphabetical order, with the author’s last name first

References…show exactly where in the original source that you found the information… if it is a paper source, it is the page number you specify.

Your references will include:

-The author’s name: last name

-If citing two works by the same author, the title of the work will also be included

-The page or page numbers where you found the information

During the Enlightenment, people would often have intellectual conversations in places called salons (Newman, 44.)

-Arrange all sources in one list, alphabetically by the first word

For example:

Corbin, Barry et al. Global Connections: Geography for the 21st Century. Don Mills: Oxford University

Press, 2000.

Lesser, Derek. YCMHS.com. <http://www.ycmhs.com > September 8, 2007.

When you submit a paper, it is assumed that the paper is your own work. Plagiarism, when you copy the words or ideas of someone else’s, is a serious offense. Basically, you are stealing!!

Whenever you use sources for information, regardless of whether you are directly or indirectly quoting the source, you must indicate where you got the information from.

Your paper should be your own ideas, but using sources to back up what you think. Think of sources as your evidence to prove that your opinion is valid. If you find a quote that seems perfect for your purpose, you may put it in your paper in quotation marks and document it using the guidelines shown here.

Copying and pasting your entire paper from an Internet site is plagiarism even if you cite where you got it from!

-For example: Halifax was founded in 1749. This is common knowledge that cannot be disputed and does not require a reference…

-Any idea or piece of information you get that people may dispute needs to be cited EVEN IF IT IS NOT A DIRECT QUOTE!

-As a general rule, if you are in doubt, cite the source anyway. This way you are protecting yourself against being accused of plagiarism.

-In this class, if you are found plagiarizing, what you submitted will be returned to you and you will be required to submit your own work. Your parents/guardians will also be contacted.

For more information on how to make a bibliography, please use the following site: