Three Strategies For An Argument

How to Construct a Five Paragraph Essay

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Index cards
• Highlighter

1. Step 1

   Analyze your assignment and determine what is to be accomplished in this essay assignment. Every essay has an objective, and when you understand your objective, you will see a clear direction for your essay.

2. Step 2

   Use index cards to jot down quick notes about the topic you are writing on.

3. Step 3

   Highlight any information you are planning to use from class notes.

4. Step 4

   Research your topic and print out all relevant information. Then use the highlighter to indicate possible information that will be used in your essay.

5. Step 5

   Make an outline of the five paragraphs that will include the following: introductory, first supporting paragraph, second supporting paragraph, third supporting paragraph and conclusion.

6. Step 6

   Write the actual essay. Gradually build the essay by keeping in mind the tone you set in your introduction, the supporting evidence you use to back up your idea and a strong ending to bring the essay to a close.

7. Step 7

   Proofread and edit your essay. This can be done by reading the essay out loud to your self and or to someone else. Listening to your words can help you hear any mistakes and check for clarity and cohesiveness of your sentence structure.

8. Step 8

   Do all revisions, then rewrite your essay.

EasyScript Shorthand

Words are divided into five categories. EasyScript/ComputerScript assigns every word to one of these categories.

Word Categories	Examples
A SIMPLE word is a word without a prefix or suffix.	and, have, able, any, should, paragraph
A PREFIX word has a participle before the root.	con as in contest, pro as in propose, and under as in understand
A SUFFIX word has a participle after the root.	ance as in maintenance, able as in available, er as in manufacturer
A PREFIX-SUFFIX word has participles both before and after the root.	de and tion as in detention, un and able as in unavoidable
A COMPOUND word is made up of two words joined together to form another word.

Methods
EasyScript breaks down a word into a root and prefix and/or suffix, reducing the total number of letters written for each part up to 55%. All words are divided up into five categories:

1. A SIMPLE word is a word without a prefix or suffix.
   Rule: 1, 2, 3 character codes depending on word length and frequency of usage.
   Examples: be → b, have → hv
2. A PREFIX word has a participle before the root: as under in understand
   Rule: 1 prefix letter + 2 or 3 root letters.
   Example: understand → usta
3. A SUFFIX word has a participle after the root: as able in available
   Rule: 2 or 3 root letters + 1 suffix letter.
   Example: available → avab
4. A PREFIX-SUFFIX word has a participle before and after the root: as un and able in unavoidable
   Rule: 1 prefix letter + 2 or 3 root letters + 1 suffix letters.
   Example: unavoidable → uavob
5. A COMPOUND word is made up of words joined together to form another word.
   Rule: 1 letter of 1st word + 2 letters of 2nd word separated by slash [/].
   Example: copyright → c/ri.

Example

Longhand Text (287 characters)

We submit the following list of services available for your special filing. Attendance at the Special Permit Hearing and any changes in drawings will be done on an hourly basis. Additionally, this time frame is subject to obtaining data from your Project Administrator or Coordinator. Customer maintenance can be done at an affordable rate.

EasyScript Text (129 characters - 55.05% reduction of characters written)

W smt tf lst o srvs avb fr yr spl flg. Atc at h Spl Pmt Hrg d ny chs n drwgs wl b dn on an hry bas. Ady, ths tm fm s sjt t obg dt fm yr Pjt Adr r Cor. Cstr mnc cn b dn at an afb rt.

http://www.gordy-n-mikie.com/gordy/edu/easyscript_notes.html

http://www.easyscript.com/uses/speedwriting.asp

Alphabetic Shorthand Systems

Few if any new symbols need to be learned. Most systems consist of rules for abbreviating words together with memorized abbreviations. If the rules are consistently applied, they can be reversed to decode your notes.

Rules usually call for dropping of most vowels, some words, and using semi-phonetic spelling. An example of "briefhand" might be:

"The Sierra Club sued the Forest Service to stop clear-cutting on the National Forests of Texas, and judge Robert Parker decided that clear-cutting "took" red-cockaded woodpeckers within the meaning of the Endangered Species Act."

Which might be abbreviated to:

Srr Clb sued FS to stp cc on NF's in Tx, v jdg R.P. dcd'd cc "took" RCWs undr ESA.

Shorthand systems based on alphabetic characters can always fall back on longhand where clarity is important or when you might forget what an abbreviation stands for, such as "RCWs" standing for "red-cockaded woodpeckers." The example above, unless transcribed soon, would likely become undecipherable.

Memory Strategies

The following techniques and exercises use associations with letters, images, maps, etc to help you remember.

acronym | acrostic | rhymes | loci | keywords | image-naming | chaining

As you proceed through this list of techniques, try to think of strategies that would be useful to you! Some people use letters, some images, even songs. Each depends on how comfortable you are with, or how useful they are to, your way of thinking!

1. Acronyms
   An acronym is an invented combination of letters. Each letter is a cue to, or suggests, an item you need to remember.

   PEMDAS, sequence in solving or evaluating math equations
   Parenthesis | Exponents | Multiplication | Division | Addition | Subtraction

   ROY G. BIV, the colors of the visible spectrum
   Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet

   IPMAT, the stages of cell division
   Interphase, Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase, Telephase

   Practice your acronym (requires Flash)

2. An acrostic is an invented sentence or poem with a first letter cue:
   The first letter of each word is a cue to an idea you need to remember.

   Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (PEMDAS, above)
   Sequence in solving or evaluating math equations
   Parenthesis | Exponents | Multiplication | Division | Addition | Subtraction

   Every Good Boy Deserves Fun
   An acrostic for remembering a sequence of musical notes (G-clef notes on sheet music)--E, G, B, D, F

   Practice your acrostic! (requires Flash)
   See also: Silva Rhetoricae; Acrostics for Children
   

3. Rhyme-Keys: (for ordered or unordered lists)
   First, memorize key words that can be associated with numbers.

   Example: bun = one; shoe = two, tree = three, door = four, hive = five, etc.
   Create an image of the items you need to remember with key words.

   Four basic food groups-- diary products; meat, fish, and poultry; grains; and fruit and vegetables

   Think of cheese on a bun (one), livestock with shoes on (two),
   a sack of grain suspended in a tree (three), a door to a room stocked with fruits and vegetables (four)

   Practice your rhymes (requires Flash)

4. The Method of Loci: (for approximately twenty items)
   Select any location that you have spent a lot of time in and know well.
   Good for kinesthetic learners!

Imagine yourself walking through the location, selecting clearly defined places--the door, sofa, refrigerator, shelf, etc. Imagine yourself putting objects that you need to remember into each of these places by walking through this location in a direct path.

Again, you need a standard direct path and clearly defined locations for objects to facilitate the retrieval of these objects.

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Richard Nixon, you could imagine walking up to the door of your location and seeing a dollar bill stuck in the door; when you open the door Jefferson is reclining on the sofa and Nixon is eating out of the refrigerator.

Practice your loci (requires Flash)

5. The Keyword Method: (for foreign language vocabulary)

   First, after considering the foreign word you need to remember, select a key word in English that sounds like the foreign word.
   Next, imagine an image which involves the key word with the English meaning of the foreign word.
   For example, consider the Spanish word "cabina" which means "phone booth." For the English keyword, you might think of "cab in a ... ." You could then invent an image of a cab trying to fit in a phone booth. When you see the word "cabina" on the test, you should be able to recall the image of the cab and you should be able to retrieve the definition "phone booth."

   Practice your keywords (requires Flash)

6. The Image-Name Technique: (for remembering names)

   Simply invent any relationship between the name and the physical characteristics of the person. For example, if you had to remember Shirley Temple's name, you might ingrain the name in memory by noticing that she has "curly" (rhymes with Shirley) hair around her temples.

   Practice image-naming (requires Flash)

7. Chaining: (for ordered or unordered lists)

   Create a story where each word or idea you have to remember cues the next idea you need to recall. If you had to remember the words Napoleon, ear, door, and Germany, you could invent a story of Napoleon with his ear to a door listening to people speak in German.

   Practice your chaining (requires Flash)

http://www.studygs.net/memory/

ASSOCIATIONS AND MNEMONICS

Mnemonics are most useful for memorizing terminology and lists of facts, rather than concepts.

1. Use word mnemonics -- such as HOMES to remember the Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
2. Use sentence mnemonics -- such as "Kings play cards on fairly good soft velvet." to remember the biological classification system: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species, variety.
3. Use mnemonics for spelling and for keeping terminology straight: A principal is a pal; a principle is a rule. Cyanates, I ate (harmless chemicals); cyanide, I died (poisonous chemicals).
4. To improve memory, add humor and an "off color" element to your memory device.

Goal Setting Chart