Organization CHAPTER 1
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
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9
SAMPLE PYRAMID CHART
Here is an example of a prewriting list and a corresponding pyramid chart.
Local school boards should not be allowed to ban books.
Freedom to read is guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution (1st amendment).
Give students credit—we don’t believe everything we read.
Let us read books and decide what is right.
We need to learn how to think for ourselves.
Library Bill of Rights prohibits banning of books.
Parents and others should trust that we can read conflicting viewpoints and still hold
our own values.
Censorship is wrong.
Education is about opening minds, and censorship is about closing them.
LIST
If you are having trouble with the highly structured outline or pyramid, try listing. Picture
someone reading your completed essay. They will not see the framework behind your words,
but instead will encounter each word, and thus each idea, one at a time. In other words,
reading happens sequentially. With that in mind, organize your notes into a list based on
one of the following strategies:
1.
Order of Importance: rank supporting ideas from most important to least impor-
tant, or vice versa.
2.
Chronological: organize your ideas in the order in which they did happen or will
happen.
School
boards should
not be allowed

Try different organizational methods such as outlines, pyramid charts, and
lists.
■
Don’t forget that what you read affects your writing, so make sure you read
the very best!
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11
A
A
fter you submit it, your essay will be one in a large stack given to a reader or read-
ers. In the case of college admissions, readers will have so many essays to read that
they will spend only a few minutes on each. Exit and SAT essays will receive some-
what more time and attention, but it still holds that one reader will be responsible for a large
number of essays. That is why it is imperative that you not only impress your reader(s) with
your unique take on a topic, but also say exactly what you mean as clearly and, in many
cases, as concisely as you can.
Your essay goal is to convey information, including the fact that you can write well. That
goal won’t be achieved if your readers don’t understand your first few sentences or para-
graphs, and stop reading, or if they finish reading but fail to grasp your message. Learning
how to be a clear and accurate writer will help make your essay readable, and will guaran-
tee that those who read it understand exactly what you mean to say. The five guidelines in
this chapter show you how to clarify your writing.
CHAPTER
Clarity
2
2
Clarity CHAPTER 2
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
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HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS

When doing the laundry, the phone rang.
Clear:
The phone rang when I was doing the laundry.
Ambiguous:
She almost waited an hour for her friend.
Clear:
She waited almost an hour for her friend.
Ambiguous:
I told her I’d give her a ring tomorrow.
Clear:
I told her I’d call her tomorrow.
Ambiguous:
A speeding motorist hit a student who was jogging through the park in
her blue sedan.
Clear:
A speeding motorist in a blue sedan hit a student who was jogging through
the park.
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Clarity CHAPTER 2
HOW TO WRITE GREAT ESSAYS
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13
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M
ODIFIERS
A
DD
P
RECISION
Clarity in essay writing also involves the thoughtful use of modifiers, which make your point

over
twenty people.
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P
OWERFUL
, P
RECISE
A
DJECTIVES AND
A
DVERBS
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unconditionally accepted
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forbidding alley
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unflagging dedication
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aimlessly walking