CoachViperMaster1028
INSTRUCTIONS Read Information Sheet 3 of the quick review….
INSTRUCTIONS
Read Information Sheet 3 of the quick review. Highlight or underline whatever sentences that are important to you and write whatever thoughts you have on the information sheet,
Your work will be evaluated by:
1. Clear highlighting;
2. Thoughtfulness in your notes: (You can write down whatever you think,
Information Sheet 3: A quick review of the important aspects of essay writing based on the passage “Young Women And Men Seek More Equal Roles at Work And Home”
Step one: Read the passage and understand the main idea and supporting points
Step two: Writing a summary:
Two sample summaries:
You can write a long summary:
A research study of young adults suggests that most people want to have more equal relationships if they have that choice, but they may go back to traditional gender roles when they realize that gender equality is hard to become a reality because of the current restrictive workplace environment. (Main idea).
In the research, the first group of young adults are given the choices of being completely self-reliant, being the primary breadwinner or being the primary homemaker and they choose the traditional roles where men are the breadwinner and women are the homemaker. (Supporting idea 1)
In the same research, when the second group of young adults are given an additional option of having an egalitarian relationship (sharing work and household duties), the majority of men and women prefer to share work and household duties if they have the option to do so. (Supporting idea 2)
The third group of young adults was asked to imagine a world where their companies provided all workers the benefits of family leave with pay, subsidized childcare and flexible work schedules, even greater percentage of men and women preferred egalitarian relationships. (Supporting idea 3)
Or you can write a short summary example based on the same passage:
A research study at the University of California, Santa Barbara shows most people prefer equal relationships between men and women where they share their work and family duties. However, the reality makes it impossible: Their workplace does not give them flexible schedules and enough income for both men and women to equally share their work and family responsibilities. As a result, they have to settle for their traditional roles where men focus main on their jobs to make money while women have to take on most or all family duties. Even though most don’t like it, they have no choice.
A shorter summary is better, but either way, you have to show your understanding.
Step three: Write an introduction: After the summary, add a thesis statement. The thesis statement has to connect with the author’s main idea. Introduction = Summary + Thesis
Your thesis should not be only about one of the supporting points from the passage.
Step four: Start writing your body paragraphs
Step five: Finish your essay with a conclusion
So how do you organize an essay on “Equal Roles?”
Introduction:
Summary
Thesis: It’s connected to the main idea from the passage whether or not you think people’s attitudes toward gender equality are likely a result of restrictive workplace policies.
Body paragraphs: Here you can have 2 to 3 paragraphs.
It’s a great idea to make your body paragraphs about the important supporting points:
Here are the important supporting points in this passage:
Body paragraph 1 First write a topic sentence about one supporting point: As the research shows, when people don’t have any choice to have gender equality within the family, they take on their traditional roles.
(Try to explain it and expand on it. Here for this point, it may be a good idea to talk about a traditional culture maybe your home culture before you came to the U.S. or maybe your grandparents’ time. Did your grandparents ever think about your grandpa staying home helping out the housework and caring for the babies and your grandma going out to make money sometimes? Did they and people in their generation do this kind of sharing? They might not even know they actually wanted equality because it seemed so out of their reality. Describe, explain, and give examples?)
Body paragraph 2: Start with your topic about another supporting point: The same research also shows that both men and women do want to have equal roles in their families and it doesn’t matter what their educational background is. Most people don’t really want the traditional roles in their heart.
(you can expand on the point with your own ideas by explaining why both men and women
want family equality in their heart. Focus on this idea and make sure you don’t really talk
about how they don’t have the option to be equal because that’s the point for the previous
paragraph and maybe a little bit for the next body paragraph. Also, don’t talk about equality
in society as a whole like giving men and women equal pay or promoting men and women
equally in a company because you would go off the point. The passage is not about gender
equality in society.)
Body paragraph 3: Start with another topic sentence about another supporting point: The research finds that when men and women have a helpful work environment to support them financially and give them flexible schedule, then even more people would choose an equal role between men and women.
(Expand on this: But do most people have that option? Or is it realistic in most people’s
situations? Explain or describe. Possibilities of expansion: How about in your workplace? Can
the husband or wife take turns to work different shifts so they can both care for their baby or
maybe their elderly parents or both? Or can a husband or a wife work a few hours less if
they have family needs but make up for it later? Or how many companies these days give
male and female workers benefits to pay for their little kids’ daycare center at least partially
so women don’t have to do too much (connect to the point “subsidize their child care”)? Or
does a company usually allow a husband to take a family leave with pay to help his wife if the
housework gets too much for her? He can’t do that, based on the current workplace
conditions. Describe. Personal examples are good, but they have to be especially specific.
In sum, 3 most important things in writing the body paragraphs:
1. It’s a good idea for each body paragraph to focus on one supporting point and expands on that point.
2. Don’t get off the point. If you start writing about women’s equality in society in general, about how women are often treated unfairly by the employers, by co-workers, or in school, or even by salesmen who often overcharge women, you are getting off the point. This is about men and women’s place at home. Yes, it also talks about their job environment, but only because it affects their equality at home. If you focus on gender equality in general you can easily get off! That’s why understanding the passage is so crucial.
3. Expand on the important point. Either explain the point with your own ideas, or show the point with your personal examples.
You can have either 2 or 3 body paragraphs for each essay, depending on how many ideas you have on an essay topic.
Conclusion: Summary of your own most important ideas, not the author’s ideas.
