Table of Contents

A Note to the Student

Chapter 1 What Is an Essay?
Subjects for Essays
What Is an Opinion, and How Do You Reach It?
What Makes an Opinion Interesting?
Examining the Opposition
Believe What You Say
Summary

Chapter 2 From Opinion to Thesis
"Closing In" on Your Thesis
The Five-Step Process
A Subject Close to Home
Summary

Chapter 3 The Full and Final Thesis
Elements of a Full Thesis
The Psychology of Argument
Strongest Argument Last
Form of the Full Thesis
Summary

Chapter 4 Structure
The Introduction
No Bombs, Please
The Big Middle Section
Refer to Your Full Thesis
Your Strongest Argument
The Conclusion
Back to Beginnings
Understand the Structure
Tying in the Middle Section
Summary

Chapter 5 First Steps toward Style
The First Commandment
The Second Commandment
Summary

Chapter 6 The Size and Shape of Middle Paragraphs
One Point, One Paragraph
Length of Paragraphs
Basic Paragraph Structure
Developing a Paragraph
Picture-Frame Paragraphs
Summary

Chapter 7 Connections between Paragraphs
Standard Devices
A Note on 'however"
Paragraph Hooks
The Combinations
Summary

Chapter 8 The Passive Voice
What It Is, and How to Beat It
Adrift in Nobody-Land
Making the Subject Perform
Why Passive Voice at All?
A Plan for Self-Protection
Summary

Chapter 9 The Sound of Sentences
The Rhythm of Speech
Getting Inside the Sentence
The Basic Statement
The Strung-Along Sentence
The Periodic Sentence
The Combinations
Selecting the Details
Expanding the Subject
Expanding the Verb
Expanding the Rest of the Sentence
Summary

Chapter 10 Parallel Structure
Look for the Common Denominator
The Smaller Parallels
Summary

Chapter 11 A Way with Words
Synonyms and Antonyms
Big Words and Small
The Solemn Vapors
Metaphor and Simile
Allusion
Summary

Chapter 12 Odds and Ends and Means
The Terrible Three
The Troublesome Twenty-Seven
Punctuation
Summary

Chapter 13 More Freedom and a Few Flourishes
Assignment 1: First Person at Last
Assignment 2: How to Write Badly by Trying Very, Very Hard
Assignments 3 and 4: Irony
The Fully Ironic Essay
The Ironic Touch

Chapter 14 Writing the Term Paper
The Trial Thesis
Procedure for Research
The Final
Your Paper Is in the Cards
Writing the First Draft
The Final Draft
Summary

Chapter 15 Summing Up

Handy Reminders
Index

About the Author

Lucile Vaughan Payne is the author of The Lively Art of Writing.