Learning to Write an Academic Essay

Candide Essay--1st Quarter 2014

Voltaires criticisms of 18th century Europe were extensive. Readers of Candide organize
his criticisms into the following themes (or categories):

religious hypocrisy and conflict
snobby behavior of the nobility
immorality of slavery
treatment of women
foolishness of war

In addition, since Voltaire was convinced that he was right about everything, he made fun of
other philosophers that he disagreed with. Voltaire made fun of those he considered overly
positive and those he considered overly negative.

For your first quarter essay, you will write a critical analysis of the novel, Candide. In your
essay, you have two options:

1. Choose three of Voltaires themes and explain how Voltaire uses these themes to
criticize life in 18th century Europe.

In learning to write academic essays, the most important things are the use of a good
thesis, topic sentences and appropriate evidence. Below, you will see how to structure a
basic thesis.

Example 1: In the novel Candide, Voltaire uses the themes of religious conflict, treatment of
women and the futility of war to expose Europes many problems in the 18th century.

How to Write the Essay: Step by Step:

Paragraph 1: You will write this thesis in the first paragraph of your essay as the last
sentence. Your introductory paragraph should include the century the book takes place, the
author and the general description of the time period- which in this case is the
Enlightenment. You should finish your introductory paragraph with the thesis statement.

Paragraph 2,3,4: The next section of your essay includes 3 body paragraphs. Each
paragraph begins with a topic sentence. A topic sentence points out the main argument of
the essay and one of the three topics within your thesis. After the topic sentence comes 1-2
sentences describing that topic. Next the focus is on three pieces of evidence. Each piece
of evidence must have a page number cited (p. 10). use this format. After each piece of
evidence be sure to EXPLAIN or analyze how that piece of evidence proves your topic
sentence. The last sentence of the paragraph which sums up your point.
More on Evidence: Each body paragraph needs to use 3 pieces of evidence. Evidence for
this essay will include things that occur in Candide. Your examples should illustrate how
Voltaire is doing what you say he is doing in your thesis sentence. Quotes are not to be
used. Page numbers must always be used. To use a page number cite as follows (p. 9).
You should explain your examples in your own words. Then, connect each example back to
the thesis. This is how a writer proves their argument. Each body paragraph should contain
three examples of a theme. That means that in the entire essay, there will be a total of 9
examples.

The best essays go beyond the use of evidence to include analysis. Analysis is when a
writer does a good job of drawing deeper connections between their evidence and their
thesis. When analysis is done right, the writer is using original ideas in their essay.

Paragraph 5: The last paragraph of your essay is the conclusion. Conclusions should
restate the thesis, preferably not using the exact same words. Then, the conclusion should
summarize what Voltaire was trying to accomplish by writing Candide. In the conclusion
you should always make a connection to today. How has the world changed since the
writing of this essay? A conclusion should be about 5- 6 sentences long.

As a final note be sure to read the rubric. It is posted for a reason- you know exactly how
each point will be given or lost. Foolish errors can be costly!

Rules for Good Writing:

NEVER use the following words in an essay: I, you, we, us, me, my. Use these
instead: they, his, her (3rd person). In an academic essay, you are presenting an
argument, not an opinion. State your argument as fact, NEVER say: In my opinion.
Short, clear sentences are better than long sentences with grammar errors.
Do not use any slang or texting terms.
Check your spelling. You will lose one point PER spelling error. There is absolutely
no excuse for having a spelling error on an essay that you have had weeks to edit
and spell check. DO NOT TRUST SPELL CHECK!
Plagiarism is a violation of school policy and the honor code. Even if you change one
or two words from someone elses work, you are still plagiarizing! Be sure that the
ideas in your paper are entirely your own!