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You're welcome.

I would suggest that a hotdog is actually just the meat-based product, without the bread. :)

Thanks!

Thanks for checking out the vid! I hope you found it helpful. :)

This comment made me literally laugh aloud. 😂

Glad you liked it. I do have some updated ones with more resources, so you should consider checking them out. :)

your videos are so underrated

Thanks for doing so. I'm in the process of redoing this video right now, so they'll have much flashier ones to see in the near future.

@@GardenofEnglish no prob

If you'd be willing to shoot me an email at gardenofenglish.timm@gmail.com , I'll try to work into my next lang video (which will probably be out in mid December)

The short answer is "yes." Commentary is best developed by including cause-and-effect language. (Because, consequently, while, since, so that, this, therefore, furthermore, etc.)

Oh gee! I hope this isn't a greeting like the Twilight Zone episode called "To Serve Man"! If it is, I'm cooked! (If you haven't watched it, you should. :) )

I'm thrilled to hear it!

Very true! I need to make some more vides covering colons, parentheses, and dashes. Your comment was a reminder for me!

I'm honored that you'd let the GOE support your craft. Let me know how using them goes and if anything should be changed.

During a timed writing, you have limited time to actually....well... write. Since the scoring scale is 1 point for the thesis, up to 4 points for evidence and commentary, and 1 point for sophistication, it's best to invest your time in the points that will be easiest for you to earn and/or get you the most bang for your buck; these would be your thesis points and your evidence and commentary points. If you get the thesis point and 4/4 in the evidence and commentary row, you will have earned 5/6 points for that individual essay. Scoring 5/6 points on all of your essays will put you in excellent position to earn a qualifying score on your exam (and most likely a 4 or 5 (depending on how you do on the MC)). Anyway, what this means is that if you invest lets say, even 4 minutes, in writing a full intro, you have now taken away 4 minutes from writing your evidence and commentary later. Since there's no "well-developed-intro point," it makes sense to me to invest the time you'd spend developing your web and background for your intro (you know, the parts that show up before the thesis) into getting right into your thesis (yup, indent one sentence to function as the intro paragraph) and your body paragraphs. If you really want to spend time writing a paragraph that potentially isn't going to help maximize your score points on exam day, I'd recommend writing a killer conclusion. It's the last thing your reader will see, and if it's compelling and correlates really well with the ideas of your essay, it could even be sophisticated. Since readers spend on average 2-4 minutes with a paper, they often forget the intro paragraph by the time they are even done with it, but if you leave something compelling at the end, it absolutely cannot be ignored and may even earn you the sophistication point (assuming it correlates with what precedes it). All of this, of course, doesn't mean that you shouldn't know how to write intro paragraphs, or that you can't (or shouldn't) write them on exam day. You need to know how to write intros for college and beyond. And, on exam day, I tell my students to skip 4 lines before their thesis statements so they can go back and add intros if they have a few minutes left before time is up. The thesis as an intro is a suggestion, not dogma. My students have been doing such for 14 years and they consistently score well on the exam, and all go to college strong writers. Yes, I do teach them to write full intro paragraphs, but there's no actual need to have them on exam day to score well. The choice to write a full intro is yours, and if you feel better doing so, or if your teacher expects it, then do what you're told, as I have no doubt your teacher only wants what's best for you. All of this is just my two cents. :) Judge all typos harshly as this response was written in haste and was not proofread.

​@@GardenofEnglish I know you said all of this is "your two cents," but I want every cent you have! I guess I never thought of the conclusion paragraph that way. So even if I didn't have time to go add on to my intro paragraph, I should still be in the clear (assuming my thesis complies with the guidelines)? I am looking forward to developing my writing skills with your videos this year. My math-centered brain is actually excited about English for once. 😂

@@DreadOG-Mose , You can honestly score a 1-4-1 (thesis, evidence and commentary, sophistication) with a thesis and two body paragraphs, but it would be hard. I recommend a minimum of a thesis, two body paragraphs (but shoot for 3) and a well-executed conclusion. I am much more of a math person (astrophysics, actually) than English person, so perhaps that's why some of my stuff jives...I try to teach English like math.

My poetry videos actually look at a sonnet (Ozymandias). I have already produced EVERY video in the poetry playlist. But, with my students, I let them know that the thesis and topic sentence videos for this question (Q3) work the same way as poetry well. I hope that you own your in-class essay, but if you don't get the mark you're hoping for, don't be discouraged; it's just a number. Keep working hard and the numbers will come. Learning is always a process (and from my experience, one that involves plenty of struggle (but it's all worth it)).

@@GardenofEnglish Mr Freitas, my in-class write finished today and my teacher returned my work. I got an A-!! This is a huge improvement from my consistent B minuses on my past 3 essays. I watched all of your videos about Ozymandias as well as this one and analyzed my past mistakes. All that hard work was worth it!

@@ericdoubleyou1 , Thrilled to hear of your determination and metacognitive approach to learning! Way to go! :)

Yes, but only when working in the MC section of the test. Once you fully submit and then shift to writing the essays, you won't be able to go back. But, as longas you are in the MC interface, you'll be good.

@@an9ella718, thanks for letting the GOE assist you!

I hope you find assistance that will help! ☺️

Yes!

@johngabriellemacadini4130, if you're willing to type out the methods that you use to identify theme, I'll do may best make a video about how to do it that way, too. <--serious offer here. In fact, I'd even jump on a Zoom call and record it so you can explain how to do it for those "who are straight to the point." If there is a better, easier way, I'm happy to explore it. Most of the students I work with really struggle with identifying and articulating theme and need detailed steps so they can help grasp the abstractions that thematic ideas and insights are (especially when they are derived from concrete elements and moments in the texts they are reading). What's in the video has been the most effective way I've been able to show my students over the past 16 years. But, once again, let me know your less-complicated method that will help all students identify and articulate the complexity of theme, and I'll happily make a video! Thanks for adding to the conversation; I look forward to your contribution so we can provide students around the globe together with well-explained methods to help with their learning and success in their literature classes. :)

@@GardenofEnglish my AP lit teacher taught me the 3 by 3 method, 3 sentence Beginning middle and end 3 words that describe those Literal 3 x 3 Thematic 3 x 3

@@GardenofEnglish also I am mentioning myself in being a straight to the point person😅, For me I find it hard to find the sophisticated theme that my teacher wanted. That is why I am searching for other methods besides the 3 by 3 method. Thanks for the Vid by the way✌️

​@@johngabriellemacadini4130, I wasn't being a wise-guy. Wanna make a 3x3 vid?

@@GardenofEnglishNo thanks. I'm not confident with my skills yet😔, that's why I'm researching other methods because there will be an assessment with themes tomorrow and answers will be solely on essay writing.

What the sigma? 😂

@@jame9449 , I must be some sort of scumbox! :) When removing text from a quote, you don't want to use parentheses; rather you would use brackets. Also, if I don't remove any words in a quote when I integrate the text into own my sentence, I won't have to use the brackets to mark anything.

I hope your paragraph rocks!

Thrilled you enjoyed it; I hope it helps throughout the year!

Glad you find the content helpful!

Yes. But, if you fill in the templates without providing sentence variation and/or synonyms, some people may not award it. On the whole, though, if you fill things in well, you'll be in great shape.

I’m glad I’m not the only one!

@@Intrepiddabbler, my wife does all my editing; so she's killin' it!

That’s intense! If I did drink coffee, I bet it would be black as well. ☕️

🤣 🤣 🤣

😂

My wife loves her coffee and started drinking instant and likes it a lot, so maybe give that a try!

True!

My favorite Polar Seltzer is the Lemon Cola flavor, but they only sell it at Polar Park! 🤪 So it’s a treat whenever we can get to the WooSox.

Sounds good! You get more sleep than me, I’m jealous!

With honey 🍯 too or just straight?

Love it