Writing and Punctuation / Organising your writing / Organising an essay 1 - native Americans

O rganising an academic essay

Introduction

This often includes:

• Background information about the topic / theme

• A historical perspective to the topic / theme

• Why it is an important topic to discuss

• Definitions of the theme

• A thesis statement

Thesis statement

• The thesis statement gives the reader a ‘road map’ of what the essay will be about.

• It may indicate the pattern of organisation of the essay or list subdivisions of the essay.

• It is usually the last sentence of the introduction.

Topic sentences

• Topic sentences introduce the theme of the paragraph to make it easy for the reader to follow.

• It is usually the first sentence of a paragraph.

Paragraphs

• Each paragraph contains a central idea, with details, examples and supporting evidence (referenced)

Conclusion

• The conclusion makes a logical conclusion from what you have already said.

• Sometimes it is good to make some kind of conclusions about what the implications in the future are for your topic

Native American Influences on Modern U.S. Culture¹

W hen the first Europeans came to the North American continent, they encountered the completely new cultures of the Native American people of North America. North Americans, who had highly developed cultures in many respects, must have been as curious about the strange European manners and customs as the Europeans were curious about them. As always happens when two of more cultures come into contact, there was a cultural exchange. Native Americans adopted some of the Europeans’ ways, and the Europeans adopted some of their ways. As a result, Native Americans have made many valuable contributions to modern U.S. culture, particularly in the areas of language, art and food,.

F irst of all, native Americans left a permanent mark on the English language. The early English-speaking settlers borrowed from several different Native American language words for places in this new land. All across the country are cities, towns, rivers, and states with native American names. For example, the states of Delaware, Iowa, Illinois and Alabama are named after native American tribes, as are the cities of Chicago, Miami and Spokane (MacFarlane 2007). In addition to place names, English adopted the words for animals and plants found in the Americas from various Native American languages. Chipmunk, moose, raccoon, skunk and squash are just a few examples.

T he area of art also had a great influence on the new settlers. Wool rungs woven by women of the Navajo tribe in Arizona and New Mexico are highly valued works of art in the United States. Native American jewellery made from silver and turquoise is also very popular and very expensive., Native crafts such as pottery, leather products and beadwork can be found in many homes, especially in the western and south western regions of the United sates. As Roberts (2003, p21) states, “native art and handicrafts are a treasured part of US culture”.

In addition to language and art, agriculture is another area in which native Americans had a great and lasting influence on the people who arrived from Europe, Africa and Asia. Being skilled farmers, the Native Americans of North America taught the newcomers many things about farming techniques and crops such as irrigation methods and crop rotation. Many of the foods people in the United States eat today were introduced to the Europeans by Native Americans. Brown (2007) points out, corn and chocolate, for example, were unknown in Europe, but are now staples in the US diet.

In conclusion, it can be seen from these few examples, the extent of native American influence on our language, our art forms and our eating habits. The people of the United States are deeply indebted to Native Americans for the contributions to US culture.

1 Adapted from:

Oshima, A. & Hogue, A. 2006 Writing Academic English Pearson

All references are fictitious