Essay Plan

Student’s Name

Course/ Section

Essay Plan

1) A book review of Simon Winchester’s book The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. The focus is mainly on the eighth chapter titled From Take to Turn Down.

2) ENGL class peers and the professor. Expectations are for varied use of diction (unusual words should be glossed parenthetically) and syntax, clear interpretations with textual examples supplemented with a dissection of the examples, showing how they relate to the thesis and topic sentence. MLA style will be followed for margins, pagination, title, Works Cited, parenthetical in-text citations, and quotations.

3) Winchester makes good his reputation in this book and replicates a little of an earlier publication, The Professor and the Madman, to write an ageless non-fictional tribute to the OED.

4) Evaluative

5) a)

1. i) In this section, the author of the book, the title of the book, and its publication house is introduced. It also starts the reference to the analysis of the eighth chapter done later on in the essay.
2. ii) A referral is made to the piece being about Simon Winchester and his book The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary.

iii) Winchester makes good his reputation in this book and replicates a little of an earlier publication, The Professor and the Madman, to write an ageless non-fictional tribute to the OED.

6) a) Body paragraph 1

1. i) An introduction to the graphics in the book, the writing style used by James Murray, and the people involved in the OED.
2. ii) Examples of the anecdotes used by James Murray in his book are in (Winchester, 15-17).
3. b) Body paragraph 2
4. i) A summary of Winchester’s view of the (OED) changes has gone through the years and an introduction to its editor, Sir Murray.
5. ii) There is a direct reference made to the pictorial representations of the OED’s first nine voluminous publications. (Winchester 225-226).
6. c) Body paragraph 3
7. i) This paragraph focuses more on the eighth chapter, which has Sir Murray as its reigning subject.
8. ii) The life of Sir Murray, the royal declaration of the OED, and the Goldsmith’s contribution are outlined (Winchester, 219).
9. c) In conclusion, Winchester’s The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford

English Dictionary has a chronological sequence of events collected from historical memoirs, which has a slight resemblance to Winchester’s 1998 book The Professor and the Madman but with less sensationalism.

1. ii) From start to finish, Simon Winchester captivates the readers with pictures and words of colorful events at the turn of the twentieth century. Most importantly, he gives the pivotal role played by Sir Murray in starting the first edition of the OED.

PEER REVIEW SHEET

Name of Student and Section Number: Writer:

Name of Student and Section Number: Peer Editor:

1) a) Yes

1. b) i) Yes ii) Yes
2. c) Yes
3. d) Simon Winchester wrote The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford

English Dictionary with a similar interesting narration as his other books.

1. e) Yes

2) a) Yes

1. b) Yes
2. c) Yes

3) a) A brief introduction to the author, his book, publishing house, and the number of pages.

1. b) Winchester’s writing style, a brief background of the book, and a summary of the book’s first chapters.
2. c) An introduction to the book’s editors and the changes in the 10^th edition of the OED.
3. d) An analysis of chapter eight is done in this part.

4) Yes

5) a) Subtopic- an introduction into Simon Winchester and his book.

Evidence- the book’s publishing company and the genre it falls.

Explanation- it is vital for the reader to understand the level of accreditations given to Simon Winchester.

1. b) Subtopic- the writing styles of Simon Winchester is analyzed here.

Evidence- there are examples of the shift in tones from humor and seriousness in this book.

Explanation- it is essential for the reader to understand the alignment of Winchester to the book.

1. c) Subtopic- an introduction to the people who worked on the OED.

Evidence- there is a list of names and a summary of their roles.

Explanation- it forms a relationship with Winchester’s statement that a community made the OED.

1. d) Subtopic- an analysis into chapter eight of the book: From Take to Turn-Down.

Evidence- several excerpts from this chapter are explained here.

Explanation- it is essential as chapter eight was the main focus of this essay.

6) a) Yes

1. b) Yes
2. c) Yes

7) Put an X on the first paragraph and request for a further explanation of The Professor

and the Madman.