Essay Writing

Elements of the Essay

Elements of the Essay Purpose Tone Plan Personality of the writer Communications for a specific purpose Humor or satire Narration Style Subject Theme

What is an essay?

An essay is a piece of writing designed to affect its readers in a manner determined by its author. A good essay will tend to sway the reader toward the writer’s position on his/her subject.

Generally an essay is short The writer must keep the reader in

mind as he/she writes.

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The subject must be developed in such a way that the reader would have no trouble understanding it.

Essays can be classified in terms of whether they are descriptive, expository, narrative, or argumentative/ persuasive. Each of these can be classified as either informal or formal.

Formal verses Informal

Formal: deal with facts or objects (objective writing) themselves rather than with the thoughts and feelings of the writer. This type of essay usually deals with serious thoughts and ideas.

Informal or Familiar

This type of essay has many of the qualities of everyday conversation and usually shows us a great deal of the writer’s personality. Essays of this kind are usually subjective. This means the thoughts and feelings of the writer are usually more important than the objects he or she is describing.

Types of Essays

Magazine articles Book reviews Descriptions of the life and

personality of a famous person

Each type has specific characteristics

Types of Writing Narration: the key characteristic of a

narrative essay is that the essayist uses a story or anecdote to get across to the readers the point he /she is trying to make

Description: this essay is the one with which we are most familiar. In a descriptive essay the author’s main task is to give his/her reader a clear picture of a thing, event, or person rather than persuade the reader of the rightness of an idea or to tell a story

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Expository: are similar to descriptive essays, except that, where descriptive essays deal with things, expository essays present and explain facts or ideas. The author tries to be objective i.e. tries to deal with the facts or objects themselves rather than his or her own thoughts about the objects.

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Argumentative/persuasive: These are essays that seek to convince readers of a certain point. As its name suggests, in this kind of essay the author’s chief concern is to convince the readers that his or her opinions on a subject are the correct ones. Newspaper editorials are a good example of this type of essay.

Steps in essay Analysis Identify the type of

essay Identify writer purpose Create coherence

within and between paragraphs, “transition or linking”

State topic or transitional sentence

Identify mood Identify tone Examine use of

figurative language Identify audience Examine sentence

structure and purpose it serves

Identify point of view Discuss diction as it

relates to purpose What organizing

principle does the writer use?

How to write an Essay1. Narrowing your Topic: The

first step in writing an essay, is finding something to write about. Whether you are working from a list of assigned topics or selecting your own, try to find something that sparks your interest. Not only will working on the assignment be more stimulating, but your commitment will also help you write a more convincing essay.

2. Thesis Writing an essay involves choosing a

subject, developing a strong thesis statement, gathering evidence to support that statement, and organizing your thoughts into a logical outline of introduction, body and conclusion. One way to develop a thesis is to focus on a central issue or problem which the topic raises. Your answer to this question will be your thesis.

3.Brainstorming Write down everything about your

topic, no matter how bizarre or irrelevant.

An essay is organized into three distinct sections

1.The introduction: a good introduction arouses the interest of the audience, often through a strong or controversial statement, a provocative quotation, or some other technique.The introduction states the main idea (thesis) of the essay. It also provides a preview of the ideas discussed in the body of the essay.

2. The Body: A good thesis statement suggests the body of an essay will be developed. The following are patterns of organization that writer’s use in the body of an essay.

Patterns of organization Definition: The essay formally defines a key

term then clarifies and expands on that definition through exposition, examples and so on.

Comparison: The essay explores the similarities and differences between things

Cause and Effect: The essay considers reasons for events or behaviours, and the probable results. This type of essay will deal with questions such as” What is the cure for cancer?”, “Why should I go to university?” and so on.

Problem/ solution: The essay concisely states a problem, giving details that help the reader see how extensive and serious it is. Then solutions are laid out clearly and supported with facts, evidence and expert opinion. In the conclusion, the writer often recommends one solution, giving reasons for the choice.

3. The Conclusion: Endings like beginnings should be short and

to the point. A brief summary that reviews the main

points in appropriate in a long research paper, but should be avoided in a short essay.

The ending should naturally grow out of what precedes it. It should not add new information, but can present the writer’s final thoughts on the thesis.

Traits: The Writer’s Language

1. Conventions: describe how well you use grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization, and paragraphing to suit the form of writing. Conventions, along with how neatly you present your work, affect how easy it is for your audience to read your writing. By deliberately using different kinds of conventions style is created.

SENTENCE FLUENCY

2. Sentence Fluency: refers to how well you create sentences, using a variety of sentence types to develop style. Whether sentences are simple, compound or complex they should be clear and logical. When sentence fragments are used they should be on purpose to create specific effects. Use of dialogue should also suit the character.

VOICE

3. Voice: voice describes how well you communicate your feelings about the topic. The audience should be able to sense your personality through your writing. The subject should seem real to the audience.

CONTENT

4. Content: describes how well you establish a purpose and relate your ideas to that purpose. This requires that you know your subject really well and that you remain clear and focused on the subject and theme as you write. Be creative!

IDEAS

5. Ideas: the main idea should be easily determined by the reader. You should know your topic well and avoid generalities and common knowledge. The reader should learn something from your paper.

Three Important Components of StyleIn Writing The author’s choice of words and phrases

(word choice). This includes The language chosen by a writer which may be

formal, informal or slang. Use of idioms and colloquialism Figures of speech- use of simile, metaphor,

personification, hyperbole Imagery-picture making words that appeal to the

senses. This creates vivid description through use of adverbs, adjectives, figurative language.

Technical language- language of a profession or trade. This language is often understood within a select group.

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The author’s tone as expressed in the essay Through the point of view from which

the essay is written Through the mood created with words

and phrases Through use of voice as expressed in the

language of the essay Through a clearly defined purpose or

reason for writing.

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The author’s use of structure within a paragraph. A series of answers to questions Rhetorical questions asked only for effect- not

for information and not expecting an answer. Thought provoking.

Contrasting ideas Ideas revealed and explained A series of illustrations of one or more ideas.