What is Essay?

An essay is a group of paragraphs written about single topic and a central main idea. It must have at least three paragraphs, but a five paragraphs essay is a common length for academic writing. (Zemach, 2005:56)

The Structure of an Essay

Introduction: begins with a general statement, than narrows to the point (thesis statement)

Body: blocks of organized paragraph which explain, define, clarify, and ilustrate the points made in thesis.

Conclusion: restatement or summary of the main points; final comment.

Structure of a Paragraph VS Structure of an Essay

Paragraph

Topic Sentence

a. Supportb. Supportc. Support

Concluding Sentece

General Statement

Thesis Statement

Topic Sentence

a. Supportb. Supportc. Support

Concluding Sentece

Topic Sentence

a. Supportb. Supportc. Support

Concluding Sentece

Topic Sentence

a. Supportb. Supportc. Support

Concluding Sentece

Restatement or summary of the main points

Essay1. Introduction

2. Body

3. Conclusion

How to write an essay?

Writing Process

Pre-writing• Choose a topic• Gather ideas• Organise

Drafting• Write

Reviewing and Revising• Review structure

and content

Rewriting• Review structure

and content• Proofread• Make final

corrections

How to Write an Essay?

Pre-writing• Deciding on a Topic• Decide the Title • Determine the Thesis Statement• Outlining

Deciding on a Topic

Decide the topic that is not too narrow (limited/ brief). A narrow topic will not have enough idea to write about.

Decide the topic that is not to broad (general). A broad topic will have too many ideas to be covered in single essay.

Decide on a topic which is up-to-date.

Deciding on a TopicNarrowing the Topic

E N V I R O N M E N TP O L L U T I O N

OCEAN POLLUTIONO I L S P I L L SEFFECTS ON SEA LIFE

General

Specific

Very Specific

Deciding on a TopicAbstract and Concrete Topic

The more abstract your topic is, the more difficult it is to support, and the more difficult it is to keep your audience’s interest. For that reason abstract topics are usually not as sucessful as concrete topic

Deciding on a TopicAbstract and Concrete Topic

Examples of abstract topics that difficult to support:1. Patriotism2. How to Judge Bad Art3. Relationship: Love and Hate

Deciding on a TopicAbstract and Concrete Topic

Examples of concrete topics that even more sucessful:1. Four Types of Students 2. Getting Married vs Staying Single3. How to Install Computer on the Car.

Deciding on a TopicAbstract and Concrete Topic

Exercise:Make a narrow topic from these general topics:1. School2. Friends3. My Country

Decide the Title

The purpose of the title are to attract the reader, to give the reader an idea of what the essay about, and provide focus for the essay.

Decide the Title

Title should be brief, clear, concise, and precise. Examples:

a. Your Prayers Never Change God’s Decisionsb. The Root of Religious Conflicts in Indonesia

A title must be interesting to attract the readers. Examples:

a. Students Hate Punctual Teachers (controversial)

b. Why Are Indonesians Not Perfect in English? (arouses curiousity)

Decide the Title

Title must be active and powerful. Examples: a. Smoking May Cause Cancer (not powerful) b. Smoking Cause Cancer (powerful)

It can be phrase or a group of phrase, not a complete sentence. However, some titles are in the form of questions and must be ended by question mark.

Examples: a. TV Programs Spoil Children b. Should Abortion in Indonesia be Legalized?

Decide the Title

The initials of words are written in capital letter, or all letters may be in capitals.

Examples:a. CORRUPTION HABITS IN OUR COUNTRYb. Raising Students’ Gender Awarness

through the Use of Films in Speaking Class

It is relevant with the content of the essay.

Thesis Statement

• The thesis statement tells the main idea of the whole essay.

• The thesis should be strong and clear; it should contain no ambiguities.

• The thesis should come at the beginning of the essay, ussually at the end of the introductory paragraph.

• The thesis sentence must not be a simple statement of fact that requires no elaboration.

Thesis Statement

• The thesis must not be expressed as a question. The answer to the question is the thesis statement.

• The thesis will contain controlling ideas that will be used in the topic sentences of the body paragraphs of the essay.

Example: A successful soccer coach has four qualities.

• The thesis may contain an opinion or a judgement that can be explained, clarified, and illustrated in the body paragraphs of the essay.

Outlining

What is an outline?o A method of organizing material that shows the

order of the topics in essays. (Reid, 1982:55)

o A list of the information you will put in your essay. (Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:63)

The purpose of an outline?(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:63)

o Show you what to write before you actually begin writing.

o Help make your essay well organised and clearly focused.

o Keep you from forgetting any important points.

Writing outline?(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:64)

o Use Roman numerals (I,II,III,IV,V, etc.) for essays main ideas.

I. Introduction II. First main idea III. Second main idea IV. Third main idea V. Conclusion o Fill in more information for the paragraphs in the main

body by using capital Roman letters (A,B,C, etc.) I. Introduction II. First main idea A. First supporting point B. Second supporting point ... and so on

Writing outline?(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:64)

o Use Arabic numerals (1,2,3, etc.) to give details for your supporting points.

I. Introduction II. First main idea A. First supporting point 1. First detail 2. Second detail B. Second supporting points 1. First detail 2. Second detail ... and so on.

Writing outline?(Reid, 1982:56)

Ussualy an essay outline concists of words and phrases; sometimes it consists of complete sentence. While writing your outline for an essay, try to keep the words and phrases parallel.

An example of an outline?(Oshima and Hogue, 1991:108)

Modern TechnologyI. Introduction Thesis statement: The most recent significant discoveries to benefit humankind in modern times are in the fields of television and computer technology.II. Body A. The most popular form of instant communication all over the world is television. 1. Witnessing important events a. Destruction of Berlin Wall b. Launching of spacecraft 2. Long-distance medicine by two-way video a. Patient and doctors conferences b. Special equipment to monitor patient B. In the last few decades, computer technology has made tremendous progress in the world of communication to benefit humankind. 1. Long-distance communication 2. Information superhighway 3. Global computer networkIII. Conclusion To conclude, scientific research and experiments have certainly opened the doors to faster, more easily accesible information worldwide on television and the computer. Many of these discoveries have changed our lives for better and have made the peoples of the world closer.

Practice!

Topic: Harmful Effects of SmokingI. Introduction Thesis statement: ...II. Body A. ... 1. ... 2. ... B. ... C. ...III. Conclusion