ESSAY WRITING

Essay:

An essay is a piece of writing that is written to convince someone of something or to simply

inform the reader about a particular topic. In order for the reader to be convinced or adequately
informed, the essay must include several important components to make it flow in a logical way. The
main parts (or sections) to an essay are the introduction, body, and conclusion. In a standard short
essay, five paragraphs can provide the reader with enough information in a short amount of space. For
a research paper or dissertation, however, it is essential that more than five paragraphs are present in
order not to overwhelm the reader with too much information in one paragraph.

The Essay as Literary Genre:

The word essay derives from the French infinitive essayer, ‘to try’ or ‘to attempt’. The first
author to describe his works as essays was the Frenchman Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592). Inspired
in particular by the works of Plutarch, a translation of whose Oeuvres Morales (Moral works) into
French had just been published by Jacques Amyot, Montaigne began to compose his essays in 1572;
the first edition, entitled Essais, was published in two volumes in 1580. For the rest of his life he
continued revising previously published essays and composing new ones. Francis Bacon’s essays,
published in book form in 1597, 1612, and 1625, were the first works in English that described
themselves as essays.

Ben Jonson first used the word essayist in English in 1609, according to the Oxford English
Dictionary. Notable essayists are legion. They include Virginia Woolf, Voltaire, Adrienne Rich,
Alamgir Hashmi, Joan Didion, Susan Sontag, Natalia Ginzburg, Sara Suleri, Annie Dillard, Joseph
Addison, Richard Steele, Charles Lamb, Leo Tolstoy, William Hazlitt, Thomas Babington Macaulay,
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley, Walter Bagehot,
George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, John D’Agata, Gore Vidal, Marguerite Yourcenar, J.M.
Coetzee, Gaston Waringhien and E.B. White. It is very difficult to define the genre into which essays
fall.

Tips for writing a Good Essay:

It is 5 step process:

1. Develop a topic: by understanding the assignment requirements, exploring background

information, and forming a work

2. Conduct research using scholarly sources: taking critical notes and reading closely

3. Create a statement : It is an outline of arguments that will form the essay

1
 4. Write the essay and integrate research evidence: with properly formatted citations and
references

5. Edit, review and revise: your outline, and writing for grammatical errors and common
structural and stylistic mistakes

Components of Essay:

There are three parts of essay

• Introduction

• Middle section

• Conclusion

Introduction:

• Must contain an attention grabber for the reader or at least make the essay sound interesting,
may begin with a quote about the particular topic.

• Ensure that the intro moves from the general to the specific in regards to the topic.

• Provides the reader with a “road map” of the essay in a logical order

• At the end there should be what is called a thesis statement, arguably the most important
component of the intro

• The thesis statement states the aim of the paper and may give insight into the author’s
examples and evidence

Body:

• Includes the evidence and support of the paper in addition to the author’s ideas

• Paragraphs must include a topic sentence which relates the discussion back to the thesis
statement

 Logical Ordering of Ideas:

• Three types of order

1. Chronological order---order of time, good for narratives

1. Spatial order-good for descriptions of locations; top to bottom, e.g.
2. Emphatic order-least important to most important; most common for college writing

• Ensure that transition sentences are present to create a good flow to the essay

2
 • Include substantial examples and evidence to support your argument and remember to cite,
cite, cite!

• Make sure each example is relevant to your particular topic

Conclusion:

• This section should wrap all of your arguments and points

• Should restate the main arguments in a simplified manner

• Ensure that the reader is left with something to think about, particularly if it is an
argumentative essay

Always remember to allow time to rewrite the first draft of your essay and, then, to proofread it before
turning it in. For help, visit the Writing Center!

Types of Essay:

1. Narrative Essay
2. Descriptive Essay
3. Expository Essay
4. Persuasive Essay
5. Argumentative Essay
6. Analytical Essay
7. Comparison and Contrast Essay
8. Cause and Effect Essay
9. Critical Essay
10. Process Essay
11. Synthesis Essay
12. Explicatory Essay
13. Rhetorical Analysis Essay
14. Review Essay
15. Simple Essay
16. Research Essay
Argumentative Essays:

Are you opinionated? Good! The argumentative essay explains your opinions and the reasons
why you believe they’re right. You can even look at some possible counter-arguments and why you
believe they’re wrong. Ultimately, you’re trying to get your reader to agree with you, so the more facts
you can present to support your points, the better.

3
Process of Writing Essay:

 Pick a topic
 Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas.
 Write your thesis statement.
 Write the Introduction.
 Write the body.
 Write the conclusion.
 Add the finishing touches.
 Review
Pick a topic:

You may have your topic assigned, or you may be given free rein to write on the subject of
your choice. If you are given the topic, you should think about the type of paper that you want to
produce. Should it be a general overview of the subject or a specific analysis? Narrow your focus if
necessary.

If you have not been assigned a topic, you have a little more work to do. However, this
opportunity also gives you the advantage to choose a subject that is interesting or relevant to you.
First, define your purpose. Is your essay to inform or persuade?

Once you have determined the purpose, you will need to do some research on topics that you
find intriguing.

Prepare an outline:

If you prefer to create an outline, write your topic at the top of the page. From there, begin to
list your main ideas, leaving space under each one. In this space, make sure to list other smaller ideas
that relate to each main idea. Doing this will allow you to see connections and will help you to write a
more organized essay.

Write your Thesis statement:

Now that you have chosen a topic and sorted your ideas into relevant categories, you must
create a thesis statement. Your thesis statement tells the reader the point of your essay. Look at your
outline or diagram. What are the main ideas?

Your thesis statement will have two parts. The first part states the topic, and the second part
states the point of the essay.

4
 For instance, if you were writing about Bill Clinton and his impact on the United States, an
appropriate thesis statement would be, “Bill Clinton has impacted the future of our country through his
two consecutive terms as United States President.”

Another example of a thesis statement is this one for the “Winning Characteristics”
Scholarship essay: “During my high school career, I have exhibited several of the “Winning
Characteristics,” including Communication Skills, Leadership Skills and Organization Skills, through
my involvement in Student Government, National Honor Society, and a part-time job at Macy’s
Department Store.”

Write the introduction:

Now that you have developed your thesis and the overall body of your essay, you must write
an introduction. The introduction should attract the reader’s attention and show the focus of your
essay.

Begin with an attention grabber. You can use shocking information, dialogue, a story, a quote,
or a simple summary of your topic.

Whichever angle you choose, make sure that it ties in with your thesis statement, which will be
included as the last sentence of your introduction

Write the body:

The body of your essay argues, explains or describes your topic. Each main idea that you wrote
in your diagram or outline will become a separate section within the body of your essay.

Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure. Begin by writing one of your main
ideas as the introductory sentence.

Next, write each of your supporting ideas in sentence format, but leave three or four lines in
between each point to come back and give detailed examples to back up your position. Fill in these
spaces with relative information that will help link smaller ideas together.

Write the conclusion:

The conclusion brings closure of the topic and sums up your overall ideas while providing a
final perspective on your topic. Your conclusion should consist of three to five strong sentences.
Simply review your main points and provide reinforcement of your thesis.

Add the finishing touches:

After writing your conclusion, you might think that you have completed your essay. Wrong.
Before you consider this a finished work, you must pay attention to all the small details.
5
 Check the order of your paragraphs. Your strongest points should be the first and last
paragraphs within the body, with the others falling in the middle. Also, make sure that your paragraph
order makes sense.

If your essay is describing a process, such as how to make a great chocolate cake, make sure
that your paragraphs fall in the correct order.

Review the instructions for your essay, if applicable. Many teachers and scholarship forms
follow different formats, and you must double check instructions to ensure that your essay is in the
desired format.

Review:

Finally, review what you have written. Reread your paper and check to see if it makes sense.
Make sure that sentence flow is smooth and add phrases to help connect thoughts or ideas. Check your
essay for grammar and spelling mistakes.

POINTS TO REMEMBER:

Essays always:

 have a specific structure, such as beginning with an introduction and ending with a conclusion.
 include a thesis statement and support for the thesis.
 are organized into individual paragraphs.
 If a student isn’t trained in these three skills, he or she likely won’t even know how to start an
essay, much less how to complete one.

Skill of Organizing the Essay:

When a student isn’t even sure how to start an essay, that usually means they haven’t learned
the parts of an essay or the basics of how essays are organized. The goal of most middle and high
school essay writing courses is to teach students to be able to organize their ideas into a five-paragraph
essay structure.

The first paragraph introduces the topic and includes the thesis for the report. The middle
paragraphs provide supporting evidence for the thesis, and the final paragraph ties everything up with
a summary of the main idea. If a student understands the components of an essay, he or she will be
well on their way to tackling almost any essay writing assignment.

Skill of Prewriting:

Interestingly, with essay writing, the preparation a student does before drafting the actual essay
is every bit as important as the words themselves. If you’ve ever been suddenly called to speak to a
6
crowd without the chance to compose your thoughts, then you understand why preparation is key to
clear communication.

Before you type the first word of any essay, make sure that you know the basics of:

 choosing a topic (or narrowing down an assigned topic)

 brainstorming all they currently know about that topic
 researching resources to discover new things about the topic
 making an outline of the main points the essay will cover (introduction, supporting evidence,
conclusion)

The other crucial part of the prewriting stage is formulating a thesis statement. The thesis controls the
direction of the whole essay and helps the reader understand the information that leads to the
conclusion.

THE SKILL OF PARAGRAPH WRITING

Even if a student is a master at preparing their thoughts and organizing them into a structure,
he or she can still struggle with drafting an essay if there are gaps in the student’s paragraph writing
skills. A clear, well-written paragraph is more than just two or three sentences grouped together.

It actually has four essential elements that need to be included:

 unity
 order
 coherence
 completeness

STRUCTURE OF THE ESSAY

The opening of the essay needs to let the reader know the essence of what you will be
describing and your point of view.

The body of the story needs to give the reader a very clear idea of what happened and how you
(the author) feel about that. The story can be told chronologically or the facts may be grouped by
importance or type.

The final paragraph needs to wrap up and state the point of the story, whether it is a lesson, an
idea, or just a learning experience.

WRITING ESSAY:

7
  Writing a good narrative essay requires you to include interesting information in an engaging
way. Here are some tips:

 Record yourself telling the story. That will help your organize your story and make the writing
flow.

 Include anecdotes and dialogue in the essay.

 Use transitory words to connect sentences like: therefore, however, or for example.

 Vary the structure of your sentences to make the writing more interesting. Try adding some
compound, complex, or interrogative sentences.

 Make the words lively, descriptive, exciting, active, emotional, and precise.

WRITING INTRODUCTION OF THE ESSAY

 Hook your reader

 Give background information

 Present your thesis statement

 Map your essay’s structure

 Check and revise

Step 1: Hook your reader

 Your first sentence sets the tone for the whole essay, so spend some time on writing an
effective hook.

 Avoid long, dense sentences—start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark
your reader’s curiosity.

 The hook should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of the topic you’re writing
about and why it’s interesting. Avoid overly broad claims or plain statements of fact.

Examples:

 Braille was an extremely important invention. (poor)

 The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability. (strong)

The first sentence is a dry fact; the second sentence is more interesting, making a bold claim about
exactly why the topic is important.

8
  The internet is defined as “a global computer network providing a variety of information and
communication facilities.” (poor)

 The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education.
(strong)

Avoid using a dictionary definition as your hook, especially if it’s an obvious term that everyone
knows. The improved example here is still broad, but it gives us a much clearer sense of what the
essay will be about.

 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a famous book from the nineteenth century. (poor)

 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of
scientific advancement. (strong)

Instead of just stating a fact that the reader already knows, the improved hook here tells us about the
mainstream interpretation of the book, implying that this essay will offer a different interpretation.

Step 2: Give background information

Next, give your reader the context they need to understand your topic and argument. Depending on the
subject of your essay, this might include:

 Historical, geographical, or social context

 An outline of the debate you’re addressing

 A summary of relevant theories or research about the topic

 Definitions of key terms

The information here should be broad but clearly focused and relevant to your argument.

Don’t give too much detail—you can mention points that you will return to later, but save your
evidence and interpretation for the main body of the essay.

Example: Background information

The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis
Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general,
blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant
barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods
based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use.

Step 3: Present your thesis statement

9
  Now it’s time to narrow your focus and show exactly what you want to say about the topic.
This is your thesis statement—a sentence or two that sums up your overall argument.

 This is the most important part of your introduction. A good thesis isn’t just a statement of
fact, but a claim that requires evidence and explanation.

 The goal is to clearly convey your own position in a debate or your central point about a topic.
It is :

 your specific topic

 your main point about that topic

 the points of discussion you will include in your paper

 Your thesis should be clear, and easy to find. Most often, it is the last sentence of the
introduction.

Example:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking
new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status
of blindness.

Step 4: Map your essay’s structure

Particularly in longer essays, it’s helpful to end the introduction by signposting what will be
covered in each part. Keep it concise and give your reader a clear sense of the direction your argument
will take.

Example: Signposting

This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It
then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind
education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social
and cultural lives.

Step 5: Check and revise

 As you research and write, your argument might change focus or direction as you learn more.

 For this reason, it’s often a good idea to wait until later in the writing process before you write
the introduction paragraph—it can even be the very last thing you write.

10
  When you’ve finished writing the essay body and conclusion, you should return to the
introduction and check that it matches the content of the essay.

 It’s especially important to make sure your thesis statement accurately represents what you do
in the essay. If your argument has gone in a different direction than planned, tweak your thesis
statement to match what you actually say.

 You can use the checklist below to make sure your introduction does everything it’s supposed
to.

CHECKLIST: ESSAY INTRODUCTION

 My first sentence is engaging and relevant.

 I have introduced the topic with necessary background information.

 I have defined any important terms.

 My thesis statement clearly presents my main point or argument.

 Everything in the introduction is relevant to the main body of the essay.

EXAMPLE 1 OF INTRODUCTION

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The
use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For
many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially
harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are
outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and
accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives;
and a highly flexible learning environment.

WRITING CONCLUSION

A conclusion works to remind your reader of the main points of your paper and summarizes
what you want your reader to “take away” from your discussion. Consider these tips when writing
your conclusion:

Begin with your rephrased thesis statement to remind your reader of the point of your paper.

Summarize the points you made in your paper and show how they support your argument; tie
all the pieces of your paper together.

11
 Tell your reader what the significance of your argument might be. Why is the discussion
important? Do you want your reader to think differently, question something, or perform some action?
Make a recommendation of what your reader should "do" with the information you just gave them, or
share the importance of the topic.

12