A. INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY
WRITING IN GENERAL
Essay
writing may be viewed as a full length composition or as an expanded paragraph.
Because of its greater length, an essay can develop a broader argument than a
paragraph. It can also present more support. An essay gives a writer the space
to develop an argument fully. Thus, an essay is generally used to develop a
broad topic that cannot be discussed in one single paragraph.
An essay
which is also called a theme, paper, or composition is like a paragraph in many
ways. Both paragraphs and essays are purposeful, reader- centered, orderly,
unified, coherent, and correct. Thus,
before writing an essay you should ideally decide your purpose, determine your
audience and write about the familiar only.
1. Thesis Statement
The
differences between a paragraph and an essay lie in their length, form, idea
and proof.
A paragraph:
An essay:
-
usually
consists of approximately 150 words - more or less 500 words.
-
consists
of just one paragraph
-
consists of several paragraph .
-
the
idea lies in the topic sentence - the idea lies in the statement
- supporting sentences more
Oshima(1981
: 77) and Langan (1986 : 10) have divided an essay into at least three main
parts namely an introduction, body and conclusion.
2. The Introductory Paragraph
The
introduction of an essay should start with several sentences that attract the
reader’s interest. It should then advance the central idea or thesis that will
be developed in the essay. Part of the
thesis may include a plan of development a preview of the major points that
will be support the thesis. These supporting points should be listed in the order in which they
will appear in the essay. In some cases, the plan of development is presented
in a sentence separate from the thesis; in other cases, it is omitted.
3. The Body
Some essays have at least two
supporting points, developed at length over two separate paragraphs and called
the body. Each of the supporting paragraphs should begin with a topic sentence
that state the point to be detailed in that paragraph. Just as the thesis
provides a focus for the entire essay, the topic sentence provides a focus for
each supporting paragraph.
4. The Concluding
Paragraph
Opening
Remarks
Thesis
statement
Plan of
Development (optional)
|
The concluding paragraph often summarizes the essay by
restating briefly the thesis and at times, the main supporting points of the
essay. In addition, a concluding thought about the subject of the essay is
presented.
Langan (1986: 55) has proposed 5 steps in essay
writing as follows:
(1) Start an essay with a point
or thesis.
(2) Support that point or
thesis with deliberation, argument or specific evidence
(3) Organize an connect the
deliberation in the body paragraphs
(4) Begin and end the essay
with effective introductory and concluding paragraphs
(5) Write clear, free error sentences.
Since
an essay longer and more complex than a paragraph, it is important to organize
your thoughts and to plan your essay before you begin to write. The best way to
do this is to make an outline. The principles and techniques that you have
already learned for paragraph outlining can be applied to essays.
The
only additional element is the numbering of each paragraph with Roman numerals.
Example of a five paragraph essay outlining is provided by Oshima (1981: 8687)
as follows:
The advantages and Disadvantages of living in
the Twentieth Century.
I. Thesis Statement :
Living
in the twentieth century offers certain advantages, such as a higher standard of living, but
it also has some disadvantages, such as a polluted environment, the
depersonalization of human relationships, and the weakening of spiritual value.
II. Body 1 :
The
biggest advantages of living in the twentieth century is the high standard of
living we enjoy.
A.
More money for less hard work.
1. More office workers than manual
labourers.
2. Higher salary
3. Increased government services.
a. Social security
b. Unemployment benefits
c. disability insurance
B.
Longer life expectancy.
1. Better medical care
a. More hospitals, doctors, nurses
b. advances in medical technology
2. Improved nutrition
3. More leisure time
C.
Modern conveniences.
1. Communication
a. Telephones
b. Radio and television
2. Labour
- saving machine in the home
a. Dishwashers
b. Washing machine
c. Vacuum cleaner
3. Faster transportation.
Body 2 :
One of the main disadvantages of living in the twentieth
century is that we are living in an increasingly polluted environment.
A. Air pollution
1. Smoke
2. Nuclear fallout
B. Water pollution
1. Chemical wastes from
factories
a. Dead fish
b. Contaminated drinking
water supplies
2. Raw sewage from cities
3. Oil spills from ships
Body 3 :
A second disadvantage of living in the twentieth
century is the depersonalization of human relationships.
A. People and machines.
1. Automated vending machines,
bank, etc.
2. Tape recorded telephone answering
3. Computerize dating services.
B. People and numbers.
1. Social security numbers
2. Credit card numbers.
Body 4 :
The final disadvantage of living in the
twentieth century is the weakening of
spiritual values.
A. Materialistic culture
B. Faith in science instead of in religion.
III. Conclusion :
In conclusion, although the twentieth century has indeed given us a lot of advantages by
making us richer, healthier and freer to enjoy our lives, it has, in my opinion
not made us wiser. The twentieth century
has also made our earth dirtier, our people less humane, and our
spiritual lives poorer. We should
continue to the benefit of technological advancements because they free us to pursue our interests and goals.
B. DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS
A descriptive essay is the one that describes of a person, place or
object. When you describe someone or
something, do it as vivid and as real as possible. You can do it by observing
and recording specific details of a person, place or object that attract to
your readers’ senses. Compare the following sentence :
1. In the window we a fan.
2. The blades of the rusty window fan clattered and
whirled as they blew out a Stream of warm, soggy air.
In sentence 1 almost none of the senses is involved. In
sentence 2 there are three different senses are
involved. They are “sight,” (rusty window fan, whirled), “hearing,”
(clattered) and “touch,”(warm, soggy air).
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