Four basic steps in essay writing

Narrow the subject to find the point that you want to discuss - Begin with a subject that is neither too broad nor too narrow -> narrow it down or broaden it out until you have a thes

Four basic steps in essay

writing

The first step:

Begin with a point or

thesis

Narrow the subject to find the

point that you want to discuss

- Begin with a subject that is neither too broad nor too narrow -> narrow it

down (or broaden it out) until you

have a thesis that you can develop

with four or five hundred words

Writing a thesis statement

The thesis statement : contains an

expression of an attitude, opinion or idea about a topic

Unlike a topic sentence, it is broader and expresses the controlling idea for the entire essay

Here are some characteristics of a thesis statement.

A thesis statement should be expressed in a

complete sentence.

A thesis statement expresses an attitude,

opinion or idea; it does not simply an announce the topic the essay will develop.

A thesis statement should express an opinion; it should not express a fact.

A thesis statement should express only one idea toward one topic: if a thesis statement contains two more ideas, the essay runs the risk of

lacking unity and coherence

Common errors in writing a

The traffic problem in this city is the

concern of this essay.

Statements that are too broad.

The invention of the computer has

changed the world.

Statements that are too narrow.

Example:

My parents had only one child.

Last year, there were twenty robberies in my

neighborhood.

My house is a two-storey building.

Statements that contain more than one ideas

Example:

My parents help me grow in important ways,

although in other respects I was limited.

The problem of overcrowded prisons must be solved,

and judges must start handing out tougher

sentences.

The students living in the dorm have many

Write Too narrow (TN), too broad (TB),

announcement (A), or more than one idea (2) in appropriate space next to each statement.

_The way our society treats elderly people is unbelievable.

_ My last car was dependable, but many

American cars are poorly made.

_ The first car that I owed was a Ford.

_ The subject of this essay is daily prayer in our public schools.

_ Computers have changed our society.

_ Soap operas show many stereotyped

characters, although they also portray real

problems in American life.

_ People who eat a lot of red

meat almost three times more likely to get colon cancer than people who eat mostly fish and chicken.

_ I am going to write on my

ideas concerning “F” grades.

_ Action must be taken against drugs.

_ The hardest teacher I ever

had taught me a lesson I will never

forget.

_ This essay will discuss the student sitting next to me in my English class.

_ Because I was late for work

yesterday, I lost an hour’s pay and was

called in to see the boss

Modern life makes people suspicious and unfriendly

My roommate and I are compatible

in most ways, but we still have conflicts at

times

My concern here is to discuss death” experiences reported by some

“near-patients

Complete the following thesis

statements by adding the missing

third supporting point that will parallel the two already provided

Because I didn’t take the college

preparatory courses in high school, I

entered college deficient in mathematics, study skills, and

_

A good salesperson needs to like

people, to be aggressive, and

Rather than blame myself for failing the course, I blamed the instructor, my

adviser, and even

Anyone who buys an old house planning

to fix it up should be prepared to put in a lot of time, hard work, and

_

Our old car eats gas, make funny

noises, and

My mother, my boss, and my are three people who are very important

in my life right now

Getting married too young was a

mistake because we hadn’t finished our education, we weren’t ready for children, and

Some restaurant patrons seem to leave their honesty, their cleanliness, and their _ at home

During my first semester at college, I

had to learn how to manage my time, how to manage my diet, and

_.Three experiences I wish I could forget are the time I fell off a ladder, the time I tried to fix my parents’ lawn mower, and _

The second step:

Support the thesis with

specific evidence

The informal outline

To ensure that your essay will have

adequate support -> informal outline Try

to find out three points that support your

thesis If you have a logical plan to develop the thesis statement, you will be in a right position to write an effective essay

Example:

Thesis statement: My mother has three

qualities that I admire

1 Patience

2 Thoughtfulness

Complete the informal outline by adding the logical supporting point(s).

1 At our school, library is the worst place to study.

Uncomfortable chairs and table.

Little privacy.

_

2 College students should live at home.

Stay in touch with family.

Avoid distractions of dorm or apartment life.

_

3 College is a stressful situation for many people.

Worry about grades.

Worry about being accepted.

_

Two important values of specific details

Specific details

- attract the readers’ interest

- make your essay interesting to read

- easy to understand because the

readers always enjoy learning particulars about people, places and things

Specific details

- explain the writer’s points

- help the readers see and understand the general ideas

Compare these paragraphs:

1a Many people in the theater show themselves

to be inconsiderate They make noises and create disturbances at their seats Included are people in

every age group, from the young to the old Some

act as if they were at home in their own living

rooms watching the TV set.

1b Little kids race up and down the aisles, usually

in giggling packs Teenagers try to impress their

friends by talking back to the screen, whistling,

and making what they consider to be hilarious

noises Adults act as if they were at home in their

own living rooms and comment loudly on the ages

of the stars or why movies aren’t as good

anymore

2a And people often messy , so that you are constantly aware of all the

food they’re eating.

2b And people of all ages crinkle

candy wrappers, stick gum on their

seats, and drop popcorn tubs or cups

of crushed ice and soda on the floor.

3a People are also moving around

near you, creating a disturbance and interrupting enjoyment of the movie.

endlessly in their seats, file out for

repeated trips to the rest rooms or

concession stand and elbow you out

of the armrest on either side of your seats.

Which paragraph is supported with specific details?

1 My mother was a harsh disciplinarian When I did

something wrong, no matter how small, she would inflict

serious punishment She had expectations that I was to live

up to, and she never changed her attitude When I did not behave as I should, I was dealt with severely There were no exceptions as far as my mother concerned.

2 Pets can be more trouble than children My dog, unlike my children, has never been completely housebroken When he

is excited or nervous, he still has an occasional problem My dog, unlike my children, has never learned how to take care

of himself when we are away, despite the fact that we’ve

given him plenty of time to do so We don’t have to worry

about our grown children anymore However, we still have to hire a dog-sitter.

Making words, phrases, and

sentences specific

The specific words, phrases, and

sentences create clear picture in your

minds The details show us exactly what happened These are some common ways

to make words, phrases, and sentences

specific

Use exact names

Ex: He sold his car

Vince sold his Honda Civic

Use lively verbs

Ex: The flag moved in the breeze

The flag fluttered in the breeze.

Use descriptive words before nouns.

Ex:

- A man strained to lift the crate.

- A heavyset, perspiring man strained to lift the heavy

- A piercing whistle told the cheering crowd that there

were two minutes left to play (hearing)

- When he returned, all he found in the fridge was stale

bread and sour milk (taste)

- Peter stroke the kitten’s velvety fur until he felt its tiny,

needle-sharp claws on his hand (touch)

- Daisy often places a lilac-scented sachet in her purse

(smell)

Our washer, fridge, and television broke down

at the same time.

Several sections of the newspaper were

missing.

Various gifts for men were displayed in the

department-store window on Valentine.

I swept aside the things on my desk in

order to spread out the road map

The doctor examined various parts of my

body before diagnosing my illness as

Change vague, indefinite sentences into sharp, specific ones.

Example: She works hard all summer.

All summer, Eva sorted peaches and blueberries in the hot noisy

The importance of adequate

details

enough specific details to support the subpoints in supporting paragraphs

- The mistakes that students often

make:

+ wordiness, repetition and

generalities -> to avoid such stupid

mistakes -> giving reasons,

examples, facts, statistic,

The third step:

organize and connect the

specific evidence

Common methods of

organization

1 Time order: Details are listed as

they occur in time

2 Space order: This is used in

description When you describe, you should choose one direction and

maintain it (from far to near or near

to far, from right to left or left to right, from the top to bottom or vice verse, from inside to outside or vice verse)

3 Emphatic order: This is used

when your ideas are not equal in

weight You have 02 ways to present your ideas: from most important to

least important or from least important

to most important However, the most important idea is often left to the end

to make a greater impact to the

readers.

4 The order of interest: The details

are arranged according to your

interest You can put the less

interesting detail then the more

interesting one, or vice verse

5 The order of familiarity: More

obvious detail to less obvious detail,

or vice verse.

6 Categorical: Details are arranged

by dividing the topic into parts or

Change-of-direction signals:

contrary

We can see that …

It is clear that …

These examples show that …

There can be no doubt that …

The evidence suggests that …

Introductory paragraph

A well-written Introductory paragraph have these roles:

1 It attracts the readers’ interest.

2 It supplies the background

information needed to understand the essay.

3 It presents the thesis statement.

4 It indicates a plan of development

The plan presents the major points

that support the thesis

Common method of Introduction:

Begin with a broad, general statement of your

topic and narrow it down to your thesis

statement.

Ex: Bookstore shelves today are crammed with dozens of different diet books The American

public seem willing to try any sort of diet,

especially the ones that promise instant,

miraculous results And authors are more than willing to invent new fad diets to cash on this

craze Unfortunately, some of these fad diets are ineffective or even unsafe One of the worst is

“Palm Beach diet” It is impractical, doesn’t

achieve the results it claims, and is a sure route

to poor nutrition.

Start with an idea or situation that is the opposite of the one you will develop.

Ex: We live in an era where TV is the

international pastime Since the invention

of the TV set, people have been spending more of their free time watching television than doing anything else Many of the

television addicts feel that this particular pastime is not a bad one; indeed, they

argue that people can learn a great deal watching television I'm sure that if you

look long and hard enough, you can

probably find some programs that are

educationally motivating However, for

the most part, I say that watching

television is a waste of time.

Explain the importance of your topic If you can convince your reader that the subject in some ways applies to them, or is something they

should know more about, they will want to keep reading.

Ex: Diseases like scarlet fever and whooping

cough used to kill more young children than any other cause Today, however, child mortality due

to disease has been almost completely

eliminated by medical science Instead, car

accidents are the number one killer of our

children And most of the children fatally injured

in car accidents were not protected by car seat, belts, or restrains of any kind Several steps

Use an incident or brief story.

Ex: Early Sunday morning the young mother

dressed her little girl warmly and gave her a

candy bar, a picture book, and well – worn

stuffed rabbit Together, they drove downtown to

a Methodist church There the mother told the little girl to wait on the stone steps until the

children began arriving for Sunday school Then the young mother drove off, abandoning her five- year-old because she could not cope with being

a parent anymore This incident is one of the

thousands of cases of child neglect and abuse that occur annually Perhaps the automatic right

to become a parent should no longer exist

Would – be parents, instead, should be forced to apply for licenses granting them the privilege of

Ask one or more questions These

questions will make the readers think

about the possible answers, or you may plan to answer the questions yourself.

Ex: What is love? How do we know that

we are really in love? When we meet that special person, how can we tell that our feelings are genuine and not merely

infatuation? And, if they are genuine, will these feelings last? Love, as we all know,

is difficult to define But most people

agree that true and lasting love involves far more than mere physical attraction It involves mutual respect, the desire to

give rather than take, and the feeling of

6 Open with a quotation pertinent to the

topic.

Ex: “Fish and visitors” wrote Benjamin

Franklin, “begin to smell after three days.” Last summer, when my sister and her

family came to spend their two – week

vacation with us, I became convinced that Franklin was right After only three days, I was thoroughly sick of my brother - in – law’s corny jokes, my sister’s endless

complaints about her boss, and their

children’s constant invasions of our

privacy.

Essay example

A vote for McDonald’s

For my birthday this month, my wife has offered to treat me to dinner

at the restaurant of my choice I think she expects me to ask for a meal at the Chalet, the classiest, most

expensive restaurant in town

However, I’m going to eat my birthday dinner at McDonald’s When I

compare the two restaurants, the

advantages of eating at McDonald’s

For one thing, going to the Chalet is more difficult than going to McDonald’s The Chalet has a jacket-and-tie rule, which means I have

to dig a sport coat and tie out of the back of

my closet, make sure they’re semiclean, and try to team out the wrinkles somehow The

Chalet requires advance reservations Since it

is downtown, I have to leave an hour early to give myself time to find a parking space within six blocks of the restaurant The Chalet

cancels reservations if a party is more than ten minutes late Going to McDonald’s, on the

other hand , is easy I can feel comfortable

wearing jeans or a warm-up suit I don’t have

to do any advance planning I can leave my

house whenever I’m ready and pull into a

doorside parking space within fifteen minutes.