Sunday 3 April 2016

Essay Writing

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Paragraph Writing

Basic Paragraph Structure

Supporting Sentences

The Concluding Sentence

Details in Paragraphs

Coherence and Unity

Paragraph Unity

Paragraph Unity


Unity is a very important characteristic of good paragraph writing. Paragraph unity means that one paragraph is about ONLY ONE main topic. That is, all the sentences -- the topic, supporting sentences, the detail sentences, and (sometimes) the concluding sentence -- are all telling the reader about ONE main topic. If your paragraph contains a sentence or some sentences that are NOT related to the main topic, then we say that the paragraph "lacks unity," or that the sentence is "off-topic."

Look at the following paragraph, which is similar to the paragraph that we have studied above. Does it have perfect unity? Try to find the sentence that is off-topic:

      Each of the Russian manned space exploration projects had specific major goals. For example, the Vostok project was designed to test whether or not human beings could survive and function in outer space. For another example, the Voshkhod project was intended to find out whether people could work in the weightless environment of space. One Voshkhod cosmonaut experimented with weightlessness by taking a "spacewalk." That is, he floated in a spacesuit outside his Voshkhod spacecraft, connected to it by a tether. The cosmonaut to do this was Alexei Leonov. Several weeks later, Leonov's spacewalk was followed by that of U.S. astronaut Ed White. Finally, the Soyuz project, with three cosmonauts, had goals of testing spacecraft and spaceflight skills so that people could fly long missions in Earth orbit.

This paragraph is generally good, but the sentence, Several weeks later, Leonov's spacewalk was followed by that of U.S. astronaut Ed White, does not have anything to do with the major goals of the various Russian space projects. That is, it is an "off-topic" sentence, so we can say that the paragraph somewhat lacks unity. In order to improve the paragraph, we should omit this sentence, even though it is historically accurate.

Coherence and Unity


Coherence refers to a certain characteristic or aspect of writing. Literally, the word means "to stick together." Coherence in writing means that all the ideas in a paragraph flow smoothly from one sentence to the next sentence. With coherence, the reader has an easy time understanding the ideas that you wish to express.
Consider the paragraph that we studied in the above topic:


       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind.  In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow.  Second, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.  Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs.  There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away.  The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.  These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.

Major Connectors

Look at the words in bold font. Do you see how they help guide the reader? For example, consider the words, First, Second, and The third amazing feature. We can call these words major connectors. Major connectors help organize the main parts of your paragraph. This paragraph has three main parts: (1) a part about the Wheaton River, (2) a part about Wheaton Hill, and (3) a part about the Big Old Tree. Another way of saying this is that this paragraph has three main points which are indicated by the major connectors. Using such major connectors is an important way of providing coherence in a paragraph.


Minor Connectors

What about the other words in bold, such as those appearing in the phrases "these trees" and "this hill"? We can call these minor connectors. Minor connectors provide coherence to a paragraph by connecting sentences within each of the main parts of your paragraph. That is, when you write about your main points, you can use minor connectors to link your details to each main point.

Now, look at this paragraph. Can you identify the main points?

      Each of the U.S. manned space exploration projects had specific major goals. The Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human beings could survive and function in outer space. The Mercury project tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold one person. The Gemini project was intended to find out whether two people could work in the weightless environment of space. Gemini astronauts took "spacewalks." They floated outside their spacecraft in a spacesuit, connected to it by a tether. Gemini astronauts tried out new flying skills. Some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini flights, astronauts physically linked two spacecraft together. Linking, or "space docking," was a major goal of the Gemini program. The Apollo project, with three astronauts, was intended to test spacecraft and skills so that people could actually fly to the Moon and land on it. Performing scientific experiments on the lunar surface and collecting rocks for study on Earth were goals.

Was this paragraph a little confusing to read? Now consider the same paragraph with a few changes:


      Each of the U.S. manned space exploration projects had specific major goals. For example, the Mercury project was designed to test whether or not human beings could survive and function in outer space. In addition, the Mercury project tested rockets with the new Mercury space capsule, which could hold one person. As another example, the Gemini project was intended to find out whether two people could work in the weightless environment of space. One way of doing this was by having Gemini astronauts take "spacewalks." That is, they floated outside their spacecraft in a spacesuit, connected to it by a tether. Gemini astronauts alsotried out new flying skills. For example, some astronauts flew two spacecraft extremely close together; this procedure was called "rendezvous." On some Gemini flights, astronauts physically linked two spacecraft together. This linking, or "space docking," was a major goal of the Gemini program. Finally, the Apollo project, with three astronauts, had the goal of testing spacecraft and skills so that people could actually fly to the Moon and land on it. Other goals included performing scientific experiments on the lunar surface and collecting rocks for study on Earth.
Do you see which of the connectors above are major and which are minor? The major ones are For example in the second sentence, which introduces the first supporting point (the Mercury program); As another example, which begins the second main point (the Gemini program); and the word Finally, which introduces the third and last main point (the Apollo moon program). (In the paragraph above, all of the major connectors are underlined.)

As for the minor connectors, we can divide them into three groups. The first group of minor connectors provides coherence for the first main point (the Mercury program). There is only one minor connector in this first group, In addition, although it is possible to have more than one, depending on how many details you have to support your first main point.

The second group of minor connectors consists of That is, also, and also the phrase For example in the sentence, "For example, some astronauts..." Notice that this last minor connector is the same as the major connector at the beginning of the paragraph. However, the function of each is different, depending on the meaning of the sentences.

The third group of minor connectors in this particular paragraph also has one member, which is other goals included....

Here is a table of a few common connectors (also called transitions):

For example,
For instance,

One example of (this) is
First, Second, Third, etc.
As another example,
Another example of [xxx] is    (that)
Finally,
In conclusion,
To summarize
On the one hand,
On the other hand,
However,
..., but...
also

Details in Paragraphs


The short paragraph in this lesson is a fairly complete paragraph, but it lacks details.  Whenever possible, you should include enough details in your paragraphs to help your reader understand exactly what you are writing about.  In the paragraph about Wheaton, three natural landmarks are mentioned, but we do not know very much about them.  For example, we could add a sentence or two about Wheaton river concerning HOW wide it is or WHY it is beautiful.  Consider this revision (and note the additional details in bold):


       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. On either side of this river, which is 175 feet wide, are many willow trees which have long branches that can move gracefully in the wind.  In autumn the leaves of these trees fall and cover the riverbanks like golden snow.  Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.  Even though it is steep, climbing this hill is not dangerous, because there are some firm rocks along the sides that can be used as stairs.  There are no trees around this hill, so it stands clearly against the sky and can be seen from many miles away.  The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.  These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.
If we wished, we could also add more details to the paragraph to describe the third natural feature of the area, the Big Old Tree.



Why are details important?  Consider the example of the hamburger, mentioned above.*  If the hamburger buns are the topic and concluding sentences, then the meat, the cheese, the lettuce, and so on are the supporting details.  Without the food between the hamburger buns, your hamburger would not be very delicious!  Similarly, without supporting details, your paragraph would not be very interesting. 

The Concluding Sentence

In formal paragraphs you will sometimes see a sentence at the end of the paragraph which summarizes the information that has been presented.  This is the concluding sentence.  You can think of a concluding sentence as a sort of topic sentence in reverse.

You can understand concluding sentences with this example.  Consider a hamburger that you can buy at a fast-food restaurant.*  A hamburger has a top bun (a kind of bread), meat, cheese, lettuce, and other elements in the middle of the hamburger, and a bottom bun. Note how the top bun and the bottom bun are very similar.  The top bun, in a way, is like a topic sentence, and the bottom bun is like the concluding sentence.  Both buns "hold" the meat, onions, and so on.  Similarly, the topic sentence and concluding sentence "hold" the supporting sentences in the paragraph.  Let's see how a concluding sentence (in bold font) might look in our sample paragraph about Wheaton:


       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old. These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place.
Notice how the concluding sentence, These three landmarks are truly amazing and make my hometown a famous place,summarizes the information in the paragraph.  Notice also how the concluding sentence is similar to, but not exactly the same as, the topic sentence.


Not all academic paragraphs contain concluding sentences, especially if the paragraph is very short.  However, if your paragraph is very long, it is a good idea to use a concluding sentence. 

Supporting Sentences


Consider again the above-mentioned, short paragraph:

       My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.
(Again, note how this paragraph is indented on the first line, about five or seven spaces in from the left-hand edge of the paragraph. Always remember to indent your paragraphs!)

When a reader reads a topic sentence, such as My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several amazing natural features,a question should usually appear in the reader's mind.  In this case, the question should be like, "What are the natural features that make Wheaton famous?"   The reader should then expect that the rest of the paragraph will give an answer to this question.

Now look at the sentences after the topic sentence.  We can see that the second sentence in the paragraph,  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful,indeed gives an answer to this question. That is, the second sentence gives some explanation for the fact that Wheaton is a famous town. Similarly, we can see that the third sentence also gives some explanation for the fact that Wheaton is famous by giving another example of an "amazing natural feature," in this case, Wheaton Hill.

The second and third sentences are called supporting sentences.  They are called "supporting" because they "support," or explain, the idea expressed in the topic sentence.  Of course, paragraphs in English often have more than two supporting ideas.   The paragraph above is actually a very short paragraph.  At minimum, you should have at least five to seven sentences in your paragraph.  Here we can see our paragraph about Wheaton with a few more supporting sentences in bold font:


       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep. The third amazing feature is the Big Old Tree. This tree stands two hundred feet tall and is probably about six hundred years old.

In this lesson, we will talk about supporting sentences again in the section, "Details in Paragraphs," below. 

Basic Paragraph Structure


In many languages, the fundamental unit of composition is the paragraph.  A paragraph consists of several sentences that are grouped together.  This group of sentences together discuss one main subject.   In U.S. formal academic English, paragraphs have three principal parts.  These three parts are the topic sentence, body sentences, and the concluding sentence.  We will also talk briefly about details in paragraphs.

The Topic Sentence

A topic sentence usually comes at the beginning of a paragraph; that is, it is usually the first sentence in a formal academic paragraph.  (Sometimes this is not true, but as you practice writing with this online lesson site, please keep to this rule unless you are instructed otherwise.)  Not only is a topic sentence the first sentence of a paragraph, but, more importantly, it is the most general sentence in a paragraph.  What does "most general" mean?  It means that there are not many details in the sentence, but that the sentence introduces an overall idea that you want to discuss later in the paragraph.

For example, suppose that you want to write a paragraph about the natural landmarks of your hometown.   The first part of your paragraph might look like this:


       My hometown is famous for several amazing natural features.  First, it is noted for the Wheaton River, which is very wide and beautiful. Also, on the other side of the town is Wheaton Hill, which is unusual because it is very steep.
(Notice how the first sentence begins with "My hometown..." a few spaces to the right of the paragraph edge.  This is an indentation.  All paragraphs in English MUST begin with an indentation.)

Note how the first sentence, My hometown, Wheaton, is famous for several amazing geographical features, is the most general statement. This sentence is different from the two sentences that follow it, since the second and third sentences mention specific details about the town's geography, and are not general statements.

Here are some examples of sentences that cannot be used as topic sentences. Can you figure out why they are inappropriate? 


     1.      My hometown is famous because it is located by Wheaton River, which is very wide, and because it is built near an unusually steep hill called Wheaton Hill.


     2.      There are two reasons why some people like to buy cars with automatic transmission and two reasons why others like cars with manual transmission.


     3.      Clouds are white.
The problem with sentence #1 is that it contains too many details. Topic sentences are general, and details should appear later in the paragraph. A better topic sentence would be like the one mentioned above, My hometown is famous for several amazing geographical features.

Sentence #2 is not appropriate as a topic sentence because it mentions two topics, not just one. Paragraphs are usually about one main thing and so their topic sentences should also be about only one main thing.

The problem with sentence #3 is that it is too general. It is also very boring! Would you like to read a paragraph with this topic sentence? Most people would not.

We can rewrite sentences #2 and #3 in the following ways to make it better:


There are two reasons why some people like to buy cars with automatic transmission.

 OR (in a different paragraph):

·         There are two reasons why some people like cars with manual transmission.


·         The shapes of clouds are determined by various factors.

Part 8


Editing and Proofreading
No matter how clever or thought provoking your writing is on the page, it can take as little as one spelling error to turn off a reader.
An occasional typographical error can be excused, but a paper that is rife with errors in the usage or words, the spelling, the punctuation, the use of tenses, can all be distractions that will lead your reader, and assessor away from a great impression of your ability.
Tips for getting your essay to perfection!
• use a dictionary and spell check program on your computer
• have a friend or family member read it over for technical errors in spelling, grammar and even formatting
• subscribe to an online editing service, some are free, others have minimal charges that are worth it.
• Review your old graded papers for comments that may have pointed out mistakes…learn from them

Learn about common writing errors. These are the ones most people don’t recognize in their own writing, and even speaking - which can evolve into the way we write.


Submitting 
Keep a hardcopy of your essay, not just the one that may still be in a file on your computer. It may have to be submitted twice, or a teacher may ask for another copy for another instructor to review!

This guide aims to help you improve your writing skills and get better grades. Becoming a better writer it is not easy. It takes a lot of labor and determination. Besides that, today's academic load is very heavy - sometimes you have to submit several writing assignments in a single day! That is too much!

Part 7


Styling the References
When submitting essays to be graded in academia, you will soon discover than many teachers and professors are very particular about the formatting an style of the essay itself, and particularly how the reference (Bibliography) gives specific credit where it is due. After all, these experts themselves are sometime the ones being quoted or having their works summarized, so giving credit accurately is respectful and expected.
The most widely used styles are as follows:

Modern Language Association (MLA Style)
• used in most academic style essays and documentation in the humanities.
• Commonly used in English essays and other modern languages
• Used in language related studies such as media studies, cultural studies, comparative literature and literary criticisms

• features a Works Cited Page which lists all the works cited in the essay, even those in footnotes or endnotes.
• Placed at the end of the main body of the work, essay or article.
• Brief citations in parentheses must include: author(s), short titles, page numbers used. 
• Citations are keyed to direct the reader to the title of the work, in alphabetical order, and the page number for easier locating
• When more than one author of the same name is cited, a first name or initial is sufficient

Format for MLA
• for ease of flow, maintain a series of guidelines when using a word processor
• choose a easy-to-read standard font and align to the left rather than justified. Centre titles.
• Use double spacing and don’t hyphenate
• Use one space after periods and other punctuations marks.
• Don’t allow your computer to automatically underline your URLs with the hyperlink feature

• Use italics for website addresses, in brackets

Citations
• title this section “Works Cited” in a normal font
• keep entries alphabetized and double-spaced
• date the entries consistently
• keep consistent

Books – author’s surname, first name, book title punctuated, place of publication: publisher, year.
Periodical/Magazine/Journal – author’s surname, first name, “Title of the Article” in quotations, title of periodical, date of periodical, pages.
Dictionary/ Encyclopedia – author surname, first name, “Title of Entry “ in quotation, Title of reference book, the edition, year of publication.
Website – author of webpage, “Article Title” in quotations, title of webpage, date of publication it was last modified. Institution it might be associated with, date or retrieval.

American Psychological Association (APA style)
• used mostly for research papers
• common in manuscripts and theses in the social sciences
• uses parentheses citations within the text
• uses headings to organize article and gives them ranking structure ( learn more about this from an APA guide)
• names and order of heading are specific, as are tables, footnotes, figures and appendices.

Chicago Manual of Style (CMS)
• used mostly in humanities, history and widely in the publishing industry
• commonly uses endnotes or footnotes, followed by a Bibliography
• concerns editorial practice and its concerns
• does not use references in the text

Turabian Styling
• popular for research papers, and very similar to CMS, but more simplified
• more specific, and preferred, for papers written for a class or course of study rather than for publication
• many more journals are accepting of the newer Turabian style
• used in art history, women’s studies, theology, musicology and history

Harvard Referencing System
• brief citations are given within the text itself
• provide the author’s name and year of publication, a page number, which refers to the work listed a the end of the essay
• full citations are collected under a “References” section at the end of the essay

Vancouver Style
• references are numbered in the order in which they are mentioned in the text.

• Subsequent references are indented in sequence, particularly for use with data or tables
• Referencing a journal includes : author’s name, title of article, journal title abbreviated, year of publication, (month and day if applicable) volume number, issue number, page numbers

Council of Biology Editors (CBE)
• uses two systems : one is author- date system, one is citation-sequence system with a numerical listing of sources based on how they are used in the essay

With all forms of referencing, it is crucial to know exactly which style of referencing is required in the assignment. If done incorrectly, a meticulous person who is assessing your essay will likely be distracted, and even annoyed, if the correct protocol is not followed. This can led to a bad impression on all your hard work and effort.

Looking for examples? Every source you are using will have footnotes, endnotes and cited references. Use these!

Part 6


The Body
Writing style is not easily taught, but develops. We speak before we learn to write and this is where our thoughts changes slightly into complete prose that is intended to communicate to another. Another person might not read what we put into writing right away, so it must be sustained until it is read, or reread at another time.
Start with a writing style that feels natural but a little more formal than ordinary speech. Avoid incomplete thoughts and dialogue. Stay on topic and avoid slang, generalizations or exaggerations, sarcasm, jokes or humor that are too casual and likely not necessary. Use a slightly authoritative tone and you will feel more like an expert on what you are trying to convey.
Try to be original as you express your thoughts; not just the summarizing of the ideas of a book or someone else. Use the quotes or references of other sufficiently but not too copiously. They are backing up your thoughts, not reiterating someone else’s. No more than a few per page.


Paragraphs
The body of your essay is the paragraphs. Every paragraph should develop from one of your headings or subheadings.
Paragraphs need to be concise. (Use this document as an example.) Each paragraph is not too lengthy and each topic deserves its own new paragraph. Each paragraph is constructed with a topic sentence followed by three to five points that explain or further discuss the point of the topic sentence.
In a new paragraph, the first sentence should be linked to, or contrasted with the last thought of the previous paragraph. Don’t hesitate to use a variety of sentence styles. Variety keeps the reader alert and helps with overall attention. Pepper the essay with references and quotes only as they apply.
Best tip! A good assessor will easily recognize what is “filler” in an essay, parts that were added to make the overall essay longer or to meet a required length. If it is not relevant information or discussion about the topic, don’t use it!


Introductions and Conclusions
A strong essay is well crafted, concise and engaging. This is best done by putting the reader first. In particular, if the reader is a teacher or instructor, and your essay is one of a pile they have to work through, a high mark will be given to an essay that is:
• relevant and interesting
• authentic and accurate
• thought provoking
• free of technical errors and distractions
Your ideas matter, but if they are not frame in a presentable way, they will not get communicated effectively to the reader, and ultimately someone who will evaluate and grade it.
The introduction to an essay is critical. Think of it the same way you might think of an opportunity for a first impression upon meeting a new person. It must attract the reader’s attention, pique their interest and keep them engaged.
A few strategies that might do this are:
• lead with a quote to be argued
• provide a startling statement
• use an anecdote or narration to illustrate a point

When using a quote choose one that is fresh and current, and ideally from someone well known in the field of study your essay entails. A well-known person or personality with something to say is a good place to start.
If you intend to start with something shocking, be sure to be true, factual and verifiable in your choice. It could be as simple as a pertinent fact that will be a strong launching point for you to you to continue with a discussion that will illustrate the points you wish to make.
In the anecdote style of introduction, a short but thought- provoking story can be effective. This can be a rather casual approach so care must be taken if the essay is to be more formal.
The conclusion or closing to an essay is the last thing the reader absorbs so it is very important that it leaves the reader with just the right tone and opinions. A degree of satisfaction is necessary.
A strong conclusion actually refers to the thesis statement said or implied in the introduction. This brings closure to the reader. It is done with a summing up of the major point(s). It provides a final, and strong, perspective.

An effective conclusion should not be too long – just three or four well-crafted statements. A review of the main points, not exactly replicated, concludes the essay with your strong feelings about the topic of the paper.

Part 5


Planning
Ideally, you should be ready to start composing the essay. Around your workspace, gather your notes, your resources and start reading through them again. This primes your thought process and will likely stimulate your writing too.
Perhaps you will find a way to organize your notes based on the topic, subheadings and the arguments and points you are trying to make. If they don’t have headings, give them new ones or decide which headings to include them in. The organizing of these notes will blossom into the beginning of an outline.
If you find you are ready to start writing, even parts of the essay, go ahead. Don’t worry about order, and never begin with the introduction. That will come later. These parts of the body of the essay are the real meat of the paper. The beauty of word-processing programs is that ordering is as easy as cutting and pasting later.


The Outline
Somewhere along the process a plan will formulate in your head. It will likely take the form of a series of heading with subheadings, derived from your notes. Just like the best lectures you may have attended, or the best presentations, it is the plan that leads you, or a reader, from beginning to end. And the end is usually more satisfying when it has been travelled to along this path.

It should be your goal to lead the reader of your essay gracefully through your paper. A degree of concentration is required for someone to grade or evaluate an essay, and you want to make this process as easy as possible for the grader to garner your paper with praise.

Part 4


References and Bibliography
Everything you read about your topic must be noted in your essay. This could be a handwritten list or more efficiently it could be done with a spreadsheet on your computer.
Include the name of the source, the author(s), date, publisher, shelf mark, place of publication. Include a note or two about how useful the book or article was. You may want to find more materials from a particular author, or another article on a similar topic. Keep these working notes for years! They can be helpful in other essays as well.

Later, this chart will become the essence of your bibliography. You will need this data to fulfil the requirements of effective bibliography formatting.

Part 3

Materials and Content
Almost all essay writing requires sources. These come in two forms: books and articles.
You will need to become familiar with the electronic catalogue available at most libraries to access this information. Librarians are great resource people to assist you.
Books – Historically, books and author’s works have been the best sources for material, but this is changes as the world moves faster, information changes daily and the publishing world struggles to keep up. This can lead to material being out-of-date and can be overwhelmingly large bodies of material that you will have to filter through to find relevant material. Reading a whole book about a topic is time consuming and may not bring you the material or references you need.
Articles – Much is to be gained by focusing your research on articles. Articles are current and can range from periodicals, to academic journals. They can be available on library shelves or digitally. Articles are generally more specific; full of interesting, original, and up-to-date ideas and you may actually be using new information not known the reader of your essay. Bonus! Even if the articles you read are full of less pertinent details, they’ll still provide you with plenty to disagree with in your arguments.
Online Sources – The Internet is jam-packed with information; some of which is useful and reputable, and plenty of less useful and less reputable. Wikipedia is the modern substitute for the encyclopedia, and can provide plenty of sourced information; but the entries are not all written by published authors or institutions. Many of the sources will provide the necessary details about where the information was gathered or taken from. What it does provide is a quick understanding on controversial and contemporary issues. The Web has now become a plethora of resources but must be used with the understanding that not everything published there is reputable.


Plagiarism – Copying content from books, the Internet, and the materials found there is an unacceptable and illegal practice. Many universities now have special anti-plagiarism software, which is used to find stolen content in essays and other assignments. Every year, numerous careless (and sometimes unknowing) students are expelled from secondary and post-secondary education due to plagiarizing content, mostly from the Web. To be safe, you can use only ideas from the Internet with exact references to the sources, but you cannot copy the content.


Getting Started
Gather the books, periodicals, and a list of the websites you will be using. As you start reading, keep a notebook! Use a wide variety of categories to jot down all your ideas, thoughts, perspective and notes about what you read that led to certain things you will write about. As you start immersing yourself in your topic, ideas of thoughts may come to you at unlikely times, even away from your writing, so keep the notebook handy for recording these great thoughts.
Start your Bibliography List as soon as you start reading, researching and note making. It can be frustrating later to want to use an idea, and not recall where you read the idea, or saw the study, or learned of the quote.
The notebook can also act as a sort of censor, or a muse. It can be where you generate ideas or work through your writer’s block. Not all the ideas that accumulate here will make it to the essay, but having more than you need is a real benefit of the notebook.


Making Notes
While you are reading through your sources, most of the best ideas will come to you. They will be rough and in your own style of note taking. This is a big part of the process!
Don't make notes in the form of summaries. Instead, read through material twice to seek out the key ideas you want to work with. When a thought occurs under these circumstances it will be in reaction to a piece of the text at hand: a quotation. Copy out the quote, and a page reference so you can find it again to check it if necessary, and then put your idea underneath it. If you tie the idea in with the quote in this way, then your ideas will always be text-based and close to the concrete life of the text, as

Spread out your ideas in your notebook. You will need plenty of space between subtopics to develop the ideas. Deal with the sorting later, or if it works well, go through all of the notes every few days after they have accumulated. Take them out of the shorthand notebook: tear them out, or remove the spiral. Ensure you are including the sources for all and any of the content you are sourcing. Include where all the quotes and other materials are from, with author’s names, editions, page numbers, and URL information.

Part 2

Topic Selection
The topic of any essay is key. It will determine where and how the content is perceived and how it is indexed. For a student about to produce an essay, a topic can be assigned by an instructor, or sometimes students are given the freedom to choose and develop their own topic. In both cases, the process is the same.


Assigned Topics
When the topic of an essay is given, unless it is very specific, there can be many approaches to cover within the realm of that topic. If there is some leeway for movement or variation within the topic, this can be a great opportunity.
For example – If a topic is “Causes of World War I”, there would be many avenues to choose from. They could range from the causes in each of the countries involved, to the perspective of economical, political or social influences. Each of these would be an specific enough topic to develop an essay.
Ideally, the assignment will dictate whether the essay is to be a general overview or a more specific analysis of the topic. A topic that is too general can be overwhelming, as the broadness of the material available for the topic can be immense. A narrower topic is much easier. Here’s another example.
A topic such as “Brazil” would be a suitable general one if the intent is to provide an overview essay. But for a more specific analysis, a smaller topic such as “Brazil’s Political Changes”, or “Brazilian Fashion Trends” would be much easier to work with, and likely more appealing as a discussion in your essay.
In either case, teachers, professors and tutors are often open to more innovative topics, so always try to initiate the opportunity to explore a subtopic with their approval.


Topics Not Assigned
Having the freedom to write about anything is wonderful… but perhaps a little overwhelming. It can actually preventing you from starting the work when a topic has not been determined.
The greatest advantage of having freedom in choosing a topic is that you can write about something you have expertise in, have experiences, are familiar with or just have a genuine interest in learning more about. Sometimes a topic can come from a previous assignment where another avenue presented itself, but you were not able to explore that as you wrote about the topic at hand.
To find a topic, it may be beneficial to begin with a list of topics or subjects that interest you. Within these headings, you may also find sub topics or other avenues of thought or arguments.
Still stuck? Look at your environment – home, school, work, family, outdoors, hobbies, the news, opinions or viewpoints you have… and never let go of this list. Return to it whenever you are stuck.
When something suitable strikes you, consider it carefully. Evaluate and question how you feel about the topic and how it relates (or doesn’t relate) to the purpose of the essay you need to write.
Is the essay an argument, with valid points that will persuade people in a particular direction?
Is it about explaining something or instructing how to do something?
Is it an exposition about something that happened or a person or place of interest?
Or is it about a brand new theory or idea?
Choose a topic that fits the essay you can write.
When you decide on a topic that is intended to educate, be sure you are well informed and able to conduct the necessary research to thoroughly explore the topic.


Be passionate – The key to a strong essay that expresses an opinion or argument is that it is apparent the author feels strongly about what they are expressing and the points they are making. If you truly have conviction, it will show in the phrasing you use in your writing.



Surprise yourself – If none of your topics from your idea list seem to be suitable, push yourself. Try investigating a few to see what you can learn on the surface, and it is likely something will emerge that is worth writing about. Follow your instincts. A topic may surprise you once you get started.

Friday 1 April 2016

The Essay ,Part 1

The Essay
A non-fiction piece of writing is by definition, an essay. They are generally of a scholarly or academic nature, and express the author’s point of view or argument. An essay can also resemble an article, a pamphlet or sometimes, a short story.
An essay is written in prose. They are a major part of a formal education and in many academic circles, follow specific criteria. While they are usually subjective, an essay can take the form of being expository and in some cases a narrative.
The key to a quality essay is that it be well structured. The presentation of the prose must lead the reader clearly and easily. It must be free of distractions and not cluttered. The style of the writing is a critical key to the overall presentation.

Most importantly, a quality essay must consist of the author’s ideas and thoughts on the topic. And it must stay on topic. When an essay is being evaluated, it will be receive a high grade if has a clear and readable point. This will all be supported by references, quotes, facts and data, but at the heart of the good essay, is the message.

Reflexive pronouns ('myself')


Verbs commonly followed by reflexive pronouns: 'I enjoyed myself'

   1)       Myself, yourself, himself, herself, itself, oneself, ourselves, yourselves and themselves are reflexive pronouns. There aren't many verbs in English which we must always use with reflexive pronouns: absent oneself, avail oneself (of) and pride oneself (on):
Monica absented herself from work. Jim prides himself on his cooking.

   2)       We often use reflexive pronouns with these verbs: amuse, blame, cut, dry, enjoy, hurt, and introduce: I've cut myself with the bread knife.
We can use these verbs without reflexive pronouns if we want to: I've cut my thumb.
We can use object pronouns (me, him, her, etc.) after these verbs only when we refer to
someone else: He amused me (but not *I amused me// cut me: etc.)



Write: Supply the correct reflexive pronouns in the following.
1 I enjoyed…myself…very much at the party.
2 1 see you've cut...................................again. Won't you ever learn how to shave?
3 How did Tom dry..................................? - He used your towel!
4 She has no reason to blame ................................for what has happened.
5 I think that poor dog has hurt..................................
6 'One prides .................................. on one's patience,' the boss said, in his usual pompous manner.
7 We amused .................................. playing football on the beach.
8 Our new neighbours knocked at our door and introduced..................................
9 Sheila prides .................................on her ability to judge people's characters.
10 Bill had to absent .................................. from work when his baby was born.



Verb + reflexive, or not?: 'I've dressed (myself)'

   1)       We sometimes add reflexive pronouns after verbs like dress, hide, shave and wash for emphasis or to show that something has been done with an effort. For example, if we are referring to a child, we might say: Polly's now learnt how to dress herself, but we could also say: Polly has now learnt how to dress. (without herself). The choice is ours.

   2)       Verbs such as get up, sit down, stand up, wake up and get wet, get tired, get dressed, get married  are not normally reflexive in English: I sat down with difficulty.
We might use a reflexive only for emphasis.
I sat myself down with difficulty.



Write: Write these sentences again using reflexive pronouns with the verbs.
1 We didn't know where to hide… We didn't know where to hide ourselves.
2 That kitten now washes every day. .....................................................................................................
3 She's just learning how to dress. ........................................................................................................
4 We sat down and waited. ....................................................................................................................
5 I got wet watering the garden. ............................................................................................................
6 I woke up with a start. .........................................................................................................................
7 Barry has just got engaged. ................................................................................................................
8 Get ready quickly! ...............................................................................................................................

Reflexive pronouns used after prepositions and for emphasis

   1)      We can use reflexive pronouns:
- after a preposition: Look after yourself! Take care of yourself!
- in fixed expressions: strictly between ourselves, just among ourselves, in itself.

   2)      We use object pronouns when we refer to:
- place: Have you got any money on you? (Not 'Have you got any money on yourself?')
- after with (= accompanied by): I brought the children with me. (Not *with myself')

   3)      We use by + reflexive to mean 'without help' or 'alone':
She made the dress by herself. (= without help) She lives by herself. (= alone)

   4)      We sometimes use reflexive pronouns after nouns and pronouns for emphasis to mean 'that personal thing and only that personal thing':
The film itself is very good. You yourself saw it.
The reflexive pronoun can also go at the end of a sentence or clause:
You saw what happened yourself. Or: You yourself saw what happened.



Write: Rewrite these sentences using reflexive pronouns for emphasis.
1 I didn't know about it till yesterday… I didn't know about it myself till yesterday.
2 The building is all right, I think.
........................................................................................
3 You can't do that!
 ........................................................................................
4 I can't fetch it - you fetch it.
 .......................................................................................
5 Don't expect me to do it. Do it!

 ..........................................................................................