1 / 14

Essay Writing

Essay Writing. Essay Writing. A n author's personal point of view Literary criticism Political manifestos Argumentation Observations of daily life reflections. French: essayer, "to try" or "to attempt ".

andren
Download Presentation

Essay Writing

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Essay Writing

  2. Essay Writing An author'spersonal point of view Literarycriticism Politicalmanifestos Argumentation Observations of daily life reflections

  3. French:essayer, "to try" or "to attempt" • "prosecomposition with a focusedsubject of discussion" or a "long, systematic discourse". Theodor W. Adorno • "the essay is a literarydevice for saying almost everythingabout almost anything” Aldous Huxley • Crews "a fairlybriefpiece of nonfiction that tries to make a point in an interestingway."  

  4. Three Worlds • The personal and the autobiographical • The objective, the factual, and the concrete-particular • The abstract-universal

  5. An Essay • Brief • Nonfiction  • Tries to make a point • Not just a topic; also a thesis.  Doesn't just give information about a subject; it supports a statement, a claim. • Interesting - audience

  6. The Goal of An Essay To interestitsreaders, to changetheirthinking, to get theminvolved in the ideas it presents and ultimately get them to adoptthoseideas.  An essay mightseek to inform or to persuade or both. 

  7. A thesisstatement is a singledeclarativesentence that stateswhat you want your readers to know, believe, or understand.

  8. Your thesis must make an arguableassertion. Ask yourselfwhether it would be possible to argue the opposite. If not, thenit's not a thesis -- it'smore of a fact. Not Arguable: "Computers are becoming an efficientmechanism for managing and transmitting information in largebusinesses." (Who'sgoing to dispute this? It's not an arguableassertion -- it's a fact.) Arguable: "Heavy use of computersmaydisruptfamilycohesion and increasedivorce in society." (This is arguablebecausemanypeoplemay not believe it. It would make a goodthesis!)

  9. The thesis must also be specific Avoid broad, vaguegeneralizations. Your thesisshouldincludedetail and specificity, offering the reader the whybehind your reasoning. PoorSpecificity: "Weshould not pass the microchip bill." (Hey, not specificenough! It's just a valuestatement and doesn't provide enoughreasoning for the reader.) Good Specificity: "Because the microchipinsertcausesserioushealthhazardssuch as cancer and brain tumors to those who use it, the microchip bill should not be passed." (Now the thesis is muchmorespecific, and the reader gets a clearidea of what the essay is going to be about.)

  10. Follow an "although . . . actually" format Although it appears that computers may help students learn to write, actually they can become a detriment to the generation of what what creative writers call "flow.” Although many people believe that extraterrestials and crop circles are a figment of the imagination, actually there is strong evidence suggested by collective, distinct anecdotes that alien encounters are real. Although some philosophers profess to lead more pure, thoughtful lives, actually philosophers are no different than other publication-hungry academics.

  11. Thesis Statement • Before-During-Efter • Trial statement: Why or how? • Positive not negative

  12. Thesis Statements A strong thesis statement both names the topic and reveals the writer's opinion about that topic. It should be clear and specific. A thesis statement can also list the supporting ideas, but sometimes these are written in a separate sentence. Weak thesis statement: India has a lot of interesting festivals. The statement is too broad– the writer can’t discuss all Indian festival. Even though it does state the writer’s opinion, the statement is not clear: it doesn’t explain why the festivals are interesting. Strong thesis statement: Diwali is an important festival for Indians because they celebrate, remember traditional legends, and enjoy time with their families. The topic is specific enough, and it clearly gives the writer’s opinion. In addition, it lists the supporting ideas. Dorothy Zemac and Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz, Writers at Work: The Essay. Cambridge University Press, 2008

  13. Parts of an Essay • Introduction-ead the readerinto the topic and clarifywhat the essay willspecifically deal with. It usuallyconsists of oneparagraph, but this depends on the length of the essay and the amount of background information the contextrequires. • Main body - deals with the major ideas that support the the statement. Eachmainidea is presented in a separate paragraph and developed with supportingideas in the form of explanations, definitions, or similar, and illustrated with exampleswhereappropriate or necessary. • Conclusion -back to the purpose of the essay and draws all the points togetherbeforemaking a final comment on the result of the discussion/argument.

  14. Categories • informative • persuasive • expository • argumentative

More Related