Almost all students will at some time be expected to write an essay, or some other kind of argument, e.g. a review or discussion section, in a longer piece of writing. In English, an essay is a piece of argumentative writing several paragraphs long written about one topic, usually based on your reading. The aim of the essay should be deduced strictly from the wording of the title or question, and needs to be defined at the beginning. The purpose of an essay is for you to say something for yourself using the ideas of the subject, for you to present ideas you have learned in your own way. The emphasis should be on working with other people's ideas, rather than reproducing their words, but your own voice should show clearly. The ideas and people that you refer to need to made explicit by a system of referencing.
According to Linda Flower (1990, p. v) "students are reading to create a text of their own, trying to integrate information from sources with ideas of their own, and attempting to do so under the guidance of a purpose."
Your essay should have the following sections:
1. Preliminaries Title page 2. Main text Introduction
Main body
Conclusion3. End matter References
Before you start the main part of your essay or assignment, there should be a title page. The title page should contain information to enable your lecturer and departmental office to identify exactly what the piece of work is. It should include your name and course; the title of the assignment and any references; the lecturer it is for etc. Check with your department for clear information.
English essays are linear:
- they start at the beginning and finish at the end, with every part contributing to the main line of argument, without digressions or repetition. Writers are responsible for making their line of argument clear and presenting it in an orderly fashion so that the reader can follow. Each paragraph discusses one major point and each paragraph should lead directly to the next. The paragraphs are tied together with an introduction and a conclusion.
The main text of the essay has three main parts:
The introduction consists of two parts:
It should introduce the central idea or the main purpose of the writing.
The main body consists of one or more paragraphs of ideas and arguments. Each paragraph develops a subdivision of the topic. The paragraphs of the essay contain the main ideas and arguments of the essay together with illustrations or examples. The paragraphs are linked in order to connect the ideas. The purpose of the essay must be made clear and the reader must be able to follow its development.
The conclusion includes the writer's final points.
It should clearly signal to the reader that the essay is finished and leave a clear impression that the purpose of the essay has been achieved.
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I. INTRODUCTION |
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General Statement |
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II. MAIN BODY |
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A. Introductory Sentence |
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B. Introductory Sentence |
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C. Introductory Sentence |
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III. CONCLUSION |
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Recall issues in introduction; |
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At the end of the essay, there should be a list of references. This should give full information about the materials that you have used in the assignment. See Writing a list of references for more information on the reference list.
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