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Structure,
Sound & Sense:
Essay Writing:
General Essay
An essay is a short
composition that deals with a subject from a personal point
of view. Often, an essay’s purpose is to prove a point or
sway opinion. Tackle an essay just like you would tackle a
research paper—break it down into manageable tasks.
Task 1: Requirements
Make sure you understand
what your teacher expects of you. Review all of the
information you have about the assignment and verify that
you can answer the following questions. If you don’t know,
ask your teacher.
·
Are you required to do your essay on a particular topic?
·
When is your essay due?
·
Is there a requirement for length?
Task 2: Topic
1. Choose a general topic
that interests you and comply with any guidelines that your
teacher provided. If you’re having trouble coming up with
ideas, page through a magazine, watch the news, or skim a
newspaper for stories about people, events, or issues that
intrigue you. Example: An article in the morning paper
about pollution from automobiles catches your eye. You feel
strongly about the importance of reducing pollution, and
would like to know more about this issue.
2. Do some digging to get
a feel for your topic. Do Internet searches, read a few
newspaper articles, and skim encyclopedia articles related
to your topic. Use what you find to narrow the point of
focus for your essay. Example: While reading a few
newspaper articles about automobile pollution in your city,
you learn that a council member has proposed a $.01/gallon
gas tax to help pay for programs to reduce automobile
pollution. You’re interested in this proposal and decide to
make this the focal point of your essay.
Task 3: Working thesis
statement and objective
Every essay begins with a
working thesis statement—that is, a main point. Your job is
to come up with a main point, then use your essay to support
it.
Tip: A good working
thesis statement is
·
Interesting to you and
your audience
·
An opinion about your
topic
·
A complete sentence
summarizing your position
1. Make your topic and
your point into a complete, opinion-based sentence. This
becomes your working thesis statement. Example: You have
already selected a topic—the new gasoline tax proposal.
From your preliminary research, you’re pretty convinced that
a new tax on gasoline will reduce automobile pollution in
your city. That’s your main point.
Now put your topic and main point together:
new tax on gasoline /will reduce automobile pollution in
the city
Next, make it into a sentence:
A new tax on gasoline will reduce automobile
pollution in the city.
2. Make sure your thesis
sentence expresses your topic and your point accurately, and
that it’s clearly based on opinion, not fact. If necessary,
fine tune it. Example: A new, $.01/gallon tax on
gasoline will reduce automobile pollution in the greater
metropolitan area.
3. Define your
objective—that is, what you intend to accomplish with your
essay. Are you trying to explain a process? Do you want to
educate your audience about your topic? Are you trying to
persuade your readers to think the way you do about your
topic? Example: You intend to use your essay to explain
why you think the new gasoline tax will reduce automobile
pollution. Your objective, then, is to persuade your
audience to agree with your thesis statement.
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