Definition Essay Final Draft

7/28/2019 Definition Essay Final Draft

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Caleb Phillips

Megan Keaton

ENG111-09

8 July 2013

The Writing Process

Anyone who has ever enrolled in a college English course knows how daunting the task

of writing a paper can be. In this essay I will try to explain the necessary components of good

academic writing. In every good piece of academic writing the author must brainstorm, revise

drafts, use proper grammar and consider their audience. Good composition must also have astructure consisting of an introduction, supporting paragraphs, a thesis and a conclusion.

In order to begin an essay one must first brainstorm. There is no one way to brainstorm.

For instance, some people write every single idea or thought they have down on paper. Some

people brainstorm all in their head. Other folks may write a very detailed and organized map

about what they will write and when to put it where. In elementary school when the teachers

wanted us to think hard about something they would tell us, Put your thinking caps on. thus

making the class brainstorm, probably for the first time, in an academic setting. Brainstorming

allows the author to start the thought process and plan out the essay. After brainstorming, an

author typically knows everything he or she wants to tell the reader and what order to put it in.

Without brainstorming the resulting paper would be badly organized and the reader would

probably struggle with understanding and being interested in it.

Once the writer has an idea of what to write, they can begin writing an introductory

paragraph. No good writer wants to bore the reader to sleep in the first sentence so, the first thing

any introduction should have is an attention grabber, something that will make the reader want to


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read more. This can be accomplished by asking a question, using a quote, or stating an

interesting or unusual fact. Introductions are used to engage the reader and give them a general

understanding of what the academic piece is about. All the main ideas should be clearly stated in

the introduction and later backed up in the supporting paragraphs. The introduction is often the

first thing the reader sees, so in a way it gives the reader a first impression. If the introduction is

written well, a reader will take interest and continue reading. If the essay has a bad or boring

introduction the reader may stop reading. Also, if the paper has a thesis, it is usually found in the

introduction.

A thesis is the main idea of a writing; its what the author is trying to argue or prove tothe reader. The only time an essay does not need a standard thesis is when all the supporting

paragraphs work together to give the reader an implied thesis. Examples of essays in which the

thesis is allowed to be tacit include narration, description and definition. Ever since high school,

Ive learned that the thesis is a critical part of any essay. The thesis is usually easy for the reader

to understand and recognize. After reading the thesis a reader should know exactly what the

essay is about. If a paper lacks a thesis it would more than likely be very confusing. The thesis is

used to tie everything in the paper together, like a thread. Without one, the essay would consist

of a bunch of information with no relevant purpose. No one wants to read something like that.

If the goal of any good author is to have the reader glued to the page and clinging to

every last word then he must know his audience. Who will read this? What might appeal to

them? These are questions a writer should ask himself. Many aspects of an academic writing are

influenced by the audience. The audience can determine whether the piece is written with a

bunch of big words or a lot of colloquialisms (common expressions). For instance, if a man

was conversing with himself and someone else overheard everything being said, the person


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listening would most likely not understand and be confused. The same scenario can happen

between an author and his audience. For example, imagine a professional judge or doctor wrote a

book and used a lot of medical or legal j argon that the average person wouldnt understand. If

someone who does not have any medical or judicial training were to read the book, they would

find it as confusing as trying to read another language. This means the doctor or judge intended

the audience of their book to be someone with knowledge in their field and no one else. An

author must know his audience and write to them in a way that can be easily understood.

The organization of the supporting paragraphs should not be taken lightly. In school, the

teachers always told us to put the most boring paragraph and information in the middle, and themost interesting paragraphs near the beginning and end of the paper. I always assumed they told

us to do that so the reader could become interested in paper early on. Once the author has the

readers attention they can start to write about the topic more fully and in detail. This detailed

part of the paper should consist of important information that supports the main ideas of the

paper. Everything in this part of the paper should be fully explained before the conclusion. If a

paper has no organization or supporting paragraphs then the essay probably wouldnt be very

long or easy to read.

The use of punctuation and proper grammar are essential in academic writing. Once I

wrote a paper and for some reason didnt proof read before I turned it in. My paper was returned

to me with a million little red marks on it. Throughout the paper I had written as if I were texting

a friend. It was embarrassing but it taught me the importance of good grammar. Bad grammar

can confuse the reader. For instance, if someone wrote I aint done nothing, its hard to

determine what the author means because of the double negative. Furthermore, when poor

grammar is used the reader tends to divert their attention away from the paper and focus on


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criticizing the authors grammar. In some cases, a sentence may have proper grammar and still

make no sense. One example of this is, I saw t he elephant drink the rollercoaster when she left

the volcano. For this reason, it is important to have another human being proof read the final

draft.

Before any good writer is done writing they must revise and edit various drafts. The

purpose of revising drafts is so your paper can improve. Taking out useless wording and adding

needed information is the goal of revision and editing. Because the possibilities of what can be

changed in an academic writing are endless, I find revising drafts to be one of the more

challenging parts of writing. In the past, it was very rare for me to write more than one draft.Luckily, in this class I have learned that drafting can make a huge difference in the over all

quality of an essay and is very necessary in academic writing. With each revision the draft

changes for better or for worse. The longer the author spends editing the draft, the better it will

be when its complete. If the author doesnt revise they are bound to leave out key information .

Revising allows the author to explain things better and remove unnecessary information.

When someone eats a three course meal, the last course often is a dessert, something

sweet and pleasant. Any good academic writing should end well and not leave the reader

disappointed or confused. The concluding paragraph should restate the thesis or over all main

idea of the piece. Most of the readers questions and concerns should be answered in or before

the conclusion paragraph. The conclusion is also the author s last chance to make a point or

lasting impression on the reader. If the essay ends badly, the reader may become frustrated and

feel as if reading the piece was a waste of time. From this we can infer that it is best to make the

final thoughts of an essay interesting and well spoken.


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In conclusion, writing a good academic essay is not as easy as it may seem. A writer must

process and take many things into account before typing out anything. If an author neglects to

complete any component of this process the resulting academic writing may suffer. Each

component listed is used to prevent the audience from being confused and to give the paper

purpose and meaning. Though this process may seem somewhat tedious, the resulting paper will

often be very well written and something the author can be proud of.

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Definition Essay Final Draft