The essay Hints

8/13/2019 The essay Hints

1/7

1

ENGLISH 3161Prepared byNancy Lpez

Mildred LockwoodLuz Miriam Tirado

THE ESSAY

An essay is a prose composition that presents a writers reflections and ideas ona specific topic. Any topic can be the subject on an essay and the written selection may

be of any length.

The controlling idea or central thought of an essay is often referred to as itsthesis. The thesis may be directly stated in a sentence called thesis statement. Thethesis may be stated partially or fully in the introductory paragraphs and restatedthroughout the essay. It may also be included in the middle or at the end of the essay.Sometimes the thesis is not stated at all. It means then that the thesis is implied.The reader must read the whole essay to grasp the central thought or idea and thendraw conclusions from the details or facts provided by the writer.

Essays are often classified as formalor informaldepending upon the authorsstyle, the subject matter and tone. The formal essay is fairly impersonal, objective andfactual. It sounds like a formal address or lecture given by a speaker to an audience.

An informalessay is personal and subjective, so it usually conveys personal feelingsabout a particular topic. It creates an intimate tone so that the reader feels the authoris speaking directly to him or to her.

Modes of writing

Writers often express at the beginning of the essay what their purpose is andhow they intend to develop the thesis. The purpose for writing essays may vary from a

simple desire to narrate a personal experience to a serious attempt to convince thereader of a thesis. An essay may be written to share a personal experience, tocommunicate a feeling, to offer information, or to persuade the reader to act in acertain manner. As a result, there are four modes of writingor modes of discourseaccording to purpose: narration, description, exposition, and persuasion.


2/7

2

Narrationis the chronological presentation of events to tell a story or to relatewhat happens. In essay writing, it usually involves the recounting of events that aretrue and take place over a given period of time. It is often combined with descriptionand exposition to instruct or to illustrate a point. Transitional words or phrases of timesuch as first, then, afterthat, next, and finallyconnect the events in a narrative essay.

Description aims to create a picture in words of people, objects, places, orevents. Descriptions can be physical or psychological. In a physical description thewriter pictures how something looks. Language makes us see. In a psychologicaldescription the writer evokes certain feelings to move us. Languages make us feel.Concrete words make descriptions clear and easy to imagine.

Expositionis used to provide an explanation or setting forth of an idea, usuallyfor the purpose of giving information. Since expository writing is meant to inform,readers should be able to clearly identify and understand the ideas the author hasattempted to convey.

Persuasion is the use of argument to change the way we think and feel aboutan issue or to prove the truth or falseness of a statement. A persuasive essay tries toconvince the reader to accept the authors thesis.

The Structure of the Essay

Most essays follow a particular pattern of organization that includes three parts:introduction, body, and conclusion. There are different types of paragraphs in eachsection. Each paragraph has a specific function in the structure of the essay.

Introduction

Introductory paragraphsare used to state the subject to be discussed and totry to capture the readers attention. The thesis statement is usually included in theintroduction.

Body

Developmental paragraphs present supporting evidence for the centralthought or thesis of the essay. There are several methods by which developmental orbody paragraphs are developed such as definition, comparison/contrast, analogy, factsand details, classification, analysis, examples and illustrations and cause and effect.Sometimes different methods are combined within a single essay.

Transitional paragraphsserve to indicate a shift or change from one point oridea to another. They are usually brief. The writer may refer to what has beendiscussed previously and then introduce a new point or idea to be developed. They


3/7

3

usually start with a transitional word or phrase such as in spite of, then, in addition to,etc.

Conclusion

Concluding paragraphs serve to directly or indirectly reaffirm the central thoughtor thesis. They are frequently used to reinforce what has been emphasized throughoutthe essay by restating the thesis statement or by providing a summary of major pointsdiscussed in the body of the essay.

Methods of Paragraph Development

Writers use different methods to provide support for the thesis of the essay. Asa result, body paragraphs are developed using different approaches called methods ofparagraph development. Sometimes several methods are combined within a single

essay.

1. examples and illustration giving specific examples of general or abstractideas

Examples help the readers see the truth of a thesis statement. Writersgenerally use transitional phrases such as for example and to illustrate.

An illustration is a short chronological account of what happened in acertain situation.

2. classification placing several subjects into categoriesInformation is arranged into groups or categories in order to make clearthe relationships among members of the group.

3. analysis taking something apart and looking at the parts to see how theymake up the whole

4. comparisonandcontrast analyzing likenesses and differences between twoor more subjects

Comparisonemphasizes likenesses and similarities, contrastcenters onthe differences between two items.

5. analogy a form of figurative comparison between two things or activities forthe purpose of explanation


4/7

4

Unlike a formal comparison, its subjects of comparison are from differentcategories or areas.

6. cause and effect explains why events occur, or what the outcome orexpected results of a chain of events might be

It involves a way of thinking that identifies conditions (causes) andestablishes results or consequences (effects). Cause and effect may bepresented in two different ways:

a. deductive reasoning the written work begins with the causefollowed by a detailed discussion of the results (from general toparticular)

b. inductive reasoning the written work begins with the results andends with the cause (from particular to general)

7. definition a way of explaining an important word or concept, so that thereader knows what the writer means by it

8. facts and details giving factual information to add force to a particularstatement or argument.

Transitional Words or Phrases

At times the ideas presented in a piece of writing may seem to be unrelated to eachother unless the writer includes transitional words and phrases that make therelationships clear. These words and phrases help make the paragraph coherent. Thelist below includes common transitional words or phrases grouped by the kind ofrelationship they establish.

1. Additionalso / another / besides / furthermore / in addition to / indeed / moreover

2. Cause and EffectTo introduce a causeor reason

because / due to (the fact) that / for / on account of / since

To introduce an effector result


5/7


6/7

6

Denotationis the direct, specific meaning or referent of a word, what it meansliterally. Connotation is the suggestive quality of a word; it has to do with feelings,images, and ideas associated with a word.

Figurative Language

A figure of speech is a word or phrase that departs from its usual meaning andmakes extensive use of connotation. Most common figures are based on comparisons.

1. simile an explicit comparison between two things that are dissimilar using thewords like, as, or seems

ex. A growing child is like a young tree.

2. metaphor an implicit comparison which attributes the qualities of one thing toanother

ex. Life is the fruit she longs to hand you, ripe on a plate.

3. personification giving human qualities to inanimate things, abstractions, oranimals

ex. The sun smiled at the earth.

4. hyperbole extravagant exaggerationex. There were mile-high ice-cream cones at the parlor.

5. paradox a statement that at first seems contradictory or illogical, but thatafter a careful analysis shows an element of truth

ex. An expert knows more and more about less and less.Nicholas Murray Butter

Other Literary Devices

1. allusion reference to a person, place , or event of historical, literary, ormythological importance2. irony the use of language and situations that are inappropriate or opposite

from what might be expected

3. symbolism the use of symbols (a symbol stands for something else)


7/7

7

Sensory Images

Imagery is descriptive language that appeals to the senses. Writers use this kindof language to bring readers to sense what they themselves experience and to create

pictures or images in the readers mind. They turn to words that convey sight, sound,smell, taste, and touch. Often a single image or a combination of images appeals tomany senses. Concrete, sensory language brings a person, an object, a sceneimmediately to life. There are different kinds of images according to the sense theyappeal to: visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile.

In addition to the images that appeal to the five senses, we can also find imagesthat describe motion (kinesthetic) and temperature changes (thermal).

Documents

The essay Hints