Exercise II

Choose the kind of essay (see above) which will best serve your objective.

 

Exercise II

In groups of 4 to 6 study the notes on description and explanation essays given in Appendix 1 and choose which kind will be best to write about your future career prospects. For more kinds of essay see Appendix 1 further.

 

4. Organise your facts and ideas in a way that develops your main idea.Once you have chosen the most important point of your paragraph or essay, you must find the best way to tell your reader about it. Look at the facts and your own ideas on the topic. Decide which facts and ideas will best support the main idea of your essay. Once you have chosen the facts and ideas you plan to use, ask yourself which order to put them in the essay.

 

5. Think of a way to summarise your ideas. If you can't do it at this stage, leave it until you have written your essay. Just make sure you don't forget about it.

 


Exercise III: Write down an outline that you can use to guide yourself as you write your essay:

I. Introduction (the main idea)

______________________________________________________

II. Body

1. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 1)

______________________________________________________

 

2. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 2)

______________________________________________________

 

3. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 3)

 

______________________________________________________

III. Summary Paragraph

______________________________________________________

 

 

6. Check whether you'll need any additional facts to develop the main idea. Think where to get them.

 

(2) Writing Essays

 

What is the writing stage?

The writing stage is when you turn your ideas into sentences.

 

Five Writing Steps:

  1. For the introduction, write the thesis statement and give some background information.
  2. Develop each supporting paragraph and make sure to follow the correct paragraph format.
  3. Write clear and simple sentences to express your meaning.
  4. Focus on the main idea of your essay.
  5. Use a dictionary to help you find additional words to express your meaning.

 

Warning!!! © All rights for all textbooks are reserved by their publishers. No part of any publication may be reproduced in your essay without the prior written permission of the publishers. Though teachers more than welcome abundant use of your active vocabulary they expect to see your own ideas presented in your essay.

 

The example of how important punctuation is:

 

The male version: A woman, without her man, is nothing.

The female version: A woman: without her, man is nothing.


A. Introduction Paragraph

 

What is an introduction paragraph?

The introduction paragraph is the first paragraph of your essay.

 

What does it do?

It introduces the main idea of your essay. A good opening paragraph captures the interest of your reader and tells why your topic is important.

 

How do I write one?

  1. Write the thesis statement. The main idea of the essay is stated in a single sentence called the thesis statement. You must limit your entire essay to the topic you have introduced in your thesis statement.
  2. Provide some background information about your topic. You can use interesting facts, quotations, or definitions of important terms you will use later in the essay.

 

Example: English Speech Practice classes have been a part of my life for over a year already. They have evolved into an extremely popular sport watched and played by both students of my group and our teachers. The game has got several stages that I would like to describe.

 

Exercise IV: Write the introduction paragraph of your essay.

 

B. Supporting paragraphs

 

What are supporting paragraphs?

Supporting paragraphs make up the main body of your essay.

 

What do they do?

They develop the main idea of your essay.

 

How do I write them?

  1. List the points that develop the main idea of your essay.
  2. Place each supporting point in its own paragraph.
  3. Develop each supporting point with facts, details, and examples.

 

To connect your supporting paragraphs, you should use special transition words. Transition words link your paragraphs together and make your essay easier to read. Use them at the beginning and end of your paragraphs.

 

Examples of transition words that can help you to link your paragraphs together:

 

For listing different points First Second Third etc. For additional ideas Another In addition to Related to Furthermore Also
For counter examples However Even though On the other hand Nevertheless To show cause and effect Therefore Thus As a result of Consequently

 

Like all good paragraphs, each supporting paragraph should have

  1. a topic sentence
  2. supporting sentences
  3. a summary sentence.

 

C. Summary paragraph

 

What is a summary paragraph?

The summary paragraph comes at the end of your essay after you have finished developing your ideas. The summary paragraph is often called a "conclusion."

 

What does it do?

It summarises or restates the main idea of the essay. You want to leave the reader with a sense that your essay is complete.

 

How do I write one?

  1. Restate the strongest points of your essay that support your main idea.
  2. Conclude your essay by restating the main idea in different words.
  3. Give your personal opinion or suggest a plan for action.

 

Example: Overall, English Speech Practice classes have helped to improve our language skills. The sport is more captivating and exciting as a result of permanent danger involved. For these reasons, English classes are horrifying for teachers to deliver and great fun for students to attend.

 

Exercise V: Write the summary paragraph of your essay.

(3) Editing Essays

 

What is the editing stage?

The editing stage is when you check your essay for mistakes and correct them.

 

Editing Steps:

Vocabulary

  1. Read your draft essay and underline all the expressions from your active vocabulary you've used.
  2. See what other expressions can be used. Add them at relevant places.

 

Grammar and Spelling

  1. Check your spelling.
  2. Check your grammar.
  3. Read your essay again.
  4. Make sure each sentence has a subject.
  5. Make sure your subjects and verbs agree with each other.
  6. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.
  7. Make sure that each sentence makes sense.

 

Style and Organisation

  1. Make sure your essay has an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a summary paragraph.
  2. Check that you have a thesis statement that identifies the main idea of the essay.
  3. Check that all your paragraphs follow the proper paragraph format.
  4. See if your essay is interesting.

 

(4) Publishing Essays

 

What is the publishing stage?

The publishing stage is when you produce a final copy of your essay to hand in.

 

Publishing Steps:

  1. Make a clean copy of your essay.
  2. Show your work to your friends or parents.
  3. Ask them for hints on how to improve your writing.
  4. Hand in your essay in time!

 

 

HOME ASSIGNMENT 1

 

Write a draft of the body of your essay, edit it following instructions in the Editing Essays section and write a clean copy to hand in following instructions in the Publishing Essays section.

 

Correction of Mistakes

 

What is correction of mistakes?

Correction of mistakes takes place after you receive your essay checked by the teacher with your mistakes marked or corrected (for correction symbols used by your teacher see Appendix 2).

 

Five steps of correcting mistakes:

  1. Identify what your mistake is. If necessary, consult Grammar books, dictionaries or your teacher.
  2. Rewrite each sentence containing a mistake underlining the correct variant.
  3. In brackets briefly explain what the rule is for each case.
  4. If it was a spelling mistake write two lines of the word.
  5. Memorise the correct variant.

 

Example:

A student hate coming late but can’t do anything about it. Sp

Correction of mistakes:

A student hates coming late…(third person singular)

 

 

HOME ASSIGNMENT 2

 

Do correction of mistakes. If thereare more than 5-7 mistakes per page in the essay rewrite it correctly.


Appendix 1