Essay Writing: Developing Academic Writing Skills in English

Essay Writing: Developing Academic Writing Skills in English Catherine Schwerin Designed for use in the obligatory academic writing courses in the second module of studies at the Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik Universität Hamburg Von-Melle-Park 6 20146 Hamburg Germany ©1999 Catherine Schwerin Catherine.Schwerin@uni-hamburg.de Second revision © October 2007 Essay-writing brochure © 2007 Catherine Schwerin IAA Universität Hamburg Contents Contents......................................................................................................................................1 Essay Checklists.........................................................................................................................1 Sample Essays............................................................................................................................1 Before you begin........................................................................................................................2 Parts of an Essay ........................................................................................................................5 Introductions...............................................................................................................................6 Body...........................................................................................................................................6 Conclusions................................................................................................................................7 Organising Principle...................................................................................................................7 Developing a Paragraph .............................................................................................................9 TV Step 1: Preparing................................................................................................................13 TV Step 2: Brainstorming........................................................................................................14 TV Step 3: Organising and Adapting.......................................................................................15 TV Step 4: Final Plan...............................................................................................................16 Media Violence Step 1: Preparing ...........................................................................................21 Media Violence Step 2: Brainstorming....................................................................................22 Media Violence Step 3: Organising and Adapting...................................................................24 Media Violence Step 4: Final Plan...........................................................................................26 Essay Checklists Checklist: Procedure ..................................................................................................................3 Standard Essay Outline ..............................................................................................................8 Readership, content and style...................................................................................................18 Some Useful Links...................................................................................................................32 Sample Essays Sample essay on Paragraphs ....................................................................................................11 Sample Essay on Paragraphs: examination of structure...........................................................12 Simple Essay: The Importance of Television .........................................................................19 Complex Essay: Violence in the Media...................................................................................29 1 Essay-writing brochure © 2007 Catherine Schwerin IAA Universität Hamburg Essay Writing Before you begin Essays are instruments of communication. Your essay should be a structuredtreatment of a particular topic, presented in a standard formand in a readable, fluentand logical manner. Your essay is a tool that communicates your ideas (though of course you may be talking about other people’s ideas or even quoting them) and should reflect your interest in the topic. Being able to write essays is an essential skill in your studies and forms the basis of all academic writing. However, to make the most of your essay, there are some things to remember: Check, check, and check again!Develop the text in stages of writing, revising and rewriting. This ensures that the final version of the text flows logically and communicatively towards its conclusion and that unintentional hiccups and breaks in style do not occur. Write from the perspective of the reader. In this manner, aspects of register and style remain more consistent. Plan well and be clear about your topic. Lay the thought basis of the completed text in the introduction, develop the ideas in the body and tie these ideas together in the conclusion. Later you may be writing texts other than essays, so you will also have to pay attention to additional features. Research papers, for example, characteristically have headings, deal with many aspects of a particular theme in some detail, and will use references, frequently in the form of footnotes or endnotes, to relate the contents to the academic context in which the knowledge has evolved. For this sort of writing you will also need to consult a style manual such as the MLA Style Manual to help you. Let`s begin now by looking at a checklist of the general procedure for planning and writing an essay. Then we will examine the different parts of an essay before turning to look at how to write one in more detail. 2 Essay-writing brochure © 2007 Catherine Schwerin IAA Universität Hamburg Checklist: Procedure Taking a systematic approach to essay writing ensures that you thoroughly develop the necessary skills for a meaningful and well-balanced piece of writing. Practise following the steps outlined here. Examples will be provided in the following sections. 1. Preparing:  What is the general subject?  What is the specific purpose of the essay?  Formulate a preliminary thesis statement if possible at this stage 2. Brainstorming:  Write down all the ideas related to your topic, including seemingly bizarre or outlandish ones.  Allow your thoughts free range - you can include sketches, diagrams, tables if necessary. 3. Organising and adapting:  Choose the elements relevant to the specific purpose of your essay and arrange them in thematic groups and these in turn in logical steps. Discard those ideas which do not relate to your purpose.  Adapt the subject to your own sphere of interest and knowledge. 4. Gather material:  Information on your subject.  Quotes, examples that illustrate certain points, references. 5. Make a logical outline:  Plan the structure of your essay, keeping in mind the main purpose. It may help to refer to the essay outline template provided in the following pages. Your outline will serve as a kind of check-list to consult while you are writing.  Note the sub-elements under each particular section heading.  Modify the outline so that it indicates thesis statement, topic sentences and supporting points 6. Check outline  Check topic sentences against thesis statement  Check supporting points against topic sentences 7. Write according to your outline: 3 Essay-writing brochure © 2007 Catherine Schwerin IAA Universität Hamburg  At this stage you are more or less "padding out" your outline. You expand each section heading, fill in the details, provide examples or descriptions, connect the ideas logically.  Who are your readers? This will influence your choice of style and your approach. 8. Check 1st draft:  Check against outline to ensure you have covered all points.  Check grammar and spelling.  Check logic (within the sentence, between the sentences, in relation to the topic sentences, in relation to the thesis).  Check flow (Do the ideas flow or jump around? Is it readable? Is it easy to follow?)  Is the style and the approach appropriate for your target group? 9. Revise draft:  And check again! 10. Write the final version. 4 ... - tailieumienphi.vn