Notes on Writing Essays

BRAINSTORMING

Determine purpose (what do you want the essay to accomplish?), audience (general readers or specific specialized group), tone (your attitude will be reflected in your sentence structure and word choice)

Limit the subject:  ask who, what, when, where, how, why

Organize thoughts; get rid of ideas that do not pertain to your purpose, audience, tone, or limited subject; make a scratch outline

Formulate a thesis
 
 

STRUCTURE

Introduction:  informs readers of the general subject of the essay, catches their attention, and presents the controlling idea or thesis.  Methods:  anecdote, quotation, surprising statistic or fact, questions, narrow down from broad subject to a more limited one.

Body:  presents evidence which lends substance to your main ideas and helps readers accept your viewpoint.  Evidence should be unified (all supporting ideas and details should relate directly to the point you are making), adequate (there should be enough evidence to convince your reader of your argument), and specific (vivid and detailed).

Conclusion:  brings the essay to an end, giving the reader a sense of completeness and finality; may reassert the thesis and express a final thought about the subject.  Methods:  summarize main points, use quotation, predict an outcome, recommend an action.
 
 

MODES

DESCRIPTION involves the use of vivid word pictures to express what the five senses have experienced.  The subject of a descriptive essay can be a person, place, object, or event.
 There are two main types of description.  In an objective description,  a writer provides details about a subject without conveying the emotions the subject arouses.  For example, if you were involved in a traffic accident, your insurance agent might ask you to write an objective description of the events leading up to and during the crash.  But in a subjective description, the writer’s goal is to evoke in the reader the emotions felt during the experience.  For example, in a cautionary letter to a friend who has a habit of driving dangerously, you might write a subjective description of your horrifying close call with death during a car accident.

NARRATION means recounting an event or a series of related events to make a point.  Buzz words:  now, then, next, after, later.  Flashback and flashforward if necessary.  Point of view and dialogue.

EXEMPLIFICATION involves using concrete specifics to support generalizations.  In exemplification, writers provide examples or instances that support or clarify broader statements.  Use facts, anecdotes, statistics, details, opinions, and observations.  Make sure examples are relative and representative.

PROCESS ANALYSIS refers to writing that explains the steps involved in doing something or the sequence of stages in a recurring event or behavior.  There are two types of process analysis.  In directional process analysis (usually use “you”), readers are shown how to do something step by step (as in cookbooks, tax form instructions, and how-to books).  In informational process analysis (use “I” or “he”), the writer explains how something is done or occurs, without expecting the reader to attempt the process (how a bee makes honey, etc.).  Buzz words:  first, next, now, while, after, before, finally.

COMPARISON-CONTRAST means explaining the similarities and/or differences between events, objects, people, ideas, and so on.  Usually writers use comparison-contrast to make a judgment about the relative merits of the subjects under discussion.  Sometimes a writer will concentrate solely on similarities or differences.  An analogy is an imaginative comparison that delves beneath the surface differences of the subjects in order to expose their unsuspected similarities or significant differences.
 In the one-side-at-a-time method, you discuss everthing relevant about one subject first and then switch, in turn, to other subjects.  This conveys a more unified feeling since it highlights broad similarities and differences.  In the point-by-point method, you alternate from one aspect of the first subject to the same aspect in your other subject(s).  This is wise when subjects are complex because it offers more extensive coverage of similarities and differences.  Buzz words:  also, in the same way, likewise, similarly, by way of contrast, on the other hand, however, but.

CAUSE-EFFECT involves analyzing the reasons for or results of an event, action, decision, or phenomenon.  Writers develop an essay through an analysis of causes whenever they attempt to answer such questions as “Why has this happened?” or “Why does this exist?”  When writers explore such questions as “What happens or would happen if a certain change occurs?” or “What will happen if a condition continues?” their essays involve a discussion of effects.  Some cause-effect essays concentrate on the causes of a situation, some focus on the effects, and others present both causes and effects.

DEFINITION explains the meaning of a word or concept.  You may use extended definition to convey a personal slant on a well-known term, to refute a commonly held interpretation of a word, or to dissect a complex or controversial issue.  Effective introductions might include explanation in terms of origin or etymology, definition by negation, or stipulative definition (one that puts restrictions on a term; especially useful when a term has more than one meaning or fuzzy meaning).

DIVISION-CLASSIFICATION refers to a logical method for analyzing a single subject or several related subjects.  Division involves breaking a subject or idea into its component parts.  Classification involves organizing a number of related items into categories.  Buzz words:  components, kinds, types, parts

REVISION means, literally, “reseeing” your first draft with a fresh eye, as if you were a new reader.  In revising, you make whatever changes are necessary to increase the essay’s effectiveness.  You might eliminate weak phrasing or examples, change the organization, add transitions, or rework whole paragraphs.  Such changes often make the difference between mediocre and superior writing.  Revision is the last stage of the writing process.
 
 

ORGANIZATION

Spatially-from top to bottom, from interior to exterior, from near to far

Chronologically-as the subject is experienced in time

Emphatically-ending with the most striking elements of your subject

Be specific; use language involving the readers’ senses; use figures of speech, such as similes (comparisons using like or as), metaphors (implications that two things are alike), and personification (attributing human characteristics to inanimate things); vary your sentence structure; use dramatic license (reshape events to suit your point); use flashback and flashforward, dialogue; remember that examples make writing interesting and help ensure clear communication; select a tone consistent with your purpose, your attitude towards your subject, and the effect you want to have on the reader; be consistent.
 
 

PROOFREADING

Read the paper sentence by sentence; remove deadwood.
Read the paper backwards, thus forcing you to focus on every individual word.
Read the paper into a tape recorder and listen to it to see where punctuation is needed; wherever there is a natural pause, there should probably be a comma.