Brief Content
What is an essay?
An essay is the combination of paragraphs
for one uniting purpose of explaining, informing, describing, or arguing an
overall point. As adults, writers are expected to write professionally, with
clarity, and academic formality. This
handout is divided into three main sections: Tone, Content, and Structure. These three sections are most important to
focus on when working on academic essays at the college level and beyond.
Writing Style: Setting the
Tone
When English teachers talk about Point of View &
Voice, they are referring to a special grouping of pronouns. Point of view is
divided into three voices, or three groups of pronouns known as 1st, 2nd, and
3rd person. The most skilled writer pays attention to point of view because
she/he knows that it is a key element in writing style
VOICE
STAY IN
3RD PERSON VOICE
In our early
years of learning to write, we start with essays about ourselves, things we do,
or places we go. These are written in 1st and 2nd person
voice (I and You). Right now, when I have written this section, I have
used our, we, ourselves, and I. These
types of pronouns are 1st and 2nd
person voice, and therefore, will not be included in the academic writing
of our mature-writing years. At this level of academic writing, it is prudent
to stay
in 3rd person voice so that the audience can become engulfed in the
argument or report without getting bogged down by frequent informal references
to I or You.
FORMAL WRITING STYLE
STAY
FORMAL AND NOT
PERSONAL IN
ACADEMIC WRITING
As we become
more mature writers, we learn to write about more global concerns and create arguments
and research reports. These academic
writings are formally written and take on a pre-set writing style that
audience have come to expect in professionally written and researched articles
and papers. For a list of formal writing expectations, visit this link: https://learnstandardenglish.blogspot.com/2019/02/formal-writing-voice.html.
For all writings in our classroom, even discussion board posts,
you will want to remain aware of your formal
writing style. All outlines
and essays in our course must stay in 3rd person
voice; however, the discussion board posts can move from 1stà2ndà3rd
person voice if you feel inclined.
Drafting Essay: Content
The content of an essay is precisely focused. It should have a clear point—thesis—and it
should assert the viewpoint on an issue—in the body paragraphs—in a way that is
both logical and valid. Often, ethos,
logos, and pathos are used in academic writing to strengthen the argument being
made, but in the end, clear, assertive, and logically flowing content is what
will persuade an audience to your side.
QUESTIONS
ELIMINATE
QUESTIONS
Inexperienced
writers will often include questions in various places in a writing. This serves as a way for them to generate
their topic. However, this is not
supposed to be done in the finished product.
A mature writer will ask questions and come up with the answers to those
questions in an outline or early draft.
By the time the final draft is in
formation, all
questions are removed from the paragraphs and only focused, guided
sentences remain, letting the audience know the author’s exact viewpoint…instead
of having the author ask questions so that he can find his viewpoint. Therefore, it is important for you to eliminate
questions from your final writing pieces.
If you want
to ask yourself questions during a Brainstorming session or when creating the
first version of your outline, this is fine.
However, by the time you turn in an outline to your instructor, there
should be no questions in the content. Afterall,
you would have to eliminate them on the next stage of writing—the rough draft—anyway,
or you might forget and leave them in accidentally. Asking questions—of yourself—is a great way
to start gathering your ideas on a topic.
Once you begin putting the content into an outline or draft, though, questions
should be eliminated so that there is a clear focus and direction. For additional information about questions
in writing, visit this link: https://learnessaystrategies.blogspot.com/2019/10/eliminate-questions.html.
Language Choice
Good writers are concise and precise, weeding out
unnecessary words and choosing the exact word to convey meaning. Precise
words — active verbs, concrete nouns, specific adjectives — help the
reader visualize the sentence. Good writers use adjectives sparingly and
adverbs rarely, letting their nouns and verbs do the work.
SLANG
ELIMINATE
SLANG
Slang is
language that is being modified in the current culture and is not part of
Standard English clarity rules. This means
that not everyone will understand idioms,
colloquialisms, jargon,
oxymorons,
or lingo. Furthermore, they are not
concepts that will always make sense or be as precise as Standard English. Clichés
are one form of slang that can become confusing to readers based on overuse and
under-comprehension of the phrase and therefore must be removed form academic
writing. Be sure to eliminate all slang
terminology from your writing. For more
information on slang
elimination, visit this link: https://learnstandardenglish.blogspot.com/p/slang.html.
CONTRACTIONS
ELIMINATE
CONTRACTIONS
Academic
writing strives to write as closely to Standard English as possible. This means that ‘real
words’ from the English language are what will be included in your
content. You will not use slang or
abbreviated words—such as contractions—when crafting academic writing. Contractions are created when two real words
have been modified to make one shortened word consisting of most of the letters
from the original words, with an apostrophe filling in the space for missing
content. For example: I did not go
to the store today might be alternately written as I didn’t go to
the store today. When writing
informally, contractions may be considered acceptable; however, in formal
writing, academic writing, contractions must be eliminated to maintain the
highest level of academic writing. For additional information about contractions,
visit this link: https://learnessaystrategies.blogspot.com/2019/02/formal-writing-voice.html.
Drafting Essay: Structure
As you draft
your paper, keep an outline
of your topic and supporting ideas next to you as a guide. You will need to
have an outline written out to help keep you from overlapping ideas, repeating
yourself, and to keep you moving in the most positive direction to prove your
point of view on an issue.
OUTLINE
Refer to your outline as
the skeleton—the structured strength—of the essay you will write.
[Use these links for
outline help: Outline
Guidance, Introduction
Structure / Outline, Body-Paragraph
Structure / Outline, and Conclusion
Structure / Outline.]
DRAFT
As you write the paper,
you will add flesh to the skeleton—argument clarity, support, and analysis of
the issue—while sticking to the preset organizational structure and flow from
the outline.
Use these links
for essay help: [INTRODUCTION]
Everything
You Need to Know about Introductions, [BODY] Body-paragraph
Tutorial: 3-minute Video, Hamburger
Method--Drafting Your Essay, and Signs of
Trouble--Letting Sources Lead Instead of Follow Your Writing [COUNTERARGUMENT]
Counter-Argument:
The Turn Against and Back [CONCLUSION] Concluding
Your Paper, Three
Parts to a Conclusion, and Conclusions
(Drafting Your Essay) [CREATE A TITLE] Creating
a Correct Title for Your Writing and Creating
a Great Essay Title
Paragraph Organization
An academic writing should maintain formal
structure and flow to assist the reader with the intense content being
expressed in the pages. Typically,
academic writing is argument writing.
This means that a point is going to be proven in the essay, and to do
this, clear flow of ideas and paragraph organization is required for top-notch
writing.
INTRODUCTION
Introduction
paragraphs serve the purpose of introducing the topic or issue. Therefore, this paragraph is not very long—nor
will it have sourced content. You are
not beginning the argument in this paragraph.
The introduction is where you present the concept that ‘will’ be argued
in the body paragraphs. An introduction
has three parts: ‘hook,’
concept
overview, and thesis.
While you could use a quote in your ‘hook’ sentence, it is best to write the
entire introduction in your own words and ideas, lading up to the thesis. For more information about introduction
organization and structure, visit this link: https://learnessaystrategies.blogspot.com/2019/01/introduction-content_29.html.
BODY
Body
paragraphs serve the purpose of presenting issues surrounding a specific
topic and arguing a viewpoint relating to that issue. Body paragraphs are mostly in your words,
since they are ‘your’ argument. However,
you will add in outside source content to defend what you have been arguing in
the paragraph. Once you add in the support
for your argument, you then add in a few sentences that fully explain to the
audience how that content supports and strengthens your argument. In this way, you have argued and supported a
viewpoint that readers will not be able to dispute—if it is done well. Body paragraphs contain 5 basic parts, and
therefore, they are a minimum of 5 sentences.
See this link for more help with the organization
of argument body paragraphs: https://learnessaywriting.blogspot.com/p/hamburger-method-drafting-your-essay.html,
and see this link for help with the structure
of counter-argument body paragraphs: https://learnessaywriting.blogspot.com/p/counter-arguments-youare-struggling.html.
CONCLUSION
The Conclusion
paragraph is a very short paragraph—similar to the Introduction paragraph—that
consists of only 3 sections: restatement (new words) of thesis, summary of
overall argument points from body paragraphs, and ‘release’ of the audience
with a memorable call to action or urgency over the issue. Many writers see this layout as the reverse
of what was presented in the Introduction, but it is filled with all new
content.
REVISIT THESIS
The last sentence of the Introduction
was the thesis. Here, in the conclusion,
the first sentence is a rewording of the thesis to bring the overall concept
back into the audiences’ minds.
WRAP-UP ARGUMENT
Then, the middle section
of the conclusion wraps up what was argued, and this is similar to how the
middle section of the Introduction provided general ideas relating to the issue;
however, in this case, there are now specific, arguable ideas about the issue
that are being wrapped up.
‘RELEASE’
Finally, there is the ‘release’
sentence of the paragraph. This is the
opposite to what started the introduction paragraph. In the Introduction paragraph, the first
sentence ‘hook’ed the audience. Here,
you ‘release’ the audience and send them on their way with newly found insights
into the issue.
For
more clarity on Conclusion
paragraphs, visit this link: https://learnessaywriting.blogspot.com/p/three-parts-to-conclusion-restate.html.
OVERVIEW
For
assistance with your writing, please visit the links below. It is imperative that young writers and first-
and second-year college students follow the structure listed above
perfectly. As writers mature, they may
want to adjust this strict pattern a little bit when it impedes the argument or
overall creative flow. However, some
things will always remain constant…
place the thesis
as the last sentence of the introduction paragraph,
craft a clear topic
sentence for each body paragraph to begin the paragraph with a focused argument
direction,
wrap-up each body
paragraph with a closing sentence that directly refers to the topic
sentence of a given body paragraph, and finally,
‘release’
the audience in a memorable and intriguing way so that your argument will
remain with them long after they have put your writing away.
WEBSITE
LINKS
Learn more about essay STRUCTURE: https://learnessaywriting.blogspot.com/
Learn more about essay CONTENT: https://learnessaystrategies.blogspot.com/
Learn more about essay FORMAT: https://fgc-enc1210.blogspot.com/
Learn more about STANDARD ENGLISH: http://learnstandardenglish.blogspot.com/
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