2. THE PRE-WRITING STAGE
It is a myth to believe professional writers complete their tasks in just one strike. The truth is that prior to reaching the stage of the finished product, writers must produce several drafts. Hence, it is normal for you to also make several attempts before your text becomes acceptable to readers because this is part of the process.
The recommended initial step is to jot down anything that comes to your mind without the use of a dictionary and away from having concerns to do it right.
The actual initial steps of the process involve:
3.6 The elaboration of a web of ideas with no logical reasoning, sequence, or organization.
3.7 The drawing of an outline with a graphical focus on the central points of the essay.
3.8 The writing of the first draft.
3. ORGANIZATION OF THE ESSAY
Each essay consists of three main components: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. Following are some details about them.
3.1. Introduction
This segment does three things for readers: indicates the purpose of the text, defines the topic, and points to the organization of the ideas. How is this achieved?
The first step is about clarifying the objective of the essay. Readers should be focused on the topic of the text which allows them to ask themselves specific questions about the essay. This would be a clear indication that the introduction is perfect.
This focus may also become the object of the thesis of the text, to which clarifying strategies can play the essential role of support. Examples can include:
• Surprise: when the most salient element of the essay emerges suddenly.
• Confirmation: when the essay is based on facts already known, which would eventually ease up the understanding of the idea being presented.
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• Contradiction: when the essay starts with a popular idea but quickly swerves towards a contrast that helps make the point.
• Suspense: when the gradual presentation of the idea makes readers remain in the expectation, setting them up to want to know more and more information.
The introduction, which should be limited to no more than two paragraphs (preferably just one fairly extended), would contain the following:
• A brief presentation or announcement of the topic
• The thesis topic, which should provide clues about the direction and the logical sequence of the arguments
Now, let’s look at some thesis topics corresponding to concrete questions.
Question 1. Describe the main character of the poem The Cid.
Thesis 1. Cid, the main character of the poem, is characterized by his physical might, and his moral strength, which symbolize Christian father and spouse.
On the outset, this thesis sets the stage for a development lending itself to what would be the fundamental theme of the essay: physical might and moral strength.
Question 2. Compare the characters: Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.
Thesis 2. In general, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza appear to be two characters evolving on two completely opposed poles: Don Quixote represents the idealistic human being, while Sancho Panza symbolizes the realistic one. Yet, in several instants of the novel, the roles are completely reversed.
Here, a simple compare/contrast strategy would be sufficient to depict or paint differences and similarities between surrealism and realism in mankind through a Venn diagram graphic.
IMPORANT NOTE: In essays intended for academia, the title is a very important component and can include just the topic or question related to the essay. In documents with different purposes, the same strategy based on the title can be used because it serves as a guide or it clarifies the foundation for the reader. It is of a paramount importance to use such guides because they give readers the impression that the writer has them in mind and wants to communicate with them from the very beginning.
3.2. The Body64
This is the area where readers receive clarification or details announced in the introduction. Every aspect of the essay, which is highlighted in the introduction, must be the object of a separate paragraph in the body. In the body, writers display their organization skills and their mastery of logic science.
There are several strategies that can be used depending on the essay genre. These can include being descriptive, narrative, or expository. Let us consider some examples:
• Analytical Essay. This is about the description of components of an entity. This technique is particularly popular in literature. Thus, the analysis of a novel will look at the characters, the dialogue, the stand, and some other elements typical of an essay.
• Compare and Contrast Essay. It is used to emphasize differences and similarities between two groups.
• Definition Essay. Writers explain a concept unknown to readers. Ways to accomplish this can include: modeling a concept in a class context, illustration through concrete examples, or just semantics with the use of synonyms and antonyms.
• Classification Essay. It is similar to an analysis, but it focuses more on various types of an entity, rather than on the components of a whole. For instance, an old and prevalent type of novel is the picaresque one where the protagonist has a series of episodic adventures in which he/she sees much of the world around him/her and comments satirically on such environment.
• Cause and Effect Essay. This document attempts to underlie the origins and consequences of any reality or phenomenon.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Another common style is cause persuasive essay which tries to convince readers through emotions and not with evidence. In this case, one important resource is figurative language (images, metaphors, similes, and other rhetorical forms). While such styles are popular in advertisements and creative writing, they are not the object of assignments and should not be used in academic essays.
3.3. The Conclusion65
The conclusion is the last paragraph, which recapitulates broadly ideas presented in the thesis topic and the introduction.
In the conclusion, the formula of the introduction is inverted with a brief summary of the essay and a conclusive sentence that can catch the reader’s attention on the cornerstone of the essay. This must be done in such a pragmatic way that it opens up a new, larger perspective for the reader.
4. THE POST-WRITING STAGE
A review with two fundamental steps must follow the writing of the first draft.
• First, one must assess whether the content and the organization of the essay truly conveys the intended message to the reader and if there is cohesion between the sections.
• Secondly, a close focus must be directed to the elements of form (spelling, grammar, punctuation, capitalization, and sentence structure).
It is important to compare errors committed between two essays to avoid the recurrence of the same mistake and to improve one’s overall writing skills.
5. POLISHING YOUR ESSAYS
With time and practice, you will build a style of your own. After all, considering the much time and energy spent in crafting this product of yours, it is worth making it permanent. To that end, here come some sound advice and suggestions:
• Read a great deal and read all styles; above all, manage to figure out what styles you like and which ones you would like to adopt.
• Practice your writing with a variety of styles.
• Read popular newspapers. Focus on vocabulary words and unknown figures of style. Build your own lexicon so that you can gradually keep recording new terms or words with a certain level of difficulty.
• Practice and write a lot. Write even at your leisure time. Keep a diary of key moments of your life or write about meaningful events although you do not plan to share your writings with others.
• Open up a correspondence in English with a friend, or participate in chat lines in this language.
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6. LOGICAL REASONING
This is critical in an essay because it lets both your organizational skills and convincing powers transpire.
In order to allow this, writers use inductive and deductive reasoning. In the former, one starts with concrete examples to formulate general statements. The latter inverts the process and begins with general statements to be proved gradually with concrete illustrations. One advantage of these methods is that readers may also participate in the reasoning process consequently to better understand what is written.
¿When is it recommended to use either method?
Actually, it all depends on the topic, the objective of the essay and the intended audience. If the reader is familiar with the issue at hand, manipulation of the information can prove appropriate through inductive reasoning. Otherwise, it might pay to first present a hypothesis (deductive reasoning) or a clear, understandable thesis topic and get thereafter on the task of proving the point.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In an essay, it is always recommended to avoid some logical discrepancies with such generalizations (baseless comments), vicious cycles (attempts to develop a topic with the same terms with no details or clarifications), illogic information (irrelevant information with no connection with the announced premises).
7. TRANSITIONS
The role of transitions is vital in writing and in every essay. They are sentences or one-word connectors that allow readers to grasp your logic and follow the flow of your argument. Unquestionably, well-placed transitions take your readers softly and gently by the hand and shepherd them along. In the examples below (the list is fairly long), transitional words and phrases are classified by topic and meaning: Addition (to add a detail) In addition to, furthermore, moreover, besides, then, too, also, both-and, another, equally important, first, second, etc., again, further, last, finally, as well as, in the second place, next, likewise, in fact, as a result, consequently, in the same way, for example, for instance, however, thus, therefore, otherwise.
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