10

Effective Essay Builder

(A step-by-step guide to effective essay-writing)

"You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planning down your sentences."

Anatole France

(1) Prewrite

(2) Write

H ow to A. Introduction

Write an PARTS OF AN ESSAY B. Supporting Paragraphs

Essay C.Summary Paragraph

(3) Edit

(4) Publish

Kinds of essays:

• Definition

• Classification

• Description

• Compare and Contrast

• Sequence

• Choice

• Explanation

• Evaluation

(1) Prewriting Essays

What is the prewriting stage?

The prewriting stage is when you prepare your ideas for your essay before you begin writing. You will find it easier to write your essay if you build an outline or a plan first.

Six Prewriting Steps:

1. Think carefully about what you are going to write. Jot down all your ideas and associations. Even if they seem awkward or out of place now they can serve you as a starting point for further associations.

Exercise I:

Brainstorming. Work in a group of 4 to 6 to generate ideas associated with the topic "My Future Career Prospects". Expand the spidergram given below.

Ask yourself:

-What question/questions am I going to answer in this essay?

-What facts do I need for the essay?

-How can I make this essay interesting?

-What else do I want to say about this topic?

-Why should people be interested in this topic?

-Why is this topic important?

You do not need to spend a lot of time doing this; just write enough to help you remember why and how you are going to write your paragraph or essay.

2. Find the main idea of your essay. Choose the most important point you are going to present. If you cannot decide which point is the most important, just choose one point and stick to it throughout your essay.

3. 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:

1. Introduction (the main idea)

______________________________________________________

2. Body

   1. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 1)

______________________________________________________

2. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 2)

______________________________________________________

3. Supporting Paragraph (supporting idea 3)

______________________________________________________

3. Summary Paragraph

______________________________________________________

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