4. Reason purpose, result, condition

(reason)

1. I went home early because/as I was feeling a bit tired.

2. The reason I went home early was that I was feeling tired.

3. They go there because of the wonderful weather.

4. The plane was late due to (because of ) bad weather.

(purpose)

1. We went into town (in order) to do some shopping.

2. I bought this book so that I can improve my English..

(result)

1. I left my ticket at home, so I had to buy another one.

2. They are a very big team and therefore they can get the best players.

3. I forgot to send the letters. As a result, no one knew about the meeting.

(condition)

1. We’ll be late unless we leave now. (if we don’t leave now)

2. Unless the weather improves (if the weather doesn’t improve), we won’t be able to go.

3. I have to go now, otherwise I’ll miss the last bus.

Exercise 1

Rewrite the sentences using “because of”

1. He couldn’t play because his arm was broken.

2. She got the job because her qualifications are excellent.

3. The weather was terrible, so we couldn’t eat outside.

4. She didn’t go to school because she had a bad cold.

5. The traffic was very heavy; I was half an hour late.

Exercise 2

These sentences are all about learning English. Complete them in a logical way

1. I want to improve my English because………………………………………………

2. I bought myself a personal stereo so that I………………………………………………

3. I usually study English at the weekends as I……………………………………………..

4. I always write words down in my notebook, otherwise I………………………….

5. I don’t get many opportunities to practice my English, and therefore……………….

6. My brother has got a number of American friends. As a result,…………………

Writing an essay-types and structure

(lessons 13-14)

Types of essays

The name “essay” goes back to 1588 when the writer Michel de Montaigne published his book “Essais”. Since then the word essay has been widely used to describe a short work that reveals the writer’s point of view on some particular subject. This word has come from French and has the same origin as the French verb “essayer” (to attempt).

It was a unique piece of literature in the 16th century, and it has not lost its unique nature. The writer of an essay communicates directly with the reader and thus the author gives his own opinion on the event, story, subject and even life in general. It might describe, it may generalize, and it can teach or entertain but the opinion of the writer should be clearly and plainly stated.

Essays are one of the several forms of creative writing. It is the most popular owing to the fact that they are taught in school before the others. As such they form the basis of creative writing in general.

Plagiarism or using other person’s ideas in essays is not permitted.

There is the great number of types of essays used in colleges and schools today. All of them have their specific particular purpose and reason. The most popular kinds of essays are:

Descriptive – an essay that provides point-by-point details of an object, event, feeling etc.

Definition essay defines and tries to explain the purpose, meaning or importance of something. It answers the questions: Why? Who? What? How?

Argumentative(opinion) essay attempts to persuade the reader of a controversial issue. The writer’s aim is to make readers believe in what he believes. This goal is reached by means of providing and defending an argument.

Narrative essay is a short story about any kind of event.

Compare/contrast is an essay which involves finding similarities and/or differences between two or more things that have something in common.

Expository essay is an essay in which the writer provides the information on a subject and therefore makes the reader familiar with particular topic which teaches him.

Summary – restates the main ideas and thesis of a book, movie or an article using writer’s own words.