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How To Write An Essay

The document discusses how to write an academic essay, including the different types of essays, the three main stages of writing (preparation, writing, and revision), how to write introductions and conclusions, how to write the body including topic sentences and presenting evidence, and revising the essay. The document provides detailed guidance and examples for each part of the writing process.

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farah.hamizah
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10 views

How To Write An Essay

The document discusses how to write an academic essay, including the different types of essays, the three main stages of writing (preparation, writing, and revision), how to write introductions and conclusions, how to write the body including topic sentences and presenting evidence, and revising the essay. The document provides detailed guidance and examples for each part of the writing process.

Uploaded by

farah.hamizah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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How to write an essay

Planning, writing, and revising


What is an essay?

● Personal: Reflecting on the author’s experiences


● Narrative: Describing contemporary or historical events
● Philosophical: Considering philosophical questions
● Political: Making specific political arguments
● Cultural: Commenting on a book, film, etc.
● Academic...
Academic essays...

✓ Come in various shapes and sizes


✓ Aim to persuade the reader with informed arguments
✓ Present and analyze evidence
✓ Contain an introduction, body, and conclusion
3 stages of the writing process

1. Preparation
2. Writing
3. Revision
The preparation stage

● Understand the assignment


● Choose a topic or question
● Read relevant sources
● Come up with a thesis statement
● Outline your structure
Writing an introduction
Goals of an introduction

1. Hook your reader


2. Provide background and context
3. Formulate your thesis statement
4. Provide an overview of the essay
1. Hook your reader

Pique the reader’s interest with a strong opening statement:

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability.
2. Provide background and context
Expand on your opening statement with the most relevant
contextual information:

The writing system of raised dots, widely used by blind and visually impaired
people, was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France.
Although it initially met with resistance from sighted people, Braille
eventually became central to blind people’s education and autonomy, giving
them unprecedented access to cultural activities and social participation.
3. Formulate your thesis statement

State the central argument you want to make—your thesis


statement:

The success of Braille depended on acceptance among sighted people before


the social status of blindness could truly be transformed, and this process
was shaped by broader debates about disabled people’s place in society.
4. Provide an overview of the essay

Provide some signposting about your essay’s structure:

This essay begins by discussing the resistance Braille was met with from
teachers. It then describes the contemporary beliefs about disability that
informed this resistance. Subsequently, it asks to what extent the
introduction of Braille facilitated a shift in these beliefs.
The body of the essay
Length of the body

● Typical high-school essay has a three-paragraph body


● Longer essays may have multiple sections with headings
● The body should make up the majority of the essay
● Choose a structure that fits with your arguments
Each paragraph in the main body...

✓ Clearly relates to the main argument


✓ Has one central idea
✓ Is introduced with a topic sentence
✓ Transitions effectively from the previous paragraph
✓ Presents and interprets evidence
Topic sentences

A topic sentence introduces a paragraph by indicating its topic:

Although the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind
students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the
sighted before its adoption throughout France.
Topic sentences

The topic sentence transitions from the previous paragraph:

Although the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind
students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the
sighted before its adoption throughout France.
Topic sentences

Then it introduces the topic of this paragraph:

Although the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind
students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the
sighted before its adoption throughout France.
Presenting evidence

● Support your arguments with evidence


● Evidence comes from various sources (e.g. books, journals)
● Quote or paraphrase evidence
● Cite your sources
Evidence is presented to...

● Prove a claim
● Provide background information
● Show the state of current research
● Show a different perspective
● Be critiqued
Presenting evidence

Present evidence by quoting or paraphrasing:

Many of the teachers at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth resisted
learning Braille’s system because they found the tactile method of
reading difficult to learn (Bullock & Galst, 2009).
Interpreting evidence

Interpret the evidence you have presented:

This resistance was symptomatic of the prevalent attitude that the


blind population had to adapt to the sighted world rather than
develop their own tools and methods.
Writing a conclusion
Your conclusion...

✓ Synthesizes the arguments made in the body


✓ Explores the broader implications
✓ Emphasizes the significance of your argument
✓ Finishes with a strong closing statement
Synthesizing your arguments

Begin your conclusion by summarizing and drawing connections


between the various arguments you’ve made:

Braille radically enhanced blind people’s autonomy and changed


cultural understandings of blindness. But the emergence of Braille
did not depend solely on the technical evolution of tactile reading;
it also required the societal acceptance of blind people as valuable
enough to merit a separate reading system.
Broader implications

Suggest what further implications your argument has, beyond


those explored in the essay:

New tools of accessibility are always shaped by their social contexts,


but they also shape social conditions in turn.
Stressing the topic’s importance

Suggest to the reader why your topic, and the arguments you
have made about it, are significant:

The success of Braille was not limited to the practical advantages of


tactile reading; its enduring significance was in providing blind people
broader access to culture and concomitant gains in social status.
Strong closing statement

Conclude your essay with a memorable statement:

The Braille system was both a consequence and a cause of changing


attitudes to disability, and its development shows that accessibility and
acceptance are always intertwined.
The revision stage

● Redrafting and restructuring your arguments


● Editing for grammar and clarity
● Proofreading for typos
● Checking for stylistic consistency
Where’s the topic sentence?

Several different systems of tactile reading can be seen as forerunners to the


method Louis Braille developed, but these systems were all developed based
on the sighted system. The Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris taught the
students to read embossed roman letters, a method created by the school’s
founder, Valentin Hauy (Jimenez et al., 2009). Reading this way proved to be
a rather arduous task, as the letters were difficult to distinguish by touch.
Where’s the topic sentence?

Several different systems of tactile reading can be seen as forerunners to the


method Louis Braille developed, but these systems were all developed based
on the sighted system. The Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris taught the
students to read embossed roman letters, a method created by the school’s
founder, Valentin Hauy (Jimenez et al., 2009). Reading this way proved to be
a rather arduous task, as the letters were difficult to distinguish by touch.
Identify the thesis statement

Published in 1814, Mansfield Park was Austen’s third novel, and it has had a
mixed reception among critics.

Mansfield Park has been described as the “most eccentric” of Austen’s novels
(Halperin, 1975, p. 6).

Theatrical performance plays an essential role in the moral drama of


Mansfield Park. Austen reveals and tests the values of her characters
through their attitudes towards theater.
Identify the thesis statement

Published in 1814, Mansfield Park was Austen’s third novel, and it has had a
mixed reception among critics.

Mansfield Park has been described as the “most eccentric” of Austen’s novels
(Halperin, 1975, p. 6).

Theatrical performance plays an essential role in the moral drama of


Mansfield Park. Austen reveals and tests the values of her characters
through their attitudes towards theater.
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