Explanation of style and formats of writing an essay. Format of comprehension paper.
23 Setembro 2015, 14:00 • David Alan Prescott
INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY WRITING: THERE ARE MANY APPROACHES, AMONG WHCH ARE:
A THE CLASSIC
1. KEEP TO THE POINT
A common mistake made by students is that of simply writing. Anything.
2. ADEQUATE REGISTER AND STYLE
An essay is a formal piece of work, so expressions like "I guess", "I dunno", "the guy", "maybe" and others, or styles like the following: "What's a story, anyway?", "That's all for now, teacher.", or "I better finish now because it's nearly four o'clock", are unacceptable. Although there isn't anything particularly wrong with them as pieces of English, they simply do not fall into the category of English for essay writing. As is the case for contractions of words. Equally, dividing words at the end of lines is not an acceptable form of presenting work of this kind.
Also, please do not write essays in the form of conversation, interrogations, prose poems, stories about what happened to you on the bus the other day, etc.
3. STRUCTURE
There are many ways of structuring an essay. The one here suggested is perhaps that which allows the presentation of a very clear argument and conclusion -- and this is half the battle won.
a) INTRO -- announce what you intend to state
b) Points AGAINST what you will defend
c) Points IN FAVOUR of what you wish to defend
d) SUMMING up of the points, leading to a
e) CONCLUSION based on what you have written.
B. ADMINISTRATIVE CRITIQUE
1. QUOTE from reliable sources, such as:
“Aristotle, when asked what he thought about onions, stated …” OR
“Onions,” stated Aristotle, speaking in Palermo after a dinner party, “should be…”
2. BE OBJECTIVE about the same issue:
“It is not up to this author to present weighty arguments for or against eating onions, but there must be no doubt that the onion, as food, has always been…”
3. THE LINK
“This quality of having many skins brings me to mention the fact that --- NOW WE INTRODUCE OUR OPINION ON THE SUBJECT
C. AFFIRMATIVE-ISH ESSAY
a. Totally opinionated at first
b. Then tempered by consideration
c. Ending in doubt
Example:
The Last Rocky Horror Show, as a failed work, shows that when no one understands a film then no one can enjoy it. So no one will go to see it. That is, of course because we like things that…
But should it be that way? Is that ‘the way of the world’? Is it not rather true that…
Perhaps not, and after all, what this work presents us with is – NOW OUR DOUBTS AND OPINIONS
HOW TO DEAL WITH A COMPREHENSION EXERCISE
1. THE POINT
As for essays, but with an extra note. A very serious mistake made by students is that of answering all the questions in every question. So always read ALL the questions before you attempt to answer any one of them It is also wise to respond to the questions in the order that they are presented to you, as this may help you avoid certain mistakes.
Typical examples of answers:
Q1. Who is Mr Smith?
A. Mr Smith is a bank manager who lives in London and is
married to a woman called Irene. One day last summer they
went to America to visit her sister.
Q2. Where does Mr Smith live?
Q3. Is Mr Smith married?
Q4. Why did he go to America with his wife?
In this case, in my opinion, Answer 1 is wrong, because I have no evidence that the student understands the text. In fact, as can be seen by the following questions 2, 3, and 4, it is obvious that the student doesn't understand. Comprehension is about showing that you understand a text and can justify this.
2. BREVITY
Generally, the more synthetically you manage to show that you have understood the question and the text, the better. It is wise to write in English sentences, however, if only to show that you know how to do so.
3. STYLE & REGISTER
These are basically the same as for essay writing. Remember that this is also a formal situation.