Basics Guide to Writing Essays

From Niko Silvester,Your Guide to Creative Writing for Teens.

Types of Essay
"Compare and contrast the use of rhyme in two poets of the eighteenth century," a teacher might say when giving you your English assignment. Or maybe, "Define democracy," for a social studies essay. There are many different kinds of essays, each with a slightly different purpose. Different books give them different names and divide them up in somewhat different ways, which can make things confusing. I've tried to use the more common names for types of essays here, but what matters more isn't what they're called, but what they're meant to do. Below are 11 types of essays. Don't worry about memorizing them, just read through and see the different things an essay can do. Analogy and Comparison Analogy and comparative essays both use comparison, but they use it somewhat differently. Comparative essays simply compare similarities and differences, while analogy essays use analogy to clarify difficult topics. Analogy An analogy is a kind of comparison that attempts to illuminate a subject by comparing it to something else that is in many ways unlike the subject. For example, an analogy might explain the workings of the human brain and nervous system by comparing it to the electrical wiring of a car. Although a person and a car are very different, there are specific similarities that can help someone picture the way a human nervous system works by reference to the more familiar car electrical system. Of course, not everyone is familiar with the electrics of cars, so in choosing your topic for an essay that uses analogy, you'll have to be selective about what you decide to compare your primary topic to. The best way to use analogy is to explain something abstract or complicated by comparing it to something familiar, concrete, or simple to understand. Comparison This kind of essay is also known as the compare-contrast essay. In a comparison essay, the object is to compare the similarities of otherwise different things, and/or to contrast the differences of otherwise similar things. Sometimes, you may be expected to look at the similarities and differences, though usually the

similarities of similar things and the differences of different things are already obvious. In writing this kind of essay, you'll likely need to use methods from many of the other kinds of essays. You might need to explain similarities by analogy, for example (see above), or highlight differences by process analysis (see page 2). Analytical Essays An analytical or analysis essay is one that analyzes, that is, interprets or examines something. There are several different kinds of analytical essay including cause and effect, description, literary analysis, and process analysis. Cause and Effect A cause and effect essay examines or interprets the causes or effects of a situation. In this kind of essay, you may start from a known result or situation and examine what brought about that result. For example, it is known and observable that the sky appears blue, so you could write about why that sky appears blue, what causes it. Or, a cause and effect essay might begin from a known situation and then examine the effects of that situation. For example, intensive agriculture uses enormous amounts of fertilizer, so you could write about the effects of fertilizer that runs off farmland when it rains. Description Some essays do nothing but describe. To describe something in an essay, it's a good idea to use some of the same techniques as you would use in creative writing. Make use of all five senses: how does a thing look, feel, taste, smell, and sound? Note those small, unique details that really enable a reader to see what it is about the thing you are describing that makes it different from other things like it. Descriptive essays can easily slip over the dividing line between something you have to write for school and a true piece of creative non-fiction. Don't forget, though, that clarity and accuracy are important, so stay away from abstraction as much as possible. And remember that the techniques of the descriptive essay are useful in other essay types, as well. How can you analyze something without a quick description of it, at least? Literary Analysis A literary analysis essay interprets literature (a poem, short story, play, etc). It may discuss the meaning of the work, or it may evaluate the use of particular literary techniques, style and so on. Generally, a literary analysis focuses on three aspects of literature: a writer, a specific literary work or works, or a literary element. These three can be combined in various ways; for example, you could

choose to write about Shakespeare's use of the rhyming couplet in his comedies, you could write about Shakespeare as a typical (or atypical) playwright of his time, or you could examine the theme of Macbeth. Process Analysis A process analysis essay looks at how something is done. You could approach your topic as a how-to, and guide your readers through the process that they will follow. For example, you could write an essay describing how to hand-polish a car in a step-by-step format that allows readers to polish their own car following your instructions. Or you could look at the topic as something that has already been done. For example, you could write about the grandfather clock in your front hallway, describing the process by which it was made. Thus the process analysis paper can either instruct (teach someone how-to) or inform (illuminate a past event). Argument and Opinion Argument essays and opinion essays Opinion essays can be very similar, in that they both present a position and offer reasons for holding that position. The difference is largely one of degree; an opinion can be supported, but not actually proven, while an argument is a more rigorous and logical construct that ideally can be objectively evaluated in comparison to other arguments. In other words, opinions are personal, but arguments must be supported with good evidence. Argument An argumentative, or persuasive, essay is meant to convince the reader of something. You might, for example, write about why smoking is bad for your health, or why you should always look both ways before crossing the street. You don't necessarily have to agree with the position you are arguing for, as long as you write your essay as if you agree. This is an important distinction, as some teachers like to assign essays that require you to argue against whatever opinion you agree with. For example, you might be given an assignment to write and essay arguing for the elimination of the summer holiday from the school year. Even if you don't think the summer holiday should be eliminated, you still have to be able to express the arguments for that idea. Also, being able to argue from the other side of a topic is useful when you are arguing for something you believe in-that way, you can anticipate the arguments of the other side and refute them as you present your own arguments. Opinion An opinion essay simply expresses the writer's opinion on a particular topic. A good opinion essay, though, not only states what the opinion is, but also why the writer holds that opinion, and shows that the writer has examined and evaluated

other possibilities. Thus, if you write about your opinion on spaying/neutering pet dogs, you should also give reasons for having that opinion, and you should mention other possible opinions and explain why you rejected them. This kind of essay can be used for sharing ideas, explaining the reasons for actions you've taken, or to try to convince the reader to change their mind. Classification and Definition When you need to write about what something is, you'll probably need to use classification and definition. Classification related something the other things that it is like or unike, while definition attempts to say simply what the thing is. Classification A classification essay clarifies relationships between things. Classification, essentially, divides things into categories based on their similarities and differences. This is especially important in science, but all topics can make use of classification. A classification essay in English, for example, might discuss a group of authors from the same time period, or a series of poems that share the same metrical structure (sonnets, maybe, or blank verse). A history essay might look at when the industrial age began in different parts of the world, or how the American Civil War affected people in different social classes. You can also add elements of classification into other kinds of essays. For example, in that essay about spaying/neutering dogs, you could look at different classes of "pet" such as the house dog, the working dog (shepherding, police, etc), the show dog, and so on. Classification can help clarify a topic, and even add support to your opinion. Definition Definitions can, of course, be useful in nearly any kind of writing. Definitions can also make an essay all on their own, depending on the topic and the purpose of defining it. For many terms that need defining, especially simple physical things, a sentence or a paragraph is often enough. For more abstract concepts, though, a whole essay may just be the beginning. Consider the abstract notion love. You could, if need be, come up with a fairly short definition that would serve well enough in some contexts, but an abstract like love can also provide the topic for an essay. Suppose your topic was "What is Joy"--could you write an essay simply attempting to define this word? That is a definition essay.

Narration and Thoughts Like description, narration offers opportunities for using the techniques of creative writing in an essay. By making your essay-writing more creative, you may enjoy it more--school work can be fun if you know how it make it fun. Narration A narration or narrative essay is an essay that tells a story. It is a good way to involve the reader, as reading a narrative essay is much like reading a short story (if it is done well). In a narrative essay, the message of the essay may not be apparent until the end, once the reader has already read it; thus it can be a powerful way of getting people to read about things they might avoid in another kind of essay. For example, you could write your essay about spaying/neutering dogs as a story about a group of dogs. If you wrote it well, the reader might not even realize you were arguing for all pet dogs to be spayed/neutered (or not to be, depending on your opinion) until they'd finished the story and sympathized with the dogs they'd read about. Narration can be a powerful way to get a reader on to your side of an argument. A writer can use narration to explain the purpose of other types of essay, as well, perhaps as an introductory paragraph or section. In this way, you can draw a reader into the subject before getting into more technical detail. A Few Thoughts Dividing essays up into different types may be an interesting exercise, but is is practical when all you want to do is get through the school year will reasonable grades? The answer is both no and yes. No, because you don't need to know all this detail to be able to write a good essay. Yes, because knowing what type of essay you are expected to write will help you figure out how to approach writing it. When you're given an essay assignment, be alert for key words. "Compare and contrast" means you'll need to look at similarities and differences. "Describe" means you'll be writing a descriptive essay. And so on. knowing the type of essay will help you determine the best arrangement for your information within the basic 3-part essay structure.

The Three-Part Essay Structure

All essays, and even all research papers, have the same underlying structure. Once you've got that down, the layout out of essays, not matter what the topic, will no longer be a problem. Luckily, it's easy to remember: introduction, body, conclusion. In the next few parts of this guide, I'll cover each of these in detail, but for now I'll go over the basic three-part shape. Easy As 1-2-3 The three-part structure of essays -- introduction, body, conclusion -- goes like this:

tell the reader what you're going to say say it summarize what you've said

And that's it. The hard part, of course, is figuring out how to write the introduction so it introduces the topic, and the conclusion so it summarizes, because you don't want to write exactly the same thing three times in a row. One key is to make both the introduction and the conclusion concise -- that is, say things in as few words as possible, saving the elaboration of ideas for the body of the essay. One way to use the three-part structure would be to ask a question in the introduction, explore the possibilities in the body, and answer the question in the conclusion. There are lots of other ways this structure can be used; just make sure that most of the content goes in the body. Three-Part Essay Structure Here's what the three-part essay structure looks like in layout form: 1. 2. Introduction Body o paragraph about x o paragraph about y o paragraph about z Conclusion

3.

You can, of course, have more than three paragraphs in the body, though I wouldn't recommend fewer than three (there wouldn't be much content). Incidentally, three body paragraphs works well for a 500-word essay (and divides neatly into 100 words per paragraph, if the introduction and conclusion are each one paragraph; but be flexible about paragraph length).

Say, for example, you were writing a 500-word essay on symbolism in The Tempest. It's a pretty big topic for 500 words, so perhaps you narrowed it down to the major symbols surrounding the character Prospero, and chose to focus on the magic books, Caliban, and Ariel. You might lay out your essay something like this: 1. Introduction: a paragraph stating how you've chosen to examine Prospero's books, Caliban and Ariel as symbols important to the character Prospero; and a general idea of what importance they might have 2. Body o paragraph about the symbolic significance of Prospero's books o paragraph about the symbolic significance of Caliban o paragraph about the symbolic significance of Ariel 3. Conclusion: a paragraph summarizing the general significance of the three symbols and why you think they're important There's no rule saying that the introduction and conclusion must only be one paragraph long; in longer essays, these two parts might also be longer. Generally, though, you should be able to distil your topic into a single paragraph (especially if the essay is to be short). Three Parts Everywhere The three-part structure is not only the organizing principle for the essay as a whole. If you were to write a very long essay that you divided up into sections with subtitles, each of those sections would also have the three-part structure. Even paragraphs follow the three-part structure -- I'll examine paragraph structure in detail in Part 7. If you can master this concept, you'll have gained one of the best tools for essay writing (one of the best tools for nearly any kind of writing, really).

The Introduction in Detail

The Introduction
Although the introduction is the first part of an essay, it's usually the part that gets written last. The reason is that the introduction has to say exactly what is to follow in the body of the essay, and you can't know for sure what's in the body until you've written it. Saving the introduction for last is one strategy for writing, another is to write a draft of the introduction first, to give you direction when writing the rest of the essay. You'd then revise the introduction once the rest of the essay is complete. So let's look at what an introduction does, and what it should contain. Then we'll examine the all-important thesis statement. What an Introduction Does Essentially, an introduction introduces the topic of the essay (no surprise there, I hope). Consider what a reader needs to know in order to understand what you are writing about. Are there details of time and place that are important? For example, if your essay is a biographical study of your favourite writer, you probably want to include the writer's name; what country (and even what state/province and city) they are from; what period they were/are writing in; and how many books, stories, or poems they've written, all in the introduction. If there is a lot of background material, it can be a good idea to put it in a separate paragraph, with only the very basic information in the introduction itself. Another function of the introduction is to capture the reader's attention, so they will want to continue reading. There are a number of ways to do this; some of the most effective devices are a quote from a famous person that relates to your topic, a compelling description or scene, startling statistics, or a question. Anything that will interest a reader and involve them in the topic is good. For example, in an essay about William Shakespeare's The Tempest, you could open your essay with a quote from the play, or you describe a scene from the play, or you could ask "Why is Shakespeare's wizardly character Prospero surrounded by so many vivid symbols?" Finally, the introduction states the thesis of the essay; that is, the core idea or essence that you are trying to get across. I'll explain the thesis statement in more detail below. What an Introduction Contains To do all those things I described above, an introduction needs the following things (more or less in this order):

an attention-getter (such as a question, quote, or scene)

essential background information about the topic a thesis statement

Just like the basic essay structure, that's only three things to remember. The Thesis Statement Learning to write an effective thesis statement (also called the thesis sentence) is probably the most important skill you can have as an essay writer (it will also be invaluable in writing research papers). The thesis statement is a sentence (or rarely, a couple of sentences) that states the subject of the essay, and shows the division of that subject into the subtopics you will be discussing (usually in the order they will appear in the essay). If, for example, you are writing an essay that will have three body paragraphs, each with its own subtopic, you should mention those three things in your thesis statement. Here's an example, using the same hypothetical essay I used in Part 3 when describing the three-part structure: "In William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, Prospero is surrounded by significant symbols; three of the most compelling are the strange books of magic, the bestial creature Caliban, and the fairy Ariel." A reader knows from reading this sentence that my essay is going to be about symbolism in Shakespeare's The Tempest, specifically the symbols most important to the character Prospero. In addition, the reader will be expecting the three symbols to be discussed in (at least) three separate paragraphs, in the order they are listed in the thesis statement. Transition I'll talk more about transitions when we get to paragraph structure in Part 7. For now, though, keep in mind that your essay should progress smoothly from section to section, paragraph to paragraph, and introduction to body. The transition from introduction to body can be fairly simple. If you've written an effective thesis statement, the reader is already expecting to skip on to the first part of your essay. If you need more room for background information, you may want to begin your first paragraph after the introduction with a statement such as "Before looking at the symbolism in The Tempest it is important to mention some of the details of William Shakespeare's life." All you really need to remember about introductions is that they introduce. As I said in Part 3, when writing an essay, you first tell the reader what you're going to say, then you say it, then you summarize what you've said. The introduction does the first part: telling the reader what you're going to say.

The Body in Detail

The Body
The body of an essay is the main part -- this is where you develop the ideas introduced in the introduction. The body paragraphs, in other words, support the thesis of the essay (to refresh your memory about the thesis, refer back to Part 4). I'll discuss the general structure and contents of the body as a whole here; more detail on individual paragraphs will be found in Part 7 when I address paragraph structure. The Shape of the Body In Part 4, I mentioned that when writing a thesis statement you should include your ideas or topics in the order you plan to discuss them. Thus, the thesis statement becomes your blueprint for the order of your essay's body. It's a good idea to put some thought into that order, though, rather than just listing ideas as they come to you. For example, if you were writing an essay about something that happened gradually -- perhaps following a character's growing insanity -- you would probably want to order your paragraphs so that they follow that process chronologically. Or you might choose to look at the minor causes of the character's madness, and build up to the most important ones. Remember, though, if you decide to change the order of your paragraphs from the order you set out in your thesis statement, go back and change the thesis statement to match. Good ways to organize and essay body include:

chronological cause and effect least important to most important simplest to most complicated

You can probably think of others. Be sure to give this some thought and see if you can come up with the best way to present your particular topic (if you can't decide, use chronological -- you can always switch paragraphs around later). Separate Ideas When writing the body of your essay, keep in mind that each new idea (or related group of ideas) should be in a new paragraph. I'll get into this more in Part 7, but think of each paragraph as a kind of mini-essay. Each one will have a transition from the one before (kind of like your essay's attention-grabber), each will have a

topic sentence (something like the essay's thesis statement), and each will have ideas or evidence that support the topic sentence (like the body paragraphs support the thesis statement). Support the Thesis When you're trying to decide what information to include in your essay, and what to leave out, you really only need to consider one thing: does the information support your thesis statement? (In other words, is it included in the specific topic you're writing about?) If the answer is yes, then see where the best place to include that information might be. If the answer is no, leave that information out -even if it's really, really interesting. Alternatively, you could try to re-work your thesis statement to include great bit of information, but don't push it too far, or you'll end up with a mess. As I mentioned in Part 4, the introduction is often the last part of an essay that you'll write (but it depends on your personal writing style). Drafting a thesis statement ahead of time will help give you focus as you write the body, but it can also be a good idea to re-write the thesis statement after you've written the body paragraphs. That way, you can make sure you have a good fit between your thesis and the paragraphs that are supposed to support your thesis. Then all you'll need is a way to tie everything together.

The Conclusion in Detail

The Conclusion
Once the body of an essay is complete, many writers then work on the introduction and conclusion at the same time (or one right after the other). You could, conceivably, write the conclusion first, if you already know everything that is going to go in your essay; however, as with the introduction, it's best to have the body done so you know what needs to be included. In this part of the Guide, I'll go over what an essay conclusion does and what it contains. Then we'll take a closer look at the concluding statement--the final words that can really make an essay work. What a Conclusion Does As the introduction introduces, so the conclusion concludes. The conclusion is the last part of an essay, and it's your final word on the topic of your essay, so it needs to accomplish a number of things. First of all, the conclusion must summarize or tie together the main points of the essay. If there is a part of your essay that won't fit into this summarizing/tying together, then you need to seriously consider whether that part really belongs in the essay. The conclusion is where you show the reader that all the different things you've written about in your essay are part of one larger topic, or lead to a final result, or otherwise belong in the same piece of writing. If there are any loose ends in your essay, any threads or thoughts that don't quite attach to the whole yet, tie these up in the conclusion. If you posed any questions or problems in your introduction, then you must address those questions or problems again in the conclusion. If your essay's body paragraphs lead to any answers or solutions, state these again. If the questions are unanswerable, or the problems insoluble, say so (and summarize why, if possible). If the essay was written to explain an experiment, or to present research (you'd more likely write a research paper for this purpose, but you could also write an essay), use the conclusion to summarize the results of the experiment or research. Conclusions also frequently restate the thesis statement (see Part 4 if you need a refresher on thesis statements). Try to avoid simply rewriting the thesis statement word-for-word, though. Rephrase it to reflect the fact that you've just taken the reader through a thorough exploration of the topic. You can even work your thesis statement into your summary or tying-together of points, so it's an integral part of concluding the whole. For example, my example thesis statement in the introduction (see part 4) was, "In William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, Prospero is surrounded by significant symbols; three of the most compelling are

the strange books of magic, the bestial creature Caliban, and the fairy Ariel." For the conclusion, I might rephrase this statement like so: "The Tempest is full of strange and wonderful symbols, but three of these stand out as the most significant to the story. First is Prospero's magic books--when Prospero casts his books into the sea, he also rejects his magical powers. Second and third are Caliban and Ariel, two sides of nature--beastly and sublime--and two aspects of Prospero's magic--the demonic and the angelic." Finally, try to include a "clincher" or thought-provoker right at the end of your essay. This isn't essential, but it can really make the whole essay more effective. The thought-provoker can be a quote, a question, a statement of belief, or a final observation (and you can probably come up with more possibilities). Use anything relevant to the topic that will stick with the reader after they've finished reading the essay. The thought-provoker will be especially effective if it refers back to the attention-getter from your introduction. For example, if you wrote an essay about the symbolism in William Shakespeare's The Tempest, and used a great quote from the play as your attention-getter, see if you can find another quote from the play that will work as a thought-provoker. What a Conclusion Contains As with the introduction, there are really only three things to remember about what a conclusion should contain (more or less in this order):

summary of main points or restatement of thesis answers, solutions, or results clincher or thought-provoker

Include all those elements, and your conclusion will do all the things a conclusion is meant to do. The Concluding Statement Generally, it works best to use your clincher or though-provoker as your concluding statement. Whatever you put in the final sentence of your essay, make sure it will somehow remind the reader of what they have just read. You may choose to end quietly, perhaps with some simple statement of fact that sums everything up; or you may choose to end boldly, with an extravagant quote or a loud proclamation of opinion. Whether you end with a whisper or a bang, remember that in writing last things have power--choose your final words carefully and give your reader something to think about.

The Structure of Paragraphs

Paragraph Structure
Like the essay as a whole, each paragraph has a three-part structure. The first sentence of a paragraph is its introduction, the bulk of the paragraph is its body, and the final sentence is the conclusion. Paragraph Focus Before getting into the structure, its important to realize that paragraphs aren't simply a way of dividing a long piece of writing into manageable chunks (though they do that, too). Paragraphs give the whole essay its structure by organizing the information in a logical manner. To help do this, each paragraph focuses on one topic or idea. Occasionally, related ideas may be grouped into a single paragraph if they each take only a sentence or two to explain. In general, though, one idea/topic = one paragraph. For example, in my hypothetical essay on the symbolism of The Tempest, I wanted to look at three examples: Ariel, Caliban and Prospero's magic books. Each of these three would be discussed in a separate paragraph, so the structure of the essay's body might look like this in diagram form: Paragraph 1: Ariel as symbolic of the angelic aspects of Prospero's magic Paragraph 2: Caliban as symbolic of the demonic aspects of Prospero's magic Paragraph 3: the books as symbolic of Prospero's magic as a whole

Each of these idea/paragraphs are then arranged relative to each other so they occur in a logical order. As discussed in Part 5, the order of paragraphs/ideas follows the order you mentioned them in your thesis statement. (Careful readers may have noticed that the order above does not match the order I used in examples in Parts 3 and 4 of this guide; this was deliberate and you'll see why in Part 9.) Occasionally, a single idea may need more than one paragraph to explain. Try to avoid this by making your descriptions and explanations concise and exact. If you need to carry an idea over into another paragraph (if, for example, the paragraph is longer than one typed, double-spaced page), make sure to divide the information at a logical point, and give each of the paragraphs the complete three-part structure. (See "The Paragraph Body" below for more on paragraph length.)

Introducing the Paragraph In the same way that the introduction of an essay introduces and outlines the topic of the whole essay, the introductory sentence (or topic sentence) of a paragraph introduces the topic of the paragraph. It can be a simple statement, like this: "The fairy Ariel is one of the central symbolic images of The Tempest." That's all you'd need. The reasons why Ariel is a central symbolic image are then covered in the body of the paragraph. The introductory sentence may also contain a transition from the previous paragraph--see "Transitions," below, for more about that. The Paragraph Body The part of the paragraph that is not introduction or conclusion contains the bulk of your information--this is the meat of the essay (where, for example, you would explain why Ariel is a central symbolic image in The Tempest). Make each paragraph as long or as short as you need to to present all the necessary information. In "Paragraph Focus," above, I mentioned breaking up paragraphs longer than one typed, double-spaced page. This is only a guideline, so don't feel you must break up long paragraphs. Sometimes, an idea simply needs more room to explore, but can't be divided into smaller parts. If that is the case, leave the paragraph long. Other times, you may read over a long paragraph and find a natural break where you can divide it into two separate parts. If you find this, then go ahead and divide. It's usually a good idea to see how the information arranges itself naturally before imposing too strict a structure on it. But, just as the essay is arranged with paragraphs in some sort of logical order or progression, so should a paragraph be arranged with sentences in a logical order or progression. Concluding the Paragraph Like the conclusion sums up the essay, so the concluding sentence of a paragraph sums up the paragraph. Use this sentence to summarize the information in the paragraph (but don't simply restate the introductory sentence), or to tie together the information provided so far. Suppose I'd written a paragraph describing the imagery associated with Caliban in The Tempest. I might write a concluding sentence like this: "With all the earthy, animalistic, brutal images I've described above, it's easy to see Caliban as a demonic figure, especially when compared to Ariel's beautiful, airy, angelic characteristics." The concluding sentence may also contain a transition to the next paragraph;

Transitions Transitions create a thread between paragraphs, so your reader isn't lost or jarred when moving from one idea/paragraph to the next. A transition is simply a sentence, or part of a sentence, that connects the material in one paragraph to that in the next. This creates a smooth read and makes your material seem to make more sense. The transition may be part of the concluding sentence of one paragraph, or it may be part of the introductory sentence of the next paragraph. You could even have a transition that is partly in one paragraph's conclusion and partly in the next paragraph's introduction. Here's an example of a concluding sentence: "By examining Ariel's symbolic qualities, it can be seen that this fairy creature represents the positive side of Prospero's power; and if Ariel is angelic, Caliban is equally demonic." Notice how the first part of the sentence sums up the topic (Ariel as a symbol in The Tempest), while the second part of the sentence ties the paragraph's topic into the topic of the next paragraph (Caliban as a symbol). Now here's an example of an introductory sentence: "Ariel and Caliban may depict the opposite sides of Prospero's magic, but his strange and beautiful books symbolize that magic as a whole." In this example, the topics of both of the previous paragraphs (Ariel as symbol and Caliban as symbol) are brought together with the topic of this new paragraph (the books as symbol). In a very long essay you may arrange the information in sub-sections, each with its own title. In that case, you also need transitions between sections. Generally, such transitions don't need to be any more complicated that transitions between paragraphs, though you may need to use a transition paragraph rather than just a single sentence.

Something About Style

Style
Style is one of the most difficult topics in writing to discuss, and certainly one of the hardest to define. William Strunk and E.B. White, in their classic book The Elements of Style write of style as, "what is distinguished and distinguishing." It's the way one writer says something that is different from the way another writer would say it, but it doesn't mean, necessarily, flashy or fancy writing. Essay writing works best when it is kept simple. Keep it Simple, Keep it Clear When writing an essay (and any other piece of writing), you are communicating. The point of an essay is to convey your ideas about a particular topic, so it doesn't do much good if the reader can't figure out what you are trying to say. So the first key to style in essays is keep it simple. Choose simple sentence structures over complex ones. This doesn't mean you must only use noun-verb or subject-verb-object sentences; it just means you should avoid overly complicated phrases. The same goes for explanations. Avoid complex descriptions that will lose your audience--break explanations down into smaller chunks if you need to. The aim is to explain so your readers can understand, so be as clear as possible. Nouns/Verbs Over Adjectives/Adverbs One thing that many writers don't understand (or don't want to believe), is that avoiding adjectives and (especially) adverbs will make their writing stronger. That isn't to say you should avoid them altogether; they do have their uses, and you probably wouldn't get very far using no adjectives. However, evocative nouns and strong verbs are nearly always more effective than ordinary nouns with adjectives added and weak verbs coupled with adverbs. Whenever you find yourself relying on adjectives and adverbs to do all the work (or even some of the work), stop and see if you can find better nouns and verbs to use instead. Save the adjectives and adverbs for where they're really needed, and you'll find them much more effective when you do use them. Qualifiers are Evil Qualifiers are words and phrases such as rather, a little, maybe, pretty, very, really, perhaps and so on. Strunk and White call them "the leeches that infest the pond of prose, sucking the blood of words." Qualifiers lessen the impact of words and sentences. "It it is perhaps evident that William Shakespeare identified pretty strongly with his character Prospero." Can you spot the qualifiers? Why perhaps evident? If you think Shakespeare identified with Prospero, and can support your

claim, then there's no perhaps about it. And why pretty strongly? Words like these are wishy-washy. They make it seem like the writer is afraid to state what they really think. Very, very occasionally, you'll have a legitimate reason to use a qualifier. Most of the time they should be avoided like the evil word-sucking leeches they are. Don't Overdo It As with pretty much anything in life, don't overdo things in your writing. As I mentioned above, try not to overcomplicate your sentence structure, descriptions or explanations. Simplicity, remember? Clarity. But also don't overdo things like figures of speech. Keep your metaphors clear, for example, and use them sparingly. If you find a really great word that you're dying to use, only put it in your essay once or twice. If it really is a great word, you won't need it any more than that, and the less you use it, the more impact it will have. Also don't overdo simplicity itself. You can use sentences more complicated than, "Shakespeare wrote plays. One of those plays was The Tempest. There is symbolism in this play," and so on. Too much simplicity becomes boring; too much complexity becomes unintelligible. Above All, Be Yourself Once you've got it in your mind to write simply and clearly, to prefer good nouns and verbs, to avoid qualifiers, and to be moderate, you only have to write naturally. Fortunately, you can forget about all those other things for a little while, and simply write. Use your own voice, write in whatever way you feel most comfortable--for your first draft. If you have any interest in your topic, your own natural writing style will best express what you want to say--it will allow your interest to come through and will thus vastly improve your essay. Once you have that first draft written, though, it's time to remember all those other things I just discussed, and do some revising. But first, here are Strunk and White again: "Young writers often suppose that style is a garnish for the meat of prose, a sauce by which a dull dish is made palatable. Style has no such separate entity; it is non-detachable, un-filterable. The beginner should approach style warily, realizing that it is himself he is approaching, no other; and he should begin by turning resolutely away from all devices that are popularly believed to indicate style--all mannerisms, tricks, adornments. The approach to style is by way of plainness, simplicity, orderliness, sincerity."

The Dreaded Edit

Editing
Once you've got your essay written, you may be tempted to just hand it in and be rid of it. But think of editing as your last chance to get everything right, before the whole world (or maybe just your teacher) reads it and sees all your little errors. Editing can make the difference between an okay essay and a really good one. Editing happens on several levels--the word, the sentence, the paragraph, and the overall structure--plus a couple of related offshoots like fact-checking and answering the assignment. I won't be looking at paragraph-level editing in detail, but you can go back to Part 7 for a closer look. Don't Trust the Spellchecker One of the first things to learn about editing is that you must never trust your word processor's spellchecker. It isn't that it will give you incorrect spellings, it's that it sometimes gives you correct spellings for the wrong word. It all depends on the sort of typos you make. Also, the spellchecker can't tell if you accidentally typed "your" instead of "you're" or "bath" instead of "bathe." So read your work carefully, looking only at the words. Make sure you have the correct spellings, and check a dictionary if you're not sure. This is a good time to check the meanings of more technical words, too. Did you really mean "translucent," or should it say "transparent"? Even experienced writers make mistakes like these.

Grammar and the Sentence The next level of editing is the sentence. Read through your work to make sure the writing flows smoothly from sentence to sentence. Look carefully at anything the trips you up--it may be an awkward phrase or a bit of screwy grammar. Good grammar is important in essay-writing, because you need to communicate clearly, and only good grammar can do that. There are times when you'll want to use a grammatically incorrect structure, but it should be deliberate--to achieve a specific effect--and not because you are unaware of what a complete sentence looks like. Most writers have one or two elements of grammar or sentence structure that they often mess up; if you know what your weaknesses are--say your teacher is always reminding you to use active voice--then pay special attention and look for those problems while you edit. This is also a good time to make sure your sentences fit together into well-structured paragraphs.

Fact Checking You might be surprised at how many times reporters, for example, or book reviewers, get some simple fact wrong. I've read reviews where the writer got the title of the book wrong, or misspelled the author's name. The problem is when a writer assumes they know, and it usually shows up in the simplest details--the ones that would be the easiest to check. I think it's because we all want to make sure to get the really hard stuff right, so we research it carefully. But everybody knows that winter happens when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, so we don't bother to look it up. (And that's a bad idea, because that isn't what causes the seasons at all.) Even if you think you know something for a fact, take the time to look it up and make sure. Because if you get a simple thing wrong, no one's going to trust that you know anything about the more complicated ideas. Sound Structure If you've been reading this whole guide in order, you may have noticed that in my Shakespeare example, I started out arranging my topics in the order: Prospero's books, Ariel, Caliban. In Part 7, though, I changed that order to: Ariel, Caliban, Prospero's books. It may seem like a small change, but it is quite significant in terms of how the essay will flow. When I outlined the essay, it seemed logical to examine the books first, as they were the symbol that stood out the most. As I worked on the essay, though, I realized that because they stood out the most, they should be examined last. Ariel and Caliban seemed more and more to represent parts of Prospero's power, while the books symbolized all of his magic. Logically, then, it made better sense to look first at the parts and then at the whole. So at this level of editing, look at how you've organized your information and make sure it has the most logical and effective structure. Also look at your transitions between paragraphs and sections to be sure they work as well as they should. Sometimes, transitions that just don't work can indicate that two items don't really belong next to each other--change the order of topics around and you might well solve the problem with the transition. Addressing the Assignment Finally, make sure your essay addresses the assignment you were supposed to be doing. If your assigned topic was "Write an essay on the symbolism of Shakespeare's play The Tempest," and you wrote an essay titled "Prospero's Magic as Symbolized by Ariel, Caliban and the Magic Books" as outlined in the examples, then you've addressed the assignment. If, instead, you wrote something called "Shakespeare's Use of the Rhyming Couplet in The Tempest," you might be in trouble. Read your assignment carefully, and make sure you've

addressed all aspects of it. The most brilliant essay in the world won't get you good marks if you wrote it on the wrong topic. Little-to-Big, or Big-to-Little? I've said to begin with the word-level editing and work your way up to bigger things. Actually, it often works better the other way around. Try starting by making sure you've addressed the topic adequately, then make sure the overall structure works. Check your facts. Move on to making sure each paragraph works as a unit, and that each sentence is clear. Then check the meanings and spellings of words, and finish up with a final read-through to make sure it all flows smoothly.

Referencing And Plagiarism

Referencing and Plagiarism

Almost all the information you'll use in writing essays will have come from somewhere else, and it's essential to say where you got it. Referencing--also called "citing sources"--does a couple of things. It helps avoid accidental plagiarism, it shows you've done your research, and it's simply common courtesy. Get in the habit of noting where each piece of information came from as you do your research, and referencing will be a snap. Ways of Citing Sources There are several ways to reference your sources of information, each suited to different kinds of essays or research papers (and when you get to postsecondary education, you'll find that different fields of study favour different referencing styles). The simplest way to mention sources, and the one you'll most likely use for short highschool essays, is to mention them in the text. For example: Ariel first appears in Act I, Scene II of The Tempest, when Prospero calls out, "Come away, servant, come: I am ready now; Approach, my Ariel; come." Everything that a reader needs to find the specific information mentioned is in the sentence. Also note that the part directly quoted from the play is in quotation marks. This kind of referencing is usually all that is needed for essays where you only use one source; you'll probably have had assignments like this in English class (for example: "Describe the metaphors in The Chrysalids by John Wyndham" and the like). When you use many different sources, you may need to use a different kind of referencing to keep everything straight. You could still work the references into the text as above, but the more sources you use, the harder it can be to include references without awkward or repetitive phrasing. The usual way to write

multiple-source essays in university/college is to use parenthetical references. This simply means enclosing the references in parentheses after the specific bit of information that needs the reference. Some of the information will still fall in the writing itself, but the details are out of the way. There are many varieties of parenthetical reference; your instructor will tell you what style to use and where to find examples. For now, though, here's one example to show you what I'm talking about: As Maureen Duffy writes, "Ariel and Caliban are the separate poles between which man lies: aery spirit and beast." Both are simply parts of Prospero himself--Ariel the sublime and Caliban the beastly (The Erotic World of Faery, 178-179). Once again, all the necessary details are included, only now the technical parts--title and page numbers--are out of the way in parentheses. Footnotes and endnotes can be used in much the same way; the information here in parentheses would instead appear in a note at the bottom of the page or the end of the essay. How much detail goes into the parentheses or notes depends on the specific style of referencing. If you're to use this kind of citation, your teacher will give you more details. The Bibliography For any essay in which you use more that one source, you should include a bibliography. The specific arrangement of information within the bibliography can vary somewhat--use whatever format your teacher specifies. Include in your bibliography every source that you mentioned in the text of your essay. If your essay was about a specific literary work, include that, too. Here's an example of a typical entry in a bibliography: Duffy, Maureen. The Erotic World of Faery. (1972) London, Cardinal: 1989. The author's name is always first, and the bibliography should be alphabetized by the author's last name. For more than one author, list the first author in the form "last name, first name" and any additional authors as "first name last name" (for example: "MacDonald, George, and William Morris.") If you have a source with no author given, you can either use "Anonymous" for the author, or list it by title. After the author's name comes the title, usually followed by place published, publisher and date of publication (ask your teacher for the specific format to use). The date in parentheses in the example above is the original publication date. You only need to include that if it is different from the date of the edition you consulted. You may sometimes have books or other sources that you looked at for ideas, or which you used to find commonly-known facts, but which you don't actually mention in the text. It's a good idea to include these in your bibliography as well. However, some teachers will think you're "padding" your bibliography to make it look like you did more research if you include sources not mentioned in the text. One solution is to title the bibliography "References Consulted"; or you could

divide your bibliography into two parts, with an "Sources Not Cited" section after the main bibliography (you can probably find a better title).

What is Plagiarism? As I mentioned above, one of the things referencing does for you is to help avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is when you copy another person's writing or ideas in a way that makes it look like the writing or ideas are your own. Plagiarism can be deliberate or it can be accidental. It's very easy to plagiarize by accident; fortunately, it's also fairly easy to avoid accidental plagiarism. As for deliberate plagiarism, would you want someone else to steal something you've worked really hard on? Avoiding Plagiarism Referencing and quotation marks are your best tools for avoiding plagiarism. Every time you copy something from another source, note where you got it. If you copied it word-for-word, put it in quotation marks (if it's a long passage, you can use a "block quote" instead). If you used the ideas but wrote them in your own words, don't use quotation marks but make sure it's clear whose ideas they are and where you found them. Some things, like commonly-known facts, don't require references. If you write that the sky is blue and the day is twenty-four hours long, you don't need to say where you found that information. If you include lots of facts like that, though, and you used one or two books to look them up, you should include those books in your bibliography. It is also possible to cross into plagiarism--or at least look like you haven't put any original thought into your work--by using too much of another person's writing, even if you put it all in quotation marks or block quotes. If you find yourself cobbling your essay together out of a series of short quotes, or including big chunks of quoted text all over the place, or both, try paraphrasing some of it. Paraphrasing means rewriting the text in your own words, usually summarizing or condensing it. You still need to reference the original source for the information and ideas you've paraphrased, but you won't be copying the exact words (and paraphrased information doesn't need quotation marks). If there is a phrase you just can't reword without changing the meaning, you can do a combination of paraphrase and quote. Essentially, you just need to remember three things: 1. 2. 3. paraphrase where possible use quotation marks where needed always cite your sources

Part 11: Putting it all Together

There are really only a few points to remember when you're working on an essay assignment: keep within the assigned topic (talk to your teacher if you need to make sure) stay within the assigned length (part of the skill in writing essays is tailoring the topic to fit the length) remember the three-part structure (introduction, body, conclusion)

If you stick to those three things, you should be able to write an essay on any subject with ease, and even use your creative side to make it fun. All the Parts Together I've taken the "symbolism in The Tempest" examples that I used throughout this guide, and assembled them below, so you can begin to see what the finished essay might look like. I've aimed at something that would make a good 500-word essay. The parts in italics describe what things are still needed to make it complete. Prospero's Magic as Symbolized by Ariel, Caliban and the Magic Books A suitable quote from the play would make a good attention-getter to open with. This is followed by the thesis statement: In William Shakespeare's play The Tempest, Prospero is surrounded by significant symbols; three of the most compelling are the bestial creature Caliban, the fairy Ariel, and the strange books of magic. Some background on the play might be good here, if it's significant to the topic. The paragraph should conclude with a transition to the body of the essay. The fairy Ariel is one of the central symbolic images of The Tempest. Ariel first appears in Act I, Scene II, when Prospero calls out, "Come away, servant, come: I am ready now; Approach, my Ariel; come." The rest of this paragraph should present evidence for Ariel as an angelic figure and representative of the positive side of Prospero's power. By examining Ariel's symbolic qualities, it can be seen that this fairy creature represents the positive side of Prospero's power; and if Ariel is angelic, Caliban is equally demonic. This paragraph should discuss the evidence for Caliban as a demonic figure and the negative side of Prospero's power, and concludes: With all the earthy, animalistic, brutal images I've described above, it's easy

to see Caliban as a demonic figure, especially when compared to Ariel's beautiful, airy, angelic characteristics. Ariel and Caliban may depict the opposite sides of Prospero's magic, but his strange and beautiful books symbolize that magic as a whole. The rest of this paragraph should present the case for the magic books as representative of Prospero's power as a whole. A quote or description from the scene where Prospero casts away his books would be a good way to end. A transition may or may not be needed here, depending on how the last paragraph concluded. Next, restate the thesis: The Tempest is full of strange and wonderful symbols, but three of these stand out as the most significant to the story. First and second are Caliban and Ariel, two sides of nature--beastly and sublime--and two aspects of Prospero's magic-the demonic and the angelic. As Maureen Duffy writes, "Ariel and Caliban are the separate poles between which man lies: aery spirit and beast." Both are simply parts of Prospero himself--Ariel the sublime and Caliban the beastly (The Erotic World of Faery, 178-179). The third, and most important, symbol is Prospero's magic books--when Prospero casts his books into the sea, he also rejects his magical powers. A quote from the play, especially one about the magic books, would be a good way to close and leave a lingering image in the reader's mind. Bibliography Duffy, Maureen. The Erotic World of Faery. (1972) London, Cardinal: 1989. Shakespeare, William. The Tempest. And That's It As with any writing guide, it's best not to think too much about the things I've said here while you're actually writing. Use this guide to help you plan out your essay ahead of time. Then forget about it for a while, and write a first draft. Then you can refer back to the guide as you need it, while you work on revising and editing and generally getting your essay to work the way you want it to. And don't forget to be creative (as long as you still do the assignment you're given). Most teachers appreciate the efforts of students who try to be both accurate and interesting. So, good luck!