ESSAY WRITING IN ENGLISH Corso B2/C1

Unlike listening, speaking, and reading, writing is the way we make our thinking visible to the world. Without committing our ideas to paper, our thinking remains invisible, locked in our heads. This is probably a good thing if we are confused or without information. Who would want to put a foolish, illogical, misinformed mind on display for the public? But in today’s world writing has become the one tried and true measure of your thinking, and everyone wants to see it. Edith N. Wagner Express Yourself WRITING SKILLS FOR HIGH SCHOOL

WRITING TO DEMONSTRATE INFORMATION AND UNDERSTANDING This type of writing is also called expository writing and it takes the form of your content area term papers and essays. It’s where you select information and organize it to show that you understand it. WRITING TO PERSUADE This type of writing requires that you use information to argue a point and prove it. This kind of writing is often called writing for critical analysis because you are asked not only to select appropriate information but also to use that information to prove a point of view. WRITING TO NARRATE A STORY OR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE This type of writing requires that you tell a story in order to demonstrate information, knowledge, or personal experience. WRITING IN RESPONSE TO LITERATURE This type of writing requires that you read and analyze a piece of literature in one of the four major genres: poetry, prose fiction, prose non-fiction, and drama. You will be asked to respond to questions about the reading and demonstrate an understanding of the text on both a literal and inferential level.

THE PROMPT The prompt is the question. It asserts the main idea. You must decide if this is going to be an essay of information and understanding, persuasion, or narration.

WHICH WRITING IS REQUIRED? PROMPT: “Problems are opportunities in disguise.” Describe a time when you confronted a problem and found that it became an opportunity.

WHICH WRITING IS REQUIRED? “Some people claim that certain carnivores should be destroyed because they kill beneficial animals. Explain why these carnivores should be protected and be sure to include information about the population growth of their prey, probability of extinction, and the importance of carnivores in the ecosystem.”

TRANSLATE THE PROMPT Translate the question/prompt to establish the main idea of your essay. Write a statement of purpose to help you prepare the specific information that you will need to support the main idea appropriately.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE If you have trouble deciding what the main idea of the question is, then you are having trouble deciding your purpose for writing. One way to help you start off on the right foot is to write a statement of purpose. It looks like this: My purpose is to _____________my audience that _______________ .

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE For the second example about carnivores: My purpose is to persuade my audience that carnivores should be protected. (My purpose is to inform /tell / explain to / state… etc. )

THESIS STATEMENT Your thesis statement comes directly from your statement of purpose. It is a single sentence that announces your essay’s main idea and organizational pattern. Your thesis statement is the most important part of your answer because it establishes for you and your reader exactly what you will include in the essay and in what order. It is also the first step in your actual writing of your answer, your rough draft.

YOUR THESIS The Industrial Revolution brought both social and economic change to England and France in the nineteenth century because it increased the population of the cities, increased the number of children working in factories, and expanded foreign trade opportunities for both nations.

Thesis and Purpose Statement The Industrial Revolution brought both social and economic change to England and France in the nineteenth century because it increased the population of the cities, increased the number of children working in factories, and expanded foreign trade opportunities for both nations. My purpose is to explain to my audience how economic growth occurred in England and France in the nineteenth century.

BECAUSE By adding the word because, the three main points of the essay are established. It is now clear that what will follow will be how the increased population of each city brought social and economic change; how the increased number of children in factories brought social and economic change; how foreign trade increase brought social and political change. Each point will require a full paragraph to develop. Add the conclusion and you get a five-paragraph essay.

Because… Because forces you to be specific about what you will include in your essay. Your job will be to support each of the prongs with specific information and supporting details. In other words, your thesis statement is the main idea of your essay, and that will direct the number and kind of supporting data you need to support it.

You’ll notice that once you have restated the question or prompt in this form, you have written out your main idea. Now you are you ready to: DECIDE THE SUPPORTING DETAILS, EXAMPLES, AND EXPLANATIONS NECESSARY TO SUPPORT THAT MAIN IDEA. This is the second stage of planning your essay where you’ll have to decide exactly what information you need so that you don’t leave anything out. To make sure you don’t omit anything, you should prepare an outline to follow.

PARAGRAPHS How many paragraphs do you think this essay will need? If you said, “Three body paragraphs with an introduction and conclusion, for a total of five,” you were absolutely right.

Sample prompt For centuries, important parts of education have remained such as reading, writing and maths. With the advent of computers, some people think that computer skill should be added as a fourth skill to the list. To what extent do you agree? Write your thesis and purpose statement.

Sample Prompt Write your thesis and purpose statement! YOUR CLASS HAS WATCHED A TELEVISION PROGRAMME ON THE REASON WHY MANY YOUNG PEOPLE CHOSE TO LIVE IN CITIES. YOU HAVE MADE THE NOTES BELOW FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE… WORK EDUCATION CULTURE SOME OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE DISCUSSIONS: THERE ARE GREATER RANGE OF JOBS AVAILABLES IN CITIES MOST UNIVERSITIES ARE IN BIG CITIES THERE IS SO MUCH HAPPENING IN BIG CITIES WRITE AN ESSAY DISCUSSING TWO OF THE FACTORS IN YOUR NOTES WHICH INFLUENCE WHY MANY YOUNG PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE IN CITIES. YOU SHOULD IDENTIFY WHICH FACTOR YOU THINK IS MORE SIGNIFICANT PROVIDING REASONS TO SUPPORT YOUR OPINION. YOU MAY, IF YOU WISH, USE THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE DISCUSSION BUT YOU SHOULD USE YOUR OWN WORDS AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. Write your thesis and purpose statement!