How to write an essay

Hello students! I know that you are often asked to write an essay in Ukrainian, Russian or English. Topics of essays can be different as well as types of writing, that’s why today I’d like to summarize what types of essays exist and what the common principles of their writing are.
Let’s start with the definition:

An essay is a piece of writing, usually from an author's personal point of view. Essays are non-fictional but often subjective; while expository, they can also include narrative. Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, and learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author.

Today we’ll learn how to write an informative essay.

There are many ways to write an essay. Most essays take a repetitive form sometimes known as the "hamburger essay". What this means is that the introductory and concluding paragraphs are very similar, whereas the most important information is found in the body of the essay. Think of a hamburger: The buns cover the top and the bottom - the introduction and conclusion - and provide a nice covering for the most important part of the meal - the burger.

 First - select the topic of your essay, then - choose the central idea, or thesis, of your essay and outline your essay into introductory, body and summary paragraphs .

Your essay should have such structure
Introduction Paragraph

·         An attention-grabbing "hook"

·         A thesis statement

·         A preview of the three subtopics you will discuss in the body paragraphs.

DO - Pay Attention to Your Introductory Paragraph Because this is the first paragraph of your essay it is your opportunity to give the reader the best first impression possible. The introductory paragraph not only gives the reader an idea of what you will talk about but also shows them how you will talk about it. Put a disproportionate amount of effort into this – more than the 20% a simple calculation would suggest – and you will be rewarded accordingly.

DO NOT - Use Passive Voice or I / My Active voice, wherein the subjects direct actions rather than let the actions "happen to" them – "he scored a 97%" instead of "he was given a 97%" – is a much more powerful and attention-grabbing way to write. At the same time, unless it is a personal narrative, avoid personal pronouns like I, My, or Me. Try instead to be more general and you will have your reader hooked.

First Body Paragraph

·         Topic sentence which states the first subtopic and opens with a transition

·         Supporting details or examples

·         An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

Second Body Paragraph

·         Topic sentence which states the second subtopic and opens with a transition

·         Supporting details or examples

·         An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

DO: Tie Things Together The first sentence – the topic sentence - of your body paragraphs needs to have a lot individual pieces to be truly effective. Not only should it open with a transition that signals the change from one idea to the next but also it should (ideally) also have a common thread which ties all of the body paragraphs together. For example, if you used "first" in the first body paragraph then you should used "secondly" in the second or "on the one hand" and "on the other hand" accordingly.

DO NOT: Be Too General Examples should be relevant to the thesis and so should the explanatory details you provide for them. It can be hard to summarize the full richness of a given example in just a few lines so make them count. If you are trying to explain why George Washington is a great example of a strong leader, for instance, his childhood adventure with the cherry tree (though interesting in another essay) should probably be skipped over.

To go smoothly from one paragraph to another use linking words (or more linking words)

Third Body Paragraph

·         Topic sentence which states the third subtopic and opens with a transition

·         Supporting details or examples

·         An explanation of how this example proves your thesis

Concluding Paragraph

·         Concluding Transition, Reverse "hook," and restatement of thesis.

·         Rephrasing main topic and subtopics.

·         Global statement or call to action.

DO: Be Powerful The conclusion paragraph can be a difficult paragraph to write effectively but, as it is your last chance to convince or otherwise impress the reader, it is worth investing some time in. Take this opportunity to restate your thesis with confidence; if you present your argument as "obvious" then the reader might just do the same.

DO NOT: Copy the First Paragraph Although you can reuse the same key words in the conclusion as you did in the introduction, try not to copy whole phrases word for word. Instead, try to use this last paragraph to really show your skills as a writer by being as artful in your rephrasing as possible.

  Tips:

·         Use strong verbs and avoid modals to state your opinion. It is better to write: The workplace has evolved than The workplace seems to have evolved

·         Do not apologize for what you are saying. An essay is about your opinion.

·         Do not translate from your mother tongue. It will quickly get you into trouble!

An example of an essay