Important Elements in The Essay

There are three main areas you need to consider when

writing an essay.

You need to evaluate your

(1) Focus – the purpose of your essay.

 Must be clearly defined and effectively
communicated
 The essay must fulfil what the purpose is trying
to accomplish.
 The work must be well-balanced. Neither do
too much in the essay, nor limit your goals too
much.
 Interests and expectations of your readers
should be considered and met.
(2) Content
 There should be adequate support and the
essay must fulfil the commitment started or
implied.
 Provide supporting details or evidence
 All your details, evidence, or counter
arguments should not only relate clearly to your
controlling purpose, but should have the
purpose of strengthening the essay.
(3) Organization
 This strengthens and enhances the focus and
content of the essay.
 The effectiveness should be tested by such
strategies such as outlining or summarizing
your essay.
 It should flow logically and establish the
controlling purpose of the essay.
  Readers should be able to follow the
organization and make sense of it.
 Introductions and conclusions should
effectively open and close your essay.

 After all of the above has been observed, now you ought
to consider the following:

 Grammar
 Spelling
 word choice
 sentence structure

Despite its importance, grammar is often

ignored in the writing classes. It is the student's
responsibility to acquire the grammatical skills
necessary to succeed in a writing class.

Consider the following:

Read the following paragraph and notice the writer's

attempt to make his point as clear as possible to the
readers.
The Hazards of Going to the Movies 

"Although I love movies, going to see them drives

me crazy. First, getting to the movie can take a lot of
time. I have a thirty-five minute drive down a congested
highway. Then with a popular film, I usually have to wait
in a long line at the ticket window. Another problem is
that the theater itself is seldom a pleasant place to be. A
musty smell suggests that there has been no fresh air in
the theater since it was built. Half the seats seem to be
falling apart. And the floor often has a sticky coating that
gets on your shoes. The worst problem of all is some of
the other moviegoers. Kids run up and down the aisle.
Teenagers laugh and shout at the screen. People of all
ages loudly drop soda cups and popcorn tubs, cough and
burp, and elbow you out of the armrest on either side of
your seat. All in all, I would rather stay home and wait for
the latest movie hits to appear on TV in the safety and
comfort of my own living room."

 Now, try this:

1. Write the point the writer is making in the paragraph

above
2. Under the point write the three supporting evidence
he provided.
3. Under each supporting idea, write the details he
mentioned.

Note that the point in a paragraph is normally referred to

as the topic sentence. A topic sentence is the one that
includes the main idea of a paragraph.
Activity:

Think of things that you like or dislike, or think of some

opinions that you have. Write a strong sentence
indicating this one thing that you like or dislike or an
opinion. Then think of at least three reasons why you like
or dislike that thing or why your opinion is as such. Then,
think of details that support each reason.

 For example,
Idea:    Going to Disneyland
Feeling:  Dislike
Sentence:  Disneyland is one of my least favorite places
to visit.
Support:
1- Disneyland is expensive
2- waiting in long lines
3- terrible food and drinks 
Details:
1- Disneyland is expensive
A- admission is more than $30.00
B- food and drinks are too expensive
C- souvenirs are too expensive
 
2- waiting in long lines
A- waiting in lines to get tickets
B- waiting in lines to get on rides
C- waiting in lines to buy food or drinks
 
3- terrible food
A- very few choices
B- food is stale
C- drinks are tasteless