Universidade Católica de Moçambique

Instituto de Educação à Distância

STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF PREPARING AN ESSAY

Student: António Basilio, Code: 708221494

Gang: "B"

Nampula, October
2022
 Universidade Católica de Moçambique
Instituto de Educação à Distância

STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF PREPARING AN ESSAY

Student: António Basilio, Code: 708221494

Course: Degree in Chemistry Teaching

Chair: English

Year of Attendance: 1st Year

Teacher: Dr. Moses Dube

Nampula, October
2022
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 FEEDBACK SHEET
Classification
Categories indicators Standards Punctuatio Note /
n tutor Subtotal
maximum
 Front cover 0.5
 Index 0.5
Structure organizational  Introduction 0.5
aspects  Discussion 0.5
 Conclusion 0.5

 Bibliography 0.5
Contextualization (clear
indication of the problem) 1.0
Introduction Description of objectives 1.0
Methodology appropriate to the 2.0
object of the work
Contents Articulation and mastery of
Discussion academic discourse (careful 2.0
analysis written expression, textual
coherence/cohesion).
Relevant national and
international bibliographic 2.0
review in the study area.
Data exploration 2.0
Conclusion Practical theoretical 2.0
contributions
General Formatting Pagination, font and size, 1.0
aspects paragraph, line spacing

APA Standards
6th ed. and Rigor and consistency of 4.0
citations and citations/bibliographic
bibliography references

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Index
1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4

1.1. Objectives ............................................................................................................................ 4

1.1.1. General Purpose................................................................................................................ 4

1.1.2.Specific Objectives ............................................................................................................ 4

1.2. Methodologies ..................................................................................................................... 4

2.Steps of the Process of Elaboration of an Assay ..................................................................... 5

2.1. To write an academic essay it is necessary that: ................................................................. 5

2.2. Necessary steps to prepare an essay .................................................................................... 6

2.3. Importance of sequence markers in an assay....................................................................... 8

2.4. The Argumentative Sequence .............................................................................................. 9

3. Compositional Structure of Scientific Discourse ................................................................... 9

3.1. Returning to the issue of Compositional structure ............................................................ 10

4. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 12

5. Bibliographic Reference ....................................................................................................... 13

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1. Introduction
The present work is related to the English course, it aims to approach about the Steps for the
elaboration of an Essay and to explain the importance of sequence markers in an essay.
However, talking about an academic essay is a textual genre that aims to discuss a certain topic.
It consists of exposing the author's ideas and points of view on a given topic, based on referential
research, that is, what other people also say about that and conclusion. Originality is sought in
the approach, without, however, exploring the theme exhaustively.

1.1. Objectives

1.1.1. General Purpose

 Know the steps for Elaboration of an Assay;

1.1.2.Specific Objectives
 Explain the role of assay markers;
 Describe the different steps of an essay;
 Understand the importance of assay sequence markers.

1.2. Methodologies
The methodology used to carry out the work under study was the method of bibliographic
research, encompassed by reading books, modules and scientific articles, and the study was
carried out in a qualitative way through consultation with authors who address the contents
related to the theme.

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2.Steps of the Process of Elaboration of an Assay

 Rehearsal

The term essay is due to Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), who published his book
«Les Essais» in 1580, and represents a literary genre characterized, in its origin, by a dialogic,
intimate, rambling and non-systematized style. , based on individual freedom, reflection on
world affairs, and the search for original thinking.(Rebouças, 2010, p. 4).

The essay is a text in which the author presents reflections and criticisms about a theme.
Its objective is to discuss a certain subject, through the exposition of the author's ideas and
points of view, based on references from other authors without, however, losing originality.

The essay consists of exposing the author's ideas and points of view on a given topic,
seeking originality in the approach, without, however, exploring the topic exhaustively. We
start with more general aspects and contextualize the theme, ending with arguments that support
the thesis exposed by our research. The organization of this part of the academic essay is the
most important and depends both on the subject and on the author's intentions.

According to Pinto (1998 apud Rebouças, 2010, p. 4), “the essay is not a literary genre, but it
is a genre of interval between the fictional and the non-fictional.” The essay is not intended to
be exhaustive or to worship sources for their authority. It goes against the standards of a
systematizing, universal, objective and neutral rationality”.

2.1. To write an academic essay it is necessary that:

 In an academic essay, a thesis (main idea) is defended by the author or authors, and
therefore one needs to clearly express what that thesis is. The reader of an academic
essay expects to be properly informed about the topic to be addressed and how it will
be worked on.
 For academic essays, the logical structure typical of a scientific text is normally adopted
(title, list of authors, abstract, introduction...). The thesis to be defended (that is, the idea
related to the topic to be treated) already appears succinctly in the title and in the
"Abstract", later it is presented in more detail in the "Introduction".
 The introduction of an academic essay presents the idea to be explored and worked on,
suggests the line of argument to be adopted.

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2.2. Necessary steps to prepare an essay
i. Step 1: Define a Theme

The theme should not be chosen at random. It is important that it presents relevance, opposes
common sense and is unusual. Do not forget that the search for originality is a strong feature of
the essay.

ii. 2nd Step: References

aexploratory research, as this allows you to acquire familiarity with the topic and find sources
capable of supporting your argument. After doing a lot of reading, write your own notes so you
don't forget important information.

iii. Step 3: List of ideas

Before writing the essay, provide a draft and write down the ideas that will be developed.
Remember to organize the list logically, as this makes it easier for the reader to understand.

iv. Step 4: Introduction

According to Gamboa (1997), “the essay introduction should only be written after defining how
the ideas will be organized in the text. These ideas must be generated from a concrete question
and a certain perspective. The introduction should be brief and to the point”.
To write it, focus on answering three questions:
 What will be the subject?
 What will you argue?
 How will you present the ideas?
v. 5th Step: Development

The development is nothing more than the body of the text, in which you must put the
argumentation strategies into practice. Therefore, express your ideas freely, but without
forgetting to mention the bibliographic references consulted. Essay is a genre that offers
freedom in writing, but you must maintain a commitment to cohesion.

Each paragraph must address a question, respecting the stages of reasoning. In addition,
when writing, it is essential to use cohesive resources to be able to relate ideas and establish a

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link between them. Among the most used expressions to link one paragraph to another, it is
worth mentioning: “although”, “in addition”, “however”, “even so” and “in contraposition”.

Among the main argumentation strategies to use in the body of the text, it is worth mentioning:

 Analysis;
 Definition;
 Comparation;
 Classification;
 Cause/Effect.
Be careful to write short paragraphs between 5 and 6 lines.
vi. 6th Step: Conclusion

After rescuing the general ideas of the text, use the conclusion to present the outcome of your
analysis. And focus on three key factors:

 What did you do with the job?

 Enter a personal comment on the subject.
 Indicate other areas related to the topic that are interesting to study.

According to Gamboa (1997), the last sentence of the conclusion must fulfill the role of
reflecting the focus of the essay and placing the central idea in a broad context.

vii. Step 7: Formatting

The general recommendation is that the text be produced in A4 page, single column, with
margins of 3cm (top and left) and 2cm (bottom and right). The font size is 12 and the line
spacing is 1.5. Page numbering should not be included and text alignment is justified.

viii. 8th Step: Review

Proofreading serves to find errors that go unnoticed at the time of writing. Therefore, read the
academic essay carefully and check the following points:

 Use of cohesion and coherence resources;

 Spelling and typing errors;
 Argumentation (ability to establish a relationship between facts, problems and opinions);
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  The good relationship between the thesis and the chosen arguments.

2.3. Importance of sequence markers in an assay

Usually one of the markers of a scientific essay is dedicated to a specific topic that
implies depth, discernment and capacity for synthesis. In this type of academic and scientific
production, the author expresses his ideas or points of view, based on objective information,
previously collected and presented.

The essay markers are academic-scientific genres that tend to raise many doubts.
Therefore, the obscurity regarding the production of this genre may be related to the difficulty
that students and researchers have in differentiating it from the scientific article.

In addition to their importance in student training and the development of their critical
analysis, the markers of an essay also serve to record research and disseminate the knowledge
produced. Therefore, there are different models of activities, each with its specific format and
objective.

Such confusion is fueled by the Brazilian publishing market itself, since publishing journals in
the area of Letters, for example, deal with the essay and the academic article as if they were of
the same genre. This reality motivates us to think of the essay as a genre, whose linguistic-
discursive characteristics are little known, which justifies the need for more studies so that we
can not only recognize such aspects, but also, and mainly, recognize the social value of this
genre. . Thus, our study regarding the analysis of the essay and article genres is relevant when
there is a comparison between them, in order to demonstrate similarities and differences
between them.

For Bronckart (2006), the sequence would be a way of planning the contents of the text, abstract
models that text producers and receivers would have, available, at the same time, by the nature
of the macro-propositions that they contain and by the modalities of articulation of these macro-
propositions.

 These abstract models (or sequences) would be summarized in six types: narrative
sequence, descriptive sequence, argumentative sequence, explanatory sequence,
dialogic sequence and injunctive sequence.

 The narrative sequence is mainly characterized by its organization supported by a

process of intrigue, whose development is organized by an obligatory succession

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 of events with causal relationships and tensions.

The narrative sequence consists of five basic phases, it can also include only some of these
phases or present itself in a more complex way with a new complication. However, here
are the main phases:

 siteinitial situation, in which a state of affairs‖ is presented;

 Çcomplication, in which a tension is established;
 Actions, events arising from tension are presented;
 Resolution, events that cause tension reduction;
 Final situation, establishes a new state of equilibrium.

2.4. The Argumentative Sequence

According to Bronckart (2009, p. 225), “a thesis about a theme. Given this data‖, new
information is proposed, which are inference processes oriented towards a conclusion. The
argumentative process can be anchored by supports or restrictions, according to the
argumentative force of the conclusion. The author illustrates these elements like this:

 Thesis: Humans are intelligent.

 New information/data: Humans make war.
 inference process: wars are stupid.
 Support: Wars bring death and desolation.
 Restriction: some wars contributed to establish individual freedoms.
 Conclusion: humans are not that smart.

3. Compositional Structure of Scientific Discourse

For Silveira (2012, p. 93), following the assumptions of Adam (2008) regarding the dominant
sequential categorization that is part of the text plan, the global compositional structure of
scientific texts corresponds to a dissertation structure.

Based on van Dijk (1997), Silveira explains that, although there are differences between what
is considered knowledge and opinion, the relationship between the two cannot be denied. Let's
start with the explanation placing what the author calls belief.

The mental process of evaluating something or someone results in a belief, a positive or

negative judgment. Now, if we consider that all types of representation are elaborated with

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evaluative foundations in accordance with cultural and ideological sanctions of the social
dimension, knowledge can also be a type of belief when constructed with evaluation.
Knowledge, in general terms, refers to something verifiable in the world, which can be
observed, while opinion consists only of an assigned value, of an evaluative belief.

To differentiate knowledge, conceived as a type of belief, and beliefs in general, Silveira (2012)
resorts to the criterion of veracity proposed by van Dijk (1997). According to the author, the
term knowledge' is defined as beliefs justified by social cognitions and, therefore, considered
true, that is, those that satisfy social, cultural and ideological criteria that may vary from social
group to social group‖ (Silveira, 2012, pp. 95-96).

In addition to the criterion of veracity to distinguish opinion and knowledge, Silveira (2012)
states that this distinction can be given by the discursive context in which beliefs are practiced.
The author uses the following example to justify this distinctive relativity:

 Red meat is harmful to health‖ is a belief, whose value is negative and which can be part
of the cognitions of different groups of people. If, in a restaurant, this sentence is
produced by a vegetarian and addressed to an omnivorous friend, we have an opinion,
a value judgment.

In a context in which a doctor says the same sentence to a patient with cholesterol problems,
the doctor expresses knowledge, not an opinion, as there is external evidence in the cognitions
of the subjects who are part of the group of doctors to prove the statement.

It seems to us, however, that the distinction between knowledge and opinion is not just about
the discursive situation in the broadest sense, but mainly about the subjects who participate in
the situation and who are authorized or not to issue judgments of fact. Regarding the scientific
discourse, the discursive environment in which our object of investigation is inserted, the
subjects carry a large part of the responsibility for legitimizing the knowledge produced,
disseminated and discussed, which does not mean that, in certain circumstances, they cannot
issue opinions.

3.1. Returning to the issue of Compositional structure

According to Silveira (2012), he considers that scientific discourse is defined by the
dissertation. The textual organization of the dissertation-scientific discourse presents
explanatory and argumentative sequences related to the research path itself and to the
researcher's social practice in communicating his achievements.
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The above scheme can be explained on the assumption that there is no need to argue about what
is already known. Therefore, it is necessary to build a new state of affairs for the referent (new
knowledge), anchoring it to the current paradigm.

Building a new state of affairs for the referent requires a thematization of the research problem,
that is, the projection of a new point of view to observe what is already known. In this way, a
circumstance is created, that is, a new fact, in relation to the social cognitions contained in the
scientific paradigm, in order to attribute, argumentatively, veracity to the knowledge‖
communicated (Silveira, 2012, p. 98).

The knowledge communicated has some criteria for it to be legitimized before the scientific
community, such as the recognition of the subject who says it as a specialist in the area and the
non-contradiction between the positions of the authorities present in the discourse of the work
developed.

In the argumentation scheme, the Justification category is indispensable and includes two other
subcategories: Circumstance, which concerns the new knowledge to be communicated; and
Current scientific paradigm, which refers to the social cognitions of the group of scientists in
the area of communicated research (theoretical, methodological models and criteria, problems
already solved and others to be involved (Silveira, 2002, p. 99).

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4. Conclusion
When preparing this work, we could see that the essay demonstrated the possibility of being
composed by the type of interactive theoretical mixed discourse, by the more frequent use of
affective modalizations and by a compositional structure that, in general, is the same as in the
article . This genre, in turn, had the theoretical discourse as predominant and a high amount of
logical modalizations. The essay markers, such as the introduction, development, conclusion,
bibliographic references and others mainly, are one of the biggest elements used in the
elaboration of an academic-scientific essay. Therefore, the obscurity regarding the production
of this genre may be related to the difficulty that students and researchers have in differentiating
it from the scientific article.

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5. Bibliographic Reference
Campos, M. (2014), The Textual Genre Academic Essayx Its specificities and regularities.
Brazil.
Gamboa, Y. (1997). Guide to the structure of an essay. Pretoria, South Africa: UNISA.
Severino, AJ (2007). Methodology of scientific work. Sao Paulo: Cortez.
Silveira, RCP (2012). Scientific discourse texts: research, review and essay. Sao Paulo:
Terracotta.

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