Composing Essays

1.Criteria of a good composition 2.Steps in writing a composition

Definition of a good composition: It contains something interesting and /or important ,and if possible ,something new, to say and that this something is expressed clearly ,accurately , and appropriately.

Example;
Tyranny of the Urgent

Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day? Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure under which we live .Our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks .Unanswered letters , unvisited friends ,unwritten articles ,and unread books haunt quiet moments when we stop to evaluate .We desperately need relief. When we stop to evaluate, we realize that our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically the problem of priorities. Hard work does not hurt us. We all know what it is to go full speed for long hours, totally involved in an important task; the resulting weariness is matched by a sense of achievement and joy. Not he hard work, but doubt and misgiving produce anxiety as we review a month or year and become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks. We sense demands have driven us onto a reef of frustration. We confess, quite apart from our sins, we have left undone those things

Which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.

A mans home is no longer his castle; it is no longer a place away from urgent tasks because the telephone breaches the walls with imperious demands. The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they devour our energy. But in the light of times perspective their deceptive prominence fades; with a sense of loss we recall the important tasks pushed aside. We realize weve become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.

Analysis

This piece of writing is about something we are always confronted with . Also it is a well-organized argumentative essay. Each paragraph has its central theme . With the paragraph itself , the author use parallel structures ,metaphor and repetition to connect the sentence, meanwhile , to stress the authors standpoint and make it eye-catching. The ideas are expressed clearly , accurately and appropriately. The writer begins the essay by explaining that the prolongation of time can not really help relieve people of the pressure. The he justifies the argument that the pressure in our life originates from the mishandled problem of priorities .In the concluding paragraph ,the writer points out that we are slaves to the tyranny of the urgent. We can see that the authors purpose is to tell people not to let the tyranny of the urgent overwhelm the important tasks . With excellent sentences , we are more likely to be impressed .

Steps in Writing a Composition Planning a Composition Writing the First Draft Revising the First Draft Making the Final Copy

When a topic is assigned,we should work out a plan and manke sure that we have enough material.

Some notes
Putting

down all the relevant facts Thinking of a proper theme and deciding on our purpose Re-examining our list of details and outlining

Sometimes,after the outline is written,we may find the topic we have first decided on does not express our central idea.We should then revise or even change the topic

Types of outline
Thesis(controlling idea) 1Introduction 2Main Idea 3Conclusion Outline

Rules for writing outlines

Now that the outline is ready,we can begin to write the composition.When writing our first draft,it is advisable to leave both a margin and enough space between lines for future improvement.

This is an important step but it is often neglected.

(1)Content:Look at the paper /composition as a whole (2)Organization:Look at the arrangement of the material (3)Sentences (4)Diction (5)Mistakes in grammar,spelling,punctuation,and other mechanics

From the list we can see that content and organization are most important to a paper.We should always make sure that we have something significant to say and that we express our ideas in good order.

After we have carefully revised the draft,we are ready to make a clean final copy,following the rules of manuscripts form given in chapter1 of the book.The very last step in writing a paper is to check the final copy to correct careless mistakes in grammar and spelling before we hand it in.