A Brief Outline to Essay

Writing
2023-24
Origin and definition
• Origin: The word essay is Latin originated to mean:
Examine, test or drive out.
Definition:
Essays are shorter pieces of writing that often requires students to have
a number of skills like close reading, analysis, comparison and contrast,
persuasion, conciseness, clarity and exposition.
The aim/ purpose of writing an essay
• The aim of essay writing is to encourage students to examine and test
their ideas , thoughts or opinions concerning a particular topic.

• The purpose of essay writing is to encourage the students to develop

the ideas and concepts in their writing.
Essay Types
• 1. Expository essay: is a genre of essay that requires the student to
investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set
forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner.

• 2. Descriptive essay: is a genre of essay that asks the student to

describe something- object, person, place, experience, emotion,
situation, etc.
Cont.
• 3. Narrative essay: is a genre of essay that tells a story. In most cases,
this is a story about a personal experience you had. This type of essay,
along with the descriptive essay, allows you to get personal and
creative, unlike most academic writing.

• 4. Argumentative essay: is a genre of writing that requires the student

to investigate a topic; collect, generate and evaluate evidence on the
topic in a concise manner to persuade the audience to accept or to
consider your point of view.
Structure of an academic essay
• 1. An introduction that tells the reader what your essay will focus on.
- General statement/ topic sentence
- Supporting sentences/ examples
-Thesis statement/ outline of main points/ gives the writer’s
. point of view

• 2. Body: Topic sentence 1 with supporting details

Topic sentence 2 with supporting details
Topic sentence 3 with supporting details
Cont.
• 3. Conclusion: Restate thesis
Summarize your main ideas
Final comment
Editing and proofreading techniques
• Editing: It begins while you’re still working on your draft. It has to do
more with revising the logistics( the main parts of essay), of the paper
than grammar and surface-level errors.

• Proofreading: It takes place when editing is finished. Focuses on

surface-level errors like misspelling, capitalization, punctuation and
grammar errors.
The essay writing process
• 1. Understanding the task.
• 2. Gathering information
• 3. structuring and organizing the content
• 4. Writing the first draft
• 5. Checking and redrafting/ proofreading
• 6. submitting on time