ESSAY WRITING
Title: The title must reflect the topic and the text that will be studied, as well as the approach.
Approach: You must concentrate on a specific point or aspect of the text.
“Magical Realism in Latin America” would be too wide a topic, but “How does magic realism, as
used by Gabriel García Márquez in X, reflect the Colombian identity? would make much more
sense.
Discussion: Others may not agree. If your thesis is too obvious (for example, “Magical realism in
Aura”, the paper will not be as interesting.
Thesis: This is your particular contribution, what is “new” in your essay. Most of the time this can
be stated in a couple of sentences. At times the thesis may demonstrate something that is the
contrary of what we have discuss so far or provide a new approach to a well-known
idea/perspective. Other times, the thesis may be based on new information you have found or in a
new perspective never before applied to this text. The thesis should be a whole paragraph or 3⁄4 of
a page in length and it should be formulated at the beginning of the paper.
Implicit Organization: Immediately after your thesis, there must be a series of well-organized
sentences to guide the reader. They must present the data that evidences your thesis with an implicit
organization and the issues that will be discussed in the body of your essay. The implicit order will
help the reader to know not only what you will discuss but how you will do it.
The grade for your paper will be based on the following categories: Content and organization,
Language and style, and originality.
HELP WITH LANGUAGE FOR YOUR PAPER
Reported Speech
Here are some ways to introduce information taken from others:
Dice que, Insiste en que, Contesta que, Opina que, Cuenta que, Responde que, Piensa que
Afirma que, Cree que, Le parece que, Confiesa que Explica que,
Marking Sequence with Transition Words
al principio, primero, luego, enseguida, antes, antes de eso, después, más tarde, por último,
finalmente, al final
Providing Smooth Transitions
Transition words provide the glue that holds a piece of writing together. Here are some
examples:
así que= so (result)
como resultado=as a result
por eso=that’s why
de repente, de pronto=suddenly
entonces=so (logical result)
por lo tanto=therefore
sin embargo=however
como consecuencia=as a consequence
ya que, puesto que=since
a causa de (que)=because
debido a (que)=due to
Using Transitions of Concession
Often when discussing or giving opinions, certain transition words and expressions are
particularly useful for acknowledging the validity of another person’s points or ideas, while at
the same time challenging them:
a pesar de (que)=despite
in spite of aunque=although, even though
con todo, aún asi=
́ still, even so, nevertheless
no obstante=nevertheless
sin embargo=however
Example: A pesar de que la trama es excelente, hay, sin embargo, ciertas lagunas que afectan la
credibilidad.
Comparing
parecerse a=to resemble
al igual que=just like, as
a semejanza de=just like, as
de la misma manera=in the same way
de la misma forma=in the same way
del mismo modo=in the same way
ser similar=to be similar to
ser parecido=to be similar to
ser semejante a=to be similar to
tan (+ adjetivo) como=as (adj.) as
Tanto A como B=both A and B
Contrasting
a diferencia de=unlike
diferenciarse de=to differ from
en cambio=on the other hand, instead
en contraste con=in contrast to/with
más (+adj./sustantivo) que=more (adj./noun) than
menos (+adj./sustantivo) que=less/fewer (adj./noun) than
por un lado=on the one hand
por otro lado=on the other hand
sin embargo=however
no obstante=however
Causes and Effects
así que=thus, so
el factor=the factor
la causa=the cause
por consiguiente=therefore
por eso=therefore
por lo tanto=therefore
conducir a=to lead to llevar a=to lead to
el resultado=the result
ya que=since
puesto que=since
como=since
a causa de (que)=because of, due to
debido a (que)=because of, due to
como resultado=as a result
como consecuencia=as a consequence