ESSAY WRITING ESSENTIALS SIMONNE BOTHA THE PURPOSE OF AN ESSAY To assess your creative writing skills. In other words, getting to know you better! WHAT IS THE MARKER LOOKING FOR? • Did the student follow the brief (did the student write about his/her chosen topic)? • Is the essay structured well (is there an introduction, a body, and a conclusion)? • Did the student include knowledge and understanding of the topic (is there evidence that the student understood what he/she was writing about; did the student include examples)? • Is there evidence of critical thinking (did the student write from experience, or is the essay vague)? • Did the student take time to edit their work and fix their errors? 2 MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF AN ESSAY • PLANNING • DRAFTING • EDITING • FINAL ESSAY 3 STEP 1 Choose the topic that interests you most. If you are torn between topics, write down the first five ideas that pop into your head at each topic and then base your decision on the topic with the most interesting ideas. PLANNING YOUR ESSAY IT’S EASIER THAN YOU THINK! Create a mind- map for your essay and carefully plot out the details that you intend to include in your essay. These details could include the names of characters, the setting, the plot, specific examples you want to include etc. STEP 2 EXAMPLE OF A MIND-MAP NB! A mind-map is there to help you plan the content of your essay. Use the mind-map to help you capture your good ideas and to put them in an order that will help your essay flow. It would be a good idea to number your ideas after you have written them down: that way you can plan the structure of your essay before you start writing. 5 DRAFTING YOUR ESSAY HAVE SOME FUN! WOULDN’T THIS PICTURE LOOK WEIRD IF A PART OF IT WAS MISSING OR IF THE FRAMES WERE IN A DIFFERENT ORDER? 2 THE INTRODUCTION THE BODY 3 1 7 THE INTRODUCTION THE INTRODUCTION SETS THE TONE FOR THE REST OF THE ESSAY WATCH THIS VIDEO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WDclqoGouY LOOK AT THESE INTRIGUING WAYS TO START AN ESSAY https://www.grammarly.com/blog/start-an-essay/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0Ipvomf9wIVDIrICh3guAt9EAAYASAAEgKqt_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds HERE’S SOME TIPS ON WHAT NOT TO DO IN AN INTRODUCTION. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjqdj-gR8o 8 THE BODY OF YOUR ESSAY WATCH THIS VIDEO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySdX0mnsoi4 If your essay was a burger, the body would be all the yummy things inside! The body usually consists of at least THREE paragraphs. Like any good burger, you can add more inside if you want to! 9 SOME TIPS TO HELP YOU WHILE WRITING YOUR BODY SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION IS KEY! If you are hesitant, keep the sentences simple and short. The longer the sentence, the more room for error. Types of sentences: https://youtu.be/i6Aoy0m3l7s?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 Combining sentences: https://youtu.be/cjfTZjL1gNw?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 The use of punctuation in sentences: https://youtu.be/MVgtNDsEwmY?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 Commas: https://youtu.be/JbjbKArN5zg?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 Periods/Full stops: https://youtu.be/v1fV7CUPWUQ?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 Semi-colons: https://youtu.be/7n6d0aL1YiM?list=PLM7NbPzilFBdbcdIfVxrJ3RQhiMWHjOt9 10 Remember to use transitions to link your sentences within your paragraphs, as well as linking your paragraphs to one another. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpDTxvxuFpM&list=PLjB MY3HggCpAkDGz8zyMHIueIrTkuS1pl&index=7 WRITING THE CONCLUSION THE CONCLUSION The conclusion signals the end of your essay. It is the very last paragraph. Please remember: the conclusion never includes new information it simply closes the essay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v =9ME797FmLnc WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN WRITING YOUR CONCLUSION https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tR4ux PfG21A READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT WRITING THE PERFECT CONCLUSION: https://www.grammarly.com/blog/how-to-write-aconclusion/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI477f0pig9wIVdPHjBx0klw7NEAAYASAAEgIjwfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 13 14 15 EDITING YOUR DRAFT DON’T SKIP THIS STEP! WHY IS EDITING IMPORTANT? Taking another look at a piece of writing can reveal errors that you didn’t notice before. Playing around with word choice and sentence structure during the revision process isn’t just about fixing grammatical errors: Looking closely at your own work can help you craft clearer, more satisfying sentences. USE THIS CHECKLIST TO HELP YOU EDIT YOUR WORK: CRITERIA DID YOU FIX THE ERRORS? Are there any run-on sentences? Are proper nouns capitalized? Are there any unnecessary capital letters? Are quotation marks in the right place? Are apostrophes in the right places? Are there any sentence fragments? Make complete sentences. Are there spelling errors? Does the content make sense? Is it in an order that is easy to follow? Is the punctuation correct? Do sentences switch between past and present tense? Check subject-verb agreement and tenses. 17 18 AND NOW… THE FINAL ESSAY Write your final essay by copying from the draft. If you wrote a proper draft, and edited as you were supposed to, your final essay should be flawless. For extra measure, read through your final essay to ensure that you have copied your essay correctly. If you want to make changes on your final essay, draw a neat line through your word/sentence (with pen), and either continue afterwards or write it in small on top of the previous word/sentence. MOST IMPORTANT: DON’T FORGET TO ADD THE WORD COUNT AT THE END OF YOUR ESSAY. 19 SOME TIPS BEFORE WRITING: • Label your work as you go along. For example, when writing the draft, write the word ‘DRAFT’ at the top of the page. Indicate your final clearly. • You can go 50 words over the word count, but your word count can never be below the minimum amount indicated. • Your essays MUST always be handwritten – no typed assignments/tests/exams will be accepted. • Stick to the due date. • HAVE FUN! 20 HAVE A LOOK AT THESE EXAMPLE ESSAYS! • NARRATIVE ESSAYS https://examples.yourdictionary.com/narrative-essay-examples.html • DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS https://examples.yourdictionary.com/descriptive-essayexamples.html • ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS https://www.aplustopper.com/argumentative-essay/ 21 IMAGES https://coloringhome.com/coloring-page/1880408 https://www.alamy.com/stickman-businessman-character-trying-to-catch-the-paper-planevector-cartoon-illustration-black-outlined-and-colored-image430322891.html https://za.pinterest.com/pin/144818944254915405/ SOURCES https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield_(character) https://www.dreamstime.com/illustration/stop-cartoon.html https://www.shutterstock.com/search/cartoon+chain+link?image_type=vector https://makeameme.org/meme/yes-finally-59444e https://stdiy.wordpress.com/tag/cartoon/ https://thesaurus.plus/related/take_a_break/take_it_easy https://unsplash.com/s/photos/puzzle https://www.clipartmax.com/download/m2i8G6N4N4K9K9H7_just-keep-swimming-by-ghostpaint-july-6/ 22
