Fundamentals of Writing an
Essay
• There are many reasons for writing an
essay (sometimes called a “paper”).
• You may want to
– instruct,
– inform,
– impress or
– persuade.
An essay
• A short written composition. In most
cases, there are three parts to the
essay
– Introduction
– Body
– Conclusion
The Introduction
• Describes content and scope using the
essentials of
–
–
–
–
–
Who
What
When
Where
Why
• It is typically no less than one paragraph. It
may provide a brief list of the topics to be
covered.
“This paper will summarize my trip to the
FAA control tower at Kirtland Air Force Base
on October 22, 2008. 32 Cadets from
Village Academy participated in this field
trip. The primary purpose was to familiarize
the cadets with the physical layout, function,
and purpose of this facility.”
The Body
• contains the descriptive and analytical part
of the essay.
• Each major point is contained in a separate
paragraph and may be several paragraphs
long.
• You may find it helpful to list the main points
that you want to write about before you even
begin to compose your sentences.
“We were first introduced to the Tower
Chief (Mr. Schroeder) who provided a
brief description of their physical layout.
There was a small one-story building
that housed offices. It was connected
to a very tall tower (probably 200 feet)
which had stairs. At the base of the
tower was the TRACON room while at
the very top of the tower was the “cab”.
The TRACON room was very dark as it had
many video displays that showed radar
positions of the aircraft I the immediate area
of Albuquerque. Each of the aircraft were
identified on the display with their “call sign”
such as “AA322” which stood for American
Airlines Flight 322.” It is a job that I might
enjoy doing as I like to work with computers,
but I’m not sure about spending my day in a
dark room.
The Tower cab had about six people who
had different jobs. One was responsible for
providing landing and take-off clearances to
the airplanes. Another helped direct planes
to and from the active runway. A third
provided clearances for departing airplanes
and a fourth was the tower supervisor.
From the cab you could see all of the airport
and it was a bit scary for some to look
down.”
The conclusion
• summarizes the main points and
should leave the reader with a strong
impression of the topic.
“This was a very interesting trip
because I had no idea that these
people were helping to safely move air
traffic into and out of Albuquerque. It is
a good paying job and is something
that I will keep in mind.”