Brief Overview of the 10 Essay Writing Steps

(aucegypt.edu) - Below are brief summaries of each of the ten steps to writing an essay. Select the links for more info on any particular step, or use the blue navigation bar on the left to proceed through the writing steps. How To Write an Essay can be viewed sequentially, as if going through ten sequential steps in an essay writing process, or can be explored by individual topic.

1. Research: Begin the essay writing process by researching your topic, making yourself an expert. Utilize the internet, the academic databases, and the library. Take notes and immerse yourself in the words of great thinkers.

2. Analysis: Now that you have a good knowledge base, start analyzing the arguments of the essays you're reading. Clearly define the claims, write out the reasons, the evidence. Look for weaknesses of logic, and also strengths. Learning how to write an essay begins by learning how to analyze essays written by others.

3. Brainstorming: Your essay will require insight of your own, genuine essay-writing brilliance. Ask yourself a dozen questions and answer them. Meditate with a pen in your hand. Take walks and think and think until you come up with original insights to write about.

4. Thesis: Pick your best idea and pin it down in a clear assertion that you can write your entire essay around. Your thesis is your main point, summed up in a concise sentence that lets the reader know where you're going, and why. It's practically impossible to write a good essay without a clear thesis.

5. Outline: Sketch out your essay before straightway writing it out. Use one-line sentences to describe paragraphs, and bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain. Play with the essay's order. Map out the structure of your argument, and make sure each paragraph is unified.#

6. Introduction: Now sit down and write the essay. The introduction should grab the reader's attention, set up the issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your intro is merely a buildup of the issue, a stage of bringing your reader into the essay's argument.

(Note: The title and first paragraph are probably the most important elements in your essay. This is an essay-writing point that doesn't always sink in within the context of the classroom. In the first paragraph you either hook the reader's interest or lose it. Of course your teacher, who's getting paid to teach you how to write an essay, will read the essay you've written regardless, but in the real world, readers make up their minds about whether or not to read your essay by glancing at the title alone.)

7. Paragraphs: Each individual paragraph should be focused on a single idea that supports your thesis. Begin paragraphs with topic sentences, support assertions with evidence, and expound your ideas in the clearest, most sensible way you can. Speak to your reader as if he or she were sitting in front of you. In other words, instead of writing the essay, try talking the essay.

8. Conclusion: Gracefully exit your essay by making a quick wrap-up sentence, and then end on some memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an interesting twist of logic, or some call to action. Is there something you want the reader to walk away and do? Let him or her know exactly what.

9. MLA Style: Format your essay according to the correct guidelines for citation. All borrowed ideas and quotations should be correctly cited in the body of your text, followed up with a Works Cited (references) page listing the details of your sources.

10. Language: You're not done writing your essay until you've polished your language by correcting the grammar, making sentences flow, incoporating rhythm, emphasis, adjusting the formality, giving it a level-headed tone, and making other intuitive edits. Proofread until it reads just how you want it to sound. Writing an essay can be tedious, but you don't want to bungle the hours of conceptual work you've put into writing your essay by leaving a few slippy misppallings and pourly wordedd phrazies..

Read more

How to write E-mail

E-mail Guidelines

E-mail: Inbox

To: All members of staff
From: Jennifer Ranford
Date: 2 June 2009
Subject: E-mail Writing Guidelines


Please note and follow the guidelines below concerning the writing of company e-mail messages.

1. Subjects

Give the message a subject/title. E-mail messages without a subject may not be opened because of a fear of viruses and especially note that it is very easy to forget to type this important information.

2. Subject contents

Keep the subject short and clear but avoid such headings as:
‘Good News’, ‘Hello’, ‘Message from Mary’. These headings are common in messages containing viruses. Short but specific headings are needed,
e.g. Order No. 2348X
Delayed Shipment
Laboratory Equipment Order

3. Greetings

Start the message with a greeting so as to help create a friendly but business-like tone. The choice of using the other name versus the surname will depend on who you are writing to. If you have communicated with the receiver previously and he/she is at a similar level to you, then the use of the other name would be appropriate. If the receiver is more senior to you, or if you are in doubt, it would be safer (particularly in the first communication) to use the person’s surname/family name together with a title,
e.g. Dear Mr Smithson, Dear Ms Stringer.

It is also becoming quite common to write the greeting without a comma,
e.g. Dear Miss Lawson
e.g. Dear KK

4. Purpose

Start with a clear indication of what the message is about in the first paragraph.
Give full details in the following paragraph(s).
Make sure that the final paragraph indicates what should happen next.
e.g. I will send a messenger to your office on Tuesday morning to collect the faulty goods.
e.g. Please let me have your order by the beginning of the month.

5. Action

Any action that you want the reader to do should be clearly described, using politeness phrases. Subordinates should use expressions such as 'Could you...' or ' I would be grateful if...'. Superior staff should also use polite phrases, for example, 'Please...'.

6. Attachments

Make sure you refer, in the main message, to any attachments you are adding and of course make extra sure that you remember to include the attachment(s). As attachments can transmit viruses, try not to use them, unless you are sending complicated documents. Copy-and-paste text-only contents into the body of the e-mail. If you use an attachment, make sure the file name describes the content, and is not too general; e.g. 'message.doc' is bad, but 'QA Report 2009.doc' is good.

7. Endings

End the message in a polite way. Common endings are:
Yours sincerely, Best regards, Best wishes, Regards,
If you did not put a comma after the greeting at the beginning of the message, then do not put a comma after the ending either,
e.g. Best wishes
e.g. Regards

8. Names

Include your name at the end of the message. It is most annoying to receive an email which does not include the name of the sender. The problem is that often the email address of the sender does not indicate exactly who it is from, e.g. 0385915d@polyu.edu.hk

Please follow these guidelines with all e-mail messages that you send.

Kind regards
Jennifer Ranford
Human Resources Manager Read more

Sentence Types

1. Types of clause

A clause can be defined as a group of words containing a verb.

There are two types of clause: main (or independent) and subordinate (or dependent). The following sentence contains one clause and is referred to as a simple sentence:
e.g. University students should make good use of their time.

If you combine two (or more) main clauses, you create a compound sentence.
e.g. University students should make good use of their time and equip themselves for the future.
You can check if these clauses are main clauses by checking whether the subject and clause make a complete and sensible sentence. 'University students should make good use of their time' is a complete sentence, and so is 'University students should equip themselves for the future', therefore these are both main clauses.

If you combine one (or more) main clause with one (or more) subordinate clause, you create a complex sentence:
e.g. University students should make good use of their time because not every teenager has this opportunity.
You can check if a clause is a subordinate clause because it will not make a complete and sensible sentence when combined with the subject, for example, 'University students not every teenager has this opportunity.' is not sensible, as it has two main subjects, and English sentences usually have only one.

2. Coordination and subordination

You can say that two clauses have a relationship of coordination if they are both independent and equally important. Words like and, but and or are commonly used to join them. For example:

* Chris majors in Accountancy and is a member of the university football team.
* Sam wanted to study law but was rejected by the university he applied to.
* You can register in person at the counter or you can do so on-line.

You can say that two clauses have a relationship of subordination if one is a main clause and the other a subordinate clause. The subordinate clause, which cannot stand on its own, gives information about the main clause. Words like because, if, that and some wh-words are commonly used to join them. Subordinate clauses can come before, after, or inside the main clause. For example:

* Many students opt for practical subjects at university because they believe that these courses offer better career prospects.
* If you want to improve your proficiency in English, you can visit the CILL when you are free.
* Students who have overseas study experience are usually more mature because they have learnt to become independent and open-minded. Read more

Adjective Order

Adjectives cannot be written in any order. There are rules, so you should use the following order:

1. Determiner or article

* Determiners e.g. this, that, these, those, my, mine, your, yours, him, his, her, hers, they, their, Sam's ; or
* Articles - a, an, the

2. Opinion adjective

e.g. polite, fun, cute, difficult, hard-working

3. Size, including adjectives, comparatives and superlatives

* height; e.g. tall, short, high, low; taller, tallest
* width; e.g. wide, narrow, thin, slim; wider, widest
* length; e.g. long, short; longer, longest
* volume; e.g. fat, huge; fatter, fattest

4. Shape

e.g. circular, oval, triangular, square, 5-sided, hexagonal, irregular

5. Age

e.g. new, young, adolescent, teenage, middle-aged, old, ancient

6. Colour

e.g. red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, grey, black, black and white, light blue, dark red, pale blue, reddish brown, off-white, bright green, warm yellow

7. Nationality

e.g. Hong Kong, Chinese, English, American, Canadian, Japanese

8. Religion

e.g. Buddhist, Taoist, Christian, Moslem, pagan, atheist

9. Material

e.g. wood, plastic, metal, ceramic, paper, silk

10. Noun used as an adjective

e.g. campus (as in 'campus activities')

11. The noun that the adjectives are describing.

Sentence structure:

Together the article or determiner, adjective(s) and noun(s) make a 'noun phrase'. Noun phrases can also have adverbs describing the adjectives; e.g. nearly circular; and can also have relative clauses, although these are not discussed on this page.

Style:

Although it is possible to write a sentence that uses all the categories; e.g. 'my beautiful, long, curving, new, pink, western, Christian, silk wedding dress', it is bad style as it is too long. Try to use less than five adjectives in a single list. Therefore you could say "Have you seen my beautiful new cream silk wedding dress? It's long and curving, and is in western Christian style."

How to remember the order

You can use the 'Roman room' memorisation technique. This involves remembering a place that you know well, such as your home, and imagining walking through it, looking at things.

1. Imagine that you arrive at the door of your home. On the door is the letter 'A', and you are greeted by someone who lives there. This helps you to remember the article 'A' or the determiner(s); e.g. my Mother's.
2. Imagine that you are happy to see each other. This helps you to remember the opinion adjective.
3. Imagine the size of your home: is it big, small, or long? This helps you to remember the size adjectives.
4. Imagine that you go into your home and you see an object. Remember the shape of the object.
5. Now imagine that you walk around your home; e.g. towards your room. Think of another object further from the door. Think of the age of that object; e.g. new or old.
6. Move on to another object, this time a colourful one. Remember what colour it is.
7. Move on to another object. This object should remind you of a foreign place; e.g. a picture of somewhere in China, or a souvenir from a holiday abroad. This is to help you remember nationality.
8. Next imagine moving to another object, this time a religious one. Maybe you have a place for worshipping your ancestors, or a statue of Buddha.
9. Next move to another object. This should be special because it is made of one material; e.g. a crystal ornament or a wooden statue.
10. Finally move to a place where there is an object that is described with 2 words, and the first is a noun; e.g. a book shelf. Imagine that this is the end of your journey around your flat. Read more

Spelling Words in English 2

It's enough to make anyone crazy!!

This feature provides a guide to the most common problems when spelling words in English.

Swallowed Syllables - Three Syllables Pronounced as Two Syllables

Aspirin - pronounced - asprin
Different - pronounced - diffrent
Every - pronounced - evry

Swallowed Syllables - Four Syllables Pronounced as Three Syllables

Comfortable - pronounced - comftable
Temperature - pronounced - temprature
Vegetable - pronounced - vegtable

Homophones - Words That Sound the Same

two, to, too - pronounced - too
knew, new - pronounced - niew
through, threw - pronounced - throo
not, knot, naught - pronounced - not

Same Sounds - Different Spellings

'Eh' as in 'Let'

let
bread
said

'Ai' as in 'I'

I
sigh
buy
either

Next, click below to study spelling word problems with silent letters (for example: island) and letters combining to make different sounds (gh = f as in 'cough').

Silent Letters

B - comb, dumb
D - sandwich, Wednesday
G - sign, foreign
GH - daughter, light, right
H - why, honest, hour
K - know, knight, knob
L - should, walk, half
P - cupboard, psychology
S - island
T - whistle, listen, fasten
U - guess, guitar
W - who, write, wrong

Unusual Letter Combinations

GH = 'F'

cough, laugh, enough, rough

CH = 'K'

chemistry, headache, Christmas, stomach

EA = 'EH'

breakfast, head, bread, instead

EA = 'EI'

steak, break

EA = 'EE'

weak, streak

OU = 'UH' country, double, enough

Read Spelling Words in English 1
Read more

Spelling Words in English 1

Spelling Words in English - Common Problems I


Spelling words in English is challenging work. As a matter of fact, many native speakers of English have problems with spelling correctly. One of the main reasons for this is that many, many English words are NOT spelled as they are spoken. This difference between pronunciation and spelling causes a lot of confusion. The combination "ough" provides an excellent

example:

Tough - pronounced - tuf (the 'u' sounding as in 'cup')
Through - pronounced - throo
Dough - pronounced - doe (long 'o')
Bought - pronounced - bawt

It's enough to make anyone crazy!!

This feature provides a guide to the most common problems when spelling words in English.

Swallowed Syllables - Three Syllables Pronounced as Two Syllables

Aspirin - pronounced - asprin
Different - pronounced - diffrent
Every - pronounced - evry

Swallowed Syllables - Four Syllables Pronounced as Three Syllables

Comfortable - pronounced - comftable
Temperature - pronounced - temprature
Vegetable - pronounced - vegtable

Homophones - Words That Sound the Same

two, to, too - pronounced - too
knew, new - pronounced - niew
through, threw - pronounced - throo
not, knot, naught - pronounced - not

Same Sounds - Different Spellings

'Eh' as in 'Let'

let
bread
said

'Ai' as in 'I'

I
sigh
buy
either

Next, click below to study spelling word problems with silent letters (for example: island) and letters combining to make different sounds (gh = f as in 'cough').

Spelling words in English is challenging work. As a matter of fact, many native speakers of English have problems with spelling correctly. One of the main reasons for this is that many, many English words are NOT spelled as they are spoken. This difference between pronunciation and spelling causes a lot of confusion. The combination "ough" provides an excellent

example:

Tough - pronounced - tuf (the 'u' sounding as in 'cup')
Through - pronounced - throo
Dough - pronounced - doe (long 'o')
Bought - pronounced - bawt

Read Spelling Words in English 2

Read more

Creative Writing - Modifying Words and Phrases

There are a number of words and phrases that can help express your opinion. These words and phrases are common in creative writing, writing reports, and other types of writing intended to persuade.

Giving Your Opinion

Using a modifying word can help you express your opinion when making a statement. For example: Investing in high-tech stocks is risky. You could agree or disagree with this statement. Using a word such as undoubtedly expresses your own opinion about the statement. Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help:

(most) assuredly + adjective: These investments will most assuredly help to build equity.
without a doubt + clause: Without a doubt, this investment is risky.

It is doubtful that + clause: It is doubtful that we will succeed with this attitude.

Qualifying Your Opinion

Sometimes, when giving an opinion it is important to qualify what you say by leaving room for other interpretations. For example: There is hardly any doubt that we will succeed. leaves room for other interpretations (hardly any doubt = a little room for doubt). Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help qualify your opinion:

almost / nearly + adjective: It's nearly impossible to make a mistake.
largely / mainly + noun: It's largely a matter of getting the facts right.
many ways / some ways + it/this/that, etc: In many ways it's a sure bet.

Making a Strong Assertion

Certain words mark strong opinions about something you believe. For example: It is not true that I implied you were wrong. is strengthened by adding the word 'just': It is just not true that I implied you were wrong. Here are some other modifying words and phrases that can help strengthen an assertion:

simply / just + adjective: It is simply wrong to believe that about John.
mere + noun: That is mere distraction from the main point.
merely / only + the + first, last: This is merely the last in a number of problems.
sheer / utter + noun: The sheer idiocy of the project speaks for itself.

Emphasizing Your Point

When stating that an action is increasingly true, these phrases help to emphasize. For example: We have decided over and over again that we need to continue down this path. Here are some other phrases that help to emphasize your point:

more than + adjective: It is more than likely he will fail.
more and more + adjective: I'm afraid it is becoming more and more difficult to believe you.

Giving Examples

When stating your opinion it is important to give examples to support your statements. For example: It is more than likely he will fail. In the case of Mr Smith, he failed to follow-up and caused us to pay heavy fines. The following phrases are used to give examples to back up your opinion.

such as + noun: Critics of this policy, such as Jack Beam of Smith and Sons, say that ...
This is an example of + clause: This is an example of our need to diversify investments.
In the case of + noun: In the case of Ms Anderson, the company decided to ...

Summarizing your Opinion

Finally, it is important to summarize your opinion at the end of a report or other persuasive text. For example: In the end, it is important to remember that ... These phrases can be used to summarize your opinion:

All in all,: All in all, I feel we need to diversify due to ...
In the end,: In the end, we must decide quickly to implement this plan.
In conclusion,: In conclusion, let me repeat my strong support for ... Read more

Sentence Connectors

Sentence Connectors - Showing Comparison

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating Conjunction	and...too	High level positions are stressful, and can be harmful to your health too.
Subordinating conjunction	just as	Just as high level positions are stressful, they can be harmful to your health.
Conjunctive adverbs	similarly, in comparison	High level positions are stressful at times; similarly, they can be harmful to your health.
Prepositions	like, similar to	Similar to other important professions, high level business positions are stressful at times.

Sentence Connectors - showing Opposition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating conjunction	but	High level positions are stressful at times, but professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.
Subordinating conjunctions	although, despite the fact that	Despite the fact that high level positions are stressful at times, professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.
Conjunctive adverbs	however, nevertheless	High level positions are stressful at times; nevertheless, professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.
Prepositional phrases	despite, in spite of	In spite of the stressful nature of high level positions, professionals can learn to manage their stress levels.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Addition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating Conjunction	and	High level positions are stressful at times, and can be harmful to your health.
Conjunctive adverbs	in addition, additionally, furthermore, moreover, also	High level positions are stressful at times; furthermore, they can be harmful to your health
Correlative conjunctions	not only...but also	Not only are high level positions stressful at times, but they also can be harmful to your health.
Prepositional phrases	in addition to, along with, as well as	Along with being stressful, high level positions can also be harmful to your health.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Addition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating Conjunction	and	High level positions are stressful at times, and can be harmful to your health.
Conjunctive adverbs	in addition, additionally, furthermore, moreover, also	High level positions are stressful at times; furthermore, they can be harmful to your health
Correlative conjunctions	not only...but also	Not only are high level positions stressful at times, but they also can be harmful to your health.
Prepositional phrases	in addition to, along with, as well as	Along with being stressful, high level positions can also be harmful to your health.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Condition

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Subordinating conjunctions	if, unless, only if, even if	If you consider the financial rewards of high level positions, the stressful nature of these positions becomes less important.
Conjunctive adverb	otherwise	You should remember the financial rewards of high level positions; otherwise, you might find the stressful nature of these positions too demanding.

Sentence Connectors - Showing Contrast

Once you have mastered the basics of correct usage in written English, you will want to express yourself in increasingly complex ways. One of the best ways to improve your writing style is to use sentence connectors. Sentence connectors are used to express relationships between ideas and to combine sentences. The use of these connectors will add sophistication to your writing style.

Type of Connector	Connector(s)	Examples
Coordinating conjunction	but	High level positions are stressful at times, but the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Subordinating conjunctions	whereas, while	While high level positions are stressful at times, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Conjunctive adverbs	in contrast, on the other hand	High level positions are stressful at times; on the other hand, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.
Prepositions	unlike	Unlike the undesirable stress of high level positions, the financial rewards make these positions very desirable indeed.

Read more