English and Writing

Guidelines and Feedback on How to Write a Good Essay

1. Read the Question very Carefully
Do not begin work on an assignment before you are sure that you understand the question. If there are any words you do not know, refer to the dictionary.

2. Plan your Essay Carefully
You cannot hope to write an organized essay unless you have planned it in advance. A properly planned essay should contain introduction, main body and conclusion. All three parts are essential. If any of them is missing, the quality of your paper declines.

An introduction should set out the problem and how you intend to answer it. In your introduction, you should:
a) define key terms
b) define what you will do and how you will go about answering the question

The main body of your assignment should be a thorough examination of the question with the purpose of convincing readers that your arguments are sound. Your discussion, therefore, should always be backed up by a careful selection of historical data (statistics, quotes, figures etc.). Please remember:
a) each paragraph should be built around one central idea

Writing Effective Thesis Statements

An essay is composed of many parts; a successful essay is composed of many successful parts. Perhaps the most important aspect of any essay is its statement of argument or thesis statement. There are many approaches to composing a thesis statement, but this handout aims to identify the basic elements of a good thesis statement for critical essays in English literature.

As one resource provided below states, “when written well, the thesis expresses your argument so clearly that it is not necessary to read the rest of your essay to understand what you believe.” Thus crafting a thesis statement takes a lot of work. The payoff is worth it: the more care you put into this essential aspect of your paper, the better structured and organized your essay will be. And your reader–never forget that you are writing for a reader–will appreciate that immensely.

1. What are the general qualities a good thesis statement?

Traditionally (because most effectively) found at the end of your introduction
A concise and precise statement of your critical position concerning a text/texts (usually 1-2 sentences long)

Language in the United States - Paper on the Essay How to Tame a Wild Tongue by Gloria Anzaldua

Immigration has a long history in the United States, it is definitely credit as the United States became one of the most successful multi-ethnic nation in modern history. All men are created equal, this idea was brought up by the United States at the very beginning of America history, which is also the reason why countless people want to immigrate to the United States. They believe life would only be better after they come here because opportunities are given to each people according to personal ability and achievement. Our society is formed three major dimensions, which are communication, civilization and technology. Language takes a significance impact on communication. People can communicate through picture, act and sign-language, but language is always the fastest and the most direct way to express meaning, share feeling and so on. Language is a fundamental complement in society, not surprisingly, it could cause lots of difficulties and inconvenience if you do not know a main language of a country.

Understanding and Using Clefting
Understanding why and how to use this amazing discourse device in order to achieve some stylistics effects and making it easier for the receiver to interpret the producer’s thought.

Introduction
Clefting is an English structure that can be confused with relative clauses but neither the former structure nor the latter share the defining properties. Clefting is a syntactic device used for adapting clauses to fit the requirements of communication, in other words, clefting is a structural option used to rearrange the information in a clause to achieve some purposes: emphasis, cohesion, and contextual fit. Analyzing cleft sentences will make it easier to understand this language problem.

The Smoking Gun Memos - Importance of a Well Written Memo

Part I: Intro:
Memos in the workplace are meant to be informative and helpful. A well written memo can explain the importance of an issue or clarify a situation. The key thing to keep in mind when writing a memo is who the reader will be. This will help in what information to include and how the main points will be emphasized. On November 1, 1977, a memo about customer guidance on high pressure injection operation was written by J.J. Kelly. This memo was recommending that some guidelines should be sent to customers on how to safely shut down the high pressure system following an accident also known as the Three Mile Island Incident. On July 23, 1985, a memo about the problem with SRB seals was written by BRC/ R. Cook involving the Space Shuttle Discovery. This explains the concerns about o-ring erosion on the space shuttles. Purpose, content, style and organization of these memos all played a part in these disasters.

Part II: Purpose

Bachelor Thesis Format and Outline - Preparing a Bachelor Thesis

I. Introduction
You have now arrived at an important step in your pursuit of an undergraduate education and in preparing for your future: writing your bachelor thesis. Your thesis must describe clearly and fully the goals of the research, the motivation, theories or hypotheses tested, methods used, target population, findings and the advice derived from your findings along with the conclusions drawn. Accordingly, you have to also acknowledge all sources of information you have used (both written and oral) in writing your bachelor thesis. Your thesis stands for your contribution to the knowledge of your field. Therefore, the final product must be written in a style and layout, which are acceptable, consistent and understood which is why this handbook has been prepared. This guide should answer your questions about the final written thesis. We recommend that you read it in its entirety before you begin writing your thesis. If you have specific questions that still are not answered, please contact Dr. Noha El-Baz ( n.elbaz@epi.umcg.nl).

II. Student Responsibility

Comparison and Culture Discrepancy Between Chinese and English Idioms

Abstract
Idiom makes the complicated life more concretized and visualized. It is widely recognized as the essence or the crystallization of a language, and an indispensable part of a language, and fixed sentences or phrases which have been refined through ages of use. Is there an identical point to view the idiom between Chinese and English under the different cultural backgrounds? This paper grasps the point to embody the cultural differences between Chinese and English from the definition and comparison of the idioms. It also researches into the factors that influence the idioms.

I．Introduction

How to Write an APA Style Paper

Abstract
An abstract should be 100-120 words in length. It provides a summary of the paper so that the reader can decide whether he or she would like to continue reading the entire document. You should include a sentence or two from each of the sections of your paper. Do not include any statistical statements. You want your abstract to be somewhat catchy, as this is what will rope your reader in. In an abstract, you will always use numerals rather than writing out the words. However, number rules for the remainder of the paper do differ. Write out numbers below 10, but use numerals for numbers above 10, unless they begin a sentence (the you write them out).

Writing Skills

“Gf u r my BF4L!” Phrases like this populate our e-waves and give many critics reason to believe that this generation’s writing skills are diminishing. In this day and age, we have numerous opportunities for creative writing. The most popular by far is the use of the Internet. On the Internet, an individual can chat in a chat room, instant message an old friend, email a funny story, and even blog about the day’s events. However, are all these new writing outlooks improving this generation’s writing or is the prominent use of slang making it worse? This all depends on the person, what she is doing on the internet, and how she communicates with others. Although, most critics argue that writing on the internet does not improve writing skills, writing on the Internet can have both a positive and negative effect.

An Essay on the Novels We Need to Talk About Kevin and Vernon God Little

“These novels are written purely to shock the reader; other than this they serve no real purpose.” To what extent do you agree?
Before proceeding to explain whether or not I agree that We Need To Talk About Kevin and Vernon God Little “shock the reader” and “serve no real purpose”, I will explore the reasons behind this critical perception.

Analytical and Descriptive Writing

There are many writing genres, for example analytical and descriptive to name two. The different writing genres are used to do different things. Analytical writing for example is used to make a detailed examination of something in order to understand its nature and its essential features. As for descriptive writing it gives a picture to the reader of what is being said. There is more description so the reader can see what is going on without having to be there. With all essays it is important to know which style of writing is being asked of the writer. This paper will discuss the difference between both writing styles, the elements of each style, the appropriate use, and give an example of analytical and descriptive writing.

Difference between analytical and descriptive writing

The American Dream - How Oprah Winfrey is a Textbook Example

“Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement" regardless of social class or circumstances of birth. This was said by James Truslow Adams in 1931. He was the first person who used the term American Dream. The idea of the American Dream started in the United States Declaration of Independence. It said: “all men are created equal” and that they are “endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights” including “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”.

During the last decade a very large number of immigrants came to the United States of America to get a better life. Their pursuit of happiness is also known as the pursuit of the American Dream. Many of those people sacrificed everything to start a new life is America. They left their family, friend and jobs to pursue this ‘dream’. At that time many of their dreams consisted of owning a piece of land and establishing prosperous businesses which would generate happiness. Some only wanted religious freedom.

To Doublespeak in Plain English - Clarification Essay

I have heard it be used before; I had sometimes made use of it myself, never did I know the correct meaning or the actual name it possessed: doublespeak. It is the art of taking away the actual meaning of an action, consequence or passage (Lutz, 2010). I say art because as I will discuss how for it to be used deep thought has to be put into the correct usage. The way we say things sometimes for etiquette or to be “politically correct” as people say, is not considered double speak. It is when the usage of it makes bad look good or something ugly sound pretty. I agree with Lutz in that doublespeak is soon becoming a normal standard of the way we communicate.

Comparison of Fictional and Non-Fictional Writing Style

I've always considered myself a good writer. Recently I've come to the conclusion that there are two major differences between writing fiction and non-fiction, and different ways that they need to be approached. Each style needs a little, or a lot of research. Fiction can be based on what’s real or what’s not. Non-fiction is strictly what is.

When writing fiction for me it seems rather simple. There are no strict rules, no path that can't be followed or thought that can't be conveyed. You are only limited by what's there in my mind. If I want to write about being a traveling salesman whose career is based on the sale of combs I can do that. I use what I know about travel, the need for a product, and I can then compare it to some of the struggles or success of past endeavors. Fiction doesn’t always mean that your character can do amazing things. Sometimes a story doesn’t need to be out of left field to be good. There are similarities to writing non-fiction though.

The Use of Questions by Professors in Lectures Given in English - A Study of Gender Influences

Audience Addressed and Audience Invoked Paper

There are two theories which are debated about considering audience—meaning how audience becomes involved in the text. The question is: is audience addressed or is audience invoked? Or, is it both? Both theories are plausible and Ede and Lunsford believe writing is both. Audience addressed and audience invoked are both argued by several theorists, but I will focus on Bitzer, Aristotle, Long, Gibson, and Ede and Lunsford.

Audience addressed gives attention to audience analysis and addresses the audience hoping to have a desired effect. By audience analysis, the addressed view hopes to create their audience by “packaging” their information, usually in a persuasive manner, to communicate their truth. This was the main idea of Aristotle’s view, where the writer determines the content and the message they want to communicate before an audience, and then analyzes the audience (e.g. age, education, beliefs, etc…) and “packages” the information accordingly.

How to Write a Good Introduction

What is an introduction?

The online encyclopedia Wikipedia defines the definition as “the act of introducing or fact of being introduced” . Thanks to this definition, we understand that introducing a law essay might mean exposing the subject to the reader.

The introduction is the first part of your essay. The introduction aims at introducing your research. It is an important part in the essay because it is the first impression about your work for the reader. It is the first and the most important impression. In a kind of way, this part can be considered as the most important one: the reader refers constantly to the idea or the theory exposed in the introduction insofar as it is the key to understand the body.

Martin Heidegger: “The Origin of the Work of Art”, 1936

Three pages from the writing of 20th-century German philosopher Martin Heidegger—can you take it? They’re really good pages. The prose is some of the most poetic, direct, and intimate in Western philosophy. Eat it slowly and it will bless you with stronger bones and teeth, metaphorically speaking.

The central obsession of much of Heidegger’s philosophy is Being—not “a being”, nor “being this-or-that”, but something grander, more radical. For Heidegger, Western philosophy took a wrong turn with the Greeks (!), especially their conception of Being as an object—a thing which stays put, remains solid, persists and endures despite time. Heidegger’s revision, to be simplistic, is this: Being is not an object but a happening. Being is the moving through time of things and people. Or, literally, Being is a verb—but a verb caught constantly in a “state” of verb, a “verbing,” a gerunding of people-places-things, not-quite-nouns. Hence the title of Heidegger’s most famous work, 1927’s Being and Time.

Writing Business Letters - English for Special Purposes Core Vocabulary

to act on behalf of on arrival of the goods
to agree with on behalf of
always at your service on condition that - provided that
as agreed on delivery
as far as I'm concerned on receipt of the order
as far as the payment is concerned on short notice
as follows on written request
as per invoice order to be confirmed
as per to the conditions our best attention
as per your request our offer is still open
as requested outside address
as soon as possible to pay the maximum attention to the matter
at your convenience payable in advance
at your earliest convenience please allow us
at your expense please send us
awaiting your reply please send us your instructions
to be able to prices are increasing
to be authorised to to reach the destination
to be characterised by to refer to
to be confident in to return a letter to the sender
to be delighted to to sell at the best
to be held responsible for to send under separate cover
to be in arrears with payments sender address
to be in difficulty short term
to be interested in similar to sample - up to sample

Writing a Film Review
Structure in a Nutshell

1. Title – catchy, can indicate if review will be positive or negative, you can play with words to make it funny or different

2. Paragraph 1 – Opening paragraph – can start to summarise film and give early suggestions about your general view of it (positive/negative)

3. Paragraph 2 – Start or continue summary of film, don’t give details about the ending or else no one will go and see the film!!

4. Paragraph 3 and 4 – positive things you thought about the film, what did you like? Why? Use descriptive words, think about the story, setting, effects used, music used

5. Paragraph 5 and 6 – negative things you thought about the film, what didn’t you like? Why? Comment on the same type of things that you mentioned in paragraphs 3 and 4

6. Paragraph 7 and 8 – Characterization – talk about the characters, did you like them? Did the actors play them well? What was it about their portrayal that you liked or didn’t like? Other impressions of the characters, will certain audience members be able to relate to certain characters? How? Will certain audience members not like certain characters? Why not?

Easy Essay Helper

An essay is a very structured piece of writing; it needs an introduction, an exploratory middle and a conclusion. This sheet is designed to help those students who have difficulty staying on task (wafflers); students who haven’t much experience writing essays and those who would like to revise their old skills. It is not a prescriptive format, simply a suggested one.

Step 1: Essay topic

Do you understand the essay topic? Do you know what you need to write about? If you are not 100% sure, ask your tutor for clarification. Highlight or underline key words in the topic and ensure you understand the terms. Don’t be embarrassed to look them up in a dictionary.

Step 2: Brainstorm

This step is frequently overlooked by students, but can mean the difference between an H2 and an H1. Brainstorming allows you to put your ideas on paper, discount those that don’t fit, highlight those that require more research and order the points so the finished essay reads coherently.

Examples of a Research Outline

Introduction of Dyslexia
Definition
Traditional Dyslexia Defined (Davis, 2010)
Modern Definition explained for simplicity
Other forms of Dyslexia (Davis, 2010)

Brief history of Dyslexia
Discovery
Perspective;
Dyslexia presented by some current textbooks as flawed genetic instructions (Ormrod, 2008, p. 23)

Future prospects
Earlier Detection
Educational Advances

Objective of Research Paper
Objective Statement
Approach

Current context
Typical diagnosis for Dyslexia from a parent’s perspective
Discovering Dyslexia
Proper Diagnosis
Common reactions to it.
So Junior has Dyslexia (Armstrong & Humphrey, 2008)

The emotional reconciliation (McNulty, 2003)
Developmental Theory of Dyslexia
In the beginning (Davis, 2010)

Hello Dyslexia
Dyslexia Genesis
Early signs (Davis, 2010)
Potential for Dyslexia
Visual Buffer
Compounding of Problems (Davis, 2010)
The development of a Gift
The Gift that keeps on Giving
Reality of Disability (Davis, 2010)

Dysfunctional Strategies
The Disability Defined
A case study; Davis Dyslexia Program Applied (Davis, 2010)
Personal Experience
Traditional Family Encounters Dyslexia

Guide to Writing a Psychology Essay

An essay should (usually) be an argument. Pretty much all of the essay titles you will receive on a psychology module will require you to present an argument. Key words that identify this are “discuss”, “to what extent” “critically evaluate”, etc. One of the perennial problems that student essays suffer is that they are overly descriptive. They describe relevant phenomena or theories well but there is little in the way of argument in the essay. To rectify this you need to have in mind the following points.

Useful Sentences for TOEFL Essay Writing

Here are some useful sentences that help you to make your essay coherent and achieve a higher score for your writing. These sentences can be used at the beginning or middle of paragraphs. They can also be used in any essay.

Introduction:
I do strongly support the idea that...
I do completely agree with the statement...
There are a lot of reasons for the choice and I would like to put them in the following way...
Although "XYZ" has its advantages, in my point of view...
There reasons are as follows...
As far as I am concerned, I prefer the latter for the following argument...

Body:
To begin with...
Secondly...
The third advantage of "XYZ" is also the most important reason...
One important aspect of "XYZ" is...
Another equally important thing about "XYZ" is...
First...
Second...
Third...
One reason for supporting "XYZ" is...
Last but not least...
In an "EFD" perspective...
Additionally...
Above all advantages there is only one disadvantage. It is that … But it does not matter for me.

Conclusion:
In conclusion...
From all those reasons above...