Steps In Writing An Effective Essay!

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Hoorain

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These simple steps will guide you through the essay writing process:
1. Decide on your Topic:
2. Prepare an outline of your ideas
3. Write your thesis statement:
4. Write the body ( main points, sub-points,elaborate on the sub-points).
5. Write the introduction:
6. Write the conclusion:
7. add the finishing Touches.
1. Decide on your Topic:
Topic Has Been Assigned
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You may have no choice as to your topic. If this is the case, you still may not be ready to jump to the next step.Think about the type of paper you are expected to produce. Should it be a general overview, or a specific analysis of the topic? If it should be an overview, then you are probably ready to move to the next step. If it should be a specific analysis, make sure your topic is fairly specific. If it is too general, you must choose a narrower subtopic to discuss.For example, the topic "KENYA" is a general one. If your objective is to write an overview, this topic is suitable. If your objective is to write a specific analysis, this topic is too general. You must narrow it to something like "Politics in Kenya" or "Kenya's Culture."Once you have determined that your topic will be suitable, you can move on.

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2. Prepare an outline of your ideas
Organize Your Ideas
The purpose of an outline or diagram is to put your ideas about the topic on paper, in a moderately organized format. The structure you create here may still change before the essay is complete, so don't agonize over this.Decide whether you prefer the cut-and-dried structure of an outline or a more flowing structure. If you start one or the other and decide it isn't working for you, you can always switch later.


Diagram

  1. [*=left]Begin your diagram with a circle or a horizontal line or whatever shape you prefer in the middle of the page.
    [*=left]Inside the shape or on the line, write your topic.
    [*=left]From your center shape or line, draw three or four lines out into the page. Be sure to spread them out.
    [*=left]At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle or horizontal line or whatever you drew in the center of the page.
    [*=left]In each shape or on each line, write the main ideas that you have about your topic, or the main points that you want to make.
    • If you are trying to persuade, you want to write your best arguments.
    • If you are trying to explain a process, you want to write the steps that should be followed.
      You will probably need to group these into categories.
      If you have trouble grouping the steps into categories, try using Beginning, Middle, and End.
    • If you are trying to inform, you want to write the major categories into which your information can be divided.
    [*=left]From each of your main ideas, draw three or four lines out into the page.
    [*=left]At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle or horizontal line or whatever you drew in the center of the page.
    [*=left]In each shape or on each line, write the facts or information that support that main idea.
When you have finished, you have the basic structure for your essay and are ready to continue.

3. Write your thesis statement:
Compose a Thesis Statement

Now that you have decided, at least tentatively, what information you plan to present in your essay, you are ready to write your thesis statement.The thesis statement tells the reader what the essay will be about, and what point you, the author, will be making. You know what the essay will be about. That was your topic. Now you must look at your outline or diagram and decide what point you will be making. What do the main ideas and supporting ideas that you listed say about your topic?


Your thesis statement will have two parts.

  • The first part states the topic.
    • Kenya's Culture
    • Building a Model Train Set
    • Public Transportation
    The second part states the point of the essay.
    • has a rich and varied history
    • takes time and patience
    • can solve some of our city's most persistent and pressing problems
    Or in the second part you could simply list the three main ideas you will discuss.
    • has a long history, blends traditions from several other cultures, and provides a rich heritage.
    • requires an investment in time, patience, and materials.
    • helps with traffic congestion, resource management, and the city budget.
Once you have formulated a thesis statement that fits this pattern and with which you are comfortable, you are ready to continue.


4. Write the body ( main points, sub-points,elaborate on the sub-points).
Write the Body Paragraphs

In the body of the essay, all the preparation up to this point comes to fruition. The topic you have chosen must now be explained, described, or argued.Each main idea that you wrote down in your diagram or outline will become one of the body paragraphs. If you had three or four main ideas, you will have three or four body paragraphs.


Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure.

  1. [*=left]Start by writing down one of your main ideas, in sentence form.
    If your main idea is "reduces freeway congestion," you might say this:
    Public transportation reduces freeway congestion.
    [*=left]Next, write down each of your supporting points for that main idea, but leave four or five lines in between each point.
    [*=left]In the space under each point, write down some elaboration for that point.
    Elaboration can be further description or explanation or discussion.
    Supporting PointCommuters appreciate the cost savings of taking public transportation rather than driving.ElaborationLess driving time means less maintenance expense, such as oil changes.Of course, less driving time means savings on gasoline as well.In many cases, these savings amount to more than the cost of riding public transportation.
    [*=left]If you wish, include a summary sentence for each paragraph.
    This is not generally needed, however, and such sentences have a tendency to sound stilted, so be cautious about using them.
Once you have fleshed out each of your body paragraphs, one for each main point, you are ready to continue.


5. Write the introduction:
Introduction
The introduction should be designed to attract the reader's attention and give her an idea of the essay's focus.

  1. [*=left]Begin with an attention grabber.The attention grabber you use is up to you, but here are some ideas:
    • Startling information
      This information must be true and verifiable, and it doesn't need to be totally new to your readers. It could simply be a pertinent fact that explicitly illustrates the point you wish to make.
      If you use a piece of startling information, follow it with a sentence or two of elaboration
    • Anecdote
      An anecdote is a story that illustrates a point.
      Be sure your anecdote is short, to the point, and relevant to your topic. This can be a very effective opener for your essay, but use it carefully
    • Dialogue
      An appropriate dialogue does not have to identify the speakers, but the reader must understand the point you are trying to convey. Use only two or three exchanges between speakers to make your point.
      Follow dialogue with a sentence or two of elaboration
    • Summary Information
      A few sentences explaining your topic in general terms can lead the reader gently to your thesis. Each sentence should become gradually more specific, until you reach your thesis.
    [*=left]If the attention grabber was only a sentence or two, add one or two more sentences that will lead the reader from your opening to your thesis statement.
    [*=left]Finish the paragraph with your thesis statement.
6. Write the conclusion:
The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing up your points or providing a final perspective on your topic.All the conclusion needs is three or four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula. Simply review the main points (being careful not to restate them exactly) or briefly describe your feelings about the topic. Even an anecdote can end your essay in a useful way.


7. add the finishing Touches.
You have now completed all of the paragraphs of your essay. Before you can consider this a finished product, however, you must give some thought to the formatting of your paper.


Check the order of your paragraphs.
Look at your paragraphs. Which one is the strongest? You might want to start with the strongest paragraph, end with the second strongest, and put the weakest in the middle. Whatever order you decide on, be sure it makes sense. If your paper is describing a process, you will probably need to stick to the order in which the steps must be completed.


Check the instructions for the assignment.
When you prepare a final draft, you must be sure to follow all of the instructions you have been given.

  • [*=left]Are your margins correct?
    [*=left]Have you titled it as directed?
    [*=left]What other information (name, date, etc.) must you include?
    [*=left]Did you double-space your lines?
Check your writing.
Nothing can substitute for revision of your work. By reviewing what you have done, you can improve weak points that otherwise would be missed. Read and reread your paper.

  • [*=left]Does it make logical sense?
    Leave it for a few hours and then read it again. Does it still make logical sense?
    [*=left]Do the sentences flow smoothly from one another?
    If not, try to add some words and phrases to help connect them. Transition words, such as "therefore" or "however," sometimes help. Also, you might refer in one sentence to a thought in the previous sentence. This is especially useful when you move from one paragraph to another.
    [*=left]Have you run a spell checker or a grammar checker?
    These aids cannot catch every error, but they might catch errors that you have missed.
 
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FallenAngeL

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Oct 31, 2012
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Wowwwwwwwwwww zaberdast..
My assignments are based on essays.. so i have to write atleast 3 essays in a weak...
 
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FallenAngeL

Active Member
Oct 31, 2012
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Sureeee :)
sharing one of my essay that i wrote for Govt Assignment, its basically the same thing that you mentioned in above posts...
like first Topic paragraph
Then detail
Detail
Detail
And last Conclusion...

The name of the party’s chairman from Texas is Steve Munisteri. One of the great platforms of Republican Party is called the “immigration platform”. In this platform, Republicans decide to solve our nation's broken immigration system through various efforts.

Being an opponent, However, Democrats criticized it by saying "nothing more than shameless pandering by a party desperate to address its credibility issue with Hispanics”. I believe this platform is a good thing. Under this platform, at least, there would be more attention and work towards immigrant’s problems. Shunning them won’t help. Only listening to their problems and helping them with constructive work would help which is exactly what this platform is trying to do.

It is not a hidden fact that Democrats as well as Obama have made broken promises to Hispanics in regards to immigration reform. Instead of helping, they have manipulated open warfare towards Hispanics by deporting more Hispanics, including many US citizens, than any other administration. These are the times most in need of such a platform as the immigration platform by the Republican Party.

Through this platform, Republicans are trying to help Hispanics by taking a bold action, a set of principles which will bring an end to the old debate toward illegal immigration and broken immigration policy. Finally they came up with the idea of developing a new immigration policy “Texas Solution” which was perfect for this problem. This policy will provide a guest worker program that serves our agricultural and business needs and deal humanly with the people who have come to this nation for work and are not related to any crime. This program has been very carefully crafted to address a very sensitive issue and needs continuous improvement as we zero in into the problem.



Works Cited:-http://www.texasgopvote.com/tags/immigration-reform
http://www.gop.com/members/texas/steve-munisteri/
[DOUBLEPOST=1351655216][/DOUBLEPOST]Another sample

I believe the representatives have lost their aura and sacredness. People have no control on what the representatives do. They enact nothing but themselves and their interests. Besides, it is the right of every citizen to vote on a particular issue and also an obligation to agree on law of the majority’s decision.

Numerous people are disturbed with the choices that representatives have made. The promises that candidates promised are nothing but deception. Superiors seemed more narcissistic and impassive in comparison to their inferiors. Most of the candidates are appointed through tactfully crafted emotional and ideological appeal, never on actual competence. Direct Democracy considers all the people equally, and let them vote regardless of
religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, physical well being etc.
Direct Democracy system came into being in order to help people voice their decision by majority rule. In the past, it was impossible to bring direct democracy because it must be hard to organize such an enormous area for people to accumulate and cast their vote. But one will ask how
many people have the time to come to attend political meetings further away from their houses in order to implement direct democracy? How many have literally desire to attend such meetings after a busy day? However, in today’s technological world, these problems can be solved by letting people vote through internet and implement direct democracy. With a touch of a button, people can cast their vote thus bypassing the need to have representatives make decisions for you or vote on serious issues.
 
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Hoorain

*In search of Oyster Pearls*
VIP
Dec 31, 2009
108,467
40,710
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A n3st!
Sureeee :)
sharing one of my essay that i wrote for Govt Assignment, its basically the same thing that you mentioned in above posts...
like first Topic paragraph
Then detail
Detail
Detail
And last Conclusion...

The name of the party’s chairman from Texas is Steve Munisteri. One of the great platforms of Republican Party is called the “immigration platform”. In this platform, Republicans decide to solve our nation's broken immigration system through various efforts.

Being an opponent, However, Democrats criticized it by saying "nothing more than shameless pandering by a party desperate to address its credibility issue with Hispanics”. I believe this platform is a good thing. Under this platform, at least, there would be more attention and work towards immigrant’s problems. Shunning them won’t help. Only listening to their problems and helping them with constructive work would help which is exactly what this platform is trying to do.

It is not a hidden fact that Democrats as well as Obama have made broken promises to Hispanics in regards to immigration reform. Instead of helping, they have manipulated open warfare towards Hispanics by deporting more Hispanics, including many US citizens, than any other administration. These are the times most in need of such a platform as the immigration platform by the Republican Party.

Through this platform, Republicans are trying to help Hispanics by taking a bold action, a set of principles which will bring an end to the old debate toward illegal immigration and broken immigration policy. Finally they came up with the idea of developing a new immigration policy “Texas Solution” which was perfect for this problem. This policy will provide a guest worker program that serves our agricultural and business needs and deal humanly with the people who have come to this nation for work and are not related to any crime. This program has been very carefully crafted to address a very sensitive issue and needs continuous improvement as we zero in into the problem.


Works Cited:-http://www.texasgopvote.com/tags/immigration-reform
http://www.gop.com/members/texas/steve-munisteri/
[DOUBLEPOST=1351655216][/DOUBLEPOST]Another sample

I believe the representatives have lost their aura and sacredness. People have no control on what the representatives do. They enact nothing but themselves and their interests. Besides, it is the right of every citizen to vote on a particular issue and also an obligation to agree on law of the majority’s decision.

Numerous people are disturbed with the choices that representatives have made. The promises that candidates promised are nothing but deception. Superiors seemed more narcissistic and impassive in comparison to their inferiors. Most of the candidates are appointed through tactfully crafted emotional and ideological appeal, never on actual competence. Direct Democracy considers all the people equally, and let them vote regardless of religious beliefs, gender, sexual orientation, physical well being etc.
Direct Democracy system came into being in order to help people voice their decision by majority rule. In the past, it was impossible to bring direct democracy because it must be hard to organize such an enormous area for people to accumulate and cast their vote. But one will ask how many people have the time to come to attend political meetings further away from their houses in order to implement direct democracy? How many have literally desire to attend such meetings after a busy day? However, in today’s technological world, these problems can be solved by letting people vote through internet and implement direct democracy. With a touch of a button, people can cast their vote thus bypassing the need to have representatives make decisions for you or vote on serious issues.
ahaaan very nice :-bd
thanx for sahring :)

y did u not mention the heading/title?
 
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SaaD_KhaN

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Sep 3, 2011
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Morning BreeZE
THIS HINTS MAY HELP BEGINNERS TO CLEAR THEIR CONCEPT ABOUT ESSAY WRITING

GENERAL PREPARATION-

One of the chief diffiult most of us feel is the lack of matter.we do not easily find anything to say about a subject.this is natural,because our experience and general reading are limited.but it may b remedied by reading,and by training the power of observation.

READING


in order to write an essay the student must have something to write about and so he must endeavour to store his mind with ideas by reading.BECON SAYS "reading maketh a full man";that is a person who reads much and widely stores his mind with a large variety of facts,thoughts,illustrations and general informations.if you want to write good essays you must acquire love to reading...not simply reading stories for amusement,but reading good books of historey, travel, biography and science.fill your mind with fine thoughts and accurate information. by doing so you will become "a full man" ,and "a full man" can always find plenty to say on most subjects.

OBSERVATION


observation contributes alot in our day to day knowledge.All knowledge does not come from books.we may learn much from the life around us--what we see and hear observe for ourselves.Keep eyes and ears open ,and learn from your own experience.practical writing short descriptions of what you see in building,street scenes,trees and flowers,hillsand valleys,the habit of animals and birds.dont b content with reading other people`s description of such things but see them for yourself.it is surprising what a lot may b learnt from personal observation.

CONVERSATION


books are written by men and women;and if we can learn from the books they write ,we can learn also from the words they say,listen to the people`s conversation get them to talk to u about the things they know,and discuss subjects that interest u with your friends.in this way,also,you may learn much.
A writer reads,observe and gets people to talk and in these ways he is always enriching his mind with ideas and knowlege ."we can take the example of journalists. they exercise lots of things for accumulating information to complete their theme of writing as like them we also have to persist for gather copious knowledge for writing by discriminated ways"


DEFINING THE SUBJECT

It is very important that u should have a clear and accurate conception of the subject of the essay before you attempt to write on it....what exactly it is and (equally important)what it is not.some subjects are so simple that you can scarcely make a mistake about them ..for example,"the influence of railway traveling on paksitani social life."
Neither the subject is railway travelling nor it is the railway system of pakistan still less the invention of the locomotive engine,and the history of railways.Yet some students,carelessly reading the subject,might easily take up a large part of their essay with such topics,you must come to the point at once and start away with the real subjects,which in this case is the different ways in which the habit of travelling by train is changing the social customs of the people of paksitan.it is therefore very necessary that u should define the subject clearly in your own mind or you may waste much time and paper in writing on more or less irrrelevant matters.

COLLECTING MATERIAL


when u have got the clear idea of yr subject,the next step will b to think of that what can u say about it.some subject are so simple that a little reflection should supply u with suffcient matterial for a short essay but,for others,special information will b needed for which u may have to do some special reading,if u have to write about the some historical subjects and extra knowledge seeking subject.u have to get hold of some books and subject up.but in any case,do not attempt to write the essay before u have given some time to thinking over what can say on the subject.the common habit of beggining to write down the first thing that omes into one,s head,without knowing what is to come next,is fatal to good essay-writing.


As u think over the subject,ideas,facts and illustrations will pass through yr mind.but if u done catch them as they come,u may forget them just when u want them.so as u catch birds and put them in a cage,(mean to say pick the idea and paste it on the piece of paper),catch and cage these fleeting thoughts by jotting them down on a piece of paper just as they come in to yr mind,without troubling yrself at this stage about their order or suitablity,u can examine the birds thus caught at ur leisure later.
When u think u have colleted enough material of yr essay,or u cant think of any more points,read over the notes u have jotted down to select points most suitable for yr purpose (pick and choose more important and more efficacious point for yr essay).u may find what they worth.u may find that some are mere repetitions of others and others may b simply illustraions to b thought under main heads.this process of selection will probably suggest to u in a general way the line of thought u may follow in the essay.

LOGICAL ARRANGEMENT


Now should b ready to decide on the line of thought oss the essay i.e., the logical order in which u can arrange the points u have selected.the necessity if thus arranging yr thoughts according to some ordinary plan cant b too strongly insisted upon.without it,the essay will probably b badly arranged,rambling,disproportioned and full of reptitions and irrelevancies.

MAKING THE OUT LINE


Bearing yr subject definitely in yr mind and with yr purpose clearly before you,sketch out a bare outline of the main heads, under which u will arrange yr various materials in a natural,logical and convincing order.......from a brief introduction till an effetive conclusion.

FALLING IN THE OUT LINE


Having thus mapped out the main points with which u are going to deal,arrange the ideas you have collected each under its proper main head,rejecting all those not really relevant to yr subject ot which simply repeat other thoughts and taking are that each really belongs to the division in which u place it.
You will now have a full out line,which is to b a guide to u in writing the essay.but this is not the essay,but only its well-articulated skeleton.u must now clothe the skeleton with flesh,and most difficult of all breathe into it the breath of life,before u all yr production an essay
 
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