unit 3. the parts and techniques of essay...

Unit 3.

The Parts and Techniques

of Essay Development

Unit 3. The Parts and Techniques of Essay Development (Dr. Ian Done D. Ramos, 2018) 1


1. Writing an essay is an important part of human being’s expression,

especially for students in the course of course completion. It starts

from writing a simple paragraph to forming pieces of ideas to a

bigger substantial content. In the process, you may be able to

present it with good organization; but you tend to lose sight of

technicality.

2. In this unit, you will be taught on how to express your ideas and

opinions using the proper content organization along with other

inputs learned in previous chapters. You will incorporate all these

into series of related paragraphs to form an essay.

3. In an organic structure, these paragraphs in a longer discourse fall

into two classes, isolated paragraph and related paragraph. The

isolated paragraph stands on its own; it does not depend on other

paragraphs to have full understanding. The related paragraph, on

the other hand, relies on other paragraphs for intelligibility.


4. To determine the number of paragraphs according to plan of

development, you have to set an indention. The indention is done

by pushing inward so as to form an inch space from the left

margin. Other writers, however, follow the full block format

which means that indention is not required.

5. Below is the general structure of an essay.


6. A. THE PROCESS OF WRITING

7. The process of writing is the framework of your essay

composition. This helps you write an effective essay.

8. 1st PROCESS: PRE-WRITING includes Step 1. Pre-writing

techniques and Step 2. Planning to come up with what content

you want to present to satisfy the quality of your paragraph.

9. Step 1. Pre-writing technique is the primary process of thinking

about a topic you want to develop in your essay composition.

Here are the different methods:

10. a. Brainstorming is one of the techniques used to generate

various ideas on a subject in a quick manner. You do this by

considering the relationships of these ideas with each other so

you can decide with good inclusions in your writing.


11. b. Clustering is similar to a spider’s web whose lines connect to

generate various ideas. The center is the most general idea.

12. c. Freewriting is another way of bringing out ideas from

experiences. Punctuation marks, grammar, and other mechanics

are not the priorities at this stage. Your focus is to write anything

that comes to your mind.

13. d. Keeping a journal is a record of your daily thoughts and

activities for your future reference. This reflects your progress in

life. After keeping it for a few days, a week or a month, you

might come up with a topic to develop in your essay composition.

14. Step 2. Planning is another way in organizing your topic by

providing an outline from what topic you have decided to

consider for the paragraph development. This serves as your

guide during drafting.


15. Outline is of three (3) types: topic, sentence, and paragraph

outline. Topic outline is an outline whose idea is presented in a

word or a phrase. Sentence outline is an outline whose idea is

presented in a short single statement. And, paragraph outline is

an outline whose idea is presented with enough supporting details.

These three types of outline support the topic sentence.

16. At this point, you may write your working title that is closely

related to the thesis statement, considering the main points you

come up with. Sometimes, you have the main points with

tentative thesis (learn more what thesis really is later). Anyway,

you can still edit and revise this plan as you go along. This only

serves as your guide.


Example:


17. 2nd PROCESS: WRITING includes Step 3. Drafting of ideas to

develop paragraphs of the essay.

18. Step 3. Drafting is the next step in which you will write down

the ideas gathered and outlined from your chosen topic.

19. An ideal composition consists of introduction, body, and

conclusion.

20. The introduction is usually one paragraph which includes the

background information by using different techniques such as

historical review, anecdotes, surprising statement, quotation from

famous people, strong opinion, and question.

21. The background information starts from a general statement to a

very specific statement called the thesis statement.


22. The thesis statement is found at the end of the paragraph. It is the

central/controlling idea of the body paragraphs. In other words,

the topic sentence of each body paragraph addresses the thesis

statement.

23. A thesis statement is sometimes written in the dependent clause

of the sentence. It contains the following elements: a) a strong

controversial issue (e.g. All mothers are the worst workers in a

corporate business.), b) an action to take (e.g. All mothers

exerting effort to clear up their work issue in the corporate

business takes a stronger position to win), or c) a statement to

call for an answer (e.g. All mothers are likely to achieve

fairness in the corporate business world).

24. Here are the good structural considerations of a thesis statement:


25. a. A thesis statement should be in a declarative sentence.

Example:

Gays are hardly given the chance to run for a political position in

Korea.

This example expresses not only a fact but also a strong opinion

from an expert because he/she knows the possible outcome if

gays join the race in the politics. However, this should not be

presented in an informal way as if you say it in a plain

conversation.

like:

I give no chance for gays to sit with political power.

The people do not give gays a political chance in Korea.


26. b. A thesis statement should express one single idea, not more

than one.

Examples:

Gays are hardly given the chance to run for a position in Korean

politics.

Gay’s political career may be beneficial in terms of power,

prestige, and money.

These two examples have a separate thesis. One discusses on the

political issue due to sex orientation; the other discusses on the

benefits earned in a political career. A thesis statement should not

look like this: Gays are hardly given the chance to have a

position in Korean politics, but their political career, perhaps, is

beneficial in terms of power, prestige, and money.)


27. c. A thesis statement should provide an explicit overview of

what points an essay will be discussing or presenting.

Example:

Gays are hardly given the chance to run for a political position in

Korea due to immorality, mental appeal, and extended influence.

The points to be developed here are immorality, mental appeal,

and extended influence. Each will be provided with accurate

details in the body paragraphs.

28. The second part of an essay is body paragraphs. Each body

paragraph consists of a topic sentence that addresses or supports

a thesis statement. Based on the points of discussion, there are

usually three body paragraphs whose topic sentence is usually

placed at the beginning of each paragraph.


29. Remember, the techniques (such as historical review, anecdotes,

surprising statement, quotation by famous people, strong opinion,

and question) used in writing introductory paragraphs could also

be applied in writing body paragraphs.

30. In addition, other techniques could also be considered: personal

story, facts, adage, interviews, statistics, and research results.

31. The last part is conclusion. This paragraph gives a conclusion or

generalization addressing main points discussed in body

paragraphs. Concluding paragraph techniques are provided to

present the conclusion in an organized way.

32. The concluding paragraph(s) may be presented in the following

techniques: summarizing main points, offering a suggestion or

recommendation, providing a solution, and making a prediction.


Example: Considering Priorities in a Relationship

“For better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for richer and for poorer ‘til

death do us part” are the common lines a bride and a groom say to confirm the

bond. However, not all couples remain true to this promise. Some remain with

each other for only a couple of years, while others do remain just a night after

wedding. As an upshot, people nowadays have a keen outlook on priorities in a

relationship by ranking them to assess the importance. It is believed that necessity

of setting priorities, not only their mutual feelings, develops maturity in a

relationship.

The first priority is family background. Two people who are about to engage

themselves in marriage should consider opinions of both families in any

circumstances. Generally, this kind of practice may influence their behavior and

eventually, the behavior will turn into attitude when they live together in their own

home. If a problem occurs in a relationship, right attitude may help solve a

problem. For instance, if there is a terrible financial problem, the couple may find

ways by working harder rather than borrowing money from their parents or just

anybody. This couple has the “hardworking attitude” no matter how big a problem

is. As a consequence, their children may have a better future through the right

attitude inherited from their parents.


The second priority is educational attainment with enough training or work

experience. The higher the education attainment, the better chances for job

opportunities two people in a marriage may have. Once they are much respected

with their expertise, they may easily augment their income, aside from earning

honor and prestige. This income supports the entire family. The children’s need

could be provided with quality education where knowledge and values are

inculcated, healthy food where they get their strength to live, wisdom where they

learn to limit their being materialistic, and many more. However, proper guidance

from professional parents is still the ultimate source of molding the total being.

The last priority is friends. Good friends may result to good response to life as

they guide lovers with financial, spiritual, social, and moral decisions. Due to the

fact that they are surrounded with good friends, they may be influenced in

choosing a finer quality life. With a moral or social support, for instance, a person

who has started having good friends since high school may be wise enough to

decide what is best for him in a relationship. He may weigh up the principles he

believes in his long challenging life until he finally chooses his final decision –

choosing the right woman to live with, for instance. However, patience and time

are still needed to find great friends.


These three priorities take time to appraise their justification. Some people can

never tell if the choice they think is effective until they hear and see other couples

living positively with these priorities, while others just accept as true if they

themselves have encountered good experience of these three. It really depends on

how genuine they are in treating the relationship. If they are able to identify the

right assessment, then they probably harvest the happiest marriage.

33. Evaluate the essay. Does the essay incorporate all necessary

parts and techniques of writing an essay? How would you

improve this essay?

34. It is important to note that this essay will be further revised and

supported with external sources, thus making it a documented

essay. This is the essence of this course, English logical

statement. This will be discussed in later units.


35. 3rd PROCESS: POST WRITING includes Step 4. revising and Step 5.

editing.

36. Step 4: Revising refers to the amendment of a text in order to correct,

update, and improve it. It improves theme, content or context, and

organization of the essay. In revising, review the following considerations:

Is the topic well narrowed?

Is the topic appropriate to the audience?

Does the topic relate the purpose of writing?

Is your technique used in your introductory paragraph directly related to the thesis

statement?

Is the thesis statement acceptable?

Are the outlined main points or topic sentences addressing the thesis statement?

Are the paragraphs employing the three parts and the three qualities of writing?

Are the details of the paragraph good enough to support the topic sentence?

Is the technique used in concluding paragraph effective to support the body paragraphs?

37. Step 5: Editing refers to the correcting of errors to ensure accuracy and

clarity. It improves grammar, spelling, word choices, capitalization of

letters, and punctuation marks.


Activity 1: Write an introductory paragraph using one of the

techniques (historical review, anecdotes, surprising statement,

quotation by famous people, strong opinion, and question).

Example:

In South Korea, English language education began in 1883

when the Joseon government opened its English language school

to Korean students to become interpreters of English (Kim, 2008).

In 1999, policy makers decided to push through the idea of

making English a national language along with Korean, due to

the challenges of the 1997 economic struggles (Frouser, 2009).

Since then, conversation classes have become mandatory aiming

to develop communicative competence (Kwon, 2000).


Technique: _______________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

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Activity 2: Construct an acceptable thesis statement for each

topic.

No. Topic Thesis Statement

1. Extended family

2. The Benefits of

Being Loved

3. Academic Struggles

4. Language and

Culture

5. Crime and Solution


Activity 3: Construct one essay for any of the following topics

listed: a) Extended family, b) The benefits of being loved,

c) Academic struggles, d) Language and culture, or e) Crime and

solution. Important: Use the essay template found on the website.

First, outline your essay here.

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

____________________________________________________

Source:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media

/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf


Adapted from:

https://www.regent.edu/admin/stusrv/writingcenter/files/APA%206th%20Edition%20Quickvie

w.pdf

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf

APA format: VARYING DEFINITIONS ON ONLINE COMMUNICATION

Varying Definitions on Online Communication

and Their Effects on Relationship Research

Kim Jin Hyuk

XYX University

1


Source:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media

/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf

Then, body and conclusion paragraphs follow below.

2


Activity 4: Read each concluding paragraph and identify the

technique applied (summarizing main points, offering a

suggestion or recommendation, providing a solution, and making

a prediction). Write your answer on the space provided before

each paragraph.

1. _________________________

Lovers who consider the three priorities may not have

experienced them yet. Or, they may have, but not that much to

claim confidence. They need more advice from a guidance

counselor, from a person himself who has an in-depth experience,

and from any reliable people who can justify these considerations.

They should find time to qualify these as we all know regrets are

always the consequence.


2. _________________________

Family background, educational attainment, and friends are other

considerations that may help grow the relationship between two people

who love each other. Each contributes to whatever he or she wishes to

come true, such as: family background improves the attitude;

educational attainment augments family income; and good friends help

them to be wise enough to decide on what to undertake in life.

However, they still have to take extra care in considering them.

3. __________________________

These priorities have underlying problems which are not presented

in the essay; only positive situations are considered. If problems occur,

the solution is just to consult a guidance counselor, a person himself

who has an in-depth experience, and from any reliable people who can

justify these priorities. For best result, sincere prayer for enlightenment

and moral actions for physical and emotional strength are needed.


4. _________________________

These three priorities take time to appraise their justification.

Some people can never tell if the choice they think is effective

until they hear and see other couples living positively with these

priorities, while others just accept as true if they themselves have

encountered a good experience of these three. It really depends

on how genuine they are in treating the relationship. If they are

able to identify the right assessment, then they probably harvest

the happiest marriage.

IMPORTANT.

1. Use the activity slides provided on the professor’s website.

2. Submit your answered activities not later than 1:30pm on

October 10, 2016 (Monday) to [email protected]. Use the

same email thread whenever you submit your work for easy

access.

28 Unit 3. The Parts and Techniques of Essay Development (Dr. Ian Done D. Ramos, 2018)

unit 3.

mailto:[email protected]



Sources:

Note: Some of the texts in this material were taken from the

sources below. This material is used for classroom purpose

only.

Folse K. S.,Vokoun, A. M. and Solomon, E. V. (2010). Great

paragraphs. Boston, MA, USA: Sherisse Roehr.

Ramos, I.D. (2016). Writing various essays to basic research: A

textbook and workbook combined. Cebu City, Philippines: Nina

Educational and Book Supply.

Ross, V. (2015). A brief guide to critical writing. Philadelphia, PA:

Critical Writing Program.

29 Unit 3. The Parts and Techniques of Essay Development (Dr. Ian Done D. Ramos, 2018)


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