Chapter 14 What is an essay.ppt

Essay Writing
1
Workshop Overview
What is an essay?
Answering the question
Research & Referencing
Parts of an essay
2007 Te Wāhanga Ratonga Tautoko Tauira – Student Support Services
2
What is an essay?
A piece of writing, several paragraphs long
It is about one topic, and usually answers a set question
It consists of three parts:
An Introduction (usually one paragraph)
A Body (usually several paragraphs)
A Conclusion (usually one paragraph).
2007 Te Wāhanga Ratonga Tautoko Tauira – Student Support Services
3
Answering the question
An essay usually sets out to:
Answer a particular question, and/or
Elaborate on, Explain, or Define a topic
So Remember an introction has four purposes:
4
Answering the question
is the topic of the essay?
Look for the topic words in the question
These are words that tell you what you are writing about
Make sure everything you discuss in the essay helps you ANSWER THE QUESTION
Make sure you don’t add irrelevant points
is the general background of the topic?
3. What is the overall”plan” of the essay?
Develop a plan to help you answer the question
You can use mind maps, diagrams, or class notes to help you plan your essay
Use this essay plan to help you work out what topics you will discuss in each paragraph.
you arouse the readers’ interest in the topic?
5
Research & Referencing
An essay requires you to RESEARCH about the topic
When you find good sources of information, you need to reference them
6
Parts of an essay
An essay has three parts:
An Introduction (usually a paragraph)
A Body (usually several paragraphs)
A Conclusion (usually a paragraph).
7
Parts of an essay
2007 Te Wāhanga Ratonga Tautoko Tauira – Student Support Services
“An essay is like a fish; it has a head, a body, and a tail”
The Head:
Is the introduction of the essay
The Body:
Is the main section of the essay
The Tail:
Is the conclusion of the essay.
8
Parts of an essay: Introductions
Introductions are usually one par