Essay Writing

Presented by Sujan
Das, Assistant
Professor of English
An essay is a
long, self-
contained piece
of composition on
a particular
topic. The four
main types of
essays are:
Descriptive essays

• These are essays that describe some

object or place or person. The
features of the subject are discussed,
and one may choose to focus on
certain specific aspects. An example
would be an essay on your college
campus or one on a place that you
have visited.
Narrative essays • As the name itself suggests,
the aim of the narrative essay
is to narrate or report an
event. The arrangement is by
the order in which the events
occurred. The narration must
be carried to a natural
conclusion which satisfies the
reader’s curiosity. The essay
may narrate episodes from
history, legend, or someone’s
biography; an event such as
an election or a basketball
match; or an incident such as
a miraculous escape or a train
accident.
Expository essays • The purpose of an
expository essay is to
explain or analyse a
subject, or to define or
interpret a term or
concept. Its aim is to
inform the reader.
Expository essays can be
written on a wide variety
of subjects, e.g., “healthy
eating, ‘quantum
computing, ‘the UN and
its activities’.
Argumentative • The aim of an argumentative
essay is to convince your

(or discursive) reader that the position you

have taken on a subject is

essays
right. When writing an essay of
this kind, you must state your
position in clear terms, bring in
evidence to support your
stance, and present your
arguments in a logical manner.
For example, the topic for a
discursive essay could be “The
mother tongue as the medium
of teaching at the college
level. These essays are also
known as reflective essays.
• In order to understand the difference between
these types of essays, think about how a single
topic- say, earthquakes-could be treated in a
variety of ways. A descriptive essay might
describe the scenes that present themselves to
the eye in the aftermath of a major earthquake.
A narrative essay, on the other hand, would
relate the incidents that took place during a
particular earthquake. An expository essay
would talk about what earthquakes are, why
they occur, how they are studied, and give
examples of recorded earthquakes. An
argumentative essay might discuss your
personal opinion on the best ways to minimise
the impact of earthquakes.
HOW TO WRITE
• Beginning a long piece of
composition can sometimes seem
like a daunting task. Given below

AN ESSAY are a few useful points to

remember when writing any
extended written composition.
Understand the topic, and be clear
about your aim before you start
writing. Begin by thinking deeply
about the topic which you are
going to write on. Look up
information in books or on the
internet if you need to do
research, and make a note of
relevant [Link] down the
main points that you wish to make
in your essay, and arrange them
into a suitable order. If it is to be a
long essay, write down a few sub-
points under each main point. This
will provide an outline which you
can flesh out in the next step.
• Now that you have a blueprint for your essay in
the form of an outline of main points and sub-
points, it is time to expand these points into full
sentences and paragraphs to create the actual
essay.@ Structure your essay so that it has a
clear beginning, middle and end. Tips on how to
write a good beginning (introduction) and a
good ending (conclusion) are given below. The
middle (or the ‘body’) of the essay is where
your ideas get detailed.@ Present your ideas as
a set of paragraphs. Paragraphing helps readers
understand and process your ideas in
meaningful units of thought. Think of
paragraphs as the building blocks of your essay.

• @ Be careful that you do not bring in irrelevant

ideas or points that undercut the argument you
are making. Stay focused on the position you
take all through the essay, and avoid the
temptation to discuss related issues. An essay
should not be loosely structured or rambling
and every part should contribute to its total
• After expanding the
outline, always read
through your draft of
the essay and revise it.
Double- check facts and
spellings. Pay special
attention to clarity and
grammatical
correctness.
WRITING
INTRODUCTIONS
• A good beginning sets the tone for the
rest of your work. Your introduction
should be interesting enough to make
the reader want to continue reading
the rest of your [Link] could start
most descriptive, expository and
argumentative essays by simply
introducing the reader to the essay’s
subject and/or your purpose.
• If, for example, you are writing an essay
on social media, you could begin by
stating what is meant by the term ‘social
[Link] you wish to illustrate the
working of an induction motor, you could
begin by defining an induction motor,
and then stating that you will explain
how one [Link] argumentative
essays, you could begin by stating your
position on the topic (for or against).
• Another technique is to give
a very brief outline of the
main points you are going to
cover in your composition.
This works well for
argumentative essays, as it
gives the reader a clear
mental blueprint to follow as
you flesh out your argument,
but it would also work for
expository
[Link] can be
made attention-grabbing
with some sort of hook
statement. You could start
with...
• A question, e.g., Why is social media so addictive?
Questions are an easy way to draw the reader’s
attention to the topic you wish to discuss.A quote,
e.g., An American comedian once said, “Social
media is anti-social”. Explain the quotation’s
relevance to the theme of your essay (if it is not
already obvious).A statistic, e.g. The average
internet user spends at least 3 hours on social
media every day. The source of the statistic should
ideally be mentioned in the essay (in the same
sentence or as a footnote).An anecdote, i.e., a short
but interesting personal story. Beware of making the
anecdote too long. And make sure that it is of direct
relevance to the essay’s theme.
• In narrative essays, you could even begin in the
middle or the most exciting part of the narration-
and then go back to the start in the body of the
essay. This is another example of a good hook
that immediately pulls the reader [Link]: If you’re
finding it difficult to begin writing your essay with
the introduction, you could instead begin by
expanding the outline points in the body of the
essay first, and then come back and write the
introduction. If you begin by writing the
introduction first, remember to re-read it when
you finish writing the complete essay, to check if
the introduction needs to be revised.
WRITING • The end of your work is as
important as the beginning.

CONCLUSIONS Let us look at a few

techniques to help you write
a suitable [Link]
narrative essays, provide a
satisfying end to the story
you set out to tell. In other
types of essays, mention
your final thoughts on the
matter by providing
recommendations, opinions,
and solutions.A good way to
end is to leave the reader
with something to think
about:
• In expository and descriptive
essays, you could talk about
what the future holds with
regard to the subject of the
[Link] your reader
about (or reflect on) the
significance of the [Link] you
have been discussing a
problem in a discursive or an
expository manner, recommend
a solution, or warn of the
consequences of not resolving
the [Link] use of
quotations or statistics that can
drive home the point you’re
trying to [Link] you began
your essay with an attention-
grabbing hook, try revisiting
that question, quotation,
statistic or anecdote if you can
now draw some deeper,
• Argumentative and expository essays can be
brought to a close by restating or rephrasing the
theme of your essay. You could also quickly review
or sum up the main points, and. However, avoid a
long-winded recap of everything you have already
said in the rest of your work. For instance, you could
conclude a book review with a brief summary of
why you liked or disliked the book-but do not go
back to talking about the plot, the setting, the
narrative style, etc. Remember: if you choose to
conclude with a summary, use fresh language.
Using the same words and phrases that you have
used earlier would make your writing boring.
 • Give emphasis to the main idea in the
essay by directly stating it, or by placing it

ADDITIONAL in a prominent position (for example, in the

beginning or end), or by giving more space

TIPS
to [Link] ensure that your essay is balanced,
the points included in it must be given the
treatment they deserve according to their
importance. For example, avoid making
your introduction so long that there is a
delay in your getting to the main [Link]
arguments should be ordered in a logical
sequence. Make sure that the link between
all your points is clear, and that they all
lead logically to your conclusion. Use
connecting words (such as firstly,
furthermore, to conclude, etc.) to link
paragraphs with supporting arguments, to
connect a general statement with an
example or a fact, or to indicate to the
reader that you are concluding your
[Link] essays are written in a formal
style. Use complete sentences and avoid
colloquial expressions and slang.
SAMPLE • Say, for example, you had
to write a descriptive

STRUCTURE OF essay on a house. Here is

how you might go about it.
ESSAYS • Paragraph 1 General
introduction-size, location,
etc.
• Paragraph 2 Rooms and
their location and purpose
• Paragraph 3 Details of the
rooms
• Paragraph 4 Open spaces,
for example verandas and
gardens
• Paragraph 5 Concluding
remarks
• The following outline may
be used to write an
argumentative essay.
• Paragraph 1 Introduction
(issue under discussion),
position taken by you,
opposite views
• Paragraph 2 Argument 1,
with supporting
examples/evidence
• Paragraph 3 Argument 2,
with supporting
examples/evidence
• Paragraph 4 Argument 3,
with supporting
examples/evidence
• Paragraph 5 Conclusion,