ADVANCED COMPOSITION
Semester 3
Prof. Lahoucine Aammari
FLDM, Fes
INTRODUCTION TO ESSAY WRITING
What is an essay?
An essay is a group of paragraphs written about a
single topic and a central main idea. It must have at
least three paragraphs, but a five-paragraph essay is
a common length for academic writing. Mike Abrams
defines the essay as “Any short composition in prose
undertakes to discuss a matter, express a point of
view, or persuade us to accept a thesis on any
subject.”
Parts of an essay:
The most common essay form taught in textbooks is the
five-paragraph essay. Though many people first learn
to write a five-paragraph essay, an essay can have
as many paragraphs as the writer thinks are
necessary. The only requirement is that an essay
should have a beginning, middle, and ending.
An Example
The daily newspaper provides a valuable source of information. As
everyone knows, a town’s daily paper reports the news from around
the world. Readers gain knowledge of world affairs by reading
about wars starting and stopping, the national economy, and
tragedies that befall people everyday like auto accidents and home
fires. Readers also acquire background information that is needed to
be an informed citizen such as the workings of Congress and the
geography of places all around the world. For instance, when the
Pope visited Cuba, Americans learned about the history and
geography of the island. Most importantly, the newspaper connects us
to our community by publishing important announcements like births,
deaths, weddings and the events occurring in town like fairs and
government meetings. Reading the newspaper helps us develop our
intelligence as citizens by providing us with important information
about our world.
Drafting the Introduction:
Because it establishes the reader’s attitude toward the
topic and toward the writer, the introduction is the
most important part of the essay. An interesting
introduction will make the reader want to read the
rest of the essay. The introduction to an essay should:
Get the reader interested in the topic (attention-getter).
Provide background information about the topic
(factual material).
State the thesis of the essay (main idea).
Length and Placement
How much background information to
provide depends upon the length of the essay
and the strategy the writer uses to get the
reader prepared for the thesis. In general, an
essay of five paragraphs should include three to
six sentences of background before the thesis.
All the background information must come
before the thesis is presented to point the
reader toward the main idea that the essay will
develop.
Thesis or Thesis Statement
The thesis or thesis statement of the essay
presents the main idea that the essay will
develop. The thesis creates a focus for the essay
and should not be too broad or too narrow for
the assignment. A thesis that is too broad is a
statement that is too large to be adequately
developed in the length essay you have been
assigned. A thesis that is too narrow is a
statement that is not large enough to be
developed into an essay.
✘ Too broad: People are unhealthy for many
reasons.
� Adequate focus: The diet of many American
teenagers is unhealthy.
✘ Too narrow: American teenagers consume too
much salt.
� Adequate focus: The diet of many American
teenagers is unhealthy.
Blueprinted Thesis
A blueprinted thesis lists in a series the
major points the essay will develop. The
points should be listed in the order that
they will appear in the body paragraphs.
The list may appear in the thesis or in a
separate sentence after the thesis. The
major points in the series must be
parallel. In other words, areas listed in
the thesis should be expressed in the
same grammatical form.
Example:
A Fassi Riad is a great place to take the
entire family out to dinner because of
its convenience, its menu, and its
atmosphere.
Pitafalls
BODY PARAGRAPHS
Each paragraph in the body of the essay
develops one main point (topic sentence)
that supports the thesis of the essay. The
topic sentence should present an idea that
can be developed in one paragraph, and
the topic sentence should support the
thesis of the essay.
The body paragraphs in an essay follow the
traditional paragraph pattern of topic sentence,
supporting sentences, and conclusion. Of course,
not every paragraph begins with the topic
sentence, especially in professional writing, but
for most academic writing, it is a good idea to
place the topic sentence first in order to make
sure that there is no room for confusion as to
the main idea of the paragraph.
Each body paragraph should directly
support the thesis statement. In other
words, each body paragraph is a separate
reason why the thesis of the essay is true.
A body paragraph usually has a minimum
of three supporting sentences that
develop the topic sentence. These
supporting sentences are often developed
with examples.
The Conclusions in the Body Paragraphs
Body paragraphs may end with a strong
supporting detail or may end with a conclusion
that sums up the ideas presented in the
paragraph. The necessity for a conclusion, or
summary statement, depends on the length and
complexity of the paragraph. If a paragraph is
short or the main idea of the paragraph is
simple, a conclusion may not be needed.
Activity
THESIS: The daily newspaper provides a
valuable source of information. Not only does it
report the news, but it provides valuable
background information that helps us
understand how our world works, and it
connects us to our community and culture.