Basically, the essay is a piece of creative writing in prose on any certain subject-matter in which the writer goals to present his or her personal view of facts. The word 'essay' is derived from a French word meaning 'act of weighing' and came to denote 'attempt, effort or its product'. Hence, the essay signifies a trial or attempt of an author to present in the written form any point containing general ideas of a writer on a subject. Essays are believed to be endevors of writers to understand their own ideas and to share their ideas with others. Innumerable essays have been published on every certain subject-matter in the press. Besides, the essay is a preferred form of advanced writing exercise at school.
Essays vary in size. Nevertheless, a school essay averages out at 500 words. According to the manner in which the subject is presented, essays are divided into the following types: argumentation, narration and description.
The argumentative essay is a piece of writing in which writers express their opinions or views and provide arguments for or against a certain point of view.
The narrative essay is a description of events sequencing one another. The material is arranged in keeping with the actual order of happenings.
The descriptive essay differs from the narrative type in the order in which ideas and facts are organized. It does not depend upon the actual succession of happenings but rather upon features of events or the author's pattern of the presentation.
The essay has 3 major compulsory structural parts: the introduction, the main body and the conclusion. It is worth remembering that a perfectly arranged essay is logical, coherent, clear and easy to follow.
Here are some valuable tips on how to create a clear-cut essay. Before you get down to writing an essay it is important to pick out, observe, analyze and combine facts relevant to the subject-matter of an essay. To put it differently, data-base and a good plan of the future work are essential for writing an excellent essay.
As soon as you have decided on a subject, organise facts in an order appropriate for the purpose of your essay and choose the method of your data arrangement (comparison, contrast, analogy on facts, classification). Make a detailed outline that will help you stick to your plan as you write. Keep to the specified limits of space and learn not to exceed them. Define your purpose in writing by making a thesis statement which will express a subject. Jot down a preliminary draft to make sure that you have set up your essay logically and that your introductory part and conclusion are clear-cut to make your piece of writing more effective. Format your final draft in accordance with the specified requirements.
Thus, to develop the skill of writing an essay one should be knowledgeable about its structural elements, features and types and keep practising, as practice makes perfect.
