How to write an essay?

 Writing:

According to Mary Spratt, Alan Pulverness, and Melanie Williams, (2012). Writing is one of the four language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Writing and speaking are productive skills. That means they involve producing language rather than receiving it, as in listening and reading. Very simply, we can say that writing consists of communicating a message by making signs on a page.

In this sense, there are 3 forms of writing, formal, informal, and semiformal writing, but when each one can be used? Let’s see.

Formal Writing

When do we use it?

 

Formal writing is used for professional and academic purposes, to communicate with people with a higher position in our field of work, when there is not a personal relationship. It could be also used to show respect to someone, such as our boss or an older person. It avoids long sentences and paragraphs, (no more than 7 lines).

At the time to write an academic text or any other document you must present as a professional, you need to be conscious of

Do not include emotions and emotive punctuation.

·      Do not use contractions

·      Write in the third person singular.

·   Introduce the topic, be sure to state your ideas clearly, write good body paragraphs, and write a conclusion. (Formal writing is clearer than informal one).

· To introduce an abbreviation, the full name should be spelled out first, Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund.  (UNICEF). 

·         When you have doubts about the types of writing you should use, it is better to use formal writing.

·         There is no better type of writing, each style is used for specific purposes.

An example of formal Letter:

Mr. Sebatian Gabriel Villamil

Calle 32 N° 3-07,

Edificio Juan Manuel Villamil, 

Montería - Córdoba

 

June 17, 2011

 

Mrs. Charlotte Alberonis

31-34 Palmerston Road Southampton. 

SO15 2LL, UK. 

 

Dear Mrs. Alberonis

I am a student of the post-degree in State Contracting at the University of Sinú and one of the program courses we must take is commercial English, in it we were talked about Charlotte School of English in the United Kingdom, and we were motivated to continue improving our English. I would like to know more about the course you are offering. Could you please tell me about the cost of the courses?  Everything should be included.

I need to have a proposed program, in it I would like to know about the cost of tuition, half-board accommodation and social activities such as visits to famous places, museums, tours, some scholarly activities, and having access to cultural centers around the United Kingdom to be familiar with the culture. 

Finally, it is relevant to highlight that I have two possible dates for this trip, one is during my June vacation between June 26^th to July 13^th,2024 and the other one is from December 6^th to December 23^rd,2024. I am expected to be offered, two courses, one in general English and the other related to English for business. 

Kind regards,

Mr. Sebatian Gabriel Villamil

  

Informal writing

 

Informal writing is like the way we speak, it is the most common way to communicate every day of life in our family and circle of friends. We use informal writing when we are familiar with the person we are writing to; so, it is acceptable to use slang, figures of speech, short sentences, constrictions, and abbreviations.  Most of the time emotions are spread naturally.

An example of an informal Letter:

 June 8, 2011

 

Dear Grandpa,

 

Hi, I’m glad to know you’re going to visit us soon.  We’re organizing some activities to do, I want to take you to the most beautiful places in the city, such as Ronda del Sinú Park, I know you will enjoy seeing animals along the park. There are a lot of iguanas, squirrels, sloth bears, and monkeys. You will enjoy feeding them.   

 

I also want to tell you about our last trip to Cocora Valley in the region of café. We had an excellent time. I hope to travel around Colombia with you one day. Do you think it would be okay if I organized a schedule for every day during your visit? Let me know what you want to do?

 

I send you a picture of Cocora Valley and I’m excited to see you soon.

 

Hugs and kisses,

 

Leonardo.

Semiformal writing

Semi-formal writing is a text between formal and informal text in terms of style. It is the writing style to be used when we don't want to be so cold but also not to appear to dare.

We can use these styles with people with whom we have a professional relationship such as co-workers and managers. This style is also used to write in blogs, magazines, or any text when our intention is not to appear too distant. 

 

How to write an essay?

What is an essay?

An essay is an extended piece of writing whose purpose is to present a particular point of view. It could be defined as academic writing to validate, analyze, interpret, or set facts regarding a particular issue. Lozano, L. (2020).

Types of essays:

·         Literary essay.

·         Argumentative essay.

·         Scientific essay.

·         Expository essay.

·         Philosophical essay.

·         Critical essay.

·         Sociological essay.

·         Historical essay.

·         Descriptive essay

·         Synoptic essay

·         Analytical essay

·         Exploratory essay

·         Review essay

Steps to write an Essay

1. Decide the kind of essay you want to write:

·         Do you want to write an argumentative, descriptive, synoptic, analytical, exploratory, or a review essay? What is your purpose?

2. Brainstorm and Research your essay topic.

Be sure you have a clear vision of your topic. Then, write an introduction to begin your essay, at least two or three body paragraphs to develop the introduction, and a conclusion to end the essay. Use transitions to help the readers understand the organization of the ideas. Phillips, D. (2001).

3. Develop a thesis:

·         Do you want to present your point of view and persuade your readers?

4. Edit your essay:

·         Did you support your ideas, give examples, reasons, facts, and details?

·         Did you stick to vocabulary and sentence structures you know?

·         Are you sure about your spelling, and grammar?

 

5. Evaluate your essay:

5. Do you have very strong organizational, structural, and grammatical skills?

4. Do you have good organizational, structural, and grammatical skills?

3. Do you have adequate organizational, structural, and grammatical skills? Does your essay contain errors?

2. Do you show evidence of organizational, structural, and grammatical skills that still need to be improved?

1. Do you show a minimal ability to convey ideas in written English?

Writing An Essay: My role as a professional:  Part from the following statement:

Do you agree or disagree with the following statement:

Some people place a high value on speaking English to succeed in the work field. To others, it depends on the profession people have. Discuss the two positions. Then, indicate, which position you agree with and why.  (Try to give specific examples about your role as a professional and if English is important or not in your work field).

 

 

References:

 

Lozano, L. (2020). How to write an essay?

 

Phillips, D. (2001). Longman Introductory Course for the TOEFL Test. Second Edition. New York. Pearson Education Editorial.

 

Pictures taken from: https://www.facebook.com/UnicordobaColombia

2020 and https://pixabay.com/es/

 How to write an essay?