Essay Writing Part One

Skill: Writing

Category: Academic English and TOEFL

Level: Advanced

Essay Writing (Part One)

An essay is a brief piece of writing that clarifies, argues, or analyzes a topic. In other words, it is a collection of paragraphs that presents opinions, ideas, and facts about a subject. An essay can usually have three or more than three paragraphs in which each paragraph discusses one idea, often stated in the topic sentence of the paragraph. The type of essay is related to the purpose of the written meaning that for what purpose does the writer composites. Some common types are narrative, comparison, cause-effect, and argumentative. An essay mainly has three parts—introduction, body and conclusion. Each part will be detailed in this paper.  

Writing the Introductions

The first paragraph in an essay is the introduction. Necessarily, it is not a must to be written first. Some writers write it after they finished body paragraphs and conclusion. There are different ways to write an introduction. Some writers begin with a general background about the subject. Others start with a question. So it is the writer’s choice to decide what type to write.

The introductory paragraph consists of three parts:

                                                1- The hook    

            Introduction è           2- Connecting information

                                                3- The thesis statement (the main idea of essay)

The Hook
It is the first sentence in the introductory paragraph, which is used to grab the reader’s attention just like a hook at the end of a fishing pole to catch a fish. If the hook is written satisfactory and attractive, the reader will surely continue reading the rest of the essay entirely. So there are many ways to write a hook.

1. Ask a question. The reader will be hooked, attracted, if s/he desires to know the answer to the question.

Ex: Have you ever taught that each year 10,000 people die from smoking.

• Begin with a famous quote:

Ex: Education is a ladder out of poverty.

• Use an anecdote related to the topic
• Use a surprising or shocking statistics:

Ex: If the world temperature continues to rise, New York might be underwater by the year 2040.

Connecting Information

Right after the hook, the writer writes three to five sentences as connecting information to tie the reader to the topic. These sentences can be examples or background information about the topic.  

Ex: This example is taken from one of EFL learners.

are not capable of doing hard work, and should stay home or be retired from occupations. My grandfather always says, “Enjoy your life, try new things, and take risks until you are young; however, when you get old, just stay home and relax.” Therefore, I postulate that taking risks and exploring new things are not only for youngsters.