Art of
Essay Writing
by:
Susan
Kassel
I love essays! I enjoy
reading them, checking them,
teaching my students how to
generate them, but most of
all I enjoy writing them!
You want to ask why. I hope
after reading my article you
will understand. And I so
much believe that you will
also fall in love with the
incredible world of essays.
Let’s start our trip from a
short background. The word
“essay” originated from
French word “essai” which
means “attempt, effort,
sketch”. And this
translation reflects the
essence of the task you are
assigned at your college.
Really, it is your personal
attempt to give a
challenging sketch on some
engrossing issue. Unlike
other academic assignments,
essay suggests freedom of
your creative work. Its main
advantage is that you can
write it on any topic, in
any style. Essay is your own
point of view on something
you have heard, read, seen
etc. The forefront of the
essay is your personality,
your thoughts, feelings and
your life position. You have
a unique chance to enter a
reasonable controversy with
other authors, as the
teacher expects you to show
your erudition in the
subject. However, you should
remember that regardless
freedom of the writing
process, it is not that easy
at all. Because you are
expected to find an original
and capturing idea (even in
the traditional context) and
exceptional opinion on some
problem.
The title of essay does
not strictly depend on the
essay topic: the title can
also serve as a starting
point in your reflection; it
can express the relation of
the whole and the parts. A
free composition of essay is
subject to its inner logic,
it is an emphasized position
of the author.
The style of the essay is
marked by its aphoristic,
paradoxical and figurative
character. To convey your
personal perception of the
world you should: employ a
lot of capturing examples,
draw parallels, choose
analogies, use various
associations. One of the
characteristic features of
essay is the wide usage of
numerous expressive means,
such as metaphors, parable
and allegoric figures,
symbols and comparisons.
Your can enrich and make
your essay more interesting
if you include in it:
unpredictable conclusions,
unexpected turning points,
interesting clutches of
events.Essay presents a
dynamic interchange of
author’s arguments,
supporting evidence and
questions.
Be brief, but at the same
time avoid absolute
simplicity. No one will like
reading a monotonous
narration. Completing the
draft of your essay, read it
aloud, yes, aloud. You will
be struck by the number of
rough details in your essay.
You should get rid of them
with no regret. If you have
to say something new,
original and exclusive, then
the genre of essay is your
genre. Be creative, free
your mind and may be you
will reveal a great essayist
in yourself. |
