Essay Writing, By Ektoras Arkomanis

Submitted By ffleaur
Words: 1304
Pages: 6
Open Document
Essay writing, by Ektoras Arkomanis, November 2014

Outline

The outline is NOT a marked component. That is to say, its aim is not to hem you in, but to help you in writing your essay. So, don’t make it too formal—give it an organic form:

Include notes (typed or handwritten) that you add over time so that you don't forget your observations.

Include passages that you write, possible titles of chapters, keywords, names of key works, etc.

In short, include anything that can go into the essay under any form. As your study develops the outline becomes richer and a better reflection of your essay. Draw arrows to connect parts, etc. Circle things, highlight, use post-it notes. Use different font sizes to reflect priorities, hierarchies, etc.

Essay contents A) TITLE
Titles are important—think of your title as ‘the banner’ of your essay. They are not always easy to arrive at. Even great writers struggle with them.

Make a list of possible titles. Keep adding to it. Keep thinking about them and fiddling with them (combining them for example). You’ll make your final decision closer to the final stages.

The title and the essay are in constant negotiation with each other. I often notice that my title doesn’t describe my essay well. But—this is more important—sometimes it works the other way ‘round: I notice that a passage/point/ argument doesn't fit comfortably under my title and then, while questioning it, I realize that perhaps I don't really need that passage after all—now I can see that it should have never been part of my essay!

Titles can be poetic (meaning short/concise or relatively abstract): The City Shaped (Kostof); or very descriptive: The Impact of Railways on Victorian Cities (Kellett); or a combination of the two: 13 ways - Theoretical Investigations in Architecture (Harbison).

Note that you can choose to use a title and a subtitle (poetic title, followed by explanatory/descriptive/more specific subtitle).

There is a delicate balance between what your title reveals and what it conceals and it's up to you to decide which direction you want to push this balance towards, so that it reflects the character/style of your essay and your writing.

B) ABSTRACT
You don’t have to, but you can include your abstract in your essay.

The main objective is to write 3-4 sentences to describe your essay, which should help you explain your study clearly to anyone—most of all to yourself, but also to people outside the field, who know little or nothing about art, architecture, design, film, etc.

Example:

"The World [is a film that] takes place in a Chinese theme park with replicas of monuments.” (Setting the scene and identifying the key work(s) in your study)

“The fake monuments, placed outside their original contexts, undermine our notions about history and collective memory." (Identifying the conflict)

“This essay looks at the human use of—and interaction with—this artificial environment, and identifies the ways identity, ideology and our consciousness of the city are shaped by made-up histories.” (Stating the aim)

I have one sentence left. I can use it imaginatively to make my abstract more accessible, or more intriguing, by referring to a detail/example, or by adding a slight twist:

“But the way monuments are re-contextualized and ‘read’ by the inhabitants of the park adds a new layer of perception and promotes the thought that new histories will be written, which may be just as real.”

Here you can find the actual essay, if you want to see how it corresponds to that abstract.

C) INTRODUCTION (10% of total word count)

It is usually written last, but that’s not a strict rule (sometimes the beginning is a good place to begin, but in any case you will have to revisit the introduction near the end and make adjustments).

Make your intro count! Don’t use it to simply list what will be discussed later. Get straight to the point. Capture the reader’s imagination. Use a demonstration: describe an artwork/
Show More

Related Documents: Essay Writing, By Ektoras Arkomanis

Writing and Essay

An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task. Either way, your essay will have the same basic format. If you follow a few simple steps, you will find that the essay almost writes itself. You will be responsible only for supplying ideas, which are the important part of the essay anyway. Don't let the thought of putting pen to paper…

Words 571 - Pages 3

Writing and Essay

An essay can have many purposes, such as an academic essay. You may be writing an essay to argue a point or to explain the steps to complete a task. If you follow a few simple steps, you will find that with practice, writing an essay can be easy to do. The first step in the process would be Prewriting. This is where you will transfer your thoughts onto paper. You will pick a topic, use your own personal experience and observations, read about the topic you choose, and free-write about the topic.…

Words 646 - Pages 3

Essay Writing

Essay Writing Definition – a formal piece of writing in which the writer explores a certain idea or subject. The essay structure consists of a thesis statement, an introduction, a body and a conclusion. Topic sentences are used to begin and establish paragraphs. Features Has a clear focus on a specific idea Uses evidence to support points Uses unemotional, reasoned language Generally avoids (depending on the question) personal pronouns such as ‘I’, ‘you’ and ‘we’ (An essay scaffold and the language…

Words 374 - Pages 2

Writing and Various Writing Techniques Essay

to be focused more towards writing on literature. However, when I discovered that it was actually focused on writing about careers I really felt I could relate and I found a passion for it. Being Biochemistry major, my "specialty" is certainly not in writing. Despite my incompetence to write throughout the course I found that I was able to enjoy writing and employ various writing techniques when writing about what I love my future "career". I not only learned new writing techniques, but I also learned…

Words 439 - Pages 2

Writing and Essays

accomplished. I’ve written not too many essays but look forward to the challenge that this class presents. I will do well in this class by constructing 3 main goals, getting a B or better, turning in all of my essays on time, and improving on essays throughout. One of my goals is to get at least a B in this class if not better. One of the ways to do that is to turn in all of the essays in on time. I will do this by not procrastinating and getting a head start on essays long before they are due. I will…

Words 626 - Pages 3

Writing To Reflective Essay Writing

Angelica Henderson Engl 110 online Professor- J. Richrath Paper 1- Writing to reflect Audience- Students June 8, 2013 What will be will be “It was a regular morning as I was getting my children and I ready for our daily routine”, every morning was crazy and we were always running late. As I pulled up to school and almost sprinting to class my phone rings, I sighed and saw it is my mom and thought to myself, “mom I cannot do this right now” so I let it go to voicemail. As the morning…

Words 2298 - Pages 10

Syllabus: Writing and Formal Writing Assessment Essay

multi‑paragraph essay, including the principles of selection, restriction, organization, and development of topics according to various modes. While reviewing the fundamentals of the English grammar, this course seeks to secure a steady but progressive development of basic writing and comprehension skills with repeated exercise on short topical and essay writings. The purpose of this course is to give the student the capacity to write essays and short…

Words 408 - Pages 2

Writing Assignment Essay

Self-Assessment/Reflective Essay Raquel Rosy Professor Tammy Finch English Composition November 26, 2010 This essay is intended to self-reflect on my writing. Writing the essay will help me point out my strengths, weaknesses, and give my personal opinion as to where I am in my writing. Also, I will have examined a peers essay and point out what I have noticed that they have done with their essay. Pre-Writing/Invention Process The pre-writing/invention process I used for this essay was brainstorming…

Words 635 - Pages 3

Rubruc: Writing and Essays

8–9 These are well-written essays. With apt and specific references to the passage, they analyze the prompt in depth and with appropriate support. These essays need not be without flaws, but they are characterized by an understanding of the passage and consistent control over the elements of effective writing. They demonstrate the writer’s ability to read with perception and to express ideas with clarity and skill. 6–7 These essays are less developed or aptly supported than those earning…

Words 354 - Pages 2

Anorexia: Writing and Essay

market of essay writing services for more than 7 years. We have rescued thousands of students from challenging situations with their essays and other writing assignments. You can see this for yourself by reading testimonials of our grateful clients. Try out and ask for writing an essay for you by using our college essay writing service. You can easily find a cheap essay writing service, but for sure you won’t receive a high quality academic writing. Therefore, by choosing us as an essay writing help…

Words 477 - Pages 2