ENGLISH ESSAY DESCRIPTIVE FOR SBI PO 2015-16 |Exam Tips

DESCRIPTIVE ENGLISH

ESSAY WRITING 

An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author’s personal point of view.

Essays can consist of a number of elements, including-literary criticism, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. Learning how to write any essay can be quiet annoying and difficult if you are not working in a right direction. The word ‘essay’ means ‘to try’, ‘to attempt’. When you are writing any essay, you are trying to describe that topic to the best of your ability and knowledge. It can also be said to be the just opposite of précis writing i.e. an exercise similar to the expansion of the topic. Here we bring to you a complete chapter dedicated to types of essays their techniques of writing along with basic rules that one would follow to write an impressive piece of essay.

WHAT ARE THE TYPES OF ESSAYS ?

Essays can be classified as Narrative, Descriptive, Expository, Reflective & Imaginative.

NARRATIVE ESSAYS

Narrative essays are narration of some event or incident. They are experiences written by you that you face during your life. It tells a story whether based on real experiences or imaginative. The writer uses details that are significant and merges them to build up a story line that is easy for the reader to follow. The narrative can cover Historical Events (The 1857 Mutiny), Social Events (a marriage or festival) incidents like an accident or earthquake.

DESCRIPTIVE ESSAYS

The descriptive essays are a genre of essay that asks the students to describe an object,

person, place, experience, emotion, situation etc. These types of essays basically allows for a great deal of artistic freedom. They could be written so as to paint an extremely vibrant image that is vivid and moving in the mind of the reader.

EXPOSITORY ESSAYS

An expository essay presents, completely and fairly, other people’s views or to report about

an event or a situation. It helps in presenting a subject in detail, apart from criticism, argument or development. Such writing is discourse designed to convey information or explain what is difficult to understand. The purpose of these types of essays lies in putting forward other people’s views with fairness and absoluteness.

PERSUASIVE ESSAYS

Through persuasive essays, you have to persuade the reader into convincing that your point

of view is correct by adopting logical reasoning to show that one idea is more legitimate than the other idea . Basically all essays are persuasive essays. Sometimes you are assigned a

controversial topic, but an essay on the meaning of an article or poetry is also a persuasive

essay.

REFLECTIVE ESSAYS

It is a reflection or thoughts on some subject. The goal of a reflective essay is to not only

discuss what you learned, but to convey the personal experiences and findings that resulted.

IMAGINATIVE ESSAYS

In these, you have to imagine a position or situation, such as ‘If I were the Prime Minister’; or ‘If all the motor cars are banned’, ‘Autobiography of a Television’, etc.

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY ?

Essays can range from five paragraphs to twenty pages or more and cover any topic. What all essays have in common, however, is that they explain your perspective - preferably in a clear, illuminating, and informative manner.

BODY OF AN ESSAY

INTRODUCTION

Every topic should be introduced properly. Slightly general in nature, the introduction should

define, explain or enlarge the topic. It should be a short paragraph leading to the further exposition of the topic in the body of the essay.

BODY

Contains the main points or arguments of the explanation All the major points should be put in separate paragraphs. These should be linked logically, the first point leading to the second, the second to the third and so on. This is the most important aspect of the essay, the major thrust of the essay. Points for an argument should come first followed by points against, which you should dispute properly.

CONCLUSION

Ideally, it should summarize the main points of the essay.

BRIEF OVERVIEW OF ESSAY WRITING STEPS

Below are brief summaries of each of the ten steps to writing an essay.

Step - 1 : RESEARCH

Begin the essay writing process by researching your topic, making yourself an expert. You could utilize various databases like internet, library, magazines etc. Read maximum to enhance your knowledge on all subjects so that you are not forced to face a completely new topic in the exam.

Step - 2 : ANALYZE

Now that you have a good knowledge base, start analyzing the arguments of the essays you are reading. Clarify your doubts as soon as they arise. With proper analysis, you will be able to retain the meaningful points of any topic and you will be able to recall them at appropriate time. Learning how to write an essay begins by learning how to analyze essays written by others.

Step - 3 : BRAINSTORMING 

Your essays should have your insights, genuine essay - writing brilliance. Ask yourself a dozen questions and answer them. Meditate with a pen in your hand. Take walks and think and think until you come up with original insights to write about.

Step -4: CHOOSE A TOPIC

After you have prepared yourself thoroughly, try to choose something you are interested in, in your exam, as this will make the essay easier to write. You can also write your thesis statement at this point. Pick your best idea and pen it down in a clear assertion that you can write your entire essay around. It is practically impossible to write a good essay without a clear thesis.

Step - 5 : OUTLINE

Sketch out your essay before straightaway writing it out. Use one-line sentences to describe

paragraphs, and bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain.

Step - 6 : INTRODUCTION

Now properly write the essay. The introduction should grab the reader’s attention, set up the

issue, and lead in to your thesis. Your introduction is merely a build up of the issue, a stage of bringing your reader into the essay’s argument.

Step - 7 : PARAGRAPHS

Each individual paragraph should be focused on a single idea that supports your thesis. Speak to your reader as if he or she were sitting in front of you.

Step - 8 : CONCLUSION

Gracefully exit your essay by making a quick wrap-up sentence, and then end on some memorable thought, perhaps a quotation, or an interesting twist of logic, or some call to action.

Step - 9 : READ THROUGH YOUR ESSAY

For now, don’t worry about grammatical errors, underline them so you can go back and fix them later. Go from start to finish to see how your essay flows. Does each sentence lead smoothly and logically to the next ?

Step - 10 : PROOF READ

Now check for spelling and/or grammatical errors. Pick out any repetitive words. Make sure that you are using unfamiliar words correctly. Avoid using colloquial (informal) writing. Your essay should have a serious tone, even if written in a light or lyrical style. Use English punctuation correctly. Consult a style book if you are unsure how to properly use commas, apostrophes, colons etc. Avoid using exclamation points to emphasize your statements.

TIPS TO WRITING ESSAYS

• Use clear and concise language
• Choose vivid language
• Use your senses
• Leave the reader with a clear impression
• Be organized
• Start early and budget your time
• Write a quick draft all the way through
• Think differently
• Format and Presentation counts.
• Here are some essays to help you get the criteria of writing an organized piece on a given topic.