Introduction
At Toronto University, students have access to a wide range of possibilities as regarding writing proficiency. Writing centres, on-line tutoring, virtual resources and writing guides are available to help students improve their writing skills on different types of writings such as abstracts or academic essays. This report focuses on the latter, the difficult task of writing academic essays, and includes key concepts related to writing, organizing and editing college essays successfully.
Essay writing
General ideas on writing essays:
Writing essays will probably be one of the main tasks students have to deal with as they enter Toronto University, therefore, mastering many of its main characteristics from the very beginning will help them write successfully the type of texts professors demand from them. The main features essay writing contains are argumentation, thesis statement and body paragraphs. The essay presents “an argument where the writer makes a claim” (Irvin.p9). Such claim stands for the writer´s viewpoint and perspective on the subject matter. The “thesis” is the promise the writer makes to the audience. Through detailed and specific evidence writers accomplish that promise and generally it is carried out in the following paragraphs.
Some practices of good essay writers:
• They start writing early: Good writing does not start when all the parts are ready and gathered. Writers start putting their ideas together hours or days before they plunge into the text.
• They do not try to write all the paper in just one sitting but write just what is ready at that moment and then put it aside for a moment.
• Extensive revision is an unavoidable step in academic writing. Writers do not edit the first draft and submit it. What they do is drafting and redrafting, arranging and rearranging ideas and sentences and this process takes them days or weeks.
Organizing an essay
Introductions and conclusions:
A good introduction should identify the topic, provide essential context and engage reader´s attention. As students start writing the paper, they should be aware of not spending too much time involved in the introduction. Although most students and writers find it necessary to start from an introduction, some others prefer to skip it at the beginning and write it at the very end of the process. Typically, in the introductory paragraph the topic is presented and it should start from general to specific, from broad ideas to the concept to be discussed. Some very important pieces of advice that students should take into account range from avoiding dictionary definitions in the introduction that the audience already knows, to avoiding giving details or explanations that belong in the body paragraphs.
As regarding the concluding paragraph, this section of essay writing apart from re-stating the introductory section and thesis statement, should remind the audience of how the evidence presented has contributed to the thesis. In the concluding stage, critical thinking is crucial and demands from students to reflect upon the significance of what they have written as well as of the larger implications of their argument. As with introductions, the length of the conclusion should reflect the length of the essay and remember that a good last sentence leaves the reader with something to think about, a concept in some way illuminated by what has been written in the paper.
Essay writing
General ideas on writing essays:
Writing essays will probably be one of the main tasks students have to deal with as they enter Toronto University, therefore, mastering many of its main characteristics from the very beginning will help them write successfully the type of texts professors demand from them. The main features essay writing contains are argumentation, thesis statement and body paragraphs. The essay presents “an argument where the writer makes a claim” (Irvin.p9). Such claim stands for the writer´s viewpoint and perspective on the subject matter. The “thesis” is the promise the writer makes to the audience. Through detailed and specific evidence writers accomplish that promise and generally it is carried out in the following paragraphs.
Some practices of good essay writers:
• They start writing early: Good writing does not start when all the parts are ready and gathered. Writers start putting their ideas together hours or days before they plunge into the text.
• They do not try to write all the paper in just one sitting but write just what is ready at that moment and then put it aside for a moment.
• Extensive revision is an unavoidable step in academic writing. Writers do not edit the first draft and submit it. What they do is drafting and redrafting, arranging and rearranging ideas and sentences and this process takes them days or weeks.
Organizing an essay
Introductions and conclusions:
A good introduction should identify the topic, provide essential context and engage reader´s attention. As students start writing the paper, they should be aware of not spending too much time involved in the introduction. Although most students and writers find it necessary to start from an introduction, some others prefer to skip it at the beginning and write it at the very end of the process. Typically, in the introductory paragraph the topic is presented and it should start from general to specific, from broad ideas to the concept to be discussed. Some very important pieces of advice that students should take into account range from avoiding dictionary definitions in the introduction that the audience already knows, to avoiding giving details or explanations that belong in the body paragraphs.
As regarding the concluding paragraph, this section of essay writing apart from re-stating the introductory section and thesis statement, should remind the audience of how the evidence presented has contributed to the thesis. In the concluding stage, critical thinking is crucial and demands from students to reflect upon the significance of what they have written as well as of the larger implications of their argument. As with introductions, the length of the conclusion should reflect the length of the essay and remember that a good last sentence leaves the reader with something to think about, a concept in some way illuminated by what has been written in the paper.
Using Thesis Statement
When students are asked to write an essay that creates an argument, their reader will probably expect a clear statement of their position. Typically, this summary statement comes in the first paragraph of the essay, though there is no rigid rule about position. Some writers feel more comfortable or find necessary to express the thesis in two paragraphs while in some cases they formulate it at the end of paper.
Revising and editing
Revising and editing
This process helps students to preview their paper on behalf of their eventual audience. It means changing the shape and reasoning in the paper.
• They check whether they have fulfilled the intention of the assignment.
• They ask themselves: Have I performed the right kind of thinking? Have I written the genre of document called for? Have I given adequate evidence?
• Then, they look at overall organization. Is each section in the right place to reach my purpose?
• Finally, they polish and edit style including grammar and spelling.
Conclusion
Writing academically is one of the most difficult issues students encounter at universities. At Toronto College they have available a wide repertoire of support tools as regarding writing essays, how to structure and enhance them, making their writing tasks easier to accomplish.
Works cited
“Advice on Academic Writing.” Available at http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice Irvin, Lennie. “What is Academic Writing?”
• They check whether they have fulfilled the intention of the assignment.
• They ask themselves: Have I performed the right kind of thinking? Have I written the genre of document called for? Have I given adequate evidence?
• Then, they look at overall organization. Is each section in the right place to reach my purpose?
• Finally, they polish and edit style including grammar and spelling.
Conclusion
Writing academically is one of the most difficult issues students encounter at universities. At Toronto College they have available a wide repertoire of support tools as regarding writing essays, how to structure and enhance them, making their writing tasks easier to accomplish.
Works cited
“Advice on Academic Writing.” Available at http://www.writing.utoronto.ca/advice Irvin, Lennie. “What is Academic Writing?”
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