What is an essay or a speech?
An essay is a typically short piece of writing, usually from an author's personal point of view. Essays are non-fiction but often subjective; while expository, they can also include narrative. ...
By tradition, almost by definition, the essay is a short piece, and it is therefore impossible to give all things full play within the limits of a single essay.
An essay does not need a FORMAL introduction or FORMAL conclusion, but it does need some type of Introduction and Conclusion. In that regard it is like the paragraph which needs a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.
Many students are not introducing their essays.
Take this essay for example:
Nowadays there are more and more people inclined to commit suicide when their life become miserable and even more people have chosen to abandon their lives in this way. Statistics show the problem is getting severer.
A proper introduction to this would have been:
Today, Suicide is a major cause of death amongst young people.
[That immediately tells us what this essay is going to be about.]
Many young people today are inclined to commit suicide when their lives become miserable, and according to statistics, this problem is becoming increasingly more severe.
Take this essay for example:
Chinese Association of Mental Health shows that suicide has become the No.1 killer of Chinese people between the ages of 15 and 34. As far as I am concerned, there may be two reasons for that.
That last sentence did not belong in that paragraph. It would have been better to have written:
Para 1:
According to the Chinese Association of Mental Health, suicide has become the No.1 killer of Chinese people between the ages of 15 and 34.
Para 2:
As I considered this situation it occurred to me that there may be two predominant reasons why young people consider suicide.
Para 3:
Firstly........................................
Para 4:
The Second reason I came up with for why young people suicide is that.................................
"As far as I am concerned"
This is an expression that you need to be wary of, because it can carry with it a connotation of arrogance, refusal or rebellion.
Example: Person A: I think John is a very lovely person!
Person B: As far as I am concerned he is not!
"As far as I am concerned" really means 'I disagree with you!'
There is a correct way to use it but for the time being, try not to use it at all. It is much like the expression: 'Of Course!' What you mean and what a person hears, are two different things.
The expression: "In my Opinion" also needs to be used with caution.
Order in Writing
The example which follows, has a serious flaw that ruins the message. It is very easy to correct.
Title: Suicide among young people.
As we know, our society is a competitive society. Nowadays, students have much more pressure than before. They should face the endless examinations. They must work hard on their courses if they don't want to let their parents and teachers down.
Another problem is that most Chinese parents just care about our examination marks. They don't care about our mental health and what we think inside. This may be the first reason which lead to suicide among children.
That last sentence should have been first. The title itself becomes the introduction to the topic of the essay, and that last sentence would be the introduction to the work.
Title: Suicide among young people.
There may be many reasons why young children today commit suicide, but I think the first / most important reason, is that parents don't care about their child's mental health and don't bother to find out what they truly think or feel on 'the inside'.
As we know, nowadays our society is very competitive and students have much more pressure than in the past. They face endless examinations and must constantly work hard on their courses if they don't want to let their parents and teachers down. |
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