Handout:

Print this out this page to refer to for the rest of the course.

and

Reasons for students to learn how to write essays

Here are points that I want you to be aware of.

The word essay comes from the French word essai, meaning a trial or attempt.

• It is a fairly brief piece of nonfiction that tries to make a point in an interesting way."  
• It is nonfiction.  That means that the writer of an essay is trying to tell the truth, not merely entertain
• It should always serve the purpose of clarifying or illustrating a claim that the writer believes to be actually true, in the real world.
• It tries to make a point. It is not just a bunch of words, or even a bunch of paragraphs.  Everything stated in the essay serves to lead to one conclusion.
•  It aims to support a single claim.
• It doesn't just give information about a subject; it supports a statement, a claim.
• It is written to someone.  And so its goal is to interest its readers, to change their thinking, to get them involved in the ideas it presents and ultimately get them to adopt those ideas
• It catches and keeps the reader's interest.
• An  essay is also a writing project requiring planning, organizing, editing and revising.

In summary, an essay says" In this essay, I am presenting and making a point or argument My point or argument is focused, rather than broad.  I am presenting supporting information in order to prove my point. All of my information directed at proving my on my point or argument. In addition, I am trying  to make my essay interesting to you.

The purpose for students to learn how to write essays.-

Writing essays help students to:

• Learn how to communicate - write clearly, stay on point, not ramble. How to reamin focused and make a point
• Organize their thinking
• To respond critically and personally to a problem or issue
• Select and use information to support an argument
• Present an argument in a clear and logical, structured and sophisticated way.
• Prove they have writing skills

I borrowed some of the definition for an essay from John Tagg, instructor at Palomar College. He wrote the following excellent definition of an essay. The definition if located on a web page at:
http://daphne.palomar.edu/handbook/whatisanessay.htm