Bismillah.

“A great writer creates a world of his own and his readers are proud to live in it. A lesser writer may entice them in for a

moment, but soon he will watch them filing out."

~:Cyril Vernon Connolly (1903-1974):~English essayist and novelist

Presented To:

Miss Mudassira Aziz

By:

Mohammad Salman Mushtaque Ali (2092066)

Majid Khan Sadaqat ()

1) INTRODUCTION:

An essay can be defined as;

“A short analytic, descriptive, or interpretive piece of literary or

journalistic prose dealing with a specific topic, especially from a personal

and unsystematic viewpoint.”

Or

“Essay, literary composition devoted to the presentation of the writer's

own ideas on a topic and generally addressing a particular aspect of the

subject. Often brief in scope and informal in style, the essay differs from

such formal expository forms as the thesis, dissertation, or

treatise.”

2) ORIGIN OF THE ESSAY FORM:

Despite possible prototypes in the works of the Latin writers Cicero and

Seneca the essay is fundamentally an invention of the European

Renaissance and particularly of the French writer Michel Eyquem

de Montaigne. The development of the form may be considered a result of

the Renaissance emphasis on the individual, which fostered exploration of

one's inner self in relation to the outside world. That scene of developing

culture of essay writing was created in a time of great intellectual and social

reorientation—a time when Europeans were readjusting their visions and values

with respect to a vast number of matters, including death and the possibility

of an afterlife, travel and exploration, and social relationships. All of these

remain major themes of the essay.

3) ANONYMITY AND PSEUDONYMS:

When Renaissance individualism began to decline, essayists very commonly

assumed personas, using descriptive pseudonyms, or they remained

anonymous. Their themes continued, however, to be determined by personal

points of view. A pseudonym often persuaded readers that they shared

something in common with the essayist. Major essayist who developed the

foundations of essay writing are given below ;

• Joseph Addison and Sir Richard made his observations on the social and political scene; the magazine in which they were published was “The Spectator “(1711-1712).

• Charles Lamb, one of the great English masters of the essay form, became famous using a name borrowed from a fellow clerk to sign his essays.

• William Makepeace (The English novelist ) signed his own Yellow plush Correspondence (1837-1838)—purporting to be having seen the social and literary observations.

• Samuel Langhorne Clemens (American humorist) ,was, perhaps the most prodigious assumer of personas, whose social criticism was voiced in essays.

4) Types of Essay:

One may not have a choice about the type of essay one will write,

since this may have been determined by the assignment. If one do

have a choice, however, he can find a type that will best fit his

personality.

Common essay types include the following:• Persuasive/argumentative essay. Makes a claim or takes a

position and backs it up with statistics, expert opinions, and other evidence. You may review an opposing review and explain why it is wrong and you are right.

• Comparison essay. Demonstrates similarities and differences between two

topics. • Descriptive essay. Explains the “what, why, how, when, and

where’s” of a topic.

• Evaluation essay. Describes a thing or event and explains its importance,

value, and/or relevance. Did you like this thing? Why?

• Narrative essay. Tells a story in a sequence of events. There should be

some point, lesson, or idea gleaned from this narrative to make the essay meaningful.

5) VARIOUS STYLES OF THE ESSAY:

As the essay allows the full range and expression of personal

concerns, its style is not fixed. The essay is a flexible form and can

be developed at the writer's will. It may be lyrical. An essay may adopt

the form of a letter, embodying whimsical comments on contemporary

values.

6) THE DIFFERENT TRADITIONS: The essay flourishes in many languages.

The French tradition inaugurated by Montaigne prospered in the 20th century in the political and social meditations of existentialist writers. The German novelist Thomas Mann (Nobel Prize, 1929) was also his country's most prolific essayist. He made a massive collection of

essays. The Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore was highly regarded for his

essays on literary, philosophical, and religious subjects .

7) How to write an essay?

The base of most academic work is to develop the ability to construct

a good essay. Although this sounds obvious, it is a skill which most

students need to develop as none of us is born with the natural ability to

write an essay. But here I’ll describe basic structure or very fundamental

of writing an essay.

The previous slide shows that there are three main and basic parts of

an essay.

• Introduction.

• Main body.

• Conclusion/Core/Crust.

Now I am going to describe the very details of these three parts of an essay.

INTRODUCTION

The first and most important aspect of writing a good essay is to

examine the question and grasp the idea of subject. The importance of close

analysis of the question as the base of a good essay cannot be overestimated.

The introduction includes six fine steps that include pre selection portions also

which are considered as a mere step towards introduction. These steps are

definition of purpose, brainstorm the subjects of interest, evaluation of the

points, organization of ideas, outline, generation of thesis statement.

a) Define your purpose :

The first thing you must do is think about the purpose of the essay.

Is your purpose to persuade people to believe as you do, to explain to

people how to complete a particular task, to educate people about some

person, place, thing or idea, or something else entirely?

b) Brainstorm Subjects of Interest :

Once you have determined the purpose of your essay, write down some

subjects that interest you. No matter what the purpose of your essay is,

an endless number of topics will be suitable.

c) Evaluate Each Potential Topic :

If you can think of at least a few topics that would be appropriate, you

must simply consider each one individually. Think about how you feel about

that topic.

d) Organize your ideas:

The purpose of an outline or diagram is to put your ideas about the

topic on paper, in a moderately organized format. The structure you

create here may still change before the essay is complete, so don't

agonize over this.

e) Outline :

Begin your outline by writing your topic at the top of the page. Next, write

the Roman numerals I, II, and III, spread apart down the left side of the

page. Next to each Roman numeral, write the main ideas that you have

about your topic, or the main points that you want to make.

f) Composition of a thesis statement:

The thesis statement tells the reader what the essay will be about, and

what point you, the author, will be making.

MAIN BODY

In the body of the essay, all the preparation up to this point comes to fruition.

The topic you have chosen must now be explained, described, or argued.

Major points to be taken are as follows;

-Each body paragraph will have the same basic structure.

-Start by writing down one of your main ideas, in sentence form.

-Write down each of your supporting points for that main idea .

-In the space under each point, write down some elaboration for that point.

-Elaboration can be further description or explanation or discussion.

CONCLUSION

The conclusion brings closure to the reader, summing up your points or

providing a final perspective on your topic. All the conclusion needs is three or

four strong sentences which do not need to follow any set formula. Simply

review the main points (being careful not to restate them exactly) or briefly

describe your feelings about the topic. Even an anecdote can end your essay in a useful way.

There are two finale steps towards an end:• Add the finishing touches: You have now completed all of the paragraphs of your essay. Before you can consider this a finished product, however, you must give some thought to the formatting of your paper.

• Check the order of your paragraphs:

Look at your paragraphs. Which one is the strongest? You might want to start with the strongest paragraph, end with the second strongest, and put the weakest in the middle. Whatever order you decide on, be sure it makes sense. If your paper is describing a process, you will probably need to stick to the order in which the steps must be completed.

THANK YOU… !!!