Guidelines for Writing

How to write a text correctly

Types of Composition    

When you write a composition you need to understand the type of writing required. These are the main types: 

 

Letters 

Articles 

Reports

 

Letters

• Letters are written to a person, i.e., a friend or to a group of people.

  

• Letters follow a format: address, greeting, opening paragraph, etc.

Letters

• Letters also include emails. 

• They can be formal or informal.

All letters should include:

•  Address and date• An appropriate

greeting (Dear Sir, /Madam, /Lucy, )

• An introduction with opening remarks and reason for writing.

All letters should include:

•A main body, in chich you write about the specific topics of the letter in detail• A conclusion, in

which you write your closing remarks

• An appropriate ending (Yours faithfully, love, etc.)

Articles   

They are found in magazines and newspapers

Types of articles    

• Descriptions• Narratives or stories• Reviews discussing a

film, book, etc.• News reports

Types of articles    

•Discursive essays: o For and againsto Opinion essays

Types of articles    

• Reports:o Assessment reports,

evaluating someone or something

o Proposals reports: discussing suggestions or decisions about future actions

Understanding rubrics                                    

To plan your composition you need to understand the rubric i. e. the composition instructions: 

Understanding rubrics                                    

• The imaginary situation you will write about

• The imaginary reader who is going to read your piece of writing

• The type of writing• The specific topics you

should write about

HERE'S AN EXAMPLE OF RUBRIC

You work for a travel magazine. Your editor has asked you to write an ARTICLE discussing the pros and cons of air travel, including factors such as cost and convenience.

1. Situation2. Reader3. TYPE OF WRITING4. Specific topics

Brainstorming for ideas

• Write down any ideas, words and phrases that you can think of which relate to the specific topics of your composition.

 • Group your ideas, crossing out any

irrelevant ones, and put them into a logical order.

 • Check that your ideas are relevant to

the topic/s in the rubric.

Planning the layout of your composition

Your ideas should be organised into paragraphs. The layout of most types of writing consists of three parts: • an introduction,• a main body • and a conclusion.

Introduction: • The first paragraph is a short

paragraph whose purpose is to give the reader a general idea of the subject of the composition.

• It should attract the reader's attention so that he/she wants to continue reading.

Main body:

• The main body usually consists of 2 or more paragraphs and its purpouse is to develop points related to the subject of the composition.

• Each paragraph should deal with points related to the same topic.

• Whenever you discuss a new topic, you should begin a new paragraph.

Conclusion:

• It’s a short final paragraph in which you can sumarise the main idea of the subject, restate your opinion in different words, make general comments, express your feelings.

• The conclusion is not a repetition of the introduction.

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Writing paragraphs

• Each paragraph has to refer to one single topic

• Don’t write about unrelated topics in the same

paragraph

• Use topic sentences

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Topic sentences

• Topic sentences are sentences that summarize the content of a paragraph. They appear at the beginning of the paragraph and help to explain what you are going to talk about and link with the previous paragraph or introduction:

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Topic sentences: example

“These days, in the UK at least, the nature of childhood has changed dramatically. Firstly families are smaller, and there are far more only children. It is common for both parents…”

New English File Advanced, Student’s book, page 32.

Linking words and phrases    

They make your writing more interesting to the reader, and they can be used to: 

Linking words and phrases    

• show time• list points or show sequence• add more points• show cause or effect• give examples• show contrast• include a conclusion

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Other cohesion mechanisms

Apart from linking words and expressions, there are other methods to obtain cohesion:

• Explaning in the introduction the topics that are going to be mentioned.

• Making references from one paragraph to the other.

• Using lots of words, synonyms that are related to the topic (if we are talking about contamination, use as many related expressions as you can).

Correcting your essay

Before handing it in, make sure:• You have used complete

sentences and that the words are in the correct order

• You have used the correct grammar

• You do not repeat the same words

Correcting your essay

Before handing it in, make sure:• There are no spelling

mistakes• You have used the

correct punctuation