Writing: Essay

Essay Structure

Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. As it is a text about an idea, the essay must be a clear well-structured text and make clear for the reader what are the important points of it.

The focus of such an essay predicts its structure. It dictates the information readers need to know and the order in which they need to receive it. Despite of the existence of guidelines to construct certain kind of essays, there is not a set formula to suit all of them.

Answering Questions:  The Parts of an Essay

A typical essay contains many different kinds of information, often located in specialized parts or sections. Introductions and conclusions have fixed places, but other parts don't. Counterargument, for example, may appear within a paragraph, as part of the beginning, or before the ending. Background material (historical context or biographical information, the definition of a key term) often appears at the beginning of the essay, between the introduction and the first analytical section, but might also appear near the beginning of the specific section to which it's relevant.

To help yourself out you can ask to your essay these three following questions, if it can answer them, then your essay is correct, if not it could be seen as a simply observation of a fact.

"What?" 

To answer this question you should give an evidence demostrating that your argument is true. Normally you should put this directly after the introduction. As you are writing about your observations, in this part is where you should write more, but be aware that this part should not occupy more than a third of your finished essay or it will lack balance.

Writing: Newspaper Article

Newspaper Articles: Learn How To Nail Them!

There is nothing better than doing something knowing how to rock it, that's why you are going to learn how to become the ultimate journalist, having in mind not only the content but also the way you do it, as you would not take serious any article which has been written in comic sans, for example.

Let's start from the very beginning: decide what to write about! First of all, you must know what topic would you be talking about and, when you have chosen it, you must become an expert, in that way, you will be able explain and tell something you have to understand everything about it.

Once you have decided what to write about, try to write it down as clear as possible, your reader will appreciate it. Write at the beginning a little summary to introduce the rest. Then, tell the main idea and develop it further. Finally, close it up with the main idea of your paper.

Up till now, you have done most of the work, but the content is not everything, the shape is of great importance as reaching your audience is firstly done with an eye-catching appearance, and to do so, you need a catchy title and the right format. The title must be bold,  at least twice bigger than the size of the content of the article, and, something many people do not realize, every first letter of every word has to be Capital. Remember that you can also have a subheading which size will be a bit bigger than the article but smaller than the one of the title, nonetheless, also in bold.

Writing: Formal Letter 1 (Complaint)

Preparing to write

Before you begin your draft, gather all the information you will need to include in your complaint letter. This information may include the time, date, and location that you purchased the goods or services, reference or invoice numbers, and records of previous communication with the company. To support your complaint, you may need to enclose copies of documents such as receipts with your letter.

What to include in a complaint letter

When writing a complaint letter you should:

• Describe your problem and the outcome you want.
• Include key dates, such as when you purchased the goods or services and when the problem occurred.
• Identify what action you’ve already taken to fix the problem and what you will do if you and the seller cannot resolve the problema.
• Ask for a response within a reasonable time.
• Attach a copy of any supporting relevant documentation such as a receipt or invoice.

Writing: How to Write a Report

 HOW TO WRITE A REPORT

A report is a specific form of writing that is organised around concisely identifying and examining issues, events, or findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred within an organisation, or findings from a research investigation.

These events can also pertain to events or issues that have been presented within a body of literature. The key to report writing is informing the reader simply and objectively about all relevant issues. There are three features that, together, characterise report writing at a very basic level: a pre-defined structure, independent sections, and reaching unbiased conclusions.

Pre-defined structure

At a very basic level, a report can be distinguished from an essay by the creation of headings into which information is organised. Broadly, these headings may indicate sections within a report, such as an introduction, discussion, and conclusion.

Within the main section(s) making up the body of the report (the discussion in the example just given), there is often an opportunity to create your own structure according to the literature you have sourced, your development of ideas, and the task assigned.

Writing: Formal Letter 2 (Recommendation)

How to Write a Recommendation Letter 

Need to write or request a recommendation letter? Here are examples of different types of letter of recommendations, including letters for employment, academic letters of recommendation, and character / personal reference letters, with writing tips and advice.

• How to write a letter of recommendation

If you’re asked to provide a reference for a specific job, the most effective letter of recommendation will be one that is written with the requirements of that particular job in mind. When you’re asked to write a general recommendation letter, you can still focus on the types or category of jobs for which the person is applying.

First thing you have to do is to collect information. Ask the person for whom you are writing to supply you with a copy of the job posting and their resume (what is a resume?) or curriculum vitae (how to write a CV?) before you begin composing your letter. It can also be helpful to review their cover letter to see how they pitch their qualifications for the job.

When you are writing a more general recommendation, you should still ask the subject of your letter to outline their targets for employment. Ask them for an example or two of jobs they are applying for. Also ask them to share their most marketable assets for that type of work, especially ones you may have observed in your relationship with the person you are recommending.

Writing: Review

Step One: Decide What To Look At

The first thing you need to do before you start your review is decide what aspects of the item you are going to evaluate. What I mean is this: what is it that can be good or bad about something you're going to review? An example: when you're watching a movie, you can look at the acting, the special effects, the camera work, or the story, among other things. Those are all items you can examine and decide if they are well or poorly done. With a book, you can look at the plot, the characters, and the way that the author puts words together. With a restaurant, you can look at the food, the service, and the setting. In fact, everything has qualities you can analyze and evaluate; you just need to sit down and figure out what they are.

Step Two: Decide What Makes Things Good or Bad

Before you can decide whether something is good or bad, you have to figure out what you mean by "good" and "bad." Do you like stories that have a lot of action or a lot of character development? Do you like acting that's realistic or acting that's wild and nutty? Do you like authors to use a lot of complicated words, or very simple words? You decide. Whatever you like, apply those standards to the thing you are reviewing.