Thursday, 29 December 2011

CLASSIFICATION AND DIVISION

DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS
People spend a great deal of time reshuffling equipments, tool, necessities, food and other things related to their life by sorting them in one way or another. For example, to decide on one’s favourite music, music is separated into classical and modern. Classical music is then further classified into those of the European music and non-European music. Even foods are classified into a few categories. Some people divide food into its geographical settings such as Western food, Middle- Eastern food and Southern food. Some would divide food based on its taste like sweet, bitter and sour.

Wednesday, 28 December 2011

PATTERNS OF EXPOSITORY ESSAY - EXEMPLIFICATION

DEFINITION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF EXEMPLICATION
An exemplification essay makes use of clear examples to show or explain a point. An exemplification essay puts forward an idea clearly by giving relevant, clear and specific examples. The examples should be sufficient to explain the main ideas that you are discussing. The key to writing a successful exemplification essay lies in the examples that you give. Pay particular attention to the examples as they are the most important supporting details to exemplify your thesis statement and topic sentences.

MODEL OF EXEMPLIFICATION ESSAY




Read the sample of an exemplification essay below.
Title: Improving my English
(1) If there is something I like to improve all the time, it is my English.
(2) I am able to use it for basic communication purposes, but I want to understand English better. (3) I want to write and speak more effectively. (4) I keep trying to improve my English in three ways. (5) I try to talk in English, read English dailies and watch English movies.

Tuesday, 27 December 2011

DEVELOPING THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY

WHAT IS THE FIVE-PARAGRAPH ESSAY?
The traditional five-paragraph essay consists of three main parts: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. Below is an overall structure of the five-paragraph essay.
The Introduction
The first paragraph of an essay is the introduction. The introduction can be further broken down into three parts.

1. The Lead In
The introduction usually begins with a general perspective of the topic. This first part of the introduction is called the “lead in.”




For example:
My father passed away when I was a little girl. However, for as long as I can remember, I have never felt his absence because my mother was always there for me through all the good and bad times.

DEVELOPING A PARAGRAPH

PARAGRAPH ORGANISATION
What is a paragraph? It is a collection of related sentences dealing with a single idea or topic. Usually, it is best not to have more than one idea in a paragraph. If you begin to transition (discuss) into a new idea or topic, you might confuse the reader with these new sets of information and discussions. It would also make it difficult to write the conclusion for the paragraph. You should have only one idea or topic with elaborations and examples of support in one paragraph, and always only ONE idea or topic.
A complete paragraph usually contains a number of sentences that complements or are related to each other. The sentences can be identified as follows:
(i) Topic sentence.
(ii) Elaboration sentences (supporting point).
(iii) Supporting sentences (supporting details).
(iv) Conclusion.

ELEMENTS OF PROCESS WRITING


INTRODUCTION TO PROCESS WRITING
It has always been a challenge to produce a good piece of writing that serves the intended purpose. More often, the writer is more concerned with putting his or her ideas on paper with little concern on the reader’s reaction towards the written piece. It is important to remember that at the end of the day, what matter is how the reader will react to the writing and not what the writer has submitted. Without a good plan or map to direct your writing task, there is a danger that you might wander off topic. Thus, it is important that before you start the writing, spend time to produce a working plan or map. With all the ideas already written on a piece of paper, it also helps identify your strengths and weaknesses (knowledge) regarding the topic you wish to write about. This planning will help you achieve consistency and effectively achieve your objective.



Stages of Writing
Often, the writer has many interesting ideas to convey and these can also be quite complex. However, the writing that explains them need not be complex. To fulfil your reader’s understanding of your ideas, there are steps that the writer must follow. The following chart illustrates the five