Two Rules for Writing a Simple, Brief Essay

When I taught English overseas, I was always impressed with how many of my students had learned to speak good English in a short period of time.

However, while these students’ conversational skills were close to fluent, often their writing skills were awful, and they lacked the ability to write a cohesive, short essay. The main problem was getting them to organize their thoughts.

In my classes I taught two simple rules that must be followed for writing a good essay.

Rule #1

First, be able to tell the main idea of the essay in one sentence, for example, “What I did on my summer vacation.” That one sentence will help you stay focused on the composition’s topic.

Do not write about anything else in your essay other than that one sentence. If you are describing your summer vacation, you can write about your grandparents’ farm that you visited, but do not go into detail about the color and number of the farm animals.
The sentence will also become the title of your composition.

Rule #2

The second rule for writing a good essay is to remember the three parts of any composition: beginning, middle, and end, also known as the introduction, body, and conclusion. Divide these three parts into paragraphs, so your essay will always have at the least three paragraphs.

Your introduction will have two or three sentences, and will tell the reader what you are going to describe. A sentence from your introduction may be “I had many adventures during my summer vacation, and I met many people.”

The second paragraph will be the body, and you will describe your adventures and the people who you met. The body can be many paragraphs.

Finally, your essay’s last paragraph will be your conclusion, and in two to three sentences you will briefly sum up how you felt about the adventures you had and the people you met.

By following these two rules – a topic sentence, and the three parts structure - you will be able to effectively organize your thoughts, and prepare yourself to write strong, organized compositions.

December 20, 2016
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Tom

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My name is Tom, and I have over six years of experience teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds and languages, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., I taught ESL at the Salina, Kansas Adult Education Center for three years. My students came from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Laos. I discovered my joy of teaching while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan, where I taught English from 2003 to 2005. I have also taught English in Russia and in Kazakhstan. During my graduate studies at The University of Texas, I was invited by the faculty of my department to serve as a Teaching Assistant. In 2013, I expanded my teaching skills by earning my CELTA ESL certification. I want to provide my students a comfortable, effective learning experience. My goal is to give them English language skills so that they can succeed in life.
Flag
English
globe
United States
time
14
Speaks:
Russian
B1
My name is Tom, and I have over six years of experience teaching students of diverse cultural backgrounds and languages, both in the U.S. and abroad. In the U.S., I taught ESL at the Salina, Kansas Adult Education Center for three years. My students came from Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Laos. I discovered my joy of teaching while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uzbekistan, where I taught English from 2003 to 2005. I have also taught English in Russia and in Kazakhstan. During my graduate studies at The University of Texas, I was invited by the faculty of my department to serve as a Teaching Assistant. In 2013, I expanded my teaching skills by earning my CELTA ESL certification. I want to provide my students a comfortable, effective learning experience. My goal is to give them English language skills so that they can succeed in life.
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