Essay Guidelines

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HINTS ON ESSAY-WRITING


AS WE KNOW THAT ESSAY WRITING IS MOST DIFFICULT TASK FOR CSS EXAM,AND MOST OF ASPIRANTS TRAPPED IN THIS COMPLICATION SO AS TO I REVEAL SOME KNOWLEGE WHICH I GET FROM A EFFICACIOUS BOOK FOR PREPARATION.THIS HINTS MAY HELP BEGINNERS TO CLEAR THEIR CONCEPT ABOUT ESSAY WRITING

GENERAL PREPARATION-
One of the chief diffiult most of us feel is the lack of matter.we do not easily find anything to say about a subject.this is natural,because our experience and general reading are limited.but it may b remedied by reading,and by training the power of observation.

READING
in order to write an essay the student must have something to write about and so he must endeavour to store his mind with ideas by reading.BECON SAYS "reading maketh a full man";that is a person who reads much and widely stores his mind with a large variety of facts,thoughts,illustrations and general informations.if you want to write good essays you must acquire love to reading...not simply reading stories for amusement,but reading good books of historey, travel, biography and science.fill your mind with fine thoughts and accurate information. by doing so you will become "a full man" ,and "a full man" can always find plenty to say on most subjects.

OBSERVATION
observation contributes alot in our day to day knowledge.All knowledge does not come from books.we may learn much from the life around us--what we see and hear observe for ourselves.Keep eyes and ears open ,and learn from your own experience.practical writing short descriptions of what you see in building,street scenes,trees and flowers,hillsand valleys,the habit of animals and birds.dont b content with reading other people`s description of such things but see them for yourself.it is surprising what a lot may b learnt from personal observation.

CONVERSATION
books are written by men and women;and if we can learn from the books they write ,we can learn also from the words they say,listen to the people`s conversation get them to talk to u about the things they know,and discuss subjects that interest u with your friends.in this way,also,you may learn much.
A writer reads,observe and gets people to talk and in these ways he is always enriching his mind with ideas and knowlege ."we can take the example of journalists. they exercise lots of things for accumulating information to complete their theme of writing as like them we also have to persist for gather copious knowledge for writing by discriminated ways"

DEFINING THE SUBJECT
It is very important that u should have a clear and accurate conception of the subject of the essay before you attempt to write on it....what exactly it is and (equally important)what it is not.some subjects are so simple that you can scarcely make a mistake about them ..for example,"the influence of railway traveling on paksitani social life."
Neither the subject is railway travelling nor it is the railway system of pakistan still less the invention of the locomotive engine,and the history of railways.Yet some students,carelessly reading the subject,might easily take up a large part of their essay with such topics,you must come to the point at once and start away with the real subjects,which in this case is the different ways in which the habit of travelling by train is changing the social customs of the people of paksitan.it is therefore very necessary that u should define the subject clearly in your own mind or you may waste much time and paper in writing on more or less irrrelevant matters.

COLLECTING MATERIAL
when u have got the clear idea of yr subject,the next step will b to think of that what can u say about it.some subject are so simple that a little reflection should supply u with suffcient matterial for a short essay but,for others,special information will b needed for which u may have to do some special reading,if u have to write about the some historical subjects and extra knowledge seeking subject.u have to get hold of some books and subject up.but in any case,do not attempt to write the essay before u have given some time to thinking over what can say on the subject.the common habit of beggining to write down the first thing that omes into one,s head,without knowing what is to come next,is fatal to good essay-writing.
As u think over the subject,ideas,facts and illustrations will pass through yr mind.but if u done catch them as they come,u may forget them just when u want them.so as u catch birds and put them in a cage,(mean to say pick the idea and paste it on the piece of paper),catch and cage these fleeting thoughts by jotting them down on a piece of paper just as they come in to yr mind,without troubling yrself at this stage about their order or suitablity,u can examine the birds thus caught at ur leisure later.
When u think u have colleted enough material of yr essay,or u cant think of any more points,read over the notes u have jotted down to select points most suitable for yr purpose (pick and choose more important and more efficacious point for yr essay).u may find what they worth.u may find that some are mere repetitions of others and others may b simply illustraions to b thought under main heads.this process of selection will probably suggest to u in a general way the line of thought u may follow in the essay.

LOGICAL ARRANGEMENT
Now should b ready to decide on the line of thought oss the essay i.e., the logical order in which u can arrange the points u have selected.the necessity if thus arranging yr thoughts according to some ordinary plan cant b too strongly insisted upon.without it,the essay will probably b badly arranged,rambling,disproportioned and full of reptitions and irrelevancies.

MAKING THE OUT LINE
Bearing yr subject definitely in yr mind and with yr purpose clearly before you,sketch out a bare outline of the main heads, under which u will arrange yr various materials in a natural,logical and convincing order.......from a brief introduction till an effetive conclusion.

FALLING IN THE OUT LINE
Having thus mapped out the main points with which u are going to deal,arrange the ideas you have collected each under its proper main head,rejecting all those not really relevant to yr subject ot which simply repeat other thoughts and taking are that each really belongs to the division in which u place it.
You will now have a full out line,which is to b a guide to u in writing the essay.but this is not the essay,but only its well-articulated skeleton.u must now clothe the skeleton with flesh,and most difficult of all breathe into it the breath of life,before u all yr production an essay



NOTE: IT IS NOT THE COMPLETE MATTER I HAD TO CUT THE CONVERSATION BECAUSE OF DEFICIENCY OF TIME.INSHALLAH I WILL CONTINUE THIS CONVERSATION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

WRITING THE ESSAY

1.PARAGRAPHS

Every essay should b divided into paragraphs,and each point should have at least one paragraph to itself.An essay not thus paragraphed looks unattractive and not easy to read.

A paragraph is a group of related sentences that develop a single point.In constructing a paragraph these principles should b kept in view:


(1).UNITY.........The paragraph must treat of one subject only
(2).VARIETY.....Paragraph should not all b of the same length or of the same monotonous structure
(3).LOGICAL SEQUENCE OF THOUGHTS
(4).TOPICAL SENTENCE.......The most important sentence of a paragraph are the first and the last.In many paragraphs,the first sentence states the subject and is called the topical sentence (or key sentence).The concluding sentence may sum up effectively what has been said in the paragraph.

2.STRUCTURE OF AN ESSAY

We may divide an essay into three parts:


(1).THE INTRODUCTION
(2).THE SUMMARY OR THE BODY OF ESSAY
(3)THE CONCLUSION,THE BACK DOOR OR EXIT

In arranging the body of the essay observe proportion that is let each part have due weight given to it.If the subject is "The good and bad influence of newspaper,"do not devote three quarters of the essay to good influence and so leave only a quarter for the bad.Closely follow your full outline throughout.(give same importance to both subject most of students feel that they had good paper inspite of it they cant get good marks but they dint focus on their mistake usually they defined one side of the subject and leave the other.we must remove our misconception first and focus on subject astutely).

The paragraph should b well constructed and should b related to one another according to the direction of your out line and as far as possible, the connection between one and another should b shown.Avoid "padding and keep to the point".padding kill the interest of reader just reveal yr main points straightly without circumlocution.

Avoid the use of unnecessary words.In reversing yr essay,Look our for useless repetitions and redundant expressions,and strike them out.Whether repetition and redundant expressions enlarge the size of essay but it befoul the beauty of essay .

Match the words to the sense and adopt the style the subject matter.Dont write frivolously on a serious subject,or ponderously on a light and humorous subject.

The conclusion........As the introduction should arouse interest,the conclusion should satisfy it. An effective and satisfying end to an essay is an important as an interesting begining.An abrubt ot feeble ending may spoil the whole effect of the essay.(many student gets zero marks in essay and they become strange of it .the reason for getting zero mark is nointerest in introduction and conclusion,yr essay introduction should arrange as like that reader compelled to read the complete essay).

A good essay may b consist of
(a).a summing up of the arguments of the essay
(b).final conclusion drawn from the subject matter
(c).a suitable quotation
(d).a sentence that strickingly express the main point you want to drive home.

Finally a few words about you style of writing........to acquire a simple,direct and forceful style in writing calls for constant practice.It does not come "by nature".As a poet says:

"True ease in writing comes from art,not chance;
As those move easiest who have learned to dance"

The secret of clear writing is clear thinking.So b perfectly clear about what u want to say and then say it....as directly,as simply,as concisely as possible.Be direct:use short sentences in preference to long and involved periods.Be simpleo not attempt any oratory or flowery language(which i used to attempt lolz)but use simple words and constructions and avoid elaborate and superfluous words;say what u want to say as tersely as is consistent with making your meaning clear.Never use two words where one (the right one)will do.Be natural:dont try to imitate any author,s style,however eloquent ,but be yourself

Atlast i would like to say that all the above hints will b helpful but it worths nothing without practice.So try to write different essays on different topics by using above hints and always remember:
"PRACTICE MAKE MAN PERFECT"

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