The essay as an essay genre is actively invading the life of the pupil. To read the difference between essay and research paper click here. The essay is offered as an independent written work, not only in subjects such as literature and Russian, but also in history, geography, physics, foreign languages... The topic of a school subject essay, I think, should be suggested by the teacher. Writing an essay is extremely useful because it develops the skills of independent creative thinking and writing your own thoughts, teaches you to formulate your thoughts clearly and competently, helps you to master the scientific style of speech.
Already in sixth grade I teach my students how to write an essay. An example of this is the essay "Description of a river".
At the preparatory stage I give students a list of rivers to describe: Nile, Amazon, Congo, Mississippi, Ganges, Volga, Yenisei, Ob, Lena, Irtysh, Ishim, Ural. The students may also choose their own river to describe, but should consult the teacher. Then, the students work on collecting information about the given river (work with maps, encyclopaedias, Internet resources).Since this essay is their first experience, I give them instructions to help them structure their work.The instructions are:Write an academic essay "Description of the river".
I. Rationale for choosing a river to describe (speech type - reasoning)
Aspects: - Cognitive (I want to learn new things; I want to enrich my knowledge; I know that it is an interesting geographical object, but I know little about it); - Personal experience (I have been to the river, I have read about it, I have seen a TV show about it...). II. The main part of the essay - reasoned disclosure of the topic on the basis of the collected material, the main part reveals the main idea, which is preferably supported by precise facts, vivid descriptions
Description of the river according to the plan: - Which continent the river flows through; - The source of the river; - The direction in which the river flows; - The source of the river; - The direction in which the river flows; - The flow of the river; - The mouth of the river; - The influence of the relief on the flow pattern of the river; - Tributaries of the river; - Flow regime and nutrients in the river; - Economic use of the river
Note: There is no need to put figures and answer paragraphs in the plan, the narrative should be logical, but each paragraph of the plan can be highlighted with a new paragraph. Each paragraph - the previous one and the next one - should be connected with each other. In this way, the coherence of the work is achieved. Do not forget that essays are emotional and artistic.
III. ConclusionThe conclusion should emphasise the main point of the essay. One must find the most effective phrase, thought, or quotation, the one that could end the work.