Someone from this forum asked me about essay writing. For the benefit of all forum members I have started this thread on Essay Writing. I can't say much about my profile as an essayist but I've a bit of experience doing some creative writing in college.

As a starter, I have something to say about the Strategy for writing better essays. Have a look at it and present me with your feedback which will lead to further improvement of my work. Thank you all.



Strategy for Essay Writing:



Selection of Topic:

One must select such a topic for which one has enough background knowledge. Sometimes general topics can also be selected for which anyone can present his or her point of view comfortably. In general topics one may find topics such as: The reason for instability is lack of discipline or The biggest enemy of man is man etc. There can be some specific topics about some issues such as: Women Empowerment, Terrorism, Global Warming, Globalization or other issues like that. Also, it is very likely that some Islamic topics might turn up; such as: The Image of Islam in Western Eyes and the Role of Muslim Ummah or The essential message of Islam is Peace. Another kind of Essay topics is literary but it is said that one must not attempt them unless it is very clear to the writer or unavoidable. Mostly students from English Literature attempt them.

After selecting topic start the brain storming session at the back of answer book and jot down all points that come to one's mind within 6-7 minutes.

After brainstorming come to the organizing step:

Here one should prepare the out-line in 10 to 12 minutes. Time limit varies from person to person so it must be well practiced.

For example, I'm a slow writer so I try to make out-line very quickly so that I may have more time to write the real thing that is essay. Here I am giving the out-line of my essay that I wrote in exam. I only wrote13-14 pages and scored 46. If I were a fast writer I am sure this score could be higher.

The Out line is as follows:

Topic; Peace is the essential message of Islam. (Write in Block Letters)

OUT LINE

A. Introduction (Write all the purple headings till the end with Marker)

a.Defining peace
b.Defining Islam
c.Peace and Islam
d.Mis-interpretation of the message of Islam
e. THESIS STATEMENT presenting entire gist of ESSAY (VERY IMPORTANT)

B. Historical Perspective
a. Society before Islam
b. Examples of pre-Islam and post-Islam scenario. (add as much as possible from life of Holy Prophet PBUH to Fatah Makkah etc)
c. Peaceful change brought about by Islam. (add remaining examples of that era)

C. Present Dynamics of Islam .....
a. The true message of Islam
b. The diversion from real practice of Islam
c. Examples of extremism and fundamentism as wrong message.
d. Negative impression drawn by west.

D. Western Outlook about Islam and flaws of Western Claims.
a. The negative role of Clash of Civilization
b. Examples of Westen fall backs from peace (out-rages of World Wars and Heroshima, Israel's example, Holocaust etc )
c. Proof of Non-Islamic double standards about prevailing peace. (More recent examples of Iraq and Afghanistan etc)

E. Incorrect blame accorded to Islam due to the manifesto of Jihad.
a. Explaining the principle of Jihad
b. Proof of Jihad as presenting the message of peace.
c. Difference between Terrorism and Jihad.
d. Reiterating Peace as the essential message of Islam.

F. Strategy to deliver peace correctly as the real message of Islam
a. Giving up extremism.
b. Promoting inter-faith dialogue.
c. Mending the internal conflicts of the Muslim World.
d. Encouraging West to study and understand the essence of Islam
e. Stimulating research among Islamic scholars about Islam and other religions.

G. Conclusion.

Something about thesis statement:

Thesis Statement should be given as the secondlast or last line of the introductory paragraph. This thesis statement will let the examiner know what have you written in your entire essay. It is very good to write it.

The Thesis Statement of the above examplified out-line can look like:

In this essay an attempt has been made to; define Islam and peace as it's message, probe the historical evidence, understand the present dynamics of Islam, underpin the faulty Western Outlook of Islam, refute the blame given to Islam due to ignorance of the principle of Jihad and finally formulate a strategy that will propound peace as the real message of Islam. This above mentioned thesis very rightly leads to the conclusion proving that Peace is the Essential message of Islam.

So that was the thesis statement. One may notice that it was formulated by collecting all the purple headings already mentioned in the outline. In the essay ahead one has to expand all of these headings with the help of the points that are already given under each one of these in a's, b's, and c's and so on.

It seems like some specific words couldn't get the purple font colour. They were these headings

A. Introduction (Write all the purple headings till the end with Marker)

B. Historical Perspective

C. Present Dynamics of Islam ..... and so on.

P.S. You don't have to use purple colour in exam it was just for highlighting here. Only blue and black pens and markers are allowed in exam.

Thanks for the practical post. Commendable...

Please also give ur opinion, and actual practice during paper about headings while writing essay - headings developed in the outline?

You may find headings in the outline ONLY which serve as the thesis for the respective paragraph. But no headings are used in the main essay. Only paragraphing is adopted. The reason is that you write for the heading that is given to you as your topic. If you introduce headings on your own that means you are giving your own topic for that portion. Answering questions is something differnt than essay. In Current Affairs you answer questions like other subjects. So there you may give headings but not in essays. This thing was taught to me during my essay writing class. People do write essays with headings though but that is not correct. You may hardly find headings in articles. The writers there follow the same format.

The introductory paragraph in any essay must be very powerful so that it can attract the examiner. Basic technique that is used in writing effective introductory paragraph is that: One must begin with the words of the topic or words of the topic should be used in the first line of the paragraph. Next two three lines must be supporting the stance presented in the introductory lines. Also if one wishes to write a long paragraph then one may add the points as have been mentioned under: A. Introduction ....in the first thread. The paragraph should end with such Thesis Statement as also has been examplified in the first thread.

P.S. Look forward to the example of an Introductory Paragraph!

@urooj
thanks for your golden points,it will help all the novices ,here.
i have written 3 essays so far-i.e, women empowerment,powers of media and world war3.but i still feel to be at the precarious brink,regarding the maturity of essay;seniors here have advised me of correcting my grammer and unity in the sentences.as my two essay are concerned,i have posted them out in this forum in the essay section,(you can check them ),now a days i m writting pak-imf essay,so to avoid the same bunders,what i do.may i be recommended to some professional or still carrying the same practice.
what you suggest for me.
regards

As an example of what you suggested for an intro para, following is an attempt. Please check and comment and suggest areas of improvement.

Please also suggest which approach should I adopt in paper? In para 1, introductory lines+thesis while in para 2. i have briefly inserted the main points from the outline.

1. Short Paragraph

TERRORISM
Terrorism is increasingly becoming the major threat to world peace and security. It is a global phenomenon, having roots in multiple and complex issues worldwide and having grave and far reaching effects. In the following pages, an attempt has been made to; describe and understand terrorism, examine its root causes and effects, find what has been aggravating it and suggest how to deal with it.

2. Long parahgraph

TERRORISM
Terrorism is increasingly becoming the major threat to world peace and security. Almost the whole world has been stormed by it. It is a global phenomenon with far reaching effects. Terrorism is employing terror as strategy to achieve some end. It has resulted mainly from denial of political rights, economic exploitation, poverty, religious extremism and lack of education. Besides threatening world peace and security, it has devastating effects on economy, education and other development initiatives. It cause poverty to increase, it promotes misunderstandings among nations and religions of the world. Therefore, terrorism needs to be dealt with iron hands. So far, it has not been dealt effectively. Actions taken to eliminate it have been counterproductive. Hard decisions need to be taken and serious approach is needed to curb this menace. Resolving long standing disputes, promoting interfaith and international harmony, strengthening and reforming role of UN, reducing poverty and promoting education can greatly minimize terrorism. . In the following pages, an attempt has been made to; describe and understand terrorism, examine its root causes and effects, find what has been aggravating it and suggest how to deal with it.

well i think the first paragph is not impressive.......

u have to follow the 2nd one ....... essay is always lengthy so its intorduction must be appropriate...

islah...

__________________
Life is a tale told by an idiot...

Brothers give your comments about htis introductory paragraph.
for 1500 words essay..is it ok.

Pakistan at cross roads:

Pakistan has always remained at cross roads since its inception. The main reason behind the difficulties of Pakistan is its geo-strategic location, some external problems like security threat from India, Russia and to a similar extent from Afghanistan, and some internal threats like weak democracy, extremism weak economy, provincial autonomy etc –that have compelled Pakistan to stand away from an independent foreign policy and utilize effectively all its resources for its own betterment. That is why today in the world Pakistan is considered as an unsuccessful state .Looking into problems categorically and carefully it can be easily analyzed that what are the consequences of these problems and how they can be avoided or controlled.

regards.

Baig1

Urooj wants to say that the crux of the essay should be elaborated in introductive paragraph.indeed,introdution should be that much beautifull and attractive as the writer impressed and awarded good marks..

INTRODUTION GLOBAL WARMING

;Yesterday is impossible to recover but tomorrow is in our hand to win or lose;{lydon.B.Johnson.}.scientific advancement and technology have revolutionized every aspect of human life.with a click of button,information from the farthest corner of globe could be obtained with a fraction of second.distances traveled in years reduced to hours.the imagination of past is the reality of today.in fact,the advance world of today is able to predict the probable future realities of life.
Global warming and its effects as climate change are the growing concern of 6.5 billion people of this globe.reports and findings of leading enviromental scientists reveal the rise in temprature of the globe.besides,real life exprience of unprecedented change in weather phenomena makes one belive that global warming is reality.......

PLA CHECK THIS INTRODUCTION FOR GLOBAL WARMING..IS IT OK OR NEEDS MODOFICATION..?

__________________
In politics... never retreat, never retract... never admit a mistake.

You are welcome. It is good to know that you are practicing on your own. It will certainly improve your writing expression. It is also required that you get your work checked by some teacher. This way your mistakes will be high-lighted. You can leave that on this forum as well. I'll have a look at your other two essays on this forum. Also read articles for better writing. All the best to you.