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Ainuddin Kibzai Saturday, December 14, 2013 12:36 AM

Essay-Guide
 
Aur Allah jise Chahta hai Izzat deta hai aur jise Chahta hai zillat deta hai.(Surah Imran )

[U][B][B]ESSAY WRITING[/B][/B][/U]

[B]DEAR ASPIRANTS:[/B]
First of all, I am really apologetic for having got quite late in fulfilling ny promise regarding strategies to tackle Essay Writing. Secondly, I have tried my level best with something that could take the monkey off Essay Writing from aspirants’ shoulders.
Well, as I have always said that failure in CSS is, to some extent, is a result of one’s vulnerable control over his/her nerves. The psychological battle gets better of him and he is left dtranded in no man’s land. Sinilar is the case in particular with Essay Writing too. Apparently, it seems quite a hard nut to crack but in reality it is merely an unwanted phobia alongside some ignorance of few tricks of the trade.
I’ll go step by step with all the tricks of the trade so that you won’t face any difficulty. Therefore, you should read the document in the order it is placed.

[B]1. RESONS BEHIND THE FAILURE[/B]
Essay writing is a simple thing to deal with provided that you do the basics right.
The way examiner speculates as to what you have written is clearly depicted firstly via your Outline and then secondly the Introduction.
Afterwards, the examiner quickly jumps on to your conclusion which is followed by a close scrutiny of your suggestions.
He then merely randomly selects a paragraphs and checks that.
These things are enough to let him know what metal you are really made up of.
The reasons students get failed in Essay is because they are at their weakest at these crucial junctures.
Outline : It is something what students are neither accustomed to nor they bother enough about it.Introduction : It is something student fail to get their act together and let examiner as to what is to come.
Conclusion : Student is often in a hurry to wind up his Essay and pays the least attention to it thinking he has already done enough.
Suggestions : This shows the lack of improvising ability of a student. I remember quite well that students had blindly prepared Disaster Management for CSS 2011. It did come fortunately. But the students pasted what exactly they had copied. It required IMPROVISATION which they couldn't and got failed.

[B][B]2. WHAT EXAMINER DEMANDS[/B][/B]
It has been considered as a myth as to examiner basically asks for whenevr he asks an aspirant for writing down an essay.
Well, I have been a jusge at several debate and speech contests. Whenever a judge gives score to a debator or a speeker, he divides the marks into different categories.
For instance, 50 marks would be divided as such:
1. Matter = 10 marks
2. Confidence = 10 marks
3. Pronunciation = 10 marks
4. Grammar = 10 marks
5. Gestures = 10 marks
And when the final score is given, the aggregate is counted. It means you have to do well in all the departments in order to succeed.
Simliar is the case with Essay-Writing as well. The examiner expexts you to be good at the following aspects of an essay such as:
1. Outline
2. Matter
3. Analytical Ability
4. Grammar = 10 marks
5. Essay-writing Technics
Therefore, an aspirant has to be good at all these departments if he wishes to thrive in the very paper. We come across students who just rely on 1 or 2 od the aforementioned aspects and turn a blind towards the rest. This is something that proves to be really catastrophic for them and eventualy face the failure.

[B]3. IMPROVISATION[/B]
The very first thing you have to keep in mind is that nobody else but you are the one who is going to take you out of the trouble. Therefore, don’t bank much on others’ stuff or prepared essays. If I am asked to sum up Essay Writing in a single word then I would go with the word “Improvisation”. I am of the opinion that no aspirant neither should nor can go for the expected essays in the exams. The topics for the essays can be guessed but not so the exact titles. Therefore, none should go for the ready-made essays. The examination hall is the place where you will have to plan your essay. It is the place where the student’s abilty to improvise all his knowledge is really tested. You just need to fit in all your knowledge appropriately out of your mind onto the paper. For this purpose, what an aspirants should do is to practise making more and more outlines. Outline is the most important aspect of an essay and this is what the examiner comes across in the very beginning. And if you don’t have a good outline, the examiner will very easily be able to find what metal you are made up of. Furthermore, your outline will be your guide when it will come to elaborating your ideas about the given topic.

[B]NOTE :[/B]
Let us try and resolve the issues one by one in order to take this monkey off your shoulders.

[B]A. KNOWLEDGE:[/B]

I have come across several aspirants who are deeply concerned regarding the material required for essay writing. For God's sake, aap ne jo baqi 10 subjects ( papers ) study kiye hain kya unka material kam hai?????
Therefore, an essay is a depiction of one's knowledge along with the appropriate manner of expressing that very knowledge.
Hence, it can be concluded that an essay is a combination of Knowledge and its expression.
The expression generally refers to the techniques applied for the presentation of knowledge. There are numerous books written over the techniques. But the real question is concerning the Knowledge.
It is a famous analysis that we use merely 20 % of our knowledge stored in our memory. This 20 % refers to the active memory while the remaining 80 % is associated with has gone into the passive zone because of not being utilized.
There is a very easy technique for the conversion of passive memory into the active one.
On daily basis, just for half an hour, follow this technique. I am sure it will work wonders for you.
Just take up a register and a pen. Start writing randomly about anything you wish to.
Try and associate one sentence with the next one.
Suppose, I start writing about the wall.
Wall is made up of bricks and cement.
There is a famous wall by the name of Great Wall Of China.
China is known for its high density of population.
Population refers to the difference between the birth rate and the death rate.
Increase in population leads to shortage of food as well.
Shortage of food can also be caused by lack of rain.
Rain refers to water.
Water is the 71 % of our planet Earth.
Earth is a part of solar system.
Our solar system has 8 planets after the exclusion of Pluto.
There are numerous hypothesis regarding the origin of our solar system.
One such is known as Tidal Hypothesis.
This hypothesis by put forward by James Jeans in 1919.
You can further stretch it too. And it will transform loads of your passive memory into active one that will prove to be very very fruitful during your Essay paper too.

[B]B. DATA :[/B]
There are students are pretty much concerned about putting in Facts & Figures in order to take their essay even more impressive. Well, there is nothing wrong with putting in F & F but your essay should not be flooded with all this. F & F should be for the sake of supporting your arguments rather than Essay for the sake of thrusting your F & F upon the examiner. This kind of approach really irritates the examiner and the aspirant eventually faces the consequences.
Moreover, you can further beautify your essay by putting in Quotes of eminent personalities, Verses from the Holy Quran and Ahadith, and some couplets of renowned poets.
For this very purpose, you just need to “ Google “ a bit.
For instance, just sort out some 8 to 10 general topics for essay writing and google material for that. You can search it as:
Verses from The Holy Quran regarding Corruptio
Quotes relating Corruption
Poetry relating Corruption.
After you are done with accumulating Quotes of eminent personalities, Verses from the Holy Quran and Ahadith, and some couplets of renowned poets, just cram them on daily basis. Then all you need to do is Improvise all these wherever needed.

[B]C. ANALYTICAL ABILITY :[/B]
Now this something which every aspirant must possess not only in Essay Writing but also in other subjects as well.
Well, I have a slightly different approach towads this very phase of an essay. I am of the opinion that in order to sharpen your analytical ability, you should practise supporting the “ Vice “ alongside defending the “ Virtue “. There is a reason behind that which I’ll try to explain.
Darkness is the biggest proof od Light.
Negative is the biggest proof od Positive.
Cold is the biggest proof od Heat.
Similarly, Vice is the biggest proof od Virtue.
Therefore, if you can defend “ Vice “ somehow, you can definitely just SMACK it too. As it is a proverbial statement that “ Set a thief if you want to catch a thief”.
That is why you must bring this thing into practice.

[B]D. ESSAY-WRITING TEACHNICS[/B]

[B]a. INTRODUCTION:-[/B]

An Introduction of an essay comprises following 3 parts.
i. Starters or Motivators or Attention-Grabbers
ii. Thesis Statement
iii. Summary or Plan or Crux

[B]i. MOTIVATORS:[/B]
This part of the introduction is used to somehow hynotose the examiner before you put forth your opnion about the Essay in the form of a Thesis Staement.
Getting the reader’s attention:

Some common strategies used to attract the reader’s interest to an essay are:

• Relate a dramatic anecdote.
• Present surprising facts and statistics.
• Use a fitting quotation or Verse or Couplet
• Ask a provocative question.
• Tell a vivid personal story.
• Define a key term.
• Create a unique scenario.


[B]ii. THESIS STAEMENT :[/B]
After the buildup, give your stance about the Essay in the form of a sentence known as THESIS STATEMENT.
It is a very simple, single, clear and declarative sentence which states your opinion about the Essay. Be very very clear and avoid ambiguity.

[B]iii. SUMMARY or PLAN or CRUX[/B]
You just have to very briefly sum up your outline in some 8 to 10 sentences. This will work as your plan which you will follow in the rest of the essay.

Keep it very very simple by writing a simple beginning. In 2 to 3 sentences, try and make a build-up to the thesis statement. After the buildup, give your stance about the Essay in the form of a sentence known as THESIS STATEMENT. And a short summary of the OUTLINE is given after the Thesis Statement. Thus the Introduction is completed.

[B]b. BODY PARAGRAPHS[/B]
Now the question arises about facilitating the examiner when he reads the rest of the essay. Well, since you have not written the HEADING for each paragraph therefore, examiner will have to know that himself as what's written in the paragraph. Don’t force the examiner to be compelled to read your complete paragraph in order to know as what it is all about. Your first sentence of the paragraph which is known as TOPIC SENTENCE clearly shows what the paragraph is about. For instance, the sentence " Low salaries of the government employees have been a major factor behind corruption. “This sentence clearly tells that your paragraph is about the Low Salary as a cause of Corruption. Thus, you have facilitated the examiner and eventually he will facilitate you as well. :)
The topic sentence follows the examples to prove your Topic Sentence. After the detail, reword the topic sentence but in different words. For example, " One of the key factors for the prevalence of corruption is low salaries.

[B]c. CONCLUSION[/B]
One of the first things a reader (often a teacher) remembers after having read a piece of writing is the last words the writer uses. For that reason, a writer should understand and take advantage of the power of an effective conclusion. Effective conclusions are particularly important in persuasive essays since they are the last chance the writer has to convince the reader. The following is a collection of suggestions for writing effective conclusions.

[B]Effective conclusions:[/B]

• Reflect on how your topic relates to larger issues (in the novel, in society, in history)
• Show how your topic affects the reader’s life
• Evaluate the concepts you have presented
• Issue a call for action on the part of your audience
• Ask questions generated by your findings
• Make predictions
• Recommend a solution
• Connect back to introduction, esp. if you used a metaphor, anecdote, or vivid image
• Give a personal statement about the topic
• As you write your conclusion, try to avoid the "so-as-you-can-see" ending and the "in conclusion my thesis statement proves that" or "states that" ending.
• All of these are overused and worn out.
• You've already made your thesis and reasoning clear.
• You don't need to tell us that you've just told us something.



[B]THE STRUCTURE OF THE CONCLUSION:[/B]


Begin with a sentence that refers to the main subject that was discussed in the body in the essay. Make sure that this sentence also links to the preceding paragraph, or uses words such as In conclusion to signal that these are your final words on the subject.

Then, you may give a brief summary of your argument and identify the main reasons/causes/factors that relate to the question you have been asked to address. If there are two or more parts to the question, be sure to include responses to each part in your conclusion.

Finally, it is a good idea to add a sentence or two to reinforce the thesis statement which was used in your introduction. This shows the reader that you have done what you said you would do and gives a sense of unity the essay.

Additional elements that may be added include recommendations for future action and speculations on future trends. Generally, although a short pithy quote can sometimes be used to spice up your conclusion, the conclusion should be in your own words. Try to avoid direct quotations, or references to other sources.

[B][B]ENDING :[/B][/B]

I restate my opinion that CSS is nothing but a psychological battle. And essay writing is not a difficult thing to deal with provided that you do the basics right.
May you all prosper in every good pursuit of your lives. Aameen.
Regards,

[B]Ainu…[/B]

majid rehman Saturday, January 18, 2014 11:09 AM

Will you please elaborate thesis statement. Where to give it, above the outline or at the start of essay


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