What is Essay?
An essay is a group of paragraphs written
about single topic and a central main idea. It
must have at least three paragraphs, but a
five paragraphs essay is a common length for
academic writing. (Zemach, 2005:56)

The Structure of an Essay
Introduction: begins with a general statement, than
narrows to the point (thesis statement)
Body: blocks of organized paragraph which explain,
define, clarify, and ilustrate the points made in thesis.
Conclusion: restatement or summary of the main
points; final comment.

Structure of a Paragraph VS Structure of an Essay
Essay
1. Introduction
Paragraph
Topic Sentence
General Statement
Thesis Statement
2. Body
a. Support
b. Support
c. Support
Topic Sentence
Concluding
Sentece
Concluding Sentece
a.
b.
c.
Support
Support
Support
Topic Sentence
a.
b.
c.
Support
Support
Support
Concluding Sentece
Topic Sentence
a.
b.
c.
Support
Support
Support
Concluding Sentece
3. Conclusion
Restatement
or
summary of the main
points

How to write an essay?

Writing Process
Rewriting
Reviewing and
Revising
Drafting
Pre-writing
• Choose a topic
• Gather ideas
• Organise
• Write
• Review structure
and content
• Review structure
and content
• Proofread
• Make final
corrections

How to Write an Essay?
Pre-writing
• Deciding on a Topic
• Decide the Title
• Determine the Thesis Statement
• Outlining

Deciding on a Topic
 Decide the topic that is not too narrow
(limited/ brief). A narrow topic will not
have enough idea to write about.
 Decide the topic that is not to broad
(general). A broad topic will have too
many ideas to be covered in single essay.
 Decide on a topic which is up-to-date.

Deciding on a Topic
Narrowing the Topic
General
Specific
Very Specific
E N V I R O N M E N T
P O L L U T I O N
OCEAN POLLUTION
OIL SPILLS
EFFECTS ON SEA LIFE

Deciding on a Topic
Abstract and Concrete Topic
The more abstract your topic is, the more
difficult it is to support, and the more difficult it
is to keep your audience’s interest. For that
reason abstract topics are usually not as
sucessful as concrete topic

Deciding on a Topic
Abstract and Concrete Topic
Examples of abstract topics that difficult to
support:
1. Patriotism
2. How to Judge Bad Art
3. Relationship: Love and Hate

Deciding on a Topic
Abstract and Concrete Topic
Examples of concrete topics that even more
sucessful:
1. Four Types of Students
2. Getting Married vs Staying Single
3. How to Install Computer on the Car.

Deciding on a Topic
Abstract and Concrete Topic
Exercise:
Make a narrow topic from these general topics:
1. School
2. Friends
3. My Country

Decide the Title
The purpose of the title are to attract the
reader, to give the reader an idea of what
the essay about, and provide focus for the
essay.

Decide the Title
 Title should be brief, clear, concise, and precise.
Examples:
a. Your Prayers Never Change God’s Decisions
b. The Root of Religious Conflicts in Indonesia
 A title must be interesting to attract the readers.
Examples:
a. Students Hate Punctual Teachers (controversial)
b. Why Are Indonesians Not Perfect in English?
(arouses curiousity)

Decide the Title
 Title must be active and powerful.
Examples:
a. Smoking May Cause Cancer (not powerful)
b. Smoking Cause Cancer (powerful)
 It can be phrase or a group of phrase, not a complete
sentence. However, some titles are in the form of
questions and must be ended by question mark.
Examples:
a. TV Programs Spoil Children
b. Should Abortion in Indonesia be Legalized?

Decide the Title
 The initials of words are written in capital letter, or
all letters may be in capitals.
Examples:
a. CORRUPTION HABITS IN OUR COUNTRY
b. Raising Students’ Gender Awarness through
the Use of Films in Speaking Class
 It is relevant with the content of the essay.

Thesis Statement
• The thesis statement tells the main idea of the whole
essay.
• The thesis should be strong and clear; it should
contain no ambiguities.
• The thesis should come at the beginning of the
essay, ussually at the end of the introductory
paragraph.
• The thesis sentence must not be a simple statement
of fact that requires no elaboration.

Thesis Statement
• The thesis must not be expressed as a question. The
answer to the question is the thesis statement.
• The thesis will contain controlling ideas that will be
used in the topic sentences of the body paragraphs
of the essay.
Example:
A successful soccer coach has four qualities.
• The thesis may contain an opinion or a judgement
that can be explained, clarified, and illustrated in
the body paragraphs of the essay.

Thesis Statement
• A thesis statement gives the author's opinion or
states an important idea about the topic. It should
give an idea that can be discussed and explained
with supporting ideas:
The qualifications for getting into university in my
country are unreasonable.
When studying a foreign language, there are several
ways to improve your use of the language.
These are strong thesis statement; they can be
discussedor explained.

Thesis Statement
• A thesis statement should not be a sentence that
only gives a fact about the topic:
In the Northern Hemisphere, the summer months are
warmer than the winter months.
This is not strong thesis statement; it cannot be
discussed or argued about.

Thesis Statement
• A thesis statement should not state two sides of argument
equally:
There are advantages and disadvantages to using nuclear power.
This could be a topic sentence, but it is not a thesis statement.
It gives two sides of an argument without giving a clear
opinion of support or disagreement. It could be revised like
this:
Although there are some advantages, using nuclear power has many
disadvantages and should not be a part of our country's energy
plan.
This is a strong thesis statement. It clearly gives the writer's
opinion about nuclear power.
•

Thesis Statement
How to Connect the Thesis Statement and the Essay
The paragraph in the main body of an essay should always explain the
thesis statement. In addition, each paragraph in the main body should
discuss one part of the thesis. Look at the following thesis statement. The
topics to be discussed are underlined.
To create a successful advertisement, it is necessary for advertisers to answer
three questions: What are we selling?, Who are we selling it to?, and How can
we make people want to buy it?
Possible topic sentences for each paragraph in the main body:
1. The first step in creating a successful advertisement is to completely
understand the product that is being sold and how it can be used
2. A second important part of creating an advertisement is deciding who is
expected to buy the product.
3. FInally, a way must be found to create an ad that will make people want to
buy the product

Thesis Statement
How to Develop Thesis Statement
One way to develop a thesis statement for an essay is to write opinions
you have about the topic. Begin, I think that ... and complete the sentence
with your opinion. Then remove I think that ... and remaining words
make a possible thesis statement.
Topic: diet/ food
I think that a vegetarian diet is one of the best ways to live a healthy life.
I think that governments should restrict the use of chemicals in
agriculture and food production.
After you have written several opinion statements, choose the one that
would make the best thesis. Remember to decide if the sentence gives a
clear opinion, states a fact, or presents two sides without a clear argument.

Outlining

What is an outline?
o A method of organizing material that shows the order
of the topics in essays. (Reid, 1982:55)
o A list of the information you will put in your essay.
(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:63)

The purpose of an outline?
(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:63)
o Show you what to write before you actually begin
writing.
o Help make your essay well organised and clearly
focused.
o Keep you from forgetting any important points.

Writing outline?
(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:64)
o Use Roman numerals (I,II,III,IV,V, etc.) for essays main
ideas.
I. Introduction
II. First main idea
III. Second main idea
IV. Third main idea
V. Conclusion
o Fill in more information for the paragraphs in the main body
by using capital Roman letters (A,B,C, etc.)
I. Introduction
II. First main idea
A. First supporting point
B. Second supporting point
... and so on

Writing outline?
(Zemach and Rumisek, 2005:64)
o Use Arabic numerals (1,2,3, etc.) to give details for your
supporting points.
I. Introduction
II. First main idea
A. First supporting point
1. First detail
2. Second detail
B. Second supporting points
1. First detail
2. Second detail
... and so on.

Writing outline?
(Reid, 1982:56)
Ussualy an essay outline concists of words and
phrases; sometimes it consists of complete
sentence. While writing your outline for an essay,
try to keep the words and phrases parallel.

An example of an outline?
(Oshima and Hogue, 1991:108)
Modern Technology
I.
Introduction
Thesis statement: The most recent significant discoveries to benefit humankind in
modern
times are in the fields of television and computer technology.
II.
Body
A. The most popular form of instant communication all over the world is television.
1. Witnessing important events
a. Destruction of Berlin Wall
b. Launching of spacecraft
2. Long-distance medicine by two-way video
a. Patient and doctors conferences
b. Special equipment to monitor patient
B. In the last few decades, computer technology has made tremendous progress
in the
world of communication to benefit humankind.
1. Long-distance communication
2. Information superhighway
3. Global computer network
III. Conclusion
To conclude, scientific research and experiments have certainly opened the doors
to faster, more easily

Practice!
Topic: Harmful Effects of Smoking
I. Introduction
Thesis statement: ...
II. Body
A. ...
1. ...
2. ...
B. ...
C. ...
III. Conclusion