How to Write an Essay: For Students Using English as a First and Second Language - Softcover

Rashid, Phil

 
9781482823417: How to Write an Essay: For Students Using English as a First and Second Language

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Learning English as a second language can be daunting for beginners, and one of the major areas in which a lack of proficiency can surface is in essay writing. Although it can be intimidating, this guide seeks to help allay the fears that confront students. Author Phil Rashid uses his many years of experience teaching English as a second language to show students how to construct a clearly written essay. He starts at the beginning, going through the basics of writing paragraphs, as many students lose exam marks by not adhering to the basic principles of writing. He explains the essential difference between titles and topics, the significance of the opening paragraph, and the importance of sticking to the main point of the essay. Rashid takes you through to writing a conclusion in order to wrap up your essay coherently and effectively. By following the guidelines and suggestions in How to Write an Essay, you can approach essay writing not with dread, but with confidence.

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How to Write an Essay

Easy ways to write an essay especially for students using English as a first and second language.

By Phil Rashid

PartridgeSG

Copyright © 2014 Phil Rashid BA, Dip Eur Hum, CICT, TESOL
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4828-2341-7

Contents

One CAPITALISATION Capital Letters Articles Prepositions and Conjunctions, 1,
Two Introductory Paragraphs, 9,
Three The Thesis Statements, 17,
Four Titles and Topics, 23,
Five Topic Sentences, 33,
Six Supporting Sentences, 41,
Seven Irrelevant Sentences, 51,
Eight Concluding Sentences, 55,
Nine Concluding Paragraphs, 69,
Ten Exercises, 75,
Summary, 85,
Index, 86,


CHAPTER 1

CAPITALISATION Capital Letters Articles Prepositions and Conjunctions


CAPITALISATION Rules

Rule 1. Capitalise the first word of a quoted sentence.

Example: He said, "Treat her as you would your own daughter".

Rule 2. Capitalise a person's title, when it precedes the name. Don't capitalise when the title is acting as a description following the name. Example: Chairperson Petrov. Ms. Petrov, the chairperson of the is here.

Rule 3. Capitalise a proper noun. Example: Tower Bridge.

Rule 4. Capitalise when the person's title follows the name on the address or signature line. Examples: Sincerely Ms. Haines, Chairperson

Rule 5. Capitalise the titles of high-ranking government officials when used with or before their names. Do not capitalise the civil title if it is used instead of the name. Example: The prime minister will address Parliament. All members of Parliament are expected to attend.

Rule 6. Capitalise any title used as a first address. Example: "Will you take my temperature, Doctor?"

Rule 7. Capitalise points of a compass, only when they refer to specific regions. Example: We live in the southeast region of the town. Because southeast is just an adjective, describing a section it should not be capitalised.

Rule 8. Capitalise Always capitalise the first and last words of publication titles regardless of their parts of speech. Always capitalise other words within titles, including the short verb forms Is, Are and Be. Don't capitalise words within titles such as, a, an, the , but, as, if, and, or, nor, or any prepositions, regardless of their length.

Examples: The Day of the Jackal, A Tale of Two Cities

Rule 9. Capitalisefederal or state when used as part of an official agency name or in documents wh these terms represent government an official name. If they are being used as general terms lower-case letters may be used. Examples: The state has evidence to the. contrary, that it's a federal offence. The State Board collects sales taxes.

Rule 10. Capitalise words such as department, bureau and office if you have prepared your text in the following way.

Example: The Bureau of Land Management (Bureau) has some jurisdiction over Indian lands.

Rule 11 Capitalise names of seasons, is wrong.

Example: I love autumn colours. The first day of spring is almost here.

Rule 12. Capitalise the first word of a salutation and the first word of a complimentary close.

Examples: Dear Ms Mohammed: My dear Mr Sanchez: Very truly yours.

Rule 13. Capitalise words derived from proper nouns. Examples I must take English and maths. English is capitalised, because it comes from the proper noun, England, but maths does not come from mathland.

Rule 14. Capitalise the names of a specific course titles. Example: I must take History and Geography.


CAPITAL LETTERS / Articles

We use capital letters....
with names Jackie Chan; Michael Jackson
at the beginning of a sentence Hello. My name's Paul. What's your name?
with I I'm James.

Write a / an / the in the correct place.

1. Could I have _____ drink of water please?

2. I'm staying in _____ small hotel. ______ one over there.

Re-write the sentences with capital letters.

a. his name's tony. he's an actor. _______________________________________________.

b. my name's phil. i'm a teacher. ______________________________________________.


CAPITAL LETTERS / Prepositions

Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee F Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mn Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz

We use capital letters....
with towns and cities London; Beijing; Tokyo; Kuala Lumpur.
with countries Saudi Arabia; South Korea; Yemen.
with nationalities Libyan; Djiboutian; Mongolian.
Write the preposition:
+ school; university
at Ahmed is studying at a language school.
China
from She's from China.
+ city/country
in London is in England.
on They're on holiday.


Write the correct preposition in the space.

1. I'll have lunch ________ work. 3. He's the spy. He's ___________surveillance.

2. Where's Tokyo. It's ______ Japan. 4. You will find it________________ the bank.

Re-write the sentences with capital letters.

1. thiery henri is a french footballer. _________________________________________.

2. beijing is the capital of china._____________________________________________.


CONJUNCTIONS

Conjunction words are used to connect sentences. They can agree with a sentence or change the meaning. Write the correct conjunction word: and / but on the lines between the sentences. They take the place of periods and capital letters. Re-write the sentences underneath.

We are going on holiday. ______________ My dad is staying here at home.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

My mum can drive a car. ______________ My mum is a good cook.

_________________________________________________________________________________________


A, An, The

Write the following names under the above pictures:

1. an exercise bike 2. a chair 3. a rabbit 4. an elephant

An is used because of the way a word sounds. These are called VOWELS

hour
} both have their first letter (h), a consonant, which is silent.
honour

A – is used as a pre-fix before nouns that begin with all the other letters.

These are called CONSONANTS

We use it for singular or countable nouns that don't begin with the above letters. They are also used because of the way they sound. (The sound of these...

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