ACADEMIC WRITING Individual activity

MERCEDES ANABEL PAREDES TORRES

ESSAYS

Septiembre de 2016

What is an essay? Essay is a writing text, generally brief , that exposes, analyzes or

comments a personal interpretation about a determined topic. Historic, philosophical, scientific, literary , etc. In essay there are personal and subjective features: the point of view of essay´s author. (Translation to English of Vásquez, 2005).

Essay is a text, its mision is proposing questions and to indicate roads, more that to lay solid solutions. (Translation to English of Lapesa).

It´s a scientific disertation, without explicit proof (Translation to English of  Ortega y Gasset).

Based in previous definitions, it´s neccesary to considerate questions, thesis, opinions in personal position as a feature of essay; however essay is an academic writing, therefore more than personal opinions, the essay presents academic arguments supported theoretically as defined Ortega and Gasset in a scientific disertation.

Essay is an academic writing kind that through methodical analysis, it presents an

substantiated evaluation about a determined topic.

Advantages Essay develops competences of selection,

interpretation, deduction of appropriate information and it contributes with acquisition of formal language through use of technical vocabulary and the adaptation to new thought patterns, concepts and paradigms.

Essay is a great tool to assessment the knowledge and textual production skills, due to writers do use multiple capacities of written communication.

Essay develops critic thought and research skills.

Example

Of cannibals by Michel de Montaigne (1585)

Link: https

://www.raleighcharterhs.org/faculty/bnewmark/EURO/Montaigne%20On%20Cannibals.pdf

Essay has free structure, its extension depends of the tipology, the intention and the topic.

General structure of essay is conformed for academic paragraphs, consolided in:

Introduction: author contextualizes and justifies the thesis

Body: author presents arguments and contra-arguments, through explications, synthesis and a deepening based in theoretical evidences.

Conclusions: author presents arguments that reafirming, contradicting or validating the thesis.

Outline

References Kain, P. (1999). Harvard College Writing Center. Harvard

University: Open scholar. recovered from http://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/beginning-academic-essay

University of Canberra. (). Writing an essay. Australia. Universidad de Canberra: Moodle.recovered from http://learnonline.canberra.edu.au/mod/book/view.php?id=178430&chapterid=278

Vásquez, F. (2005). Pregúntele al ensayista. Bogotá: Kimpres.