Essay Writing Tips for Competitive Exams - Drafting

In our last posts we have discussed the basic concepts of essay writing. So it is advisable to read those posts before reading this last post.

Read

Lesson I here

Lesson II here

Lesson III here and
Lesson IV here

In our previous posts, we have discussed about Preparation and Planning our Essay Writing.. In this post we shall discuss about the final stage of letter writing.

Drafting :

Having outlined your ideas as mentioned in above posts, you are now well equipped for writing the essay. You have to execute your plan through paragraphs. Each paragraph normally deals with one key point and the supporting information or ideas as pointed out earlier. As long as you observe this principle, your sentences will be automatically linked to each other. A few paragraphs and an appropriate introduction and conclusion make a good essay.

a. Paragraph Writing : Each paragraph will have a beginning, a middle and an end. Generally you should begin a paragraph with a topic sentence. Supporting information or ideas can be given in the succeeding sentences either in a parallel manner or linked to each other in a chained manner. 

Read the following Paragraphs

1. 'Road accidents are common in India. Recently, 50 people were killed in an accident on Pune - Bangalore highway. Last year a bus collided into a truck taking the life of 30 passengers. In 1996 a bus carrying 60 passengers plunged into a river leaving nobody alive. Thus, road accidents are fatal'. Look at the arrangement of sentences. The main idea or key point is stated in the first sentence. The remaining sentences give an example each illustrating the topic. Though the examples are not related to each other, they are linked in a parallel manner to the topic sentence.
2. Road accidents are common in India. Indian Roads are mostly responsible for accidents. Accidents take place due to bad roads and reckless driving. Drivers are normally less paid and some have bad habits. Drinking is one of the major causes of accidents. Whatever the reasons, road accidents are fatal.

 Look at the last and the first words of each sentence in this paragraph. The repetition of words helps establish a link between the sentences. It also indicates that the same idea is continued or extended in the succeeding sentence. This kind of linkage is called chaining. 

b. Introduction and Conclusion : Introduction is one of the most challenging sections to write. It has to catch the attention of the reader, establish a relationship with him / her, introduce the topic, set the tone and, by doing that, control the reader's expectations. Let us consider a few examples.

1. The essay entitled 'An Ascendancy of Man' written by Paul R. Ehrlich begins with the following sentence :    "The most starting terrestrial event in the two-billion year history of life on the earth has been the rise of the species 'homo sapiens' to its present position of global pre-eminence...'
2. Jane Austen begins her books Pride and Prejudice with the following sentence : "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in a possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife".

Both the introductions not only catch the attention of readers, but also state the topic. Apart from being statements of irrefutable facts, they are put in carefully selected words Each one of these beginnings very effectively indicates what is going to follow.

Concluding an essay is equally challenging. It has to appropriately summarize the essay or highlight the main points.  At the same time it is advisable to make the conclusion interesting. An essay can also be concluded with a moral or a striking contrast with something that has gone before in the essay. Look at some examples given below. 

1. The essay 'All About a Dog' by A. G. Gardiner portrays the character of an ill-mannered bus conductor, Being a witness to his rude behavior, the author gives him a piece of advice, and the essay is concluded as follows " "He took it very well, and when I got off the bus he said 'Good night' quite amiably".
2. Violet Markham in ' Women in Our Changing Society' writes about the emancipation of women and mentions, in this connection, different milestones / landmarks in history. She sums up this essay as follows : 'One after another the barriers about her had fallen. Today she is a free agent as never before'.

Both these conclusions adequately summarize the essays. In almost a scientific manner, a cause and effect relationship  is established. We seen the conclusion as a natural outcome of whatever happened before.

That's all for now friends. From our next post, we shall discuss some example essays for SBI Bank PO Exams. All the best :)