TWE Essays 280/292 280 Victory belongs to the most persevering. Euipides Leave no stone unturned. Norman Vincent Peale Plan your work for today and every day; then work your plan. Henry Ford Failure is only the opportunity to more intelligently begin again. Thomas Edison I start where the last man left off. What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of a man can achieve. Benjamin Franklin Plough deep while sluggards sleep. Henry David Thoreau In the lone run men hit only what they aim at. Emily Dickinson Luck is not chance It's toil Fortune's expensive smile is earned. Thomas Edison Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. Useful Quotations Albert Einstein Imagination is more important than knowledge. Walter Begehot TWE Essays 281/292 281 The great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do. Abraham Lincoln I will prepare and some day my chance will come. Henry Ford Whether you think you can or think you can't you are right. English Proverb Where there's a will there's a way. There is no failure excepting no longer trying. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Writing Power By KAPLAN Education Center AN OVERVIEW OF THE ESSAY TEST The first and most frequently asked question by ESL students who are confronting the TOEFL essay is: "What exactly is an essay?" This is a very good question, as essay organization and formation may vary greatly from one country to another. Quite simply, an essay is a written composition based on a particular topic. In the following writing sections, we will describe the kind of essay that the TOEFL examiners are looking for as well as provide you with the background you'll need to feel confident when you are faced with writing your TOEFL essay on the day of the exam. Essay writing is a required part of every TOEFL CBT exam (as of July 1998). (The essay will, however, continue to be optional for the paper-based TOEFL.) Your essay score will be combined with the score from the Structure section to form one Structure/Writing score. On the day of the exam, you will be given one topic on which to base your essay and allowed 30 minutes to write your essay. Unlike with the rest of the new TOEFL, you will be able to choose whether you wish to write your essay on the computer or by hand. The range for your score of the essay component is from 0 (lowest score) to 6 (highest score); your final Structure/Writing score will range from 0 to 30. The readers of your essay are English or ESL specialists and work under the direct supervision of a "reading manager." The two readers will rate your essay independently of each other. That is, neither will know the rating of the other, and your final grade will be an average of the two scores. If there is a difference of more than one point between the two, a third reader will also rate your essay. Your final score could be a 6.0, 5.5, 5.0,4.5,4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0,1.5,1.0, or 0 (for a paper that is blank or written in a language other than English, or one that in no way addresses the topic). To help you prepare for the essay component, you should study the "Writing Topics" provided to you by ETS (Educational Testing Service) in its TOEFL Information Bulletin for Computer- Based Testing. By practicing essay writing prior to the day of the TOEFL, especially within the TWE Essays 282/292 282 30-minute time frame, you can greatly enhance your chances of doing well on this section of the test. While becoming a proficient English writer may seem like a daunting task at first, there is no way to get around one very simple and basic truth: the only way to become a writer is to write and read as much and as often as you can. This may sound trite, but it is the fundamental key to improving your writing skills. Whereas it is important that you read and study examples of "good writing," unless you are willing to put in time and effort to write yourself, you will never become a competent writer of English. Great writers of English certainly did not become that way overnight; it obviously took a great deal of commitment, diligence, and time to perfect their craft. Thus, you-as an English as a Second Language writer and speaker- will need to be willing to invest an even greater effort into perfecting your English writing. In the writing sections of this chapter, we will take you through steps that will help you learn how to organize your ideas, form an outline and develop organization, write a draft, and finally edit/proofread your essay. And yes, by the day of the test, you will need to know how to accomplish all of this in the 30-minute time frame that the TOEFL essay allows! But don't be discouraged. With dedication and perseverance, you will no doubt see results. Your final essay must do the following in order for you to achieve the highest score possible: (1) Your essay must effectively discuss the topic you have been asked to address. It is vital that you read the assigned topic very carefully and not add or delete anything. This is one of the most common mistakes in writing an essay-by adding a few words, or conversely ignoring one or two significant ones, a test taker can easily digress from the assigned topic. Of course, the end result is failure to address the topic. (2) Your essay must be well organized. You must have an introduction (with a thesis statement), a body (with supporting details for your thesis), and a conclusion. Because essay organization is very important, this will be dealt with in greater detail later in this chapter. (3) You must show consistent ease in your use of the English language. This includes using correct grammar as well as the appropriate use of idiomatic language. Remember, you are trying to prove that your English skills are advanced enough for you to do as well as native English speakers in an American university class. (4) You must prove to your readers that you possess a wide range of vocabulary and know how to use terms in an appropriate fashion. In other words, be very careful with the words you choose and avoid redundancy of both words and ideas. You want to be conservative so that you can show how much vocabulary and how many different word forms you know. You must be able to paraphrase some or all of the question asked or the quotation given. This shows that you have a broad vocabulary, that your reading comprehension is adequate, and that you can avoid redundancy in your writing. You will also need to be able to paraphrase your thesis in your conclusion to remind your readers of your main idea. STANDARD ESSAY FORM TWE Essays 283/292 283 In general, an essay is made up of three basic components: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The length of an essay may vary greatly, but because you only have 30 minutes in which to prepare, write, and proofread your TOEFL essay, you should aim for an essay containing a maximum of four to five paragraphs (unless you are a highly accomplished English writer). Your first paragraph, the introduction, will introduce the main topic of your essay to your reader, and it typically ends with your thesis statement (the most important sentence in your essay). The next part of your essay is the body. The body provides detailed support to prove your thesis. The body will be made up of the main subpoints of your thesis, each with its own paragraph. Thus, your body will most likely consist of 2-3 paragraphs. Your final paragraph is your conclusion. These three basic parts are outlined below and discussed in greater detail in subsequent lessons. I. Introduction A. Hook (to capture your reader's attention) B. General information on assigned topic (no details) C. Thesis (one-sentence statement of main idea plus viewpoint) II. Body A. Sub-Point One 1.Topic sentence 2. Details supporting topic sentence B. Sub-Point Two 1. Topic sentence 2. Details supporting topic sentence C. (Possible) Sub-Point Three 1. Topic sentence 2. Details supporting topic sentence III. Conclusion A. Paraphrase of thesis B. Summary of viewpoint C. General final statement/comment TIME DIVISION FOR A 30-MINUTE ESSAY EXAM One of the biggest dilemmas students face with essay examinations is how to make the best use of their time during the test. Certainly, the amount of time each student will need to make an outline, write the essay, and proofread will vary. However, all of these steps are necessary to produce a TWE Essays 284/292 284 clear, organized essay with few grammatical errors. Below is a suggested way to divide the limited time you are given: 1-3 minutes -Read and Paraphrase Question 3-5 minutes-Plan, Prewrite 17-20 minutes -Write Essay 5-7 minutes -Proofread, Correct Essay TYPES OF ESSAYS The list below contains the most common types of essays found in an essay examination. After you have read your essay question and interpreted it, the next step is for you to decide what kind of essay you will need to organize and write. Determining the type of essay will help you write your thesis statement, decide how many body paragraphs are needed, know which transitions are appropriate to use, and much more. Compare and Contrast Essay This is one of the most typical forms of essay examinations. A comparison tells the ways in which a person, place, thing, event and so on are similar. A contrast points out differences. There are two common methods of organizing compare/contrast essays. Let's use the topic of "urban life vs. rural life" as an example: (1) Body A. Similarities between urban and rural life B. Dissimilarities between urban and rural life OR (2) Body A. Urban life: advantages and disadvantages B. Rural life: advantages and disadvantages Persuasive Essay (Also Known as Personal Opinion Essay) In the persuasive essay, you are trying to convince your reader to agree with a particular position or viewpoint you have expressed in your thesis. While adjectives and adverbs may sway your reader, the most effective way to bring your reader over to your side is through facts, detailed examples, and/or personal knowledge. Be sure to incorporate some aspects of the latter in the body of your persuasive essay. This type of essay may be written in the first person and include: in my opinion, it seems to me, or in my view. However, even if you use the third person (and this is often considered to be more sophisticated), you can make your stand clear to your reader. Descriptive Essay The purpose of a descriptive essay is to present a detailed picture of a person, place, object, event, etcetera. To make the image as real as possible, you can use words or linguistic devices known as "imagery." These may be words that appeal directly to the reader's senses. That is, you can help TWE Essays 285/292 285 your reader see, hear, taste, smell, or feel what it is you are describing by choosing vivid vocabulary. Avoid vague, general words such as good, nice, and bad, and replace these with more descriptive, specific terms. Metaphors (comparisons of two unlike items) are also often used in descriptions. Try to imagine that your reader has never experienced the object that you are describing; it is your job to bring this subject to life. Cause and Effect Essay To "cause" an action means to make something happen; the result or consequence of that action is the "effect." For example: "What are the chief causes of divorce, and how does it affect the children of the couple?" Typical transitions for this type of essay are: as a result, as a consequence, consequently, therefore, and thus. Conditional sentence-type essay questions are sometimes classified as "cause and effect" as well. For example: "If you won a million dollars in the lottery, how would you spend the money? Describe in detail how you think your life would change as a result of your new-found wealth." Interpretation/Analysis Essay In the interpretation-type essay, you are given a short quotation (usually 1-3 sentences in length). You are asked to interpret the saying (i.e., paraphrase the author's message); then, either analyze or form your own opinion about the original quotation. This kind of essay is rapidly growing in popularity, especially for essay entrance examinations to American universities and for many standardized tests. The time given for the essay test may vary from 15 minutes to two hours, depending on the school and/or the standardized test. Therefore, when you practice writing this type of exam, you should try several different time frames. Illustrative Essay Another type of essay is the one that is based on examples or illustrations to support the writer's thesis. For example: "What were the best classes you ever took? Give examples of at least two classes which you found outstanding, and explain why you chose these." Of course, illustration is an important component of many types of essay "body" paragraphs. Process Essay Process writing, generally speaking, provides instructions or details a process: that is, it tells the reader how to operate a VCR, apply to a school, build a bookshelf, learn a foreign language, etcetera. Therefore, while this writing style is quite common, it is not typically tested in an essay examination. On the other hand, it is not uncommon to be given this type of essay as an at-home assignment. THE INTRODUCTION TO THE ESSAY Like all first impressions, the introductory paragraph of your essay will leave a lasting imprint. Therefore, it is extremely important that it be well written. To favorably impress your readers, your introduction should contain the following: Hook How is a hook used in fishing? It dangles in front of its target (the fish) and tries to lure or . urban and rural life OR (2) Body A. Urban life: advantages and disadvantages B. Rural life: advantages and disadvantages Persuasive Essay (Also Known as Personal Opinion Essay) In the persuasive. readers of your main idea. STANDARD ESSAY FORM TWE Essays 283/292 283 In general, an essay is made up of three basic components: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The length of an essay. essay may vary greatly, but because you only have 30 minutes in which to prepare, write, and proofread your TOEFL essay, you should aim for an essay containing a maximum of four to five paragraphs