Faculty of Humanities

Department of Applied Communicative Skills

The Academic Essay (2017)
ENGINEERING COMMUNICATION SKILLS 1A (ECS1AA1)

At the end of this unit you should be able to:

UNIT OUTCOMES ASSESSMENT CRITERIA

Write an essay/parts of an essay
1 Select an appropriate writing topic
2 Generate ideas on a topic
3 Develop a topic sentence or thesis
statement
4 Logically organize his/her thoughts
5 Edit and proofread his/her work
6 Write well constructed paragraphs

Resources:

Class handout supplemented by your own notes.

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What is an academic essay?

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing about a

single topic

An academic essay presents your viewsyour argument

about a topic and provides support for your argument

Academic essay writing requires that you organise and

express your thoughts clearly

The basic approach to essay writing according to Sheridan

Baker (2006) is to: Make your point and back it up.

An essay is a way of thinking about a topic that is different

than simply talking about it

Essay writing requires that you organise and express your

thoughts clearly

Essay Organization

At the most basic level, an essay has an introduction (the

beginning )

A body (the middle)

And a conclusion (the end)

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Developing a Thesis

A thesis is a clear statement of the main point you are

making in your essay

You must interest your reader and your starting point is with
a clear thesis

Your writing will be stronger and more clearly focused if you

recognise that the core of your essay is an argument in
support of some idea

Some examples of a thesis statement:

The objective of this essay is to argue that Communication

Skills is vital for a student of engineering.

The objective of this essay is to agree with the statement,

Computers are taking over our lives.

The objective of this essay is to distinguish between formal

and informal writing.

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 The objective of this essay is to disagree that subjective
writing is more interesting than objective writing.

Introduction to the academic essay

Thesis statement (The objective of this essay)

A further sentence to provide some information on your

point of view

Outline what you intend to cover in the essay (I will be

covering the following points in my essay. Firstly, secondly
)

For example

The objective of this essay is to highlight some of the

common errors that should not be included in formal writing.
Formal writing demands that great attention is paid to
stylistic features. I will cover the following points in my
essay. Firstly, I will distinguish between formal and informal
writing. Secondly, I intend to isolate those features that
should be eliminated from formal writing. Thirdly, I hope to
discuss different types of formal writing and lastly I will
outline the steps to follow in the formal writing process.

Then all the paragraphs follow and each one should have

A topic sentence

Supporting sentences that will develop your argument.

You might have a quote.

You might paraphrase an idea.

You might give an example.

You might provide some facts.

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 You might provide some statistics

You will use transitions between sentences such as: first,

second, third etc., finally, however, also, although, lastly,
moreover, again, in other words, in addition, following, as
well, furthermore, moreover, most of all etc.

In each paragraph you need to use at least three complex

transitions that you underline. Transitions are also called
connectives and develop coherence, logic and authority

Examples of transitions
Conjunctions joining words Showing cause and effect

for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so as a consequence

consequently
as a result
because
therefore
for this reason
since
thus

Comparing (similarities) Contrasting (differences)

Similar in many ways Are different in many ways
similarly instead
as well as opposed to
also in spite of
likewise however
like whereas
all except for
equally on the other hand
in the same way in contrast
at the same time unlike
too yet
both different from

Explaining, arguing, giving reasons showing

of course conditions

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for example even though
for instance while
because unless
actually although
in fact if, even if
otherwise
despite
nevertheless

Adding information Showing time order

as well first, first of all, etc.

also second, third, etc.
besides at the start, to start
not only at the beginning
not to be forgotten one
furthermore another
in addition now, then
above all after that, afterwards
moreover next
then again, too when
too again
yet another during
yet again following
most of all finally
most importantly at last
at the end
to finish
in summary, to sum
up
Admitting a point Showing conviction
of course certainly
after all surely
obviously without a doubt
still undoubtedly
even so especially
however no doubt
granted presumably
all the same apparently
admittedly evidently

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nonetheless particularly

After you have written all your paragraphs you will then need to
write your conclusion

Conclusion

A conclusion is almost a repeat or a mirror version of your

introduction.

You need to re-state your thesis statement

You need to re-state what you intended to achieve in your

introduction

A conclusion is written in the past tense to show that you

have achieved the aim of your essay and to show authority.

To conclude, the objective of this essay was to highlight some of

the common errors that should not be included in formal writing.
To do this I covered the following points: I have distinguished
between formal and informal writing; I isolated those features that
should be eliminated from formal writing; I have highlighted
different types of formal writing and I have outlined the steps to
follow in the formal writing process. I ,therefore, recommend that
I ,therefore, conclude that I ,therefore, propose that I have
observed that

You can also use

Have shown

Have discussed

NB You need to support your assertions with

evidence. You may not generalise or stereotype as
this is an academic essay!

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 Therefore you need to refer to a minimum of 3
sources as in text references in the body of your
essay and then as complete references in the
reference list at the end of your essay.

Transitions (you need to have a minimum of 3 in each

paragraph of your essay)

An example

The objective of this essay is to highlight some of the common

errors that should not be included in formal writing. Formal writing
demands that great attention is paid to stylistic features. I will
cover the following points in my essay. Firstly, I will distinguish
between formal and informal writing. Secondly, I intend to isolate
those features that should be eliminated from formal writing.
Thirdly, I hope to discuss different types of formal writing and
lastly I will outline the steps to follow in the formal writing
process.

There are three major differences between formal and informal

writing (topic sentence). Firstly, formal writing is logical and based
in facts and as a consequence is usually written in the third
person. In contrast informal writing is based on opinion and
emotion and is therefore usually written in the first person. This is
confirmed by Jones who writes that research shows that 95% of
informal documents use I more than four times (Jones, 2005:
15). Secondly, formal writing is mostly used in a professional
business context and it is for this reason that close attention must
be paid to spelling and grammar. As noted by Pheko and Kline,
Formal writing is essential in the engineering industries (Pheko
& Kline, 2002: 25). On the other hand informal writing is mostly
used in personal and social settings and as a result spelling and
grammar do not have to be monitored. Finally examples of formal
writing include textbooks, reports and feasibility studies and

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examples of informal writing include smss, poetry, diary entries
and song words.

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3

Paragraph 4

To conclude, the objective of this essay was to highlight some of

the common errors that should not be included in formal writing.
To do this I covered the following points: I have distinguished
between formal and informal writing; I isolated those features that
should be eliminated from formal writing; I have highlighted
different types of formal writing and I have outlined the steps to
follow in the formal writing process. I ,therefore, recommend that
I ,therefore, conclude that I ,therefore, propose that I have
observed that

Reference list

Jones, R.T. (2005). Differences in register in formal and

informal writing. Writing for Academia. 12 (3): 34-40.

Pheko, M. & Kline, M. (2002). Writing in the Engineering

Industries. Pretoria: Macmillan.