Principles of

Effective Writing
Paragraph Essay
A group of interrelated A group of paragraphs that
sentences talk about one central idea
Organized around a topic Organized around a thesis
sentence
Contains introductory Contains introductory
sentence paragraph
Uses sentences to explain Uses paragraphs to explain
major points major points
May use a concluding Always uses a concluding
sentence paragraph
 Parts of an Essay

Introduction

Lead

Transitional Statement
Thesis Statement
 Parts of an Essay

Transitional Paragraph

Used to bridge one paragraph

to another
 Parts of an Essay

Body

• Meat of the essay

• Discusses the thesis statement
in detail
 Parts of an Essay

Conclusion

Restatement of the
thesis statement
Transitional statement
Closing statement
Properties of a Well-written Text

Unity

Achieved when a composition contains

one focused idea.
Properties of a Well-written Text

Coherence
Occurs when ideas are connected at the
conceptual or idea level.

Cohesion
Is the connection of ideas at the sentence level.
-use of pronoun, use of transitional devices,
repetition of keywords
Properties of a Well-written Text

Organization

Achieved when ideas are logically and

accurately arranged.
Properties of a Well-written Text

Language Use

1. Use clear and concise sentences.

2. Avoid redundancies, wordiness, and
highfalutin language.
3. Avoid excessive use of “there” and
“it” structures.
4. Use precise vocabulary
Properties of a Well-written Text

Language Use

5. Be consistent with your pronoun’s

point of view.
6. Avoid sexist language.
7. Use appropriate level of formality.
Properties of a Well-written Text

Mechanics
1. Always use Standard English.
2. Avoid contractions.
3. Avoid exclamation marks unless they are
part of a direct quotation
4. Mention the full name of an institution
or organization with the abbreviation in
the parentheses, in first mention.
Thereafter, use the abbreviation.
Properties of a Well-written Text

Mechanics
5. Numbers from zero to ten should be
spelled out while numbers higher than ten
should be written in figures.
6. Citations are used in academic and formal
texts.