In this class we will write subjective essays. What is a subjective essay?
Subjective Essay
First, what does "essay" mean?
These days, an essay is a "paper you write for school." In the
past the word "essay" was also used this way, but it also had a slightly different meaning. In
this sense, “essay” is both a noun and a verb:
Verb
|
Noun
|
to try
to attempt
to look into
to explore
|
a trial
an attempt
a survey
exploration/expedition
|
Second, what does “subjective” mean?
It is usually easiest to define subjective by defining it’s
opposite, “objective.” What does
“objective” mean?
To be objective means to be impartial, empirical, and
scientific, to go by visible facts or evidence, and not feelings, hunches, or
prejudices. A scientist is objective when he or she analyzes data. A judge and
a jury in a trial are supposed to be objective when they examine the evidence
and the arguments of the defense and prosecution.
Doctors are objective when they look at your symptoms and
prescribe medication. However, we say that physicians “practice” medicine. There is an aspect of medicine that is an
art. Physicians will not only examine
physical evidence, but they will also go by their feelings, their sense of who
the patient is, their feelings about the patient’s psychology, and so on. Thus,
doctors are not only objective. They are subjective, too.
In this class students will write papers that are
subjective; when it comes to facts they will be objective, but they will also
be subjective as they talk about their experiences, understanding, feelings,
and so on.
In practical terms, writing subjectively means students can
use the first person pronoun “I.” It is
interesting to ask students if they were told not to use “I” when they were
learning to write in school.
Standard Essay Form
Essays and Paragraphs:
Essays are made out of paragraphs. Basically, there are four kinds of
paragraphs: Introductions, body paragraphs, conclusions, and transitional
paragraphs.
Introductions
create interest, state the main idea or thesis of the paper, and summarize the
paper’s main points.
Body paragraphs
follow our basic paragraph form (as described
above). They have two basic parts: a topic sentence and supporting
sentences. Because they only have two “parts” they are easier to write than the
introduction and conclusion, and when writing essays students should write the
body paragraphs first, and then write the introduction and conclusion.
Conclusions have
four parts. They re-state the thesis, summarize the main points, answer the
question “What’s next?” and create a sense of closure.
Transitional
paragraphs are brief, two or three sentence paragraphs found in longer
works like books or a thesis for graduate school. Students in this class don’t
need to worry about them, though they should know what they are. Basically, a
transitional paragraph is like a heading. It helps to clarify or emphasize the organization
and main ideas of a written document.
All of the essays students write in class will follow the
following basic pattern:
I. Introduction
A. Create interest (provide
background information. Other options include a quote or dictionary definition,
an anecdote, or a rhetorical question.)
B. Thesis—the main idea, subject,
or proposition of a paper.
C. Main points. Each main point
will get its own body paragraph.
II Body Paragraphs
A. Topic sentence—general statement
B. Supporting sentences—specific
statements.
C. Fully developed with discussion,
illustrations, and examples.
D. One topic per paragraph.
III Conclusion
A. Thesis
B. Main Points
C. What’s Next? (What do you want
the reader to do or thing about next? Or, what are you (the writer) going to do
or think about next?)
D. Closure (Say something profound,
philosophical, funny, or pose a rhetorical question.
Essays are either descriptive or argumentative/persuasive. Of course sometimes they are a bit of both.
The type of essay affects the way the writer thinks about the thesis and the
main points.
Thesis statement:
The thesis statement is the main idea of the essay. It can be thought of as an
answer to a question. The question is:
“What is the paper about?” In a descriptive essay the thesis is the
subject of the paper. In a persuasive essay, the thesis is the writer’s
proposition, what the writer is trying to convince the reader to go along with.
The main points
in a descriptive essay are based upon the way the subject is broken up, or
analyzed. Each main point gets its own
body paragraph, and the topic sentence in each body paragraph is one of these
main points. In a persuasive essay, the main points are arguments or reasons
the reader is giving to support the thesis.
Each reason gets its own body paragraph, and the topic sentence of each
paragraph is one of these reasons.
Descriptive Essay
|
Persuasive Essay
|
|
Thesis
|
Subject of the essay. What the essay is about.
|
Proposition or proposal. Main point the writer is trying
to get across/convince the reader to go along with.
|
Main Points
|
Each main point is a “part” or “division” of the subject.
|
Each main point is a reason or argument given to persuade
the reader to accept the thesis.
|
Let’s return to our “something-doing-something”
table. Like the sentence and the paragraph, the essay follows our basic subject/predicate
pattern. This pattern is seen in the book as well.
Level or Scale
|
Something
|
Doing Something
|
Sentence
|
Subject
|
Predicate
|
Paragraph
|
Topic
Topic Sentence
|
Points about the topic
Supporting Sentences
|
Essay
|
Thesis (subject or proposition)
|
Main points (paragraphs)
|
Book
|
Thesis (subject or proposition)
|
Main points (chapters)
|
