Essay- construction
With years of experience as a journalist, this blogger maintains that the Essay-writing is like the construction of a building - a student got to be an Architect, Mason and a Decorator, all rolled into one. As an architect knows how to draw the layout plan for the proposed construction , a student must know how to come up with the outlines or synopsis to express his/her viewpoints / thoughts on the topic of the Essay asked, comfortably and quickly. As a mason lays the bricks after bricks and erects the wall, a student must have an idea to churn out sentences after sentences to construct an Essay. As decorator decks up the outer and interior of the building to make it look attractive, a student must know how to endorse the thoughts with the quotes of others who are authorities in their respective fields, to make the write-up interesting, capable of sustaining the interest of the reader/ examiner.
Good Architect
Now the pertinent question is how to become a good Architect, Mason, and a Decorator. Mind you, all the skills are learned in three stages:
1) Acquirement of knowledge related to particular field. 2) Practice 3) Use
A budding cricketer first acquires the essential knowledge pertaining to cricket game; he must put that knowledge to good practice on the pitch; and after that, he must go to field to play the match.
As far as Essay- writing is concerned, if a student is not able to think correctly in English, he/she won’t be able to write accurately. What is noteworthy, the mind always thinks in terms of sentences, not words. When a student writes or speaks, his/her mind doesn’t make sentences; it always supplies the pre-conceived sentences which are already collected by it (mind) during years of academic pursuit right from 1st standard to PG level. As a result, a sort of corpus of mugged up sentences is created in the mind - no sentence for fresh thoughts. Of Course, in the absence of needed or right sentences, mind starts translating the Hindi sentences into English that leads to non-standardized sentences or poor English as all the languages defy translation into other languages for example:
Millions of people bathe in Ganga on the occasion of Kumbh Mela
(non-standardized sentence translated from Hindi thought)
Millions of faithful take holy dip in Ganga on the eve of Kumbh Mela
(standardized sentence in English)
Now question arises how to feed mind with standardized sentences. As per the research work of this blogger, there are total 123 standardized sentences that cover English language in totality; no thought or sentence exists beyond that; it may be termed as Root Sentences. As all the numbers are born out of 0-9 digits only, all types of English sentences come out of these 123 sentences only (it has been discussed at length in the book Secrets of Good English by Mukesh Sharma, a best seller and 5 star rated available on Amazon.in). Since each sentence has its own Syntactical Formula (grammatical arrangements of the words in a sentence), a student learns all the necessary grammatical rules automatically without the need of cramming. Conventional Grammar doesn’t teach sentence-making. But this method not only teaches sentence-making but also helps to understand the confusing grammatical rules with all clarity.
If Hindi sentences are mapped on these 123 standardized English sentences, a student learns to think in English through Hindi sentences. With good practice, mind starts thinking directly in English. If a Hindi knowing child is told ‘mango’ means aam, it will retain and use ‘mango’ because the mind knows it represents aam. Look at a few examples:
Mom has been waiting for you since morning (standardized
sentence)
Ma tumhara subah se intezar kar rahi hai (Hindi)
S +has/have/ had/ will have + been + Ving + O + Since/ for
(Syntactical Formula)
I have been looking for you for an hour (mapped on sentence)
If Rahul Gandhi were/had to marry, he would have married.
Yadi Rahul Gandhi ko shadi karni hoti to kar nahi leta. (Hindi sentence)
S + were/ had to + V1+ O, S + would have + V3 +
O (Syntactical Formula)
If he were to resign, he would have resigned. (mapped on sentence)
Obviously, if such mapping on method is adopted and adapted, thousands of sentences in English can be fed in mind and churned out. What is a language? Of Course, it is group of sentences. If one knows sentence-making, it means that one has learnt the language.
But the problem is the words, related to different situations of life, are inevitable to create the thoughts - if no words, no sentence; no sentences, no thoughts. Now the question is how to learn thousands of words. And the solution lies in the knowledge of Root words or Key words. Here the phrase ‘root word’ should not be mistaken for its Greek or Latin origin. It has nothing to do with that. In English, there are 1000-1500 important Root Words (Key words). These root words specifically collocate or pair with other words and make standardized phrases. In fact, English is a language of phrases. A phrase is nothing but group of words. In a group of words, a single word has no meaning. It is the collective meaning that counts. For example:
Jump red light (to cross the red light)
Jump queue (to break the line)
Jump bail (to abscond after the release on bail)
Jump the gun (to act in haste or before right time)
Jump on the bandwagon (to join activities that has become popular or follow crowd)
See, ‘jump’ which is a root word, has produced different standardized phrases. These phrases constitute standardized sentences which are part of elite English; it is used by English Newspapers, Native Speakers, Member of Elite Class, and is also the basis of English papers in all the competitive exams. Each root word produces average 10-15 phrases. Just 1000 root words can shoot up a vocabulary of 10K. To speak good English, one needs 500-1000 words/ phrases; 1000-4000 to be a writer; Shakespeare used 8000 and average English Newspaper uses not more than 2000, rest is repetition. What is to be noted here, sheer knowledge of Hindi meaning of phrases doesn’t help. Each phrase is used in a standardized sentence. A student must learn the meaning of phrases through the standardized sentences it is used in – 10K phrases means 10K sentences in the mind.
Needless to say, armed with 10K sentences, thinking would become rather easy, and a student would be able to play with the language. All Journos/ Writers resort to this method, and become prolific writer or good speaker. Such knowledge helps in Essay-writing considerably.
The next step a student must move on is Sentence Framing. It is rather different from sentence-making. Though there are 123 types of sentences, it can be summarized in three types of sentences: 1) Simple Sentence – One subject and one predicate 2) Compound Sentence - two main sentence joined with conjunction 3) Complex Sentence - One main clause/ sentence and one or more than one subordinate clauses/ sentences. Certain thoughts are comfortable in simple sentences; some in compound sentences; and others in complex sentences. The Newspapers, mostly, use complex sentences. The students can have a fair idea of such sentences from any good grammar book like High school English Grammar and Composition by P.C Wren and H. Martin.
Having had the knowledge of right sentences based on Standardized phrases, good understanding of Sentence-framing, Chunks (standardized sentences, used to start a paragraph, student can have a fair idea of such chunks from internet too) and Connectives/ Conjunctions (help to maintain the flow of thoughts from one sentence to another and from one para to another), now Essay-writing can be discussed precisely and purposefully.
What is an Essay? The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary tersely defines it: “a short piece of writing by a student as a part of a course of study.” Broadly speaking, it is an exercise that aims to communicate personal views on a particular subject; a venture into communication; an exercise to discover what you know.
An Essay can be classified into 5 categories: 1) Narrative Essay - seeks to narrate some event or series of events e.g. Story of Gandhi, biographies etc. 2) Expository Essay- exposes and explains the subject e.g politics, religion etc. 3) Reflective Essay - consists of reflections and thoughts on some subject e.g. Habit, qualities, etc 4) Imaginative Essay - reveals feelings and experience e.g. If I were PM of India etc 5) Descriptive Essay - describes some place or thing e.g. Delhi etc.
Language of the Essay should not be verbose or bombastic. Try to express, not to impress. Besides that a good Essay must have: 1) Unity- development of one theme with a definite purpose. 2) Order - must follow an order to reach to conclusion. 3) Brevity - must not exceed the prescribed limit. 4) Style – conversational and easy. 5) Personal touch - must reflect personal feelings and opinion.
Whatever is the topic, think on FOUR COMMON outlines: 1) About the topic (Introduction) 2)Minuses - negative side of the subject. 3) Pluses - positive points related to subject. 4) Conclusion - drawn on the points discussed, and must reflect personal opinion. Under ‘about the topic’, explain the subject matter of the topic in the light of acquired knowledge, and that will constitute the introductory paragraph and further set the tempo for Essay-writing . As a coin has two sides, each topic has minuses and pluses. Each thought that reflects the negative side of the topic must be given a separate paragraph. Each para must begin with a Leading Sentence(outline), and be developed accordingly. Here use of standardized chunks can be helpful in constituting the leading sentences. The thoughts expressed in paragraphs can also be authenticated with the quotes of the renowned people/ writers, who are authority on the subject. It lends credence to the thoughts of the student- writer. Likewise, all the thoughts reflecting the pluses must follow the same method of expression.
Last para of the Essay constitutes the conclusion drawn on the basis of all the thoughts expressed in the preceding paras. It must point out the personal views and opinion of the student-writer.
In nutshell, this blogger concludes that with good practice, an Essay can be penned down on any topic or subject. A student-writer must keep in mind that he/she has to find answer to 5 Ws (What, Where, When, Why and Who) and 1 H (How) all through essay-writing process - a common formula used by all the writers. With his didactic words, renowned Rudyard Kipling inThe Elephant’s Child, says:
“I keep six honest serving men
They taught me all I Know;
Their names are What and Why and When,
And How and Where and Who.”
