Your name and year here (i.d. number only in P2 and P3). Your tutors name.

Module Title and number. Date of submission.

The essay question goes here, ritten out in full. You may ant to !entre it.

This "age gi#es you a rough idea of hat a !om"leted essay should loo$ li$e, although e should add that essays for different dis!i"lines follo different formats, and your other ma%or sub%e!t may require a format that is a little different from that required for &nglish essays. You !an see from this e'am"le that essays should use a standard font and font si(e throughout. )ere * ha#e used Times +e ,oman, -2 "oint. this, or something similar, is hat you should use in the essays you hand in. You !an also see from this e'am"le that * ha#e used /0 "a"er, double s"a!ed the lines, used left %ustifi!ation rather than full (left and right) %ustifi!ation, "ut t o s"a!es bet een senten!es, and left margins of an in!h on both sides of the "age. again, you should do all this in your o n essays. *t is not ne!essary to in!lude a !o#er sheet or title "age for your essay, and neither is it ne!essary to "ut it in a folder. *n fa!t, in the 1!hool of &nglish and Philoso"hy the offi!e staff remo#e the folders before distributing the essays to the tutors, so it is a aste of your money to "ut essays in folders. / sim"le sta"le ill suffi!e, but do ma$e sure you remember the sta"le. You ill note, too, that there is no need to lea#e e'tra s"a!es bet een "aragra"hs, but that it is ne!essary to indent the first line of a ne "aragra"h. This you do by "ressing the T/2 $ey. You should also ma$e sure to remember to number your "ages (ensuring that you "ut the "age number in a "osition here it ill not be obs!ured by the sta"le) and to s"ell !he!$ and "roof read before you "rint off your final #ersion and hand it in. Do not rely on the s"ell !he!$ alone, be!ause it ill miss errors. it ill not tell you, for e'am"le, that there is a mista$e in the senten!e, 3,obinson 4rusoe li#ed on an eroti! island5 nor ill it !orre!t you hen you refer to /le'andra
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Po"e or &#elyn 6ar. &#en "ublished authors !an find themsel#es in !onsiderable trouble if they fail to "roof read !orre!tly. *n 1ha$es"eares The Tempest Pros"ero !ondu!ts a !eremony blessing the union of his daughter Miranda ith 7erdinand, son of the 8ing of +a"les. During that !eremony s"irits ish u"on the !ou"le all the blessings of the earth.

4eres &arths in!rease, foison "lenty, 2arns and garners ne#er em"ty, 9ines ith !lustring bun!hes gro ing, Plants ith goodly burden bo ing5 1"ring !ome to you at the farthest, *n the #ery end of har#est: 1!ar!ity and ant shall shun you5 4eres blessing so is on you. (1ha$es"eare -;<=, 0.-.-->?--@)

Aohn B. Demaray, riting about this "assage in his re!ent boo$, Shakespeare and the Spectacles of Strangeness: The Tempest and the Transformation of Renaissance Theatrical Forms, a""arently relied too hea#ily on his s"ell !he!$er, rather than "roof?reading !arefully. /s a result, in his te't, 4eres ishes 3"oison "lenty, and 3barrens and garners, near em"ty u"on the ha""y !ou"le, and, refers to 3the #ery end of hairiest rather than the #ery end of har#est (Demaray, -;;<, -22?23). *n &nglish, essays should follo the MHRA Style Book: Notes for A thors! "ditors! and #riters of Theses, ed. by Dere$ 2ro n and others, @th edn (Ceeds. Modern )umanities ,esear!h /sso!iation, -;;D). The M$A Hand%ook and the &hicago Man al of Style are also a!!e"table, but you should ma$e sure that you are !onsistent, hi!he#er you !hoose. There is a rather longer syno"sis of the most im"ortant elements of "resentation in the de"artment handboo$. You !an see from the quotations abo#e, though, that shorter quotations (less than four lines of "oetry, or less than si'ty ords of "rose) are en!losed in single in#erted !ommas and run on ith the main te't. Conger quotations do not need in#erted !ommas, but are se"arated from the main te't by a
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s$i""ed line before and after them, and indented. You must gi#e "ro"er referen!es for quotations, and also for ideas hi!h you ha#e ta$en from other sour!es. )ere * ha#e used the /uthor?Date system, herein referen!es ithin the te't refer the reader to a bibliogra"hy a""earing at the end of it. 7or undergraduate essays the bibliogra"hy should in!lude all the or$s you ha#e !onsulted, not only those you ha#e !ited in the essay. There are different rules and regulations for the !iting of boo$s, arti!les and essays, and you should !onsult the de"artment handboo$, or one of the #arious manuals * ha#e mentioned abo#e for further details of !orre!t !itation hen you !ome to rite your essays. 7inally, you may find it useful to !onsult the !he!$list of tas$s (see belo ) immediately "rior to handing your essay in. 7inally, you should "ut a ord !ount at the end of the essay (the ord !ount should be in!lusi#e e#erything e'!e"t the bibliogra"hy). 6ord !ount. <@D

tesol tasks

Home Reading Writing Listening/Speaking Literature English A2/B Miscellaneous A!s

Organising a Discursive Essay about Car Use

The two most common types of essays are the argumentative and the discursive.

An argumentative essay opens with a boldly expressed point of view and then the rest of the essay presents
arguments examples! proof or logic" to support that point of view. #ormally! it refers to opposing arguments but demonstrates that these are wea$ or even false. %oo$ at this essay about &oos for an example."

A discursive essay presents both sides of the issue in a more balanced way. 'n the end! however! it
normally reaches a conclusion( in other words! the writer states what s)he thin$s. The following is an example of how a discursive essay on handguns might be structured*

'ntroduction * The issue of handgun ownership

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A. +ome people believe individuals should not own handguns ,. Others believe ownership is an important personal right

Disadvantages of handgun ownership - ,oth adults and children can have accidents - .eople can use guns for crimes

Advantages of handgun ownership / .eople can protect themselves from intruders / .eople can use guns for recreational purposes e.g. target practice at gun clubs"

Conclusion a summary 0 evaluation of arguments above" 1 .roblems of accidents and crime ma$e

gun ownership difficult to accept 1 2un ownership should not be allowed in the interest of a better society
3our tas$ in this assignment is to write a discursive essay about the advantages and disadvantages of car use. 3ou will be given the various arguments both in favour of! and against! car use. 3our first tas$ will be to organise these arguments.

TASK 1
4ead the following notes.

'dentify all the points in favour of car use and mar$ them with the symbol 5 . 'dentify all the points against car use and mar$ them with the symbol 6 . o o o o o o o o o o o
#ot restricted by schedules as you are with public transport Comfortable spacious! cool! radio)CD etc." They cause air pollution e.g. exhaust emissions contribute to global warming" 4oads deface the natural landscape and destroy)disturb wildlife habitats 7ast! less time-consuming than public transport Car par$s ta$e up valuable space in city centres could be used for public gardens instead8" 7airly cheap to run8 Car accidents result in many deaths and in9uries :odern fuels are lead-free and getting ;cleaner; Traffic 9ams lead to stress and ;road rage; angry drivers attac$ing others" Car use contributes to a faster! less natural pace of life that often results in high blood pressure and heart disease

TASK 2

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#ow that you have sorted your points into two groups! you will be able to divide the body of your essay into two sections* advantages and disadvantages or possibly the other way round". <owever! each of these two sections still needs to be divided further = into topics. Each topic will then become a paragraph in the essay.

Ta$e the advantages above and arrange them under the topic headings of ;Convenient; and ;Efficient;. Ta$e the disadvantages and arrange them under the topic headings of ;,ad for the environment;!
;Dangerous; and ;+tressful;.

TASK 3
A well-made paragraph usually starts with a topic sentence. This contains the main idea or argument of the paragraph. 't is followed by a few illustrations or examples that support it. 'n the case of your essay on car use! the topic sentences in the body of the essay will cover the points in TA+> ? above".

@rite topic sentences based on each of the headings in Tas$ ? i.e. ;Convenient;! ;Efficient; etc.". <ere is
an example* Cars are extremely popular because they are so convenient. Do not be satisfied with the first thing you write. 4ewrite it( share it with a classmate or your teacher( aim for a more effective sentence.

TASK 4
The structure of your essay is going to be as follows*

.aragraph A '#T4ODUCT'O#" .aragraph ? Convenient B" 5 .aragraph C Efficient ..." 5 .aragraph D ,ad for the environment B" 6 .aragraph E Dangerous B" 6 .aragraph F +tressful B" 6 .aragraph G CO#C%U+'O#"
Unless! of course! you decide to deal with the disadvantages first B 3ou still need to plan an introduction. ,asically! this will state that there are both advantages and disadvantages to car use. <owever! it will sound rather wea$ if you simply write* ;There are both advantages and disadvantages to car use;. 't will ma$e a stronger impact if you start with a bold or surprising statement! or perhaps a stri$ing statistic. 7or example* We have become extremely dependent on cars: there were 580 million worldwide in 1 estimated that this !igure will grow to 81" million by #010. these in the order they will appear later. 0 and it is

3ou can follow this with a summary of the main arguments contained in the body of the essay. 3ou should present

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 Continue this opening paragraph by adding sentences from the 9umbled list below. .resent them in the
same order as the plan above. We have become extremely dependent on cars: there were 580 million worldwide in 1 estimated that this !igure will grow to 81" million by #010. 0 and it is

Thirdly! some people argue that they contribute to the frantic! unhealthy pace of modern life. On the other hand! there are powerful arguments against car use. 7irstly! they damage the environment. Clearly cars are so popular because they are both convenient and efficient. +econdly! they $ill and maim large numbers of people.

TASK 5
%et us save the conclusion for later. ,asically! it will sum up the main arguments again and evaluate them = in other words! you will say whether you thin$ car use should be limited or even banned." 7irst! you will try to write the body paragraphs = paragraphs ?-F in the plan above. Each paragraph already has a topic sentence. The challenge now is to support it with illustrations or examples. 7or example paragraph #"* Cars are extremely popular because they are so convenient. They allow us !ar more !reedom than public transport which is o!ten unreliable$ slow or even unavailable. %iven a choice between wal&ing in the rain to 'oin a bus (ueue or stepping straight into a car and driving directly to one)s destination$ who would pre!er the latter* +urthermore$ cars are more com!ortable than buses or trains since they are less cramped and have luxuries such as an air,conditioner and a sound system.

#ow use the points below to complete paragraphs C-F. +tart each sentence with your topic sentence from
TA+> C."

7ast! less time-consuming than public transport 7airly cheap to run! especially if you use a small model :odern fuels are lead-free and do not cause a lot of pollution They cause air pollution exhaust emissions contribute to global warming and health problems such as asthma" 4oads spoil the natural landscape and disturb wildlife habitats Car par$s ta$e up valuable space in cities that could otherwise be used for recreation Car accidents result in many deaths and in9uries e.g. approx. A?E!HHH people were $illed in road crashes in the OECDIs ?J member countries in AJJJ! enough to fill CHH 9umbo 9ets" Traffic 9ams lead to stress and ;road rage; angry drivers attac$ing others" Car use contributes to a faster! less natural pace of life that often results in high blood pressure and heart disease

3ou do not need to change the language much. <owever! you certainly will need to use some lin$ing words)phrases! such as the following*

7or example! B 7or instance! B B also B

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'n addition! B 7urthermore! B @hat is more! B Another argument against car use is that B Another disadvantage of car use is that B +imilarly! B

TASK 6
7inally! you need a conclusion. Avoid a wea$ ;sitting on the fence; conclusion such as this* ; There are some strong points both !or and against car use and it all depends on what your opinion is.; 'nstead you should sum up the arguments you have already covered and state whether! on balance! you thin$ the advantages outweigh the disadvantages or vice-versa. 't may be effective to present the arguments in reverse order this time. 7or example* -n conclusion$ car ownership has several negative e!!ects$ including stress$ road accidents and destruction o! the natural environment. .evertheless$ we have become very dependent on cars because o! the com!ort and !reedom they o!!er. / total ban seems out o! the (uestion$ but !or the sa&e o! our own health and the health o! the planet$ we must aim to reduce car use 0 !or example$ by improving public transport systems and introducing car pooling schemes.

TASK 7
#ow try a discursive essay on a different topic. 3ou could try the one about handguns see notes above".
Other possible topics include*

Computer use by children Television viewing +chool uniforms

3ou may have a better idea yourself! but please chec$ it first with your teacher. @hichever topic you choose! you will need to do some research first and then draw up an essay plan. @ithout a plan! you will almost certainly produce a disorganised! ineffective essayK

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