Dissecting a Story - Part 5
SURPRISE!
Believe it or not, we've basically written your standard (American) essay. All that's needed are the appropriate sentence formations.
Below you will find a section by section comparison of an essay to the lab write up. Notice the functions are the same; the labels change.
Essay: Introduction
Lab: Purpose
- General background narrowed to specific concept investigated
Essay: Thesis
Lab: Hypothesis
- General argument or position taken on analysis of data/text
Essay: Body Paragraphs
Lab: Data and Discussion
- Integrates observations and explanations and relates to initial position taken (guess) on results
Essay: Conclusion
Lab: Conclusion
- Evaluates hypothesis and applies to more general categories
The essay really is nothing more than an entire lab experiment in complete sentences, instead of headings and charts. A major difference - your data cannot explain itself - that's your job, even if it seems obvious. In addition, while writing make sure that your paragraphs serve their purpose. Let every paragraph, every sentence, every word hold meaning and significance.
Teachers have you write essays to assist you in dissecting a text for interesting insights and in conveying information in a logical manner. Oftentimes, as students, you have been taught the structure of a lab report and have practiced it more often than writing an essay. Don't let it fool you. Just make sure that you don't start labeling your paragraphs on your final drafts. Scientific experimentation and writing are both logical artforms. Understand the logic, then perfect the art.
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These pages were created November 14, 1997. This is the first draft. Please provide your comments and suggestions so that I can improve upon it.
Send comments and suggestions to: drthaler@bellsouth.net