Online Class: English Composition 101

Acquiring and developing the fundamentals of English composition is a vital skill that can be used in a variety of settings and situations. Being able to competently compose an essay and organize a thesis is not only useful in academic environments, but is also useful for business and personal applications. Learning and practicing the basic components introduced in this course will assist those in high school and college; it will help those who will be taking college and/or graduate school entrance exams. It will also assist anyone who is currently job hunting by helping them create coherent, concise written material during the interview process. For those already in the business world, this course will help you create written presentations and other materials required on the job. It will enhance and expand your writing ability and thinking process in the world of business. This course will also benefit those in supervisory positions where a great deal of writing is required. Lastly, it will help anyone enhance their personal written communication skills. 

Courses Frequently Bought Together:

Writing Basics 101: Spelling, Grammar, Punctuation, Writing Structures

ESL Basic Grammar and Writing

Writing Improvement 101

Course Motivation

Essay writing, unlike fiction or poetry writing, is a method of addressing specific points that the author is trying to convey to their particular audience. While there is a myth that good essay writers are born that way, the truth is that this is a skill that can be learned. Just as with most skills in life or school, creating a well rounded, coherent essay is a process that can be learned, perfected, and developed with the right tools and information. And, as with learning other skills, practice allows you to become increasingly more adept at essay writing.

START EARLY 

The first and most important part of writing a great essay is to START EARLY! It cannot be stressed enough that you must allow ample time to develop your argument, create an outline, perform research, create a rough draft, revise, and write a final draft. Most professors will tell you to start two to three weeks before your essay is due. However, if you have other obligations, such as work, children, household chores, and more, you should start even earlier. If you are one of the lucky few who has plenty of time on their hands, then you can start later. Never give yourself less than 10 day's time before the due date to start your essay though, no matter what your time freedom or restraints are. Last minute writing will receive a poor reception and most likely, a less than average grade.

Whether your writing assignment is academic, business, or personal, the process of all essay writing can be encapsulated into eight basic steps.

1. Choose a Topic or Focus on the Assigned Topic.
2. Develop your ideas.
3. Create an Outline.
4. Write a tentative thesis.
5. Research.
6. Create the first draft.
7. Revise (multiple times).
8. Create a Final draft.

These steps will be covered in great detail in this course, but it is important to understand what they are and why they play an important role in essay writing. Let's take a closer look at each process individually.

In some cases you will be assigned or will have a topic to write about. This is often the case with business or personal essay writing. In some academic situations you may be asked to select your own specific topic within a broader subject range. For instance, you may have to write about Shakespearian tragedy, but the topic may be anything you desire in that arena. Having to select your own topic adds an additional step to this process, but either way you will have to hone in on specific points related to your central thesis or topic so that you will begin to develop a clear idea of where you plan on going with your writing.

The best way to generate the specific ideas you want to convey, research, or cover in your essay is to use the standard writing rules. With every essay, answer the following questions clearly for yourself:

1. Who are your audience and what are you trying to tell them?
2. What is the main purpose of your essay?
3. Who are you? What image do you want to convey about yourself as a person and a writer?

Brainstorming may be helpful to begin with. (List a bunch of ideas without regard to exploring or judging them at the moment).

Creating an outline helps organize your information, points, and components into a cohesive, clear format. Often, in an academic setting, an outline will be requested and required before your topic is accepted or your essay is handed in. You may use alpha-numeric headings or decimal. Alpha-numeric is acceptable for most uses but it makes no difference which you use. You may ask your educator which they prefer if you are unsure about which to use. You will also be supplied with a blank alpha-numeric and a blank decimal outline that can be edited to your needs and printed out for your use.

Accurate, recordable research is vital in supporting the thesis you are presenting to your audience. Without research your essay is considered an opinion expressed by you and only you, and not supported by any other documentation or proof. Performing research is a time consuming task. It will be considerably less time consuming if your thesis or central idea is specific and clear. If your thesis is too broad, you will see this as you begin your research. If you are getting too much information, you probably need to narrow down your central theme. Think of research as an inverted pyramid process. Start with a wide range of opinions on your specific topic and then begin to narrow your reading down to those which are relevant to your thesis.

PROCESS SIX. Creating the first draft.

It is helpful if you have your research materials, books, and other notes, on paper, and nearby as you write. This will make it easier to refer to them along the way. Just start writing.

The revision process is where you will put your rough draft into a clear, concise format and fix any errors or omissions. Prior to making revisions in your writing, you should use your spell check feature to correct any glaring spelling errors. Some useful steps for revision are as follows.

1. Print out a hard copy.
2. Read over and mark any sentences or paragraphs you want to change by deleting or adding to what you have written.
3. Jot notes in margins or on a separate piece of paper wherever helpful.
4. Rewrite (often).
5. Check for spelling and grammatical errors again and correct.

The final draft is exactly that. It is the final printout of all your hard work and dedication. Don't be alarmed if you spot a few problems that need to be fixed in your final draft or a few things you may want to change. Just revise and reprint if need be. At some point, however, typos, spelling, and grammatical errors aside, you will need to reach an end point. Some writers are never satisfied with their work, and could go on editing and revising forever, but this is not possible. Your essay will need to be presented to its intended audience at some time. So, print out as many copies as you need and call it a day. Hopefully, you did the work you needed to do in the previous steps and your essay is exactly (or nearly) what you aimed for. Congratulate yourself for a job well done!