10 best ESSAY WRITING TIPS IN ENGLISH with examples

An essay is a piece of prose writing which expects you to explore and present a coherent set of ideas on a given topic. It has to be well-organized and concise. An essay is judged not only on the content, or what you say but also on how you write it. An essay test your writing skills as well as your ability to think logically and your success in organizing your thoughts. Let us first consider the organization of essay writing tips in English.

THE IDEA

A good essay has a particular thesis statement or Central idea which is explored or argued in the main body. The word thesis means a statement or theory to be put forward and it comes from the Greek word for preposition. Every essay should have a thesis, an argument or a point that is the central idea of the piece of writing. This thesis may be stated or it may be unstated, as in some of the examples that follow. Most importantly your essay should attempt to convey a certain point or idea to The Reader.

A good essay depends on the good organisation to establish its Central Idea and therefore it is a good idea to spend some time thinking about the points you wish to make and the way you wish to present the points even before you begin to write the essay. essay writing tips in English.

STEPS TO FOLLOW

The most important aspect of writing an essay is the idea that you are presenting. thus It is a good strategy to first decide what the point of the Essay is going to be. Even before you begin to write, you should think about what you intend to write. If, for example, you are beginning to write on the topic steps to improve Indias performance in international Sports` take some time to list what you consider are the important points. You may think these are:

• The lack of infrastructure at local levels
• The lack of sports culture in India
• The general level of poverty in India
• The lack of Government support for sports
• The overemphasis on academic achievement in schools

Then you would need to suggest steps to overcome these problems.
These may include:

• Making sports a compulsory and important part of school curricula
• Developing fields, gyms and pools at district and local levels
• Raising awareness about the benefits of sports for all children and adults
• Raising corporate funds for the promotion of sports events at local levels
• Involving local elected bodies such as panchayats in sports programmes
• Encouraging sports scholarships at the school and college levels

Next, you should decide on the arrangement of your argument. Decide which of the steps in the second list you consider to be the most important or significant or central. For example, you may feel that raising awareness about the benefits of sports for all children and adults is the right way to address the problem. In that case, this should serve as your thesis statement or the central point of your essay. Then look at the other points listed. Arrange them in order of importance with regard to your thesis statement.

See how the issues on your list of problems and the list of steps that may be taken are connected. It may be a good idea to indicate these ideas to yourself by connecting the points:

• Developing fields, gyms and swimming pools at district and local levels
• Raising awareness about the benefits of sports for all children and adults
• Making sports a compulsory and important part of school curricula
• Encouraging sports scholarships at the school and college levels
• Awards of financial support such as scholarships for talented young students
• Raising corporate funds for the promotion of sports events at local levels
• Involving local elected bodies such as Panchayats in sports programmes

The resulting framework of ideas

• The lack of infrastructure at local levels
• The lack of sports culture in India
• The general level of poverty in India
• The lack of government support for sports
• The overemphasis on academic achievement in schools

See how a structure for your essay is emerging. Some points are so closely related that you can cluster them together, while others need separate treatment. Number the clusters of points according to their level of importance. Decide what your thesis statement will be. Plan the order of your points. Plan the paragraphs.

WRITING AN INTRODUCTION

Now you can begin writing your essay. The first paragraph is extremely important for a number of reasons. First, the tone of your essay is being set. The Reader is being introduced to your ideas about the topic. You are assuming a position and addressing The Reader.

It is very important to keep the reader in mind. After all, you are communicating some ideas for him or her to read. You should therefore make sure that you are able to express your ideas in such a way that s/he can understand what you are trying to say. The introduction should attempt to orient the reader to your position on the topic and give some indication of the way the rest of the essay is likely to develop.

It is also important to attract and hold the reader`s attention. If the beginning is promising most readers will want to read on; if the beginning is boring or badly written or confused, the reader will assume the rest of the essay will also not be worth reading .how many times have you started reading something, only to find your attention wandering? usually, you will not read much more than the introduction if the introduction does not promise you anything interesting.

There are no fixed rules about the introduction. some writers prefer a dramatic or unusual beginning:

Last night I went to sleep in a bad mood. I was awake till 2:30 in the morning as I was watching the intense competition, the drama of athletes attempting to reach perfection and either succeeding or failing, I could not help feeling sad as I watched the cheering crowds wave the flags of their countries, the successful athletes drape their national colours around themselves and the tears in their eyes as they heard their national anthem being played.

I was happy for them but sad that among the hundreds and thousands of faces on the screen, there was not one Indian among them. I lay awake wondering why our country, which is doing so well in so many fields, had to be content with just winning one silver medal at the world’s most important sporting event.

This introduction is personal and emotional. it is a dramatic way of introducing the topic and can be a good strategy to capture the reader’s attention. alternatively, you may prefer a more formal introduction:

It has become common for newspaper columnists and editorial writers to lament India’s failure to perform every four years during the Olympic games. in a country where children suffer from malnutrition, illiteracy, diseases of all kinds and other serious problems of existence, it is a luxury to talk of excellence in sports at international levels .in fact, policymakers should place greater priority on improving the general physical and mental health of our nation’s children.

Such an introduction reflects the writer’s desire to address the issue at a general level. it begins by placing the issue of performance in sports within a larger social context. it suggests that the writer is not merely addressing the topic in isolation. as the introduction will set the tone for the entire essay, you should be careful when you choose the opening lines.

For example, in the first introduction, the writer’s presence is made quite obvious. the rest of the essay, or the ‘body’, may continue in this way. However, if you select a more formal beginning, the tone and the presentation of arguments must also be formal.

Many people feel that in a serious essay, it is more appropriate to use the third person and to avoid using ‘I’. However, others consider this an old-fashioned convention that is now changing. Let us continue the two essays. the first one could continue thus:

For sixteen continuous days, I had remained glued to the television set, keeping my fingers crossed, hoping for a miracle. all I received in return for my patience and prayers was the usual disappointment that recurred every four years. my perturbation had not only spoilt my mood but had also set me thinking:

why can’t we have a Jesse Owens in athletics or a Sergei Bubka in pole vault or a Nadia Comaneci in gymnastics? why can’t we rely on our participants in the category of ‘medal-hopes’? surely we are not lacking in talent? but the bottom line was clear. our particulars could not match up to the Americans, the Chinese, the Russians or the germans.

I tried to find solace in the Olympic creed: ‘The most important thing in the Olympic games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph, but the struggle .’ still my disturbed spirit could not be pacified.to quote the creed further, we have not ‘conquered’ but have we really ‘fought well’? My doubts remained.

I tried to understand where the fault or more specifically speaking, the ‘lack of challenge’ lay. we had tried but our efforts were somewhat half-hearted. we had tried, but not with a vengeance, to be the best.

A look around me provided me with some of the reasons for India’s performance at Athens. in a country where the trauma of starvation is a fact and where an appalling defence expenditure swallows the national revenue, the sophistication of turf grass becomes a luxury indeed. the resources of the average Indian youth are paltry.

the local gymkhanas contain a few crude dumbbells and barbells. the algae-infested local pond makes up for the full-fledged swimming pool.the corporate world has its sights set on cricket, the biggest money-spinner. Neither the government nor the private sector cares to invest in the improvement of the infrastructure for sports at the local level.

However, there are more serious social issues involved. young children are told constantly that they must study hard and do well in school in order to ensure secure futures for themselves. where is the time or opportunity for our children to play and practice and dream of athletic excellence?

they are taught that only school and studying hard and doing well in examinations can provide them with a secure future; why blame our young talents if they spend more time with books instead of playing?

I felt sad as I ruminated that in a country whose population exceeds a billion, a single gold medal prospect seems an impossibility. since the hockey gold in Moscow in 1980, we still await a gold medal. the 28th modern Olympics held in Athens left us empty-handed in this regard.

will a time come when having watched the Olympic games, my patriotic zeal will be rewarded and I will be able to go to sleep contented? only time will tell. till then my heart will be restless, like a Ulysses: ‘To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield,’

This essay covers many of the points raised above, but on a high emotional and personal note. Here logic is secondary to the sense of emotional despair. yet the essay could also be continued as follows:

Nutritional programmes and one-day -meal schemes should be arranged to give children enough physical stamina and incentive for performing well in sports. these endeavours should be supervised time and again as misappropriations often take place at local levels. awareness meetings should be held at every locality to make guardians aware of the fact that a sound mind can dwell only in a sound body.

In advanced countries like Sweden, sports receive a priority unlike in developing countries like ours. in the latter, areas like academic performance and job-oriented courses receive the foremost attention of parents, since the question of livelihood is more uncertain in these areas.

in the rat race for excellence in studies and work, the youth has to forego physical training, right from the primary classes. parental expectations, the financial crunch of the family, and the sky-high costs of pursuing sports seriously place sports and training beyond the reach of the average Indian family where many unexplored talents lie hidden.

Thus sophisticated sports sometimes prove a luxury in the Indian context. yet the situation can be markedly improved if genuine concern for the importance of sports is created. the pathetic state of sports in our country owes largely to apathy for initiative and a lack of zeal for excellence.

the money factor is not the sole excuse in every case. apt action on the part of decision-making bodies both at national and grass-root levels like the sports councils and panchayat bodies is often missing. mere reservation of a few sports quotas in universities and some public concerns is no solution.

scholarships for talented young sportsmen are often absent when compared to the plethora of aid, via grants and loans in professional work courses. a handful of elite private schools have PT and ESPW classes but the picture of sports in public and municipal schools remains dismal.

In fact, if children are encouraged to take an active interest in sports and continue the habit of physical activity even as adults, they would enjoy long-term health benefits throughout their lives.

However, the economic factor cannot be totally overlooked. Adequate funding is the backbone of developmental sports programmes. The Ministry of Sports must take the help of the media and advertising agencies to garner support from the corporate sector by popularizing neglected sports and capturing public attention by promoting them.

The recent upsurge of interest in hockey and tennis may be cited as a case in point. Moreover, established sports personalities must come forward to promote their relevant games, as do Vishwanathan Anand for chess or Geeth Sethi for billiards. Besides, a thorough change of outlook on the part of those responsible is also necessary before we can make any real progress.

It is more essential to recognize potential achievers right from the start and to back them rather than rewarding a semi-successful sportsperson out of gratitude.

A comprehensive sports culture needs to be ushered in before we can dream of gold medals in the Olympics Judging by the Newtonian principle of cause and effect, such initiatives will not go waste The Olympic ideal of Citius, Altius, and Fortius must be cherished at every preparatory stage.

Only such wide-ranging changes in our social outlook can help India to create a winning team at the next Olympics when we as proud Indians can say ‘ Mera Bharat Mahan Hai! “

In this version, the tone is more analytical. It looks at some deep-rooted reasons and presents them in a logical, organized way. There is no emotional or personal element in this essay. Rather, it probes the issue in a deeper way to suggest the causes of India’s failure as a sporting nation and suggests ways in which these shortcomings may be overcome. The tone is serious and analytical.

Writing clearly and logically

In some forms of essay writing, you may be required to describe something or someone. Here, you will have to concentrate on presenting the important facts. You will have to order the points so that the reader will get a clear idea about the thing or person you are describing Read the example given below.

What is a Solar Cooker?

There are various types of Solar Cookers that are in use, but the most commonly used variety in India is the Box – type Cooker. This is the simplest to manufacture and maintain, though it is not as efficient as other, more sophisticated models.

The Cooker consists of an outer box made of wood, iron or fibreglass with an inner box of galvanized iron, steel or aluminium. The space between the two boxes is filled with material that is a bad conductor of heat, like fibre – glass wool. The inner box is painted a dull, matt black in order to absorb a greater amount of the sun’s heat.

The lid of the Cooker is fitted with a mirror, which should be positioned such that the sun’s rays are reflected off it onto the inner box Proper positioning of this mirror increases the efficiency of the Cooker by up to 50 per cent.

Between the inner box and the lid, there is a cover made up of two pieces of glass. This cover traps the heat in the inner box . Glass and the air that is between the two layers of glass are bad conductors of heat, so they are effective in increasing the temperature in the inner box.

There are four small clips to hold the glass cover in place tightly so as to prevent the entrapped heat from escaping from the inner box A hinge on the side is provided to prop up the mirror at the appropriate angle for directing the reflections of the sunlight on to the inner box.

The Cooker comes with four boxes with covers, usually of steel or aluminium, which are painted black on the outside. There is a handle attached to the Cooker on the outer side and there are four wheels, these make it easier to move the Cooker as necessary. There is a rubber gasket lining the inner box to prevent heat leakages.

This is the simplest form of Solar cooker available in India. The heat generated in the Cooker is approximately 140 degrees centigrade in sunlight and is even higher in stronger sunlight. This is equivalent to the degree of heat in an electric oven at a low setting. This amount of heat is enough to cook most kinds of food. It is not high enough though for boiling water or for frying.

With this type of Cooker, the available amount of sunlight is the crucial factor for successful cooking. While on average in India, there is sunlight for 300 days, the Cooker may not be successfully used on all days.

During the monsoons, for example, the sunlight may not be constant or strong enough to reach the high temperatures necessary for cooking all foodstuffs. It is a conservative estimate to say that the Cooker may usually be used for eight months in the year.

This essay combines the description of the physical characteristics of the solar cooker with observations about the working of the gadget. The language is simple and straightforward. The paragraphs and most of the sentences are short. The language too is simple and plain; that is, without embellishments or rhetorical flourishes.

The introduction is short and tells the reader that the essay will concentrate on one particular type the commonest type of solar cooker. –

The second and third paragraphs focus on the physical description of the instrument. However, they also weave in the purpose of the parts, such as

‘The inner box is painted a dull , matt black in order to absorb a greater amount of the sun’s heat ‘, ‘ Between the inner box and the lid, there is a cover made up of two pieces of glass. This cover traps the heat in the inner box.

Glass and the air that is between the two layers of glass are bad conductors of heat, so they are effective in increasing the temperature in the inner box ‘ Any descriptive piece of writing usually combine these two aspects – the physical parts and the purpose of will the various parts.

Only after the description of the physical parts and their functions does the essay move on to the issue of the use. The heat generated in the Cooker is approximately 140 degrees centigrade in sunlight and is even higher in stronger sunlight. This is equivalent to the degree of heat in an electric oven at a low setting.

This amount of heat is enough to cook most kinds of food. It is not high enough though to bring water to a boil, or to fry anything. This gives some basic idea about the ways in which the solar cooker may be used.

The concluding sentences give some general information about the solar cooker. This essay aims to present information in a clear, concise manner. Therefore, the writer is focused on providing what is necessary and not offering information that is irrelevant or may be confusing.

Describing things may not be as easy as it seems. The following essay tries to describe a more abstract idea.

Presenting an argument

This is usually a more complex piece of writing. There are many ways of presenting arguments. The following are a few examples.

Education should be job-oriented

Nowadays there is a proliferation of job-oriented courses in the education market. The growth of the market economy, liberalization, private enterprise and associated social trends have added to the impetus already provided by the advancement of science and technology to create professional careers in new areas.

If education is made job – oriented it will help students to be more focused in their studies since they will possess a sense of direction.

They will improve their performance because they will have set targets to fulfil. It will reduce unnecessary tension associated with getting suitable employment after completing their degrees or diplomas; something that regular courses cannot always guarantee.

This trend also has larger implications for the economy. Job-oriented education will create specialists who will excel in their particular fields and this will improve overall efficiency and thereby increase productivity.

Students will be encouraged to think about their skills and talents and choose education which will enhance their particular skills. This too will result in a more mature and productive workforce.

However, there is a flip side to this story too. Job-oriented courses are often rigidly content – specific and this makes learning more of a drilling session than an enjoyable experience. If education is made totally job-oriented, it may hinder the development of other aspects of the student’s personality.

More general education can help the student to mature while encouraging the formation of a rounded personality. Interaction with a variety of students and teachers can help to inculcate social virtues and social vision. Job-oriented courses tend to make individuals unduly mechanical and focused on short-term goals. This is not the kind of society that we wish to create.

Despite the validity of the above factors, it cannot be denied that in the modern world the concern for obtaining suitable employment after the completion of education cannot be casually dismissed. After all, if education cannot provide a person with decent means to earn a livelihood it becomes a discredit rather than a boon for the person.

Perhaps what we need to find is the perfect balance between an education system that prepares students for a job and one that provides a more idealized notion of education. Education should be able to provide the opportunity for the all-around development of students and help them become useful productive citizens for the future.

This essay tries to provide two opposing ideas about the quality and goals of education. The beginning half of the essay provides points that support the evolution of job-oriented education, while the next part lists some of the other attributes of an ideal education system. After presenting both sides of the argument, the essay concludes by arguing for a synthesis of the best points of the two viewpoints.

The following essay also tries to bring in a balanced tone to its argument. It presents both sides of an argument. The reason for doing this is to anticipate objections to your argument and address them. By this strategy, the reader gets the impression that you have thought about the issue and are willing to consider other points or opinions.

If you wish to negate them, then you must present your reasons for not accepting opposing points of view. This adds to the impression that you are a logical person who has thought about the issue and has formed- your opinion after much thought and consideration. This makes your essay more convincing to the reader.

Defining concepts

Explaining concepts or ideas can also be the purpose of an essay you have to write. This may include providing a definition of a term. The following is a short explanation of the term the “Gaia hypothesis”, which is a fundamental idea in the areas of ecology and environmental studies.

Gaia Hypothesis

The Gaia hypothesis was originally developed by the scientist James Lovelock who is otherwise famous for his discovery of an analytical technique called the electron capture detector. He retired from National Aeronautical and Space Agency ( NASA ) and devoted himself full-time to the study of the Gaia hypothesis.

Gaia is the name of the ancient Greek goddess ‘ Mother Earth ‘. The hypothesis, named after the goddess, is based on the theory that living organisms do not simply adapt to the physical environment but actively interact with it to modify the physical and chemical conditions of the biosphere. Lovelock learnt many disciplines in order to pursue an interdisciplinary study for the purpose of testing the Gaia hypothesis.

The Gaia hypothesis rests upon two observations:

• The Earth is a super ecosystem with numerous interacting functions and feedback loops that maintain life-supporting temperature and keep the chemical composition of the atmosphere and oceans relatively constant; and
• Afterlife appeared on Earth, organisms played an active role in modifying the various physical and chemical properties on Earth for maintaining life-supporting conditions.

Here the essay gives a literal meaning of the word to help the reader get a sense of its meaning. The reference to the Greek original gives the reader the idea of the role of the Earth as a life-sustaining system.

A brief history of the inventor of this term tells us that this idea was created from a multidisciplinary perspective, that is biology, physics and chemistry were combined in order to realize the complex interactions between the various living and non-living components of our Earth. Lastly, there is a formal definition of the Gaia hypothesis which condenses the salient or important features of the concept.

Comparing and Contrasting

Often essays may require you to compare and contrast two things, people or events. In that case, you have to organize your material in a way that the reader can easily follow your points. In the essay that follows, the writer is contrasting two cultural functions that took place at the same time in one complex.

Mankind – a millennium later

It is indeed difficult to visualize the state of mankind a millennium later. In this fast-changing world where new inventions and discoveries are being made every day, a millennium is a huge span of time. It is interesting, however, to speculate about the possible condition of mankind a thousand years from now.

The picture of our world a thousand years later will be very different from ours. The population will be double the current number. It may be even more. On the one hand, this would lead to a scarcity of arable land, food, dwelling space and potable water. Hope rests, however, on impressive advancements in science and technology.

Viable alternatives for production will be found. Or maybe, human beings will not have to eat to survive. Just a pill chewed in the morning could provide one with all the nutrients she needs. And she won’t even feel hungry the whole day. We may colonize the moon or the Red Planet, cultivate food in laboratories and construct underwater townships!

Most possibly man will become an even more powerful creature. The human genetic code will be completely mapped and there will be superhuman clones performing tasks for their original counterparts. Digital computers and robots will improve human efficiency and make life super-fast. Mankind will conquer space, the ultimate frontier, and space visits will become as easy as boat rides.

All these marvels are in the nature of possibilities. Advancements in medical science may prolong the human lifespan to a degree hitherto unforeseen. However, problematic areas like fuel – crisis, pollution and depletion of life-sustaining units have to be tackled in a more efficient manner than at present if humans are to survive at all.

Other even more fantastic ideas may come true by then. We may be walking on plasma bridges and using gamma rays as fuel, much in the manner of the world of 3D computer games! We might even establish contact with other forms of life living in worlds far away from ours!

However, there is almost equally the possibility of disaster in the future. If we do not survive the ravages of a future world war, humans might even revert to the crude state of Neolithic man. Obviously, man’s moral advancement has to be in tandem with his scientific advancement. Man must rise above his avarice, without forsaking his sense of curiosity. Only then will he emerge as Nature’s choicest creation. The future is fascinating indeed. If only one could take a peek at it right now.

In this essay, there are a number of implied contrasts between the world as it is now and the world that may evolve in the future. The present condition is not really described. Thus, these contrasts are implied. Also, there are some contrasts between a positive and a bleak future. These are separately described in different paragraphs. Thus, this essay too makes use of some of the organizing principles of an essay that compares and contrasts.

Classifying Information

Often, in an essay, you may have to classify a lot of information into features of a definition. simple categories and explain them. This can combine some of the features of a definition.

Bengali Hindu Ghosts

Of Bengali ghosts, that is the spirits of Bengali men and women, there is a great variety, but there are five classes which generally make their appearance, enlightenment and civilization if not in cities and towns – for they seem altogether to have left the seats of – at least in the villages of Bengal.

The first and most honourable class of ghosts comprises those who pass by the name of Brahmadaityas, or the spirits of departed Brahmans. They generally take up their abode in the branches of the Gaya asthma, the most sacred species of the Ficus religiosa, and also in the branches of the holy Triphala. Unlike other ghosts, they do not eat all sorts of food, but only those which are considered religiously clean. Unlike other ghosts, they never appear only to frighten men,

such an object being beneath their dignity. They are for the most part inoffensive, never doing harm to benighted travellers, nor entering into the bodies of living men or women; but should their dignity be contemned, or their sanctum sanctorum be invaded or desecrated, their rage knows no bounds, and the neck of the offender is ruthlessly wrung and broken – a species of vengeance to which they are somewhat partial.

Hence a Hindu will hardly ever climb up the Ficus cordifolia except in dire necessity; and if Brahmins must often climb the Ægle Marmelos for obtaining the sacred trefoil so largely used in Brahmanical worship, they do it only after offering prayers to the gods in general, and to the Brahmadaitya in particular who may have taken: up his abode in the tree to be climbed.

Another class of ghosts and they are by far the most numerous class, are simply called bhutas, that is, spirits. They are the spirits of departed Kshatriyas, Vaisyas, and Sudras. They are as tall as palmyra trees, generally thin and very dark. They usually live on trees of every description except those, of course, on which the Brahmanical ghosts have taken up their abode.

At night, especially at midnight the hour of darkness, they go about in villages and fields, frightening night-walkers and belated travellers. They prefer dirty places to clean ones and have never been seen in the precincts of the temples of the gods. They are always stark naked.

They’re rather fond of women, whom they generally retain. They eat rice and all feathers of mortal food, but their favourite dish is fish. Their partiality for fish is so well known that a large fix is necessary to induce a Bengali peasant to go at night from one place to another with some volume of fish in his hand. still, especially to the outskirts of a vill and to the fields, he’s sure to be attacked by a ghost or ghosts anxious to devour the fish, If he’s foolhardy enough to go.

still, the peasant has reason to be thankful, for, in that case, the two ghosts are sure to squabble with each other, If two ghosts attack him. and the peasant escapes scot-free.

The best way to defend oneself from the attack of a bhuta is to repeat the names of the gods and goddesses, especially Kali, Durga and Siva, the last one being named bhutanath, or the lord of ghosts. Another mode of preventing the attack of a ghost is to carry with you a stick or rod or iron, a metal of which spirits are, for some reason or other, greatly afraid.

Hence Hindu peasants, who bear in some seasons time to go out to the fields at night, carry with them rods of iron. But neither the reiteration of the names of the gods and goddesses nor an iron rod will help a ghost from shocking a man from a distance; they’re safeguards only against a ghost touching his person.

All ghosts, owing to the peculiar conformation of their mouth, speak through the nose . – – The bhutas are all male ghosts; but there are two classes of female ghosts, called pets and sankhchihnis. Of the petnis, not much is known, except

that they are terribly dirty- the stench of their bodies when near produces violent nausea in human beings; that they are very lascivious, trying to waylay benighted passengers for the gratification of their lusts; and that intercourse with them is sure to end in the destruction of both the body and the soul. Sankhchihnis or sankhachurnis, so-called, in the opinion of some demonologists,

because they put on clothes as white as the sankha ( conch shell ), and according to others, because they are fond of breaking conch shells to pieces, are female ghosts, not as filthy as pets, but equally dangerous. They usually stand in the dead of night at the foot of trees, and look like sheets of cloth as white as any fuller can make them.

Another class of ghosts are the skandhahatas, so-called because their heads have been cut off from above their shoulders. These headless ghosts are probably the most terrible of the whole set, as they have never been known to spare any human being with whom they have come in contact. They generally dwell in low moist lands, outside a village, in bogs and fens, and go about in the dark, rolling on the ground, with their huge arms stretched out. Certain death awaits the belated peasant who falls within the folds of those gigantic arms.

One of the purposes of writing an essay is to provide information in a logical, coherent manner. Sometimes the writer has to classify and organize knowledge properly in order to present a clear idea to the reader. In this essay, the famous nineteenth-century writer, Reverend Lal Behari Dey, wishes to present the reader with detailed information about the various kinds of ghosts in rural Bengal.

Each of the paragraphs deals with a particular type of ghost. The paragraphs follow a similar structure. The first part of the paragraph describes the defining characteristics of the ghost being described.

This is followed by the ghost’s typical behaviour and a special mention is made in each paragraph of the kind of threat to humans that each type of ghost may pose. The paragraphs end with the precautions, if any, that humans may take if they meet such a ghost. In this way Reverend Dey rural Bengal. provides us with detailed descriptions of the wide variety of ghosts in rural Bengal.

The language is specific. The details are particularized. For example, the kind of tree or the area where each may be found is described. The physical appearance is mentioned and any other relevant characteristic, such as smell is mentioned. Thus, many adjectives and adverbs are used by the writer.