Como Hacer Un Ensayo

HOW CAN I IMPROVE MY ESSAY?

 What strategies can you use to improve your essay?

• Make sure that your introduction is captivating

• Organize your ideas beforehand…plan your essay!

• Add relevant information-no waffling

• Avoid clichés and colloquial language

• Use a variety of (semi)formal connectors

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 Have a look at these essays written by students and answer the questions. They were taken from :

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic22908.html

For and against essay of having a pet

Pets have accompanied mankind since the dawn of history. Allegedly, the domestication of animals begun along with the Neolithic Revolution (approximately between 10-12 thousand years ago). Some people either hate or love this accompaniment. For sure, there are various disadvantages and advantages of having a pet, which I will try to point out in my essay.

In my opinion, one major advantage of having a pet is that they can replace people and become one of our nearest and dearest. For instance, if someone lives alone he would find it very enjoyable of having a pet. Furthermore, presence of an animal at home may provide greater feeling of security (especially when this pet is a dog). In addition to this, pets often play the main role in both, the handicapped and disabled people’s lives.

Nevertheless, keeping a pet involves lots of responsibilities. Firstly, there are some extra costs which appear along with animals. The pet-holder always needs to calculate constant expenses into budget, because his favourite requires food, equipment (cages, collars, aquarium, etc.) and probably veterinary treatment. Apart from this, if you decide to buy a pet you will certainly tied yourself up with this animal, because from this moment you will always have to, before going anywhere from town, take into consideration your pet's needs.

Taking everything into account, I realise that my stance in this matter is rather balanced. There are both good and bad sides of keeping a pet at home. In my opinion, everything depends on an individual character of the pet-owner, his particular relishes. I suppose that the relations between the animals and humans are as much diverse and complicated as they are between people themselves.

Analyse…

a) Is there irrelevant information?

b) Is it well balanced?

c) Are opinions well supported?

d) Did the writer use a variety of connectors?

e) Is the style appropriate?

f) What would the writer have to change? Why? How

 Have a look at the 2nd version of that essay.

Pets have accompanied mankind since the dawn of history. The domestication of animals began in the Neolithic Revolution 10-12 thousand years ago. People either love or hate this companionship. There are advantages and disadvantages to having a pet, which are discussed below.

One major advantage of having pets is that they can substitute for people and become one of their nearest and dearest companions. For instance, if someone lives alone he will find a pet very enjoyable. Furthermore, the presence of an animal in the home may provide a greater feeling of security, especially when this pet is a dog. In addition to this, pets often play a major role in disabled people’s lives.

Nevertheless, keeping a pet involves many responsibilities. First, there are extra costs involved. The pet owner needs to budget for his pet's food, equipment (cages, collars, aquarium, etc.)

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