 |  College Writing Skills, Media Edition, 5/e John Langan,
Atlantic Community College
Introduction to Essay Development
Key Termsargumentationa pattern of essay development in which a writer attempts to support a controversial point or to defend a position on which there is difference of opinion
audiencethe group of readers for whom the writer writes; purpose and audience must always be kept in mind when writing (to write effectively), and when analyzing pieces of writing (to understand correctly)
cause and effecta pattern of essay development in which the causes and/or effects of an event are analyzed; form of exposition
comparison and contrast a pattern of essay development in which two or more things are compared or contrasted; form of exposition
definitiona pattern of essay development in which a term or concept is defined; form of exposition
descriptiona pattern of essay development: verbal picture of a person, place, or thing
division and classification a pattern of essay development; form of exposition
examplesa pattern of essay development in which a writer provides examples that support his/her point; form of exposition
expositionan essay form in which the writer provides information about and explains a certain subject; examples, process, cause and effect, comparison and contrast, definition, and division and classification are forms of exposition
first-person point of view writing of one’s own experience and speaking in one’s own voice, using "I’ and "we"; often considered too informal for college writing, except in narration
narrationa pattern of essay development: a story told of a past event
peer reviewevaluation of a student’s piece of writing by a classmate or other student
personal reviewself-evaluation of writing, using (for example) the guidelines on the four bases of good writing (unity, support, coherence, sentence skills)
point of viewthe stance or approach a writer takes in writing. There are three different points of view in writing: first-person, second-person, and third-person
processa pattern of essay development in which the procedure for doing or making something is detailed; form of exposition
purposea writer’s reason for writing; the three most common purposes in writing are to inform, to persuade, and to entertain
second-person point of view writing directly to the reader, using "you"
third-person point of view writing without making direct reference either to oneself or to the reader, using "he," "she," "it," "they," etc.; the most common point of view in academic writing
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2003 McGraw-Hill Higher Education