Lumiere English Academy Distance Teaching Course; Lesson Two - Reading and The English Essay

Education - the Key to a Brighter Future

LUMIERE ENGLISH ACADEMY
DISTANCE TEACHING COURSE
LESSON TWO
READING AND THE ENGLISH ESSAY

Please note that you may make copies of the lessons and use copyright free for any worthy purpose.

LIST OF ENGLISH BOOKS
Ask the student for a list of English books he or she has read and enjoyed (if any). This list will give you a good basis to work from in some of your classes, and also what the student's past experience in reading and comprehension in the English language has been.

ONE ESSAY PER WEEK
Set the task (if possible) for the student to write one essay per week. This will be marked by yourself in a spirit of constructive assistance, commending strengths and explaining grammatical difficulties within the essay clearly to the student.

Set an essay for the student to do within the week on a topic which is interesting to the student.
An example is 'What I find interesting about cars and why'.

Set a rule of thumb for the student to write the essay according to the following format;

ESSAY HEADING

1. INTRODUCTION - Here the student introduces the topic, with a short explanation on the subject he or she will be writing about. An example of this is to write, 'The reason I find cars so interesting are because of their - to me - most appealing and interesting feature; their engines. Since I was a child, I have had an enduring fascination with cars. Walking with my father in the marketplace, I would tug on his hand to lean back and admire the sleek lines of the automobile buses cruising in to park at the local bazaar. I found car engines so fascinating because of the fuel on which they run. This led me to wonder about the future of fuels; are they sustainable? What will happen when fuels run out? The answer came to me in a flash; alternative forms of energy!'

2. BODY - Now the student goes on to develop the topic, in at least three main paragraphs. Encourage your student to find a number of main points to discuss, building on and explaining main issues which have been introduced in the introductory paragraph. The main points are dependent on the creativity and thoughts of your student. Examples of main points from the above introduction could be;
1. Automobile buses and forms of transport
2. The use of fossil fuels, and the rate at which they are currently used
3. The possibilities of development of alternate forms of fossil fuels

GOLDEN LINE
Now your student explains clearly to the reader/ teacher /  examiner about these three points. It is part of the craft of good essay writing to keep the 'golden line' - that is, an ongoing line of thought throughout the essay in order to keep it clear, readable and informative. The golden line in the above essay would possibly be engines and the fuels they require in order to function.

FIRST PARAGRAPH
So the student begins the first paragraph. One way he or she could begin, is to link with the introduction. The student could write; 
'Having come to this conclusion, it now became important to me to find out more about the forms of transport which link our countries together. Buses, trucks and cars are used in so many ways; to bring produce from one end of the country to the other in order to keep the population healthy and strong. These forms of transport assist people to attend health professionals, who keep the health of the populace in good condition. Students go to Schools, Colleges and Universities in order to study and prepare well for a well educated future. Transport is thus vital for the wellbeing of a country and her economy.' The student can go on to develop his or her ideas on this area of the topic.

SECOND PARAGRAPH
The first paragraph having been elegantly completed, the student now moves on to the second paragraph.  An example of the way in which this could be approached, is;
'It was thus very clear to me that modes of transport are vital to the health of each country's economy. It is noteworthy that fossil fuels are being used as a rapid rate, and in some areas are becoming somewhat exhausted. It would be a tragedy if easy, safe and cost effective transport - such an important part of our daily life - would be compromised due to exhaustion of fossil fuels.' The student continues to develop the theme throughout the second paragraph, which could end in a sentence such as
'The distinct possibility of fossil fuels becoming exhausted in the future led me to explore information on alternate methods of energy.'

THIRD PARAGRAPH
Now the student begins the third paragraph, maintaining the golden line and developing the theme of his or her essay.
The third paragraph could be developed in the following way;
'The dependence on fossil fuel availability at present need not be an area of concern, due to the fact that great strides are being made in research into alternate forms of energy. Interest in being shown in solar cells and electricity. Hybrid cars would appear to be the way forward for the future. Recently I was fortunate enough to view a hybrid car, the Nissan Leaf.  This car icon won the European and World Car of the Year Award in 2011 for its design, practicality and eco-friendliness.'
The student can continue to develop his or her thoughts on this topic. The golden line has thus been maintained throughout the essay, knitting together
- the fossil fuel challenge
- the interest the student has in this area
- and the practical issues and possibilities arising therefrom. 

CONCLUSION

The student now concludes the essay with a short paragraph in which he or she draws together all the facts of the essay into one cohesive whole. The conclusion refers to the introduction in which the student has made clear what the frame of reference for the essay will be. The conclusion thus, in a way, answers the issue posed in the Introduction.
So, in this instance, the conclusion could read as; 'Buses were a source of enchantment to me when I was a small four year old walking in the market. Today, they are a never ending fascination. The more I learn about alternative modes of energy to fossil fuels, the more I believe that they are the way forward for the future.
Eco-friendly sustainable energy is the only alternative to over-use and exhaustion of fossil fuels.' 
The student having now concluded the essay can sit back, and rest assured that he or she made the best possible effort to craft that most beautiful of resources; the English essay.

 

THE LUMIERE TEACHER'S PHILOSOPHY IS

KINDNESS AND PATIENCE - BRINGING

LIGHT INTO OTHERS' LIVES

 

 

Best wishes with your tutoring!

Catherine Nicolette Whittle

Diploma TESOL and EDI Level 5 Diploma in Teaching English

London Teacher's Training College England

Samples of Essays
http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/samplesmenu.html

Writing Your Essay
http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/Writing/writingyouressay/content.htm

MITOpenCourseWare Tuhin Bagi http://ocw.mit.edu/about/ocw-stories/tuhin-bagi/ 

Teen Tuhin's Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eqDfwK4dH4

The Future; Tuhin Bagi's Blog
http://tuhinfuture.blogspot.ie/ 

Tuhin Bagi edX Learner story
http://edxstories.tumblr.com/post/52725183329/tuhin-tuhin-bagi-nasik-inda-age-15-hi-i-am