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Author Topic: How to construct better sentences for an essay  (Read 3328 times)  Share 

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lin217

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How to construct better sentences for an essay
« on: October 01, 2017, 04:01:50 pm »
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My English and Visual Arts teachers both told me that I have trouble to express my information in a "clear and concise" manner. They kind of say I don't get straight to the point. How do I improve!?  :-\

fantasticbeasts3

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2017, 04:23:19 pm »
+5
My English and Visual Arts teachers both told me that I have trouble to express my information in a "clear and concise" manner. They kind of say I don't get straight to the point. How do I improve!?  :-\

hi, welcome to the forums!

i'm far from an english expert, but to express information clearly and concisely you'll need to avoid description as much as possible. of course, a bit of context is okay - the marker mightn't know your text, or your artwork for art that well - but not too much, as doing well in any subject really is all about answering the question! also, linking back to the question will make sure you keep turning back to the question, and therefore, getting back to your point at lot easier :-)

hope this helps!
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GraceR99

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2017, 05:30:54 pm »
+1
Another thing you should do is expand your vocabulary! It is amazing what can happen when you start looking for words that sum up your point perfectly!

EEEEEEP

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #3 on: October 04, 2017, 05:33:12 pm »
0
My English and Visual Arts teachers both told me that I have trouble to express my information in a "clear and concise" manner. They kind of say I don't get straight to the point. How do I improve!?  :-\
Hi there, could you say,  give us an example of your writing, maybe 100 or so words ? :D

lin217

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2017, 11:03:44 pm »
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Another thing you should do is expand your vocabulary! It is amazing what can happen when you start looking for words that sum up your point perfectly!

do you have any recommendations on ways to expand my vocabulary? :D

lin217

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #5 on: October 04, 2017, 11:14:28 pm »
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Hi there, could you say,  give us an example of your writing, maybe 100 or so words ? :D

First Attempt:
Through the use of various artistic techniques, Drysdale has composed the modern painting entitled The Rabbiters, in which he has created a sense of drama. The artwork consists of very dull, unhappy tones of colours in which it creates a sense of anxiety and as if something tragic is going to occur. The addition, of ratio between humans and natural land components results to a very drastic outcome as dominance between the people and the large boulders creates a sense of drama. When something dominates another thing, the image of loss and tragedy images in the audience’s mind some sort of bad tension. The composition of the land also gives drama to the overall painting as a result of how the land components are eroded from its original form. Erosion of land is the key component of the structure of the land as erosion of land results in tragedy due to the loss of the natural beauty of the uninterrupted land. The trees falling from their roots with the addition of the oversized boulders (as the result from the ratio of others elements of the artwork) gives definition of what has happened. As seen on the top sides of the artwork, it is evident that there is a sudden occurrence of destruction, seen through the sharp cut-off of the natural land. The inclusion of the people’s body composition conveys to the audience that they are inspecting the land for something. However, since they are inspecting the eroded land, it gives a sense of tension and anxiety because they might be buried in land if more erosion occurs. Drysdale’s artwork has successfully portrayed the sense of drama through the use of specific visual techniques in which when all combined together, composes an artwork that makes the audience think a certain way, in this context, it is the drama of the situation.

Second attempt:

Through the use of various artistic techniques, Drysdale has composed the modern painting entitled The Rabbiters, in which he has created a sense of drama. The artwork consists of very dull, dusty desert like tones of colours in which it creates a sense of anxiety and as if something tragic is going to occur in the Australian outback landscape. The addition, of ratio between humans and natural land components results to a very drastic outcome as dominance between the people and the large boulders creates a sense of drama. When something dominates another figure, the image of loss and tragedy images in the audience’s mind some sort of bad tension. The composition of the land also gives drama to the overall painting as a result of how the land components are eroded from its original form. Erosion of land is the key component of the structure of the land as erosion of land results in tragedy due to the loss of the natural beauty of the uninterrupted land. The trees falling from their roots with the addition of the oversized boulders (as the result from the ratio of others elements of the artwork) gives definition of what has happened. As seen on the top sides of the artwork, it is evident that there is a sudden occurrence of destruction, seen through the sharp cut-off of the natural land. The inclusion of the people’s body composition conveys to the audience that they are inspecting the land for something. However, since they are inspecting the eroded land, it gives a sense of tension and anxiety because they might be buried in land if more erosion occurs. Drysdale’s artwork has successfully portrayed the sense of drama through the use of specific visual techniques in which when all combined together, composes an artwork that makes the audience think a certain way, in this context, it is the drama of the situation.

Third Attempt:

Various artistic techniques Drysdale has used to compose The Rabbiters provided a sense of drama. The artwork consists of very dull, dusty desert like tones of colours in which it creates a sense of anxiety and as if something tragic is going to occur in the Australian outback landscape. The addition, of ratio between humans and natural land components results to a very drastic outcome as dominance between the people and the large boulders creates a sense of drama. Through this artwork, it is seen as if Drysdale wanted to portray the themes of loss and tragedy. The composition of the land gives the effect of suspense to the overall painting. This is seen from the land components being eroded from its original form. Erosion of land is the key component of the structure of the land as erosion of land results in tragedy due to the loss of the natural beauty of the uninterrupted land. The trees falling from their roots with the addition of the oversized boulders (as the result from the ratio of others elements of the artwork) gives definition of what has happened. The top sides of the artwork, where the sharp cut-off of the cliff, portrays that there was a sudden occurrence of destruction.   The inclusion of how the figures are stanced shows that they are inspecting the land for something. However, since they are inspecting the eroded land, it gives a sense of tension and anxiety because they might be buried in land if more erosion occurs. Drysdale’s artwork has successfully portrayed the sense of drama through the use of specific visual techniques in which when all combined together, composes an artwork that makes the audience think a certain way, in this context, it is the drama of the situation.

justwannawish

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #6 on: October 04, 2017, 11:22:06 pm »
+2
My English and Visual Arts teachers both told me that I have trouble to express my information in a "clear and concise" manner. They kind of say I don't get straight to the point. How do I improve!?  :-\

Elyse's guide might help: https://atarnotes.com/hsc-essay-cordial-structure/

Try just writing some essays and highlighting the sections that you think are unnecessary. Work on your expression for that section and see if it occurs all the time with a particular part of your essay. Maybe you're not concise enough about context, explanation of techniques- whatever it is, try and find it! Maybe memorise a line or two you can use instead, so that you are less likely to ramble. You'll at the very see the places you waffle around with and with practice, you'll get smoother in your linkage. Always link to the question as it'll make it harder for you to overexplain simple concepts too much for all your analysis will have to fit to the q.

Hope that helps :)

Opengangs

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #7 on: October 04, 2017, 11:27:25 pm »
+1
I think the main problem with your writing is that you make sweeping claims; this limits your depth of analysis as there is no direction for your argument. Using general terms, such as "various techniques", doesn't provide much for the audience, and this creates a problem with the way your analysis becomes a supporting factor.

Where you can improve is by being concise; cut back on claims that doesn't support your thesis. By cutting down on the sections that aren't relevant to your argument, you can begin to create depth with your analysis, and by honing in on being specific, you can really start to analyse your texts with a much more holistic perspective.

To improve, try to rewrite your paragraphs in only 3 or 4 sentences. It's hard, but it makes your analysis much more succinct to the topic at hand.

Lumenoria

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #8 on: October 04, 2017, 11:41:52 pm »
+1
As the above poster mentioned, the direction of your argument is often absent, or just unclear. Sure, you're showing the marker how the composer's use of techniques evoke responses in the responder, but what is the composer's intention in doing so? To be frank, reading that just seemed like a cumulative list of meaningless analysis; while this may not be true at all infact, the way you've written it makes it seem that way. Integrate your effect with your statements that are intrisically linked to your thesis; otherwise just cut it out. I know it seems difficult—man it is probably the hardest thing in English—but it needs to be done, or it ultimately does more harm than good. Don't just write the effect for the sake of writing an effect, think carefully about how the evocation of this effect possesses significance in relation to your thesis—which should be the driving force of your paragraphs. Also, you need to be more specific in your writing. Don't just say "things", clarify what these "things" are. :) Hope this wasn't too harsh, but I totally understand the struggle hahaha
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lin217

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Re: How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #9 on: October 05, 2017, 12:51:39 am »
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As the above poster mentioned, the direction of your argument is often absent, or just unclear. Sure, you're showing the marker how the composer's use of techniques evoke responses in the responder, but what is the composer's intention in doing so? To be frank, reading that just seemed like a cumulative list of meaningless analysis; while this may not be true at all infact, the way you've written it makes it seem that way. Integrate your effect with your statements that are intrisically linked to your thesis; otherwise just cut it out. I know it seems difficult—man it is probably the hardest thing in English—but it needs to be done, or it ultimately does more harm than good. Don't just write the effect for the sake of writing an effect, think carefully about how the evocation of this effect possesses significance in relation to your thesis—which should be the driving force of your paragraphs. Also, you need to be more specific in your writing. Don't just say "things", clarify what these "things" are. :) Hope this wasn't too harsh, but I totally understand the struggle hahaha
I think the main problem with your writing is that you make sweeping claims; this limits your depth of analysis as there is no direction for your argument. Using general terms, such as "various techniques", doesn't provide much for the audience, and this creates a problem with the way your analysis becomes a supporting factor.

Where you can improve is by being concise; cut back on claims that doesn't support your thesis. By cutting down on the sections that aren't relevant to your argument, you can begin to create depth with your analysis, and by honing in on being specific, you can really start to analyse your texts with a much more holistic perspective.

To improve, try to rewrite your paragraphs in only 3 or 4 sentences. It's hard, but it makes your analysis much more succinct to the topic at hand.

what about this: (sorry if this is more shit HAHA)
An individual is influenced by surrounding factors that affects the way they are and how they are seen by others. In “The Sapphires”, Dave and Gail are seen to have an intimidating relationship where it slowly changes due to the influences of each other. The battle ground camping site is the start of where Dave and Gail are portrayed to have an intimate relationship. Close up shot expresses the initial relationship between the two as the audience is able to see the facial expressions of both individuals when talking to each other. Facing each other in the midst of Dave being intoxicated and careless about his life and Gail finding which caused her to be furious, the audience is able to identify that their relationship is negative. However, this changes as a result from being under the influence of each other. Specifically in the Vietnam beach where the two are standing together, alone in an open spaced scenery, the constant switch between wide shot and close up shot depicts the setting of the scene as well as the personal and sincere conversation amongst the two. In particular, this conversation explicitly conveys the change of identity for Gail as she opened up towards Dave about past events in which has affected her mindset towards certain people. Through this, the audience is able to see the slight change of Gail and Dave’s personality as the two have enabled trust and openness towards each other. Juxtaposed to this scene to the first scene of the individuals, it is evident that people do not stay the same but they are rather constantly changing as a result from the people around them.

Lumenoria

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How to construct better sentences for an essay
« Reply #10 on: October 05, 2017, 01:28:42 am »
0
what about this: (sorry if this is more shit HAHA)
An individual is influenced by surrounding factors that affects the way they are and how they are seen by others. In “The Sapphires”, Dave and Gail are seen to have an intimidating relationship where it slowly changes due to the influences of each other. The battle ground camping site is the start of where Dave and Gail are portrayed to have an intimate relationship. Close up shot expresses the initial relationship between the two as the audience is able to see the facial expressions of both individuals when talking to each other. Facing each other in the midst of Dave being intoxicated and careless about his life and Gail finding which caused her to be furious, the audience is able to identify that their relationship is negative. However, this changes as a result from being under the influence of each other. Specifically in the Vietnam beach where the two are standing together, alone in an open spaced scenery, the constant switch between wide shot and close up shot depicts the setting of the scene as well as the personal and sincere conversation amongst the two. In particular, this conversation explicitly conveys the change of identity for Gail as she opened up towards Dave about past events in which has affected her mindset towards certain people. Through this, the audience is able to see the slight change of Gail and Dave’s personality as the two have enabled trust and openness towards each other. Juxtaposed to this scene to the first scene of the individuals, it is evident that people do not stay the same but they are rather constantly changing as a result from the people around them.

Man, don't worry about it, that's what we're here for! Haha I've literally thought that to myself everytime I handed in a draft to my teachers and I haven't even started my HSC year (starting in less than a week though, woo), but I hope you find my advice just as credible as anyone else's, and helpful nonetheless.

I get what you're trying to express through this paragraph, but there is scope for improvement in this regard. Again, you're speaking too generally—you need to get specific in order to maximise the potential of this essay. For example, your statement: "the audience is able to see the facial expressions of both individuals" needs to clarify WHAT is so distinct about these facial expressions (contempt? happy? confused?) that makes it worth mentioning—otherwise it literally doesn't add anything to your essay. This part "Facing each other in the midst of Dave being intoxicated and careless about his life and Gail finding which caused her to be furious, the audience is able to identify that their relationship is negative." is predominantly retell, rather than the comprehensive analysis it should be. Place more emphasis on why the audience's identification of the negativity of their relationship is significant—make a link to your thesis. At this point, you seem to be rambling on about what is happening, then dropping brief observations about it without actually elaborating on why the composer chooses this path and how such is relevant to your thesis. So, you need to make your links much more prominent by cutting away the retell.

Focusing on what I've quoted above, you could easily shorten "Close up shot expresses the initial relationship between the two as the audience is able to see the facial expressions of both individuals when talking to each other. Facing each other in the midst of Dave being intoxicated and careless about his life and Gail finding which caused her to be furious, the audience is able to identify that their relationship is negative. " to something like "Confronted by the consuming disparities of an individual's internal turmoil, as epitomised in the composer's closeup shots emphasising the characters' contempt (?) facial expressions, he/she has made it imperative to audiences that the nature of relationships can provoke and influence negative change within individuals." See how I've condensed your massive 2 sentences into just 1 with essentially (well, kinda, I was guessing a bit) the same underlying idea whilst linking to the thesis statement? You need to continue this throughout. I know how hard it is to steer clear of the trap to retell, because often it feels like you MUST do so in order for it to make sense, but remember you have to be interpreting your text in terms of your thesis—anything else is essentially pointless. Adopting this perspective, while difficult, will in effect make your writing much more succinct, and therefore, force you to write in a clearer way. Also, you may want to revise your expression—it's a bit clumsy at times.

Good luck :)
« Last Edit: October 05, 2017, 01:37:20 am by Lumenoria »
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