The most common task given to a student at college is to write essays. Essay writing is not that easy or that tough a task. But, it does require a certain amount of understanding as to what all has to be included in the essay. The student has to work within restricted boundaries and follow some guidelines. Michael Harvey’s The Nuts & Bolts of College Writing provides some very much-needed advice regarding writing essays. According to the author, an essay reflects the personal qualities of the one who writes it. I very much agree with him. The writer should be original in his ideas and honest in his opinions. He has to write in such a way that he is able to share his ideas with every audience. The word ‘essay’ comes from the French word ‘essayer, which means ‘to try.
Sometimes, when in college, one gets the urge to write in pompous English. But, at the same time, this urge takes away the originality from a student’s essay. A college student must write in simple, plain, and comprehendible English. Plain and simple English is easy to understand and also helps the writer in explaining his opinions and thoughts with full confidence and force. Jotting down in flashy language may not do full justice to the essay. A very simple example for this is: using “commence” in place of a simple word like “begin”. Such small but easy examples given in the book are very much helpful for the students in their essay writing.
The next best thing about writing an essay is that there should be concision and clarity in them. The concision of an essay doesn’t always mean to disturb the clarity. Where there is concision, there can be clarity too. One must make it a point to use the right amount of words in an essay. It is almost similar to removing the extra fat from a body. Using only the required amount of words would surely reduce the redundancy. Also, the author can eliminate the unwanted words or phrases from an essay without losing the meaning of it.
Ex. Original Revision
This secrecy becomes very damning This secrecy cripples Hamlet
to Hamlet
So, according to the author, “Concision is a sign of perspiration than inspiration” (Michael Harvey, 9). Besides, a writer must also follow all the formats of writing styles, for example, APA, MLA, etc.
These ideas will help every student to write a good quality essay, which expresses the thoughts of the writer, and at the same time, keeps it short and sweet.
In his second chapter, Harvey discusses the concept of “Clarity” in an essay. I find it necessary to first know one’s readers and then write accordingly. He also introduces the concept of “Nominalization”. These kinds of verbs often end in –tion or –ion. For example, instead of using ‘analyze’ or ‘assess’, one uses ‘analysis’ and ‘assessment’. Nominalization is actually an action that is written as a noun and not as a verb.
Action in the verb: We are carefully analyzing the data.
Action in Nominalization: A systematic analysis of the data is underway (Michael Harvey, 14). Again, in a nominalized data, a revision may be done to remove the unwanted words or phrases. For example,
Nominalized Original: The love Brutus had for Cleopatra is much greater than any love he has for his wife.
Clearer Revision: Brutus loves Cleopatra more than his wife.
Concision isn’t an end in itself, but a means to clarity (Michael Harvey, 14).
Besides all this, the much-needed concept of the usage of active voice over passive voice was a great help in the book. According to the theory, using a passive voice highlights the action done and not the agent.
Having read Michael Harvey’s opinions, I feel that, he has indeed given college students a sound way to go about writing an essay. It is indeed evident from what he has pointed out that, using simple words is the key to a good essay. The concepts of concision and clarity have been very well explained. But sometimes, it is good to use a bit of flashy or pompous English. It gives a good impression to the reader.
If clarity is not disturbed, then using some amount of flashy language is not a bad option. All this which Harvey has explained, can not be followed by everyone. Every student has his own style of writing, which cannot be changed completely. But, the uses of appropriate words as well as writing clearly are some of the points that must be kept in mind while writing an essay. The way one writes an essay also depends on the topic. Various topics may require a formal style of writing, while others may permit an informal way. Also, it depends on the writer as to how he or she feels comfortable with a certain way of writing.
In the end, it is understood that all that which Michael Harvey has taught in his book, The Nuts, and Bolts of College Writing, if followed properly by the college students, they can surely start writing better essays. Adopting the concepts of concision and clarity can help greatly reduce the undesired part of an essay that does not add any extra meaning to the statement. Undoubtedly, reading the book has given a lot of insight to writing better and successful essays in college life and also for life ahead.
Works Cited Page
Harvey Michael. The Nuts and Bolts of College Writing. Hackett Publishing. 2003. Web.