Example of Descriptive Essay

A Walk in the Park

Living in the city is hard, even for those who were born in the industrialized environment of crowded streets, huge supermarkets, crammed subway and polluting factories. I was born and raised in Dallas, so I know first-hand about heavy traffic and five-level interchange roads. However, before I moved to New York City, I was apparently not very well prepared for surviving in the Big Apple. I love NYC, but sometimes it becomes too much, and I just have to escape from the noise to free my mind from all the routine worries, to clear my thoughts and remind myself that, despite how hard and challenging life can get, I still have to enjoy the road along the way to success, while achieving my dreams.

Everyone needs to take a break from the crazy pace of NYC lifestyle, once in a while. When I ask myself where the best place to do that is, I do not have to think for more than a second. My favorite spot in the NYC is the Van Cortlandt Park, with its long paving trails that I so much like to ride on my bike, passing jungles of trees and bushes so wild that they make you believe you have escaped the city completely, and are somewhere in the middle of a real rich forest. I love its ample, spacious green valleys, that remind me of those gorgeous Scottish hills you can sometimes see in the movies, with white, puffy dots of sheep, and lonely, chunky trees, here and there. I love the impetuous dashing stream of the Tibbets Brook, and the contrasting calm, and breathless pacifying waters, of the Van Cortlandt lake.

Last week I made my annual escape to the park. I was alone, didn’t take my bike this time, only my camera and my six senses which was all I needed to enjoy a day away from work, buzz and crowds. I first went to the Parade Ground, watched as a couple of cricket players ran back and forth in their crisp white mantles that sparkled in the sun like diamonds. Just like those sheep in the Scottish hills, only whiter and much faster. Not wanting to get burned in the bright morning sun rays, I quickly moved on to reach my destination – the meadow grassplot spot in the middle of the oak forest. I had spotted this location before, and promised myself to go there again.

As I moved through the dense forest of the park, I pushed away the ample fluffy branches that came in my way, trying not to hurt any of the big flat leaves, or neat, perfect acorns that covered each branch. Wanting to be closer to nature, I decided not to take the pathway but, instead, go directly through the forest. It was as if there wasn’t a sign of civilization around me at all. The oak trees were my favorite, with their wide, strong, mossy trunks and tender, roundish leaves. The air was still wet from the early morning shower. While everywhere, in the open, it had already been very dry and hot, as if there wasn’t a shower at all, the shadows of the forest still preserved the moist humidity, intensified by the smell of wet moss and last year’s leaves that still lay on the ground. I loved this deep moist air, saturated with oxygen and filled with freshness.

As I was moving through the forest, a couple of times I came across little glades with no trees. They were intensely lit by the rays of the summer sun, like small islands of happiness, not enough to make me too hot from the fullness of sunlight, but enough to bathe my face, and arms, in their warmth. And just when it was getting too hot, I could again dive into the pool of fresh, moist. greens of the forest, to appreciate the shadows of the generous old oaks. I stopped a few times, took my camera out and captured the play of the light and shadow, spellbound by nature’s simple beauty that we tend not to notice, looking for chic and glam instead.

Half an hour later I was at my destination point. The valley lay right in the middle of the park, between the forest and the lake, thoughtfully muffled by nature, protected from the inner noises and fuss. There were a couple of people already sitting on the grass, picnicking, reading, just laying down dreaming. Even though I wasn’t alone on the meadow this time, I actually appreciated this fact: I could observe the people merge and coalesce with nature, in this somewhat utopian picture of perfect idyll.

Taken from : http://academichelp.net/samples/essays/descriptive/walk-in-the-park.html

Outline Analysis:

1.      Paragraph 1 (Introductory)

-         Hook

Europe has always fascinated and attracted me, but I never thought that it would be anywhere close to what it seemed to me.

-         Connecting Information

You know how whenever something you anticipate becomes a reality, it never lives up to your expectations? So, when my friend suggested that we go to Europe on a summer vacation, I was prepared to be a little disappointed, even though I was very excited about the trip. But, it turned out to be just the opposite. European beauty and the nobleness lingering in the atmosphere, its architectural and historical allure went beyond even my wildest expectations.

-         Thesis Statement

The city that made the biggest impression on me was definitely Prague.

2.      Paragraph 2 (Body)

The special from Prague

a.      gothic cathedrals

b.      resplendence of the interior finery of the castles and cathedrals

c.       peculiar romantic scent

d.      picturesque city views

3.      Paragraph 3 (Body)

Interesting things in Prague

a.      the beautiful and mysterious Loretta

b.      the breathtaking and sublime Saint Vitus’ Cathedral

c.       the eminent and enduring Church of Mother of God before Týn;

d.      the fantastic and dreamlike Dancing House

e.       the childishly bright and colorful Zlatá ulička

f.        the sunset above the Prague Castle

4.      Paragraph 4 (Body)

The Scenery

a.      The sun

b.      The shadows of the towers

c.       The slightly audible melody of violin and flute

5.      Paragraph 5 (Concluding Paragraph)

-         Concluding sentence

We spent over three weeks in Europe, and just two days in Prague. But it seems like my memories of Prague have overshadowed the rest of the journey, taking up most of my emotions and feelings.

-         Final thought

Prague is worth visiting again and again, because it has so much history in it, that you can unveil and discover every bit of it and still be mystified by this gorgeous city.

Example of Compare and Contrast Essay

 Consuming Fresh Foods Instead of Canned Food

Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least two times a day. We live in a world where the variety of food is immense, and we are responsible for what we eat. We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences between eating fresh foods instead of canned foods. The three main differences are flavor, health benefits, and cost.

The most notable difference between these two kinds of foods is their flavor. Fresh foods have great flavor and taste because they keep all their natural conditions. Canned foods however, lack a lot of its flavor characteristics because there are some other chemical products added to the natural foods. It is logical that the fresh foods will have a greater taste and flavor when consumed just because of the time in which they have been prepared.

Comparing both types of foods we notice another difference. There is a health factor that affects both of them. Canned foods lose some of the original fresh food nutrients when stored, and also it has to be tinned with many conservatives and chemical factors that prolong the shelf life and apparent freshness of the food but could also become toxic if consumed too often.

Yet another difference between these two types of foods is the cost. Canned foods are much more expensive than fresh foods. Here the benefit of buying tinned foods is that they are easier to find, for example, in a supermarket instead of the market like the fresh foods, and they require less work to prepare than fresh foods, just open and serve.

Here are the main three differences between buying fresh foods and buying canned foods. As we can see it comes down to a personal choice, based on the time each person has, the money and the importance he/she gives to his/her nutrition and health. Therefore it is important that you consider your possibilities and choose the best type of foods for your convenience and lifestyle.

Taken from : http://www.eslbee.com/compcont.htm

Analyses:

The essay above is the "classic" five paragraph essay that all non-native speakers of English should learn to write.  This essays also contains the "classic" point-by-point organization, each point stated and developed in a single paragraph.

1.      Paragraph 1 ( Introductory)

-          Hook :

 Eating is an activity that we as humans do at least two times a day.

-          Connecting Information:

We live in a world where the variety of food is immense, and we are responsible for what we eat. We decide what we are about to eat and how it will affect our bodies.

-          Thesis Statement:

The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences between eating fresh foods instead of canned foods. The three main differences are flavor, health benefits, and cost.

2.      Paragraph 2 (Body)

Mountain

A.  Climate                  : Cold

B.  Types of Activities: Snow boarding, mountain climbing, mountain biking, hiking, and skiing.

C.  Location                :  Canada

3.      Paragraph 3 (Body)

Beach
A.  Climate                  : Hot

B.  Types of Activities: Swimming, playing volleyball, playing soccer, and riding water bikes

C.  Location                : Mexico, Acapulco, and Cancun.

4.      Paragraph 4 (Concluding Paragraph)

-          Concluding Sentence:

It doesn’t matter what place a person decides to choose. The fun is 100% guaranteed. People often choose one of these two options to spend their vacations. Depending on what the person likes is what he or she will choose.

-          Final thought:

I like the beach better than the mountains, but sometimes it is better to take a risk and try a different place to enjoy.

Example of Cause and Effect Essay

Soccer: Why It Can't Make
the Big Time in the U.S.A.

Soccer — or football (or foosball or futbol), as it is called by the rest of the world outside the United States — is surely the most popular sport in the world. Every four years, the world championship of soccer, the World Cup, is watched by literally billions all over the world, beating out the United States professional football's Superbowl by far. It is estimated that 1.7 billion television viewers watched the World Cup final between France and Brazil in July of 1998. And it is also a genuine world championship, involving teams from 32 countries in the final rounds, unlike the much more parochial and misnamed World Series in American baseball (that doesn't even involve Japan or Cuba, two baseball hotbeds). But although soccer has become an important sport in the American sports scene, it will never make inroads into the hearts and markets of American sports the way that football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and even tennis and golf have done. There are many reasons for this.

Recently the New England Revolution beat the Tampa Bay Mutiny in a game played during a horrid rainstorm. Nearly 5000 fans showed up, which shows that soccer is, indeed, popular in the United States. However, the story of the game was buried near the back of the newspaper's sports section, and there was certainly no television coverage. In fact, the biggest reason for soccer's failure as a mass appeal sport in the United States is that it doesn't conform easily to the demands of television. Basketball succeeds enormously in America because it regularly schedules what it calls "television time-outs" as well as the time-outs that the teams themselves call to re-group, not to mention half-times and, on the professional level, quarter breaks. Those time-outs in the action are ideally made for television commercials. And television coverage is the lifeblood of American sports. College basketball lives for a game scheduled on CBS or ESPN (highly recruited high school players are more likely to go to a team that regularly gets national television exposure), and we could even say that television coverage has dictated the pace and feel of American football. Anyone who has attended a live football game knows how commercial time-outs slow the game and sometimes, at its most exciting moments, disrupt the flow of events. There is no serious objection, however, because without television, football knows that it simply wouldn't remain in the homes and hearts of Americans. Also, without those advertising dollars, the teams couldn't afford the sky-high salaries of their high-priced superstars.

Soccer, on the other hand, except for its half-time break, has no time-outs; except for half-time, it is constant run, run, run, run, back and forth, back and forth, relentlessly, with only a few seconds of relaxation when a goal is scored, and that can happen seldom, sometimes never. The best that commercial television coverage can hope for is an injury time-out, and in soccer that happens only with decapitation or disembowelment.

Second, Americans love their violence, and soccer doesn't deliver on this score the way that American football and hockey do. There are brief moments, spurts of violence, yes, but fans can't expect the full-time menu of bone-crushing carnage that American football and hockey can deliver minute after minute, game after game. In soccer, players are actually singled out and warned — shamed, with embarrassingly silly "yellow cards," for acts of violence and duplicity that would be smiled at in most American sports other than tennis and golf.

Third, it is just too difficult to score in soccer. America loves its football games with scores like 49 to 35 and a professional basketball game with scores below 100 is regarded as a defensive bore. In soccer, on the other hand, scores like 2 to 1, even 1 to 0, are commonplace and apparently desirable; games scoreless at the end of regulation time happen all the time. (In the 515 games played in the final phase in the history of the World Cup games through 1994, only 1584 goals have been scored. That's three a game!) And if there is no resolution at the end of overtime, the teams resort to a shoot-out that has more to do with luck than with real soccer skills. Worse yet, it is possible for a team to dominate in terms of sheer talent and "shots-on-goal" and still lose the game by virtue of a momentary lapse in defensive attention, a stroke of bad luck, and the opponent's break-away goal. Things like that can happen, too, in baseball, but the problem somehow evens out over baseball's very long season of daily games. In soccer, it just isn't fair. Soccer authorities should consider making the goal smaller and doing away with the goalie to make scoring easier. And the business of starting over after each goal, in the middle of the field, has to be reconsidered. It's too much like the center-jump after each goal in the basketball game of yesteryear.

It seems unlikely that Americans will ever fully comprehend or appreciate a sport in which players are not allowed to use their arms and hands. Although the footwork of soccer players is a magnificent skill to behold, most American fans are perplexed by straitjacketed soccer players' inability and unwillingness to "pick up the darn ball and run with it!" The inability to use substitutes (unless the player to be substituted for is lying dead or maimed on the field of play) is also bewildering to Americans, who glorify the "sixth man" in basketball and a baseball game in which virtually the entire roster (including an otherwise unemployable old man called "the designated hitter") is deployed on the field at one time or another.

Finally, the field in soccer is enormous. Considerably larger than the American football field, the soccer field could contain at least a dozen basketball courts. Americans like their action condensed, in a small field of vision — ten enormous sweaty people bouncing off one another and moving rapidly through a space the size of a medium-sized bedroom, twenty-two even larger people in bulky uniforms converging on a small, oddly shaped ball. In soccer, on the other hand, there is a premium on "spreading out," not infringing upon the force field occupied by a team-mate, so that fancy foot-passing is possible. This spreading out across the vast meadow of the soccer playing field does not lend itself, again, to close get-down-and-dirty television scrutiny.

Soccer is a great sport and it certainly deserves the increased attention and popularity it is getting on all levels. But — primarily, again, because it does not lend itself to television — it will never make it big in the United States the way these other sports have, not until it changes some of its fundamental strategies.

Analyses:

1.      Paragraph 1 (Introductory)

-          Hook:

Soccer — or football (or foosball or futbol), as it is called by the rest of the world outside the United States — is surely the most popular sport in the world.

-          Connecting Information:

Every four years, the world championship of soccer, the World Cup, is watched by literally billions all over the world, beating out the United States professional football's Superbowl by far.

-          Thesis Statement:

But although soccer has become an important sport in the American sports scene, it will never make inroads into the hearts and markets of American sports the way that football, basketball, hockey, baseball, and even tennis and golf have done.

2.      Paragraph 2 (Body)

Effect of soccer          :           -    the story of the game was buried near the back of the newspaper's sports section, and there was certainly no television coverage.

-          it doesn't conform easily to the demands of television.

-          because without television, football knows that it simply wouldn't remain in the homes and hearts of Americans.

-          without those advertising dollars, the teams couldn't afford the sky-high salaries of their high-priced superstars.

2.1  Paragraph 3 (Body)

More serious consequences:  -    except for its half-time break, has no time-outs

-          commercial television coverage can hope for is an injury time-out, and in soccer that happens only with decapitation or disembowelment.

2.2   Paragraph 4 (Body)

Another unfortunate consequence: Americans love their violence, and soccer doesn't deliver on this score the way that American football and hockey do.

2.3  Paragraph 5 (Body)

Another unfortunate consequence: It is just too difficult to score in soccer

2.4   Paragraph 6 (Body)

Another unfortunate consequence: It seems unlikely that Americans will ever fully comprehend or appreciate a sport in which players are not allowed to use their arms and hands.

3.      Paragraph 7 (Concluding Paragraph)

-            Concluding Sentence:

Soccer is a great sport and it certainly deserves the increased attention and popularity it is getting on all levels.

-            Final thought:

It does not lend itself to television — it will never make it big in the United States the way these other sports have, not until it changes some of its fundamental strategies.