By Hu Wo (Cuckoo’s Song)
Out of the language skills, writing is the most intricately patterned skill, we have well known. Since any subject matter is usually written on paper or by the book, a writing task always covers the most convincing evidence for reliability, validity and relevancy about the written subject matter. There are different types of writing such as report, persuasive, argumentative, narrative, expository, descriptive, creative, critical, or reflective, and report writing is still living among language users till now. That writing links up with informative essays that present factual information on a topic that is likely to be unfamiliar to the reader. So, I would like to tell the basic structure, grammar and language banks of an informative essay in the following.
Like most other essays, informative essays consist of an introduction, the main body and a conclusion. The introduction of an informative essay begins with the central idea or topic, the controlling idea, a hook to get the reader’s attention sometimes, and background information about the topic. Its main body continues to describe details about the topic, transitions from old information to new information, usually at the beginning of a new body paragraph, words that let the reader know when the writer is certain and when he or she is hedging, and use of specific tenses like present simple, present perfect, past simple, and past perfect. The conclusion of informative essays ends in the restatement of the central idea or topic and a satisfactory ending.
In informative essays, it is important to use specific verb tenses: 1) present simple to describe facts that are true now and in the future, and were true in the past as in `Happiness at work often goes with job satisfaction´, 2) present perfect to describe a situation or trend that develops over time, from past to present as in `Literature has played an essential role in human history and culture´, 3) past simple and 4) past perfect to report on past events as in `Myanmar once was figuratively a tiger in Asia from all sides´ and `Yangon University had shot to the top of the best university list in SEA´.
What is more, expressions that indicate certainty are 1) words or phrases such as `certain´, `sure´, `convinced´, `confident´, `satisfied´, `undeniably´, `certainly´, `undoubtedly´, `definitely´, `always´, `of course´, `without (a) doubt´, `have no doubt´, `be in no doubt´, `there is no doubt that´, `there is no denying the fact that´, or `there is no disputing the fact that´, 2) modal verbs such as `must´, `will´, `cannot´, or ‘have to´, and 3) quantity words such as `all´, `no´, `whole´, `everyone´, or `everything´. On the other hand, words that express probability or possibility are `probably´, `perhaps´, `few´, `most´, `not often´, `not much´, `many´, `say´, `report´, `might´, `seem´, `tend´, `uncertain´, `unsure´, `not certain´, `not sure´, `have doubts´, and `be dubious in something´.
After all, about report writing, I want to try an informative essay of 376 words under the title of `The Art of Ironing´ as follows: –
The Art of Ironing
Housework has traditionally been regarded as women’s work in many different parts of the world, even until today. As we know, this work also includes ironing, and I have imitated the habit of ironing from my eldest sister since I was able to wash my clothes all by myself in my childhood. The main reason why I do the ironing of washed clothes even though I am a boy is that I just prefer ironing clothes to folding as well as wearing them stylishly and attractively. Then, I try to think about the beginning and another reason for ironing.
As far as I can see, researchers discovered that people have been using heated rocks to smooth out animal hides as long as 40000 years ago, and using metal to iron was introduced by the Chinese over 1,000 years ago. In the 1st century BC, they would use metal pans filled with hot water to smooth their clothes and erase creases from fabric. It is also assumed that the ancient Chinese used a scoop that was heated with hot coal or sand and would rub it over clothing to smooth wrinkles. The electric iron was invented by Henry Seely White in 1882. It is named for the metal (iron) of which the device was historically made, and its use is generally called ironing, the last step in the process of laundering clothes.
As to ironing benefits, ironing our clothes makes them last longer, first of all. This helps fabrics soften and return to their original states despite shrinking over time. Second, ironing gives our clothes a fresh and better look, removing all the wrinkles, offering our clothing a smarter impression, and influencing the fabric for quality enhancement. Third, ironing clothes kills the germ like thermophilic bacteria and fungi all of which the heat from the iron will terminate once and for all. Fourthly, I should like to mention that ironed clothes have a specific fresh smell for high temperatures can remove some bad smells, too. Finally, I may be a little biased on this one, but ironing while listening to our favourite music can be really relaxing. Ironing is a very methodical job and the back and forth of the iron can iron away worries.
After me is the reader’s turn, I hope!
