The writing of essays is one of the foundations of a student’s university education. Students are expected to show a certain level of expertise with their major. The essay is one way for them to show how much they know, as well as share their opinions based on what they have learned through class attendance and independent research and study.

To help students develop their writing skills, English classes from grade six through grade 12 are assigned to write smaller essays, usually in the 500 word range, which is about a page-and-a-half. It is the length of the typical letter to the editor featured in daily newspapers. Longer research papers may be required by other teachers, depending on the subject.

The essay is broken down into three components. The first part is the most critical, as it has to get the attention of the reader. This is the INTRODUCTION to the essay. There are five tools that are available to the student to help grab the readers’ attention, and they are called GRABBERS. Examples of grabbers include the following: quote/proverb, amazing fact, curiosity, humor, and anecdote. These grabbers will help the writer get to the point of the essay, which is called the THESIS. The thesis introduces the TOPIC the writer is addressing in the essay.

Once the subject is revealed to the reader, one has three opportunities to prove why the opinion they have is valid. The first reason is addressed in the second paragraph. One sentence explains the reason, and the other two or three sentences explain the reasoning. These three paragraphs are the BODY of the essay.

The second paragraph will explain the second reason. It will also have two or three sentences that support or reinforce the line of reasoning.

The third paragraph is your strongest argument supporting your thesis statement. It must also have the strongest reinforcement to your arguments. If the first and second paragraphs cannot stand, this is your third line of defense, and it must stand up to scrutiny.

Finally, we have the CONCLUSION of the essay, the summary of what you have just said. This is where you tie everything up into one nice, tidy little package.

Two tools are required to help bring your essay to life, and are particularly critical in longer essays at the university level. These tools are called SOURCES, and there are two types of sources: primary and secondary.

PRIMARY SOURCES include yourself as a witness to events that you are writing about in an essay. Other people you interview are also primary sources. You are getting first hand information.

SECONDARY SOURCES include books, newspapers, magazines, Internet websites, etc. These are sources that pass news of record on as a secondary source. You did not talk with someone one-on-one, but someone else did, and recorded their stories for the record.

One need never fear the writing of an essay when it is on a subject that one has an invested interest. It need never be boring or tedious. As a reflection of who you are and the passion you have for the subject, it should be a matter of joy that you write it. Who else better can tell your story or share your opinion than YOU?

We have less than five hours to go before we put the year of our Lord 2013 to bed. It has earned its rest.

While it was a productive year, it wasn't as productive as I would have liked it to have been. While I am glad that its over, I don't feel quite as satisfied with the ending. I should have done more. More words should have been written. More pictures should have been taken. More miles should have been traveled. Not enough was read or heard. Not enough was experienced. In the end, not enough was shared.

So as I sit here writing this, I have decided not to make any New Year resolutions concerning how I plan to do better in the coming year. Resolutions are ceremonial, and often do not mean anything days or weeks after they are made or broken. I've decided to make New Year's declarations, instead. Declarations carry enough intent behind them to make things happen. No one ever went to war over a resolution. It means nothing when the resolve is gone. A declaration, however, brings with it white knuckles and gnashing teeth. Titans will clash over declarations.

My declarations may sound like typical resolutions. Lose weight. Write more. Read more. Be more creative. What it comes down to is the attitude required to put the plan into action. Resolutions fail because of bad attitudes that reflect apathy or that fails to find value in the struggle to achieve the goals. A declaration lays everything on the line. At the end of the line one is either a winner or a loser. For the winner there is no end of the line. It is only a turning point where the decision is made to either do it again, or do something different. Either way the line goes on.

We have 364 days to connect the dots with the lines we write in the sand. Each of us will go from A to B to C, while others take more serendipitous paths to their personal victories. Where ever we end up on Day 365, staring at the final hours of the year of our Lord 2014, let's make sure the year has earned its rest and we come away happy with a greater sense of accomplishment.

Happy New Year

James H.
Bangkok, Thailand
Dec. 31, 2013 to Jan. 1, 2014

November is National Novel Writing Month. I don't plan to write a novel, but I am going to try to bust out 30 essays in 30 days. Each essay should have a word count of 500 words or more. It will be a good chance to experiment with some things I am not too comfortable with, like description. I need to crack down on more emotion/feeling, as well.

Personal narrative
Descriptive
Compare/Contrast
Persuasive
Descriptive
Five paragraph - sounds easy enough
Observation
there are more

I got my tools ready, and I have some ideas on what to write about, many of which cover eight years in Asia.

This month marks the eighth year since I left Kentucky for South Korea, and five years since my arrival in Thailand. That gives me plenty of things to write about. No excuses.