Lesson video

Hi there, I'm Mr. Buckingham, and it's so good to see you here for today's lesson.

Today we are starting a brand new topic where we're going to be looking at a real life environmental issue and writing a fantastic essay all about it.

I think you're going to enjoy it, so let's make a start.

Today's lesson is called identifying the features of an essay, and it comes from a unit called the Amazon Rainforest essay writing.

By the end of today's session, we'll be able to identify the logical argument of an essay, and identify an essay's linguistic features in a model essay.

Now in this lesson, we're going to be reading and discussing an essay about fossil fuels that you can find in the additional materials to this lesson.

Now, I will read it to you and show it to you on the screen, but it would be helpful if you could have it in front of you either on your screen or on paper.

If you're ready, let's make a start.

Here are our keywords for today's lesson, my turn, your turn.

Essay.

Logical argument.

Evidence.

And linguistic features.

Well done.

So an essay is a piece of writing that explores arguments about a particular issue.

And logical argument is one that follows a series of steps that lead clearly towards a conclusion.

Evidence is information or facts to show something is true, and linguistic features are the language structures that are used within a text.

Here's our lesson outline for today.

We can just start off by looking at the structure of an essay, before we move on to looking at the linguistic features of an essay.

So an essay as, you might know, is a piece of writing that explores arguments about a particular issue.

It's a nonfiction text with a formal tone.

And the way an essay is written really depends very much on the issue being discussed, and on the title that's chosen for the essay.

So if we saw this essay title, "Should school uniforms be banned?" then that suggests that the essay might give arguments on both sides.

Some arguments say school uniforms should be banned, some arguments saying why it shouldn't be banned, before, in the conclusion, the author or the writer might give their own view, their own idea deciding whether it should be banned or not.

And that word "should" is our clue there.

But this time, we've got not a question but a command.

It says, "Explain why school uniforms are vital." So here, we're being asked to explain one side.

So in this case, the essay might just give one side of the argument leading towards the conclusion that matches the title, the conclusion that in this case, school uniforms are vital.

So we can see that the structure of an essay will depend very much on the question, or the command, or the statement that is making up the title.

So the title is really important to our understanding of what the essay will be like.

So for each of the essay titles below, do you think the essay will give just one side of the argument or both sides of the argument? Pause the video and have a careful think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So A says, "Should junk food be banned for children?" This one's going to suggest both sides, some arguments for and some against.

B said, "Explain why it would be wrong to ban junk food for children." Well, here we are being asked to explain just one side, why it'd be wrong to ban it, so that's just one side of the argument.

C says, "Why should children have longer PE lessons at school?" So again, we're being told to explain why they should have longer lessons.

That's just one side, isn't it? And then D says, "Would it be beneficial for children to have longer PE lessons at school?" So here again, we're being asked to explore both sides, some arguments to say it would be beneficial, and other arguments to say it would not be beneficial, so this one would give both sides of the argument.

So again, we can see the title is really key to whether we're giving one side or both sides of the argument.

Now the essays we are going to read and write in this unit will focus on just one side of the argument.

So let's read one.

I'm going to read to you now an essay titled "Explain why reducing fossil fuel use is vital to tackling climate change." And we can see there in the title, it says "Explain why" and then a particular point.

So we're going to be leading towards the conclusion that reducing fossil fuel use is vital to tackling climate change.

Let's hear the essay.

"Fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas are energy sources from the remains of plants and animals that lived millions of years ago.

These fuels, which are buried beneath the Earth's surface, have become the main energy source for much of the world.

Currently, fossil fuels are responsible for meeting 84% of the world's energy needs.

In 2020, the International Energy Agency reported that we use about 100 million barrels of oil per day, showing that we are now heavily reliant on these fuels.

The widespread use of fossil fuels can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution, beginning in the late 1700s.

As societies moved away from farming and towards life in the city, demand for fuel grew, particularly in factories.

Coal was the first fossil fuel to be used on a massive scale, powering steam engines.

Soon, oil and natural gas were being extracted too.

These fuels were full of energy, and they were cheap to extract.

As a result, they became a vital building block for the modern way of life.

When fossil fuels are burnt for energy, they released large amounts of carbon dioxide, CO2, which is the most common greenhouse gas.

These gases trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect.

Consequently, they have played a huge role in driving climate change.

In 2019, CO2 from burning fossil fuels made up 74% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Because fossil fuel use has added so much to the greenhouse effect, the global average temperature has increased by at least 1.

1 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution began.

As a result, we are seeing more frequent severe weather events and rising sea levels.

Because reducing fossil fuel use reduces greenhouse gas emissions, it is an essential step in tackling climate change.

Consequently, many countries are trying to increase their use of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, leading to lower emissions.

In addition, using electric vehicles can also contribute to reducing the use of fossil fuels.

Furthermore, climate scientists argue that it is vital the country set ambitious targets for reducing the use of these fuels.

If governments and individuals can take all available steps to reduce the use of fossil fuels, we will stand the best chance of reducing the impact of climate change." Well done, good listening.

So we could see there in that essay that the purpose of that essay was to give a logical argument for why fossil fuel use should be reduced in order to tackle climate change.

Now, a logical argument is one that goes step by step, giving evidence at each point, and leading towards a conclusion, and hopefully you saw that in the essay.

Now, the layout of the essay is based on that logical argument.

Did you see how each new paragraph gave the next logical step towards our conclusion? So we just laid out those paragraphs step by step, building towards that conclusion.

So which are true of the essay we just read? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So, did it give both sides of the argument equally? No.

It focused on one side of the argument, yes.

Did it give all the arguments at the start of the essay? No.

Did it make a logical argument, going step by step? Yes.

So we saw the argument developing through the paragraphs towards the conclusion.

Good job with that.

So let's look in detail of a logical argument that was made in that essay we read.

We'll start with the title.

It said, "Explain why reducing fossil fuel use is vital to tackling climate change." Well, in order to explain that, as we were asked to do in the title, we have to follow some logical steps.

We have to explain what fossil fuels are first of all, then we have to explain how they've come to be widely used, because it says "reducing fossil fuel use," that suggests they are widely used now.

So we've got to explain how that came to be the case.

Then we need to explain how they contribute to climate change.

And finally, we need to explain how we can reduce their use, and how that would help to tackle climate change.

So you can see we're building step by step towards a conclusion that reflects back on the title.

The title has asked us to explain how reducing their use is vital to tackle climate change, and the conclusion sums that up, having built on the paragraphs that came before.

So can you put the steps of the essay's logical argument in order, starting with number one? Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Good chat.

So first one would be explaining what fossil fuels are, then we're going to explain how and why they've become commonly used, and then we'll explain how fossil fuels contribute to climate change, and then hopefully throughout the essay, we explain how we can reduce fossil fuel use to tackle climate change, which mirrors back that essay title.

Really well done for getting those in the right order.

So for each of the steps of the logical argument in our essay, evidence is provided to support it, and maybe you noticed that.

And there are various different forms of evidence we might see.

There might be an explanation of how something happens.

There might be a fact.

There might be a statistic, which is a numerical fact, a fact that relates to a number.

There might be an expert opinion, or a reference to an official report or a scientific study.

And you can see that in order to make logical argument, this means we will have to do some research first, and we'll be doing some in a future lesson.

So can you match the example to the type of evidence it gives? Pause the video and have a think.

Well done.

Good job.

So the first one, "These gases trap heat in the atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect." It's just an explanation, isn't it? For B, it says "In 2019, burning fossil fuels made up 74% of total greenhouse gas emissions." Now that is a fact, but it relates to a number, so that's a statistic.

C says, "The International Energy Agency reported that we use 100 million barrels of oil a day." Well, that sounds like an official report or official study, so we'll call that a reference to a scientific study.

And finally, "The widespread use of fossil fuels can be traced back to the Industrial Revolution." That's just a fact.

It doesn't contain a number, so we'll just call it a fact.

Really well done for matching those up.

So let's do our first task to this lesson.

I want you to look again at that example essay.

And if you need to, you could rewind.

So I want you to identify the main point made in each paragraph and use that information to complete the summary of the essay's logical argument using the structure below.

So I've written, "Fossil fuels are blank.

They become widely used blank, but they blank.

As a result, we need to blank." So those blanks should reflect the main points of each paragraph.

So, pause the video and see if you can complete the summary, filling in the blanks to explain what is the logical argument of our essay.

Well done, really good job.

Here's an example of how you might have completed the summary of the essay's logical argument.

I've written, "Fossil fuels are energy sources that meet most of the world's energy needs.

They became widely used during the Industrial Revolution because there was a huge demand for fuel, but they contribute to climate change because they emit greenhouse gases when burned.

As a result, we need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and move towards using renewable energy sources instead." And we could argue at the end that also we're saying that would help to tackle climate change.

So we've shown the step by step process that gives the logical argument in this essay.

Really well done.

Now, let's do the second part of this task.

I want you to look again at the essay, and now I want you to find an example of each type of evidence used to support the logical argument we've just shown.

So can we find an explanation, a fact, a statistic, an expert opinion, and a reference to an official report or a scientific study? Pause the video and see if you can find those different types of evidence.

Well done.

Really good job.

So here's some examples of the evidence you might have found.

First of all, an explanation.

Maybe you found, "When fossil fuels are burned for energy, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide, CO2, the most common greenhouse gas." Maybe you found a fact like this.

"As a result, we are seeing more frequent severe weather events and rising sea levels." And maybe you found a statistic, a numerical fact like this one, "In 2019, CO2 from burning fossil fuels made up 74% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States." Maybe you found an expert opinion, like this one.

"Furthermore, climate scientists," there's our expert, "argue that it's vital that countries set ambitious targets for reducing fossil fuel use." And maybe you found a reference to an official report or a study like this one.

"In 2020, the International Energy Agency reported that we use about 100 million barrels of oil per day, showing that we are now heavily reliant on these fuels." Really well done for spotting those different forms of evidence.

But we should say that not every essay will contain all these forms of evidence.

It will depend on the title and the evidence and the research that's available to us.

So now let's have a look at the linguistic features of an essay.

Now, linguistic features are the language structures that are commonly used within a type of text, for instance, in an essay.

And an essay, as we know, is designed to answer a question or a command with a logical argument.

Now, that means that the writer, in this case us, needs to sound credible, which means believable, when they present their arguments.

We have to sound as if we know what we're talking about.

And as a result, we use a formal tone when we write an essay.

And to achieve this, we might use some of the following linguistic features.

We might use subject specific vocabulary, vocabulary that relates to a particular subject.

We might use a range of fronted adverbials, and I'm sure you know lots of those already.

We might use a range of different sentence types, like compound and complex sentences.

And we might use parenthesis within brackets.

We're going to look at each of those in turn now.

So one common linguistic feature of an essay is subject specific vocabulary, as we said.

So that's vocabulary specific to the subject being explored in the essay.

So here's a paragraph from our model essay, and we can see some subject specific vocabulary that relates specifically to this subject of fossil fuels.

One is fossil fuels.

Then we've got coal, oil and natural gas, which are types of fossil fuel.

We've got energy sources and we've got fuels.

So all of these are subject specific.

Now, we wouldn't consider, for example, plants and animals in that paragraph to be subject specific, because they could relate to many, many different topics, couldn't they, and not just to fossil fuels.

So even though they are related, because that's where fossil fuels come from, we wouldn't consider them subject specific.

So what subject specific vocabulary can you find in this extract? Pause the video and have a look.

Well done.

Good thinking.

So maybe you spotted fossil fuel, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, renewable energy sources, solar, wind, and hydroelectric power, lower emissions, and electric vehicles.

So all of those words link really closely to the topic of fossil fuels and climate change, so we can consider them subject specific vocabulary.

And using them in this way adds to our credibility.

It makes us look like we're confident in what we're writing about, and knowledgeable about the subject that we're discussing.

Now, you probably know that we use fronted adverbials as linguistic features in many different types of writing.

But there are several different types of fronted adverbial, and some are used more than others in an essay.

So one type is a fronted adverbial of cause, for instance, "as a result," "due to this," "consequently," "as a result of this," and "as a consequence of this," all followed by a comma as all fronted adverbials are.

And as you might know, these show that the sentence they begin is an effect of the sentence that came before.

So for instance, "Cars emit greenhouse gases.

As a result, they contribute to climate change." And "The world is growing warmer.

Consequently, ice caps are melting." So in both those cases, the sentence that starts with the fronted adverbial of cause is the effect, and the sentence that comes before it is the cause.

So we have a cause followed by an effect.

We might also use fronted adverbials of time, like "In 2020" or "Since then," and we could use those in almost any type of writing, but they'll come up in an essay as well.

We might also use formal fronted adverbials in an essay, and there are two types of these.

We have some that show and that are building on to one point.

So we could use "in addition to this," "as well as this," "also," "furthermore," "moreover," and "building onto this." And all of these build on a point from the sentence that comes before.

We could also use some to show but.

These are showing a contrasting point.

For instance, "however," "despite this," "on the contrary," and "in contrast to this." So these introduce a contrasting idea to the previous sentence.

So here are some examples.

"The global temperature is rising.

Moreover, the chance to stop further rises is disappearing fast." It was building on the same point.

"Many countries are taking action.

However, it's not yet enough." We've got a contrasting point there.

So formal fronted adverbials can either build on or show a contrasting idea.

So can you match the types of fronted adverbial to the examples? Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Good job.

So, A says "fronted adverbial of time." That would be "in recent years." For a formal fronted adverbial that shows "and," building on the same point we could use, well done, "in addition to this." For a fronted adverbial of cause, we could use "as a consequence of this." And for a formal fronted adverbial showing "but," so a contrasting point, we could use "despite this." Really well done.

Now another linguistic feature of an essay is using a wide range of sentence types, including a range of different types of complex sentence.

Now I'm sure you know that any complex sentence is made up of at least one main clause and at least one subordinate clause connected together.

And what determines the type of complex sentence is the type of subordinate clause we have, and what determines the type of subordinate clause is what kind of word starts that subordinate clause.

So an adverbial complex sentence contains an adverbial subordinate clause that starts with a subordinating conjunction.

For example, "When," there's our subordinated conjunction, "fossil fuels are burned, carbon dioxide is released," and there's our subordinating conjunction at the start of the adverbial clause.

We could say, "The temperature has risen as emissions have increased," and there's "as," our subordinating conjunction.

We could say, "Because fossil fuels were energy rich, they were popular," with "because" as our subordinating conjunction.

And remember that the adverbial subordinate clause is followed by a comma that comes first in the sentence.

So, "When fossil fuels are burned," comma, "carbon dioxide is released." In the second example, the adverbial clause comes after the main clause, and in that case, we don't need a comma.

So we talked about adverbial complex sentences.

We might also see two other types of complex sentence in our essay.

We might see a non finite -ing complex sentence, and that contains a non finite -ing subordinate clause that starts with a verb in its -ing form.

Now, that sounds complicated, but let me show you.

We can say, "Fossil fuels are burned releasing carbon dioxide." Releasing is a verb in its -ing form, with that -ing suffix at the end.

So releasing carbon dioxide is our non finite -ing clause.

It's attached to, it follows on from that main clause.

Here's another one.

"Greenhouse gas levels have risen, causing global temperatures to rise." Causing is our verb in its -ing form, and we've got the main clause in front of it.

So we've got a non finite -ing complex sentence.

And we can also use a relative complex sentence, which as you might know contains a relative subordinate clause starting with a relative pronoun, like who, which or where.

So for example, we could say, "Fossil fuels, which are buried in the earth, release carbon dioxide when they're burned." So there we've got the relative clause, "which are buried in the earth," starting with that relative pronoun "which" interrupting a main clause.

We could also say, "Renewable energy sources, which produce no greenhouse gases, are much better for the planet." There we've used "which" again to start a relative clause, and again, it's interrupting a main clause.

We could just have the main clause, "Renewable energy sources are much better for the planet," but we've interrupted it with that relative clause there.

So which type of complex sentence is shown in each example? Is it an adverbial complex sentence, a relative complex sentence, or a non finite -ing complex sentence? Pause the video and decide.

Well done.

Good job.

So, A has this relative clause, "which are very high in energy," so it must be a relative complex sentence.

B has this adverbial clause, "Because fossil fuels were easy to find," so this is an adverbial complex sentence.

And C has this non finite -ing clause, "leading to an increase in emissions," so it's a non finite -ing complex sentence.

Remember, you can always identify which type of complex sentence you have by looking for the subordinate clause, and you know which type of subordinate clauses it is by looking at what word starts it.

Very well done.

And again, as in many different forms of writing, we might also see compound sentences as a linguistic feature of an essay.

And as you probably know, a compound sentence is composed of two or more main clauses joined by a coordinated conjunction, like "and," "but" or "or." So we could say, "We will need to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, or the climate emergency will continue to worsen." We could say, "Fossil fuels are rich in energy, but they release greenhouse gases when they are burned." Or we could say, "The Industrial Revolution led to increased burning of fossil fuels and it led to increased production of items that require fuel to produce." In each case, we've taken two main clauses and connected them with a coordinating conjunction to make a compound sentence.

And we also might see parenthesis and bracket used as a linguistic feature in an essay.

And as you might know, parenthesis is additional information added into a sentence that could be removed.

So I could say, "Fossil fuels, including coal and gas, have become commonly used since the Industrial Revolution." There, I've put in brackets some extra clarifying information about fossil fuels.

I could say, "The Industrial Revolution, from the late 1700s, led to a huge growth in the use of fossil fuels." Here, the parenthesis and brackets clarify something about the Industrial Revolution.

Or I could say, "The vast majority of greenhouse gas emissions, 74%, come from the burning of fossil fuels." And in each case, we could remove that parenthesis and the sentence would still make sense.

We've just added in some extra information in an appropriate place with bracket around it.

So which sentences below use parenthesis in bracket correctly? And remember, it should be able to be removed from the sentence, and the rest of the sentence will still make sense.

Pause the video and have a look.

Well done.

Good job.

So A, if we remove that parenthesis, it would say, "Many countries are trying to use more renewable energy sources." So that works.

And "including the UK" is good clarifying information about many countries, so that one works.

For B, the parenthesis itself says "the UK," but if I look at the rest of the sentence, it would say, "Many countries including are trying to use more." Well, that doesn't make sense.

That's not right.

C says, if I remove that parenthesis, "Demand for fuel led to rising emissions." So that works, and "particularly from industry" adds some extra clarifying information about that demand for fuel, so that will look good.

And then if I try the last one, it says, "Demand for fuel particularly from led to rising emissions." That doesn't work, does it, so that one's not right.

So hopefully you spotted those two where it's been used correctly.

Well done.

So let's do our final task for this lesson.

I want you to read that example essay again, or look back at it in the video if you need to, or you could have it open on your computer if you can.

And I want you to find examples of each of the following linguistic features.

So you've got your list of all linguistic features there that we've discussed.

So pause the video and see if you can find an example of each of those within the text.

If you can find two of each, even better.

Pause the video and have a try.

Well done.

Really good job.

So here are examples of some of those linguistic features that you might have found.

For fronted adverbials of cause, maybe you found "As a result, they became a vital building block for the modern way of life." You could have found, "Consequently, many countries are trying to increase their use of renewable energy sources." For the fronted adverbials of time, Maybe you saw, "Soon, oil and natural gas were being extracted too." "In 2020, the IEA reported." You could have found for a formal fronted adverbial, "In addition" and "furthermore." Both of those are "and" formal fronted adverbials, adding on to the previous point.

For your adverbial complex sentences, maybe you found this.

"As societies moved away from farming and towards life in the city, demand for fuel grew." And "When fossil fuels are burned for energy, they release large amounts of carbon dioxide," "as" and "when" are subordinating conjuctions in these sentences, starting adverbial clauses.

For our non-finite -ing complex sentences, maybe you found these.

"These gases trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, adding to the greenhouse effect." And finally, "Coal was the first fossil fuel to be used on a massive scale, powering steam engines." "Adding" and "powering" are our verbs in their -ing form, starting those non finite -ing clauses.

And for our relative complex sentences, maybe you saw this.

"These fuels, which are buried beneath the Earth's surface, have become the main energy source for much of the world." There again we've got a relative clause interrupting a main clause to make a relative complex sentence.

And finally, you might have found parenthesis in brackets used as a linguistic feature as well.

Maybe you saw these.

Here, the parenthesis of just CO2.

Here, it's "particularly in factories." Here, it's "such as coal, oil and natural gas." And in this one, "such as solar, wind, and hydroelectric power." Really well done for finding all of those linguistic features of an essay.

So let's summarise our learning in this lesson.

We've said that an essay is a piece of formal non-fiction writing that presents a logical argument in relation to a command or a question.

We've said that the logical argument develops step-by-step over the course of the essay, supported by evidence and robust reasoning.

We've said that evidence may take a range of forms including facts, statistics, and references to expert opinion.

And that the linguistic features of an essay include a range of fronted adverbials and sentence types, and parenthesis in brackets.

Well done for your effort in the session.

It's gonna set you up really well for writing your own essay later in this unit.

Great job and I hope to see you again in a future lesson.

Goodbye.