Essay Writing

The word 'Essay’ is derived from 'the old French word essai meaning attempt. An essay is an attempt at writing something about or on something. Montaigne, the famous French essayist, is said to have originated the style of Writing. *He wrote many compositions which were translated into English about the time Shakespeare was writing his greatest plays. They .have had very great influence on other writers from that time. Shakespeare read them, as we can often see in the thoughts he puts into the mouths of his characters. And they were also responsible for the first great essay we have in English—those of Francis Bacon( 1566-1626), which are considerably shorter than Montaigne's, sometimes only of one page.

These essays of Montaigne and Bacon are mainly meditations or reflections arranged in orderly ways. Since their time, the name  'essay’ has been given to writings of very varying length, from a page or two to long ones like those of Macaulay and others. Now-a-days essays are generally short, because they are written to fill a limited amount of space in a daily, weekly, monthly or a quarterly publication.

An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument — but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have traditionally been sub-classified as formal and informal. Formal essays are characterized by "serious purpose, dignity, logical organization, length," whereas the informal essay is characterized by "the personal element (self-revelation, individual tastes and experiences, confidential manner), humor, graceful style, rambling structure, unconventionality or novelty of theme," etc.

Therefore, it follows that, just as there are many types of musical composition—operas, songs, and orchestral pieces—also different kinds of pictures, viz. oil paintings, water colours, landscapes, and miniatures—so there must be many different forms of writing, dependent entirely upon the idea it is desired to convey and the impression to be made. Whatever may be the form of expression adopted, it must possess certain essential qualities.

1. What is written must be. perfectly clear: there must be no doubt in the mind of the reader as to the meaning.
2. It must be expressed in an attractive way: the language should fit in with the ideas: beautiful thoughts must be - clothed in beautiful words.
3. There ought to be a logical sequence in what is written: one idea should lead quite naturally to another.
4. It is essential to keep to the topic about which it is intended to write. This is especially important in an essay for examination purposes. A composition on Cricket" will be treated quite differently from an exercise on "The Advantages of Cricket '
5. Care should be taken with the setting out of the composition: the exercise must be a series of thoughts about the subject in question. Each distinct line of thought should be indicated by a paragraph. Let there be a margin of the left-hand side of the paper and each paragraph be denoted by an indent. 

Essay Topics

1. The Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace be upon him)
2. My Hero in History 
3. A Visit to a Hill Station
4. A Visit to an Historical Place
5. Why I Love Pakistan
6. My First Day at College
7. My Last Day at College
8. My Aim in Life
9. My Hobby
10. A Cricket Match
11. Co-education
12. An Ideal Student
13. Blessings of Science
14. Good Governance
15. Humanism
16. Islamic Fundamentalism
17. Democracy
18. Alleviating Poverty
19. Democracy is the best form of Government
20. Love is Life and Life is Love
21. Company
22. Habits
23. The Influence of Climate on Character
24. Self Respect
25. Self Culture
26. Self Help
27. Self Control
28. Self Sacrifice
29. Punctuality
30. Discipline
31. The Rights of Man
32. The Standard of Education
33. Terrorism - A Political Cancer
34. Debates
35. Tsunami Destruction by Indian Ocean
36. Terrorism
37. Ban on Marriage's Expensive Feasts
38. Financial Crisis in Asia
39. Computer - The Craze or the Need of the Age
40. A Mosque
41. Moharrum
42. Status of Women in Islam
43. Islamic Culture
44. Islamic Democracy
45. Religious Instructions
46. Duty to Parents
47. Literacy and Economic Development
48. Duty of a Citizen
49. Aids: The Sure and the Silent Killer
50. Memories of Eid-ul-Adha
51. Social and Cultural Diversity
52. Citizenship
53. Becoming a Responsible Citizen: Can Education Help?
54. Causes and Effects of the Popularity of Fast Food
55. Social Issues
56. An Ideal Teacher
57. The Duties of a Policeman
58. The Street Beggar
59. Description of a Pakistani Juggler
60. An Ideal Student
61. The Snake Charmer
62. My Most Interesting Dreams
63. The Funniest Incident
64. When I was a Small Child
65. Self Esteem and Confidence for Children