How write an essay
Despite the fact that, as Shakespeare said, "the pen is mightier than the sword," the pen itself is not enough to make an effective writer. In fact, though we may all like to think of ourselves as the next Shakespeare, inspiration alone is not the key to effective essay writing. You see, the conventions of English essays are more formulaic than you might think — and, in many ways, it can be as simple as counting to five. Though more advanced academic papers are a category all their own, the basic high school or college essay has the following standardized, five paragraph structure:.
8 Tips for writing an excellent essay
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more Got it! Essays are common in middle school, high school and college. You may even need to write essays in the business world although they are usually called "reports" at that point. An essay is defined as "a short piece of writing that expresses information as well as the writer's opinion. For some, writing an essay is as simple as sitting down at their computer and beginning to type.
But, a lot more planning goes into writing an essay successfully. If you have never written an essay before, or if you struggle with writing and want to improve your skills, it is a good idea to follow a number of important steps in the essay writing process. While this sounds like a lot of steps to write a simple essay, if you follow them you will be able to write more successful, clear and cohesive essays.
The first step to writing an essay is to define what type of essay you are writing. There are four main categories into which essays can be grouped:.
Narrative Essay : Tell a story or impart information about your subject in a straightforward, orderly manner, like in a story. Persuasive Essay : Convince the reader about some point of view. Expository Essay : Explain to the reader how to do a given process.
You could, for example, write an expository essay with step-by-step instructions on how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Descriptive Essay : Focus on the details of what is going on. For example, if you want to write a descriptive essay about your trip to the park, you would give great detail about what you experienced: how the grass felt beneath your feet, what the park benches looked like, and anything else the reader would need to feel as if he were there. Knowing what kind of essay you are trying to write can help you decide on a topic and structure your essay in the best way possible.
Here are a few other types of essays:. Argumentative Essay : Take a position on a controversial issue and present evidence in favor of your position. Compare and Contrast Essay : Identify similarities and differences between two subjects that are, typically, under the same umbrella. Problem Solution Essay : Describe a problem, convince the reader to care about the problem, propose a solution, and be prepared to dismantle objections.
If you've been assigned an argumentative essay, check out these Top 10 Argumentative Essay Topics. You cannot write an essay unless you have an idea of what to write about.
Brainstorming is the process in which you come up with the essay topic. You need to simply sit and think of ideas during this phase. Use clustering or mind mapping to brainstorm and come up with an essay idea. This involves writing your topic or idea in the center of the paper and creating bubbles clouds or clusters of related ideas around it. Brainstorming can be a great way to develop a topic more deeply and to recognize connections between various facets of your topic.
Once you have a list of possible topics, it's time to choose the best one that will answer the question posed for your essay. You want to choose a topic that is neither too broad nor too narrow. If you are given an assignment to write a one-page essay, it would be far too much to write about "the history of the US," since that could fill entire volumes of books.
Instead, you could write about a specific event within the history of the United States: perhaps signing the Declaration of Independence or when Columbus discovered the Americas. Choose the best topic idea from among your list and begin moving forward on writing your essay. But, before you move forward, take heed of these topics to avoid. Once you have done your brainstorming and chosen your topic, you may need to do some research to write a good essay. Go to the library or search online for information about your topic.
Interview people who might be experts in the subject. Keep your research organized so it will be easy for you to refer back to. This will also make it easier to cite your sources when writing your final essay. Your thesis statement is the main point of your essay. It is essentially one sentence that says what the essay is about. For example, your thesis statement might be "Dogs are descended from wolves. You should usually state your thesis in your introductory paragraph. The thesis statement should be broad enough that you have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can't be thorough.
To help you structure a perfectly clear thesis, check out these These Statement Examples. The next step is to outline what you are going to write about. This means you want to essentially draw the skeleton of your paper. Writing an outline can help to ensure your paper is logical, well organized and flows properly. If you've been tasked with an argumentative essay, here's the best formula for an Argumentative Essay Outline.
Start by writing the thesis statement at the top, and then write a topic sentence for each paragraph below that. This means you should know exactly what each of your paragraphs is going to be about before you write them. Ensure you have transitions between paragraphs so the reader understands how the paper flows from one idea to the next.
Fill in supporting facts from your research under each paragraph. Make sure each paragraph ties back to your thesis and creates a cohesive, understandable essay. Does your teacher follow the APA guidelines for writing papers? As you progress into the meat of the essay following our tips below , these APA Format Examples should prove beneficial!
Once you have an outline, it's time to start writing. Write based on the outline itself, fleshing out your basic skeleton to create a whole, cohesive and clear essay. You'll want to edit and re-read your essay, checking to make sure it sounds exactly the way you want it to.
Here are some things to remember:. Support your thesis adequately with the information in your paragraphs. Each paragraph should have its own topic sentence. This is the most important sentence in the paragraph that tells readers what the rest of the paragraph will be about. Make sure everything flows together. As you move through the essay, transition words will be paramount. Transition words are the glue that connects every paragraph together and prevents the essay from sounding disjointed.
Reread your introduction and conclusion. Will the reader walk away knowing exactly what your paper was about? In your introduction, it's important to include a hook.
This is the line or line that will lure a reader in and encourage them to want to learn more. For more on this, check out How to Write a Hook. And, to help you formulate a killer conclusion, scan through these Conclusion Examples. Now the essay is written, but you're not quite done. Reread what you've written, looking out for mistakes and typos.
Check for grammar , punctuation and spelling errors. You cannot always count on spell check to recognize every spelling error.
Sometimes, you can spell a word incorrectly but your misspelling will also be a word, such as spelling "from" as "form. Another common area of concern is quotation marks. It's important to cite your sources with accuracy and clarity. Follow these guidelines on how to use quotes in essays and speeches. You might also want to consider the difference between quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing. Quoting is reserved for lines of text that are identical to an original piece of writing.
Paraphrasing is reserved for large sections of someone else's writing that you want to convey in your own words. Summarizing puts the main points from someone else's text into your own words. Here's more on When to Quote, Paraphrase, or Summarize. A lot goes into writing a successful essay. Fortunately, these tips for writing essays can help you along the way and get you on the path to a well-written essay.
Out of all these "how-tos," the worst thing you could do is plagiarize someone else's writing intentionally or unintentionally. Take a look at these tips and techniques for preventing plagiarism. Other than that, we wish you great success as you work your way to a perfect A!
Home Grammar How to Write an Essay. For example, to write an essay, you should generally: Decide what kind of essay to write Brainstorm your topic Research the topic Develop a thesis Outline your essay Write your essay Edit your writing to check spelling and grammar While this sounds like a lot of steps to write a simple essay, if you follow them you will be able to write more successful, clear and cohesive essays.
Choose the Type of Essay The first step to writing an essay is to define what type of essay you are writing. There are four main categories into which essays can be grouped: Narrative Essay : Tell a story or impart information about your subject in a straightforward, orderly manner, like in a story.
Here are a few other types of essays: Argumentative Essay : Take a position on a controversial issue and present evidence in favor of your position. Brainstorm You cannot write an essay unless you have an idea of what to write about. Write down everything that comes to mind as you can always narrow those topics down later.
Research the Topic Once you have done your brainstorming and chosen your topic, you may need to do some research to write a good essay.
Brainstorm your topic. Research the topic.
An essay is a common type of academic writing that you'll likely be asked to do in multiple classes. Before you start writing your essay, make sure you understand the details of the assignment so that you know how to approach the essay and what your focus should be. Once you've chosen a topic, do some research and narrow down the main argument s you'd like to make. From there, you'll need to write an outline and flesh out your essay, which should consist of an introduction, body, and conclusion.
An academic essay aims to persuade readers of an idea based on evidence.
Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.
9 steps for writing a great essay
There are many types of essays and papers you can write as a student. The content and length of an essay varies depending on your level, subject of study, and specific course requirements. However, most academic essays share the same goal. They aim to persuade readers of a position or perspective through informed arguments, which are based on evidence, analysis and interpretation. Furthermore, every essay has an introduction , body and conclusion that always do more or less the same things.
General Essay Writing Tips
Academic essay writing is a style that anyone can learn to produce, once they know the basics of writing an essay. An academic essay should provide a solid, debatable thesis that is then supported by relevant evidence—whether that be from other sources or from one's own research. Most research follows a standard set of guidelines. Remembering some basic principles for academic essay writing will allow you to create valuable, persuasive papers, even if you're under a time crunch. Before you even start writing an essay, it is important to know what you want to say. The easiest way to narrow down a thesis and create a proper argument is to make a basic outline before you begin writing your essay. The basic structure of an academic essay includes the following elements: an introduction that includes the thesis; the body of the essay, which should include separate paragraphs discussing evidence that supports the thesis; and a conclusion that ties everything together and connects it to the thesis. When it comes to how much evidence should be included in an academic essay, a good guideline is to include at least three solid points that directly support your thesis. Grammar, style, and punctuation are incredibly important if you want your research to be understood and taken seriously. Before writing an essay, make sure you have a solid understanding of basic grammar.
An argumentative or persuasive essay takes a strong position on a topic through the use of supporting evidence.
This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. Learn more Got it! Essays are common in middle school, high school and college.
How to Write an Essay
Each teacher gives out homework, and at the end of the day, the students are overburdened. To lessen this burden order a paper from custom essay writing service and spend your time revising for your exams. Using professional essay writer can also save you from the unhealthy sleepless nights and embarrassing grades plus late submissions. For students who have enough time, they claim to lack necessary skills to come up with a top-notch essay. With this simple tips and tricks, you can successfully and confidently write your essay. Follow each step-by-step. Here are the tips:. This is the most crucial stage in essay writing. Once you know the question asked you can be able to identify the type of essay. After getting an overview of the essay, you will be in a better position to choose a more relevant topic.
5 Ways to Quickly Improve Your Academic Essay Writing Skills
Sign up or log in to manage your notifications. Essays and research papers can invoke massive amounts of stress and anxiety. So can dentists. But no matter what classes you take in high school or college, you're going to have to write an essay at some point. Whether you love or hate them, following these nine steps can improve your essays, reduce your stress, and possibly save you from an expensive dentist degree. The most important step in writing an essay or research paper is to fully comprehend the essay question. Start your essay with a thesis statement that will guide your entire paper.
