An essay is any high school homework assignment which is aimed to improve student’s writing, knowledge of the subject, and English proficiency. Thus, it is impossible to ignore the role of this task for your self-development and future career.
You will face various writing assignments further in your life: resumes or filling simple blanks also involves good writing skills. An essay can be a school or college task as well as a separate rubric in some magazine or newspaper. Thus, if you are great at preparing essays today, you might become a distinguished author or famous journalist one day. The only difference is that today your tutors choose the topics for you. When you grow up, you’ll be able to select the topic for your paper on your own.
In any case, essay writing is a separate ninja art which every student has to master to survive his or her academic years. Students have to follow the general college paper structure and some principles of various academic paper formats if they wish to succeed. These paper formats include:
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago/Turabian
- Harvard
Except for the basic styles, you can meet Vancouver and Oxford formats on your academic way. Actually, they are not very different from the last two categories. On the whole, there is a plenty of writing styles to master, but you should not bother your head with it unless you know the major four. Usually, these styles are developed by the most prestigious educational institutions of the world. By the way, these institutions often ask their applicants to write an admissions essay. Also, they pay attention to the GPA of the applicants. Essay writing assignments compose at least 50% of your overall GPA.
So far, we have discussed important information that can motivate students to take their essay writing easily.
The Significance of the Process
The 5-paragraph essay is a good way to evaluate student’s basic writing and research skills. You may wonder why research skills are included in this list. Well, you definitely have some links to let your reader know that you have built your paper based on facts. No one would believe empty words that have no evidence behind.
If you are doing an essay as the part of your in-class activity, mind that it is limited in time. Mind some basic rules of college paper writing before completing your first draft:
- All your sentences and paragraphs have to be organized
- Keep to the logical flow of your ideas
- Stick to the outline – your writing plan
- Define what is required once analyzing your tutor’s instructions
- Use highlighter to mark special notes
- Come up with the general plan
Let’s say, you were given the question that deals with rock music and its evolution. It seems like the main topic is predetermined. Students also choose topics like these frequently. If there is nothing on your mind, turn to the online essay writing company to grab more ideas or help with the entire process.
Most probably, the goal would be to write a descriptive or narrative paper with the powerful thesis statement. The common belief is that rock music destroys the nervous system of all youngsters, so they simply go mad. You can refute it by claiming that rock music has nothing to do with massive murders and suicides. Another option is to support this topic by involving strong evidence.
The three main subtopics of your essay development process would be:
- The history of heavy music
- A description of its sound and lyrics
- How you felt when you first heard the thing
- Why is it harmful (or not) to your society?
An outline is another element of a strong essay. Writing an outline might take just an hour or less, but it will serve as your action plan to the end of the process. Outline your paper made of five paragraphs not to get lost in that stream of words. The first thing which should follow is an introduction.
We’ll tell you the truth: it is the most difficult part of the writing process. The first paragraphs should include information that will inspire your reader to read up to the end. Thus, we won’t persuade you that there are more frightening obstacles on your way: once you’re done with a powerful introduction along with the thesis statement, you may think that you’re finished with the entire paper.
In your introduction paragraph, you have to mention at least three arguments to support your thesis. This sentence is usually included in the last sentence of the first paragraph. It must be restated in conclusion to prove that an author has coped with its mission.
You need to read a lot of different sources to make up your mind. Ensure your topic is relevant for the modern society by viewing the most recent media sources. Are published sources like magazines and newspapers talking about the topic of your choice? Are there many people involved in reading those articles? Finally: is it a real problem for the contemporary society? Once you answer these questions and prepare a list of the best ideas, you’ll be able to analyze and pick the best topic for your homework task. Try to start working on it in 2-3 months before the deadline to have some time for professional online help in case you get lost in your notes.
Let’s say this time we’re writing an introduction for the essay focused on the memorable experience of your life.
- The subtopic is the reason this topic was given.
- The second goal is to describe your issues in the most appropriate way.
- The final subtopic is to include your thought about the discussed issues.
- Using transitions is a must!
Body of Your Essay
When you’re working on the first supportive or argumentative paragraph, you have to:
- Restate subtopic number one
- Add some good examples
- Make a bridge between the main ideas of the first body paragraph and the second one by including transition words
Second body paragraph of the academic essay
- Writing subtopic two with the new words and imposing the next question
- Effective samples
- Transition phrases again
Third Essay Body Paragraph
- Use thesis proclaimed in paragraph two
- Share valuable examples from real life or the selected sources
- Use relevant transitions to transfer the body of your essay into the conclusion paragraph
Closing or Summarizing Paragraph
- Give the main idea and results of the thesis question
- Restating main topic’s thesis statement and all arguments
Write down the essay which would become your final draft!
On the whole, students have to think small when writing the entire essay gradually.
Separate the paper into logical sections; follow the generally accepted structure. You can read official TOEFL website to get more help.
The example of structure would look this way.
The Introduction/First Paragraph
- The first paragraph dictates the tone of your essay
The main target is to set the topic and let the reader know about your intentions. Give a clear explanation of where you are going with your ideas in the thesis statement which consists of one sentence at the end of the introduction, as a rule. Once you have handled this task, you can make the reader make it to the end of your essay. The best reward is sharing your own experience with others. For students, it is also about their grades. - Writing in the active voice is preferred
Have you ever noticed that it does not seem too comfortable to read a story in the passive voice? The point is that using an active one makes the essay much more powerful and understandable. Share this rule with every sentence when writing. The introduction is an especially important part. It has to be perfect. Unless a student is preparing a personal statement or else, avoid the pronoun "I." - Diverse sentence structure
At the same time, making your essay structured the same way entirely would seem too boring. Make it a bit unpredictable by writing in a new pattern rather than beginning each time with the subject. - Brainstorming = successful writing process
- Once you have done your search for the main question of your essay, you may want to search for the corresponding arguments as your evidence. You should choose the supporting ideas based on what you really know. Provide both academic points and your life experience. The ineffective argument with too many doubts will not play in your hand.
- Practice writing introduction on more than one topic
This is an effective practice applied to play with different words and to develop writing skills. Different essay topics can be contrasted to the type of writing you come up with currently. It is done to watch a pattern of personal progress.
Supporting Paragraphs or Essay Body
- Writing transitions is a clue
Think about proper transition words or phrases to make each essay paragraph flow logically by connecting the first sentence of the upcoming paragraph with the last sentence of the previous one. - Mind the topic sentence
The transition can be included in the main topic sentence. - All ideas and examples should relate to the sub-topic
Avoid writing down just every idea which comes to your mind. The argument you put down has to be relevant to the main essay topic and thesis. The purpose is to stay focused instead of providing too many useless details. - Plan different sentence structure
Writing down the same pronouns and lists is too tiring.
A regular way to come up with the sentence looks like this: subject + verb + direct object. Make your essay fun to read by changing the structure a bit.
The Last Step: A Conclusion Paragraph
The easiest thing about the essay is writing the ending part. You have to restate your thesis from the introduction, answer the main question, and list the supportive arguments once again. No need to go into the details.Students cannot assume that the reader gets to the main point, so they may want to name it once again at the end of the essay.
- Restate your essay thesis in a new, unique manner. The basic rule is to write down the thesis in another way without copy-pasting this sentence.
- Summarize your arguments. Show the reader that you do know the topic perfectly by sharing possible scientific, academic or business terms. Writing the last few sentences might sometimes be a challenge as it should clearly state your thought and sound strong enough to leave something in the memory of your reader. The conclusion paragraph of the essay should also show that school or college student understands the chosen topic with all of its nuances.
- INCLUDE some keywords to make the conclusion function as it should.
- Be powerful as this is the last thought that you are leaving with the reader.
- Mind that a good example of essay writing can be found here.
- Proofread, edit and revise your essay draft to make a final paper out of it.
- Check English grammar and scan the essay for plagiarism. It is the essential part of academic essay writing.
- Make sure that subjects and verbs agree, and verb tenses are consistent.
- Examine your final paper for logic.
- Ask a peer or expert to review and leave feedback.
- Order effective academic writing each time you feel overloaded.