Essay writing is an essential skill for every student regardless of their field of study. It is a skill that they will require all through their academic careers every time they present an assignment or a thesis paper. Good essay writing is an art and may students seem to struggle to compose even the most basic essays. This is mostly because essay writing isn’t taught as part of a course curriculum. At schoollevel, it is very briefly touched upon but never with the kind of depth required to prepare students to produce masterful essays at graduate and undergraduate levels.
Tips to write the “Perfect Essayâ€
Depending on your field of study you may be asked to produce different kinds of essays at various stages in your academic career. From generic English language essays to literary essays, historical essays, scientific essays, academic essays, thesis papers and assignment essays; so there are so many different kinds of essays. Once you figure out which one you will have to tackle, use the following tips to write the perfect essay and score better than your peers:
- Topic
- Understand the scope of your topic clearly before you begin.
- Given a chance to select a topic for yourself, play to your strengths and write on a topic that interests you or one that you are familiar with.
- Experiment and come up with innovative and unusual topics within the scope of your curriculum.
- Don’t be afraid to choose interdisciplinary topics like music and poetry or math and computer science. Don’t restrict yourself unless you are limited by the scope of your curriculum.
- Planning
- Planning is an integral part of good essay writing. Students often underestimate the importance of this essential step and therefore struggle when they actually start to write.
- Map out your essay before you start writing. Jot down points and ideas that you want to include and come up with a basic skeletal structure before you begin. This ensures that you don’t ramble, forget important points or go off topic when you start to write.
- Research
Once you have a basic idea of the kind of essay you want to write you need to research your subject thoroughly.
Begin by reading other essays on the same topic to get an idea of the kind of essay that is expected of you but do not plagiarize.
Use your resources wisely. Ensure that you are not misguided by inaccurate sources.
- Libraries and the internet will give you enough secondary material but depending on the kind of essay you are writing; you will have to corroborate you research with field work in order to collect primary material.
- Refer to your secondary sources clearly in a way that does not leave any room for confusion. You do not want to be accused of plagiarism so always remember to cite your sources within the essay or right at the end in an exhaustive bibliography.
- Remember that secondary sources are essential in order to strengthen your arguments so ensure you refer to a substantial amount of secondary material.
- Structure
- This is the backbone of your essay. It is the most crucial part of your work.
- Structure your essay scientifically for the best results.
- Introduction:
- Begin by coming up with a clear hypothesis or thesis statement. The purpose of your essay is to prove your hypothesis conclusively.
- Write a clear introduction that piques the interest of the reader, encouraging her to delve deeper. Your opening statements must be bold enough to “hook†the reader.Get right to the point. Do not beat around the bush. You may incorporate some contemporary references or relevant anecdotes to make your introduction more lively and interesting.
- Part of your introduction should function as an overview for the rest of your essay so that the reader knows what to expect.
- Body:
- The body of your essay should be divided into a minimum of three arguments.
- Begin with your strongest argument.
- Each argument must be substantiated with the help of primary and secondary data.
- Ensure your arguments are not disjointed and vague. Ensure each point or argument is clear and well developed.
- Try to navigate smoothly from one argument to the next and keep contradictions and inconsistencies to a minimum.
- It is easier to present multiple arguments that complement one another instead of diverse arguments that clash or contradict one another.
- Wrap up your arguments briefly when you come to the end of the body of your essay.
- Conclusion:
- The conclusion is as important as the introduction.
- Use this part of the essay to reflect critically on your arguments and connect it to your hypothesis or original statement of purpose.
- Incorporate contemporary references in order to connect your topic and arguments to the present. You may also make a passing mention of exceptions of contradictions to your arguments to balance your arguments and make this a well rounded
- Ensure that the conclusion reads like a logical end to your essay and not like an afterthought.
- Revise
- Revision is an essential part of perfecting your essay.
- It weeds out all inconsistencies and errors.
- It is a good idea to write a complete rough draft of your essay before you rewrite a fair copy. This gives you a chance to correct all your mistakes and improve upon the rough draft where necessary.
- Ensure that you work is neat and organized so that it is presentable and easy on the eyes.
- Format your work. Fill in headings and subheading where required.
- Keep an eye on language, grammar and syntax.
- Give yourself a break between the completion of your essay and your revision. This gives you some time to take a step back and review your work objectively with fresh eyes.
- You may ask your friends, family or teachers to go over your essay with you in case you want a second opinion.
- Things to keep in mind:
- Write in a simple and straightforward manner.
- Do not be vague and do not pander.
- Use your vocabulary and make your essay as fluid and cohesive as possible.
- Be confident in your arguments and conscious of the tone you use to present your arguments. Be careful not to talk down to your readers.
- The more you write, the better you will get at it.
- If you have writer’s block or you just cannot focus, you can try these Daily Tips to Increase your Attention Span and improve your Academic Performance.
With these amazing tips in mind, you are sure to be able to make your essays absolutely perfect and score better than your classmates.