There comes a time in every school year when the all-important, grade-defining essay is set, and regardless of whether you’re an English student or studying science, the process is always the same. Writing a great essay contains many skills that will come in handy throughout your academic life and future careers, so nailing the technique now will save you a lot of time and stress in the future!
Think of writing an essay like building a house: you need to have strong foundations, a good plan, a clear pathway, clear, individual sections, and an efficient flow throughout. If you imagine a house, what would happen if you firstly started out without foundations, didn’t have any blueprints, decided to have holes in the ceilings instead of doors, and put your oven in your bathroom? Chances are, you’d have a very useless house!
The same goes for essays: do your research before you start writing. Background reading and reading around the subject of the essay is vital. This will help you develop a strong argument, and prevent you getting half way through the writing part and realising you don’t have enough ideas or evidence to get you through! The whole essay will fail if the foundations aren’t strong,so ensure you’re writing about topic that has enough material – and that you have a well-developed, concise argument for.
Think up a thesis for your essay. This is a short, one-sentence summary of your argument: it answers the question that the essay sets. Make sure to include this in your introduction and throughout the essay’s body, as well as keeping it in your mind while you read and plan. If something doesn’t fit your thesis, it doesn’t need to be included.
Next, put together a plan that suits you. Some students need a detailed plan, complete with evidence, quotations and a paragraph-by-paragraph list. However, others just need a vague idea of where they’re going: a rough draft of key areas to focus on, and examples to include. Play around with what methods suit you best, and you’ll find essay-writing gets a lot easier. Plans are there to make sure you don’t go off-topic, and to keep track of your best ideas, so at the very least you should have your thesis statement, and three to five points that will make up your argument.
When thinking about your paragraphs and evidence points, remember the rooms in your house. Each is very specific to its function: a bathroom contains everything for washing, a kitchen everything for cooking. Apply this theory to your writing: one paragraph should only contain information and evidence specific to it. When you have a new point or a new topic, start a new paragraph.
Keep your writing simple. The best academics are those who can explain a point in an easy to understand way. No one would want to sleep in a bedroom with flurouscent green and pink polka dot paint on the wall, with leopard print carpet and floral curtains, in the same way that readers don’t want to read twenty words when they could be reading five.
Like the flow of a house, your essay should draw its reader through methodically and sensibly: find links between your points and order them in a way that makes sense. You don’t want two contrasting statements next to each other, when you have another point that links them together. Joining words are your doors: use them, else your reader will feel trapped, and move awkwardly between paragraphs. Everything should flow smoothly and in a way that guides the reader through your argument. Place your strongest points at the beginning and the end, and your weaker ideas in the middle.
While you might not be able to build your own house by the end of school, you will be able to write a strong, clear essay! What other tips do you have for writing a great essay – and what other analogies have you heard in regards to academic writing?
Written by JC (Guest Blogger)