How to write an essay

How to write an essay

Kevin Weigand

Essays are a common form of writing in educational institutions that can be given by teachers of various subjects. Before starting work on an essay, you should make sure that you understand exactly the essence of the assignment and can choose a competent approach. After choosing a topic on https://domyessay.co/ you need to collect material and narrow the circle of your statements. Next, you should draw up a plan and write the text of the work, which should include an introduction, main part and conclusion. After finishing the draft, take some time to edit to fix any bugs.

How to understand the task

Read the assignment carefully. The style, structure, and focus of your essay will depend on the type of essay. If you need to write an essay on a subject, carefully consider the assignment and find information about the nature of the job. Common types of essays include:

A comparative or contrastive essay that focuses on the analysis of the similarities and differences between two things like ideas, people, events, places, works of art.

A narrative essay that tells a story.

An argumentative essay in which the author provides evidence and examples to convince the reader of his point of view.

A critical or analytical essay that explores in detail a subject such as a text or a work of art. This type of essay can answer specific questions about a subject, or give general attention to its meaning.

An informative essay that aims to educate the reader on a specific topic.

Read the formatting and style requirements. Essays by subject or for publication may have specific formatting and style requirements. Read the assignment carefully to understand these requirements:

the volume of the essay;

requirements for the design of quotations;

formatting requirements, including margin size, spacing, font type and size.

Narrow your essay topic down to a clear focus. Depending on the assignment, you might already have received a specific topic or a fairly broad topic. In the absence of a specific topic, you need to consider your options. Pick a specific subject that interests you and that allows you to collect enough material to work with.

If your essay is based on research, you can skim through the main sources on the subject for inspiration.

For a critical essay, you can focus on a specific topic of the work being discussed, or you can analyze the meaning of a particular passage.

How to make a plan and think over the structure of work

Find reputable sources of information on the topic. If you need to write a scientific essay or other type of essay in which you need to support your statements with examples and evidence, then you will need to research the question. Visit a library or use the internet to find up-to-date sources of accurate, demonstrable information on a topic.

Scientific books and journals are usually reliable sources of data. In addition to printed materials, you can also find reliable information in scientific databases.

You can also search for primary sources such as letters, eyewitness reports, and photographs.

Always critically evaluate all sources . Even scientific articles by recognized scientists may contain hidden bias or outdated information, factual or logical errors.

Take notes when working with sources. When studying information, you should keep detailed records, record ideas that interest you and questions that need to be studied. If you are going to use such information for write my essay, then write down the details for citation in order to correctly form the links.

Try taking notes on separate cards or in a word document on your computer to easily copy, paste, and rearrange passages.

Organize notes into categories to quickly find specific ideas. For example, to analyze a story, you can group notes by topic or character.

Select the question to be answered or the problem to be solved. During the gathering phase, your topic may narrow down even further. For example, you may find that you want to answer a specific question or disprove a popular opinion. The question or problem will form the basis of your thesis or main argument.

Formulate a thesis that summarizes your main point. After choosing a specific question or idea, analyze the information gathered and highlight your main reason or key thought. Briefly summarize this thought in a couple of sentences. This will be your thesis.

A short answer to the main question may be one way to formulate a thesis.

Make a plan to structure your key ideas. When your thesis is ready, make a short list of the main points of your essay. You should not go into details - just 1-2 sentences or even a few words briefly describing each point. Use subparagraphs for examples and evidence to support each of your points.

When making a plan, think about the structure of the future essay. For example, the authors might start do my essay for me with the most compelling case and move towards the less compelling case. You can also start with a general look at the source you intend to analyze, then move on to the main themes, tone and style of work.

The plan might look like this:

Introduction;

Main part;

Thought 1 with supporting examples;

Thought 2 with supporting examples;

Thought 3 with supporting examples;

Main counter arguments;

Your refutation of such arguments;

Conclusion;

How to write a draft

Write an introduction to provide context. After working on your thesis and outline, move on to the introduction. Getting started should include a brief overview of the topic and your thesis. Here you need to provide information that will help the reader navigate, as well as put the essay in context.

For example, if you are writing a critical essay about a work of art, then the introduction might start with general information about the work such as the author, place and time of creation, and a brief description of the work itself. Next, you should voice the questions that you want to consider. Then state your thesis. 

A good introduction should also contain a short transitional sentence that forms a link to the first idea or reason you want to communicate. For example, if you are discussing the use of color in a work of art, please indicate that you would like to start with a general look at color symbolism in contemporary works by other authors.

Some authors prefer to begin work on the introduction after completing the rest of the essay. After explaining the main ideas, it will be easier for you to convey the essence of the essay in a few sentences.

State your reasons in detail. Build from the plan and write a few paragraphs of text dedicated to your reasoning. Each paragraph should contain a thematic sentence. It is a miniature thesis and briefly explains the main idea that you wish to convey in this paragraph. After the thematic proposal, support your views with a number of specific examples.

Try to show how the points of each paragraph tie together with the thesis of your essay.

Use transitional sentences between paragraphs. For flowing text, create connections or smooth transitions between arguments. Try to find a logical way to link each paragraph or topic to the previous or subsequent argument.

Consider possible counter-arguments. When working on an argumentation essay, you should familiarize yourself with the main arguments against your point of view. It is necessary to include such arguments in the essay and refute with convincing evidence.

For example, if you are claiming that a certain type of shrimp adorns its carapace with red algae to attract a mate, then consider the counter argument that the color of the carapace is actually intended to deter predators. For this, strong evidence should be given that red shrimps are more likely to be preyed by predators than shrimps whose chitin is not colored.

Summarize in the final paragraph. Finish with a short review of the main ideas. Demonstrate how the arguments provided support your thesis, and also succinctly summarize the main points and arguments. You can also consider questions that still remain unanswered, or ideas that deserve further study.

The conclusion should be short. The appropriate length depends on the amount of the rest of the work, but usually the conclusions should not take more than 1-2 paragraphs.

For example, in a 1000 word essay, the conclusion should be 4-5 sentences.

How to edit an essay

Take a break after completing the draft. It takes time to get distracted from work. This will give you a fresh perspective on your essay. Ideally, the break should last 1–2 days.

Reread the text and pay attention to obvious problems. When you reread it, focus on the main issues first. Try reading aloud to catch points that your eyes might miss. Spot problem areas, but do not try to correct the situation right away. Pay attention to the following points:

redundancy of words;

insufficiently clear explanations;

related or unnecessary information;

unclear transitions or insufficiently logical organization of the text;

spelling, grammatical, stylistic and formatting errors;

inappropriate speech or tone (slang or colloquial speech in a scientific essay).

Eliminate the identified deficiencies. After reading the text, make the necessary changes and edits. Then read the essay again and make sure the text is fluent and there are no other mistakes that you might have missed. 

You may need to cross out some passages or add new material.

Sometimes it is necessary to change the order of the material for the smoothness and consistency of the text.

Check out the edited essay. After editing, read the text carefully again and notice minor errors such as typos or formatting problems. Perhaps you missed some shortcomings at the first stage of editing, or new typos and errors appeared in the text after making edits. It is often easier to spot such errors by typing text rather than reading it from the screen.

 

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