In English lessons at a school, college, or course institution, you may be given the task of writing an essay. It may seem difficult, but it's not always the case. If you set aside enough time to plan and develop your essay, there is no reason to stress.
Step
Part 1 of 4: Getting Started
Step 1. Set aside time to write
You can't write a quality essay in just 10 minutes. Set aside enough time to write and revise. Also take into account the time off factor after writing a draft. However, if the deadline is near, you should make the most of your time.
Step 2. Sit down and write
Preparation is important, but when it's time to work, all you have to do is write and write. Remember, you can review it later and make improvements, and revisions are actually part of the writing process.
Step 3. Create a temporary thesis
The thesis is one of the most important elements in an essay. Thesis is a summary of the main statements or arguments in an essay. From the thesis, the reader knows what the essay will present or prove. All essay content must be directly linked to the thesis.
- The instructor or teacher wants to see a well-crafted thesis. Place the thesis at the end of the first paragraph.
- If you don't know how to write a thesis, ask your instructor or teacher for help. Thesis is an important concept that will continue to emerge throughout lessons that involve writing a paper.
Step 4. Develop an introduction
After writing a compelling thesis statement, build an introduction with the thesis guide. If you find it difficult to write the introduction now, postpone it after the body of the essay has been written. A good introduction is one that "grabs" the reader's attention and provokes them to keep reading. Some effective strategies in preliminary writing are:
- Telling personal anecdotes
- Mention interesting facts or statistics
- Clearing common misconceptions
- Challenging readers to evaluate their own prejudices
Step 5. Write an outline of the essay
Outlining means developing the basic structure of the essay, which helps you to focus on the discussion when writing a draft. Look at your notes and think about how you can organize the information in an outline. Think about what information should appear first, second, third, etc.
- You can create an outline in a word processor or write it on paper.
- No need to create a detailed outline. Just write down the main idea.
Part 2 of 4: Drafting
Step 1. Gather all notes and materials
Before you start writing, gather all the notes, books, and other materials you need to answer the issues raised in the essay. Support is very important in an effective English essay. So don't even try to write an essay without it. If you have time, read your notes before you start.
Make sure the skeleton is always ready too. You can develop an outline by adding ideas at each point in their respective order
Step 2. Insert a topic sentence at the beginning of each paragraph
The topic sentence is a clue about the content of the paragraph. Begin the paragraph with a topic sentence so the teacher can see your idea developing in a clear and straightforward way.
- Think of the topic sentence as a way to tell the reader what the paragraph is about. You don't need to sum up whole paragraphs, just give hints.
- For example, in the paragraph describing Okonkwo's rise and fall in Things Fall Apart, you might start with a sentence like this: “Okonkwo started out as a poor young man, but later managed to amass wealth and reach a position of high status.”
Step 3. Develop the broadest possible idea
Make sure you include as many details as possible. Remember that writing lots of text and long sentences that don't add value is an ineffective strategy as the instructor or teacher can see it. They have read hundreds of student essays so they will immediately recognize an essay full of meaningless words. Fill in the essay with details that provide useful information. If you're stuck, you can try some of these idea development strategies:
- Back to the invention stage. This includes freewriting, list building, or clustering exercises. You can also check your notes and books again to find what you missed or forgot.
- Visit the writing training center at the school. There are several campuses that provide writing training centers. There, you can find help improving your writing.
- Consult an instructor. Take advantage of the consultation time with the lecturer. Discuss ways to improve the essay before submitting it.
Step 4. Create references and bibliography in MLA format
If you are using library resources, you must list them in the format requested by the instructor. The format most often used in English courses is MLA. So that's what you should use. In addition to the bibliography, also provide references in the text.
- The bibliography in MLA format begins on the last page of the essay. Provide entries for each source you use. This entry should include the required information so that readers can easily find the source.
- A bibliography in MLA format in parentheses provides the author's last name and page numbers. It is very important to include source references in the text, whether quoted, summarized, or rearranged in their own words. These references are listed right after the information you are using, with the author's last name and page number in parentheses.
Step 5. Lead the writing towards the conclusion
The general structure of an essay usually goes from broad to specific. You can visualize this tendency like an inverted pyramid or funnel. Once it came to a conclusion, the information inside was definitely like that. Basically, a conclusion is a recap of everything you've covered and you want to prove in your essay. However, conclusions can also be used for other purposes. You can use inferences to:
- Validate or complete the information in the essay.
- Suggests the importance of further research.
- Speculation that the situation will change in the future
Part 3 of 4: Revising the Essay
Step 1. Take a lot of time
Working on essays at the last minute is not a good idea at all. Try to set aside a few days for revision. It's also important to take a day or two of rest after finishing the essay. Then, read again and revise with a new perspective.
Step 2. Focus on improving the content of the essay
When revising, some people only focus on grammar and punctuation, but that's actually less important than the content of the essay. Answer the questions in as much detail as possible. Read the question or task guide again and think about the following:
- Is my answer satisfactory?
- Is my thesis clear? Is my thesis the focus of the essay?
- Have I included sufficient argument support? Is there anything else I can add?
- Is my essay logical? Does one idea follow the following idea? If not, how to improve the logic of this essay?
Step 3. Have a friend read your essay
You can ask a friend to check the essay you are working on. Since you've been working with the essay for a long time, other people may be better able to spot minor mistakes or realize that there is information that should be included.
- Try swapping essays with classmates. You can read and comment on each other's essays to ensure the best results.
- Make sure you swap essays at least one day before the submission deadline to have time to correct the error your friend discovered.
Step 4. Read the essay aloud
If you read aloud, you can spot minor mistakes that you might not otherwise have discovered by reading silently. Read slowly with pencil in hand (or prepare to edit on a computer).
As you read, correct errors and note possible improvements, such as adding details or clarifying language
Part 4 of 4: Planning an Essay
Step 1. Analyze the topic or essay question
Spend some time reading the essay or guide questions, then think about what the assignment requires. You should underline keywords such as describe, compare, contrast, explain, refute, or propose. Also underline the central theme or idea that should be discussed, such as independence, family, defeat, love, etc.
Ask the teacher if you don't understand the assignment. Before you start writing, you have to understand what they want
Step 2. Consider the reader
The teacher is the main reader of school assignment essays. So, before writing, you should consider the teacher's needs and expectations. Some of the things that teachers usually need or expect are:
- Detailed answers that meet the task requirements
- The writing is clear and easy to follow
- Essays without minor mistakes like misspellings or typos.
Step 3. Think about what you should include
After considering the instructor's expectations, spend some time thinking about how to meet those goals. Think about what you should include.
- For example, if you have to write about a character in a book, you will need to provide lots of details about that character. Perhaps you should reread the book and also review the study notes.
- To make sure the paper is easy to understand, make sure the order is logical. The trick is to create a framework and evaluate the logic.
- Work ahead of time and allow plenty of time for revision. Try to finish the first draft about a week before the deadline.
Step 4. Develop an idea
Invention exercises help you draw out known details, which are a valuable foundation in the writing process. Invention exercises you can try are:
- Free writing. Write as much as you can without stopping. If you can't think of anything, write "I can't think of anything" until something pops into your head. Once done, check again and underline any useful information.
- Make a list. List all the details and information relevant to the essay assignment. Once this list is complete, read it again and circle the most important information.
- Create a cluster. Write the topic in the middle of the page, then branch out with other related ideas. Circle the development idea and connect it to the main idea with a line. Continue until there's nothing else you can think of.
Step 5. Research the topic if needed
If you are asked to do research, do so before drafting. Leverage library databases and other sources to find the best information.
- Good sources for English essays are books, articles from scholarly journals, articles from trusted news sources (NY Times, Wall Street Journal, etc.), and government or university websites.
- Many teachers also include “quality research” in their scoring criteria. So you'll get low marks if you include less trusted sources, like blogs.
- If you are unsure about the quality of a source, check with your teacher or librarian.
