Essay Guideline

Writing assignments are not the exclusive domain of English classes. Most subjects these days require a certain amount of writing in project work and examinations. Yet, if English is not one of your best subjects and you daydreamed your way through lectures on “how to write”, and writing basics such as punctuation and grammar; what are you to do? Say a prayer and hope for the best? Wing your way through poorly written essay after poorly written essay? Or better yet, sigh and wish the whole writing thing would just go away?

Not only are these options unnecessary, all three will drag your marks down and make learning your subject that much harder. Writing can be relatively easy if you remember three easy points.

1. Planning
2. Structure: beginnings, middles and ends
3. Edit, edit, edit

Planning

Start with reading the question. Sounds silly, doesn’t it? But if you don’t get this part right you may as well throw salt over your shoulder for good luck. The way the question is written is important. It tells you

a) what you need to be doing - discussing, arguing,

b) how you need to do it - provide examples, source other writers, and

3) what you need to be writing about. Make sure you understand what is required of you before you start.

With the question out of the way, plan how you’re going to answer it. This includes research and knowing your subject. The better you know what you’re writing about the more convincing you will be. If you need a bibliography, this is the time to start one. If you’ll need to do more than surf the web for information, plan in a visit to the local library or museum. Figure out how long the assignment is likely to take and give yourself plenty of time to complete it. Make notes on the subject and develop your argument according to the question requirements and general essay structure. All that’s left after that is to write your essay, article, or report.

Structure

The beginning is your introduction. It should be strong, answer the set question and introduce your “arguments”. The first sentence should have impact - this is what I’m going to say and this is how I’m going to say it. Be decisive and to the point. To get rid of any words that slow it down, read it out loud [or at least mouth the words] and you’ll quickly notice the ones that don’t sound right. Any that trip the tongue need to be edited out or written in another way. Any word that is repeated also needs to be looked at. Wordiness and repetition will bog your work down and make it harder to understand. Remember, good strong sentences that don’t trip the tongue or get lost in a mish-mash of words.

Your arguments are the middle, or the meat, of your essay. Each requires its own paragraph [at the least] with its own beginning, middle and end [introduce your case, state your case, end your case. Essay structure in miniature form]. Be clear and concise. That is, make sure what you are writing is answering the question. Check each paragraph against your introduction and the question to ensure you are staying on track. Keep your arguments separate, new argument equals a new paragraph. To keep the essay tight and clear, read it out loud. If you find that the end of the paragraph is discussing something entirely different from the beginning then you are mixing your subjects. Keeping it all neat, tidy and boxed makes it easier to read and understand, and shows that you understand your topic. Note that this is not the time or place to think “outside the box” and introduce radical chains of thought. Write only to answer the question and do not waffle. Tell the teacher or lecturer what it is they want to hear.

Conclusions sum up the introduction so keep a copy of what you’ve already said next to you and refer to it constantly. Your end needs to be as strong as your beginning. State what the argument was, how you met those arguments and finish with how that proves your argument. Avoid terms such as, “In conclusion,” and “Therefore” if you can as these have now reached the stage of clich

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Often students are asked to review their peers essays and term papers. Why? This is a learning process for both the writer and readers in many ways. First, it gives the writer a real audience and a chance to hear what others think about their essay. Readers can say what they like and dislike about the essay. It gives the student a chance to make corrections before the instructor sees the essay. The reader can point out different mistakes and make suggestions about the essay or research paper. It is important for the student to remember that not all suggestions have to be accepted. Good peer review takes time and effort. It is important to begin the essay early so the reviewer has time to review it properly. The purpose of peer reviews is to improve editing skills and have someone point out the strengths and weaknesses of an essay.

Students who review the works of others are benefited by learning how to read essays with a critical mind. Students who critique others learn to critique their own work. This is beneficial as they learn to read and search for mistakes they see in essays by other students.

Often instructors distribute suggestions and questions to search for while reviewing essays of students. Here are some suggested questions for peer reviewing:

- What is the main idea?

- What is the thesis? Is the thesis in the first paragraph? Is the thesis clear?

- Is a hook used in the first paragraph? What type of hook?

- Does the essay support the thesis? What types of evidence is used? Does the evidence have relevance? Does the evidence have credibility?

- Is the essay organized? Why? Why not?

- Look at each paragraph and see if the main idea supports the thesis.

- Is the essay too wordy?

- Is there supporting evidence for each of the main topic sentences?

- Are transitions used between paragraphs?

- What are the main strengths of the essay?

- What are the weaknesses?

- Are any of the words spelled incorrectly?

- Check the grammar and punctuation.

Use specific words to describe the problems in the essay. What needs to be changed? What can be added to make a better essay? When you finish reading the essay do you have questions? Write these down. If you had problems understanding a point jot this down in the margin of the essay. Let the writer know what you like about the essay.

While it is important to note changes that need to be made on the essay, it is also important to be positive. What did you like about the essay? What were the strengths of the essay? Did you like the hook? Think about positive comments to make about the essay even if you think it is the worse essay that you have ever read. It is also important to use negative comments even if it is your best friend who wrote the essay. Remember any comments you make may make a difference in the final essay and the grade the student makes on the essay. Failing to be honest about the essay can hurt the writer. In fact, professional writers usually have a critique group review their articles and they want the truth because editors often “reject” an article for mistakes. While teachers may not reject the article, they may give the student a bad grade. Think of honest comments and be objective.

Peer reviews are important because students doing the peer reviews learn how to be more objective about their essays. Peer reviews help students to get a better grade because they can rewrite their custom essays and term papers. Remember to be honest, objective, and kind.

Tamara Olsa is a professional academic writer and editor at CustomPapers.com.

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Submitting a good college essay is another aspect that has to be considered by the high school student who wishes to attend a competitive school. This essay, together with the SAT (see my article on SAT Test Preparation), are two key aspects that must be satisfactorily completed by the college-bound student. Sometimes the college essay is what makes or breaks a student’s chances of getting into the school of his or her choice.

The college essay gives the admissions board a chance to sneak a peek inside the head of the prospective enrollee. Given comparable grades and other “good” qualities, the student with the better essaythe one which is coherent, well thought out, and captivatingwill almost certainly get the nod. Why so? Because the ability to write a good essay shows the admissions board that these students have a number of desirable qualities: that they can communicate effectively in written form; that they can express their thoughts clearly and capture an audience; and that they can infuse their personalities into a written vehicle which becomes an extension of themselves.

Most people know that writing is not an easy thing to do. Most high school studentsindeed most college graduateswould be hard-pressed to write an effective essay on whatever topic. For this reason, students who can generate a well written original college essay will certainly stand out amongst their peers. Writing such an essay, however, is not such an easy task. Even students who have good writing skills would be well served to have some expert assistance. This assistance can be the difference between a ho-hum essay, and a home run.

Someone skilled in college essay preparation can spot banal areas inside the body of the student’s writing, injecting life and color where only gray shades of hazy color abide. Moreover, an appropriate essay mentor will be able to spot and correct faulty non sequiturs, thus smoothing out the overall texture of the essay so that the reader is segued down a winding, colorful valley of enticing scents and sights. This accomplished, the essay is sure to get notice. And why not? The admissions board will certainly see few that fit such stringent criteria of good expressive writing.

Keep such thoughts in mind as your son or daughter engages this terrain. Remember. Given two students of seemingly equal caliber, the essay can make or break the camel’s back of college admission. See here for more information on this topic and my philosophy regarding the college essay College Essay Preparation.

Joe propagates his teaching philosophy through his articles and books and is dedicated to helping educate children living in impoverished countries. Toward this end, he donates a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every ebook. For more information go to http://www.mathbyjoe.com

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