Do you remember how burdening essay writing assignments were at high school? Well, the academic writing assignments will be even more difficult to handle at college.
Don’t despair! The basics of essay writing are easy to master. When you get them, you can use the same writing process to cover any topic.
Get the Point
Do you perceive essay assignments as a useless burden? They are not. They help you develop creative and critical thinking skills. Those are the essential skills that any employer will test you on once you graduate.
When you approach an assignment knowing that it will be useful for your personal development, you find the motivation to get it done.
Understand What a Good Essay Needs
What’s the point of an essay? It’s all about exposing your opinions in a way that convinces the reader you’re right. You can do that by presenting ideas based on evidence. These are the main elements an essay needs:
A clear answer to the essay question – The whole essay is an answer to the question your professor asked.
An introduction – The beginning of the essay should catch the reader’s attention.
A clear thesis statement at the end of the introduction – The statement presents your main idea and hints the main arguments you’re going to make.
Discussion – This is the part where you’ll support the thesis statement with strong arguments and facts.
Conclusion – You’ll wrap up the paper and restate the thesis statement, showing how you proved its point.
Introduction with a thesis statement, a discussion in the body paragraphs, and conclusion - that’s the main structure of an academic essay. It seems rigid, but it gives you tons of space to get creative in your writing.
Analyze the Question and Note Down Your Initial Ideas
Your professor gave you an essay question or a topic, right? What do you know about it? Before you dive into research, you should catch your own opinions.
If you start reading authoritative resources without doing this, you’ll still form opinions. However, they will be influenced by the content you read. Try to decide what the main point of the essay will be before you start the research process.
If you know absolutely nothing on the topic, then it’s okay to start with the research.
Start the Research
Do you know what most students do? They type in the topic in Google and go through the first few results. That’s not a proper research process. You think you can find all information you need on Wikipedia? Yes, you’ll find some general information. However, Wikipedia is not a reliable source you can cite.
It’s okay to get some ideas from a simple Google research. However, you’ll have to dig deeper. Use Google Scholar as your main search engine. You’ll find journals, scientific and academic articles, and tons of research. Those are reliable sources.
Use the university library, too. If you find the right book and you cite it well, you’ll be on the right track to impress the professor.
Don’t forget to take notes during the research process. Whenever you get an idea, write it down and note what source you got it from. You’ll have to reference the resources.
Write an Outline
Introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion – that’s the main structure to follow. But what will you write in these sections? Write an outline with main guidelines.
If for example, you’re writing an essay on why traveling makes you wiser, the outline can look something like this:
Introduction
Start with a quote on traveling.
The thesis statement – Traveling makes you wiser because you understand different cultures, you expand your viewpoints, and you never stop learning.
Body
Argument – Through traveling, you understand different cultures.
Argument – Through traveling, you expand your viewpoints.
Argument – You never stop learning when you travel.
Conclusion
Show how you proved the thesis statement.
Write the First Draft
You’re done with the research process. You have the skeleton of this essay. Now, all you need to do is write that content.
It’s possible to get stuck. Many students decide to use paper writing services because they can’t even start with the writing process. If you went through the preparatory stages, however, you already have what it takes to write this paper.
Make sure your content is absolutely unique. You cannot copy someone else’s work. Reference all sources of information you’re using to prove your arguments.
Edit!
During this stage, you should make sure your essay has a logical flow. Is it clear for someone who doesn’t have previous knowledge on the topic? Are there any gaps to fill in? Are there any useless words or phrases?
It takes time and effort to make an essay perfect. That’s why you’ll probably go through few readings and corrections before you get to the final version.
The most important thing to remember is that you have to practice. You’re just a freshman, so no one expects you to be a brilliant academic writer. However, your professors expect you to keep getting better. Do not ignore these assignments. You’ll get better if you keep trying!
