Can great essay writing be reduced to eight steps? While it’s the case that there’s plenty of many things involved in academic writing in any form These top tips are a great way to begin if you’re looking increase the quality of your essays.
For some, writing essays is a natural process. For others, understanding how to tackle an essay in a manner that gets you excellent marks should be learned and practiced frequently. Study Crumb can help get high marks as well. It is a comfort knowing that after you’ve learned to write an effective essay, you will be able to apply the same methods and formulas to nearly every piece of academic writing regardless of whether it’s a standard essay, reflective essay, thesis or dissertation as well as a course assignment course work or anything else.
So , without further delay now, let’s get started and learn the eight steps of write an essay.
1. Learn the answer
It may, on an initial glance appear to be a bit of advice but the fact is that not being able to comprehend the essay question set is among the most, if certainly the not one of, if not the most frequent reasons for an unsatisfactory grade in essay writing. Are you required to analyze something? Do you have to compare and contrast? Examine a specific situation? Examine the effectiveness of a specific idea?
These are just a few most frequently used phrases that are found in essay writing, and each one hints at a distinct kind of expectation. If you’re required to evaluate an idea in a critical manner methodological approach, for instance you must gain an understanding, not just of the specific theory but also of the other strategies. All theories must be evaluated against one another, and by highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of every theory and, most importantly it is essential to arrive at an informed and confident conclusion. Are the theories sound? What are its weaknesses? How can it be improved?
If you’re asked to determine the effectiveness of something, you don’t have to go to as in depth as you would like to. You should, however, consider alternative methods and will still need to note strengths and weaknesses , however, the bulk of your work should be focused on the theories’ practical value. It is perhaps the most effective approach to look for one, or perhaps a handful of instances where the theory was utilized and what was the result of this? Does the implementation of the theory expose any particular flaws or strengths?
“Compare and contrast” essays in contrast, however they are basically a mix of both – you have to adopt an objective approach and analyze the literature, however your attention must remain firmly on the theories you’re asked to contrast and compare. It is crucial to demonstrate that you comprehend the two (or all) fundamental theories in full depth in both a conceptual and a practical level.
The wording of the essay’s question will help you determine how the essay will be written. It will tell you what the main focus of your essay is when you write and research.
2. Plan and plan
Knowing the topic will be the initial step, however it’s equally essential to make effective use of your time. Many students underestimate how much work needed to write an effective essay, which leads to two issues: (1) late nights at the library, or (2) failing to get a good score. If you’re hoping to get an excellent grade begin writing your essay as soon as you get the essay prompt.
When you set deadlines for yourself and making a commitment to adhere to these deadlines, you’re making sure that you don’t end up with a lot of work to complete prior to the deadline for handing in. It’s also crucial that you allow enough the necessary time, typically for a few days between the completion of your first draft and then proofreading.
3. Read extensively
Writing is a crucial job but reading is also vital. Before beginning the process of writing an essay do a thorough lookup of relevant books. Finding out how to filter through a lot of information is an essential academic ability. It is recommended to begin by searching through databases and databases – Google Scholar is a great tool to do this with key words that relate to the subject you are researching. When you’ve found an article that seems promising, take a look at the abstract to make sure it’s pertinent.
If you’re not 100% certain, it’s usually best to skip the end that usually provides an in-depth analysis of the research that will let you know if you should take the time to read the piece in its entirety. It’s not a good idea to spend time reading through an interminable number of articles only to find out that they’re not really pertinent. After you’ve identified some good articles and you are ready to (a) examine the bibliographies of their authors and keep track of the people they’re citing and why, since they will be valuable for your own research and (b) look up Google Scholar to see who has referenced these articles. For this to be done, enter the name of the publication in the search box and press enter. When you get results, click “cited by” – this will show the list of all the articles that referenced the article you searched for.
It is important to not depend too much on just one or two books, since this suggests to the reader that you aren’t reading the larger literature. It is important to be cautious when using textbooks for courses (i.e. “introduction to management” and similar) because they are basically an overview of the work of others.
4. Be attentive
The best theories and approaches to academics are not commonplace. The vast majority of arguments, theories and studies contain flaws. The ability to write descriptively is great when you want to pass the test however, to earn a better score, you must prove you can apply critical thinking when dealing with academic papers. What are the weaknesses of the theories you’re using? What has been resolved within the literary literature? What are their implications for the argument’s quality and in what way can they hinder the understanding of what we are researching? What alternative explanations could provide more depth?
Thinking critically makes the essay stick out. It shows that you’re not just repeating the arguments you’ve been presented to you during your education, but exploring concepts in an academic way. An effective way to demonstrate it is by paying close focus when you read reviews of literature published in journals and you’ll see that the authors don’t just summarize prior research, but provide an analysis that leads to gaps in the research they have conducted themselves.
5. Focus, flow, and structure
The way you argue is just as important than the content of your argument this is why it’s essential that your essay adheres to an orderly structure. The most popular piece that is recommended is “tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and tell them what you told them”. Thisbasically summarizes the main intro, body and concluding structure in your paper.
Being able to present your essay in an organized and clear structure will to ensure that your essay remains focussed and stays from the issue being addressed. Every paragraph, section, and sentence must add value to the argument you’re giving. While you’re writing it’s important to take an extra step and think about what is this paragraph or section bringing? How does it connect to my larger argument? If you you aren’t able to answer these questions, there’s an increased chance that you’ve strayed from the core of your argument and you might want to consider rethinking the direction you’re following.
Also, you should ensure that the various components of your essay are arranged in a coherent and logical piece and that the flow between one argument and the next is seamless. Essays are often viewed as a series of argumentative essays and present one after the next without any regard to how they work together, which can lead to a lower mark. Be sure to inform your reader why you’re moving from one topic before moving on to another, the reason they’re placed in this particular order as well as how every argument will to clarify an aspect of the topic you are discussing.
6. Paraphrasing, quoting and plagiarism
Writing for academics requires equilibrium between novel arguments and drawing from arguments offered by other authors. Writing a totally novel essay that doesn’t draw on just one source suggests that you haven’t made your self aware of the arguments that have been published previously. However, citing someone else to support every argument you make implies that you’ve not come up with an original argument.
It is essential to ensure that you present the evidence (a reliable reference) when you are making a statement of facts or drawing from arguments, frameworks, or theories offered by other academics. They, in turn, must support the overall unique argument you are presenting.
When drawing from other authors, it is crucial to know the difference between quoting and paraphrasing. The rule of thumb is to quote wherever you can and use quotes only in situations where it is necessary or helps clarify the argument you are making. However, paraphrasing may be difficult, but it is not a loss of the original value of the argument being presented.
If you’re unsure of the distinction between quotation and paraphrasing, we’ve provided the following example:
quote: “Cultural capital can be acquired, to a varying extent, depending on the period, the society, and the social class, in the absence of any deliberate inculcation, and therefore quite unconsciously” (Bourdieu 1986 18.).
Synopsis: Unlike economic capital, which requires deliberate effort Cultural capital is constructed by simply existing and eating (Bourdieu 1986).
The quoted and paraphrased versions have the same meaning, with only the distinction that paraphrasing displays some knowledge about Bourdieu (through the use of another type of capital) and also presents the argument in a way that although in keeping with the works of Bourdieu it is better suited to more with the general argument.
Correctly citing the sources from that you draw will also guarantee that you are not accused of plagiarism which is a serious crime in the academic world. In reality, repeated and grievous plagiarism could lead to suspension of your education in most educational institutions!
7. Find a study buddy
A similarly ambitious’study partner’ is usually not appreciated by students, however the synergy that comes from working with each other can help you to achieve significantly higher marks. It is crucial to remember that you should not compose your essays in tandem, or always agree about the strategy to follow prior to writing which could lead to the possibility of having two essays that are similar , which could lead to the problem of plagiarism.
In the meantime, it is recommended to swap essays after you’re both finished with the initial draft. It’s incredibly difficult to edit your own work as one becomes blind to grammatical mistakes within a document after reading it over and over for days for days. It’s also easy to miss gaps in the flow of arguments. A friend who reads the essay will take care of both of these points in the event that they too are highly successful.
8. Learn to write academically
Another problem that is frequent – especially amongst undergraduates in the first and second year is that they tend to employ a language that is not academic:
In this essay , I will examine how those who buy art utilize the cultural capital. My hypothesis is that having more cultural capital will alter their perception of art because they can see the artwork differently from others.
Such examples are not uncommon, and will provide you with a clear idea of what to stay clear of. The underlying message is great, but it is more of a blog article than an academic paper. The academic writing style should be formal clear, concise, and objective and make good use of rhetoric. In the example above one could write:
This paper examines the significance of cultural capital in how we consume art and the influence of this capital on consumers’ perception of art’s expressions.
It is evident that this second version is much less rambling, but all meaning is not lost. It also makes use of the present (rather than the future) the tense and avoids informal words. A clear precise, concise, and clear words are the norm in academic writing.
