I work as an ESL teacher, and I’ve noticed that many of my students struggle to write essays in English. Most of them have the vocabulary and grammar skills necessary to write an essay, but they just don’t know how to start. So I wrote this method to help them get started writing their first draft quickly and easily.
Find a way to spin your topic that is unique to you.
The best way to write an essay is by finding a way to spin your topic that is unique to you. Everyone has their own opinions and experiences, which makes it easy for us to see things from different perspectives. If you can use these things as the foundation for your writing, it will be impossible for anyone else to copy what you’ve written. How do we make our essay unique? By using our own words, ideas and experiences!
Read the prompt thoroughly, and make sure you understand what it is asking.
Read the prompt thoroughly, and make sure you understand what it is asking. Many students are surprised to learn that a prompt can be vague or confusing, but this happens more often than you might think. For example, if a professor asks for your opinion on something—a book, an event or even a general topic—you should ask yourself:
- What am I being asked to talk about? (For example: “Is there anything in this book that was poorly written?”)
- Why do they want my opinion? (For example: “How would a good writer have handled this situation differently?”)
- Who are they asking their question of? (For example: Are they talking about me as an individual or anyone who has read the book?)
Collect all of the relevant information you can find.
The first step to writing a solid essay is collecting all the relevant information. This will help you figure out your thesis statement and give you a good idea of what points need to be included in your body paragraphs.
You may already have some great sources on hand, such as:
- The internet (use Google or Wikipedia)
- Your brain (it’s filled with knowledge)
- Your imagination (it’s full of creativity)
- Your notes (they contain essential facts)
Think about how you want to order your information.
When writing an argumentative essay, it’s best to have a clear path of thought in mind before you start writing. Your reader should be able to follow along with the reasoning of your argument and see where each piece fits into the larger picture. They’ll likely become confused or give up reading all together if they can’t. Think about what order would be best at this stage:
- First, determine whether you need an introduction or conclusion paragraph (or both)
- Second, decide whether any sections will be in bullet points or paragraphs
- Third, determine if any examples will help support your thesis
Jot down some ideas for an intro and conclusion.
Next, write some introductory and concluding sentences. Your intro should be a direct summary of your thesis statement—the point you are trying to make in your essay. It should also include a brief description of the main points you will cover in the body of your essay. In other words, you want to summarise what you’ll say before saying it.
Your conclusion will restate your main point again, emphasising why it matters or how it applies to everyday life (if applicable). This is where you can connect what was just said in the body paragraphs with something broader: perhaps an analogy or relevant example from history or literature, maybe even a quote from another source that helps illustrate what was discussed earlier in the paper.
I would like to mention that if you are a student and need help writing an essay, there are so many essay writing services available on the internet that can assist you with this particular task.
Outline your essay into three sections (intro, body, and conclusion)
Outline your essay into three sections (intro, body, and conclusion). The intro should be about a paragraph long. The body should be about two paragraphs long. The conclusion should be about a paragraph long.
Write your intro.
A good introduction should contain a topic sentence, which will be the first thing the reader reads and can help you achieve focus. It also needs to grab their attention with quotes or statistics and introduce your thesis statement. In addition, it should explain why you are writing this essay (this will be especially important if your essay is due tomorrow). Consider adding a hook to set up the rest of your argument; most importantly: make sure it’s coherent, clear, and concise!
Write your body paragraphs.
The next step is to write the body paragraphs. A good essay will have at least three body paragraphs, but you can have as many as five or six if necessary. Each body paragraph should have a topic sentence and a concluding sentence, making it much easier for your reader to follow along with what you’re saying and understand why they should care about it. Each body paragraph should also be organised around a single main idea that supports one of your main points in the introduction—that’s why it’s called “supporting evidence” in an essay!
Don’t forget to transition between each paragraph: this will help guide your reader through the essay and ensure they don’t get lost.
Write your conclusion paragraph.
This is the final paragraph of your essay, so it is essential to make it count. Your conclusion should summarise all your main points in the body paragraphs. You can do this by linking back to them (“I argued that…”) or by repeating them directly (“I have shown that…).
Make sure not to write a restatement of the prompt, as this will only waste valuable time and space that could be used elsewhere! Also, avoid restating information from your introduction or anybody’s paragraphs—you want to stay focused on getting those points across clearly and concisely before moving on.
Conclusion
The easiest way to do this is by simply writing down everything you know about the topic. This includes everything from your own experiences and observations to information gathered from research, news articles or video clips. Just keep writing until you feel like there isn’t anything else to say on the subject. I hope this helps you out next time you have a big essay due!
Author Bio
Carmen Troy is a research-based content writer, who works for Cognizantt, a globally recognized professional SEO service and Research Prospect; an 论文和论文写作服务 Mr Carmen holds a PhD degree in mass communication. He loves to express his views on various issues, including education, technology, and more.