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ElevatEdWriting essays is an art that gets better with reading and experimenting with different forms of essay writing.
Essays allow students to show their unique thinking and knowledge creatively. Even if you're writing an essay for your school work (which requires you to follow core guidelines given by your professor), you still get a chance to exercise your artistic abilities in it.
So, what makes for an exceptional essay?
Keeping It Concise to the Topic of the Essay
A very general overlooked tip is to keep your essay on point to the topic given. While getting into the flow of writing, we sometimes make the blunder of writing unrelated and unrequired subject matter. Here's where the conciseness and the central idea of the essay gets lost. Your job is half-done if you meet the assignment brief.
Adding Your Original Thinking
A brilliantly written essay is easy to spot. How does one achieve it?
It's comparatively simpler than coming up with an entirely new idea and theory. Understand and research the topic and take notes alongside. As you start taking notes, you can brainstorm upon the idea in your words. Delve deeper into more reading materials and repeat the entire process. That's how you add your original content to the essay.
Following Language Rules
What's a good essay that doesn't follow the language rules?
The subject matter is futile if the grammar, spelling, sentence construct, and punctuation are not correct. Learning and writing English can be considerably challenging, yet, it's not mind-boggling if you get the basics of language right. Getting guidance and classes from language experts can help you gain proficiency in language.
98thPercentile offers an online, live interactive after-school enrichment program in English (Reading & Writing) for students of grades K to 12. Click here to book a trial class and experience our live classroom teaching methodologies from highly qualified ELA (English Language Arts) experts!
Now that we know what makes an exceptional essay let's dive a bit deeper into how we can construct a great piece of writing.
1) Creating an outline
Free writing is the best form of writing to gather all your thoughts and ideas about the topic. In this step, do not think of how you can structure the essay. Write whatever comes to your mind or whatever you have brainstormed earlier. Collect the points about the subject and keep writing.
2) Write the introduction
Essays should begin with a catchy introduction that defines the beginning of your thesis. Avoid using generic statements in the introduction without deviating from the central idea of the essay.
3) Write the thesis
Writing a thesis defines the central idea or the main argument of your essay. Think of all your academic reading material about the topic, and add all the necessary elements in creating the thesis. Spending extra time on research will add to your chance of coming up with a remarkable thesis.
4) Write the body
After creating the outline and writing the thesis, it's time to write the body. Here one needs to gather the outline and thesis to form a proper structure. Write about each heading descriptively. Add any supporting ideas or examples.
5) Write the conclusion
The conclusion at the end provides closure to the reader. The concluding statement should give the gist of the body of the essay. Three to four sentences are good enough to conclude any topic.
6) Prepare the first draft
The first draft is your preliminary version of the essay. Check the structure and format and ensure that sentences in the paragraph make sense with the theme of that paragraph. At this point, you could also give this draft to proofread to your guide or peer. Edit if any changes are needed, and then make the final draft.
7) Cite the sources
If you used any research from an academic paper, mention that by citing the source. It ensures that your paper or essay is plagiarism-free. If you used quotes, don't forget to mention the name of the person who quoted it.
Crafting a good essay becomes straight forward by following step by step guide and practicing distinct types of essays. A good essay has three main things: an introduction, a body, and the conclusion, and an exceptional essay is always to the point, follows language rules, and has original thinking.
