How_to_Write_an_Effective_Essay

Introduction Learning to write an effective academic essay is one of the most important skills you will learn while attending college. As a student, there is a high probability that you will have to write a considerable number of essays. These essays will help you to improve your written communication skills and enable you to communicate ideas clearly and concisely. As you master the skills required to write effective essays, you will begin to create your best written work. Preparing The first step in writing your academic essay is to choose your topic carefully. Research your topic and make yourself an expert on that topic by utilizing the internet, academic databases, and the library. A university or college library is an indispensable tool for academic essay writing because it contains specialized journals, indexes, and critical works not found in a public library (Hodges and Whitten). Once you have a good knowledge base, analyze the arguments and evidence in the information presented. Pick your best idea and develop a clear thesis which sums up the main point of your essay in a concise sentence to let the readers know where you are going. Now it is time to organize your ideas by using the information you have gathered to develop an outline. An outline should have your main ideas in an orderly sequence, which represents the way they are to be presented. Remember that while you are making your outline, it is best to avoid repetition of ideas. Getting organized Developing an outline is the way to help you stay on track of things as you write. Try to identify your main point and your conclusion. Keep in mind that a basic essay structure should have three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction is the first paragraph of your paper. It often begins with a general statement about the topic, and ends with a specific statement of the main ideas of your paper. The information should grab the reader’s attention, set up the issue, and lead into your thesis. The purpose of the introduction is to let the readers know what your topic is about, and to inform the readers about your point of view. The body of the paper should follow the introduction. The body of the paper consists of a number of paragraphs, which develop your ideas in detail. You should try to limit each paragraph to one main idea, and prove your points continually by using specific examples. It is also good to use transitional words to ensure the smooth flow of ideas from paragraph to paragraph. The conclusion is the last paragraph of your paper. Its purpose is to summarize your points, and restate the main idea of your paper. College and schools are now extremely concerned about plagiarism, which is copying the work of another person and passing it off as your own. The ninth edition of Harbrace College Handbook points out that “you must acknowledge all material quoted, paraphrased, or summarized from any work. If you fail to cite a source, whether deliberately or accidentally, you are guilty of plagiarism” (Hodges and Whitten 457). Effective essay writing requires avoiding plagiarism; although an essay will not be original, you are expected to refer to writers in the field and include relevant quotations. Revising your draft An important part of writing an effective academic essay is to revise your first draft. It is recommended that you set aside your draft for a day or two before revising. This makes it easier to view your work objectively, and recognize any gaps or problems. Revising involves rethinking your ideas, refining your arguments, reorganizing paragraphs, and rewording sentences. You may need to develop your ideas in more detail, give more evidence to support your claims, and delete unnecessary ideas. Moreover, reading your paper out loud is also a good way to revise your first draft. Sometimes, this makes it easier to identify writing that sounds awkward or unclear. Proofreading After you finish your revision, it is time to start proofreading your final draft. The purpose of proofreading is to look for careless errors of misspelled words, incorrect punctuation, and overlooked capitalizations. Errors are more difficult to spot on a computer screen than on paper. Therefore, if you type your paper on a computer, print out a copy before proofreading. Also, remember that spell checkers and grammar checkers do not always catch errors, so it is best not to rely too much on them. Conclusion There is no better way to write an essay that is organized, insightful, and appealing than through practice, and writing as many essays as you can. The more essays you write the better of a writer you will become. The process forces you to ask questions, find the sources to answer them, present your answers to readers, and defend your answers against detractors. You will most likely use these valuable skills in a professional career long after you leave college.