How to write an essay – a few suggestions

In an essay, a particular issue is analysed in a more or less personal way. It is intended to synthesise a study or a reflection on a particular theme or problem. A teacher expects that his/her student shows some more or less profound knowledge about that theme or problem. That is why essays tend to have some complexity and width.

The structure and the style of an essay may vary. There is a previously defined shape for a scientific essay, or asked for by some teacher, but essays may be written in many various ways. They may be arguments, and if so, may follow, or not, the classical arguments canon. They may be enquiries about a theme, the interpretation of a fact… All those and other options fit under the name “essay”.

In spite of all these possible forms, a student must begin by knowing the kind of essay his/her teacher expects and the degree to which originality and freedom should be taken.

In any case, when a teacher asks a student to write an essay, a paper  is expected showing that a certain problem or issue have been studied and thought about. An essay should always reflect that study, as much as possible — without overstressing that.

Once we choose our problem or a specific issue, some topics become more important than others. These others may be mentioned or lightly addressed, but that’s it. If one tries to talk about everything, that may be interpreted as a lack of analysing and synthesising skills. For instance, that the student has memorized ununderstood information. One has to know what to cut off.

A paper based in a personal work is recognized by an original selection of elements or by an original string of ideas, including personal observations, relations with other problems, texts or themes, questions produced from out of the classroom or from the texbooks. It is highly improbable to get two equal original essays in the same classroom.

…On the other hand, students who depend on textbooks, summaries and webpages tend to produce papers that seem copies from one another’s; and from others the same teacher has read from students of previous classes. There are more students than textbooks and relevant webpages.

In a second phase of the preparation of an essay, a plan of the analysed book / problem is needed and, if that is the case, notes about a certain historical period, concepts, relations, etc. After that, it is time to make questions and identify the great issues.

When this is accomplished, the worst part of the work is done. From there, we only have to follow the thread. A good preparing work enables us to pick the theme / problem from different points and to follow it in any direction.

Some advice to write an essay:

1. Preparation an study: that is a prime condition to deliver a personalized paper. Attention paid to details (that usually do not appear in on-line or printed summaries) impress any teacher. They indicate a student who has studied and really knows his/her bit.

2. Writing skills: writing should be a daily used skill. One hasn’t to be a literary genius, but should be able to write clear and well-articulated sentences, in a logical sequence that pursues a determined goal.

There are some elementary rules to obey: to write short and well-linked sentences; to justify every satement; to open a new paragraph when presenting a new argument or element, or when shifting to a new section of the text (ex., when shifting from introduction to argument analysis); to use simple vocabulary (unless your teacher is known to prefer flourished words… But we keep to us that expensive words and complicated sentences are often a means to disguise ignorance or to elude the ignorant); to avoid adjectives.

3. Definition of a theme or choosing a problem. An efficient way to deal with a theme or a problem is beginning by clearly formulating a problem in the form of a question. A question gives us an immediate starting point and a clear objective, which is the kind of question we intend to obtain. One must be careful to pick / write a question directly related to a certain work or theme on which the essay should be.

4. Draft and plan. A draft is a most important tool. In its most immediate and visceral version, a draft is used to take and organize notes, using the sheet to put up and register a mental plan, to organize an ideas sequence. Like said before, one may star by writing down a key question, from which may be derived other linked questions, and by identifying an objective.

The firs work plan you pull up may not work out. In that case, you should make another. If there is no time, keep with the plan you have: when lacking inspiration, a plan will give your work some framing, which is better than writing an incoherent text. Though this may seem odd, experience tech us that the solution given to us by a feeble plan is better than no solution at all. The result may not be as good as you wish, but it has a chance to be a sufficiently good result.

5. Personalization. Some who has studied some book or problem for him/herself can’t help give a personalized account. We should keep in mind that the essay’s author always has some freedom to be creative and original. Sometimes, the themes and problems issued by teachers are intently vague, in order stimulate creativity. Students hate the stress of a vague problem. On the other way, thicker problems produce sharper minds. Blunter students don’t deal well with these vague problems. To prevent this bluntness, it is advisable to be well prepared, including by having a number of previously identified specific problems and prepared opinions and arguments – to be used with moderation. If the teacher expects a standard answer, don’t produce your original opinion before the standard one.