10 Tips for Successful Essay Writing
Kate Scheel
1. Your essay has
to make an argument. That means it has to make a claim which can be proven.
Think of this like a spring break road trip - you have limited time so you need
a destination and a very good map.
2. There are four
pieces of the essay:
3. The introductory
paragraph should provide the destination or argument (sometimes also called the
‘thesis’) – the argument tells the reader what the
essay will claim and prove. This is your and the reader’s map.
Your map is THE
most important part of this trip. Since everything in the essay must relate
back to the introductory paragraph, some people write the introductory
paragraph first because they use the map to formulate the rest of the essay.
Some people write it last because they figure out what they think as they
write. Whichever way you chose to compose the introductory
paragraph, IT HAS TO MATCH THE BODY OF THE ESSAY. The map you give the
reader in that first paragraph has to be an accurate description of where you
are going with your argument. It's the reader's first impression of your essay
- if your essay detours from the argument, the reader will be very confused and
try to "guess" your destination and this usually means that your
ideas get lost in the confusion. It could also lead to road rage.
4. The argument
needs to be of an appropriate scope for the size of essay assigned. Make sure
that your destination is possible in the time/space allotted.
5. Tell the reader
why they should care. Why is this destination worthy of your and the reader's
time and effort? For example, an argument such as 'the identities of the
characters of The English Patient are
compromised by their experiences of trauma' is good. An argument that also
tells the reader why this is significant is even better. Ask yourself, why do
we need to know this?? Is this Michael Ondaatje's commentary on larger issues,
such as nation building? on how identity is
constructed? on family? on
healing??? There are lots of directions you can go here - there is no one
desired destination - just a requirement for evidence of some deeper thought
and consideration of your motives and choices. If you’re only going as far as Spuzzum, the reader may lose interest with a destination of
such a limited scope.
6. The body of the
essay will introduce and elaborate the points that support your thesis. Each
paragraph must follow logically from the preceding one as you work your way to
your destination. If it is necessary to double-back, explain to your reader why
this was required.
7. Each of your
claims should be substantiated with evidence from the text that you are
discussing – if you’ve stopped in
The evidence will
take the form of quotations from the text. Note that these quotations have to
be introduced to the reader. The standard way to do this is to:
For example, if I
were discussing Jane Austen’s novel, Pride
and Prejudice I might want to claim that the character of Mrs. Bennet is actually much more astute that she appears on a
first reading:
Jane Austen’s novel, Pride and Prejudice, is a comedy of manners concerned with the
efforts of Mrs. Bennet to arrange suitable marriages
for her five daughters [claim]. As the author notes of Mrs. Bennet
early in the novel, “The business of her life was to get her daughters married;
its solace was visiting and news” (4) [evidence]. At first glance, her
preoccupation with gossip leads her to appear to be a rather superficial
character, but on closer examination, it becomes apparent that Mrs. Bennet recognizes that marriage is a financial transaction
rather than a romantic one. Lacking a son, the Bennet
estate is entailed to Mr. Bennet’s closest male
relative, leaving the senior Bennets anticipating a spartan old age; Mrs. Bennet is
well aware that her own financial security as well as that of her daughters’
depends upon her successful negotiation of the ‘business’ of marriage
[significance of the evidence].
As you can see from
the above example, the writer has made a clear claim, backed it up with
evidence from the text, and then shown the significance of the evidence. It is
not enough to write that ‘Mrs. Bennet is obsessed
with the marriage of her daughters;’ you must show the reader the steps of your
thinking. You really have to take the reader by the hand and point to all the
important bits so that they can follow your reasoning. While you can assume
that the reader has read the book; you can't assume that the reader can follow
your thoughts. Providing quotations without an accompanying discussion is like
giving someone your photo album from the trip without any descriptions – it
will just seem like a collection of disparate images without coherence. The
best way to test for coherence is to give your essay to someone who hasn't read
the book to read and see if they can follow your thinking. In general, it's not
recommended to give your essay to your loved ones for this purpose since they
may resist the impulse to tell you the truth.
Quotations of
longer than 100 words or 3 lines should be offset from the margin by 10 spaces.
8. The conclusion
just restates the argument you set out in the introduction.
9. The Works Cited page lists your sources in alphabetical order by the
authors’ last name and includes all texts from which you are quoting your
evidence. You MUST use the MLA (Modern Languages Association) style of
formatting or face the style police. A sample entry might look like the
following:
Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813.
Ed. Donald Gray.
10. Remember: