An essay is a mandatory academic assignment that every student gets acquainted with during the study period. Regardless of which educational institution you are studying in, you must learn how to write an essay. If you do not have the money or time to consult with a professional, use our free advice on what you can and cannot do in an essay.
5 Things Not To Do In An Essay
Teachers rarely explain what mistakes students should avoid in their essays. Therefore, we will start with tips to help you avoid a bad grade.
Say Plagiarism No
Teachers urge students to write their essays. Why? Plagiarism in academic papers is a big mistake. You can ruin your academic reputation, lose points or a scholarship if you use plagiarism in your texts. We recommend that you check documents for plagiarism using special programs. Each type of essay has different requirements, but one thing remains the same – never copy someone else’s work. Therefore, heed this advice so as not to show yourself as an illiterate or lazy student.
Forget About Informal Language
In a burst of creativity, many students forget about constructing sentences and the appropriateness of statements. It is inappropriate to use colloquial expressions in the essay. A business, narrative, artistic or scientific style is best suited here – it all depends on the topic of the essay. The essay language has the following requirements:
- Try not to use the word “I” – unless you are talking about your life.
- Try not to use the plural in the first person. When you write “we,” it means that you are engaging the reader in the essay’s topic. However, the reader is a separate person and has nothing to do with your ideas.
- Try not to ask too many rhetorical questions. In an essay, you should answer all the questions, but don’t mislead the reader. It is appropriate to write a rhetorical question at the end of an essay, as this will give the reader a reason to remember your topic for a long time.
Don’t Use Clichés
The Internet is full of clichés that various writers advise to use in essays. Many students take this into account and fill every paragraph with clichés. It would help if you learned how to use your hooks and phrases to validate ideas. When you use clichés, it indicates a lack of creative thinking. Many teachers take off grades for this. Therefore, try to express your opinion is not like everyone else.
Don’t Overdo With Quotes
Students love to cite authoritative people to prove that their ideas have a place in the scientific community. In many cases, quoting is a good reasoning tool and helps to reveal the topic better. Quotes can also help influence your readers because they trust the opinion of authoritative people and will treat your article with respect. But there is another side to quotes – when you use many statements from authoritative people, your essay loses its uniqueness.
According to the requirements of educational institutions, your essay can contain only 30% of citations from the total volume of the article. Quotes can only complement your opinion but not become the essence of the article. Also, when using quotations, you must format them correctly and include them in the bibliography – this makes the task more difficult. Try to use a minimum of quotes, and then you will not get confused with the formatting.
Avoid Excessive Detail
Very often, students fill essays with excessive detail to increase the word count. Students are confident that the more words in the essay, the higher the score will be. They are also confident that an excessive amount of facts and arguments will demonstrate their knowledge of the topic. However, quantity does not mean high quality. Write after the fact, without unnecessary details – this can confuse the reader and, as a result, your article will no longer make sense. A good length of the article is 300 words – that’s enough to cover the topic.
5 Things To Do In An Essay
There are many essay writing guides out there today. You can get confused in them and ultimately create a mess. Therefore, before writing an essay, consider the following tips.
Structure Your Essays
Remember – the essay should contain three parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. Therefore, create an outline – include the information you would like to see in your essay. This method will allow you not to miss anything essential and not fill the essay with unnecessary details. Divide the body into at least two paragraphs. Each paragraph can contain only one argument in favor of the thesis.
Use Thematic Sentences
Begin each paragraph with a thematic sentence – this will remind the reader of the article’s main idea if the reader is a little lost in the information. By using a thematic sentence, you will make the paragraphs logical and complementary. Thanks to the thematic sentence, it will be easier for you to develop the topic.
Create Thesis Statement
The main statement is one sentence that describes the key idea of the essay. Without a purpose, an essay won’t make sense. When writing some essays as a study paper or part of a standard exam, the presence of the central thesis in the introduction is required. Even if you do not have such requirements, it will be helpful to articulate the central thesis of the work clearly. Usually, the main thesis is placed near the end of the first paragraph.
Use a Call to Action
A call to action means a short statement aimed at an immediate response from the reader. This is an easy impetus for additional reflection on the topic. For example, your essay topic is “Should animals be protected from humans?” Then your call to action might look like this: “Every day, rare species of animals are disappearing in the world. If you see animal abuse, report it to the Animal Welfare Organization immediately!”
Don’t Forget Proofreading And Editing
Don’t rush to send your essay to the teacher immediately after completing the writing process. Proofread the text and exclude spelling, lexical, punctuation errors, and typos. It would be better to send the paper to a professional editor, especially if it is an annual or introductory essay that will determine your destiny. It is enough to tell the expert “proofread my essay,” and you will increase your chances of becoming the best student!