Selecting and Researching Your Topic
Understand your assignment. If you're writing for school, confirm the essay's required length and any topic parameters. This helps determine how much information you'll need to gather and present. Check your syllabus and any assignment prompts or sheets first; if you still need clarification, ask your teacher. Be sure you know how your teacher wants you to cite your sources so you can keep track of what you research. Some schools provide reference software like EndNote or RefWorks, which can make collecting and keeping track of research sources easier. Be aware of any formatting requirements. The essay prompt will often tell you things such as whether the essay needs to be handwritten or typed, and what font type and size to use. If it doesn't stipulate, the safe choice is a standard, readable 12-pt font such as Times New Roman or Arial. Avoid using "cute" or "quirky" fonts in an academic paper unless given specific permission to do so. Know the due date! Get started early so that you have plenty of time to complete the essay.
Choose a topic. If the topic is not already assigned, you'll need to select your own topic. It's easy to get stuck on this step if you have a wide range of choices, so take your time and abide by a few general rules: The topic should not be too broad or too narrow. See Write an Essay for more information. There should be enough information about the topic to write about, but not so much that you can't present clear, concise information. For example, writing on "the history of animal shelters" is probably much too broad, while "the history of Sunny Days Animal Shelter in X County" is probably too narrow. A happy medium might be "the history of breed-specific animal shelters in America." The topic should be appropriate and interesting to your audience. Think in advance about who might be reading your essay. Obviously, if this is for school, your teacher is your primary audience, but you should always have a target audience in mind. What will they want to know? What do they probably not know already that your essay will provide? Ideally, the topic should be one that interests you. This will make the writing process that much easier, and you can pass your enthusiasm on to your reader.
Conduct good research. This is especially important for an informative essay, where you need to impart accurate information. Be very careful to use objective sources written by experts on your topic. A librarian can best help you find reliable sources of information, such as encyclopedias, books, journals, and relevant websites. Be careful when using the Internet, including sites like Wikipedia, as many pages are full of unreliable content. For best results, try to find online sources from reputable organizations, government agencies, and universities. Google Scholar can be a good place to start.
Take notes as you research. Use a blank sheet of paper or notebook to jot down interesting facts that you read. Alternatively, you can type notes on a computer. Whatever you choose, find a way to keep all your notes for the essay in one place. For your informative essay, you will need an introduction, at least three main points, and a conclusion. You may want to make these sections and write notes down under the section where you expect it to go.
Keep track of your sources. You should know in advance what information you'll need when citing sources. You will usually need to include the author(s), title, publisher, copyright information, and website address (if relevant).
Brainstorm your ideas. When you feel you've gathered enough material from your research, brainstorming will help you put the information into relevant groups and see the connections between them. Make an ideas map. Put your topic in a circle at the center of a piece of paper, then write down the most important pieces of information or ideas related to it in circles surrounding the topic. Make lines connecting each idea to the topic. Next, add details around each idea, circling them and making lines to show connections. There may be lines connecting ideas to each other, as well, or between supporting details. Make a list. If you prefer the linear format of a list, write down your topic at the top and then below it any ideas you have. Under the ideas, add extra details that support them. Don't worry about putting them in specific order - that comes next. Free write. Free writing can help you generate ideas, even if it usually doesn't provide polished prose you'll use in your final draft. Set a short time limit, such as 15 minutes, and then write whatever comes to mind about your topic. Don't stop to edit or change spelling, and keep writing even if you aren't sure you have anything to say. The important thing is to write for all 15 minutes.
Making an Outline
Plan an introduction with a hook. You should have some idea that you want to present in your thesis statement, which is typically two to three sentences long and articulates your overall argument. Don't worry about getting your thesis just right at this point - that comes later. If you don't feel ready to write the thesis out, jot down some notes in the introductory part of your outline. At the very least, you need some idea of what you want to say in your essay. While it may seem odd to summarize your essay before you've begun, writing your thesis at the beginning of your outline will help you organize your ideas and select the most important details that you want to present.
Use one major supporting detail per paragraph in the body of your essay. The body of your essay is the part between the introductory paragraph and the conclusion paragraph. Select main details from your research that demonstrate your overall thesis (from Step 1). The number of details you use depends on the paper length: if you're writing a five-paragraph essay, then you have three paragraphs for the body, so you'll need three main ideas. Make sure you choose the most important details, and that they are all distinct from one another. Details used to support your thesis are also called "evidence."
Add in supporting details for each paragraph in the body. Now that you've identified the major point for each paragraph, jot down smaller, supporting details that help your reader understand the paragraph's main idea. These might include examples, facts, quotations or further explanation. Make sure you have enough supporting details for each paragraph. If you don't have enough to say about the paragraph's main topic, consider changing the topic or combining it with another paragraph. Alternatively, you can research a bit more to find additional supporting details for the paragraph.
Restate your thesis in your conclusion. The conclusion summarizes what you've already said, and brings some new level of nuance or sophistication to your original thesis. Think of it as your final opportunity to make sure your reader understands what you've written.
Writing Your Essay
Write a rough draft. Using your outline as a guide, flesh out your notes into full paragraphs. Do not worry about spelling errors or mistakes. Remember that this is just a rough draft, not your final copy. Just focus on writing it down, and later you can fix mistakes. Write your rough draft by hand or type it - whichever is easier for you.
Give each paragraph a topic sentence. The topic sentence, often the first sentence in each paragraph, tells your reader the main idea of the paragraph. It can also serve as a transition from the previous paragraph's main idea to the new paragraph's main idea. For example, a topic/transition sentence might look like this: "While some factories allow union labor, others, such as those in X, argue that unionizing harms the workplace." This sentence gives a clear direction for the paragraph (some factories argue against unionizing) and links it to the paragraph before it (which was probably about pro-union factories). Remember: each paragraph needs unity (a single central idea), clear relation to the thesis, coherence (logical relationship of ideas within the paragraph), and development (ideas are clearly explained and supported).
Structure your essay in parts. Your essay will need, at minimum, an introductory paragraph, a body, and a conclusion. Each body paragraph should follow the "C-E-E" formula: Claim + Evidence + Explanation. Use supporting details and your own thoughts to expand on the paragraph's topic or idea. Make sure you're clear about what the idea of each paragraph is. To keep yourself on track, refer to your outline as you write.
Edit your rough draft. Read through your rough draft a few times and ask the following questions: Have you told the reader everything you need to about your topic? Do you have a clear thesis statement, expressed in two to three sentences? Do all your paragraphs relate to the thesis? Does each paragraph have one main idea, supported by accurate, objective details? Does your conclusion summarize your thoughts on the topic without adding new information or opinions? How does the paper flow? Are there clear, logical transitions between paragraphs? Have you used clear, concise prose and avoided flowery language? Did the reader learn something new from the essay? Is it presented in an interesting way? Have you cited sources as instructed by your teacher?
Write your final draft. After you've made notes on your rough draft, transform it into a final draft. If you've done the work on your rough draft, turning it into your final draft shouldn't actually be too hard. As you write your final draft, keep track of coherence in particular. Rough drafts often have all of their ideas jumbled up without a clear, logical progression. A key difference between a rough draft and a final draft is that the final draft should offer its information in a smooth, clear, easy-to-read fashion that builds on previous points as it goes along. Keeping an eye out to make sure you've followed the C-E-E- formula will help you.
Finalize your language. Once you've organized all of your paragraphs in a logical progression, you can turn your attention to your language choices. Read through your essay aloud, listening for any places that sound odd or awkward. Revise those. Also keep an eye out for word echoes, or words that show up many times within the space of a few sentences or paragraphs. If you use the word discusses multiple times in the same paragraph, it will make your writing seem clunky and unpolished.
Proofread your final draft. Mistakes can happen, so be sure to give your final draft one more read-through, checking for spelling and grammar errors. Sometimes our eyes "fix" mistakes for us as we read, so it's hard to catch mistakes reading silently. Reading aloud helps you find mistakes your eye might not.
Comments
0 comment