Tips on How to Improve Your Essay!

Tips on How to Improve Your Essay!

Very often, students don’t know what is stopping them from producing a perfect essay; their ideas are good, their grammar is correct, but why are they not receiving the grade they think they deserve? If you think your essays can be better, these tips will take your writing to the next level! Creating a structured, organized essay requires more than having good points; there are other aspects such as keeping the essay simple, being specific, and citing the material correctly.

One of the key factors in constructing a solid essay is keeping it simple. Many students often believe that using big words will make them sounds smarter, but in reality, using big words may actually end up distracting the reader, especially if used incorrectly. In an essay regarding what the best secondary source for Shakespeare’s Macbeth is, one student wrote, “...it includes visuals and explains the information in a simple dialect.” As shown, the word ‘dialect’ was not handled correctly. Instead, the sentence could have read, “...it includes visuals and explains the information in a simple way.” The student should have used words he/she felt comfortable with, and made sure the words were being used correctly and appropriately. “Keep it simple, stupid.” (noted by the U.S. Navy)

Specificity is another vital aspect in creating a flawless essay. Never assume the audience knows what is being referred to because very often, they will not. In the same essay as the one above, the student stated, “... which is what makes the website so great.” The fact that the website is ‘great’ is common knowledge; what the readers need to know is in what way is it great, or why is it so great. One possibility of improving that sentence could be, “...which is what makes the website helpful for Shakespeare.” Now, the audience will know what it is that made it so ‘great’.

Plagiarism is a horrible thing to do, and can cause some of the worst consequences. Therefore, to avoid plagiarism, it is important to cite all material carefully and clearly. When using someone else’s ideas, it is only acceptable and fair to give them credit. Referring to the same student written about earlier, the student wrote, “Images are proven to be more appealing and engaging to the reader than long paragraphs of words.” This information may very well be true, but only is there no evidence to back it up, but there is no credit given to the person who performed the research and proved that statement as a fact. The sentence could have been replaced by, “According to Haig Kouyoumdjian, Ph.D., images are proven to be more appealing and engaging to the reader than long paragraphs of words.” Now, the audience knows who the information was from and can do further research if wanted. Always give credit and avoid plagiarism!

Writing well-structured essays are difficult, but helpful for future aspects of life as well. Writing essays involves critical thinking and demonstrates the student’s understanding of the material. So remember all these tips and get an A on that essay!