How to Write a College Essay?

At one point or another, a college student will write an essay. It can be a bit daunting, but if you follow a sensible guide, your article is sure to be written to perfection. Perhaps an essential guide to follow is to focus on the parts of the essay, but before you even write your essay, you must have prepared what you want to write about. Keep reading as we walk you through how to write a college essay.

Understand the Topic

 It is imperative to understand the topic you want to write on because, without proper understanding, you will surely skirt the issue. It would not hurt to ask more questions to attain further clarity. You should also note the words used in the essay question. Was the term “discuss” or “analyze”

These two words require two different approaches concerning the method in which you want to present your answer.

Carry out Research

Research helps you to make some headway, as well as give your essay the boost required to make it stand out. The professor would hate it if you submitted an article that was a reworded copy of his notes. So, it is advisable to carry out extensive research and outline your points. The Outline will ensure that you remain in line with the requirements of the essay question.

Read More: How To Start a College Essay?

Decide What You Are Going to Say in Your Essay

What point are you trying to pass across? What is the point of the piece? Once you figure that out, you can be sure that you will write successfully. This is the point where you map out your ideas and combine your research with the essay question. You may decide to write down your main ideas in thought bubbles.

Draft Your Essay

A Draft is where you will write a skeleton version of your article. This version will contain your ideas which you will translate to an argument. You will have to decide which ideas you want to focus on. It is advisable to focus on ideas that will make for stronger and more feasible arguments.

Upon completion of all these guidelines, you will begin writing the essay in its proper form. For the most part, an article has three parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.

The Parts of an Essay

Introduction

The first part of an essay is the introduction. It is crucial to make the introduction to your essay as professional as possible. As it is the first thing the reader focuses on, the importance of writing a good introduction cannot be stressed enough.

Your introduction is the opening chapter that tells the reader what to expect and, depending on how you write it, and it entices the reader to keep reading your essay. It should include a summary of the topic you wrote about, the ideas you plan to present, and its conclusion should be a thesis statement.

Read More: Essay Introduction Paragraph Examples

Your reader should be drawn into your essay right from the start. The excellent intro is the opening hook. It should hint at the theme of the piece, and the style you use to hook your reader should be in line with the overall theme of the article. The introduction is a breakdown of the critical things contained in the essay.

• A summary of the topic is necessary to introduce the subject matter to the reader. This summary of your points should support your thesis statement. 
• You should maintain a consistent diction and tone. Consistency makes your essay more professional.
• The thesis statement that is required should serve to establish the main idea. It comes at the end of the introduction. Although this is not always the case, depending on the topic, you might decide to start the presentation with a topic sentence that is sure to grab the reader’s attention. However, most academic papers start with the thesis statement.

Body

While the introduction presents the general idea of the essay, and the thesis statement, the shape of the article adequately addresses the ideas. It is in the body of the piece that you develop the overarching purpose of the essay into full, precise, and logical arguments.

It may be helpful to organize a list of the points you intend to present, along with appropriate research. If it is an argumentative essay, you are to provide analysis, as well as counterarguments. If it is a personal essay, the author’s experiences are required to improve the composition. The body of your essay:

• Expound on the points, and summary, made in the introduction of the article.
• Add some substance and flair to the composition with the help of anecdotes (including personal accounts, depending on the theme of the piece), symbolism, citation, and other methods.
• Provide background on the topic which your essay addresses.

The Conclusion

It is time to organize your points into a conclusion. Although some may think judgment is simply a revised version of an introduction, this is not so. While it is important to restate your thesis to return the focus to the topic and your argument, you should keep in mind the importance of a resolution.

The conclusion should be a separate paragraph; this is not only to ensure that the reader does not mistake it to be part of the body but also to make your essay organized.

Yes, the conclusion is the opportunity to bring together all elements of the essay. The end should address the overarching statement, or focus, of the article. It is in your conclusion that you should adequately spell out whatever in your essay may have appeared vague to the reader, and tie up whatever loose ends that may exist in your article.

Your Words Make All the Difference

Even after you have followed the guideline above, it is vital to go through your essay. In this way, you will be able to improve it. You can adjust your choice of words and phrases to suit your reader’s experience. You may decide to change your word choices, as repeating your words may become annoying to the reader. Also, ensure that you leave out unnecessary words or phrases.