Recent trends in educational testing are pointing towards the blind testing policy, which gives more weight to a learner’s ability to express themselves as opposed to the traditional sit-in written tests. What this means, then, is that your college essay task requirements are more important than ever. Sharpening your skills in this respect could give you a lifeline in your academic journey.
What are the best strategies for writing a winning essay?
Perhaps the best way to answer this question is by looking at it from the reviewers’ perspective. While reviewing our essays, reviewers follow a criterion to award marks accordingly. Some of the questions they may ask in the process include but are not limited to:
- Does the essay address the topic at hand?
- Does the writer present his thoughts congruently?
- How does the writer present and support his argument?
- What are the sources cited in the essay? Are they appropriate?
- Does the essay follow the laid down university guidelines, including citation formats?
Addressing these concerns while crafting your essay can help you write a winning essay that wins the reviewer’s heart. Here are the best ways way to address these concerns.
Start with reading and understanding the prompt
Writing instructions are key. Nothing is disappointing like pounding your keyboard so hard, but only to realize at the end that you were addressing the wrong issue. To be on the safe side, start by reading the essay prompt and make sure you understand and internalize every detail.
Start by identifying the main theme that needs to be addressed and the specific requirement. Note that sometimes tutors do include very specified details, such as the number of citations you should include in your essay or specific readings you should read and include in your essay.
What is your audience? What is the number of words needed? Establishing these concerns beforehand will help you maintain focus and not veer off from the intended goal. Printing the prompt and regularly referring back to it is a great idea.
Conduct thorough research for ideas
Every essay has a theme around which your arguments will be based. The best practice is to define your argument around this theme. This means taking an informed position around your topic of concern. Detailed research can help you make an informed decision and argue.
Start by brainstorming and writing several ideas to address the essay theme. Doing so helps you narrow down the theme into essay ideas.
After listing your essay ideas, it is time to gather information, facts, and evidence to support your ideas. The easiest and quickest way to gather the information is by going online. Equally, you can source information from books, articles, and established websites. Note that your sources should be credible, such as scholarly or peer-reviewed articles.
Create an outline
Planning and organizing your ideas will make your essay-writing process much more manageable. Align your story around these three components: the introduction, body, and conclusion. An outline acts like a roadmap to guide your writing process, ensuring your ideas flow logically and coherently.
Similarly, an outline will help you stay focused by highlighting the main points you want to address and where they should appear in your essay structure. In this way, outlining will ensure that you follow through with every detail and that your essay ties back to your central theme.
How to begin your essay
The beginning matters. Like anything from public speeches to your first dates, your essay shares the same elements; it should be grand. Make the first impression appealing. How do you go about it?
Develop a clear thesis statement
Write a strong thesis statement that concisely states your position and strengthens your main argument. The statement should look into what you will address in the essay.
It should guide your reader into the intricacies of what you want to address. Without a thesis statement, your reader might be confused about your purpose and what you want to achieve.
Besides indicating the main point to your reader, a good thesis statement should be arguable and not merely state a fact. It should be stated in such a way that it gives the reader an overview of what you will be arguing about.
Write a compelling introduction
The opening statement or paragraph should be worth remembering and capable of hooking up the reader from the beginning. Start with an attention-grabbing hook. It can be a surprising fact, a thought-provoking question, or a reader-engaging anecdote.
You can proceed to give context and background to your topic and then, lastly, end with your thesis statement.
Going into the body part of your essay
After identifying the theme, sourcing information, and writing your first paragraph, your essay is half done! What next? It is time to build your body and paragraphs and argue your case. Craft well-structured paragraphs closely following the idea flow on your outline.
Writing compelling body paragraphs
A good paragraph should focus on one idea or supporting details supporting your topic. Start with a topic sentence to introduce the main point of your paragraph; next, follow the supporting details, which can include evidence to support your topic sentence.
You can also provide data, examples, and quotations to support your thesis statement or prop up your idea. Lastly, ensure a smooth transition between ideas and paragraphs for a compelling body paragraph.
Write clearly and concisely.
Each paragraph should make a good evidence-supported point, but you can only achieve this by writing grammatically correct sentences with zero spelling mistakes. The transition between the sentences should be stunning. If you are having a challenge detecting minor grammar issues in your essay, you can rely on an online grammar check to polish your work.
Cite your sources
To avoid plagiarizing other people’s works, cite every source you use and countercheck every citation you use to ensure that they are accurate and complete.
Write your conclusion
The last bit in writing a winning essay is crafting your conclusion. You need to restate your thesis statement and highlight the key points you discussed in your paper. Don’t leave your concussion hanging, and make sure you provide a thought-provoking summary that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.
Proofread and edit your essay
Lastly, after concluding your essay, go through it to confirm that it aligns with the prompt. Check for grammar and fact inconsistencies and fix them. It would be a great idea to send the essay to peers and friends so they can look at it and provide their feedback before you consider the essay for submission.
