6 Highly Useful Things to Guide Students When Writing Their Essays

The students from the various scholastic levels would usually be required to write different kinds of essays for their classes. Professors would either give their student's a topic, something that is about their course, or give the students the option to pick their own topics. What these means is that writing an essay is always a big part of a student's life. However, Not all students are good with using language or writing essays. Some lack the proper grasp of grammar and vocabulary to make the article.

For the students who are not as skilled or are having difficulty in finding time for writing their papers, these 6 tips would help in creating a good quality essay.

1. Choose a topic that involves a personal interest. Crafting an essay becomes less tedious if one is innately enjoying what he is writing about. This makes writing about the subject something of a second nature to the writer. For car enthusiasts for example, an essay on the newest cars or parts is just like talking with their friends and sharing interests. In situations wherein the professor hands out the topics, the students can just write on the topic in a way that uses an angle related to the interest.
2. Do some research first. Before doing the writing, the student should first do some research. Being able to research the topic of the essay,gives the writer the opportunity to take various points and angles and use them in the essay. This research task is even much easier now with the advent of the internet and various online resources.
3. Create an Outlines for the essay. Creating an outline for the essay allows one to see how the essay will be structured and what kind of sentences each paragraph should have. A good outline would use either topic sentences or idea phrases, to make it a worthwhile guide for the essay writer.
4. Look at example essays. An essay example gives students the chance to learn more ways of writing their papers. Having access to other essays helps one learn how to use smooth transitions in presenting their topic. The essay example allows the student to look at how the author talks about the topic. One can then emulate the use of language, style, and flow of the author in their own papers. To be able to find examples, the students can ask their professors or can even browse some sample online articles.
5. Make sure the paper follows the instructions and guidelines set by the institution. Academic papers have to follow a specific set of rules with regards to its format. Format rules would usually include specifications for font sizes and styles, and margin width. Check that the paper is able to follow all these rules.
6. Check for grammar and typing errors. Avoid point deductions from your essay due to errors in spelling and grammar use. Low grades are given to well-crafted due to such markdowns. Grammar and Typing errors can be seen by the professor as sloppiness on the part of the student. Use the spellchecker in the software, as well as check the paper once it is printed out.

Critical Essays

Critical essays are usually review essays that look in detail at some literary work. Critical essays may be positive or negative in tone, depending on the attitude of the writer towards the work analyzed. It is necessary to have in-depth knowledge about the author studied, his works and the corpus of criticism that has already appeared.

Critical essays should have the same structure as that of any other essay. The introduction of the critical essay should introduce the title, author and the nature of the work under analysis. The introduction should also codify the strengths and weaknesses of the work, with focus on one or two major features.

The second section of the critical essay should carry a brief summary of the work analyzed. The summary section will also touch upon the author's presentation of the theme and his viewpoints. The next important thing to remember is to highlight the aspects one will touch upon.

The third section of the critical essay should contain the main argument - one can agree with or differ from the author's or other critics' viewpoints. This section should contain detailed analysis of the topic discussed. Care is to be taken to quote relevant material from the text to support one's argument. One can also borrow supporting evidence from other writers, acknowledging them. Citations must be included in the prescribed style format.

The last section is the conclusion, which briefly summarizes the main points raised. The conclusion should be written clearly so that it crisply highlights the essay writer's views on the subject. Critical essays gain an impressive look if the last sentence is one that can capture the reader's attention, provoking him to think further on another angle of the subject.

The Best Ways for English Essay Writing

Dr. Johnson defines English essay writing as "a loose sally of the mind, and irregular, indigested piece, not a regular and orderly performance". It has also been called, "the after-dinner monologue of an interesting and well-informed man". It has been called by Saintsbury as, "a work of prose art". These definitions do not apply to such philosophical essay as Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding or to Pope's Essay on Criticism and Essay on Man. Hugh Walker has divided essay into two types-Essays per excellence and compositions to which custom has assigned the name. the true essay is essentially personal. English essay writing belongs to the literature of self-expression.

Alexander Smith in his paper on English essay writing has characterized the essay par excellence as a literary form which resembles a lyric in so far as it is molded by some central mood-serious, whimsical or satirical. "Given the mood, and the essay from the first sentence to the last grows around it as the cocoon grows around the silkworm". Essays are "attempts", and the guiding principle is determined by the mood of the essay writer. Just as in a lyric, the poet pours out his whole heart delighting in the passing mood of the moment, so the literary English essay writing has a pre-eminently subjective character.

Charles Lamb is the perfector of the Literary type of essay-- subjective, literary and personal. Leigh Hunt in his Indicator revived the manner, quiet narrative and the style of Steele. Jeffrey in the Edinburgh Review and Hazlitt in his Table Talk took to literary criticism and raised the standard of literary taste. But Hazlitt has to much bitterness to be affable; De Quincey is often too imaginative in his conceptions and florid in his style. But Lamb is crithcal, imaginative and romantic. The central subject matter of the Essays of Elia is Lamb himself-Lamb's mind re-acting to his studies and environments-to life itself. This another interesting attribute to English essay writing.

Walter Pater would say, "With him as with Montaigne, the desire of self-portraiture is, below all the more superficial tendencies the real motive in writing at all-a desire connected with that intimacy, the modern subjectivity, which may be called the Montaignesque element in literature". The egotism of Lamb is blended with a sweetness all its own. There is the unmistakable stamp of his lovable personality in his essays and his essays are enlivened by genial humour and impish wit. The English essay writings of Lamb may be called confidential chatters as they are rich in autobiographical pathos and wide sympathy for humanity.

In the modern century the mantle of Lamb has fallen on many writers. Stevenson in the later Victorian age inherited the tradition of Lamb. He may not have the same humour and whimsicality of Lamb, hut he has the same urbanity in his style, the same informal and fresh approach to commonplace subjects. Chesterton writes on trifles but makes the trifles tremendous by his inimitable style while the writings of Hilaire Belloc are on nothing, on something, on everything. He has a clear incisive style in which humour plays an important part in his English essay writings.

Types of Essays

In all aspects the essay is more generic and plainly states the writers' views. One can choose a certain topic, make some research and write the essay. But in practice it is not so simple. There are various kinds of essays which are used in the present century. Essays are quite popular in schools and colleges, which are considered a starting point for any student. The process goes on till research work and in some cases applicable for job purpose. The essays written in high schools are the first steps towards a tough path. There will be various topics and formats for essays. In some essays you may need to compare between two or more points, whereas in some you may have to give explanation on a particular subject. Expository essay, compare and contrast essay, persuasive essay and coursework essay are just a few types which are most common. Apart from this one can find essays on different languages, dramas or literature masterpieces.

In accordance to the type of essay the format also differs, which can be either formal or informal depending on the content and topic. But what is common in all cases is the research aspect. As a writer you can never underestimate the need for research work. Without sufficient research work you can not develop the contents of the essay, nor can you create a proper picture of the same. The basic format of any essay remains more or less the same. There will be an introduction, followed by a few paragraphs which will be the main content of the essay. Lastly the conclusion will complete the ensemble. The overall picture will have an impact on the readers' mind and they will have an intriguing mindset from the very beginning.

When considering different types of essays one must be aware that what the assignment is all about. Understanding the subject itself is a big job. You can not simply go ahead on a hunch. It is always better to make sure that you understand the topic well and have gone through the nuances of writing essay. Be an effective essay writer.

Essay Writers Frustrations

Essay writers normally encounter tons of frustrations in the entire writing process. Why? Because writing essays is a complex activity. It demands more than skills but an efficient system of writing. Although essay writing can be fun, generally, essay writers face difficulties in completing the tasks required.

Essay writers often find themselves trapped in this exasperating process. Why essay writing can be frustrating to do? There are a number of logical reasons. Here are the common ones:

* Topic difficulty or unfamiliarity. Many essay writers tend to hate essay writing if the topic to be discussed is unfamiliar. Writers tend to be frustrated and will not be inclined to finish the essay if the subject is too challenging to handle or too serious to discuss. Difficult topics if not handled well can result to poorly written works. Finding a relevant subject is another difficulty that writers also face.

* In depth researching. Researching is essential in essay writing. And by researching only means employing quality sources to make oneself an expert in the subject to be tackled on the paper. It can be so exhausting for essay writers to evaluate the quality and credibility of each research materials to be utilized: from the internet, libraries and other academic databases. Cautious taking down of notes is another stressing factor in researching.

* Need for scrupulous analysis. Acquiring relevant data after researching does not end the hardships for essay writers. There is a need for critical analysis of the gathered data. This calls for expertise and full concentration - not all essay writers are equipped with these. It can be quite frustrating not to be able to interpret the data in a relevant manner after investing so much effort on researching.

* Brainstorming process. In order to come up with fresh, original and innovative ideas for the composition, essay writers have to undergo brainstorming process. This process can be fun as it squeezes out creative juices in a writer but it can be a little frustrating as well. Some are not born writers and have a hard time generating brilliant ideas.

* Formulating a sound thesis statement or main argument. Picking out the best idea and putting it down in a clear assertion demands a lot from the essay writers. Without a good main argument, it is practically impossible to create a quality essay. Formulating a sound thesis statement is intellectually demanding. Failing to do so will take a toll on the paper.

* Creating a logical outline. Mapping out the structure of the essay can be both exciting and tormenting for essay writers. It is in creating outlines that the creativity and playfulness of the writer takes place. Inexperience and lack of knowledge on writing techniques can be quite frustrating for writers in coming up with cohesive outlines. Creating outlines organize the flow of the arguments in the essay.

* The need for catchy introduction and strong conclusion. Crafting a hooker introduction and a powerful conclusion reveals a lot about the essay writers. Many writers have a hard time creating the introduction and the conclusion that works for the essay. These two essential parts can make or break the written composition.

Essay writers are expected to be creative, inventive and skilled in writing. However, they also encounter frustrations along the process that are quite normal. Surpassing all the difficulties and stress brought about by producing quality essays prove only one thing - essay writers incomparable ability to craft brilliant compositions.