Good Ways To Write An Essay

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, Ph D.Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas.When assigned a college essay, make sure to check the specific structural conventions related to your essay genre, your field of study, and your professor's expectations."Tip: Some writers find it helpful to write the introduction after they’ve written the rest of the essay.

" "No man is an island" and, as such, he is constantly shaped and influenced by his experiences.

People learn by doing and, accordingly, learn considerably more from their mistakes than their success.

This article was co-authored by Megan Morgan, Ph D.

Megan Morgan is a Graduate Program Academic Advisor in the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia.

Once you’ve chosen a topic, do some research and narrow down the main argument(s) you’d like to make.

From there, you’ll need to write an outline and flesh out your essay, which should consist of an introduction, body, and conclusion.Only then, with the reader’s attention "hooked," should you move on to the thesis.The thesis should be a clear, one-sentence explanation of your position that leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind about which side you are on from the beginning of your essay.If yours is much longer you might want to consider editing it down a bit!Here, by way of example, is an introductory paragraph to an essay in response to the following question: "Do we learn more from finding out that we have made mistakes or from our successful actions?You see, if your essay has the same structure as every other one, any reader should be able to quickly and easily find the information most relevant to them.The principle purpose of the introduction is to present your position (this is also known as the "thesis" or "argument") on the issue at hand but effective introductory paragraphs are so much more than that.Following the thesis, you should provide a mini-outline which previews the examples you will use to support your thesis in the rest of the essay.Not only does this tell the reader what to expect in the paragraphs to come but it also gives them a clearer understanding of what the essay is about.Tip: If possible, have someone else check your work.When you’ve been looking at your own writing for too long, your brain begins to fill in what it expects to see rather than what’s actually there, making it harder for you to spot mistakes.