Essay writing is among many other skills that students must excel in. Critically, this skill is not only limited to “writing.” Students are expected to develop analytical thinking skills to offer an answer to the essay question. The students’ ability to generate ideas and support them through examples is tested in essay writing.
However, let alone reviewing our essays to perfect them, sometimes we have a hard time finding an essay topic. On the other hand, in cases where we are given a question or topic, we might have trouble putting our ideas into our essays. As our answers matter, how they are conveyed is also crucial in essay writing.
Even if we manage to come up with a brilliant idea, some essay-writing exams require us to manage our time effectively.
First Encounter with A Question
Once you encounter an essay question or are required to come up with one, defining what is expected of you must be the first step.
There are different types of essays, such as:
- Expository (or Informative)
- Persuasive (or Argumentative)
- Comparison (or Compare and Contrast)
For example, the question “How did the Industrial Revolution change Britain?” could be a topic for an expository essay. You are expected to describe the ways in which this change occurs and inform your audience.
What about this: “Why are parks important for a community?”
In such a case, you are expected to give reasons to prove the importance or influence of something. While these essays are persuasive, the aim is to offer convincing arguments that can support the overall idea.
Lastly, check this out: “What are the benefits and harms of social media? Is it helpful or dangerous?”
Clearly, this is a sample of a comparison essay. Though comparison essays are not always divided into two parts, like in this example, the topics are usually shaped around at least two contrasting opinions. You are expected to offer an explanation for both cases and finalise your essay by claiming which side is superior according to your opinion.
If you are not given a topic, scan your knowledge in various fields like literature, art, history, society, and technology, or focus on ongoing issues (like climate change) to determine what to write about.
Either way, critical thinking must be the building block of your essay.
Critical Thinking in Article Writing
Regardless of the time limit, topic, or length of the essay, gathering key points through critical thinking is essential for a well-written essay.
Sometimes this step is seen as unnecessary or time-consuming. However, planning your essay can help you focus solely on writing it without interruption, as you have already made up your mind on what to write about.
Begin by understanding the topic and writing down what comes to mind.
Remember: You must offer clear and on-target answers to the essay question. Sometimes your answer can be shadowed by additional explanations and reasoning sentences you form to support your argument.
For example, for an essay on the benefits and harms of social media, you can make a pros and cons list. You won’t be able to incorporate all these ideas into your essay, but the critical thinking method will reveal which one of your key points can be developed further.
Once you gather your thoughts and write down key points, you can use these opinions to form a map.
Mention Map
The key points you found must form a coherent essay. You must connect your arguments in a way that serves the topic, as the readers should not lose track of your ideas.
Following the critical thinking process, drafting a mention order for your essays can help you decide how to write them. In order to prepare a mention-map, you must have a solid understanding of essay and paragraph structures.
Paragraph and Essay Structure
Both the essay itself and its paragraph share a similar structure. For the overall essay, there must be:
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
And for the paragraph structure, the order must be:
- Topic Sentence
- Supporting Sentences
- Concluding Sentence
Although different essay types require minor adjustments, essays and paragraphs roughly follow this flow.
Let’s clarify using examples.
Essay Introduction:
Your main argument and supporting arguments must be offered here.
For example, you are writing about the changes Britain went through during the Industrial Revolution, and your main argument is that “Britain became more economically prosperous due to the Industrial Revolution.” The first sentence of the first paragraph (the Introduction paragraph) of your essay must consecutively and briefly explain what the Industrial Revolution is and its relation to Britain.
Next, mention the possible influences of the Industrial Revolution on Britain. These are the sentences -tangible proofs- that you are required to develop further in your essay’s body paragraphs. In accordance with our example, this middle part would explain the changes Britain went through (i.e., rise in economy, rural to urban migration, employment opportunities).
The last sentences of your introduction must bring together all the “possible influences” and explain what these changes mean for Britain. The conclusion summarises your argument by incorporating “why” and “how.”
Essay Body:
This is where paragraph structure comes in handy. Once you have offered your supporting arguments, it is time to explain them in depth. The arguments themselves are introduced in the first sentence (in this case, the topic sentence) of your body paragraph.
There can be multiple body paragraphs.
Tip: Not only body paragraphs but also the introduction and the conclusion can be multiple. As long as you reasonably connect the paragraphs, you can incorporate new paragraphs into your essay as much as you want.Going back to our Industrial Revolution example, claiming that Britain’s economy has risen won’t do much by itself. However, mentioning the establishment of new factories and new business sectors would complement this idea. These are the supporting sentences that follow the topic sentence. By adding a concluding sentence, you should reinforce the relationship between the essay topic and your supporting arguments.
Essay Conclusion:
After presenting your argument and elaborating on it, the last section of your essay must be an overall conclusion.
Consider our example. Since you already described the Industrial Revolution’s influences on Britain, connect these key points to the “change,” which was towards the economic prosperity of Britain. In the end, the readers must be able to follow your reasoning (even though they might have different opinions).
Do not forget! Essays do not necessarily test your knowledge; rather, they test your reasoning and your ability to form an argument. As long as you can develop a coherent argument and support it through clear examples, your essay can be about anything, and you can approach the essay topic from various perspectives.
Perfect Your Essay
If you are not racing against time, it is always a good idea to sleep on your essay. Reviewing what you have written with a fresh mind can help you notice grammatical mistakes, incoherent statements, and sentences.
Similarly, granted that you do the critical thinking and planning first, we advise you to freely transfer your thoughts into a paper (or a document). As you should thoroughly read your essay once you have finished, you should also check for errors at this final stage.
Tip: Read your essays as if you have no idea about the topic. It might sound impossible at first since you already wrote the essay. However, the goal here is to make sure that you offer your arguments coherently in a way that makes sense to your audience. They should be able to make sense of the connections you made in your essay.
Your essay is complete after finishing the proofreading session successfully and making the necessary corrections. Notably, regularly practicing can improve your essays visibly. To begin with, you can choose topics you are interested in.
Find out how you can gain new skills and improve your existing ones with High Learn.
See you in our next guide. 👋
