How to Write an Essay

Posted by Splice, Essay Tips Chief Writer

How to Write an Essay. Writing an essay can be fun if you are interested in your essay's topic. In most cases, however, your teacher assigns you topics you barely understand or care about. The problem is before you can even begin your research, you still have to know how to write an essay. And not just any other written essay, but an essay that is effective in informing or persuading your readers, an essay that is short but with substance, and, above all, an essay that makes a valid point. Here are some tips on how to write an essay.
  • Carefully prepare your introduction. In the first paragraph of your essay, be sure to write the essential elements: who, what, when, where, and how. What is the topic of your essay? Who is involved? When did it happen? Where can it be found? How did it happen?

  • State your thesis. Your thesis is your main claim in your essay. It is the central idea that controls all the rest of the ideas you write. It should in the form of a declarative sentence or a sentence that declares a proposition, such as "Knowing how to write an essay is easy". You can write you thesis either as the first sentence or as the last sentence of your essay.

  • Write your body paragraphs. The first body paragraph immediately follows from your introduction. The ideal number of body paragraphs for a short essay is three. Each body paragraph should discuss one of your supporting ideas for your thesis. Avoid discussing the same idea for two or all of your essay's body paragraphs. A basic way to writing body paragraphs is to make a topic sentence as the beginning sentence for each of these paragraphs. For example, your body paragraph may start with the sentence "Knowing how to write an essay is easy because [supporting idea/argument #1]". Your next body paragraph may start with the sentence "Knowing how to write an essay is easy because [supporting idea/argument #2]". And so on. Be sure to limit your discussion within your body paragraph according to what you stated in the corresponding topic sentence.

  • Write your rebuttals or refutations. Your rebuttals or refutations are your counter-arguments to the possible criticisms against your claims. It is not enough to simply acknowledge and refute criticisms. It is better if you can show their weaknesses and show why these points are unacceptable.

  • Write your conclusion. Your concluding paragraph is where you summarize your supporting ideas [the ones you discussed in your body paragraphs]. After which, you restate your thesis towards the end of your essay. Avoid introducing new ideas in your essay's conclusion.

  • Read, edit, rewrite. Read your essay. Edit any errors in grammar. Rewrite inconsistencies in ideas. In short, polish your essay.

If you follow these steps, writing an essay will be a lot easier. If you know how to write an essay, you will get your message across more effectively regardless of whether you are actually interested in your topic.

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How to Write a Thesis Statement

Posted by Splice, Essay Tips Chief Writer

How to Write a Thesis Statement. A good thesis statement is able to capture the essential details of any written article despite being just one sentence. It should be able to answer most of the four "W's" and the "H" whenever applicable: who, what, when, where, and how. If you already know how to write a thesis statement, you should know by now that it also oftentimes comes in the form of "X is Y because Z", where "X" is your main subject, where "Y" describes your main subject, and where "Z" provides the reasons about the description. For example, "Writing a thesis statement is easy because I understand how to write one". Here are a few more tips on how to write a thesis statement.
  • Think about who or what the subject of your essay will be. Is it about a famous celebrity? Is it about a recent event? Is it about an observed behavior or a trending practice? Your answers to these questions and other similar ones will tell you who or what is the subject of your essay. This will be your "X".

  • Describe the subject of your essay. Whatever your subject is, provide a brief but concise description of your subject. If your subject is a famous celebrity, provide a succinct description of the person. If it is a recent event or a social trend, do the same. Typical descriptions include but are not limited to: good or bad, moral or immoral, and acceptable or unacceptable. In any case, your description should have some "value". This will be your "Y".

  • State the reason why your description is valid. Your main reason for describing your subject in the way you have chosen will be your "Z". If, for instance, you say that "Euthanasia is acceptable," state the reason why, as in "Euthanasia is acceptable because it is a dignified way of putting an end to someone's life". The reason that you will give should directly correlate with or should be relevant to your subject and your description. Otherwise, your thesis statement will appear weak and devoid of substance.
Remember that your thesis statement should not be a factual statement but a declarative statement that can be argued. Otherwise, using a factual statement for your thesis statement leaves no room for intellectual discourse since a factual statement is generally accepted and is most likely proven to be true. If you know how to write a thesis sentence, you can be at least sure that you will be able to write a topic that you can argue.

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How to Write Body Paragraphs

Posted by Splice, Essay Tips Chief Writer

How to Write Body Paragraphs. In essays of any kind, body paragraphs are essential. These are where you provide your supporting arguments to your thesis. These are also where you write your refutations or rebuttals against the challenges to your claim. In short, they serve as the very "meat" of your essay. Here are several tips on how to write the body paragraphs of your essay.
  • Stick to your topic sentence. The first sentence of the paragraph should be the idea that you want to develop within the same paragraph. Use it as a guide in writing your succeeding sentences. Avoid drifting away from your topic sentence as doing so may confuse your readers or, worse, lose the coherence of your essay. Take note of the key words in your topic sentence as these will help you develop the rest of the sentences in the paragraph.

  • Keep the paragraph within 5 to 7 sentences. Let's face it. Nobody wants to read a very long essay. Thus, keep your paragraphs at just the ideal length. The challenge, then, is to write what only needs to be written. Avoid cluttering your sentences with unnecessary words and phrases. Skip anything that is irrelevant or that doesn't make any clear sense. Always remember that your essay need not be very long just to make a valid point. Write to primarily to express, not to impress, unless you're told to do so.

  • Maintain transitions between paragraphs. To achieve this, you should end a paragraph using a sentence [a "transition" sentence] that smoothly connects to the first sentence of the next paragraph. In other words, end a paragraph with an idea that logically leads to the idea in the succeeding paragraph. This will make your paragraphs read tight and interconnected which, apparently, saves your essay from reading like a couple of distinct paragraphs simply lumped together.

  • Have a logical flow of sentences within paragraphs. Since your first sentence is your topic sentence, continue with the next sentence by developing the idea from the first. Do the same pattern for the rest of the sentences until you reach the transition sentence. For example, if your topic sentence is "Blue looks more beautiful than red," the next sentence should develop that idea by saying "Blue has admirable visual characteristics that red does not have". Following that sentence, you may proceed by writing that "Blue has the characteristic of looking relaxing to the eyes". And so on. Having a logical flow of sentences allows your reader to follow your arguments closely and understand better what it is that you are trying to say.
These are just some of the tips on how to write the body paragraphs of your essay. Always remember: to stick to your topic sentence, to keep the paragraph between 5 to 7 sentences, to maintain transitions between paragraphs, and to have a logical flow of sentences within paragraphs. Follow these tips on how to write the body paragraphs of your essay and you'll certainly send your message clearly and effectively.

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How to Write a Rebuttal

Posted by Splice, Essay Tips Chief Writer

How to Write a Rebuttal Essay. Papers usually have rebuttals. In writing an essay, you usually do not simply lay down your arguments. You also have to address the criticisms against your thesis. A statement that seeks to counter opposing claims against your arguments is called a rebuttal. A rebuttal generally attempts to weaken the counter-arguments by showing that they are unacceptable, insignificant, or even absurd. Here are some tips on how to write a rebuttal in your essay.
  • By use of appeal to reason. A typical way of refuting an opposition to your argument is by showing the fallacies committed by the opposition. Logical fallacies are statements that are false by virtue of the principle of "non sequitur" or, literally, "it does not follow". For example, you may want to say that "just because X is true does not necessarily follow that Y is also true". A more concrete example is the statement "just because the ground is wet does not mean that it rained".

  • By use of appeal to emotion. This method is typically used when you want to get the feelings of your reader to side with your argument. More commonly, it is done by getting the sympathy of your reader. A classic example is the use of pathos.

  • By use of analogies or metaphors. An analogy is like a way of comparing two entirely different things. On the other hand, a metaphor is an expression that refers to something that it does not literally denote so as to suggest a similarity. In your rebuttal, you may compare the opposing to claim to something else in order to show why it is unacceptable or absurd. For example, if your thesis is that "euthanasia should be made legal" and if the opposing claim is that "many people actually believe that euthanasia is immoral, thus euthanasia should not be legalized", you may provide an analogy by stating that "many people also believe that the atom is the smallest particle in the universe, but certainly we know this to be absurd because beliefs are not objective facts, and beliefs have no place in an objective analysis".
These are just some of the ways in writing a rebuttal in your essay. You should remember that the aim of a rebuttal is to overcome the challenges against your claim. It is important to anticipate what possible objections can be raised so that you will be prepared to write your rebuttal statements.

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How to Write a Narrative Essay

Posted by Splice, Essay Tips Chief Writer

How to Write a Narrative Essay. Writing a narrative essay is like telling a story. The essay should be written like a typical story-telling type of article where the writer expresses his ideas in his own words. Here are several tips for writing a narrative essay.
  • Be sure to narrate. In other words, don't simply write down random thoughts. Instead, develop the flow of your thoughts by arranging them in a certain order. Jot down the sequence of events regarding your chosen topic. Let this be your guide in writing your narrative essay. An example is to begin with a brief background of why an event is celebrated or observed, followed by a narration of how and why it is observed in present times, and concluded by what you think the event will be in the future. That is, will it still be observed? Or will it undergo dramatic changes?

  • Begin your narrative essay with an interesting quote relevant to the story such as a metaphor or a passage from a poem or another story. This method will help you catch the attention of your reader upon reading the first few lines of your narrative essay. Avoid using lengthy quotes as doing so may fail to capture your reader's attention. The shorter but more compelling your introductory quote is, the better.

  • Each body paragraph of your narrative essay should only focus on one part of the sequence of events. Limit your discussion in every paragraph on one idea. Think of every paragraph as a box where you put only things of the same kind, another box for other things of the same kind, and so on. This will not only show the sequence of the thoughts you are narrating but will also show proper organization of ideas.

  • Remember that writing a narrative essay requires that you write from your point of view. That is, write as to how you see or understand your topic. Interpret your topic from your personal perspective. Refrain from using other people's perspective unless there is a need. The key is to focus your narrative essay from your own mindset.

How to write a narrative essay essentially requires your understanding of your topic. Writing a narrative essay usually begins with a brief background of your topic and ends with a conclusion that looks forward instead of backward.

You may also want to read how to write an essay.

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