(The tips below are meant for an essay written outside of the classroom. In another piece, we will look at the in-class essay, which is a different beast.)
You understand the basics.
You know that your essay requires an introduction, a thesis, a body containing paragraphs with topic sentences and information, and a conclusion. Whether you are writing a composition for a high school history seminar or a university literature class, the format remains the same.
You understand the basics.
You know that your essay requires an introduction, a thesis, a body containing paragraphs with topic sentences and information, and a conclusion. Whether you are writing a composition for a high school history seminar or a university literature class, the format remains the same.
Once, long ago, my wife and I signed up for an introductory set of ballroom dance lessons. The instructor was a lanky man with greasy hair and a pocked face. He was also one of the most competent teachers I’ve ever met. In our first lesson, he stressed that the man is the frame, the woman the picture, which explains why in traditional ballroom dance the man dresses in black while the woman can wear a flashy dress.
The man is the frame, the woman the picture.
The same is true of the essay. The “frame” is the standard structure: introduction, thesis, body, conclusion. The “picture” is what you put into the frame.
To help you paint as fine a picture as possible within that frame, here are some tips for immediately improving your essay.
1. Title your essay. A title instantly announces to your reader the direction you are taking in your essay. You may write a title with a single thought, such as two I just found online: “Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation?” and “How Middle-Class Europeans Fare Under The Welfare State.” You may also create an effective title by dividing it into two parts: the hook and an explanation. “Nailing It: A Student’s Guide To Writing” is an example of this tactic. (Do not use titles for in-class essays. AP practice books particularly discourage this idea. Too much wasted time.)
2. Make your thesis statement and your topic sentences blunt and strong. Tell the reader in clear language what you are doing. Look at yourself as a guide or a docent conducting a tour. You are the leader. To mix metaphors, the thesis and the topic sentences are part of the framework for your essay. Build a strong frame.
3. Order your arguments. The corner man for a boxer will shout to his fighter “Thirty seconds!” which means the boxer has thirty seconds left to impress the judges with his punching. In his closing remarks to a jury, an attorney in a courtroom will save his strongest arguments for last, knowing these will linger in the minds of the jurors. You need to do the same when mapping out your paper, particularly if you are writing an argumentative or persuasive essay. Most of the time, you will do well to order your arguments from the weakest to the strongest. End that essay with a punch!
4. Hammer your sentences together. Repeat old information, present new information. Have the first part of a sentence refer to the preceding sentence, the second part to a new thought and a new sentence. Look at these lines from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: “And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” The first part of each sentence references the previous sentence, the second part pushes the reader farther into the story and the next sentence.
5. Use connectors and linking words to strengthen your framework. Words like “also,” “furthermore,” “however,” and several dozen others are the bolts that hold your essay together. Google “connectors and linking words,” and you’ll find a number of sites and charts that give you these connecting words. Warning: do not use “firstly.” There is no such word. As Strunk and White wrote, “Do not dress up words by adding ly to them, as though putting a hat on a horse.” “First,” “second,” “third,” and so on are fine. Keep in mind, however, that many other connectors may be more effective and less intrusive.
To Be Continued.
The man is the frame, the woman the picture.
The same is true of the essay. The “frame” is the standard structure: introduction, thesis, body, conclusion. The “picture” is what you put into the frame.
To help you paint as fine a picture as possible within that frame, here are some tips for immediately improving your essay.
1. Title your essay. A title instantly announces to your reader the direction you are taking in your essay. You may write a title with a single thought, such as two I just found online: “Have Smartphones Destroyed A Generation?” and “How Middle-Class Europeans Fare Under The Welfare State.” You may also create an effective title by dividing it into two parts: the hook and an explanation. “Nailing It: A Student’s Guide To Writing” is an example of this tactic. (Do not use titles for in-class essays. AP practice books particularly discourage this idea. Too much wasted time.)
2. Make your thesis statement and your topic sentences blunt and strong. Tell the reader in clear language what you are doing. Look at yourself as a guide or a docent conducting a tour. You are the leader. To mix metaphors, the thesis and the topic sentences are part of the framework for your essay. Build a strong frame.
3. Order your arguments. The corner man for a boxer will shout to his fighter “Thirty seconds!” which means the boxer has thirty seconds left to impress the judges with his punching. In his closing remarks to a jury, an attorney in a courtroom will save his strongest arguments for last, knowing these will linger in the minds of the jurors. You need to do the same when mapping out your paper, particularly if you are writing an argumentative or persuasive essay. Most of the time, you will do well to order your arguments from the weakest to the strongest. End that essay with a punch!
4. Hammer your sentences together. Repeat old information, present new information. Have the first part of a sentence refer to the preceding sentence, the second part to a new thought and a new sentence. Look at these lines from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: “And as I sat there, brooding on the old unknown world, I thought of Gatsby’s wonder when he first picked out the green light at the end of Daisy’s dock. He had come a long way to this blue lawn and his dream must have seemed so close that he could hardly fail to grasp it. He did not know that it was already behind him, somewhere back in that vast obscurity beyond the city, where the dark fields of the republic rolled on under the night.” The first part of each sentence references the previous sentence, the second part pushes the reader farther into the story and the next sentence.
5. Use connectors and linking words to strengthen your framework. Words like “also,” “furthermore,” “however,” and several dozen others are the bolts that hold your essay together. Google “connectors and linking words,” and you’ll find a number of sites and charts that give you these connecting words. Warning: do not use “firstly.” There is no such word. As Strunk and White wrote, “Do not dress up words by adding ly to them, as though putting a hat on a horse.” “First,” “second,” “third,” and so on are fine. Keep in mind, however, that many other connectors may be more effective and less intrusive.
To Be Continued.