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How to Write an Effective High School Essay?

This article will take you step-by-step through the exercise of writing a high school essay. First, it explains the components of a typical essay, followed by how to write an essay.

PARTS OF AN ESSAY

A basic essay has following parts:

• Introductory Paragraph

  The introductory paragraph is the first paragraph of your essay. It introduces the main idea of your essay. A good opening paragraph captures the interest of your reader and tells why your topic is important. This is how you can write a good introduction paragraph:

  1. Write the thesis statement. The main idea of the essay is stated in a single sentence called the thesis statement. You must limit your entire essay to the topic you have introduced in your thesis statement.
  2. Provide some background information about your topic. You can use interesting facts, quotations, or definitions of important terms you will use later in the essay.

• Supporting Paragraphs

  Supporting paragraphs make up the main body of your essay. They develop the main idea of your essay. Follow the following steps to write these paragraphs:

  1. List the points that develop the main idea of your essay.
  2. Place each supporting point in its own paragraph.
  3. Develop each supporting point with facts, details, and examples. To connect your supporting paragraphs, you should use special transition words. Transition words link your paragraphs together and make your essay easier to read. Use them at the beginning and end of your paragraphs.

  Like all good paragraphs, each supporting paragraph should have a topic sentence, supporting sentences, and a summary sentence.

• Summary Paragraph

  The summary paragraph comes at the end of your essay after you have finished developing your ideas. The summary paragraph is often called a "conclusion." It summarizes or restates the main idea of the essay. You want to leave the reader with a sense that your essay is complete. To write a summary paragraph:

  1. Restate the strongest points of your essay that support your main idea.
  2. Conclude your essay by restating the main idea in different words.
  3. Give your personal opinion or suggest a plan for action.

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

• Prewriting Your Essay

  The prewriting stage is when you prepare your ideas for your essay before you begin writing. You will find it easier to write your essay if you build an outline first, especially when you are writing longer assignments.

  Prewriting Steps:

  1. Think carefully about what you are going to write. Ask yourself: What question am I going to answer in this paragraph or essay? How can I best answer this question? What is the most important part of my answer? How can I make an introductory sentence (or thesis statement) from the most important part of my answer? What facts or ideas can I use to support my introductory sentence? How can I make this paragraph or essay interesting? Do I need more facts on this topic?
  2. Collect facts related to your paragraph or essay topic. Look for and write down facts that will help you to answer your question.
  3. Write down your own ideas. Ask yourself: What else do I want to say about this topic? Why should people be interested in this topic? Why is this topic important?
  4. Find the main idea of your paragraph or essay. Choose the most important point you are going to present. If you cannot decide which point is the most important, just choose one point and stick to it throughout your paragraph or essay.
  5. Organize your facts and ideas in a way that develops your main idea. Once you have chosen the most important point of your paragraph or essay, you must find the best way to tell your reader about it. Look at the facts you have written. Look at your own ideas on the topic. Decide which facts and ideas will best support the main idea of your essay. Once you have chosen the facts and ideas you plan to use, ask yourself which order to put them in the essay. Write down your own note set that you can use to guide yourself as you write your essay.

• Writing Essay

  The writing stage is when you turn your ideas into sentences.

  Writing Steps:

  1. For the introduction, write the thesis statement and give some background information.
  2. Develop each supporting paragraph and make sure to follow the correct paragraph format.
  3. Write clear and simple sentences to express your meaning.
  4. Focus on the main idea of your essay.
  5. Use a dictionary to help you find additional words to express your meaning.

• Editing Essay

  The editing stage is when you check your essay for mistakes and correct them.

  Editing Steps:

  Grammar and Spelling

  1. Check your spelling and grammar.
  2. Make sure each sentence has a subject and all the subjects agree with verbs.
  3. Check the verb tenses of each sentence.

  Style and Organization

  1. Make sure your essay has an introduction, supporting paragraphs, and a summary paragraph.
  2. Check that you have a thesis statement that identifies the main idea of the essay.
  3. Check that all your paragraphs follow the proper paragraph format.

  Important: Often, it is difficult to be objective about your own essay and it is worthwhile to get feedback or second opinion before you submit it. A good reviewer will help you to see your essay's strengths and weaknesses clearly.

  You can use the services of expert BrainMass OTAs (by going to the “Submit-An-Essay” section on our website) for this purpose. Please remember that our OTAs will not rewrite the essay for you but will instead guide you toward improving your own draft.

Source:
http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/essay/index.htm