Writing the Long Essays

Writing Essays for Length

 

It's Hard but not Impossible

 

If your grade on a paper also depends on the length, I can only hope you have a topic juicy enough to discuss for the required length. Trying to write a paper on a dry topic is painfully hard- finding sources with enough credible information isn't easy.

 

 

Aim for at least 2 quotes per paragraph- this will help when you've run out of things to say.  Ensure that you have cited the quote properly and you can breeze through this essay without any hair-tearing out or tears.

 

Props for anyone who does choose a hard topic, but don't complain about how hard the essay is when you've already hit on everything and it still falls short. If this does happen, go back to the paragraphs and elaborate them over again. Don't repeat yourself, just restate the facts in a different manner than you had done before.

Look for more sources if worse comes to worse. For any essay, you need lots of sources, and different types. Don't just have sources from the internet, or books. Have two websites, two or three books, maybe even a news article or review. This will add a variety to your paper that will help you sound more intelligent.

News Article Writing

News Article Writing

 

How to sound like a reporter

Have you ever written a news article? Do you know how to? Well if you have answered "No" to both of these, I am here to help.

 

1. Step one of writing a news report: Answer "who, what, when, where and why" in the first paragraph. News articles are like upside-down pyramids; all the basics facts are first and then you go into more detail as you progress.  
2. The 2nd paragraph needs to go into more detail about the event. Especially when answering the "Why." People want to know the backstory of events, so spare no details.
3. The last paragraph needs to be a "boiler plate." It details the people to contact for more information and the company they work for.

Be sure to only use facts. Do not speculate about anything- newscasters do this on TV all the time and all it does is create a panic or a pointed view on the event. 



Essays on Books

Essays about Books

Read them and weep

 

Writing an essay on a book you've read can be very easy, or the worst time of your school career and it all depends on whether you have actually THOROUGHLY read the book and if you liked it or not. I hate writing about a book that I disliked, it made the whole essay writing that much harder. But here are some tips to help you along your path to A+.

 

 

1. Step One: READ THE DANG BOOK!!!
1. Simple enough. Read it, actually pay attention to it. Take notes and sticky tabs to mark important passages along the way.
2. Step Two: Use the notes you should have been taking while reading the book and make a skeleton of an outline with them.
1. Your essay needs to flow with the plot of the story.
2. Don't hop around from passage to passage. Unless you are giving your opinion on the book and then by all means.
3. Step Three: Add quotes
1. Using you outline, find quotes for each paragraph you plan to write. Don't overfill the essay with quotes because the teacher will not like it.
2. Don't give a summary of the book- unless that's the assignment.
4. Step Four: Get it over with
1. Procrastination= a poor grade. DONT DO IT.
2. If you wait till the last minute to write the paper, I guarantee you it will not be as good as a paper done ahead of time.
5. Step five: Cheat a little bit
1. If you read an especially hard book, looking it up on Sparknotes is not a total crime, just do it only for clarification and do NOT use any of the information as a source. 
6. Step 6: If worse comes to worse, ask for help. 
1. Don't feel bad for asking the professor for help. In fact, they will be more than happy to. They don't want to see their students fail so they will help you as much as they can. But come prepared with actual questions to ask. It's rude to have them search for the errors on your paper, so come prepared.
7. Step 7: Relax. Breath. You can do this.
1. Writers block is the enemy, so don't let it stop you from powering through this assignment. You can do it! If you get stuck, see if your classmates can help you get some inspiration. Heck, even go to sparknotes for inspiration too, but don't quote them. Ever. :)

Opinion Essays

Opinion Essays:

How to give your view on a topic and sound good doing it

Whatever your topic is, an opinion essay needs to be done with some finesse. One does not want to sound too zealous- it kind of makes you sound blinded by your belief- or too passive- this IS your opinion, so make sure you give it.

One obvious thing you need for any paper is facts, lots of them and from reliable sources. Facts drawn from Wikipedia or any wiki site are not reliable, so don't use them. If your topic has something to do with Nature, go to the discovery channel website, sciencedaily.com, the National Geographic website and so on. Credible sites with credible information.

If you are adding quotes to your essay, ensure they are from people who share the same view on the topic at hand. Cutting a quote up to make it speak for you does not look good on your essay. Finding an organic quote is best. If you can't find a quote that backs up your point of view on your topic, than find a quote that's big enough that cutting out a few words here and there won't damage it. For especially large quotes- meaning longer than 3 lines- you need to indent it.

Whenever you have a controversial topic to discuss, for example abortion, it is a delicate matter on how passionate you write your opinion essay. Professionals who take sides on a controversial topic do not get so worked up that they lose their look of formality; this is what you need to do for your paper. Do NOT point fingers and say why the other side of the coin is wrong, that is just pathetic and makes you look childish.

Remember, keep to the facts, calmly but firmly give your opinion and be on your merry way to an A.

Editing

Proofreading an essay is harder than one thinks, especially if you are proofreading your own essay. You may overlook key mistakes because you wrote it yourself and may not see the errors. Getting someone else to read over your essay, whether it be a fellow classmate or another professor, will help you avoid turning in an essay riddled with tiny mistakes and errors. Here are some tips on how to properly edit an essay:

1.       Read the essay out loud

When we are in the “zone,” we can sometimes lose sight of the big picture. If you read your essay out loud, your ear will pick up on errors that your eyes may miss.

2.       Make sure all of your words and phrase are performing their job of making your argument

Are all the phrases you are using helping you? Are the words you are working into your essay actually assisting you with your paper? Ensure that you are using all the words and phrases you are using properly (it would be embarrassing if you, for example, used the word Irony to describe when a vegetarian activist sneaks off from a protest to eat a hamburger and fries. In that case, a vegetarian eating meat is not ironic, but a hypocrisy)

3.       Don’t be nice with the editing

                 If you overlook the minor errors on a paper because they are so tiny, you are not doing                 yourself any favors. Get mean with your editing, find the small stuff and point it out that it will be changed.


4. Ensure your paragraphs are LONG

A mistake I see a lot these days is not making paragraphs long enough. A paragraph that is 6 sentences long is a decent paragraph. College students should be able to write paragraphs that are least 10-12 sentences long. You can use a quote- two quotes if they are short and sweet- to add some length. But do not use more than one quote that is longer than 3 lines in an essay. Most of the essay should be you writing, not someone else.

Essay Answers

On an exam, writing an essay can be the hardest part. It means you must not only know the material, but be able to collaborate it into a cohesive statement under a time limit. The average student can write an exam essay in roughly 20-30 minutes. Here are some tips to help you write an exam essay:

 

1. Study. Don't be stupid and not look at the material before an upcoming exam.
2. Prepare outlines for possible exam essay questions- this is help organize your thoughts during the exam.
3. Breath. It's not the end of the world if you are not entirely prepared for an essay.
4. Use the test. The answers lie within the questions and combining that with the knowledge you already have on the subject, you will be able to write a decent essay.
5. If you are completely bewildered by the question, bullshit your answer. Not to say you make everything up, but go on what the exam has already asked and use that to create your essay.
6. Don't elaborate your answers too much. Padding your responses does not earn an A+.
7. Remember: You will be okay. :)

Similes:

Creative writing is all about describing things. Details make a good read, and the more creative you are with your words, the smarter you sound.

Now, similes are used to describe something by using either the word "like" or "as." Here are a few good examples of similes:

• Like twinkling stars burning millions of miles away, Jane's eyes bedewed her face with soft tears of joy at her boyfriend's proposal.
• Jumping around like a kangaroo on caffeine, Michael seemed too full of energy to be still enough for his shot.
• Running faster than she ever thought possible, Hannah slammed her body into the thief like a wrecking ball, knocking him out cold as his head ricocheted off the lid of the nearby dumpster.
• Yawning with exhaustion, Jack made his way to bed as slowly as a herd of turtles.

When you use similes, ensure they make sense, because here are a few examples of really bad similes:

• Her perfect butt backed up into him like the garbage truck passing their house.
• She was as tall as a 5'4ft tree.
• His cologne was a pungent and memorable as a skunk's scent.

Hilariously, these similes have all been used in essays, and these essays have all gotten very poor grades. Don't use similes unless you know what you want to do with them.

Thesis Statements:

Thesis statements are, by far, one of the hardest sentences to write for an essay. In one sentence, one has to encompass every subject that they will touch upon in their paper. It's hard, but not impossible.

The main points of a thesis statement can be summed up in two points:
1. The topic of your essay- what the essay is discussing.
2. What the main points of the essay are- what each paragraph will be talking about.

An example of this from a paper I wrote on "The Glass Menagerie" by Tennessee Williams:
    In the play "The Glass Menagerie," each character is slightly mad in their own individual way, and though some characters are able to work past their madness, some are not.

In this thesis, the subjects are the characters of "The Glass Menagerie" and the point of the essay is how each character is crazy and which characters are able to move past their insanity. Each character should have their own paragraph detailing how they are insane and then two paragraphs on which characters are and are not able to move one from their madness.

I got an "A" on this paper, and this was back in junior year of High School.

Ensuring that you are discussing that which is in your thesis statement, you are able to get a better grade.

Synonyms of Common Words:

In any good essay, using a variety of words give the paper a little spice. It makes it look and sound a bit more sophisticated, and professors can appreciate this.


Here is a list of 5 relatively common words and their more sophisticated counterparts:

1. Going: departing, taking flight, exiting, disappearing, leaving,
                  planning, scheming, plotting, operating, functioning.

2. Said: explained, yelled, cried, begged, murmured, whispered, suggested, moaned, growled, screamed, snapped, declared, denounced, shouted, giggled, barked, whined, complained, etc.

3.Only: merely, simply, just, barely,
            solitary, lone, single.

4. Get: obtain, acquire, steal, find, secure, gain, borrow,
            understand, grasp, comprehend, follow, perceive, learn,
           cause, initiate, begin/began, induce, urge, persuade.

5. Close: end, silence, final, complete
               nearby, local, adjacent, neighboring,
               intimate, familiar, attached, devoted, dear, loving, friendly
               similar, alike, comparable.

Allowing yourself to use different synonyms for common words increases the intelligence of your paper. Take note of the words you use, and change the ones you use the most.

Common writing mistakes and how to avoid them

Hello fellow essay-writers, my name is Maddie and I am writing to you today about common English mistakes that people make and how to stop yourself from looking foolish.

So far, I have seen this particular mistake so many times, it's like listening to nails on a chalkboard whenever I see it. The problem is that people who are in college still confuse THERE, THEIR, AND THEY'RE! This isn't third grade people!
There is a distinct difference between these three words:

"There" is used  to describe something that is in, at, or to a place or position (this is the "Where?" there). Example: "Peter the rabbit put his bag of carrots somewhere over there." or "There is no sign of Ginny's homework.

"Their" is describing ownership over something by more than one person. An example of this is "The Johnsons just moved into their new house down the street" or "Their new dog is so cute; it's a miniature poodle!"

Another, rather hilarious in an irritating kind of way, is when people confuse "irony" and "hypocrisy." Hypocrisy is the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. An example of hypocrisy is when a person at an activist at a hunger strike sneaks off and eats a cheeseburger (this activist spouted off on staying strong and resisting the temptation to eat until the protest is successful and then running off to gorge themselves). Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite. An example of irony is "I posted a video on Youtube talking about how useless and boring Youtube is."

Lastly, "they're" is actually two words in one, "they" and "are," so hopefully you can figure out how to use this one on your own. However, if not, here is an example- "The Johnsons are such lovely neighbors; they're having us over for a barbeque next week."


You can't start a paragraph with quotes OR end with them. You also can't just insert a quote without explaining it. An example of how to properly insert a quote is as follows:
     “The poor are not responsible for their poverty and misery. Most of them struggle in conditions that are subhuman, dangerous, full of disease, hunger and despair” said Ferrari. If substantial donations are made, the Heifer project will be able to further assist those people out of their poverty.
(This is not a real quote from the Heifer International Foundation)

I am sure there are plenty of other mistakes out there and if you can find any that I make on this blog, give me a heads up. :) If you want any topics about writing papers  talked about specifically, leave me a comment. Thanks!