What is an Essay?
An essay is a piece of writing that takes an idea, opinion, or debate and develops into a cohesive structure using details, evidence, facts, and analysis. Some essays are designed to inform readers on a topic, and others are designed to persuade readers to do or believe something.
Essays can be short or long depending on the situation, but they all follow a similar formula, so answering the question “how to write a great essay?” is not too difficult.
How to Set Up an Essay
It is vital to gain some insight before setting up an essay. The table below gives some setup steps and tips for ensuring everything is ready before the actual writing process begins.
| Tip | Description | Things to Note |
|---|---|---|
| Make sure the essay’s goal is clear. | Before a good essay can be created, the writer needs to know why the essay is important. Is it to persuade or inform? | If the essay is on a standardized test or an exam, be aware that it might add a challenge to the writing process. |
| Pick the right topic | The chosen topic should have some familiarity or passion from the writer. It is tough to write about something that is not interesting or needs extensive research. | Again, this step is difficult for essays where the topic is not known until it is time to write. |
| Research, research, and more research | Doing the proper research prevents the essay from suffering from false information. | Just like with the previous steps, a topic cannot be researched while sitting in a testing room. |
| Create the thesis statement | The thesis statement is either the main argument for the essay or the central theme. Once the thesis is known, the rest of the essay should connect back to it. | This is a step that can be done with any essay topic, whether preassigned or on a standardized test. |
| Outline the essay | Making a rough outline of how the essay will be set up gives a blueprint for filling in the rest of the parts. Think of the outline like a skeleton; it is easier to know where the muscles, organs, and skin go if the skeleton is provided. | The amount of time spent on an outline will depend significantly on time allotted to complete the essay. |
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How to Write an Essay Fast
If the essay in question is on a test or needs to be done in a short period, many writers find themselves struggling to organize their thoughts, outline the essay and get everything required down before the buzzer sounds.
The following sections will provide tips for writing an essay quickly and effectively, which is very important for essay prompts on standardized tests and school exams.
Understanding the Essay Prompt
Most essays found on tests and exams are generally prompted. The prompt is an essay topic assigned to the writer. It is essential to understand exactly what the prompt wants the writer to do when this happens. The following tips can help with quickly understanding an essay prompt:
- Re-read the prompt several times to make sure the outcome and intent of the prompt are clear.
- Does the prompt want a presentation of information or an argument? If the writer argues when they needed to present, the essay is in jeopardy.
- Does the prompt require the writer to argue a specific side? Writers should pick the side that feels most comfortable to argue.
- If the prompt is narrative and the writer has no experience; for example, explaining what the writer did on a snow day when the writer has not ever seen snow, they should do their best to write convincing fiction.
Writing Thesis Statement
If the structure of the essay is the skeleton, the thesis is the beating heart of an essay. A thesis is the central argument or central point of information of the essay. This step is vital and can often be misunderstood and done incorrectly.
The thesis statement is not always the same as the prompt. It is easy to assume that the essay prompt is the thesis statement but rarely is that the case. The prompt is generally broader and requires the writer to develop a more pinpointed thesis. The following two examples show essay prompts and their appropriate thesis statements:
| Prompt | Thesis |
|---|---|
| During the 2020 pandemic, many businesses refused to allow customers in their door who were not wearing masks even though there was no law requiring masks. Were these businesses in the right for doing what they did, or did they violate customer rights? | Privately owned businesses have the right to serve or not serve any customer. Therefore, businesses had the right to ask customers to leave for not wearing a mask. |
| Technology is replacing tasks and jobs that were once done solely by human beings. As technology improves, more jobs will be lost to artificial intelligence (AI). What job industry will be the most affected in the next five years due to technological automation? | Technology will soon have the most significant impact on the retail industry as people will lose jobs to automation. |
Outline Major Points
Outlining the significant points builds the skeleton of the essay and gives the writer a structure to work with and boundaries to stay within. The body of the essay is the part that benefits the most from an outline. The best practice for writing an essay quickly is to leave the introduction and concluding paragraphs for last since they introduce and wrap up the body.
How to outline the body of an essay:
- Start with the thesis statement at the top
- Make three to five numerals for each paragraph that is needed
- Next to each paragraph numeral, write the topic sentence for the paragraph. Each paragraph is a major detail of the thesis
- Under each topic sentence, write between three and six bullet points
- Each bullet point will be a detail of the paragraph’s topic
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Writing the Introduction and Conclusion
A tip on how to write a great essay is to keep the conclusion paragraph and the introduction paragraph until the end. Once the essay’s main body is written, the introduction and conclusion paragraphs are just summaries of the body, restated in different ways.
Writing the introduction for a short essay can be as simple as restating the topic sentences from each of the main body paragraphs and using transition words to connect them.
The conclusion paragraph summarizes the main points in a single sentence, followed by a restating of the thesis statement. The final sentence of the essay should be a sentence that leaves a lasting impression on the reader. A few examples include:
| Impression | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Call to Action | Tell the readers what to do with the information provided. | It is important to act before it is too late. The best way to fix the problem is through legislation, so call the state congressmen and demand they support the bill. |
| Change of Mind | Persuade the reader to change their position on the topic potentially. | It may seem too daunting to handle. However, human beings are dramatically changing the planet’s climate, and there is no longer an excuse to ignore the data. |
| Shock and Awe | End with an extraordinary fact or prediction that will leave a lasting impression. | Some technology experts predict that over 80% of all semi-trucks hauling cargo will be fully automatic by 2035. |
How to Finish an Essay: Editing Tips
So the essay is finished, and it is almost time to close the test booklet or press submit; however, finishing an essay is almost as important as writing it.
If the essay is fantastic but riddled with grammatical errors, it will severely diminish its impact and score, which is why time management is essential. The essay may suffer if the buzzer sounds as the writer dots the last ‘i’ in the final sentence. Be sure to leave time to proofread the essay before submitting it. Here are some tips:
- Read the essay slowly, word-by-word, to look for spelling and grammar errors.
- Ask questions like: Does this make sense? Do these details connect? Does it support the thesis?
- If the essay is handwritten, make sure all the words are legible and easy to read.
Lesson Summary
Writing an essay on the fly can be overwhelming and daunting. An essay is writing that expands on a topic using details and evidence to support a thesis statement. A thesis is the central argument or central point of information of the essay. This step is vital and can often be misunderstood and done incorrectly.
When an essay is given on a test and time is of the essence, there are essential tips to remember when setting up for the essay. Make sure the essay’s goal is understood and develop a thesis statement based on the prompt given. Build a basic outline using the thesis statement and major points that will be included in the essay. The major points need to support the thesis.
How to outline the body of an essay:
- Start with the thesis statement at the top
- Make three to five numerals for each paragraph that is needed
- Next to each paragraph numeral, write the topic sentence for the paragraph. Each paragraph is a major detail of the thesis
- Under each topic sentence, write between three and six bullet points
- Each bullet point will be a detail of the paragraph’s topic
Once the essay is ready to be written, write detailed sentences that support each paragraph’s central point or topic sentence. The final sentence in the paragraph shows how the paragraph relates to the thesis. When the body is complete, the introduction and conclusion should be written using the body as a guide. When the essay is complete, it is essential to proof the piece for spelling, grammar, and continuity issues.