How to Write a Good Essay

Writing a good essay is daunting, but not impossible. However, in order to write a good essay, there are some things you must consider and do beforehand.

A Full Guide to 5 Tips for Writing a Good Essay

1) Title: A good title is short and accurate. It says what the entire paper does and can grab attention. For example, “Recycle or Die” would grab more attention than “Save the planet.”

However: A good essay should be summed up in one sentence without saying anything too specific, so it doesn’t limit your writing before you begin. For example, if the article’s opening statement said something like “Don’t recycle or die if they don’t want to,” it limits how much information this article can provide and makes it less interesting.

2) Introductions: The introduction of an essay can make or break its quality. A good essay should be interesting enough to keep the reader reading and provide a proper background for what is going on and how it will affect them without getting too specific. Introduce yourself, introduce your argument (the “what” and the “Why”), present your thesis (the “So what”), ask a question that adds intrigue before you end the introduction. If you say anything too specific in this section, then there really isn’t much more room to grow for the reader.

For example: if I said in my introduction, “While most people believe recycling is generally beneficial, there are some possible dangers that come with it. So, what are these dangers? Why do they exist? I’ll tell you so stick around!”

It’s too specific about the topic of this essay, which can’t really expand beyond that one sentence. Then it asks a question, but the only person who wants to know the answer is someone who hadn’t read any further into this article. It also doesn’t go anywhere because there was nothing mentioned about how these dangers could be resolved or if it’s even safe to recycle at all.

A better introduction would be, “When people think of recycling, most believe that it saves our planet and is overall beneficial to society as well as individuals; however, there are some possible dangers involved with recycling which many aren’t familiar with. So, what exactly are these dangers? Why do they exist? I’ll tell you all about it in this article”

3) Body: It’s important to touch on each part of your argument throughout the body of an essay, but it isn’t necessary to go into extreme detail since that is what the conclusion section is for. However, going into enough detail about a particular point shows evidence and makes it easier for the reader to understand. A good essay doesn’t want too much information because then there’s no room to grow, but nowhere near as much as not saying anything at all.

For example: If I wanted to compare recycling and reusing plastic bags from the grocery store, a wrong way to write this would be, “It’s better to reuse plastic bags because it saves more oil than recycling does; and you can use them again anyways.”

This way of explaining makes it harder for the reader to understand. For example, it doesn’t explain how much oil is saved through reusing, why it matters that you can use them again, or any other arguments presented by both sides (this one included). A good essay would go into detail about all parts of the argument and not limit itself.

If I wanted to compare recycling and reusing plastic bags from the grocery store: “To start off with there are some key differences between reusing and recycling these bags. First, reusable bags require more energy and natural resources than recycling plastic because recycling doesn’t require any sort of reprocessing. Second, the production of recycled materials produces less greenhouse gasses than that of reusables. Finally, reusable bags have a smaller ecological footprint per use when compared to the constant fabrication and shipping of new reusable bags.”

This way of explaining each part makes it easier for the reader to understand why both sides exist. In addition, it gives a background on how they came about and shows evidence in favor of both sides, so it isn’t biased towards either argument.

4) Conclusion: In this section, you want to summarize what you’ve been writing about in your body paragraph sections as well as add an entirely new perspective to entice the reader into wanting to read more. It doesn’t have to be about how you can fix the problem, but it should hint at the best solution.

For example: “I believe that reusing plastic bags from the grocery store is more beneficial than recycling them because it uses less resources as well as creates less greenhouse gas emissions and has a smaller ecological footprint per use. However, if we had more places to recycle these bags then I would say that recycling would be better.”

This conclusion doesn’t summarize anything and isn’t an entirely new perspective because it’s too obvious which side of this argument they choose (recycling). A better conclusion would be something like: “After looking at all of the facts on both sides of this issue, I’m left wondering who can win in the end. While reusing plastic bags may seem like the better choice because it uses fewer resources, recycling has a lower ecological footprint. I believe that neither is more beneficial than the other; instead, we should focus on both of them equally to make sure no harm comes to either side.”

The conclusion doesn’t give information away about what you’re going to write about next – if you mention something like “in my next article,” then that’s exactly what some readers will click on and be disappointed when they see that there isn’t another article coming up soon. So instead, end with an introduction for your next topic (the same way it would start off in an introduction). For example: “In my next article, I’ll be discussing how recycling has a greater impact on the economy as well as our surroundings.”

5) Watch your tone throughout the entire essay. For example, you don’t want to start off with “In this article, I’m going to show that…” because it doesn’t give any reason for them to read your essay and could make them think you’re trying to force your opinion onto them. Still, at the same time, you don’t want to end an argumentative essay with “this is why we should do what I say” because you haven’t shown either side of the issue and may have only done so subtly towards the beginning.

What types of Essays are Written in Colleges and Universities?

In college and universities, students will be asked to display their knowledge on a specific topic in many different forms. Writing a five-paragraph essay is probably the most common way of illustrating their knowledge. However, in order to write a good essay, you must first understand the various types of essays written in colleges and universities. Below are ten types of essays commonly written in colleges and universities:

Essay 1: The Narrative Essay

One of the easiest types of essays to write is a narrative/storytelling-style paper. This type of paper tells a story about something that happened in your life or someone else’s life. A good place to start with this type of writing assignment is usually with an outline. An outline helps you ferment your thoughts into a logical sequence from beginning to end. Start by thinking about what you want to tell the reader and make it as concise as possible. Next, you should determine what kind of details will make the story more interesting to your reader. Finally, from the brainstormed outline, put together a rough draft of the narrative that includes everything you want to say.

Essay 2: The Compare and Contrast Essay

This type of essay is used to discuss the similarities and/or differences between two things or ideas. For a student to write a successful compare and contrast paper, they must first identify each item being discussed before moving on to how they are similar or different from one another. For this type of assignment to be effective, it’s important that students stay focused on only two items throughout their writing.

Essay 3: The Analytical Essay

This type of writing assignment requires students to break down a topic into parts before making inferences or judgments about it based on facts from their research. Therefore, before you get started with this type of task, some important components must be included in order to succeed:

You should make sure that you clearly define all the specific terms related to the topic at hand. This will ensure that your reader is on the same page as you are before any judgments are made.
You should list some reasons why your inferences are valid.
Use an appropriate tone throughout your paper so that your ideas come across as unbiased.

Essay 4: The Expository Essay

This type of writing assignment requires students to explain new information given by someone else or something new they have learned about a particular topic. A good way to start this type of task is through creating an outline for what you plan on saying before getting started with writing it out in full detail. Students need to remember that this type of writing requires them to be objective and informative with any expository assignment.

Essay 5: The Argumentative Essay

This type of writing task requires students to take a position on a topic and defend it with facts. Before getting started with an argumentative paper, one should spend some time brainstorming the points they want to make and why they are valid. To better convey your opinion in an argumentative essay, it’s important that you use specific details from your research combined with logical reasoning to support your ideas. It is also very helpful if you can include some real-life examples when forming an argumentative paper so that readers have something relatable to what you are saying.

Essay 6: The Reflective/ Personal Essay

This type of writing assignment is usually used to prompt students to write about important events that have taken place in their lives or things they are thinking about. A good starting point for this type of task is usually with an outline. This will help you break down how you want your paper to flow to make it easy for the reader to understand. Once you’ve outlined your paper, try to think of some key points that can be added to each section so that they follow a logical sequence throughout your essay

Essay 7: The Informative/Explanatory Essay

For this type of writing assignment, students must explain a process or topic clearly to their audience. To write this type of paper well, it’s important that you spend some time planning out what you want to say before actually putting words on a page. When brainstorming what kinds of information would be needed for your reader to understand the topic at hand, try listing out some facts and details from your research and any additional helpful information you think they might need. Then, once everything is on paper, try organizing the material in a logical sequence so that it makes sense for anyone reading your paper.

Essay 8: The Literary Analysis Essay

For a student to write a great literary analysis piece, it is important they select a novel or short story from their reading material to focus on for this assignment. Before getting started with writing an analysis piece, there are two main components that students must include in order to complete the task successfully. First, they should briefly summarize what they read and then focus on specific passages from the writing that relates to your chosen topic. Once you’ve identified these passages, it will be easier for you to explain how it relates to your topic and why it is important to understand the novel as a whole.

Essay 9: The Visual Analysis Essay

A visual analysis assignment requires students to either create or interpret someone else’s work of art. For students to complete this type of paper successfully, it is necessary for them to spend some time formulating an outline before actually beginning the task of writing and creating their new piece. An outline can help you plan out what points you want to make during your essay and then how best to convey them using both words and visuals that will keep readers engaged in your essay throughout.

Essay 10: The Process Analysis Essay

This type of assignment requires students to describe the specific steps involved in completing a task. For example, they might write about how to make a smoothie or what steps are involved when buying groceries at the supermarket. Some students may think that this is an easy assignment, but it can actually be very challenging for some if they’ve never thought about what key steps would need to be broken down for readers. A good strategy is to use an outline to help you figure out all the details that would need to be included in your paper so that it’s not overwhelming when trying to complete this type of project.