English Essay Writing Tips for College Freshmen

English Essay Writing Tips for College Freshmen
6 min read
06 February

College students are expected to write different types of assignments, all varying in terms of complexity and requirements. Some English projects are lengthy, demanding extensive analysis and drafting. Others, like essays, are relatively short, demanding brevity and requiring students to be economical in their word choice. That said, all English essays are important and account for a considerable portion of your overall grade. Here are a few tips to ensure you always ace your assignments.

  • Read and Reread the Requirements

Each essay you are asked to write will come with strict requirements to which you are expected to adhere. The instructor uses a prompt to guide your writing and ensure you respond to specific questions. You cannot ace any English project if you do not fully comprehend what is expected of you.

So, before you start working on any task, spend some time reviewing the instructions and taking note of the most important guidelines. How many sources should you use? What is the essay length? What formatting style is expected? Review the instructions multiple times and highlight the keywords. If you don’t understand the instructions, you can ask a custom UK essay writer to help with your assignment.

  • Choose a Good Topic

Your choice of topic will influence your degree of success when writing an academic essay. Sometimes, professors assign topics for students to work on, which simplifies things and makes it easy to get started. When this is the case, make sure to tailor your research and analysis to respond to the specific topic or question assignment. Other times, students are given room to develop their own topics within specific guidelines.

The best topics for college writing are relevant in line with the assignment question and narrow enough to be completed within the scope of the work. You have guidelines in terms of word count and assignment questions. These should guide you as you set on your journey to create a comprehensive topic. Review multiple options and conduct preliminary research to see whether there will be enough sources to support the key issues covered in the topic.

  • Brainstorm for Ideas

Most students find themselves stuck and unable to generate ideas for their essays. Brainstorming allows you to think critically about the topic and develop key issues to research and discuss. It entails thinking about the subject and writing down anything that comes to mind relating to the discussion. Brainstorming allows you to generate points, which you can explore further through research to form the main points in your essay. At this stage, don’t dismiss any idea until you have explored it through research. The ideas you come up with during brainstorming will form the foundation of your outline.

  • Create a Thesis Statement

The thesis statement may be one of the most important parts of an academic essay. It is one sentence or two at the end of the introduction where you present your main argument and prepare readers for what you will write in the rest of the paper.

Understand that the thesis you create at this stage will be your working thesis, and can change as you find more evidence and examples on the topic. You will continue developing your thesis as you continue. However, you should remember that the main statement is where your entire essay will be anchored.

  • Create an Outline

Many students ignore outlining as they try to create essays, often with negative implications. Outlining saves you time, making sure you tackle every angle of the essay prompt without digressing. Creating an outline also allows you to understand how you will connect all the information you gather to support your thesis statement.

The outline also offers you a platform where you can manipulate your ideas without having to create complete paragraphs. By indicating the points that will mark your main ideas and supporting areas, you structure your paper and enhance comprehension. In other words, an outline is a clear and direct map of your essay and shows what each of your paragraphs will contain.

To create an outline, start by generating a working thesis statement. After this, you will need to generate ideas for your body paragraphs, and then organize them logically. You will need to do some preliminary research to find more material for the supporting sections in your outline.

  • Research and Organize Findings

English Essay Writing Tips for College Freshmen

The best essays contain original arguments supported using credible evidence and actual examples. To find the most useful information and evidence, you will need to research widely, take notes, and record bibliographic information. After all, you will need to cite all the sources you engage in constructing your essay. We recommend that you combine data from primary sources with evidence from secondary sources. Make sure to verify the reliability of the sources before incorporating the information in your writing. You can ask for do my assignment assistance online if you cannot find enough resources for your paper.

  • Create Your Initial Draft

When it comes to writing academic papers, the first draft you create can never be your last. The initial attempt is focused on getting your points across and providing evidence for your arguments. It will likely contain mistakes and typos. Don’t spend too much time worrying about your spelling and typological consistency at this stage. There will be time for editing the draft later. At this stage, build your arguments using the ideas in your outline and the points from your research. You will need to cite your sources as you write. Follow the right essay structure, starting with the introduction before proceeding to the body paragraphs and a concise conclusion. While the introduction comes first, it is always a good idea to write it last.

This article summarizes a few insights on how to create the best English essays. Students are assignment different projects during their time in college, but the insights here cut across all departments. Make sure to spend time editing and proofreading your work before presenting it for evaluation.

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Alex 9.8K
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