Essay writing is not an easy task, which is why there are no shortcuts in doing it. An essay has to be planned carefully in order for the student to achieve the highest possibility of success, which in essay writing translates to high marks.
Writing essays involves several steps. First, the student decides on which topic to write on, if the topic has not been pre-assigned by the professor. It is important for the student to determine exactly what the marker expects him or her to do in the essay. The student may be asked to compile the facts regarding the topic, build an argument for or against it, give instructions on how to achieve a certain goal, or simply provide his or her thoughts on an issue. The next step involves researching for relevant materials which will support one’s discussion on the topic. These references should be up-to-date, revealing the latest knowledge on a field of study. The student should ensure that these books, journals, research papers and official papers are all properly credited in the references or bibliography section of the essay. The next step is to create a working outline wherein the ideas on how to address the topic are placed. In the next step which is the actual writing process, these ideas are then developed into arguments, instructions, analyses and observations. It does not end there as the essay still needs to be proofread and edited after in order to ensure that there are no mistakes that were not left behind. These include spelling and typographical errors, as well as unintentional grammatical errors. Proofreading is also the last step to ensure that all the ideas that were originally intended to be included in the essay have actually made it to the final drafted paper. A good trick to ensure a comprehensive proofread is to read the essay out loud, as there may be some mistakes not seen by looking at the text, but which can be captured when the passage is read out loud.
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