All college students must take a required component of English course work, no matter what their major field of study is. In all other course work, there will be essay assignments and students are expected to have the skills to produce an essay or a research paper that is worthy of university-level expectations.
Good writing begins in English class. Students are prepared for writing essays and research papers in high school. Unfortunately, many students are not prepared for the English essay assignments they face at the university level and struggle with writing that impacts their entire college careers.
In an effort to assist students, we are providing some basic tip for the type of English essay writing students may expect to encounter. Those who are unsure on how to write an English essay of any type may gain some valuable information. Once the basics of each type of English essay are mastered, students will find that they are able to tackle essay and research paper assignments in other content areas.
The Basic English Essay
Essays are still the most common assignments in a freshman English course and students are expected to produce explanatory, descriptive, narrative, comparison/contrast, persuasive, analytical, and responsive/reflective essays. More often, English essay writing of each type is tied to reading assignments, both fiction and non-fiction. At other times, students may be given a specific topic or a general content area within which they may select a more specific topic. Whatever the case is, there are methods which help students to organize their thoughts which is an important step in order to come up with sequential and coherent final products
Explanatory and Descriptive Essays are best organized with an outline, dividing the topic into logical body paragraphs. With a well-organized outline, each body paragraph can be developed well and there will be no problematic issue such as veering from the topic at hand.
Narrative essays tell a story. Using a graphic organizer of boxes, putting one event in each box in chronological order allows the writer to focus on the important points to be made.
Comparison/contrast essays are best organized by a Venn diagram which clearly delineates the similarities and differences between two objects, ideas, concepts, or positions. The diagram allows the writer to remain on track and address only those items that relate to the assignment.
Persuasive essays require the student to take a stand on controversial issue and to promote that opinion with factual information that both support his/her opinion and reject the opposing viewpoint. A column-type organizer allows the writer to list the pros and cons on each sub-topic of the issue and to then produce sub-topic body paragraphs that are coherent.
Analysis essays require the writer to take a particular part in an organized manner and reconstruct the whole subject, ending with concluding comment or opinion. If, for example, the thesis of an essay or paper states that a specific piece of art is reflective of impressionism, the writer must take each characteristic of the piece and determine if it meets the impressionistic model. A basic list provides the appropriate graphic organizer for an analysis piece.
The responsive or reflective essay asks the writer to form personal opinions on something read, heard, or seen for there is so much leeway given to the writer which is often a difficult piece to organize. The best approach for this type of English essay writing is to prioritize one’s thoughts from most important to least and to organize the body paragraphs in that sequence.
While organizing is one part of English essay writing, it does not guarantee a good grade. Fluency, transitions between paragraphs, grammar and language usage, and solid and compelling introductions and conclusions will all factor into a final grade. It helps to have an English essay example often to use as a model as one writes a similar type of essay, and BestEssayWriting.org can provide an exceptional example of any type and on any topic.
Even with an English essay example, a student is still not confident about how to write an English essay. Our professional English writers will produce original works for students with guaranteed confidentiality. Students may contact BestEssayWriting.org today with any essay need they have.
