Essay Writing Tips For College Students

Thesis - Summary of the subject/topic of your essay.
Subject/Topic - Main idea of your essay.

You'e got to love college in the way it lays its massive slab of disillusionment on your academic experience. I always believed that junior and senior high school were designed to prepare us for post-secondary. It turns out, most of the writing methods and learning strategies we learn in grade school are actually frowned upon.

Today's English lecture was another one focusing on dismissing cookie-cutter essay formulas taught to us in high school. You know what I'm talking about - Generalized and unoriginal opening sentence, "thesis statement" (if, then, which) at the end of the first paragraph, 3 main body paragraphs, limited number of quotations, concluding paragraph at the end, and finish off with a generalized and unoriginal concluding sentence.

Yet he knows that probably the majority of his students are unable to quit this method cold-turkey - they are dependent on it, and simply do not have the time or patience to learn a whole new mindset on writing - they do have 4 other courses to worry about, after all. So RD gave us a modified version of the cookie-cutter essay formula:

1. Introduction
* Establish subject / content.
"In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the characters resemble zombies through their physical appearance and single-mindedness of purpose."
* Research essay.
What is Pizzino's argument? How does he read the novel? Where do you agree/disagree?
*Thesis.
What is your argument? How do you read the novel and criticism/research?

2. Body Paragraphs
Don't limit yourself to the conventional 3 body paragraphs.
Content should dictate form, not the other way around.
Details, details, details.
Worry about content first, spelling/grammar later.

3. Conclusion
In your conclusion, do not repeat your introduction verbatim.
State the larger context.
What is next on your to-do list [in relation to the novel]?

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Side notes:

• Avoid clichés and colloquialisms.
• Avoid irrelevant quotes or quotations.
• Pick good verbs:  instead of says, states, notes, use suggests, concludes, responds, insists, theorizes, insinuates, elaborates, assumes.
• It is not recommended that you leave it until the last day. If you work on the paper over multiple days, you can keep coming back to your paper with "a new set of eyes," and possibly find and improve on things you missed before.

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Here are some tips for teaching essay writing to future students:

• Have them make a lot of drafts and continually improve on them during class time if possible.
• Don't try to rewrite your peers' and students' papers.
• Make yourself available for help outside of class.