Writing an effective essay paper can be difficult because you’re required to do 100 percent original research. Besides, your ideas must be original, implying that there should be no instances of plagiarism even though you will need to continually refer to sources with similar ideas. The ideas from every helpful source you may want to use must also be accurate.
You may also find writing an effective essay paper a challenge because of choosing a challenging topic. Still, you will need to structure your work well to ensure that it looks academically correct.
Now, writing an influential essay paper shouldn’t be a significant challenge, really. Having a good mastery of the five easy steps of an essay writer should make the whole process seamless.
How do you write an Effective Essay in 5 Simple Steps?
Before beginning your essay, you should know that an effective essay paper consists of five parts: The purpose and thesis, title, introduction, body, and conclusion. This guide breaks down these essential five steps to make mastering them easier.
Purpose and Thesis
The purpose is the main idea your essay will be evolving around. If you were assigned an essay without a topic, you must come up with an idea to write about.
Ideally, it should be easy picking an idea if you were not assigned one. If you’re choosing a topic on your own, be keen not to choose an overly complex topic or one which has been overly explored.
If you pick an overly complex topic, approaching and backing it up will not be easy. Besides, you may struggle to find relevant information and facts to discuss in your essay.
On the other hand, if you choose an overly explored topic, chances are high you may be barraged with loads of conflicting information. This implies that putting your points together may be a challenge.
It would also be best if you avoid a very controversial topic. It may also be challenging to approach, back up, and have minimal data sources to refer to.
Therefore, when picking a topic for your essay, you should basically pick topics about things you’re most passionate about. It would also be better if the topic is one you argue for instead of against. After choosing an idea, put it into one sentence. This will be the thesis; your primary idea.
The Title
Do note that a boring title will hardly catch anyone’s attention. Therefore, the perfect title for your essay paper should engage and incentivize your target audience to read your paper to the end.
After reading your title, the reader should have a basic understanding of what your paper talks about. Now, there are two primary arguments about choosing a perfect title for your essay.
Some people argue that you should choose an essay title before beginning your essay. Others are for the idea of writing the essay first and then coming up with the idea later.
The main argument, in this case, is that, for some people, having the title before beginning the essay ensures that you stay focused when writing. For some, picking the title after essay ensures that it’s effective and aligns with the ideas you’ve expounded on in your paper.
You can always choose to review the title when you’re done writing your paper. When choosing a title for your essay, ensure that it fully expresses your main idea.
It should also typically summarize your essay. Here are a few pointers that should guide your title selection:
Short: Long essay headlines may be confusing for some readers. Therefore, keep your short.
Simple: Most people prefer to stay away from titles that are difficult to understand. Importantly, even your professor is more likely to be unimpressed. Therefore, you should stick to a simple title and avoid jargon and complicated structures and phrases.
Accuracy: Your title should be accurate and believable.
Active Voice: If you have verbs in your essay title, they should be in the active voice instead of passive voice. You should also capitalize all words in your title except conjunctions, pronouns, prepositions, and articles. The bottom line is that your title should be catchy, attention-grabbing, but simple.
The Introduction
Just as it sounds, the ‘introduction’ introduces your target audience to the topic. It is the first paragraph in your paper. You can make it two sentences or just a single one stating your thesis.
The focus in your introduction is to hook the reader and make them ‘attached’ to the essay, wanting to read it to the end. It hints to your reader what they can expect from the essay.
Now, there isn’t a specific formula for writing the best essay introduction. However, there are a few basics that should guide your writing. As a basic rule of thumb, your essay introduction should;
Capture your Target Reader’s Attention: Use a hook that grabs the reader’s attention while also introducing them to the general topic. For example, you can state statistics or facts about that topic or ask a rhetoric question about the topic.
State Topic of Focus: After the hook, write a short sentence or two sentences about your paper’s primary topic. Explain why the topic is important. To establish the context, you may also add background information about the topic.
State the Thesis: Include the thesis statement in your introduction. The thesis statement should include the primary point about your topic, the specific topic, and other topics of discussion you’ve included in the paper.
The Body
It is in the body of the essay that you will use to build your story or argument. Each body paragraph should explain the primary topic of your essay.
After doing your research, highlight the main points, and create notes for reference purposes. If you have, for example, three primary ideas, write each of them at the top of single clean pages.
Go through the highlighted points and pick supporting ideas for every point. Create a paragraph for each of your key points using information from the notes you created when highlighting the main points.
Each of your body paragraphs should have a similar basic structure. Importantly, each paragraph should expound on a single reason, an example, or idea supporting your thesis. Be sure to avoid any instance of plagiarism, both intentional and unintentional, as they greatly lower your paper’s quality.
Conclusion
The conclusion is the last section you will write in the essay. It can be short, but it must link to the introduction.
Note that the conclusion shouldn’t include any new pieces of information or points. It typically has three parts that you will need to address.
In the first part, repeat your thesis statement. In repeating the thesis statement, be sure only to repeat the point but not the exact words used in your introduction.
In the second part, you will write the general conclusion and accompany it with brief explanations on why it’s essential. In closing, draw together your question, evidence covered in your essay body, and your conclusion.
This will help you convince the reader that you understood the topic question, and most importantly, answered it appropriately. Your conclusion, too, shouldn’t be complex and wordy.
It should also not be made up of phrases that are difficult to understand or jargons that your reader may struggle to comprehend. Make it short and clear.
Final Word
Writing your academic essay shouldn’t be troublesome. If you find it stressful, you may need to consider essay writing help for guidance in writing an effective essay.
Abstract
Essays are part of the school curriculum, but most learners find writing effective essays a challenge in most cases. This guide explores the five important parts that an effective essay should have.
