Writing a successful university essay is easier if you follow these essay writing steps. Build your essay writing confidence by working through the steps to complete a sample essay. (Note: this is not the only way to write an essay. You may encounter other approaches that can work well).
You may have to choose an essay topic from a list of alternatives. If you do, here are three questions to ask yourself.
Identify the key instructions in your topic to help you focus your answer.
Write the question so it makes sense to you and becomes easier to answer.
Turn to your readings to gather relevant ideas and to eliminate the irrelevant.
List all the relevant ideas you find, then sort and organize them. The emerging patterns can provide a shape for your argument.
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Develop a thesis
What’s your answer? And can you tell me in one sentence?
Your thesis needs an argument and evidence to support it. Here’s an example.
Find relationships between ideas and evidence to help build your argument. This sample mind map needs your help to complete it.
Put the ideas, argument and evidence together to plan your essay.
A draft introduction acts like a mini essay answer. It helps you establish control over your work. Here is an interactive sample.
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Write a first draft of the essay.
Now you are ready for a full first draft. It’s good you have all the pieces ready to put into place.
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Read the essay through carefully checking for problems
No essay is perfect on a first draft. This sample is full of mistakes to help you identify things to check.
Now the sample is nearly finished. This version shows you the key features of a completed essay.
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Proofread what you have written
This is a final check, for all those fussy details.