Essay Tips You Didn’t Know You Needed

By Darian MacDonald, Contributor 

I remember getting my very first essay assignment in my first year of university and feeling incredibly underprepared. The kind of essay my professor was asking for was nothing like what I wrote in high school. What was APA? What was a peer reviewed article? I remember, after finishing the essay, writing an email to my high school English teacher asking if she could proof it because I was so unsure of what I was about to hand in. I’ll complain to anyone who will listen about how frustrating our school system is, that we learn to write essays in high school but not in a way that is applicable to university. For example, I don’t think I’m alone in saying that in high school, I didn’t learn to cite my sources, nor did I learn how to research – two necessary skills for writing most essays in university. Eventually, over the next four years or so, these things would come naturally to me, but at the beginning it was very discouraging to feel like I knew nothing about something seemingly so simple. So whether you’re a first year student about to write your first university essay, or a seasoned student looking for some new strategies, here’s my advice to make essays a little more manageable.

Write around quotes

I put this one at the top because it’s one of the strategies I learned the latest, but find the most helpful. Based on how most essay assignments are worded and some previous experience from high school, you probably are expecting to write your essay, then hunt down quotes to support your main points. Instead, it’s way easier to find quotes you like, THEN write around those quotes. As you’re doing research you’ll probably spark some new ideas for your essay. Collecting quotes before you start writing will help you integrate all your ideas into your paper smoothly. An added bonus, collecting all your quotes first also helps to create a sort of roadmap for your essay since you can simply write to connect quotes.

You don’t have to make it good

At least at first. When you first read your essay assignment question, you’ll probably start thinking of some ideas for your paper. Write all your thoughts down, allow yourself to ramble, regardless of relevance or organization. If you’re having trouble thinking of an essay topic right off the bat, for example, don’t be afraid to wait a couple days for ideas to spark (but don’t wait too long). As you’re researching, more ideas might come up‚— jot them down somewhere.

Additionally, as you begin to find quotes during your research, make note of how you plan on crafting your essay around these quotes when it comes time to write. It can also be helpful to make note of what themes each of your quotes explore. From there, you can take all your ideas and rants and use them to start building your essay. You don’t even have to have a particular order, so long as you reorder them and transition between them with connecting sentences. Clean your essay up and you’re good to go.

Keep your purpose in mind

All essay assignments are, at their core, written proof that you understand the concepts from your class. Essay assignments always have at least one question to answer but most of them will also have further ‘prompting’ questions. ANSWER THEM. Your professor might not make them mandatory, but answering them will show your professor exactly what they want to see and beef up your essay. Also, don’t be afraid to use in-class powerpoint presentations or your professor’s lectures as evidence for your essay.

In doing so, you’re proving that you’ve been paying attention and that you can link the essay prompts to class content. Essays often aren’t necessarily testing your writing ability or your ability to do research, rather, they’re often testing your ability to apply what you’ve learned. While writing, keep in mind that you’re trying to prove your understanding of class material to your professor.

Hopefully some of these tips are helpful or sparked some new ideas for you. If you’re still looking for help, ask your classmates, the librarians, or your professor. Mount Royal University has lots of great resources so don’t be afraid to utilize them. Happy writing!