Tips for Success on Essays

The ability to write an organized, fluent, and compelling essay ought to distinguish the recipient of a good liberal arts education from everyone else. If you cannot write such an essay by the time you graduate, both you and Saint Anselm College have failed.

A mere command of words does not produce good writing; no one can write well without thinking well. Poor writing and sloppy thinking usually go hand-in-hand. Indeed, sloppy thinking often leads to poor writing, which in turn promotes even sloppier thinking, creating a vicious circle whereby thinking and writing both degenerate. George Orwell claimed that written English in his time had deteriorated for this very reason: "It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts."

Writing comes naturally to no one. The habits of mind that make a good writer develop only after years of practice. We cannot pretend the essay assignments in this class will make you as proficient a writer as George Orwell. Nevertheless, four years of essay assignments in college will provide you with the experience, judgment, and knowledge to improve yourself. Try not to think of the essay assignments as a series of punishments or unpleasant chores. Instead, look at them as an opportunity to make progress in mastering a difficult but worthwhile skill.

The page that follows includes detailed information on how to write a successful essay. We've provided a table of contents for this page to help you navigate to specific information more quickly, but please take the time to read the entire page at least once before handing in any essay assignments for our class.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preliminary Preparations

Read the Essay Assignment Carefully

Thinking

Break the Question and Answer into Parts

Making Outlines

Assembling Your Paragraphs

As You Write

The Parts of an Essay

Introduction

Body of the Essay

Conclusion

Title

After You Have Finished: Quality Control

Proofreading

The Dangers of Spell Check

Neatness Counts

PRELIMINARY PREPARATIONS

Read the Essay Assignment Carefully: If you want to know what the professor expects of you, read the essay assignment as carefully as you can. Write down all the issues the assignment expects you to address. Think. Sometimes there is more than meets the eye. If you feel confused or fear you have not fully understood the assignment, ask the professor to make the necessary clarifications.

Thinking: In IBM's glory days, "THINK" was its motto. IBM used to print this mantra on all of its paraphernalia. One day, the motto disappeared, IBM stopped thinking, and the whole company fell apart. The moral of the story is that thinking is the key to success. If you wish to produce something valuable, you cannot avoid thinking. Writing notes, producing outlines, and highlighting books are all rituals associated with thought, but they do not constitute thought themselves. Thought takes place inside the mind. So think!

I cannot give you a recipe that will show you how to go about thinking, but I do have some advice you ought to keep in mind. Remember that thinking is a difficult thing to do. Calm down and relax. Turn the radio and the TV off.

• Regurgitating: Hoping to avoid thought, students often regurgitate instead. They take the information provided to them by the professor and fling it back at him with little modification. No professor worth his salt should reward students for merely repeating what he said. Lecture notes should not serve as a substitute but as a foundation for students' own thoughts. Left to your own devices, you may say something wrong, but I'll respect you for trying to think for yourself.
• Probing Beneath the Surface: Part of thinking consists of looking beneath the surface. Asking yourself "why?" repeatedly will help you get to the bottom of matters, preventing you from resting content on superficial appearances. People often write sentences that sound like, "X drinks because she's an alcoholic." This statement explains little. Why is X an alcoholic? How did she become an alcoholic?
• Leave Your Prejudices Behind: Asking "why?" forces us to question the prejudices and other cherished beliefs that we rarely examine. For instance, many students seem convinced that the single-minded pursuit of money and power constitutes the sole aim of all men and women. Take a look at yourself. Are you in it only for the money and the power? Do all of you want to become billionaires and senators? Aren't you—and just about everyone else—a bit more complex and sophisticated than that?
• Using Intellectual Crutches: Obviously, you will have to refer to various sources and facts to prove your point. Do not, however, merely tack quotes together and let the paper write itself. Do some of the thinking yourself. And don't ever start a paper with a reference to a dictionary definition ("Webster's Ninth New College Dictionary defines war as 'a state of usually open and declared armed hostile conflict between states or nations'.")—that is soooo junior high! Come up with your own definitions or employ the definitions that have emerged in class discussion.
• Using the Present to Judge the Past: If you seek to judge the past, you must exercise caution, lest you make an ahistorical assertion. Try to see the past from the perspective of the people who lived it, and you may understand them better.

Putting Ideas on Paper: As you think about the essay for the first time, write all your thoughts on a piece of paper. You do not have to write them down in any particular order. Experiment with various ideas. Listen to your imagination.

Break the Question and the Answer into Parts: In all likelihood, although the assignment will ask you one question, you will have to consider a number of associated issues. Addressing each of these issues will probably require you to analyze two or three problems. Break down and isolate these problems until you can go no further. A good way to do so consists of asking yourself as many relevant questions as you can about each issue. Create a chart of some sort that allows you to survey these issues and problems in an organized manner. In the end, you ought to devote a paragraph to each problem.

Making Outlines: Your teachers in high school probably advised you to make an outline of your essay before committing a single word to paper (or in our day, to the screen). They're right. An outline is a plan. It functions as a sort of road map that will help you find your way from point A to point B in the most efficient manner possible. If you had to drive to Lebanon, you'd look at a map and plan your trip before you left, right? (All you smart alecs who live in Lebanon ought to hold your tongue!) You wouldn't just get in the car and start driving, would you? The outline is your plan. To start writing without a plan is like driving without having any idea where you're going. Instead of Lebanon, you could end up in Franklin, Littleton, or Rochester—and those would be the wrong places, trust me.

Assembling Your Paragraphs: Each problem ought to receive its own paragraph. Using whatever method you find convenient, assemble your paragraphs in some sort of order. Write down this order on a sheet of paper. Make notes to yourself elaborating upon what you want each paragraph to accomplish.

As You Write: While you write, keep the following suggestions in mind.

• Take Your Time: No one can produce anything of value in a short amount of time. Take the time to think before you write. Write with deliberation and care. Mull over what you have written and make modifications. Do not start the paper the night before it is due. Do not sit down before a keyboard until you have some ideas and know what you want to write. Do not finish the paper five minutes before class.
• Use the Dictionary and the Thesaurus: Both books will help you immensely as you write an essay. The dictionary will provide you with correct spellings and usage, while the thesaurus will expand your vocabulary.

THE PARTS OF AN ESSAY

The Introduction: Many students do not write the introduction until they have finished the rest of the essay. In other words, having finally realized what the paper is about, they understand what they have to introduce. This approach works particularly well for clever and lucky people who have a knack for landing on their feet. Less clever and less lucky people need to write an introduction first. The introduction not only serves to guide the reader, but in many cases, it helps remind the writer of his task and prevents him from wandering too far from the topic.

• Thesis and Thesis Statement: Every essay needs a thesis. A thesis provides the idea or argument that ties the paper together. It serves as the main point, theme, or keynote. Inverting the question to form a statement does not necessarily make a thesis. Generally, a thesis should appear in one key sentence, often described as a thesis statement. Placed somewhere in the introductory paragraph, this sentence distills the meaning of the paper and informs the reader of your stance. A thesis is nothing more than an argument. You should make this thesis statement as concise, specific, and direct as possible. Such a sentence serves as a cornerstone for the paper. Throughout the rest of the essay, you must defend your thesis with examples and arguments.
• Grab the Reader's Attention: Do something to grab the reader's attention in the introduction so he wants to read your paper. Remember, I have to read many papers on the same topic, so try to make yours stand out.
  • Develop an unconventional or creative approach.
  • Make a provocative statement.
  • Emphasize the importance of the topic you have undertaken to analyze. Don't start the paper with a bland, stupid, obvious, or pompous statement. For instance, don't lead off with, "People have always turned to religion for moral guidance" (duh!). Avoid such clauses as, "Since the dawn of history, mankind has . . . " or "In all recorded history . . . " because they reek of B.S.
• Context: Provide some context for the discussion to come. Give the background. Introduce important characters. Define significant terms.

The Body of the Essay: Your outline ought to determine the order in which you will introduce various issues and problems. This outline serves as a skeleton. Now you must flesh out this outline into a paper. Even though you already have an outline or plan, writing does not always turn out as planned. Most of the time, you should stick to a well-considered outline, but sometimes you will have to adapt and show some flexibility.

• Topic Sentences: In the same way your paper requires a thesis statement, each paragraph needs a topic sentence. This topic sentence serves as a mini thesis statement. It explains the paragraph's topic.
• Transitions: The last sentence of each paragraph should prepare the reader for the transition to a new topic in the next paragraph. The sentence that performs this service is a transition sentence. It allows the reader to make the transition from one paragraph (and topic) to the next.
• Evidence: To support your thesis statement and various assertions throughout the essay, you need to introduce evidence. You must, however, walk a fine line here. Use evidence to support your own arguments. Don't allow the evidence to speak for you by stringing endless quotes together and refusing to add any analysis. Don't speak for the evidence by telling me what it says without presenting it. When you quote, keep the following in mind as well:
  • Please don't cite a book to support thoroughly obvious facts. ("In 1776, George III was the King of England.")
  • Don't use a quote without providing its context. Who wrote it? Under what circumstances?

Conclusion: When I was in fourth grade, as soon as I got tired of working on a paper, I'd just write "THE END." My teachers were so thankful that I didn't sniff glue or carry a gun in my backpack that they never deducted points for my idiosyncratic approach to ending essays. I will not be so lenient with you. You must include a conclusion, a real conclusion. Remember, the conclusion is your last opportunity to leave the reader with a good impression.

• Summary: A conclusion ought to function as a summary of the argument presented in the paper. Generally, it is shorter than the introduction. You should not merely cut your thesis statement and paste it at the end of the essay. A conclusion calls for a memorable restatement of your argument, one that will leave the reader thinking, "Man, that writer is sharp! I'm giving her an A!"
• Larger Relevance: Relating your topic and your argument to larger issues will help you impress the reader. Show how your discussion fits into the very big picture.

Title: Your essay must have a title. Don't name it "Essay #4." Give it a title that describes the topic and provides some indication of the stance you have assumed on that topic.

AFTER YOU HAVE FINISHED: QUALITY CONTROL

In one sense, you can never finish an essay. No matter how much work you put into it, no matter how good you think it is, it always remains a work in progress and can benefit from improvement. Of course (sadly), there will come a time (sniff) when you will have to turn your essay in, no matter what its state. Before you do so, make sure you have performed the following checks.

Proofreading: Proofreading is an arduous task. Everyone has a difficult time detecting mistakes in his own work. Only three methods prove effective. First, if you read your essay aloud to yourself, you will find many errors that you would not otherwise catch. Second, ask a friend of yours (preferably a smart friend) to read your essay. Third, visit the professor and ask him to look over your draft. These people will prove far more adept than you are at noticing your mistakes. Then, after you've input all corrections and are convinced the paper is perfect, read it again yourself. You'll be surprised how often you'll find just a few more mistakes.

The Dangers of Spell Check: Spell check alone will not prove sufficient to remove all mistakes. Spell check will not tell you if you have used "their" or "there" correctly. You must read the paper yourself after using spell check.

Neatness Counts: Make sure your paper looks good before you turn it in.

• Font and Font Size: Are the font and font size uniform throughout the paper?
• Paragraph Indentations: Are the paragraph indentations uniform throughout?
• Smudges: In your eagerness to rip the sheets out of the printer (as they emerge with glacial slowness five minutes before class), did you smudge the ink on the paper?
• Stains and Wrinkles: Is your essay free of stains and wrinkles? Or does it look like something that's been sitting in a doghouse all winter? In Lebanon?

For questions, comments, or suggestions about this website, please contact the webmaster.
Copyrighted by Hugh Dubrulle and Meg Cronin, 2006.