Studyfab's Top 5 Tips for Essays!
Hello lovelies,
Sorry it’s been a while - motivation has been low and life demands have been high. I thought I’d ease back into regular posting with a quick list of ways to boost your marks in both hand-in and exam-style essays, from my experience. Personally, this sort of assessment comes pretty easily to me and I hope the strategies I use are helpful for all of you!
1. Wherever possible, use audience specific and precise language.
Look at my previous post on vocabulary if you need help learning new words, because in formal papers, complex and insightful use of vocabulary can be the difference between an A and a B, especially in any Literature or English orientated subjects. This also applies for social sciences, in which using subject-specific terminology (e.g for history, think about descriptors like “post-revisionist perspective”, or “nationalistic bias”) can give you authority and substance.
2. Plan, draft, redraft!!
If your teacher has said they will mark a draft or a plan of a hand-in essay, the draft you hand them should not be your first attempt at the assignment! Make sure that you’ve solidified your thesis (possibly with the help of prior consultation through email) and streamlined your argument so that you have a clear foundation which you can embellish throughout the writing process as more complexity becomes necessary. Also, I’ve personally found peer-drafting to be really helpful - use the community around you as much as you can! Having a different pair of eyes read your work will help you improve areas you may not have previously considered, and offering to do the same for them is sure to get a positive response.
3. Constantly extend your ideas.
A very popular way to explain the typical intro-body-conclusion structure of an essay is to say “write what you’re about to say, write what you want to say and then write what you just said”. To me, with the strict word limits placed on most academic writing, this method seems like an inefficient waste of words (and in an exam, time), as you end up simply presenting the same thoughts three times. Each section of an essay should extend upon ideas already presented. An introduction should present points to the audience in their clearest manner, which should then be further elaborated on with the introduction of different perspectives and observations in the body, and finally, in the conclusion, extended to a broader or more contemporary context, summarising what we can learn from the subject. In this way, the thesis is solidified with more authority, evidence and insight - all skills that markers look for to discriminate between good essays and great ones.
4. Pay attention to craft.
The way you communicate your message is as important as the message itself. In addition to efficiency of writing (see point 3), this means that structure, from the order of your paragraphs, to the sequencing of arguments within your paragraphs, to the way these arguments are linked and evidenced must all be carefully arranged. Aim for a cohesive flow of ideas that guides the marker through your argument without the need for them to fill in the blanks, or question your logic.
5. Be opinionated!
Whilst 1st person is generally discouraged in an academic context, your writing will be much for engaging if it is written from a place of personal inquiry and passion, and you can do this without using personal pronouns. Also, don’t feel that you have to agree with any given statement, or immediately jump in with a positive response to an exam question if you feel that you can evidence and argue another position you identify with more. Markers are going to find your writing way more powerful if it doesn’t parrot the same response that every other student in your class thinks they’re supposed to write. If you can show a perceptive understanding of the content, a mastery of writing and a well-informed viewpoint, you’re on the way to a gorgeous piece of work.
I hope this has been helpful :) As always, feel free to inbox me at any time with questions or feedback.
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