Whether for a class assignment or application submission, writing an effective essay takes practice and awareness of common mistakes. Poorly structured essays, weak organization, and issues with grammar and style can seriously undermine your argument and credibility as a writer. To help you avoid disappointing results, here are some key things not to do when composing an essay.
Failing to Understand the Assignment
Make sure you fully comprehend what is being asked of you before beginning work on your essay. Take the time to carefully review all assignment instructions and parameters, including word count limits, required topics or sources to address, preferred citation styles, and deadlines. Misunderstanding key parts of the prompt will likely result in an essay that doesn’t properly answer or fit what is requested. Clarify anything you are unsure of with your instructor beforehand.
Neglecting to Choose an Appropriate Topic
Your topic should be narrow and focused enough to thoroughly discuss within the length requirements. Overly broad subjects run the risk of only superficially addressing issues without depth. Likewise, a topic that is too narrow may struggle to generate enough substantial points and examples to fill out multiple pages. Consider how engaging and compelling your chosen subject will be for readers as well.
Presenting a Weak Thesis Statement
Your thesis is the backbone and central argument of your entire essay. It should be a clear, concise single sentence located at the end of your introduction that tells readers the specific point you will prove. Vague, overly general statements like “This essay will discuss…” or multi-clause theses weaken your stance. Craft a strong, straightforward thesis to set up and guide the body of your essay.
Including Irrelevant or Filler Information
Stick tightly to only details, explanations and quotes that directly back up and establish your thesis. Resist the urge to add in superfluous background details or intriguing but extraneous anecdotes. Every single sentence matters and should work to reinforce your central argument – anything unrelated pulls readers away from your focal point. Maintain a logical flow from topic sentence to evidence to analysis.
Relying on Plot Summary
While short stories, novels, plays and poems may be the subject of your essay, don’t simply regurgitate a detailed summary of events or sections of text. Assume the grader has already read the source material. Instead, utilize concise quotes to illustrate and support your own insightful interpretations, observations and evaluations. Focus on analyzing themes, techniques and other critical elements.
Neglecting a Structured Outline
Plan out the major points you want to cover in the body paragraphs before starting your first draft. A logical, flowing overall structure is critical for a coherent essay. Take time sketching an outline breaking the essay into an intro, 3 or more body paragraphs, and a conclusion section, with each containing a topic sentence, examples and analysis. This will ensure a cohesive arrangement of ideas.
Relying Solely on Plot Summary
While short stories, novels, plays and poems may be the subject of your essay, do not simply regurgitate a detailed summary of events or sections of text. Assume the grader has already read the source material. Instead, utilize concise quotes to illustrate and support your own insightful interpretations, observations and evaluations. Focus on analyzing themes, techniques and other critical elements.
Using Flowery, Decorative Language
Keep your writing direct, clear and concise. Excessive use of poetic, literary or Latinate vocabulary where simpler words would suffice more naturally just comes across as pretentious. Focus on accurately conveying meaning in language suited to the level, context and subject of your essay instead of showing off word variety. Unless absolutely essential, avoid overly long sentences as well.
Overusing Quotes
While quotes provide evidence, rely on them sparingly and utilize them efficiently by directly analyzing them in your own words in complete sentences right after. Substantial chunks of repeated quotes with little commentary of your own will not earn high marks. Thoroughly integrate quoted excerpts by introducing, paraphrasing and concluding them smoothly.
Committing Grammatical Errors
Poor spelling, punctuation mistakes, subject-verb disagreement issues and structurally confusing sentences undermine an essay’s credibility. Give your work a final proofread after drafting to catch small errors that detract from an otherwise polished piece. Ask others to proof as well to catch errors you may overlook. While not completely error-free, polish will positively influence reader perception.
Rushing Through a Last Minute Draft
Don’t leave essay writing until the last minute when quality invariably suffers under pressure. Give yourself plenty of time to thoughtfully research sources, choose and narrow your topic, outline thoroughly, write multiple drafts, get feedback, and edit and proofread carefully. A well-developed, revised paper polished ahead of the deadline makes a much better impression than a rough, scrambled version thrown together at the eleventh hour.
Not Addressing Counterclaims
Demonstrating insightful consideration of viewpoints contrary to your own exhibits deeper critical thinking. Don’t just present your argument as an absolute, cast-iron truth. Incorporate potential objections to your thesis thoughtfully and address reasonable alternative perspectives in a separate body paragraph or conclusion section, showing why your analysis is ultimately more persuasive. This rounded approach boosts credibility.
Failing to Conclude Effectively
Your conclusion is the lasting impression and should neatly tie together the key elements supporting your thesis in a memorable way without introducing new information. An effective conclusion summarizes the main points, reinforces their significance, and leaves readers with a clear understanding of why the overall argument matters. Avoid vague or repetitive language here and close with impact.
Plagiarizing Intentional or Not
If utilizing verbatim ideas, paraphrases or specific language from external sources, properly cite them accurately in your work following discipline-specific formatting style guidelines. Failure to acknowledge others’ words or concepts as yours constitutes serious academic dishonesty. Even accidental similarity without citation still constitutes plagiarism as readers won’t recognize it as unintentional. Carefully attribute borrowed material correctly.
Neglecting to Edit Your Content Thoroughly
Proofread the final draft closely for typos, grammatical errors, stylistic consistency, logical flow, clarity and readability. Ask peers to check as well, looking for any improvements. Edit repeatedly to perfect coherence, concision and correctness before submittal. Any sloppy errors that an attentive editor could catch undermine an essay’s professional presentation and attention to quality. Taking time for careful editing makes a major difference.
This covers many of the primary issues students commonly face when crafting academic essays. Following these fundamental do’s and don’ts will help ensure cohesion, rigor and impressive results from planning stages through final submission. While perfecting essay writing takes practice, being mindful of these guidelines can effectively strengthen analytical, organizational and communication abilities over time.
Andrew Stroud