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Essay Structure
Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.
The focus of such an essay predicts its structure. It dictates the information readers need to know and the order in which they need to receive it. Thus your essay's structure is necessarily unique to the main claim you're making. Although there are guidelines for constructing certain classic essay types (e.g., comparative analysis), there are no set formula.
Answering Questions: The Parts of an Essay
A typical essay contains many different kinds of information, often located in specialized parts or sections. Even short essays perform several different operations: introducing the argument, analyzing data, raising counterarguments, concluding. Introductions and conclusions have fixed places, but other parts don't. Counterargument, for example, may appear within a paragraph, as a free-standing section, as part of the beginning, or before the ending. Background material (historical context or biographical information, a summary of relevant theory or criticism, the definition of a key term) often appears at the beginning of the essay, between the introduction and the first analytical section, but might also appear near the beginning of the specific section to which it's relevant.
It's helpful to think of the different essay sections as answering a series of questions your reader might ask when encountering your thesis. (Readers should have questions. If they don't, your thesis is most likely simply an observation of fact, not an arguable claim.)
"What?" The first question to anticipate from a reader is "what": What evidence shows that the phenomenon described by your thesis is true? To answer the question you must examine your evidence, thus demonstrating the truth of your claim. This "what" or "demonstration" section comes early in the essay, often directly after the introduction. Since you're essentially reporting what you've observed, this is the part you might have most to say about when you first start writing. But be forewarned: it shouldn't take up much more than a third (often much less) of your finished essay. If it does, the essay will lack balance and may read as mere summary or description.
"How?" A reader will also want to know whether the claims of the thesis are true in all cases. The corresponding question is "how": How does the thesis stand up to the challenge of a counterargument? How does the introduction of new material—a new way of looking at the evidence, another set of sources—affect the claims you're making? Typically, an essay will include at least one "how" section. (Call it "complication" since you're responding to a reader's complicating questions.) This section usually comes after the "what," but keep in mind that an essay may complicate its argument several times depending on its length, and that counterargument alone may appear just about anywhere in an essay.
"Why?" Your reader will also want to know what's at stake in your claim: Why does your interpretation of a phenomenon matter to anyone beside you? This question addresses the larger implications of your thesis. It allows your readers to understand your essay within a larger context. In answering "why", your essay explains its own significance. Although you might gesture at this question in your introduction, the fullest answer to it properly belongs at your essay's end. If you leave it out, your readers will experience your essay as unfinished—or, worse, as pointless or insular.
Mapping an Essay
Structuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and be convinced by your argument as it unfolds. The easiest way to do this is to map the essay's ideas via a written narrative. Such an account will give you a preliminary record of your ideas, and will allow you to remind yourself at every turn of the reader's needs in understanding your idea.
Essay maps ask you to predict where your reader will expect background information, counterargument, close analysis of a primary source, or a turn to secondary source material. Essay maps are not concerned with paragraphs so much as with sections of an essay. They anticipate the major argumentative moves you expect your essay to make. Try making your map like this:
- State your thesis in a sentence or two, then write another sentence saying why it's important to make that claim. Indicate, in other words, what a reader might learn by exploring the claim with you. Here you're anticipating your answer to the "why" question that you'll eventually flesh out in your conclusion.
- Begin your next sentence like this: "To be convinced by my claim, the first thing a reader needs to know is . . ." Then say why that's the first thing a reader needs to know, and name one or two items of evidence you think will make the case. This will start you off on answering the "what" question. (Alternately, you may find that the first thing your reader needs to know is some background information.)
- Begin each of the following sentences like this: "The next thing my reader needs to know is . . ." Once again, say why, and name some evidence. Continue until you've mapped out your essay.
Your map should naturally take you through some preliminary answers to the basic questions of what, how, and why. It is not a contract, though—the order in which the ideas appear is not a rigid one. Essay maps are flexible; they evolve with your ideas.
Signs of Trouble
A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through" (also labeled "summary" or "description"). Walk-through essays follow the structure of their sources rather than establishing their own. Such essays generally have a descriptive thesis rather than an argumentative one. Be wary of paragraph openers that lead off with "time" words ("first," "next," "after," "then") or "listing" words ("also," "another," "in addition"). Although they don't always signal trouble, these paragraph openers often indicate that an essay's thesis and structure need work: they suggest that the essay simply reproduces the chronology of the source text (in the case of time words: first this happens, then that, and afterwards another thing . . . ) or simply lists example after example ("In addition, the use of color indicates another way that the painting differentiates between good and evil").
Copyright 2000, Elizabeth Abrams, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
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- Ending the Essay: Conclusions
- Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines
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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples
An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.
There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.
The essay writing process consists of three main stages:
- Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
- Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
- Revision: Check the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.
Table of contents
Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.
The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .
For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.
Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:
- Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
- Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
- Do your research: Read primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
- Come up with a thesis: The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
- Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.
Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.
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The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.
1. Hook your reader
The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.
Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:
The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.
2. Provide background on your topic
Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.
3. Present the thesis statement
Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:
As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.
4. Map the structure
In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.
The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.
Write your essay introduction
The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.
Length of the body text
The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.
Paragraph structure
To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.
That idea is introduced in a topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.
After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.
Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.
See the full essay example
The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :
- Returns to your thesis
- Ties together your main points
- Shows why your argument matters
A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.
What not to include in a conclusion
To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:
- Including new arguments or evidence
- Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
- Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”
Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.
Write your essay conclusion
Checklist: Essay
My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).
My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.
My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.
I use paragraphs to structure the essay.
I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.
Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.
I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.
My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.
I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.
I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.
I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.
My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .
My essay has an interesting and informative title.
I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).
Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.
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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.
In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.
Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.
The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.
The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.
Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:
- An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
- Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
- A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.
The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .
A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.
The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:
- It gives your writing direction and focus.
- It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.
Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.
A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.
At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).
Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.
The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .
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- 40 Useful Words and Phrases for Top-Notch Essays
To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it’s not intelligently articulated, you almost needn’t have bothered.
Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you’re to write outstanding essays every time. In this article, we’re going to equip you with the words and phrases you need to write a top-notch essay, along with examples of how to utilise them.
It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and there will often be other ways of using the words and phrases we describe that we won’t have room to include, but there should be more than enough below to help you make an instant improvement to your essay-writing skills.
This article is suitable for native English speakers and those who are learning English at Oxford Royale Academy and are just taking their first steps into essay writing.
General explaining
Let’s start by looking at language for general explanations of complex points.
1. In order to
Usage: “In order to” can be used to introduce an explanation for the purpose of an argument. Example: “In order to understand X, we need first to understand Y.”
2. In other words
Usage: Use “in other words” when you want to express something in a different way (more simply), to make it easier to understand, or to emphasise or expand on a point. Example: “Frogs are amphibians. In other words, they live on the land and in the water.”
3. To put it another way
Usage: This phrase is another way of saying “in other words”, and can be used in particularly complex points, when you feel that an alternative way of wording a problem may help the reader achieve a better understanding of its significance. Example: “Plants rely on photosynthesis. To put it another way, they will die without the sun.”
4. That is to say
Usage: “That is” and “that is to say” can be used to add further detail to your explanation, or to be more precise. Example: “Whales are mammals. That is to say, they must breathe air.”
5. To that end
Usage: Use “to that end” or “to this end” in a similar way to “in order to” or “so”. Example: “Zoologists have long sought to understand how animals communicate with each other. To that end, a new study has been launched that looks at elephant sounds and their possible meanings.”
Adding additional information to support a point
Students often make the mistake of using synonyms of “and” each time they want to add further information in support of a point they’re making, or to build an argument . Here are some cleverer ways of doing this.
6. Moreover
Usage: Employ “moreover” at the start of a sentence to add extra information in support of a point you’re making. Example: “Moreover, the results of a recent piece of research provide compelling evidence in support of…”
7. Furthermore
Usage:This is also generally used at the start of a sentence, to add extra information. Example: “Furthermore, there is evidence to suggest that…”
8. What’s more
Usage: This is used in the same way as “moreover” and “furthermore”. Example: “What’s more, this isn’t the only evidence that supports this hypothesis.”
9. Likewise
Usage: Use “likewise” when you want to talk about something that agrees with what you’ve just mentioned. Example: “Scholar A believes X. Likewise, Scholar B argues compellingly in favour of this point of view.”
10. Similarly
Usage: Use “similarly” in the same way as “likewise”. Example: “Audiences at the time reacted with shock to Beethoven’s new work, because it was very different to what they were used to. Similarly, we have a tendency to react with surprise to the unfamiliar.”
11. Another key thing to remember
Usage: Use the phrase “another key point to remember” or “another key fact to remember” to introduce additional facts without using the word “also”. Example: “As a Romantic, Blake was a proponent of a closer relationship between humans and nature. Another key point to remember is that Blake was writing during the Industrial Revolution, which had a major impact on the world around him.”
12. As well as
Usage: Use “as well as” instead of “also” or “and”. Example: “Scholar A argued that this was due to X, as well as Y.”
13. Not only… but also
Usage: This wording is used to add an extra piece of information, often something that’s in some way more surprising or unexpected than the first piece of information. Example: “Not only did Edmund Hillary have the honour of being the first to reach the summit of Everest, but he was also appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire.”
14. Coupled with
Usage: Used when considering two or more arguments at a time. Example: “Coupled with the literary evidence, the statistics paint a compelling view of…”
15. Firstly, secondly, thirdly…
Usage: This can be used to structure an argument, presenting facts clearly one after the other. Example: “There are many points in support of this view. Firstly, X. Secondly, Y. And thirdly, Z.
16. Not to mention/to say nothing of
Usage: “Not to mention” and “to say nothing of” can be used to add extra information with a bit of emphasis. Example: “The war caused unprecedented suffering to millions of people, not to mention its impact on the country’s economy.”
Words and phrases for demonstrating contrast
When you’re developing an argument, you will often need to present contrasting or opposing opinions or evidence – “it could show this, but it could also show this”, or “X says this, but Y disagrees”. This section covers words you can use instead of the “but” in these examples, to make your writing sound more intelligent and interesting.
17. However
Usage: Use “however” to introduce a point that disagrees with what you’ve just said. Example: “Scholar A thinks this. However, Scholar B reached a different conclusion.”
18. On the other hand
Usage: Usage of this phrase includes introducing a contrasting interpretation of the same piece of evidence, a different piece of evidence that suggests something else, or an opposing opinion. Example: “The historical evidence appears to suggest a clear-cut situation. On the other hand, the archaeological evidence presents a somewhat less straightforward picture of what happened that day.”
19. Having said that
Usage: Used in a similar manner to “on the other hand” or “but”. Example: “The historians are unanimous in telling us X, an agreement that suggests that this version of events must be an accurate account. Having said that, the archaeology tells a different story.”
20. By contrast/in comparison
Usage: Use “by contrast” or “in comparison” when you’re comparing and contrasting pieces of evidence. Example: “Scholar A’s opinion, then, is based on insufficient evidence. By contrast, Scholar B’s opinion seems more plausible.”
21. Then again
Usage: Use this to cast doubt on an assertion. Example: “Writer A asserts that this was the reason for what happened. Then again, it’s possible that he was being paid to say this.”
22. That said
Usage: This is used in the same way as “then again”. Example: “The evidence ostensibly appears to point to this conclusion. That said, much of the evidence is unreliable at best.”
Usage: Use this when you want to introduce a contrasting idea. Example: “Much of scholarship has focused on this evidence. Yet not everyone agrees that this is the most important aspect of the situation.”
Adding a proviso or acknowledging reservations
Sometimes, you may need to acknowledge a shortfalling in a piece of evidence, or add a proviso. Here are some ways of doing so.
24. Despite this
Usage: Use “despite this” or “in spite of this” when you want to outline a point that stands regardless of a shortfalling in the evidence. Example: “The sample size was small, but the results were important despite this.”
25. With this in mind
Usage: Use this when you want your reader to consider a point in the knowledge of something else. Example: “We’ve seen that the methods used in the 19th century study did not always live up to the rigorous standards expected in scientific research today, which makes it difficult to draw definite conclusions. With this in mind, let’s look at a more recent study to see how the results compare.”
26. Provided that
Usage: This means “on condition that”. You can also say “providing that” or just “providing” to mean the same thing. Example: “We may use this as evidence to support our argument, provided that we bear in mind the limitations of the methods used to obtain it.”
27. In view of/in light of
Usage: These phrases are used when something has shed light on something else. Example: “In light of the evidence from the 2013 study, we have a better understanding of…”
28. Nonetheless
Usage: This is similar to “despite this”. Example: “The study had its limitations, but it was nonetheless groundbreaking for its day.”
29. Nevertheless
Usage: This is the same as “nonetheless”. Example: “The study was flawed, but it was important nevertheless.”
30. Notwithstanding
Usage: This is another way of saying “nonetheless”. Example: “Notwithstanding the limitations of the methodology used, it was an important study in the development of how we view the workings of the human mind.”
Giving examples
Good essays always back up points with examples, but it’s going to get boring if you use the expression “for example” every time. Here are a couple of other ways of saying the same thing.
31. For instance
Example: “Some birds migrate to avoid harsher winter climates. Swallows, for instance, leave the UK in early winter and fly south…”
32. To give an illustration
Example: “To give an illustration of what I mean, let’s look at the case of…”
Signifying importance
When you want to demonstrate that a point is particularly important, there are several ways of highlighting it as such.
33. Significantly
Usage: Used to introduce a point that is loaded with meaning that might not be immediately apparent. Example: “Significantly, Tacitus omits to tell us the kind of gossip prevalent in Suetonius’ accounts of the same period.”
34. Notably
Usage: This can be used to mean “significantly” (as above), and it can also be used interchangeably with “in particular” (the example below demonstrates the first of these ways of using it). Example: “Actual figures are notably absent from Scholar A’s analysis.”
35. Importantly
Usage: Use “importantly” interchangeably with “significantly”. Example: “Importantly, Scholar A was being employed by X when he wrote this work, and was presumably therefore under pressure to portray the situation more favourably than he perhaps might otherwise have done.”
Summarising
You’ve almost made it to the end of the essay, but your work isn’t over yet. You need to end by wrapping up everything you’ve talked about, showing that you’ve considered the arguments on both sides and reached the most likely conclusion. Here are some words and phrases to help you.
36. In conclusion
Usage: Typically used to introduce the concluding paragraph or sentence of an essay, summarising what you’ve discussed in a broad overview. Example: “In conclusion, the evidence points almost exclusively to Argument A.”
37. Above all
Usage: Used to signify what you believe to be the most significant point, and the main takeaway from the essay. Example: “Above all, it seems pertinent to remember that…”
38. Persuasive
Usage: This is a useful word to use when summarising which argument you find most convincing. Example: “Scholar A’s point – that Constanze Mozart was motivated by financial gain – seems to me to be the most persuasive argument for her actions following Mozart’s death.”
39. Compelling
Usage: Use in the same way as “persuasive” above. Example: “The most compelling argument is presented by Scholar A.”
40. All things considered
Usage: This means “taking everything into account”. Example: “All things considered, it seems reasonable to assume that…”
How many of these words and phrases will you get into your next essay? And are any of your favourite essay terms missing from our list? Let us know in the comments below, or get in touch here to find out more about courses that can help you with your essays.
At Oxford Royale Academy, we offer a number of summer school courses for young people who are keen to improve their essay writing skills. Click here to apply for one of our courses today, including law , politics , business , medicine and engineering .
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How To Write An Essay: Beginner Tips And Tricks
Many students dread writing essays, but essay writing is an important skill to develop in high school, university, and even into your future career. By learning how to write an essay properly, the process can become more enjoyable and you’ll find you’re better able to organize and articulate your thoughts.
When writing an essay, it’s common to follow a specific pattern, no matter what the topic is. Once you’ve used the pattern a few times and you know how to structure an essay, it will become a lot more simple to apply your knowledge to every essay.
No matter which major you choose, you should know how to craft a good essay. Here, we’ll cover the basics of essay writing, along with some helpful tips to make the writing process go smoothly.
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Types of Essays
Think of an essay as a discussion. There are many types of discussions you can have with someone else. You can be describing a story that happened to you, you might explain to them how to do something, or you might even argue about a certain topic.
When it comes to different types of essays, it follows a similar pattern. Like a friendly discussion, each type of essay will come with its own set of expectations or goals.
For example, when arguing with a friend, your goal is to convince them that you’re right. The same goes for an argumentative essay.
Here are a few of the main essay types you can expect to come across during your time in school:
Narrative Essay
This type of essay is almost like telling a story, not in the traditional sense with dialogue and characters, but as if you’re writing out an event or series of events to relay information to the reader.
Persuasive Essay
Here, your goal is to persuade the reader about your views on a specific topic.
Descriptive Essay
This is the kind of essay where you go into a lot more specific details describing a topic such as a place or an event.
Argumentative Essay
In this essay, you’re choosing a stance on a topic, usually controversial, and your goal is to present evidence that proves your point is correct.
Expository Essay
Your purpose with this type of essay is to tell the reader how to complete a specific process, often including a step-by-step guide or something similar.
Compare and Contrast Essay
You might have done this in school with two different books or characters, but the ultimate goal is to draw similarities and differences between any two given subjects.
The Main Stages of Essay Writing
When it comes to writing an essay, many students think the only stage is getting all your ideas down on paper and submitting your work. However, that’s not quite the case.
There are three main stages of writing an essay, each one with its own purpose. Of course, writing the essay itself is the most substantial part, but the other two stages are equally as important.
So, what are these three stages of essay writing? They are:
Preparation
Before you even write one word, it’s important to prepare the content and structure of your essay. If a topic wasn’t assigned to you, then the first thing you should do is settle on a topic. Next, you want to conduct your research on that topic and create a detailed outline based on your research. The preparation stage will make writing your essay that much easier since, with your outline and research, you should already have the skeleton of your essay.
Writing is the most time-consuming stage. In this stage, you will write out all your thoughts and ideas and craft your essay based on your outline. You’ll work on developing your ideas and fleshing them out throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion (more on these soon).
In the final stage, you’ll go over your essay and check for a few things. First, you’ll check if your essay is cohesive, if all the points make sense and are related to your topic, and that your facts are cited and backed up. You can also check for typos, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and formatting errors.
The Five-Paragraph Essay
We mentioned earlier that essay writing follows a specific structure, and for the most part in academic or college essays , the five-paragraph essay is the generally accepted structure you’ll be expected to use.
The five-paragraph essay is broken down into one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. However, that doesn’t always mean that an essay is written strictly in five paragraphs, but rather that this structure can be used loosely and the three body paragraphs might become three sections instead.
Let’s take a closer look at each section and what it entails.
Introduction
As the name implies, the purpose of your introduction paragraph is to introduce your idea. A good introduction begins with a “hook,” something that grabs your reader’s attention and makes them excited to read more.
Another key tenant of an introduction is a thesis statement, which usually comes towards the end of the introduction itself. Your thesis statement should be a phrase that explains your argument, position, or central idea that you plan on developing throughout the essay.
You can also include a short outline of what to expect in your introduction, including bringing up brief points that you plan on explaining more later on in the body paragraphs.
Here is where most of your essay happens. The body paragraphs are where you develop your ideas and bring up all the points related to your main topic.
In general, you’re meant to have three body paragraphs, or sections, and each one should bring up a different point. Think of it as bringing up evidence. Each paragraph is a different piece of evidence, and when the three pieces are taken together, it backs up your main point — your thesis statement — really well.
That being said, you still want each body paragraph to be tied together in some way so that the essay flows. The points should be distinct enough, but they should relate to each other, and definitely to your thesis statement. Each body paragraph works to advance your point, so when crafting your essay, it’s important to keep this in mind so that you avoid going off-track or writing things that are off-topic.
Many students aren’t sure how to write a conclusion for an essay and tend to see their conclusion as an afterthought, but this section is just as important as the rest of your work.
You shouldn’t be presenting any new ideas in your conclusion, but you should summarize your main points and show how they back up your thesis statement.
Essentially, the conclusion is similar in structure and content to the introduction, but instead of introducing your essay, it should be wrapping up the main thoughts and presenting them to the reader as a singular closed argument.
Photo by AMIT RANJAN on Unsplash
Steps to Writing an Essay
Now that you have a better idea of an essay’s structure and all the elements that go into it, you might be wondering what the different steps are to actually write your essay.
Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Instead of going in blind, follow these steps on how to write your essay from start to finish.
Understand Your Assignment
When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you’ve read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements. You don’t want to lose marks just because you didn’t read the assignment carefully.
Research Your Topic
Once you understand your assignment, it’s time to do some research. In this step, you should start looking at different sources to get ideas for what points you want to bring up throughout your essay.
Search online or head to the library and get as many resources as possible. You don’t need to use them all, but it’s good to start with a lot and then narrow down your sources as you become more certain of your essay’s direction.
Start Brainstorming
After research comes the brainstorming. There are a lot of different ways to start the brainstorming process . Here are a few you might find helpful:
- Think about what you found during your research that interested you the most
- Jot down all your ideas, even if they’re not yet fully formed
- Create word clouds or maps for similar terms or ideas that come up so you can group them together based on their similarities
- Try freewriting to get all your ideas out before arranging them
Create a Thesis
This is often the most tricky part of the whole process since you want to create a thesis that’s strong and that you’re about to develop throughout the entire essay. Therefore, you want to choose a thesis statement that’s broad enough that you’ll have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can’t be precise.
Write Your Outline
Armed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline.
In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the beginning and start creating the basic skeleton of how you want your essay to look.
A good way to tackle an essay is to use topic sentences . A topic sentence is like a mini-thesis statement that is usually the first sentence of a new paragraph. This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph.
If you create an outline with the topic sentences for your body paragraphs and then a few points of what you want to discuss, you’ll already have a strong starting point when it comes time to sit down and write. This brings us to our next step…
Write a First Draft
The first time you write your entire essay doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do need to get everything on the page so that you’re able to then write a second draft or review it afterward.
Everyone’s writing process is different. Some students like to write their essay in the standard order of intro, body, and conclusion, while others prefer to start with the “meat” of the essay and tackle the body, and then fill in the other sections afterward.
Make sure your essay follows your outline and that everything relates to your thesis statement and your points are backed up by the research you did.
Revise, Edit, and Proofread
The revision process is one of the three main stages of writing an essay, yet many people skip this step thinking their work is done after the first draft is complete.
However, proofreading, reviewing, and making edits on your essay can spell the difference between a B paper and an A.
After writing the first draft, try and set your essay aside for a few hours or even a day or two, and then come back to it with fresh eyes to review it. You might find mistakes or inconsistencies you missed or better ways to formulate your arguments.
Add the Finishing Touches
Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything that’s required is in your essay. Review your assignment again and see if all the requirements are there, such as formatting rules, citations, quotes, etc.
Go over the order of your paragraphs and make sure everything makes sense, flows well, and uses the same writing style .
Once everything is checked and all the last touches are added, give your essay a final read through just to ensure it’s as you want it before handing it in.
A good way to do this is to read your essay out loud since you’ll be able to hear if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies.
Essay Writing Tips
With the steps outlined above, you should be able to craft a great essay. Still, there are some other handy tips we’d recommend just to ensure that the essay writing process goes as smoothly as possible.
- Start your essay early. This is the first tip for a reason. It’s one of the most important things you can do to write a good essay. If you start it the night before, then you won’t have enough time to research, brainstorm, and outline — and you surely won’t have enough time to review.
- Don’t try and write it in one sitting. It’s ok if you need to take breaks or write it over a few days. It’s better to write it in multiple sittings so that you have a fresh mind each time and you’re able to focus.
- Always keep the essay question in mind. If you’re given an assigned question, then you should always keep it handy when writing your essay to make sure you’re always working to answer the question.
- Use transitions between paragraphs. In order to improve the readability of your essay, try and make clear transitions between paragraphs. This means trying to relate the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next one so the shift doesn’t seem random.
- Integrate your research thoughtfully. Add in citations or quotes from your research materials to back up your thesis and main points. This will show that you did the research and that your thesis is backed up by it.
Wrapping Up
Writing an essay doesn’t need to be daunting if you know how to approach it. Using our essay writing steps and tips, you’ll have better knowledge on how to write an essay and you’ll be able to apply it to your next assignment. Once you do this a few times, it will become more natural to you and the essay writing process will become quicker and easier.
If you still need assistance with your essay, check with a student advisor to see if they offer help with writing. At University of the People(UoPeople), we always want our students to succeed, so our student advisors are ready to help with writing skills when necessary.
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Privacy overview.
How to Title an Essay, With Tips and Examples
If you read this blog regularly, you’ll notice something about our blog posts’ titles: They all summarize what their post is about. This is so you know exactly what you’ll find in the post, so if you’re looking for specific tips, you know exactly which post to read.
An essay title does the same thing. There are a lot of similarities between essays and blog posts , and one of those similarities is that for the title to be effective, it needs to be concise and clear. It should also contain one or more keywords, which tells readers the essay’s main topic. Write papers with confidence Grammarly helps you make the grade Write with Grammarly
What is the purpose of an essay title?
An essay title tells readers what your essay is about. This gives them a heads up on what to expect from the essay and, if they’re reading it to conduct their own research, whether it’s relevant to their area of study.
Ideally, an essay title also catches readers’ attention and stokes their curiosity, prompting them to read your work. How important it is to achieve this depends on the kind of essay you’re writing—if it’s an assigned essay and your instructor has to read it, an engaging title isn’t your top priority. But if you’re submitting your essay to a contest, as part of an application to college or graduate school, or pitching it for publication, it needs a catchy, intriguing title because the title is the first part of your work the editor or admissions committee will see. And depending on the title’s catchiness and other circumstances of your submission, it could be the deciding factor in whether they read your essay.
As we mentioned above, a strong essay title gives a clear preview of what the reader will find in your writing . You don’t have to give it all away, but it should act as a general briefing on what to expect from your work and make them want to continue reading it.
>>Read more: How to Start an Essay: 7 Tips for a Knockout Introduction
What are the rules for essay titles?
Guidelines for essay titles in mla format.
In MLA format , your essay’s title should be in title case. That means every principle word— words that aren’t articles , prepositions , coordinating conjunctions , or the word “to” paired with an infinitive —is capitalized. The only exception to this is when one of these words is the first or last word in the essay’s title. Here’s a quick example:
Looking Through the Rear Window: Perspective in Hitchcock’s Films
Guidelines for essay titles in APA format
Similarly to MLA format, APA format requires essay titles to be in title case. In addition to this formatting requirement, APA requires that essay titles be succinct and specifically not contain any abbreviations or unnecessary words. Here is an example of how an essay title looks in APA format:
Effects of Blue Light on Boston Lettuce Crops
See how straightforward this essay title is? You know exactly what the essay is going to be about: How exposure to blue light impacts growing Boston lettuce crops. Keep in mind that APA format is typically used for scientific and technical work, so it’s unlikely you’ll use figurative language in your title.
Guidelines for essay titles in Chicago Manual of Style format
Chicago style also requires that essay titles be in title case. Other than that, Chicago style doesn’t have specific guidelines for what a title should or shouldn’t include. Here is an example of an essay title in Chicago style:
2021 Returns: What We Projected vs. Actual Returns
How to brainstorm your essay title
When you’re brainstorming for your essay, think about the potential titles you can choose. Jot down your keyword and the kind of essay you’re writing, such as an analytical or compare-and-contrast essay . This won’t only help you determine an effective title, but it can also help you determine the best way to structure your essay .
Stay away from punny or otherwise funny titles unless you’re writing a humorous or personal piece—your creative writing class is probably the only course where that kind of title is appropriate.
Here’s what your essay title should include
- One or more relevant keywords to your subject
- Any other necessary words or phrases that tell the reader what to expect from your essay
- When applicable, a catchy phrase or figurative language
Let’s take another look at the example essay titles from the section above. In the first example, Looking Through the Rear Window: Perspective in Hitchcock’s Films , we have the following elements:
- An attention-grabbing phrase that references one of Hitchcock’s most well-known films
- The keyword “perspective,” which tells us immediately what this essay is about
- Clarity around how the essay specifically explores perspective in Hitchcock’s films and instances where Hitchcock used perspective as a storytelling device
Now take a look at the example APA title essay, Effects of Blue Light on Boston Lettuce Crops. This one is more straightforward and technical. But still, it’s got the key elements that make up a strong essay title:
- A clear preview of exactly what’s in the essay: data on how an environmental factor affects specific crops
- Clear keywords: “blue light” and “Boston lettuce crops”
Additionally, notice how the tone is different from the tone in the MLA essay title. This essay title feels more objective and detached from its subject, giving a preview of the tone the reader will find in the essay.
What not to include in your essay title
It’s usually best to stay away from negative or controversial terms. Do this even if your essay is taking a stand against something or arguing that another position is harmful. Instead, reframe your position using neutral or positive words to avoid potentially offending a reader or undermining your own position by coming across as aggressive or bitter. Compare these two essay titles:
- Why Rerouting Campus Traffic Is a Terrible Idea
- Finding Solutions to Campus Traffic Challenges
See how the second option, the one that avoids negative language, sounds more engaging and promises a more resolution-oriented read? Remember, your reader is supposed to draw their own conclusions from your essay—don’t attempt to do their work for them by telling them what to think in your title.
As you brainstorm titles, write them down so you can revisit them after you complete your first draft. Once you have a finished draft , it can be a lot easier to determine the title that fits your essay best.
Essay title examples
Take a look at these example essay titles and take note of how the tones and vocabulary vary between essay types. A title that’s perfect for a persuasive essay might not be right for a college application or expository essay . And similarly, a title that works for a comparative essay might be too lackluster for a personal or argumentative essay .
Personal essays
Why I’ll Never Wear a Blue Baseball Cap Again
How 20 Years in Corporate America Made Me a Better Parent
Analytical essays
What is Love? How Romantic and Modern Artists’ Answers Differ
Three Reasons Why We Won’t See a Repeat of the 2008 Bubble
Argumentative essays
The Correlation between New School Buildings and Higher Test Scores—Three Stats You Can’t Ignore
Are We Using the Right Success Metrics for Students?
Persuasive essays
Four Ways Free Wi-Fi Will Boost the City’s Economy
Unless We Take Action, This Heat Wave Is Just the Beginning
Compare-and-contrast essays
Dynamite, Profit, and the Pursuit of Power: Chasing White Whales in Moby Dick and Jaws
Outdoor Growth Patterns of Shiitake and Lion’s Mane Mushrooms
College application essays
What Scooping Ice Cream Taught Me about Human Nature
Dancing and Math Are More Similar than You Realize
Essay title FAQs
What is an essay title.
An essay title concisely states what an essay is about.
Why is an essay title important?
An essay title is important because it accomplishes a few things:
- Tells readers what the essay is about
- Catches potential readers’ attention
- Helps researchers sort essays and find the ones most relevant to their work
What should you consider when creating an essay title?
When creating an essay title, think about the essay’s purpose. Then, explain the essay’s subject and purpose in a brief clause or short sentence, making it appropriately intriguing to draw readers’ attention.
46 Great Essay Writing Topics for Students
Before you sit down to write, you need a topic, and these essay writing topics can help you get started.
Writing an essay is an important skill for high school and college students. Essays show a writer’s ability to think through a topic, explore their point of view and persuade or inform others of that. Yet finding essay writing topics can feel vague.
This list will help students find the right topic for a descriptive essay or argumentative essay. It outlines a number of hot topics that students can delve into in order to express their opinions and showcase their writing skills. You can use these to practice your essay writing skills or as prompts for you or students.
Best Essay Writing Topics for Middle School Students
Controversial essay writing topics for older students, persuasive essay topics for older students, compare and contrast essays for older students, narrative essay topics for older students, informative essay topics for older students, a final word on the best essay writing topics, faqs about the best essay writing topics, essay writing resources.
If you are picking an essay for a 7th or 8th-grade student, the topic needs to be something that students in that age range are interested in. This will help them want to do the research and explore their ideas. This age range will often write expository essays or narrative essays, rather than persuasive ones.
Here are some essay topics to consider:
1. Is Climate Change Real?
Climate change is a hot topic with middle schoolers, and this essay topic idea lets them explore it. This essay topic can work well for a persuasive, informative, or cause-and-effect essay.
2. The Benefits (Or Drawbacks) of Homework
Few middle school students enjoy homework, but this can be a great way to get them to dig into why the education system relies on homework. Students can give their opinion about the need for homework or why homework should be eliminated.
3. A Funny Childhood Memory
Middle school students who are not ready to write on argumentative essay topics can practice their English essay writing skills by writing about a funny thing that happened as a child. This topic should focus on entertaining, engaging storytelling.
4. Video Game Addiction
Many young students spend a lot of time playing video games, and this can translate into an essay topic. Exploring the mental health effects of too much video gameplay is a good option. Ask them to write about games they live or spend too much time playing.
5. A Dog, Cat Or The Family Pet
Sometimes younger students find it difficult to write an entire essay about a challenging topic. If that’s the case it’s much easier to write an essay about something they’re familiar with or spend time with every day. Often that’s the family dog cat or pet. They can write about what this animal means to them.
6. My Summer Vacation
This is a staple choice of teachers everywhere, particularly after the summer break. All younger students can write essays easily enough about how they spent a few weeks of school what it is and where they went. Perhaps it was time with a family member or a best friend? There is a good reason that many elementary and middle school teachers assign this as a writing assignment at the start of school.
7. A Personal Victory or Success
A student could start writing this essay by writing about when they felt like all was lost. Then, they could describe how picked themselves up off the dirt and achieved a victory.
8. What Will Life Be Like In 2050?
Will we find solutions to the problems we face today, like poverty and homelessness? Will technology enrich our lives further or be the cause of new issues?
Many young students often think about the future, and this topic allows them to let their imagination run loose.
This way they can express their ideas on how the world will look like in a few decades. It also gives you insight into the child’s personality. Do they see the positives in everything, or are they a bit more realistic?
9. A Trip To The Museum
As children, we loved going to the museum. Even today, it’s interesting to look at historical art, sculptures, and old vehicles.
This essay topic works exceptionally well right after a school holiday. Maybe the young student just witnessed some of the best historical pieces. Writing about this topic allows them to reconnect with the emotion they felt.
In this essay, ask students what they liked most about visiting the museum, important lessons they learned, and how they felt in the moment.
10. Describe Meeting A Famous Person
We all have favorite celebrities that we’d love to meet. This could be an actor, musician, or athlete.
In this essay topic, ask students to describe what it’s like to meet a famous person. How would they feel, what questions would the student ask them, and what activities would they do together.
By asking your student to write the essay as descriptively as possible, they’ll experience the positive emotions associated with meeting their idol.
As they enter high school and college, students should start transitioning from informative essays to persuasive ones. Controversial essay topics are a good way to do this. They help students develop their critical thinking skills and learn how to reason an argument. The below topics the bill well:
10. Why the Sale and Production of Tobacco Should Get Banned
Few people would argue about the health benefits of tobacco, yet it remains a top-selling product. This essay would explore the benefits of banning the sale of the product altogether.
11. Should Every Country Have the Death Sentence?
The death sentence is definitely a controversial ethical and social issue. This essay topic would explore whether or not it is a good way to punish for serious crimes and the benefit or drawback of adding it to every country across the globe.
12. Is Homeschooling Better or Worse than Public School?
Homeschooling is growing in popularity, and this school essay topic would explore the benefits or drawbacks of this particular school choice. It may pull from personal experience if the student homeschooled.
13. Is The US Election Process Fair?
Elections are an essential part of our lives. It gives us the power to determine who’ll govern our country. However, is the election process fair?
In the essay, your student will get an opportunity to voice their ideas, describe what changes they’d like to see, and how those changes will positively impact the nation.
This essay topic requires more research, and students walk away with knowledge that can help them in the long term.
14. How Can We Reduce Climate Change?
Climate change is a serious topic that impacts everyone’s life. Sea levels are rising, which makes it difficult for animals like polar bears to survive.
When writing about this essay topic, students will have to research the effect of climate change, what causes it, and how to reduce its impact.
This requires logical thinking and creativity. It’ll encourage students to come up with a plan of action. Maybe they’ll limit the number of carbon emissions released by companies, promote solar power, or decrease the price of energy-efficient appliances.
Persuasive essays work to convince a reader of the writer’s point of view. These topics lend themselves well to a great essay that focuses on persuasion.
15. Why Soda Should Not Be on Fast Food Kids Meals
Fast food kids meals target young consumers, and soda is often included. Making junk food a way of life contributes to childhood obesity, and this topic could explore alternatives to soda for these kid-centered meals.
16. Illegal Immigrants Should Not Be Jailed
When people enter a country illegally, putting them in jail does not solve the problem. Instead, alternative punishments or even help with attaining legal immigrant status can reduce the strain on an overloaded system while also helping these individuals become part of society.
17. Breastfeeding in Public Should Be Considered Normal
Babies need breast milk to survive, yet many places in society frown on women feeding their babies in public. This essay topic would explore why this is an outdated and unhealthy idea.
18. Why Gun Control Is Needed
The best topics for persuasive essays are ones that are a little controversial. Gun control fits the bill well, and it can be a good topic for an essay. Other topics include alcohol, drugs and, in some cases, religion. That said, it depends on the nature of your students and school.
19. A Turning Point In Your Life
All the students can typically point to an occasion or life event when their worldview or concept that themselves changed ask them to write about a defining life experience.
20. Should Religion Be Taught In Schools?
This essay topic is for older students and adults learners who can take a thoughtful but critical stance on the role of religion in school’s today. Should it be taught or removed from schools and why?
21. Recycling Should Be Compulsory
The average American produces 1,704 pounds of garbage per year. Most of this is thrown in landfills, which can be equally as damaging to the environment as littering. Oceans are also filled with plastic that negatively affects the lives of marine life.
However, if we can recycle all that waste, we won’t damage the environment. This essay topic encourages older students to research recycling and the pros and cons of making it mandatory.
22. Colleges Are Becoming Business Driven
Getting a tertiary education is essential. It allows you to learn a marketable skill that other people pay you for.
However, private colleges are becoming more common, leading people to think that these institutions are more focused on making money.
When writing about this topic, students need to research the cost of college tuition, how this high price negatively impacts your adult lives, and how the government can fix it.
This type of essay compares two like or unlike things, drawing ways they are the same or different. It’s useful as it provides structure for aspiring essayists that they can use to outline a longer work. Some ideas include:
23. Homework vs. Class Assignments
Which has more value, homework or assignments completed in class? This essay topic would explore the contrast between these two types of school assignments. For fun, give it to students to complete in class… and then ask them to revise it at home.
24. Social Media Vs. In-Person Interaction
Social media can keep people connected, but the increased push for social media connection can detract from in-person communication. This essay would explore the contrast between the two types of communication.
25. Physical Education Vs. Nutritional Education
Both exercise and diet play a role in health. This essay topic would explore the impact of both through the education system.
26. Life Before And After The Internet
Older students and adult learners can remember a time before we spend so much time. Is life any better now that we spend so much time connected to the Internet? This essay explores what it means to be always connected.
27. Right Side Vs Left Side of the Brian Thinkers
The right side of the brain thinkers are typically more creative and artistic. The left side of the brain thinkers are analytical and mathematical. What’s more useful in today’s society? What can each type learn from their counterpart?
28. Tea Vs Coffee
Caffeine is a staple for many students and workers. It gives you a boost of energy in the morning, which allows you to get more done. It also helps if you have a test coming up and need to study hard.
However, larger amounts of caffeine are known to cause heart palpitations, anxiety, and increased stress.
In this essay, students look at the benefits and drawbacks of tea and coffee. It empowers them with knowledge on when to limit their consumption.
29. Fashion Today Vs 20 Years Ago
Fashion is constantly changing. What looked cool 20 years ago might look weird today. Older students will also notice how their fashion choices changed from middle school to high school and from high school to college.
In this essay, students talk about what causes this change and how long it takes for the public to accept a specific style.
Sometimes an everyday life experience can make great essay material, and writing about your own life means less risk of plagiarism. Here are some ideas:
30. First Day of School Memories
The first day of school in a new school can be the fodder for a number of personal stories about school life and the social aspects of it. Writers can capture those emotions in this type of essay. It’s also a good type of essay to write as it can serve as a gateway into other types of writing like a memoir.
31. A Memorable Act of Kindness
If someone did something for you once that really stood out, transform that into an essay topic. You will enjoy remembering the action while creating your essay.
32. Your Best or Worst Holiday
What you did or didn’t do on your summer vacation as a child can be a great starting point for a narrative essay. Older students can use this essay prompt to write about past experiences and reflect on them beyond simply reportage.
33. An Experience with Peer Pressure
Peer pressure can be positive or negative, but everyone has experienced it. This essay would explore a time when peer pressure made you do something, or not do something, and what the effect of that decision was.
34. A surprising Event or Change of Fortune.
Was this change in your life for the best or the worst, and how did you respond? Describe in detail.
35. Your First Teacher
When you first met your mentor, teacher or guide. How did you respond to them, and what did they have to show you? Similarly, a student could also write an essay about a teacher they shunned or turned away from.
36. Your Idea Of The Perfect Day
When waking up in the morning, we all strive to have the perfect day. Ask students how their perfect day will look like, what activities they’d do, and with who.
By being as descriptive as possible, students picture the perfect day in their minds. This improves students’ storytelling skills and helps them structure events in chronological order.
37. Imagine A Week Without The Internet Or Technology
This fun experiment gives students insight into how reliant they are on technology and how their life will look without it.
By imagining this week in their heads, it’ll give them an idea of what other activities they’ll engage in. This could be working out, socializing, or learning a new skill.
38. A Day You Overcame Rejection
Rejection is something everyone must face at some point. Few things are scarier than rejection. But when you overcome it, you get a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction.
For example, this could be asking that cute guy or girl out on a date or applying for a job at your dream company.
Sometimes the goal of an essay is not to persuade but to inform. Informative or expository essay topics need to have a lot of information behind them, so students have something to write about.. These topics lend themselves well to that:
39. How is Global Warming Changing the Environment
Global warming has many effects, and this essay topic would explore those thoroughly. The goal is simply to inform, not persuade or create change.
40. The Causes of World War II
Exploring the causes behind a global war, like World War II, can create a long essay. You can spin this essay topic easily enough by picking other historical events.
41. What Is Racism, and How Are People Sometimes Unaware of It?
Racism is a hot topic today, and this essay would explore how it can often hide in someone’s way of thinking.
42. Does Free Will Exist?
A popular essay topic in many philosophy and art classes, this is an open-ended subject. A student can use it to explore their personal philosophy and develop their critical thinking skills.
Check out this list for other philosophy questions .
43. What Reading Means to Me
Becoming a better writer means spending a lot of time reading great books. One of the best ways to encourage reading is asking readers and students to reflect on why they love reading what they learned from previous books. It’s good subject matter for an essay too.
44. The Role Of Journalists and the Media
Many people are skeptical and or don’t trust news produced by journalists. But are they right? Surely there is a bar between trustworthy and untrustworthy sources? In this essay, explore how to tell good journalism apart from bad journalism.
45. Animal Testing Should Be Banned
When testing products to see if it’s safe for humans, scientists will run tests on animals. However, this testing isn’t only cruel but ineffective. Animals don’t get certain diseases that humans do. This includes HIV, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, and certain types of cancers.
In this essay, students must conduct research and present a case for why animal testing is unethical.
46. Why Do Teenagers Commit Suicide?
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for those between the ages of 10 to 24. This is a complex topic since there could be several different factors at play. Some of these include bullying, abuse, and traumatic stress.
When writing this essay, students will be encouraged to dig deeper into the main reasons why teenagers commit suicide and how we can help them as a community. This spreads awareness and gets people to take positive action.
Whether you are a high school student writing an essay for homework or you are sitting down to write a college essay as you apply for school, procrastination often occurs because you do not know what to write about. Having a list of topics handy will help.
To choose a topic, first, decide what type of essay you need to write. Then, browse this list of writing topics to find one that is interesting to you, or use the list to think of a different, similar topic. Soon you will have an essay that is engaging and informative that can showcase your writing abilities well.
If you need more inspiration, check out our guide to the 101+ best writing prompts .
What are some topics for a persuasive essay?
Persuasive essays require a controversial topic in order to give the writer the freedom to write in a persuasive manner. Some good topics for these essays include: Soda in fast food meals Breastfeeding in public Using jail to deter illegal immigrants Banning cell phones for young children
What are some good topics for an essay?
Some good topics for an essay include: Gun control Social media Personal experiences Health Social issues A life event
What is a Personal Essay?
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Nicole Harms has been writing professionally since 2006. She specializes in education content and real estate writing but enjoys a wide gamut of topics. Her goal is to connect with the reader in an engaging, but informative way. Her work has been featured on USA Today, and she ghostwrites for many high-profile companies. As a former teacher, she is passionate about both research and grammar, giving her clients the quality they demand in today's online marketing world.
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9 Easy Steps on How to Write an Essay 03/15/22
How to Write a Good Essay
Many college applications require an essay. This is a way for the school to learn a bit about the student. It also may help them make a decision about whether to extend an offer to attend the school based on the quality and content of the essay. For those who are planning to apply, there are a few things to keep in mind on how to write an essay.
What Is an Essay?
An essay for a college application often is a short few paragraphs of content that answers a question posed by the college admissions team. The use of an essay like this may allow the school to learn a bit about the student as well as the reason they wish to attend.
What is an essay itself? Essays are short pieces of content that provide information in a clear, easy-to-follow manner. What is essay format if asked for it? An essay format typically starts with an introduction, includes topic sentences, and offers a consolation that wraps up and makes a point.
Understand the Essay Prompt
What is an essay prompt? A college essay prompt is often a question or topic that the college administration wants the prospective student to write about in their essay. Some schools offer several options to choose from, while others have a single prompt question to answer.
Essay prompt examples may include:
- Share a story about a difficult time in your life and how you overcame the challenge.
- Talk about an instance in your life where you demonstrated personal growth.
- Who is a person you admire? Why?
- How do you approach challenges or solve problems?
- Where do you see yourself after college?
Write a Thesis Statement
How do you write a thesis statement for a college essay? Start with understanding the question being asked in the essay prompt. Then, create an answer to that question that wraps up your thoughts and feelings. A thesis statement should provide a direct answer to the topic in many cases. You then may expand on this answer in the essay, creating a point.
You may learn how to write a thesis statement by first creating a few notes about what your answer is to the prompt. Sometimes it is easier to create an outline and then a statement from it.
Make an Essay Outline
You may be able to find essay outline examples online that offer some great starting points. However, it is often beneficial to create your own based on the topic and your answer to it. To create a college essay outline, start with writing down a few topics that you want to address within the essay. Then, create a logical order for those topics, building an outline around the topic that leads from the thesis statement to your conclusion.
Begin with the Body, Write the Essay Introduction Later
Don’t start with the introduction. The introduction is where some students struggle, so to avoid getting bogged down, create the introduction later. This allows you to fully form your thoughts and ideas and come back and integrate the main ideas into your introduction.
Remember Your Paragraph Topic Sentence
What is a topic sentence? A topic sentence is the main point of each paragraph within your college essay. Each paragraph has one specific point or thought that is expanded on within the paragraph with supporting sentences to the topic sentence, in many cases. A topic sentence example may be, “One of the reasons I wish to pursue this college degree program is because I enjoy working with people.” From here, you may wish to provide examples of why or how you help people.
Why Do You Need to Use Credible Sources?
What makes a source credible? Credible sources are those that are typically respected as non-biased providers of information. Credible sources are often important in a college essay if you need to source facts and figures or specific information that comes from a specific organization. It may also help prove your argumentative essay and aids in providing backup for the statements made.
Write a Great Essay Conclusion
A great essay conclusion wraps up the entire piece. It should restate the thesis statement in a new way and add in some of the topic sentence statements that help prove or expand on the topic. Essay conclusion examples may show a round up of information from the entire piece but should not restate the entire essay again. Keep it short and to the point, summarizing what the essay included.
Proofread Essay
Reviewing is critical to creating a great essay. Some teachers won’t even finish reading essays if they’re not grammatically sound or riddled with spelling errors . Here are a few ways to make your essay or research paper more academically acceptable and better overall.
- Take out all conjunctions (aren’t, don’t, couldn’t, etc.). This may make your paper longer and more appropriate for academic writing.
- Print out your paper, read it, and mark it up. You may notice more errors when reading it this way than on a computer screen.
- Have friends or parents read it. A second set of eyes may catch any mistakes you missed.
- Read it out loud. This may help with grammar mistakes. If it sounds wrong, it probably is.
How to Write a Great Essay
Here are nine essay writing tips to create a great essay for either college, scholarship, or for your homework.
- Make sure you understand the topic you’re going to write about
- Write a strong, clear, concise thesis to set the tone/intent/direction
- Outline your thoughts and ideas in a rough draft
- Circle back to your introductory paragraph if it’s giving you a hard time
- Each paragraph needs a sentence to frame what it’s going to discuss
- Cite reputable sources and use these quotes to support your opinion
- Stay focused on the topic you clarified in step #1
- Finish by summing up the point you made and how you came to it
- Check for errors and to make sure your essay hits the nail on the head
Writers of all skill levels could find it a challenge to write an essay, especially on a subject they don’t know well. But the above writing tips could make the process a little easier and a lot less stressful. Use your writing skills to apply for scholarships. Check out our Scholarship Match to find scholarships that are optimal for you.
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12 Strategies to Writing the Perfect College Essay
College admission committees sift through thousands of college essays each year. Here’s how to make yours stand out.
Pamela Reynolds
When it comes to deciding who they will admit into their programs, colleges consider many criteria, including high school grades, extracurricular activities, and ACT and SAT scores. But in recent years, more colleges are no longer considering test scores.
Instead, many (including Harvard through 2026) are opting for “test-blind” admission policies that give more weight to other elements in a college application. This policy change is seen as fairer to students who don’t have the means or access to testing, or who suffer from test anxiety.
So, what does this mean for you?
Simply that your college essay, traditionally a requirement of any college application, is more important than ever.
A college essay is your unique opportunity to introduce yourself to admissions committees who must comb through thousands of applications each year. It is your chance to stand out as someone worthy of a seat in that classroom.
A well-written and thoughtful essay—reflecting who you are and what you believe—can go a long way to separating your application from the slew of forgettable ones that admissions officers read. Indeed, officers may rely on them even more now that many colleges are not considering test scores.
Below we’ll discuss a few strategies you can use to help your essay stand out from the pack. We’ll touch on how to start your essay, what you should write for your college essay, and elements that make for a great college essay.
Be Authentic
More than any other consideration, you should choose a topic or point of view that is consistent with who you truly are.
Readers can sense when writers are inauthentic.
Inauthenticity could mean the use of overly flowery language that no one would ever use in conversation, or it could mean choosing an inconsequential topic that reveals very little about who you are.
Use your own voice, sense of humor, and a natural way of speaking.
Whatever subject you choose, make sure it’s something that’s genuinely important to you and not a subject you’ve chosen just to impress. You can write about a specific experience, hobby, or personality quirk that illustrates your strengths, but also feel free to write about your weaknesses.
Honesty about traits, situations, or a childhood background that you are working to improve may resonate with the reader more strongly than a glib victory speech.
Grab the Reader From the Start
You’ll be competing with so many other applicants for an admission officer’s attention.
Therefore, start your essay with an opening sentence or paragraph that immediately seizes the imagination. This might be a bold statement, a thoughtful quote, a question you pose, or a descriptive scene.
Starting your essay in a powerful way with a clear thesis statement can often help you along in the writing process. If your task is to tell a good story, a bold beginning can be a natural prelude to getting there, serving as a roadmap, engaging the reader from the start, and presenting the purpose of your writing.
Focus on Deeper Themes
Some essay writers think they will impress committees by loading an essay with facts, figures, and descriptions of activities, like wins in sports or descriptions of volunteer work. But that’s not the point.
College admissions officers are interested in learning more about who you are as a person and what makes you tick.
They want to know what has brought you to this stage in life. They want to read about realizations you may have come to through adversity as well as your successes, not just about how many games you won while on the soccer team or how many people you served at a soup kitchen.
Let the reader know how winning the soccer game helped you develop as a person, friend, family member, or leader. Make a connection with your soup kitchen volunteerism and how it may have inspired your educational journey and future aspirations. What did you discover about yourself?
Show Don’t Tell
As you expand on whatever theme you’ve decided to explore in your essay, remember to show, don’t tell.
The most engaging writing “shows” by setting scenes and providing anecdotes, rather than just providing a list of accomplishments and activities.
Reciting a list of activities is also boring. An admissions officer will want to know about the arc of your emotional journey too.
Try Doing Something Different
If you want your essay to stand out, think about approaching your subject from an entirely new perspective. While many students might choose to write about their wins, for instance, what if you wrote an essay about what you learned from all your losses?
If you are an especially talented writer, you might play with the element of surprise by crafting an essay that leaves the response to a question to the very last sentence.
You may want to stay away from well-worn themes entirely, like a sports-related obstacle or success, volunteer stories, immigration stories, moving, a summary of personal achievements or overcoming obstacles.
However, such themes are popular for a reason. They represent the totality of most people’s lives coming out of high school. Therefore, it may be less important to stay away from these topics than to take a fresh approach.
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Write With the Reader in Mind
Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another.
Use transitions between paragraphs.
Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme?
Be sure you can answer questions such as: Does what you have written make sense? Is the essay organized? Does the opening grab the reader? Is there a strong ending? Have you given enough background information? Is it wordy?
Write Several Drafts
Set your essay aside for a few days and come back to it after you’ve had some time to forget what you’ve written. Often, you’ll discover you have a whole new perspective that enhances your ability to make revisions.
Start writing months before your essay is due to give yourself enough time to write multiple drafts. A good time to start could be as early as the summer before your senior year when homework and extracurricular activities take up less time.
Read It Aloud
Writer’s tip : Reading your essay aloud can instantly uncover passages that sound clumsy, long-winded, or false.
Don’t Repeat
If you’ve mentioned an activity, story, or anecdote in some other part of your application, don’t repeat it again in your essay.
Your essay should tell college admissions officers something new. Whatever you write in your essay should be in philosophical alignment with the rest of your application.
Also, be sure you’ve answered whatever question or prompt may have been posed to you at the outset.
Ask Others to Read Your Essay
Be sure the people you ask to read your essay represent different demographic groups—a teacher, a parent, even a younger sister or brother.
Ask each reader what they took from the essay and listen closely to what they have to say. If anyone expresses confusion, revise until the confusion is cleared up.
Pay Attention to Form
Although there are often no strict word limits for college essays, most essays are shorter rather than longer. Common App, which students can use to submit to multiple colleges, suggests that essays stay at about 650 words.
“While we won’t as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you’d hoped it would,” the Common App website states.
In reviewing other technical aspects of your essay, be sure that the font is readable, that the margins are properly spaced, that any dialogue is set off properly, and that there is enough spacing at the top. Your essay should look clean and inviting to readers.
End Your Essay With a “Kicker”
In journalism, a kicker is the last punchy line, paragraph, or section that brings everything together.
It provides a lasting impression that leaves the reader satisfied and impressed by the points you have artfully woven throughout your piece.
So, here’s our kicker: Be concise and coherent, engage in honest self-reflection, and include vivid details and anecdotes that deftly illustrate your point.
While writing a fantastic essay may not guarantee you get selected, it can tip the balance in your favor if admissions officers are considering a candidate with a similar GPA and background.
Write, revise, revise again, and good luck!
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About the Author
Pamela Reynolds is a Boston-area feature writer and editor whose work appears in numerous publications. She is the author of “Revamp: A Memoir of Travel and Obsessive Renovation.”
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Top 5 ChatGPT Alternatives for Essay Writing in 2023
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1. The Good AI
Premium Plan: The Premium plan comes with $5/month, allowing you to generate essays of up to 1200 words with an AI autocomplete feature.
2. Paraphrasingtool.ai
Generating essays using this AI essay writer is very simple and easy. You just need to have an essay topic in mind, and the program will start writing your essay from scratch. Enter the essay topic, click “Generate Text,” and the program will do everything for you.
Tinywow’s AI Essay writer is the third essay generator tool and an excellent option if you’re looking for a ChatGPT alternative for essay writing. One of the best things about Tinywow is that you don’t need to sign up for their website to use their AI Essay writing tool- and it’s completely free to use with no limits!
With its intuitive user interface, input your desired topic, and Smodin will do the rest. You’ll have a unique, well-written essay or article in no time – no plagiarism checker needed!
Smodin.io helps writers improve their writing skills with a wide range of features. Some key features include grammar and punctuation checking, style suggestions, a plagiarism checker, and an article rewriter tool.
Productive Plan: This plan provides the best value at just $29 per month. You’ll have access to all features in the essentials plan, plus Google Scholar Search. This enables users to use Google Scholar while checking for plagiarism.
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- Academic Skills
- Essay writing
Six top tips for writing a great essay
An essay is used to assess the strength of your critical thinking and your ability to put that thinking into an academic written form. This resource covers some key considerations when writing an essay at university.
While reading a student’s essay, markers will ask themselves questions such as:
- Does this essay directly address the set task?
- Does it present a strong, supported position?
- Does it use relevant sources appropriately?
- Is the expression clear, and the style appropriate?
- Is the essay organised coherently? Is there a clear introduction, body and conclusion?
You can use these questions to reflect on your own writing. Here are six top tips to help you address these criteria.
1. Analyse the question
Student essays are responses to specific questions. As an essay must address the question directly, your first step should be to analyse the question. Make sure you know exactly what is being asked of you.
Generally, essay questions contain three component parts:
- Content terms: Key concepts that are specific to the task
- Limiting terms: The scope that the topic focuses on
- Directive terms: What you need to do in relation to the content, e.g. discuss, analyse, define, compare, evaluate.
Look at the following essay question:
Discuss the importance of light in Gothic architecture.
- Content terms: Gothic architecture
- Limiting terms: the importance of light. If you discussed some other feature of Gothic architecture, for example spires or arches, you would be deviating from what is required. This essay question is limited to a discussion of light. Likewise, it asks you to write about the importance of light – not, for example, to discuss how light enters Gothic churches.
- Directive term: discuss. This term asks you to take a broad approach to the variety of ways in which light may be important for Gothic architecture. You should introduce and consider different ideas and opinions that you have met in academic literature on this topic, citing them appropriately .
For a more complex question, you can highlight the key words and break it down into a series of sub-questions to make sure you answer all parts of the task. Consider the following question (from Arts):
To what extent can the American Revolution be understood as a revolution ‘from below’? Why did working people become involved and with what aims in mind?
The key words here are American Revolution and revolution ‘from below’. This is a view that you would need to respond to in this essay. This response must focus on the aims and motivations of working people in the revolution, as stated in the second question.
2. Define your argument
As you plan and prepare to write the essay, you must consider what your argument is going to be. This means taking an informed position or point of view on the topic presented in the question, then defining and presenting a specific argument.
Consider these two argument statements:
The architectural use of light in Gothic cathedrals physically embodied the significance of light in medieval theology.
In the Gothic cathedral of Cologne, light served to accentuate the authority and ritual centrality of the priest.
Statements like these define an essay’s argument. They give coherence by providing an overarching theme and position towards which the entire essay is directed.
3. Use evidence, reasoning and scholarship
To convince your audience of your argument, you must use evidence and reasoning, which involves referring to and evaluating relevant scholarship.
- Evidence provides concrete information to support your claim. It typically consists of specific examples, facts, quotations, statistics and illustrations.
- Reasoning connects the evidence to your argument. Rather than citing evidence like a shopping list, you need to evaluate the evidence and show how it supports your argument.
- Scholarship is used to show how your argument relates to what has been written on the topic (citing specific works). Scholarship can be used as part of your evidence and reasoning to support your argument.
4. Organise a coherent essay
An essay has three basic components - introduction, body and conclusion.
The purpose of an introduction is to introduce your essay. It typically presents information in the following order:
- A general statement about the topic that provides context for your argument
- A thesis statement showing your argument. You can use explicit lead-ins, such as ‘This essay argues that...’
- A ‘road map’ of the essay, telling the reader how it is going to present and develop your argument.
Example introduction
"To what extent can the American Revolution be understood as a revolution ‘from below’? Why did working people become involved and with what aims in mind?"
Introduction*
Historians generally concentrate on the twenty-year period between 1763 and 1783 as the period which constitutes the American Revolution [This sentence sets the general context of the period] . However, when considering the involvement of working people, or people from below, in the revolution it is important to make a distinction between the pre-revolutionary period 1763-1774 and the revolutionary period 1774-1788, marked by the establishment of the continental Congress(1) [This sentence defines the key term from below and gives more context to the argument that follows] . This paper will argue that the nature and aims of the actions of working people are difficult to assess as it changed according to each phase [This is the thesis statement] . The pre-revolutionary period was characterised by opposition to Britain’s authority. During this period the aims and actions of the working people were more conservative as they responded to grievances related to taxes and scarce land, issues which directly affected them. However, examination of activities such as the organisation of crowd action and town meetings, pamphlet writing, formal communications to Britain of American grievances and physical action in the streets, demonstrates that their aims and actions became more revolutionary after 1775 [These sentences give the ‘road map’ or overview of the content of the essay] .
The body of the essay develops and elaborates your argument. It does this by presenting a reasoned case supported by evidence from relevant scholarship. Its shape corresponds to the overview that you provided in your introduction.
The body of your essay should be written in paragraphs. Each body paragraph should develop one main idea that supports your argument. To learn how to structure a paragraph, look at the page developing clarity and focus in academic writing or do the Canvas module building good paragraphs .
Your conclusion should not offer any new material. Your evidence and argumentation should have been made clear to the reader in the body of the essay.
Use the conclusion to briefly restate the main argumentative position and provide a short summary of the themes discussed. In addition, also consider telling your reader:
- What the significance of your findings, or the implications of your conclusion, might be
- Whether there are other factors which need to be looked at, but which were outside the scope of the essay
- How your topic links to the wider context (‘bigger picture’) in your discipline.
Do not simply repeat yourself in this section. A conclusion which merely summarises is repetitive and reduces the impact of your paper.
Example conclusion
Conclusion*.
Although, to a large extent, the working class were mainly those in the forefront of crowd action and they also led the revolts against wealthy plantation farmers, the American Revolution was not a class struggle [This is a statement of the concluding position of the essay]. Working people participated because the issues directly affected them – the threat posed by powerful landowners and the tyranny Britain represented. Whereas the aims and actions of the working classes were more concerned with resistance to British rule during the pre-revolutionary period, they became more revolutionary in nature after 1775 when the tension with Britain escalated [These sentences restate the key argument]. With this shift, a change in ideas occurred. In terms of considering the Revolution as a whole range of activities such as organising riots, communicating to Britain, attendance at town hall meetings and pamphlet writing, a difficulty emerges in that all classes were involved. Therefore, it is impossible to assess the extent to which a single group such as working people contributed to the American Revolution [These sentences give final thoughts on the topic].
5. Write clearly
An essay that makes good, evidence-supported points will only receive a high grade if it is written clearly. Clarity is produced through careful revision and editing, which can turn a good essay into an excellent one.
When you edit your essay, try to view it with fresh eyes – almost as if someone else had written it.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Overall structure
- Have you clearly stated your argument in your introduction?
- Does the actual structure correspond to the ‘road map’ set out in your introduction?
- Have you clearly indicated how your main points support your argument?
- Have you clearly signposted the transitions between each of your main points for your reader?
- Does each paragraph introduce one main idea?
- Does every sentence in the paragraph support that main idea?
- Does each paragraph display relevant evidence and reasoning?
- Does each paragraph logically follow on from the one before it?
- Is each sentence grammatically complete?
- Is the spelling correct?
- Is the link between sentences clear to your readers?
- Have you avoided redundancy and repetition?
See more about editing on our editing your writing page.
6. Cite sources and evidence
Finally, check your citations to make sure that they are accurate and complete. Some faculties require you to use a specific citation style (e.g. APA) while others may allow you to choose a preferred one. Whatever style you use, you must follow its guidelines correctly and consistently. You can use Recite, the University of Melbourne style guide, to check your citations.
Further resources
- Germov, J. (2011). Get great marks for your essays, reports and presentations (3rd ed.). NSW: Allen and Unwin.
- Using English for Academic Purposes: A guide for students in Higher Education [online]. Retrieved January 2020 from http://www.uefap.com
- Williams, J.M. & Colomb, G. G. (2010) Style: Lessons in clarity and grace. 10th ed. New York: Longman.
* Example introduction and conclusion adapted from a student paper.
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Academic writing aims to be clear and precise, with a direct style that moves logically from one idea to the next. This page describes how you can structure sentences and paragraphs to achieve clarity and ‘flow’ in your writing.
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- How to Write a College Essay
College admissions experts offer tips on selecting a topic as well as writing and editing the essay.
Students can go online to review essay requirements for the colleges they want to apply to, such as word limits and essay topics. Many students may start with the Common App, an application platform accepted by more than 900 schools. (Getty Images)
Not only is the college essay a place to showcase writing skills, it's one of the only parts of a college application where a student's voice can shine through.
Unlike test scores and transcripts, the college admissions essay offers students a chance to showcase their personality.
"The essays are important in part because this is a student's chance to really speak directly to the admissions office," says Adam Sapp, assistant vice president and director of admissions at Pomona College in California.
Prospective college students want their essay, sometimes called a personal statement, to make a good impression and boost their chances of being accepted, but they have only several hundred words to make that happen.
This can feel like a lot of pressure.
"I think this is the part of the application process that students are sometimes most challenged by," says Niki Barron, associate dean of admission at Hamilton College in New York, "because they're looking at a blank piece of paper and they don't know where to get started."
That pressure may be amplified as many colleges have gone test-optional in the past year, meaning that ACT and SAT scores will be considered if submitted but are not required. Other schools have gone test-blind and don't consider such scores at all. In the absence of test scores, some admissions experts have suggested that more attention will be paid to other parts of an application, such as the essay.
But just as each applicant is unique, so are college admissions policies and priorities.
"Being test optional hasn't changed how we use essays in our selection process, and I wouldn't say that the essay serves as a substitute for standardized test scores," Barron wrote in an email. "A student's academic preparation for our classroom experience is always front and center in our application review process."
Essay writing tips offered by experts emphasize the importance of being concise, coherent, congenial, honest and accurate. An applicant should also flex some intellectual muscle and include vivid details or anecdotes.
From brainstorming essay topics to editing the final draft, here's what students need to know about crafting a strong college essay.
Step-by-Step Guide to Writing a College Application Essay
- 1. Explore essay prompts and select a topic.
- 2. Start your college essay outline before jumping in.
- 3. Write the essay and leave time for multiple drafts.
- 4. Edit and proofread your essay.
- 5. Submit your essay.
Getting Started on the College Essay
A good time for students to begin working on their essays is the summer before senior year, experts say, when homework and extracurricular activities aren't taking up time and mental energy.
Starting early will also give students plenty of time to work through multiple drafts of an essay before college application deadlines, which can be as early as November for students applying for early decision or early action .
Students can go online to review essay requirements for the colleges they want to apply to, such as word limits and essay topics. Many students may start with the Common App , an application platform accepted by more than 900 schools.
In addition to the main essay, some colleges ask applicants to submit one or more additional writing samples. Students are often asked to explain why they are interested in a particular school or academic field in these supplemental essays , which tend to be shorter than the main essay.
Students will want to budget more time for the writing process if the schools they're applying to ask for supplemental essays.
"Most selective colleges will ask for more than one piece of writing. Don't spend all your time working on one long essay and then forget to devote energy to other parts of the application," Sapp says, noting there may be additional questions on an application requiring thoughtfully written responses.
How Long Should a College Essay Be?
Though the Common App – which students can submit to multiple colleges – notes that "there are no strict word limits" for its main essay, it suggests a cap of about 650 words.
"While we won't as a rule stop reading after 650 words, we cannot promise that an overly wordy essay will hold our attention for as long as you'd hoped it would," the Common App website states.
The word count is much shorter for institution-specific supplemental essays, which are typically around 250 words.
How to Pick a College Essay Topic
The first and sometimes most daunting step in the essay writing process is figuring out what to write about.
There are usually several essay prompts to choose from on a college application. They tend to be broad, open-ended questions, giving students the freedom to write about a wide array of topics, Barron says.
The essay isn't a complete autobiography, notes Mimi Doe, co-founder of Top Tier Admissions, a Massachusetts-based advising company. "It's overwhelming to think of putting your whole life in one essay," she says.
Rather, experts say students should narrow their focus and write about a specific experience, hobby or quirk that reveals something personal, like how they think, what they value or what their strengths are. Students can also write about something that illustrates an aspect of their background. Even an essay on a common topic can be compelling if done right.
Students don't have to discuss a major achievement in their essay, a common misconception. Admissions officers who spoke with U.S. News cited memorable essays that focused on more ordinary topics, including fly-fishing, a student's commute to and from school and a family's dining room table.
What's most important, experts say, is that a college essay is thoughtful and tells a story that offers insight into who a student is as a person.
So, no matter what topic students choose, they'll ultimately be writing about themselves, says Ethan Sawyer, founder of the College Essay Guy website, which offers free and paid essay-writing resources. "What we think of as the topic is just the frame or the lens that we're using to get into other parts of you."
If students are having trouble brainstorming potential topics , they can ask friends or family members for help, says Stephanie Klein Wassink, founder of Winning Applications and AdmissionsCheckup, Connecticut-based college admissions advising companies. Wassink says students can ask peers or family members questions such as, "What do you think differentiates me?" Or, "What are my quirks?"
The essay should tell college admissions officers something they don't already know, experts say. Students should ensure they're writing about something that isn't mentioned elsewhere in their application, perhaps in the activities section, or expand greatly on the topic if it is noted elsewhere.
Writing the College Essay
Some experts encourage students to outline their essay before jumping into the actual writing.
But there isn't one correct way of doing things, says Sara Newhouse, senior consultant at Enrollment Research Associates and former vice president for admission and financial planning at Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama.
"Your writing process is your own," she says. Newhouse encourages students to use whatever process worked for them in the past when they completed writing assignments for English and other high school classes.
The first draft of an essay doesn't need to be perfect. "Just do a brain dump," Doe says. "Don't edit yourself, just lay it all out on the page."
If students are having a hard time getting started, they should focus on their opening sentence, Doe suggests. She says an essay's opening sentence, or hook, should grab the reader's attention.
Doe offered an example of a strong hook from the essay of a student she worked with:
"I first got into politics the day the cafeteria outlawed creamed corn."
"I want to know about this kid," she says. "I’m interested."
But Sawyer cautions that students shouldn't get so caught up in writing the perfect hook that they neglect the rest of their essay. He also says he's read some essays that were excellent overall, even though they had what he would consider mundane hooks.
Editing and Submitting the College Essay
While admissions officers try to learn about students via the essay, they are also gauging writing skills, so students want to make sure they submit top-notch work.
"The best writing is rewriting," Sapp says. "You should never be giving me your first draft."
When reviewing a first essay draft, students should make sure their writing is showing, not telling, Doe says. This means students should show their readers examples that prove they embody certain traits or beliefs, as opposed to just stating that they do.
After editing their essay, students should seek outside editing help, experts recommend. While there are individuals and companies that offer paid essay help – from editing services to essay-writing boot camps – students and families may not be able to afford the associated fees.
However, there may be options to defray the costs. Sawyer, for example, says he offers scholarships to students from low-income families that cover the cost of one-on-one essay consultations.
The availability of and level of feedback from free essay advising services vary. Some college prep companies offer brief consultations at no charge. Free essay workshops may also be available through local high schools, public libraries or community organizations. Khan Academy, a free online education platform, also offers a series of videos and other content to guide students through the essay writing process.
Colleges themselves may also have resources, Barron notes, pointing to pages on Hamilton's website that offer writing tips as well as examples of successful admissions essays. Likewise, Hamilton also holds virtual panel discussions on writing admissions essays.
Students have other options when it comes to essay help. They can ask peers, teachers, school counselors and family members for help polishing an essay.
Newhouse says it works well to have other people proofread an essay in two stages. The first stage focuses on content. Readers should look for information gaps in the essay – anything they are confused about. Once the content is nailed down, the second proofing stage focuses on style, including grammar, punctuation and spelling.
But proofreaders should not change the tone of the essay. "Don't let anyone edit out your voice," Doe cautions.
And while proofreading is fair game, having someone else rewrite your essay is not.
When an essay is ready to go, students will generally submit it online along with the rest of their application. On the Common App, for example, students copy and paste their essay into a text box.
Sapp says even though students often stress about the essay in particular, it's not the only thing college admissions officers look at. "The essay is the window, but the application is the house," he says. "So let's not forget that an application is built of many pieces."
Strong College Essay Examples
Below are two examples of strong essays written by students accepted into Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
"This is a personal statement, so what works in these essays works because of who the student is and how it fits into the rest of his or her application," notes Ellen Kim, dean of undergraduate admissions at Johns Hopkins.
Hover over the circles along the sides of the letters to read more about what worked.
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College essay resources
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College Essay Review Service Comparison - Which of these 4 services is best?
Brad Schiller
I submitted the same essay to 4 different college admissions essay review services. The differences were shocking.
Why the Burrito Essay embodies every student’s personal statement
An essay referred to as the Burrito Essay has entered Prompt.com legend. We love this essay. Why?
It so perfectly embodies what we see when smart, talented college applicants tackle the personal statement . Typically, nobody tells students what the purpose of the essay is. Nobody tells students what college admissions officers are looking for. And the result is generally a variation on the Burrito Essay.
The Burrito Essay was just more so. Let me explain.
The first draft of the essay was about a girl struggling to make burritos. That’s it. ( You can look it over here. ) It’s not a bad story, actually — at her job at Qdoba, the girl cannot master the burrito; she works hard to figure out why she’s failing; in the end, she masters it. 🌯🌯🎉
Good story arc there; vividly written with good pacing, but … college potential? No. The Burrito Essay failed as an application piece — it had almost nothing to say about the student’s potential for college success.
Here’s the best part about the Burrito Essay, though. After 3 rounds of feedback with us at Prompt.com, college potential leapt off of the page. ( You can see the final version here. )
By the end, the burrito saga wasn’t just about mastering burritos anymore. Now, that saga showcased the student’s problem-solving and teamwork skills, and made the connection between those skills and her extraordinary success in a different area of her life — an extracurricular program for which she was a team leader. The new essay showed that the leadership skills she developed through this burrito experience helped her increase her team’s test scores by 30% and get two teammates to make it to state finals. The final essay proved that this student isn’t just someone who says she can do something; she’s someone who gets results.
So, the Burrito Essay also perfectly illustrates what good coaching does to an essay. (Hint: it’s not grammar corrections and spell check.) Essay coaching is about asking the right questions and providing the right guidance to turn an essay into a showcase for the student’s ability to succeed in college and beyond — which is what admissions officials are reading it for in the first place.
TL;DR — Most services (other than Prompt.com) failed to tackle the Burrito Essay’s massive content problem
Guess what it takes to turn an essay that’s literally only about getting burritos not to leak shredded pork into an essay that shows a student is going to be a star on a college campus?
The answer is to focus on content .
Yes, this seems obvious. If you bill yourself as a college essay coach and you get an essay about burritos and you don’t say anything about having the student show how the burritos connect to their college potential … that would be bad, right?
Well, it’s bad out there.
Of the three services I tried, none (that’s 0) offered substantial feedback on the content or structure of our beloved Burrito Essay. (We link to the feedback of each service below so you can judge for yourself.)
To put it another way, I was looking for coaching and feedback — I wanted advice on how to improve the essay’s content and structure to make it compelling to admissions officers, along with feedback on basics like grammar , flow, readability , and clarity.
Instead, I got editing and proofreading — the services didn’t worry about content or structure; they just focused on finding grammar errors and sometimes commented on wording improvements. To be fair, two of the services did make some comments on content, but as you’ll see below, they were extremely superficial.
What I found by submitting the same draft 650-word Common App Essay to 4 services
In order from Worst to Best —
Note, for Prompt, the $99/48 hour price comes with the ability to message the Prompt team with questions.
EssayEdge — Absolutely nothing on content
Easily the worst of the lot, EssayEdge sent a number of in-text suggestions. Only four were helpful grammar changes; the rest were subjective edits for clarity. ( See full EssayEdge edits here. )
In terms of substantive feedback, they had only one comment for me. I’ll let you judge if you’d find it helpful or not:
- Positives: None.
- Negatives: Their advice focuses only on minor grammatical mistakes. It doesn’t help you improve content, structure, or clarity. You’ll think your essay is in great shape even when it is not.
- Verdict: Don’t waste your money.
TopAdmit — Lost interest half-way through
Just like EssayEdge, TopAdmit sent a number of in-text grammar corrections and suggestions for clarity.
They did go further, however, including a short summary with specific suggestions for improvement. Unfortunately, none of those suggestions tackled how my burrito story might relate to my approach to academics, extracurriculars, or life.
In fact, the suggestions all focused on making sure I didn’t inadvertently come off as arrogant as I described my Qdoba job. And to be fair, the coach was right to zero in on problems such as seeming to judge my own client:
She was also right that I didn’t want to come off as judging the Qdoba job itself as somehow “beneath” me:
But what’s amazing with this second comment is that her “fix” for the classism or snobbery that might have come through in the essay was to remove all mention of how I was doing in school .
The problem with the first draft of the Burrito Essay is that it doesn’t connect the Qdoba job to school or other aspects of the student’s life. Cutting the slight reference that the essay does make to school activities is utterly misguided.
Things actually got worse, though.
As the document continued, it’s possible that the editor lost interest in critiquing the essay because she stopped giving feedback at all. In the last half of the Burrito Essay, the author struggled to tie the burrito lessons to larger lessons — you can tell she’s getting at something, but you don’t know what.
For example, the Burrito author wrote, “Working for the answer is more enjoyable than having it automatically given to me … How can I adjust my teaching so people understand what glomerulonephritis and projectile motion are.”
But the TopAdmit coach didn’t ask me (meaning the student) to elaborate on why I was talking about glomerulonephritis (that’s an inflammation of the tiny filters in the kidneys, by the way), or what I meant by “teaching,” or how the burrito saga had influenced my academic or extracurricular trajectory.
Instead, I got this:
That’s right. She offers feedback on the first 2 paragraphs, and then, for the last 3, I just get a “Well done.” (In total, I got 3 “Well done-s.”)
- Positives: The in-text edits were fine. The feedback on the first 2 paragraphs included good suggestions for not sounding inadvertently arrogant.
- Negatives: The editor suggested cutting the one parallel between burrito-building and academics that was in the essay. The editor apparently stopped giving critical feedback on the last 3 paragraphs. The editor made no suggestions and asked no probing questions to get the essay to say something about my potential for college success.
- Verdict : Expensive. Superficial. Not thorough. I can’t recommend it, though it’s better than TopAdmit.
WordVice — One good insight, repeated 6 times
WordVice was a slight improvement over TopAdmit. Like the other two, my coach sent me in-text edits ( you can see them here ). Like TopAdmit, there was also a summary with improvement suggestions — this time it was a 1-paragraph letter followed by a rubric ( you can see them here ).
The letter got right to the crux of the issue with the Burrito Essay:
The advice is spot on. And yet, it’s not particularly helpful.
First off, three times in a row, it repeats the insight that the “burrito” part or the essay needs to be shorter. (“the anecdote went on for a bit too long ...” “if you reduced the anecdote to a single paragraph ...” “I really like the burrito analogy … However, I think that devoting more space to describing yourself …”)
More importantly, while it suggests good directions to take the essay (give a “glimpse at you, your passion, and your goals” and “describing yourself and what you want to achieve in college and beyond [to] demonstrate ambition”), it doesn’t say much about how to get there.
The rubric that followed the letter was just over one page and — hilariously — it also repeated the fact that the burrito anecdote was too long exactly three times (in the 1st, 2nd, and last boxes). There were no other suggestions for improvement, however. Also, there was no additional guidance on how to expand upon the “passion” and “goals” piece that the coach wanted me to add in.
- Positives: The letter zeroed in on the major problem with the Burrito Essay — too much burrito, not enough college potential.
- Negatives : The letter was superficial and repetitive. It didn’t have practical advice for how to actually improve the essay.
- Verdict: The feedback on content and structure was too superficial to be of much use. As a glorified grammar-editing service, $130+ is pretty expensive.
Prompt.com — Now, that’s a makeover
Ok, sure. But it’s easy to be critical.
Now it’s our turn in the hot seat. Let’s go back about 2 years and turn the spotlight on how we at Prompt.com handled the Burrito Essay. ( You can see the feedback here. )
Like TopAdmit and WordVice, we gave a written summary of suggestions along with in-text edits. Unlike any of the other services, however, our in-text edits had no grammar or clarity suggestions — in our process, the first round is generally too early for that level of detail. Rather, the edits are content/clarity suggestions, for example:
In the written summary, the feedback was divided into Content (~1 page) and Structure (~3/4 page). The Content started by saying the essay needs “to help your reader learn more about who you are:”
Just like WordVice, we suggested cutting down on the amount of space the burrito anecdote takes:
Then we segue into questions for the next draft:
And even specific ideas for what the next draft might do:
Finally, in the Structure section, we specifically spelled out what to do with the extra space the student would have once the burrito anecdote was shrunken down. For example:
In all, the burrito student came back for 2 more rounds of feedback (3 rounds in total). On the second round ( you can see it here ), we still had plenty of content and structural feedback, though this time they fit on just over 1 page. The in-line edits were a mixture of content edits as in round 1 and grammar edits.
On the final round ( you can see it here ), our written feedback was down to one paragraph, while the in-line edits were mostly grammar-related (with a few structural/content notes still interspersed).
More importantly, by the end of the process, the Burrito Essay told a stellar story of a student whose struggles with a service job helped illuminate her extraordinary skill at leading teams to master complex medical concepts and excel in competition.
The student got into UC Berkeley, Cornell , Michigan (LSA Honors Program), Vanderbilt and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill off the strength of the final version — unsurprisingly, given how the final essay showed her as hard-working (driven), a great team leader (contribution), and not just smart but intellectually curious. (See our post on the 5 traits for more about why this matters.)
- Positives: The feedback is primarily focused on content and making sure the essay will impress admissions officers. The coach gives the student clear guidance for how to make significant necessary improvements.
- Positive: You can message the Prompt team at any time with questions during your review.
- Negatives: Getting to a great result required going back 3 times. Rather than writing an essay alone, the most efficient way to use Prompt.com is to schedule a video call with a coach before starting a draft ($150). It’s double the review price, but it can save a lot of time and angst. (In fact, it can also save money because going back for feedback from the same coach is an additional $75 each time.
- Verdict : Prompt.com is easily the best choice. Prompt coaches provide actual essay coaching. The feedback is comprehensive, easy-to-follow and leads to a much-improved essay. The pricing is also substantially less than other options.
Note on Prompt.com — You can also schedule a video coaching call with your coach ($150) or submit your essay again for more feedback from the same coach ($75). You can also buy all-inclusive support for $499 for the Common App Essay. When you compare prices, it’s a pretty good deal. Obviously, though, it’s up to what you can afford.
In summary:
Seek out a college essay coaching and feedback service – not just an editing and proofreading service. Get help with your college essay today.
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Strong essays increase your chances of admissions by 10x. you don't have to tackle your essays alone., strong essays increase your admissions chances by up to 10 times, the simple “why us” essay strategy that works | 2022-23, your complete guide to writing the common app.
- Written by Brad Schiller
- Posted on August 11, 2021
I am the Founder and CEO of Prompt. Our mission is to make people better writers.
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For college admissions, earning a high personal score is more important than earning a high academic score. Here's why.
- By Brad Schiller
Everything you need to know about how highly selective colleges choose their applicants. Real strategies for getting in. Most highly selective colleges look for exceptional attributes. Read on to learn how can you show that in your essays.
The New York Times publishes excellent college admission essays every year. We’re not disagreeing on their quality, but we are saying not to use them as a model for your essays.
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Words to Use in an Essay: 300 Essay Words
Hannah Yang
Speculative Fiction Author
It’s not easy to write an academic essay.
Many students struggle to word their arguments in a logical and concise way.
To make matters worse, academic essays need to adhere to a certain level of formality, so we can’t always use the same word choices in essay writing that we would use in daily life.
If you’re struggling to choose the right words for your essay, don’t worry—you’ve come to the right place!
In this article, we’ve compiled a list of over 300 words and phrases to use in the introduction, body, and conclusion of your essay.
Words to Use in the Essay Introduction
Words to use in the body of the essay, words to use in your essay conclusion, how to improve your essay writing vocabulary.
The introduction is one of the hardest parts of an essay to write.
You have only one chance to make a first impression, and you want to hook your reader. If the introduction isn’t effective, the reader might not even bother to read the rest of the essay.
That’s why it’s important to be thoughtful and deliberate with the words you choose at the beginning of your essay.
Many students use a quote in the introductory paragraph to establish credibility and set the tone for the rest of the essay.
When you’re referencing another author or speaker, try using some of these phrases:
- To use the words of X
- According to X
- As X states
Example: To use the words of Hillary Clinton, “You cannot have maternal health without reproductive health.”
Near the end of the introduction, you should state the thesis to explain the central point of your paper.
If you’re not sure how to introduce your thesis, try using some of these phrases:
- In this essay, I will…
- The purpose of this essay…
- This essay discusses…
- In this paper, I put forward the claim that…
- There are three main arguments for…
Example: In this essay, I will explain why dress codes in public schools are detrimental to students.
After you’ve stated your thesis, it’s time to start presenting the arguments you’ll use to back up that central idea.
When you’re introducing the first of a series of arguments, you can use the following words:
- First and foremost
- First of all
- To begin with
Example: First , consider the effects that this new social security policy would have on low-income taxpayers.
All these words and phrases will help you create a more successful introduction and convince your audience to read on.
The body of your essay is where you’ll explain your core arguments and present your evidence.
It’s important to choose words and phrases for the body of your essay that will help the reader understand your position and convince them you’ve done your research.
Let’s look at some different types of words and phrases that you can use in the body of your essay, as well as some examples of what these words look like in a sentence.
Transition Words and Phrases
Transitioning from one argument to another is crucial for a good essay.
It’s important to guide your reader from one idea to the next so they don’t get lost or feel like you’re jumping around at random.
Transition phrases and linking words show your reader you’re about to move from one argument to the next, smoothing out their reading experience. They also make your writing look more professional.
The simplest transition involves moving from one idea to a separate one that supports the same overall argument. Try using these phrases when you want to introduce a second correlating idea:
- Additionally
- In addition
- Furthermore
- Another key thing to remember
- In the same way
- Correspondingly
Example: Additionally , public parks increase property value because home buyers prefer houses that are located close to green, open spaces.
Another type of transition involves restating. It’s often useful to restate complex ideas in simpler terms to help the reader digest them. When you’re restating an idea, you can use the following words:
- In other words
- To put it another way
- That is to say
- To put it more simply
Example: “The research showed that 53% of students surveyed expressed a mild or strong preference for more on-campus housing. In other words , over half the students wanted more dormitory options.”
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Often, you’ll need to provide examples to illustrate your point more clearly for the reader. When you’re about to give an example of something you just said, you can use the following words:
- For instance
- To give an illustration of
- To exemplify
- To demonstrate
- As evidence
Example: Humans have long tried to exert control over our natural environment. For instance , engineers reversed the Chicago River in 1900, causing it to permanently flow backward.
Sometimes, you’ll need to explain the impact or consequence of something you’ve just said.
When you’re drawing a conclusion from evidence you’ve presented, try using the following words:
- As a result
- Accordingly
- As you can see
- This suggests that
- It follows that
- It can be seen that
- For this reason
- For all of those reasons
- Consequently
Example: “There wasn’t enough government funding to support the rest of the physics experiment. Thus , the team was forced to shut down their experiment in 1996.”
When introducing an idea that bolsters one you’ve already stated, or adds another important aspect to that same argument, you can use the following words:
- What’s more
- Not only…but also
- Not to mention
- To say nothing of
- Another key point
Example: The volcanic eruption disrupted hundreds of thousands of people. Moreover , it impacted the local flora and fauna as well, causing nearly a hundred species to go extinct.
Often, you'll want to present two sides of the same argument. When you need to compare and contrast ideas, you can use the following words:
- On the one hand / on the other hand
- Alternatively
- In contrast to
- On the contrary
- By contrast
- In comparison
Example: On the one hand , the Black Death was undoubtedly a tragedy because it killed millions of Europeans. On the other hand , it created better living conditions for the peasants who survived.
Finally, when you’re introducing a new angle that contradicts your previous idea, you can use the following phrases:
- Having said that
- Differing from
- In spite of
- With this in mind
- Provided that
- Nevertheless
- Nonetheless
- Notwithstanding
Example: Shakespearean plays are classic works of literature that have stood the test of time. Having said that , I would argue that Shakespeare isn’t the most accessible form of literature to teach students in the twenty-first century.
Good essays include multiple types of logic. You can use a combination of the transitions above to create a strong, clear structure throughout the body of your essay.
Strong Verbs for Academic Writing
Verbs are especially important for writing clear essays. Often, you can convey a nuanced meaning simply by choosing the right verb.
You should use strong verbs that are precise and dynamic. Whenever possible, you should use an unambiguous verb, rather than a generic verb.
For example, alter and fluctuate are stronger verbs than change , because they give the reader more descriptive detail.
Here are some useful verbs that will help make your essay shine.
Verbs that show change:
- Accommodate
Verbs that relate to causing or impacting something:
Verbs that show increase:
Verbs that show decrease:
- Deteriorate
Verbs that relate to parts of a whole:
- Comprises of
- Is composed of
- Constitutes
- Encompasses
Incorporates
Verbs that show a negative stance:
- Misconstrue
Verbs that show a positive stance:
- Substantiate
Verbs that relate to drawing conclusions from evidence:
- Corroborate
- Demonstrate
Verbs that relate to thinking and analysis:
- Contemplate
- Hypothesize
- Investigate
Verbs that relate to showing information in a visual format:
Useful Adjectives and Adverbs for Academic Essays
You should use adjectives and adverbs more sparingly than verbs when writing essays, since they sometimes add unnecessary fluff to sentences.
However, choosing the right adjectives and adverbs can help add detail and sophistication to your essay.
Sometimes you'll need to use an adjective to show that a finding or argument is useful and should be taken seriously. Here are some adjectives that create positive emphasis:
- Significant
Other times, you'll need to use an adjective to show that a finding or argument is harmful or ineffective. Here are some adjectives that create a negative emphasis:
- Controversial
- Insignificant
- Questionable
- Unnecessary
- Unrealistic
Finally, you might need to use an adverb to lend nuance to a sentence, or to express a specific degree of certainty. Here are some examples of adverbs that are often used in essays:
- Comprehensively
- Exhaustively
- Extensively
- Respectively
- Surprisingly
Using these words will help you successfully convey the key points you want to express. Once you’ve nailed the body of your essay, it’s time to move on to the conclusion.
The conclusion of your paper is important for synthesizing the arguments you’ve laid out and restating your thesis.
In your concluding paragraph, try using some of these essay words:
- In conclusion
- To summarize
- In a nutshell
- Given the above
- As described
- All things considered
Example: In conclusion , it’s imperative that we take action to address climate change before we lose our coral reefs forever.
In addition to simply summarizing the key points from the body of your essay, you should also add some final takeaways. Give the reader your final opinion and a bit of a food for thought.
To place emphasis on a certain point or a key fact, use these essay words:
- Unquestionably
- Undoubtedly
- Particularly
- Importantly
- Conclusively
- It should be noted
- On the whole
Example: Ada Lovelace is unquestionably a powerful role model for young girls around the world, and more of our public school curricula should include her as a historical figure.
These concluding phrases will help you finish writing your essay in a strong, confident way.
There are many useful essay words out there that we didn't include in this article, because they are specific to certain topics.
If you're writing about biology, for example, you will need to use different terminology than if you're writing about literature.
So how do you improve your vocabulary skills?
The vocabulary you use in your academic writing is a toolkit you can build up over time, as long as you take the time to learn new words.
One way to increase your vocabulary is by looking up words you don’t know when you’re reading.
Try reading more books and academic articles in the field you’re writing about and jotting down all the new words you find. You can use these words to bolster your own essays.
You can also consult a dictionary or a thesaurus. When you’re using a word you’re not confident about, researching its meaning and common synonyms can help you make sure it belongs in your essay.
Don't be afraid of using simpler words. Good essay writing boils down to choosing the best word to convey what you need to say, not the fanciest word possible.
Finally, you can use ProWritingAid’s synonym tool or essay checker to find more precise and sophisticated vocabulary. Click on weak words in your essay to find stronger alternatives.
There you have it: our compilation of the best words and phrases to use in your next essay . Good luck!
Take your writing to the next level:
20 Editing Tips From Professional Writers
Whether you are writing a novel, essay, article, or email, good writing is an essential part of communicating your ideas., this guide contains the 20 most important writing tips and techniques from a wide range of professional writers..
Hannah is a speculative fiction writer who loves all things strange and surreal. She holds a BA from Yale University and lives in Colorado. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her painting watercolors, playing her ukulele, or hiking in the Rockies. Follow her work on hannahyang.com or on Twitter at @hannahxyang.
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Great essay writing in 8 steps
(Last updated: 12 May 2021)
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Can great essay writing really be condensed down into just 8 steps? Well, whilst it's true that there is a lot that goes into academic writing of any kind, these top takeaways are a great place to start if you want to improve your essay writing.
To some, essay writing comes naturally. But for many, knowing how to answer an essay question in a way that will score high marks is something that must be learnt, and practised regularly. You can take comfort in knowing too that, once you learn how to write a great essay, you can apply the same techniques and formulas to almost any piece of academic writing, whether it's a standard essay, a reflective essay, a dissertation or thesis, a course assignment, coursework or something else.
So without further ado, let's dive in and learn the eight steps to writing an essay.
1. Understand the question
This may, at the face of it, sound like somewhat banal advice – but fact of the matter is that failing to properly understand the question set is one of, if not the most common reason behind a disappointing grade when it comes to essay writing. Are you being asked to critically evaluate something ? Compare and contrast? Analyse a particular circumstance? Evaluate the usefulness of a particular concept?
These are some of the common phrases found in essay questions, and each indicates a different set of expectations. If you are asked to critically evaluate a particular theoretical approach, for instance, you have to gain an understanding not only of said theory, but also other common approaches. They must all be weighed against each other, highlighting the relative strengths and weaknesses of each theory and, importantly, you must come to a well-justified and confident conclusion. Is the theory good? What are its flaws? How can it be improved?
If you are asked to evaluate the usefulness of something, however, you don’t necessarily need to go into as much critical depth. Yes, you should still acknowledge alternative approaches, and yes, you should still note some strengths and weaknesses – but the bulk of the work must emphasise the concepts practical usefulness. Perhaps the best approach is to find one, or a few, case studies where the theory has been used – what was the outcome of this? Does the application of the theory reveal any particular shortcomings, or strengths?
“Compare and contrast” essays , meanwhile, are essentially a hybrid of the above – you need to take a critical approach and evaluate the literature, but your focus has to remain solidly on the theories that you have been asked to compare and contrast. It is important to show that you understand both (or all) core theories in great depth, both on a theoretical and applied level.
In essence, the wording of the essay question will tell you how the essay should be written. It will indicate where the focus of your essay should lie as you research and write.
2. Plan and schedule
Understanding the question is the first step, but it is equally important that you make efficient use of the available time. Students often underestimate the amount of work required to write a good essay, which results in two things: (1) late nights at the library, and (2) a disappointing grade. If you want to achieve a good mark, you should start planning your essay the moment you receive the essay question. The following table may be a useful aid:
By setting deadlines for yourself and committing to stick to them, you are ensuring that you won’t be left with too much work right before your hand-in date. It is also important that you leave time, ideally a couple of days, between finishing your first draft and proofreading.
3. Read widely
Writing may be the core task, but reading is equally important. Before you start writing your essay, you should conduct a broad search for relevant literature . Learning how to sift through a large amount of data is an important academic skill. You should start by searching through databases – Google Scholar is a great tool for this – using key words related to your research topic. Once you find an article that sounds promising, read through the abstract to ensure that it’s relevant.
If you are still not a hundred percent sure, it is usually a good idea to skip to the conclusion – this usually contains a detailed summary of the study, which will help determine whether you should read the article as a whole. You don’t want to waste time reading through and endless number of articles simply to find that they aren’t actually relevant. Once you have identified a few solid articles, you should (a) go through their bibliographies and take note of who they are citing, as these articles will likely be of value for your own research; and (b) check on Google Scholar to see who has cited them. To do this, simply input the name of the article in the search bar and hit enter. In the results, click “cited by” – this will return a list of all of the articles that have cited the publication you searched for.
It’s important that you don’t rely too heavily on one or a couple of texts, as this indicates to the marker that you haven’t engaged with the wider literature. You should be particularly careful in using course books (i.e. “introduction to management” and the like), as these are essentially summaries of other people’s work.
4. Be critical
Perfect theories and academic approaches are rare – the clear majority of theories, arguments, and studies have flaws. Being descriptive is fine if you are looking to scrape a pass, but for a higher grade you need to show that you are able to leverage critical reasoning in your dealing with academic materials. What are the limitations of the theories you are drawing on? How have these been dealt with in the literature? How do they impact the quality of arguments presented, and to what extent do they limit our understanding of what you are studying? What alternate explanations might offer additional depth?
Critical thinking is what will make your essay stand out. It shows the marker that you are not simply repeating the arguments that have been fed to you throughout your studies, but actually engaging with theories in an academic manner. A good way to practice this is to pay careful attention when reading literature reviews in published articles – you will see that authors don’t simply summarise previous studies, but offer a critique leading to a gap for their own research.
5. Structure, flow and focus
How you present your argument is nearly as important as the argument itself, which is why it is imperative that your essay follows a logical structure. A classic piece of advice is to "tell them what you are going to tell them, then tell them, and tell them what you told them". This, in essence, summarises the core introduction, main body, and conclusion structure of your essay.
Having a clear and logical structure will help ensure that your essay stays focused, and doesn’t stray from the question being answered. Each section, paragraph, and sentence should add value to the argument you are presenting. As you are writing, it’s good to take a step back and ask yourself: what value does this sentence/section add? How does it link to my overarching argument? If you find that you can’t answer those questions, there is a high risk that you have strayed from your core argument, and you may want to reconsider the path you are taking.
You should also make sure that all the different parts of your essay fit together as a cohesive and logical whole, and that the transition from one argument to the next is fluid. Students often treat essays as lists of arguments, presenting one after the other with little consideration for how they fit together, which inevitably leads to a lower grade. Make sure to tell your reader why you are transitioning from one argument to the next, why they are in this particular order, and how each argument helps shed light on a particular aspect of what you are discussing.
6. Quoting, paraphrasing and plagiarism
Academic writing requires a careful balance between novel argument, and drawing on arguments presented by others. Writing a completely 'novel' essay, without drawing on a single source, indicates that you haven’t made yourself familiar with what has already been published. Conversely, citing someone for every point made suggests that you haven’t produced a novel argument.
As such, it is important that you provide evidence (a credible citation) when you are making a statement of fact, or drawing on arguments, frameworks, and theories presented by other academics. These, in turn, should support the overarching novel argument that you yourself are making.
When drawing on other authors it is important to understand the distinction between quoting and paraphrasing. The general rule of thumb is that you should paraphrase wherever possible, and quote only when necessary or if it clarifies the point you are making. That said, paraphrasing can be difficult without losing the inherit value of the argument presented.
In case you are unsure about the difference between quoting and paraphrasing, we’ve included an example below:
Quote: "Cultural capital can be acquired, to a varying extent, depending on the period, the society, and the social class, in the absence of any deliberate inculcation, and therefore quite unconsciously" (Bourdieu, 1986: 18).
Paraphrase: Unlike economic capital, the amassing of which requires some conscious effort, cultural capital can be built simply by existing and consuming (Bourdieu, 1986).
Both the quoted and the paraphrased versions carry essentially the same meaning, with the exception that paraphrasing shows slightly wider knowledge of Bourdieu (through mentioning another form of capital), and presents an argument that, while true to the writings of Bourdieu, better fits the overall argument.
Properly citing the sources upon which you draw also ensures that you will not be accused of plagiarism, which is a serious offence in academia. In fact, repeated and grievous plagiarism can lead to the suspension of your studies at the majority of academic institutions!
7. Find a 'study buddy'
Having a similarly ambitious 'study buddy' is often undervalued by students, but the synergy achieved by working together can help both of you achieve considerably higher grades. It is important to note that you shouldn’t write your essays together, nor necessarily agree on the approach to be taken beforehand, as this leads to the risk of submitting two papers that are too similar – again linking back to the issue of plagiarism.
Instead, you should exchange essays with each other once you are both done with the first draft. It is immensely difficult to proofread your own work – one goes blind to minor grammatical issues in a text after reading it repeatedly for days on end. It is similarly easy to overlook gaps in flow and logic of argument. Having a friend read through the work will address both of these issues, assuming that they, too, are high achieving.
8. Write academically
Another common issue – particularly amongst first and second-year undergraduates – is that they tend to use rather non-academic language:
In this essay I will look at how people who buy art use cultural capital. My theory is that having more cultural capital will change their taste in art, as they are able to understand the pieces differently to other people.
Examples such as the above are unfortunately rather common, and should give you a good idea of what to avoid. The sentiment behind the text is good, but it reads more like a second-rate blog post than an academic essay. Academic writing should be more formal , concise, unbiased and include good use of rhetoric. As for the above example, an academic might instead write:
This essay explores the role of cultural capital in the consumption of art, and the impact of cultural capital on consumers’ perception of artistic expressions.
You will note that this second example is far more concise yet none of the meaning is lost. It also uses present (rather than future) tense, and avoids informal terms. Clear, concise, and precise language is a hallmark of academic writing.
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Essay Tips: 10 Steps to Writing a Great Essay (And Have Fun Doing It!)
by Joe Bunting | 117 comments
Do you dread essay writing? Are you looking for some essay tips that will help you write an amazing essay—and have fun doing it?
Lots of students, young and old, dread essay writing. It's a daunting assignment, one that often takes a lot of research, time, and concentration.
It's also an assignment that you can break up into simple steps that make writing an essay manageable and enjoyable.
I've discovered that these ten essay tips completely changed my writing process—and I hope that they can do the same for you.
Essay Writing Can Be Fun
Honestly, throughout most of high school and college, I was a mediocre essay writer.
Every once in a while, I would write a really good essay, but mostly I skated by with B's and A-minuses.
I know personally how boring writing an essay can be, and also, how hard it can be to write a good one.
However, toward the end of my time as a student, I made a breakthrough. I figured out how to not only write a great essay, I learned how to have fun while doing it .
I'd like to share these ten essay tips with you today.
Why Writing an Essay Is So Hard
When it comes to essay writing, a lot of students find a reason to put it off. And when they tackle it, they find it difficult to string sentences together that sound like a decent stance on the assigned subject.
Here are a few reasons why essay writing is hard:
- You'd rather be scrolling through Facebook
- You're trying to write something your teacher or professor will like
- You're trying to get an A instead of writing something that's actually good
- You want to do the least amount of work possible
The biggest reason writing an essay is so hard is because we mostly focus on those external rewards like getting a passing grade, winning our teacher's approval, or just avoiding accusations of plagiarism.
The problem is that when you focus on external approval it not only makes writing much less fun, it also makes it significantly harder.
Because when you focus on external approval, you shut down your subconscious, and the subconscious is the source of your creativity.
The subconscious is the source of your creativity.
What this means practically is that when you're trying to write that perfect, A-plus-worthy sentence, you're turning off most of your best resources and writing skills.
So stop. Stop trying to write a good essay (or even a “good-enough” essay). Instead, write an interesting essay, write an essay you think is fascinating. And when you're finished, go back and edit it until it's “good” according to your teacher's standards.
Yes, you need to follow the guidelines in your assignment. If your teacher tells you to write a five-paragraph essay, then write a five-paragraph essay! If your teacher asks for a specific type of essay, like an analysis, argument, or research essay, then make sure you write that type of essay!
However, within those guidelines, find room to express something that is uniquely you .
I can't guarantee you'll get a higher grade (although, you almost certainly will), but I can absolutely promise you'll have a lot more fun writing.
The Step-by-Step Process to Writing a Great Essay
Ready to get writing? You can read my ten best tips for having fun while writing an essay that earns you the top grade, or check out this presentation designed by our friends at Canva Presentations .
1. Remember your essay is just a story.
Every story is about conflict and change, and the truth is that essays are about conflict and change, too! The difference is that in an essay, the conflict is between different ideas , and the change is in the way we should perceive those ideas.
That means that the best essays are about surprise: “You probably think it's one way, but in reality, you should think of it this other way.” See tip #3 for more on this.
How do you know what story you're telling? The prompt should tell you.
Any list of essay prompts includes various topics and tasks associated with them. Within those topics are characters (historical, fictional, or topical) faced with difficult choices. Your job is to work with those choices, usually by analyzing them, arguing about them, researching them, or describing them in detail.
2. Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”
It's normal to feel unmotivated when writing an academic essay. I'm a writer, and honestly, I feel unmotivated to write all the time. But I have a super-ninja, judo-mind trick I like to use to help motivate myself.
Here's the secret trick: One of the interesting things about your subconscious is that it will answer any question you ask yourself. So whenever you feel unmotivated to write your essay, ask yourself the following question:
“How much fun can I have writing this?”
Your subconscious will immediately start thinking of strategies to make the writing process more fun.
The best time to have your fun is the first draft. Since you're just brainstorming within the topic, and exploring the possible ways of approaching it, the first draft is the perfect place to get creative and even a little scandalous. Here are some wild suggestions to make your next essay a load of fun:
- Research the most surprising or outrageous fact about the topic and use it as your hook.
- Use a thesaurus to research the topic's key words. Get crazy with your vocabulary as you write, working in each key word synonym as much as possible.
- Play devil's advocate and take the opposing or immoral side of the issue. See where the discussion takes you as you write.
3. As you research, ask yourself, “What surprises me about this subject?”
The temptation, when you're writing an essay, is to write what you think your teacher or professor wants to read.
Don't do this .
Instead, ask yourself, “What do I find interesting about this subject? What surprises me?”
If you can't think of anything that surprises you, anything you find interesting, then you're not searching well enough, because history, science, and literature are all brimming over with surprises. When you look at how great ideas actually happen, the story is always, “We used to think the world was this way. We found out we were completely wrong, and that the world is actually quite different from what we thought.”
These pieces of surprising information often make for the best topic sentences as well. Use them to outline your essay and build your body paragraphs off of each unique fact or idea. These will function as excellent hooks for your reader as you transition from one topic to the next.
(By the way, what sources should you use for research? Check out tip #10 below.)
4. Overwhelmed? Write five original sentences.
The standard three-point essay is really made up of just five original sentences surrounded by supporting paragraphs that back up those five sentences. If you're feeling overwhelmed, just write five sentences covering your most basic main points.
Here's what they might look like for this article:
- Introductory Paragraph: While most students consider writing an essay a boring task, with the right mindset, it can actually be an enjoyable experience.
- Body #1: Most students think writing an essay is tedious because they focus on external rewards.
- Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay.
- Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, it will also result in better essays.
- Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn't have to be simply a way to earn a good grade. Instead, it can be a means of finding fulfillment.
After you write your five sentences, it's easy to fill in the paragraphs for each one.
Now, you give it a shot!
5. Be “source heavy.”
In college, I discovered a trick that helped me go from a B-average student to an A-student, but before I explain how it works, let me warn you. This technique is powerful , but it might not work for all teachers or professors. Use with caution.
As I was writing a paper for a literature class, I realized that the articles and books I was reading said what I was trying to say much better than I ever could. So what did I do? I quoted them liberally throughout my paper. When I wasn't quoting, I re-phrased what they said in my own words, giving proper credit, of course. I found that not only did this formula create a well-written essay, it took about half the time to write.
It's good to keep in mind that using anyone else's words, even when morphed into your own phrasing, requires citation. While the definition of plagiarism is shifting with the rise of online collaboration and cooperative learning environments, always err on the side of excessive citation to be safe.
When I used this technique, my professors sometimes mentioned that my papers were very “source” heavy. However, at the same time, they always gave me A's.
To keep yourself safe, I recommend using a 60/40 approach with your body paragraphs: Make sure 60% of the words are your own analysis and argumentation, while 40% can be quoted (or text you paraphrase) from your sources.
Like the five sentence trick, this technique makes the writing process simpler. Instead of putting the main focus on writing well, it instead forces you to research well, which some students find easier.
6. Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.
Introductions are often the hardest part to write because you're trying to summarize your entire essay before you've even written it yet. Instead, try writing your introduction last, giving yourself the body of the paper to figure out the main point of your essay.
This is especially important with an essay topic you are not personally interested in. I definitely recommend this in classes you either don't excel in or care much for. Take plenty of time to draft and revise your body paragraphs before attempting to craft a meaningful introductory paragraph.
Otherwise your opening may sound awkward, wooden, and bland.
7. Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”
If you get stuck trying to make your argument, or you're struggling to reach the required word count, try focusing on the question, “How?”
For example:
- How did J.D. Salinger convey the theme of inauthenticity in The Catcher In the Rye ?
- How did Napoleon restore stability in France after the French Revolution?
- How does the research prove girls really do rule and boys really do drool?
If you focus on how, you'll always have enough to write about.
8. Don't be afraid to jump around.
Essay writing can be a dance. You don't have to stay in one place and write from beginning to end.
For the same reasons listed in point #6, give yourself the freedom to write as if you're circling around your topic rather than making a single, straightforward argument. Then, when you edit and proofread, you can make sure everything lines up correctly.
In fact, now is the perfect time to mention that proofreading your essay isn't just about spelling and commas.
It's about making sure your analysis or argument flows smoothly from one idea to another. (Okay, technically this comprises editing, but most students writing a high school or college essay don't take the time to complete every step of the writing process. Let's be honest.)
So as you clean up your mechanics and sentence structure, make sure your ideas flow smoothly, logically, and naturally from one to the next as you finish proofreading.
9. Here are some words and phrases you don't want to use.
- You (You'll notice I use a lot of you's, which is great for a blog post. However, in an academic essay, it's better to omit the second-person.)
- To Be verbs (is, are, was, were, am)
Don't have time to edit? Here's a lightning-quick editing technique .
A note about “I”: Some teachers say you shouldn't use “I” statements in your writing, but the truth is that professional, academic papers often use phrases like “I believe” and “in my opinion,” especially in their introductions.
10. It's okay to use Wikipedia, if…
Wikipedia is one of the top five websites in the world for a reason: it can be a great tool for research. However, most teachers and professors don't consider Wikipedia a valid source for use in essays.
Don't totally discount it, though! Here are two ways you can use Wikipedia in your essay writing:
- Background research. If you don't know enough about your topic, Wikipedia can be a great resource to quickly learn everything you need to know to get started.
- Find sources . Check the reference section of Wikipedia's articles on your topic. While you may not be able to cite Wikipedia itself, you can often find those original sources and cite them . You can locate the links to primary and secondary sources at the bottom of any Wikipedia page under the headings “Further Reading” and “References.”
You Can Enjoy Essay Writing
The thing I regret most about high school and college is that I treated it like something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do.
The truth is, education is an opportunity many people in the world don't have access to.
It's a gift, not just something that makes your life more difficult. I don't want you to make the mistake of just “getting by” through school, waiting desperately for summer breaks and, eventually, graduation.
How would your life be better if you actively enjoyed writing an essay? What would school look like if you wanted to suck it dry of all the gifts it has to give you?
All I'm saying is, don't miss out!
Looking for More Tips?
Looking for more essay tips to strengthen your essay writing? Try some of these resources:
- 7 Tips on Writing an Effective Essay
- Tips for Writing Your Thesis Statement
How about you? Do you have any tips for writing an essay? Let us know in the comments .
Need more grammar help? My favorite tool that helps find grammar problems and even generates reports to help improve my writing is ProWritingAid . Works with Word, Scrivener, Google Docs, and web browsers. Also, be sure to use my coupon code to get 20 percent off: WritePractice20
Coupon Code:WritePractice20 »
Ready to try out these ten essay tips to make your essay assignment fun? Spend fifteen minutes using tip #4 and write five original sentences that could be turned into an essay.
When you're finished, share your five sentences in the comments section. And don't forget to give feedback to your fellow writers!
Joe Bunting
Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).
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Essay Writing Guide
Essay Topics
Last updated on: Feb 8, 2023
Essay Topics: 100+ Best Essay Topics for your Guidance
By: Nova A.
14 min read
Reviewed By: Rylee W.
Published on: Jan 29, 2019
Let’s face it, essay writing can be tedious and boring. Spending hours to write a good essay is difficult, and brainstorming essay topic ideas can be even more confusing.
This is what makes writing essays difficult and time-consuming. Luckily, you can learn essay writing with practice and by following some good examples. But before that, you should know how to choose a good and engaging topic for your essay.
To help you get started, we have categorized a list of a number of different types of essay topic lists.
On this Page
Argumentative Essay Topics
An argumentative essay investigates a topic in great detail, forms an argument over it, and defends it using supporting data.
Below are some good argumentative essay topic ideas to help you draft winning essays.
- School students should be allowed to curate their high school curriculum.
- The role of physical education in the school system.
- Should the death sentence be implemented globally?
- It should be illegal to use certain types of animals for experiments and other research purposes.
- Should the government do more to improve accessibility for people with physical disabilities?
- Do people learn the art of becoming a politician, or are they born with it?
- Social media platform owners should monitor and block comments containing hateful language.
- Does technology play a role in making people feel more isolated?
- Will there ever be a time when there will be no further technological advancements?
- It should be illegal to produce and sell tobacco.
- Girls should be motivated to take part in sports.
- Rape victims should abort their unborn children.
- Fathers should get equal paternity leave.
- Do teenagers get into trouble because they are bored?
- Individuals who have failed at parenting should be punished.
- Vaping is less harmful than smoking cigarettes.
- Covid-19 vaccination has more cons than pros.
- Social media is the real cause of teenage depression.
- Is the American education system perfect for society?
- Recycling should be made compulsory.
Choosing a strong topic is key to writing a great essay. Have a look at our blog to select good argumentative essay topics to impress the audience.
Persuasive Essay Topics
A persuasive essay is similar to an argumentative paper. However, in it, the writer wants to convince the readers of their point of view. Simple essay topics would make better essays as they help the students stay focused.
Below is a list of some good persuasive essay topics for you:
- Energy drinks should be banned in schools and colleges.
- Gambling should be banned in the United States.
- Should abortions be banned worldwide?
- Hunting is an immoral act.
- Is it okay to use animals in a circus?
- Harmful dogs should be euthanized.
- Cell phones should not be allowed in schools.
- Teachers should pass a professional exam, just like students.
- Schools should reduce the workload on students.
- Sex education should be mandatory in high schools.
- Vlogging isn’t an actual profession.
- Is LinkedIn helpful for finding a job?
- Social media has played a big role in increasing business opportunities.
- Is Java becoming obsolete?
- Should employers go through the candidate’s social media profiles?
- Animal testing should be banned.
- Violent video games should be banned.
- Parents with mental disabilities should not be allowed to adopt children.
- Alcohol consumption should be legalized in Muslim countries.
- Every person should get Covid-19 vaccination.
For your help, we have gathered a wide range of persuasive essay topics . Give it a read.
Descriptive Essay Topics
A descriptive essay describes a specific thing by using sensory data. It is done to engage the reader’s five senses (taste, touch, smell, hearing, sight).
The following is a list of descriptive essay topic ideas for the students.
- The person who is responsible for making a difference in my life.
- Describe a smartphone and its benefits to someone from the ‘60s.
- The most interesting piece of art I have ever seen.
- Describe the experience of falling in love.
- What does a place that only exists in your imagination look like?
- Describe meeting a famous person.
- Describe yourself and your personality to a stranger.
- What will life be like in 2050?
- An experience that changed my life forever.
- Your idea of the perfect day.
- My first trip abroad.
- The most significant event in American History.
- A popular book series that disappointed you.
- A look into my daily life.
- A day in the life of an ER doctor.
- A trip to the museum.
- The most interesting movie I watched during my summer vacation.
- My favorite childhood memory.
- An incident that changed my life.
- An incident that restored my faith in humanity.
Here are some more descriptive essay topics to help you find a good idea for your essay.
Narrative Essay Topics
In a narrative essay, your goal is to share a personal experience by telling a story. This creative form of writing depends on how strong and exciting the theme is. The article topics for students given here are carefully curated and would help the students do good in their essays.
Some examples and topics of narrative topic ideas are presented below.
- The experience that taught me how looks could be deceiving.
- A week without internet and technology.
- The impact your first love had on your life.
- How much did your teachers contribute to making you the person you are today?
- An experience that made you realize your parents were or weren’t always right.
- A moment when someone you didn’t like surprised you with kindness.
- The influence technology has had on your hobbies and life.
- An achievement outside of academic life?
- Which school lesson had the biggest influence on your life?
- A day when you fought procrastination.
- The time you faced rejection.
- The time when you stood against your parents.
- An experience that left you helpless.
- The time you prayed to be an only child.
- An act of kindness you can never forget.
- Death of a loved one.
- Your biggest pet peeve.
- Your definition of a perfect weekend.
- The things you regret most in life.
- Your first experience of an air trip.
Choosing interesting narrative essay topics is essential to make the content compelling for the readers.
Research Essay Topics
While writing a research essay, the most crucial step is choosing a topic for your essay. Select a topic that is broad enough to compose an entire research essay on it.
Below are some of the best topics for your research essay.
- Effects of violent cartoons on children.
- Should universities provide accommodations to disabled students?
- Events and experiences I agree are causing the increase in terrorism.
- How do technology and gadgets affect the studies of children?
- Do children who attend preschool do better in school?
- Universities are becoming business-driven.
- Does college debt affect the future lives of students?
- Why has the divorce rate changed in the past decade?
- Schools should allow the use of smartphones in school.
- Effective ways to decrease depression among our youth.
- Analyze the relationship between the United States of America and North Korea.
- Why did the UK decide to leave the EU?
- Is it true that students learn better in a same-sex school?
- How does giving kids different gadgets affect their studies?
- Compare the immigration policies of two different countries.
- Events that lead to World War I.
- Pros and cons of studying abroad.
- How has Covid-19 influenced the education system of the world?
- Individual acts that lead to Global Warming.
- Effectiveness of the policies made to control Covid-19.
Looking for more? We have an extensive range of research essay topics to make the audience fall in love with your work.
Expository Essay Topics
While writing an expository essay, you have to explain and clarify your topic clearly to the readers.
Below is a list of expository essay topics:
- Why do teenagers commit suicide?
- What is the impact of music on our youth?
- What are the consequences of skipping school?
- Why do teenagers use drugs?
- How can pets make you happy and improve your life?
- Consequences of having alcoholic drinks within a school campus.
- How does drug use affect relationships?
- Is global warming a cause of skin cancer?
- Is sodium bad for your health?
- What is the line between being overweight and being obese?
- Why do you want to pursue your desired career?
- Explain how advancements in science improve the quality of life for humans.
- What are some unconventional ways of relieving stress?
- If you could swap your lives with someone, who would it be and why?
- What are some major stress factors in a teenager’s life?
- Why is getting a degree important for job life?
- Pros and cons of getting financial aid.
- How emotional support animals help in treating mental conditions.
- How does prostitution influence society?
- The environmental causes of smoking.
5StarEssays.com has gathered an additional and extensive list of expository essay topics .
Tough Essay Due? Hire Tough Writers!
Compare and Contrast Essay Topics
In a compare and contrast essay, you evaluate and analyze the similarities and differences between the two subjects. Your reader must be able to form an opinion after weighing the pros and cons you have set forth.
Below are some topics for you to choose for your compare and contrast paper:
- Extroverts and introverts.
- Generation Y Vs. Generation Z.
- Traditional Helicopters Vs. Lifesize Drones.
- Unemployed students Vs. students with a part-time job.
- SAT and TOEFL.
- Persuasive and argumentative essays - How are they similar?
- How were the causes of World War I different from the causes of World War II?
- Education vs. professional career: what is more difficult?
- Real-life or spending your time daydreaming.
- Consequences of earthquake and tsunami: what’s worse?
- Being popular in high school or alone?
- Part-time work or studying for a higher degree?
- Getting married at an old age or a young age?
- Fashion today Vs. twenty years ago.
- Donald Trump Vs. Hillary Clinton.
- Democracy Vs. Dictatorship
- Vietnam War Vs. War on Terror.
- Benefits of drinking tea Vs. coffee.
- Greek and Roman methodologies - Similarities and differences.
- Traditional Vs. distant learning.
Get more interesting compare and contrast essay topics at 5StarEssays.com to impress your instructors.
Cause and Effect Essay Topics
The cause and effect essay explains why something happens and what happens as a result of those happenings. A cause and effect essay is a type of expository essay.
Here are a few topics for your cause and effect essay:
- What are the causes of eating disorders?
- Effects of climate change and global warming.
- The effects of the Feminism movement.
- What are the causes of increasing depression among teenagers?
- What are the causes of suicidal thoughts?
- Is keeping a pet effective in calming your mind?
- How does divorce affects children?
- Why are men afraid of commitment?
- Effects of social media on youth.
- Has social media affected relationships among families?
- Discuss the effects of homeschooling on children.
- Causes of heart diseases.
- Causes of sibling rivalry.
- Cramming doesn't help improve test scores.
- Cause and effect of depression in the workplace.
- How do abusive parents influence the mental stability of a child?
- Causes and effects of bullying.
- Causes of obesity in teenagers.
- Effects of taking a balanced diet on health?
- Causes and effects of insomnia.
To get more ideas, visit our cause and effect essay topics that are remarkable and well-suited for a great essay.
Controversial Argumentative Essay Topics
Argumentative essay topics are quite popular assignments in universities. If you are a student searching for a captivating argumentative essay topic, here is a list of ideas you can consider.
- Third world war should be prevented by the Russian and US governments.
- Political policies and practices affecting students.
- Is gun control effective in reducing crime?
- Same-sex marriage and constitutional law.
- Is society over-regulated?
- Are leaders born or made?
- No one should be above the law.
- Monarchy: pros and cons.
- Rules on Political Activities by Federal Employees.
- The most corrupt countries in the world.
- Mercy killing should be legalized in all countries of the world.
- Death penalties should be abolished.
- Third-world countries should be provided with education plans by the developed countries.
- Muslims should not be labeled as terrorists.
- Illegal immigrants should be given equal rights.
- Abortions should be legalized.
- Live-in relationships should be encouraged.
- Professional athletes should be allowed to consume steroids.
- Should physical punishments be given to children?
- Smoking in public should be an offensive crime.
Funny Argumentative Essay Topics
Are you looking for some funny argumentative essay topics for your essay? If so, choose a topic from the following list.
- Why do people like watching funny videos?
- What your cat is really thinking.
- Why spam emails should be your favorite type of email.
- Why wearing braces is fun.
- School dropouts are the best in our society.
- Why I don't like country music.
- Types of dates.
- A better way to get things done.
- What organic food really is.
- Things guys do that girls hate.
- How to annoy your friend.
- Why do women pretend that they enjoy sports?
- Things preventing you from completing your homework in time.
- Funny things we see in wedding ceremonies.
- Why are spam emails more interesting?
- Why does Starbucks coffee taste better?
- Why are backbenchers smarter than other students?
- Clowns are scarier than funny.
- Should we be maintaining social distancing even after Covid-19?
- Why is watching movies better than reading books?
Informative Essay Topics for Students
Essay writing requires depth. However, you don’t have to choose a complex topic in middle school, high school, or college.
Here is a list of interesting essay topics for middle school, high school, and college students.
Essay Topics for College Students
- Virtual classes cannot replace the traditional class system.
- Advantages and disadvantages of online classes.
- Is there a need to reform the college education system?
- Assault weapons should not be legal.
- People with a history of mental illness should not be allowed to purchase firearms.
- The taxation system needs to be changed around the globe.
- Kids should not be the target audience in advertising.
- The number of calories should be mentioned with every meal.
- Feminists have effectively improved the workforce for women.
- Is the death penalty effective?
- How to identify fake news?
- How to maintain a healthy life?
- How to treat PTSD naturally?
- Should people be judged on their appearance?
- How is technology influencing the work performance of people?
- Private Vs. public schools
- How to choose majors in high school?
- Impact of legalizing drugs on society.
- Significance of learning social values.
- How to prevent bullying on campus?
Essay Topics for High School
- The choice to join the armed forces should be an individual decision.
- Listening to music can increase work efficiency.
- Being honest has more cons than pros.
- People who have been in an accident value life more than others.
- Embarrassing moments help boost your confidence.
- Kindness is the most valuable personal trait.
- Spontaneity can improve your life.
- Can hobbies help improve the richness of one’s life?
- Dressing properly in the office improves work efficiency
- Being organized can help in school as well as the office.
- Impact of homosexuality on society.
- What is feminism?
- How to overcome fears and phobias?
- Significance of having leadership skills in job life?
- Causes and treatments for bipolar disorder.
- Side effects of consuming antidepressants.
- How important is mental health in succeeding professionally?
- How do teaching methods influence learning abilities?
- Should specially-abled people be allowed to work in offices?
- Discrimination and racism in the US.
Paper Due? Why Suffer? That's our Job!
Essay Topics for Middle School
- Every child should have chores at home.
- There should not be any summer classes.
- Should students continue studying during summer vacation?
- Parents should pay attention to the amount of time their children spend watching television.
- Favorite family summer vacation.
- Sports should be mandatory in every school.
- Processed foods should not be part of private and public school lunch.
- Do students still use newspapers for research?
- Every individual should spend a year doing community service.
- The weekend should be 3 days long.
Hopefully, you would have selected a topic for your essay. If you are looking for more ideas, try this free essay topic generator . You will find plenty of ideas for your essay.
Still need help choosing an essay topic? 5StarEssays is a professional essay writing service that helps you get a high quality essay. We have a team of essay writers who are professionals and can do your essay .
As a Digital Content Strategist, Nova Allison has eight years of experience in writing both technical and scientific content. With a focus on developing online content plans that engage audiences, Nova strives to write pieces that are not only informative but captivating as well.
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How to use ChatGPT to help you write essays
ChatGPT's advanced capabilities have created a huge demand , with the 'app' accumulating over 100 million users within two months of launching. One of the biggest standout features has been its ability to compose all sorts of text within seconds, including songs, poems, bedtime stories, and essays.
Also: What is ChatGPT and why does it matter? Here's everything you need to know
Contrary to popular opinion, ChatGPT can do a lot more than just write an essay for you (which could be called plagiarism). What is more useful is how it can help guide your writing process. If you are a looking for ways to use ChatGPT to support your writing, here are five different ways to explore.
How to improve your writing process with ChatGPT
1. use chatgpt to generate essay ideas.
Before you can even get started writing an essay, you need to flesh out the idea. When professors assign essays, they generally give students a prompt that gives them leeway for their own self-expression and analysis. As a result, students have the task of finding the angle to approach the essay on their own.
If you have written an essay recently, you know this step is often the trickiest part -- and this is where ChatGPT can help.
Also: I wish I had ChatGPT when I was in college. But not for the reason you might expect
All you need to do is input the assignment topic, include as much detail as you'd like -- such as what you're thinking about covering -- and let ChatGPT do the rest. For example, based on a paper prompt I had in college, I asked:
Can you help me come up with a topic idea for this assignment, "You will write a research paper or case study on a leadership topic of your choice." I would like it to include Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid and possibly a historical figure.
Within seconds, the chatbot produced a response that provided me with the title of the essay, options of historical figures I could focus my article on, and insight on what information I could include in my paper, with specific examples of a case study I could use.
2. Use the chatbot to create an outline
Once you have a solid topic, it's time to start brainstorming what you actually want to include in the essay. To facilitate the writing process, I always create an outline, including all the different points I want to touch upon in my essay. However, the outline writing process is usually tedious.
With ChatGPT, all you have to do is ask it to write it for you.
Also : ChatGPT productivity hacks: Five ways to use chatbots to make your life easier
Using the topic that ChatGPT helped me generate in step one, I asked the chatbot to write me an outline by saying:
Can you create an outline for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid"
After a couple of seconds, the chatbot outputted a holistic outline divided into seven different sections, with three different points under each section.
This outline is thorough and can be condensed for a shorter essay, or elaborated on for a longer paper. If you don't like something or want to tweak it further, you can do so either manually or with more instructions to ChatGPT.
3. Use ChatGPT to find sources
Now that you know exactly what you want to write, it's time to find reputable sources to get your information from. If you don't know where to start, like with all of the previous steps, you can just ask ChatGPT.
All you need to do is ask it to find sources for your essay topic. For example, I asked it the following:
Can you help me find sources for a paper, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."
Also : The best AI chatbots: ChatGPT and other interesting alternatives to try
The chatbot output seven sources, with a bullet point for each that explained what the source was and why it could be useful.
The one caveat you will want to be aware of when using ChatGPT for sources is that it does not have access to information before 2021, so it will not be able to suggest the freshest sources. However, it is a start.
4. Use ChatGPT to write a sample essay
It is worth noting that if you take the text directly from the chatbot and submit it, your work could be considered a form of plagiarism, since it is not your original work. As with any information taken from another source, text generated by any AI should be clearly identified and credited in your work.
In most educational institutions, the penalties for plagiarism are severe, ranging from a failing grade to expulsion from the school.
Also : ChatGPT is changing everything. But it still has its limits
If you want ChatGPT generate a sample piece of text, put in the topic, the desired length, and watch for what it generates. For example, I input the following text:
Can you write a five-paragraph essay on the topic, "Examining the Leadership Style of Winston Churchill through Blake and Mouton's Managerial Leadership Grid."
Within seconds, the chatbot output exactly what I asked for: A coherent, five-paragraph essay on the topic which can help you to guide you in your own writing.
At this point it's worth remembering how tools like ChatGPT work: They put words together in a form that they think is statistically valid but they don't know if what they are saying is true or accurate. That means you might find invented facts or details or other oddities. It won't be able to create original work because it is simply aggregating everything it has already absorbed. It might be a useful starting point for your own work, but don't expect it to be inspired or accurate.
5. Use ChatGPT to co-edit your essay
Once you've written your own essay, you can use ChatGPT's advanced writing capabilities to edit it for you.
You can simply tell the chatbot what you specifically want it to edit. For example, I asked it to edit for essay structure and grammar, but other options could have included flow, tone, and more.
Once you ask it to edit your essay, it will prompt you to paste your text into the chatbot. Once you do, it will output your essay with corrections made. This could be the most useful tool as it can edit your essay more thoroughly than a basic proofreading tool could, going beyond spelling.
You could also co-edit with the chatbot, asking it to take a look at a specific paragraph or sentence and asking it to rewrite or fix it for clarity.
For a better document collaboration experience, try these tips
How to use ChatGPT: Everything you need to know
The best AI chatbots: ChatGPT and other interesting alternatives to try
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Can ChatGPT Write My College Essay?
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- College faculty fear students might use ChatGPT to compose essay assignments.
- Similarly, high school students may be tempted to use the chatbot to write college application essays.
- ChatGPT generates usable content that often lacks personality and authenticity.
- The use of ChatGPT poses ethical and moral dilemmas around plagiarism and cheating.
It's just about 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night, and your 2,000-word essay on Chaucer is due by 9 a.m., when English 525 next meets in Bennett Hall. Panicked, you review your sketchy notes and your few lines of text, incoherent blather about pilgrims and social upheaval and corruption and conflict and … dear God, why did I take this course? I've got nothing.
Yet you quickly remember salvation lies a few keystrokes away in the form of a chatbot brimming with artificial intelligence on every subject known to man, including Chaucer. You toggle over to OpenAI, log in to ChatGPT, and type in your query.
Bam! Instant essay. And it's actually pretty good, hitting on all the key points and making convincing arguments. The writing isn't exactly deathless prose, but it'll suffice. You can tweak it a bit to make it sound more like you. At least the hard part is over. Rest easy, fair squire.
Nationwide, millions of college students wrestle with this temptation, causing wary faculty members to rethink their assignments for lack of trust.
What's more, even before they arrive on campus, students are using ChatGPT to write personal statements for their college applications.
Some say ChatGPT has ruined the essay. Others aren't nearly as concerned.
Can ChatGPT Write College-Level Essays?
It most certainly can, though with certain limitations. And it's not exactly ethical.
Here's what the chatbot itself had to say about the matter:
ChatGPT is a powerful language model that can generate text on a wide range of topics, including college-level content. However, it is important to note that while ChatGPT can generate text that may resemble a college-level essay, it does not have the ability to understand the subject matter or the purpose of the essay, and therefore it may not be able to write a high-quality, well-researched, and well-argued essay.
Additionally, using text generated by ChatGPT as if it were your own work in a college setting would be considered plagiarism, and it is generally not accepted by educational institutions. It is important to use the generated text as a tool for inspiration, and not as a final submission.
Such meta self-reflection is rather ironic: an AI-generated essay on the limitations of the AI-generated essay.
Yet faculty have every reason to be concerned, and they are. In his Inside Higher Ed piece titled " Freaking Out About ChatGPT ," John Warner says he fed it "a bunch of sample questions from past AP exams in literature, history and political science, and it crushed them."
This clearly has implications for college-level assignments.
Thus far, colleges haven't freaked out enough to ban the use of ChatGPT — that is, no colleges in the U.S. One French university, known colloquially as Sciences Po, prohibits its students from using the tool.
At the K-12 level, the New York City Department of Education announced in January its blockage of ChatGPT on school devices, citing its " negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of content." A month earlier, the Los Angeles Unified School District did the same thing .
Not that colleges aren't paying close attention and responding to this emerging threat.
Montclair State University, for example, offers its faculty advice on how to design assignments, give exams, and recognize bot-driven content.
Some of these recommendations echo what others in higher ed are saying: Assign in-class work. Have students collaborate in groups. Link writing prompts to current events (ChatGPT's bank of knowledge doesn't extend beyond 2021). Make students write papers by hand .
Others go so far as to tout the benefits of ChatGPT, saying it helps students overcome writer's block, discover ideas to guide their writing, and see examples of competent grammar and punctuation usage. Students whose first language isn't English might find it especially valuable.
People in this camp don't buy into the notion that the emergence of artificial intelligence signals the arrival of the educational apocalypse.
"I'm not a huge fan of the gloom and doom," said Pennsylvania State University English professor Stuart Selber , "Every year or two, there's something that's ostensibly going to take down higher education as we know it. So far, that hasn't happened."
Above all, academics say, be more creative with assignments. Avoid generic questions ChatGPT can easily answer. Require students to draw on their own experience and reflect on moments in ways a chatbot couldn't possibly offer.
"Time for a new final exam, one that demands students find out something about themselves and tell it to you in a voice that is their own," University of Iowa English professor Blaine Greteman wrote in Newsweek . "To do that, they will have to feel something, and find a form to express it that makes you feel it too. No machine will ever be able to replicate that."
A current Princeton student agrees.
"If students are being assigned essays that can be written by ChatGPT," Christopher Lidard wrote in The Daily Princetonian, "perhaps it's not a good assignment in the first place."
So if your assignment asked you to choose a character from "The Canterbury Tales" and relate their story to some aspect of your own journey, would you find ChatGPT a viable substitute for individual expression?
Using ChatGPT to Craft College Application Essays
Perhaps you're already familiar with essay prompts requiring meaningful self-reflection. Many college application essays follow that very prescription.
If you're already in college, especially a junior or senior taking 500-level courses on Chaucer, you likely didn't have the opportunity to ask a chatbot for help with your admissions essays. It's a relatively recent phenomenon, one that's certainly getting the attention of admissions offices everywhere.
"There is some consternation in the admissions space about these technologies," said Anthony Lising Antonio , associate professor of education at Stanford, "and with obvious good reason."
Folks at Forbes had fun with ChatGPT, asking it to write college admissions essays based on specific background information on two students. Each took about 10 minutes to complete. And the results were fairly decent. For students not especially eager to attend a particular school but needing to submit something plausible, this approach might suffice.
But it's hardly the stuff of admissions-office lore.
That's because the typical output from ChatGPT and similar bots lacks soul and individuality, qualities admissions officers seek. Counselors at Ivy Experience, a college essay and admissions coaching firm, say students should offer " personal, authentic details " about themselves.
After toying with ChatGPT, the Ivy staff found the results brimming with emotion yet all too generic.
"These are broad, sweeping, grand statements written with emotional language and sentiments, but there is no substance," they concluded . … "There are no personal insights, details, or anecdotes."
Details, they claim, are the "key ingredient to vulnerability and authenticity."
New York Times columnist David Brooks concurs.
"It's often bland and vague," he writes about AI-generated content. "It's missing a humanistic core. It's missing an individual person's passion, pain, longings and a life of deeply felt personal experiences. It does not spring from a person's imagination, bursts of insight, anxiety and joy that underlie any profound work of human creativity."
Instead of emphasizing the traditional essay, some suggest, college admissions officers should encourage students to express themselves in other ways. Expand the use of interviews and urge students to submit videos, advise Mike Dunn and Chris Horne . At the same time, embrace the inevitability of ChatGPT and similar tools, laying ground rules about their use and limitations.
"This is an opportunity for college admissions stakeholders to collectively brainstorm novel approaches to this novel issue," they conclude .
So … Should ChatGPT Write Your College Essays?
That's up to each student to decide based on their moral compass. Passing off AI-generated content as your own may or may not constitute plagiarism , but it certainly is ethically dubious. If you get caught, the ramifications could be serious. It's a high-stakes gamble.
Yet the more salient question is this: Do you want artificial intelligence replacing your own? Do you want to express your thoughts and views, your unique take on the world, or do you want a computer to do that for you?
A chatbot might have a lot to say about Chaucer, but it's only what others have written. It's a good start, one that might prompt you to consider new ideas, but ultimately it's up to you to process that information, form your own thoughts, and communicate in your own words.
By now it's pushing 11:30, and you're still staring at random collections of sentence fragments and a cursor taunting you and your writer's block with every blink. Procrastination is not your friend.
But there's still time. For better than never is late.
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I asked ChatGPT to write college admissions essays and then sent them to expert tutors to review. Read the full essays.
- I got OpenAI's ChatGPT to write some college admissions essays and asked tutors to review them.
- Two experts said they passed for student essays and may have had a shot at less selective colleges.
- Here are two of the essays they reviewed.
I asked OpenAI's ChatGPT to write some college admissions essays and sent them to two expert tutors to review. Both said the essays passed for a real student's work and might even stand up at some less-selective colleges.
Kevin Wong, Princeton University alumnus and cofounder of tutoring service PrepMaven, told Insider he knew of some students that had been admitted to colleges with lower-quality essays than the ones I generated. Adam Nguyen, the founder of tutoring company Ivy Link , said the essays were exemplary of what a very mediocre student would produce.
Both Wong and Nguyen praised the grammar and structure of the essays and criticized the lack of personal experiences and unique feelings. Nguyen called the essays "over-predictable" and they both agreed the essays wouldn't have had a chance at any top universities.
ChatGPT's essays were based on some old questions from the Common App , a widely used application process across the US. At first, the chatbot said it wouldn't write the essays for me, telling me it was "important that the admissions essay reflects the applicant's own thoughts, experiences, and writing style."
However, after prompting it to give me some examples of how I could answer the questions and then asking it to write me a "specific example answer" based on one of these, it generated some full-length essays. The process took around 10 minutes.
Here are two of the essays the tutors reviewed:
1. Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
For the first essay, I asked the chatbot to write about an artistic or creative pursuit that consumes my free time and how it has allowed me to express myself. I also asked the bot to use vivid examples to illustrate the points. Here's what I got:
I have always been drawn to photography, but it wasn't until my senior year of high school that I really started to explore the art form. I signed up for a photography class on a whim, and quickly became obsessed with capturing the world around me through my lens.
What I love about photography is that it allows me to see the world in a new way. When I'm out shooting, I am constantly searching for beauty and interest in unexpected places. I find myself drawn to the interplay of light and shadow, the details that others might overlook, and the fleeting moments that can be captured and preserved forever.
As I have delved deeper into the art of photography, I have also found that it provides a powerful outlet for self-expression. Through my photos, I am able to convey my thoughts and feelings in a way that words alone cannot. When I'm behind the camera, I feel a sense of creative freedom and possibility that I haven't found in any other medium.
One project that I'm particularly proud of is a series of portraits that I took of my friends and family. I wanted to capture their personalities and essence in a way that was both honest and beautiful. I spent hours experimenting with lighting, posing, and composition to create images that felt true to who they are. When I showed them the final product, they were amazed by how I had managed to capture their essence in a single frame.
In addition to the personal satisfaction I get from creating art, I also love the way that photography allows me to connect with others. When I share my photos online or in a gallery, I am always amazed by the way that people respond to them. They see things that I might have missed, or they connect with the emotions that I was trying to convey. It's an incredible feeling to know that my art has touched someone else's life in a meaningful way.
When I want to learn more about photography, I turn to a variety of resources. I subscribe to photography magazines, follow photographers on social media, and take workshops whenever I can. But mostly, I learn by doing. I experiment with different techniques and styles, and I'm always looking for new ways to challenge myself and push my creativity to new heights.
In conclusion, photography is an artistic pursuit that consumes my free time and allows me to express myself in new and meaningful ways. Through this medium, I have discovered a new way of seeing the world, and a powerful tool for self-expression and connection.
2. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
For the second essay, I asked the chatbot to give me a specific example of failing at a project or task and learning from the experience. I didn't specify the kind of language it should use or the length.
During my junior year of high school, I was part of a team that was tasked with creating a new product for a national entrepreneurship competition. We had several months to develop the product, write a business plan, and create a pitch to present to a panel of judges. However, we underestimated the amount of time and resources we needed and ended up rushing through the final stages of the project.
As a result, our pitch was poorly prepared, and we didn't do well in the competition. I was devastated at the time, as I had invested a lot of time and effort into the project. However, I decided to take a step back and reflect on what went wrong.
I realized that our team lacked effective communication and project management skills. We didn't delegate tasks effectively, and we didn't set clear goals or timelines. I also realized that I had a tendency to take on too much responsibility and not ask for help when I needed it.
To address these issues, I decided to take a project management course and read books on effective teamwork and communication. I also started practicing delegation and setting clearer goals and timelines for myself and my team.
The following year, I participated in the same entrepreneurship competition with a new team. This time, we were much more organized and prepared, and we ended up winning first place at the regional level. This experience taught me the importance of effective communication, project management, and learning from failure.
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Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.
Table of contents. Step 1: Hook your reader. Step 2: Give background information. Step 3: Present your thesis statement. Step 4: Map your essay's structure. Step 5: Check and revise. More examples of essay introductions. Frequently asked questions about the essay introduction.
Essay writing process. The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay.. For example, if you've been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you'll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay, on the ...
For essay writing, we recommend the standard five-step writing process: 1 Brainstorming It always helps to collect your thoughts before you begin writing by brainstorming. Based on your prompt or thesis, try to generate as many ideas as possible to include in your essay.
To be truly brilliant, an essay needs to utilise the right language. You could make a great point, but if it's not intelligently articulated, you almost needn't have bothered. Developing the language skills to build an argument and to write persuasively is crucial if you're to write outstanding essays every time.
When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you've read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements.
Here's what your essay title should include. One or more relevant keywords to your subject. Any other necessary words or phrases that tell the reader what to expect from your essay. When applicable, a catchy phrase or figurative language. Let's take another look at the example essay titles from the section above.
Many young students spend a lot of time playing video games, and this can translate into an essay topic. Exploring the mental health effects of too much video gameplay is a good option. Ask them to write about games they live or spend too much time playing. 5. A Dog, Cat Or The Family Pet.
The new edition of the Great Writing series provides clear explanations, extensive models of academic writing and practice to help learners write great sentences, paragraphs, and essays. With expanded vocabulary instruction, sentence-level practice, and National Geographic content to spark ideas, students have the tools they need to become ...
Essay writing services become extremely essential for students during their academic periods.Make sure that you are not writing about someone else's knowledge, skills, or abilities. Your introduction must have your own brand of style and creativity. What is your main goal in your essay? What is the purpose of your text?
Write a Great Essay Conclusion . A great essay conclusion wraps up the entire piece. It should restate the thesis statement in a new way and add in some of the topic sentence statements that help prove or expand on the topic. Essay conclusion examples may show a round up of information from the entire piece but should not restate the entire ...
Writing for the reader means building a clear and logical argument in which one thought flows naturally from another. Use transitions between paragraphs. Think about any information you may have left out that the reader may need to know. Are there ideas you have included that do not help illustrate your theme?
4. Smodin. ChatGPT Alternatives for Essay Writing - fig - 4. Another ChatGPT alternative for writing essays in our list is Smodin. Smodin is an AI assistant tool that makes writing blog posts and essays easier than ever before. Using natural language processing technology (NLP), Smodin generates high-quality, plagiarism-free content in minutes.
Use evidence, reasoning and scholarship. 4. Organise a coherent essay. 5. Write clearly. 6. Cite sources and evidence. An essay is used to assess the strength of your critical thinking and your ability to put that thinking into an academic written form.
1. Explore essay prompts and select a topic. 2. Start your college essay outline before jumping in. 3. Write the essay and leave time for multiple drafts. 4. Edit and proofread your essay. 5.
Argumentative Essays. The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner.Please note: Some confusion may occur between the argumentative essay and the expository essay.
The feedback is comprehensive, easy-to-follow and leads to a much-improved essay. The pricing is also substantially less than other options. Note on Prompt.com — You can also schedule a video coaching call with your coach ($150) or submit your essay again for more feedback from the same coach ($75).
Good essays include multiple types of logic. You can use a combination of the transitions above to create a strong, clear structure throughout the body of your essay. Strong Verbs for Academic Writing. Verbs are especially important for writing clear essays. Often, you can convey a nuanced meaning simply by choosing the right verb.
Students often underestimate the amount of work required to write a good essay, which results in two things: (1) late nights at the library, and (2) a disappointing grade. If you want to achieve a good mark, you should start planning your essay the moment you receive the essay question. The following table may be a useful aid:
Body #2: Students should instead focus on internal fulfillment when writing an essay. Body #3: Not only will focusing on internal fulfillment allow students to have more fun, it will also result in better essays. Conclusion: Writing an essay doesn't have to be simply a way to earn a good grade.
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Choosing a strong topic is key to writing a great essay. Have a look at our blog to select good argumentative essay topics to impress the audience. Persuasive Essay Topics. A persuasive essay is similar to an argumentative paper. However, in it, the writer wants to convince the readers of their point of view.
1. Use ChatGPT to generate essay ideas. Before you can even get started writing an essay, you need to flesh out the idea. When professors assign essays, they generally give students a prompt that ...
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Similarly, high school students may be tempted to use the chatbot to write college application essays. ChatGPT generates usable content that often lacks personality and authenticity. The use of ChatGPT poses ethical and moral dilemmas around plagiarism and cheating. It's just about 11 p.m. on a Tuesday night, and your 2,000-word essay on ...
List of 500+ Essay Writing Topics and Ideas. Essay topics in English can be difficult to come up with. While writing essays, many college and high school students face writer's block and have a hard time to think about topics and ideas for an essay.In this article, we will list out many good essay topics from different categories like argumentative essays, essays on technology, environment ...
Read the full essays. I got OpenAI's ChatGPT to write some college admissions essays and asked tutors to review them. Two experts said they passed for student essays and may have had a shot at ...