how to write an impressive essay   by Jimmy Ray

in Education / College and University    (submitted 2012-02-02)

How To Write An Essay
Writing an essay in the era of SMSes is an exercise fraught with exactness and precision. Just as a motorbike now picks up full speed in matter of seconds today's essay does not need a long-winding and complicated introduction before acquiring full steam. A short paragraph with a terrific single-liner, proverb or quotation as the opening line is enough for take off.
Since the main idea is floated in the opening para it should be crisp and to the point.
As in the following paragraphs you are to expand the idea suggested in the first couple of sentences the start should be both meaningful and attractive.
For example, if you are asked to write an essay on topic related to Marriage it may not necessarily be like that one written by famous essayist Francis Bacon in "Of Marriage and Single Life" in 17th Century.
Bacon had a great limitations then because there was no concept of live-in relationships and gay marriages; besides, divorce was not so rampant. Today the opening line "Marriages are made in Heaven and solemnized on Earth" may sound too repetitive and hackneyed. Instead "Marriages are made in Heaven and broken on Earth" or "Marriages are made in Heaven but have few takers on Earth" may sound more acceptable.
As the topic is developed in the following paragraphs you need to have better understanding of the subject you are writing about. There is often the lurking fear of essay running into platitudes in the later paragraphs. As the crux lies in middle of the essay efforts should be made to keep pace with the opening few lines.
The essay should be coherent and the paragraphs should be properly linked with suitable expressions and phrases at the start of the new one.
Different points discussed in the middle of the essay should be explained in separate paragraphs. If possible, help of examples should be taken as they make the writing more readable and vivid.
Some essays are topical while some others are not. For instance, an essay on Football written in 1970 can go in 2011 with some minor changes in examples and data. Instead of highlighting the achievements of Pele more light should be thrown on the quality of game played by Zidane or Rolando.
But an essay on Nuclear Disarmament written by a college student in 1970 and another one more than a generation later in the so-called unipolar world today may have little similarities. The two pieces would naturally be entirely different. While in 1960s and 1970s the then Soviet Union and the United States were at each's throat, today such fear does not exist. The world has changed so has the contents of the essay on such topics.
If you have been given the choice to pick up from various topics chose the one in which you can write better. Avoid bombastic and pompous language as very often the young essayist gets distracted in ornamenting the piece. He or she instead ends up writing more on the United Nations Security Council rather than on Nuclear Disarmament.
Sometimes you would be asked to write an essay on the age-old topic, which has acquired a new meaning. For example, Trade Unionism. In 21st Century world the essence of the expression Trade Unionism has changed fast. With the decline of Left you can not just be Right Conscious, but you need to be Duty Conscious too.
So before discussing the topic you need to trace its history in the 19th Century. Then in the following paragraphs you are supposed to explain the finer points and how the Trade Union movements all over the world empowered the labours, who were greatly exploited by the factory owners and management.
While discussing the Communist countries, where the state became the biggest capitalist, you can cite the example of Lech Walesa of Solidarity in Poland. This labour leader went on to become the President of that country and thus, in a way, paved the way for the collapse of Communism. It all started with workers strike in Lenin Shipyard in the port of Gdansk in 1980.
But the essay would not be complete without throwing light on what can be called the tyranny of working class, especially in the public sector undertakings.
The essay-writer should sum up his or her writing in the concluding paragraph. The bottom line should literally be the bottom-line. For example, if you are writing on the failure of the Nuclear Disarmament you can recap it by stating: "Nuclear Disarmament has, in a way, become Unclear Armament."
As high school and college essays are different from newspaper or magazine articles too much personal view should be avoided. Instead take help of general opinion on any given topic. Even if you give certain opinion keep away from the use of First Person in essay writing.
Besides, use of contractions such as don't, couldn't etc should also be avoided in essay.

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