By Derrida Flynn
Getting A's on essays does not have to be a big mystery. Although content and ideas of an essay are important, most teachers focus on how you organize your thoughts and how you structure your essay.Important sections of your essay:
1) Thesis
Thesis is a short simple sentence that makes a claim about something (either about a book or about an issue). You have to make sure your statement is "arguable". That is, someone else can disagree with it.
Most students make the mistake by writing a "fact" or summary of the book as their thesis. Be careful not to get stuck in writing a summary for your thesis. This sets you up to more summarizing for the rest of the essay rather than coming up with interesting points and support for your opinion about a topic or book.
2) Organized supporting arguments
Easiest way to write the "body" or the meat of your essay is to outline your supporting proof for your opening claim (thesis). Make a paragraph for each point you want to make as support for your main argument. Then back up each point with examples. If the essay is about a particular issue, use examples from your experience or observation. If the essay is about a book, use quotes and examples that happen in the story. Provide your unique interpretation of the quotes.
It is crucial to keep your arguments organized. Keep one thought in one paragraph. If you have another thought that supports your argument, make a new paragraph.
Transitions between paragraphs are also important to think about. An easy way to that is to start your paragraphs with "First...", "Secondly...", "In addition...", "Although...", etc.
3) Conclusion
This is the part where you can relax a little. Concluding paragraph is a summary of your entire essay reworded succinctly into one paragraph. Simply re-write your thoughts and you're done!
Other things to check:
Last but not least, always re-read to see if you made spelling and grammar mistakes.
Follow these steps and you'll be guaranteed a good grade.
