Your teacher has just assigned you the one thing you dread, but know you will face several times during the school year in several of your classes. Yes, that's right, kids, it's time to write
THE ESSAY!
You let out a deep sigh as you feel the heavy weight of dread in your gut, and your entire attitude fades to black. It's as if someone has pulled a dark veil over your formerly sunny outlook.
Okay, maybe that's a BIT dramatic. But for many of us, writing the essay is a task that takes more gumption just to begin than to actually complete.
Year one scholars, as I write this blog, we have just been assigned the unit summative: The Taming of the Shrew HL essay. If that isn't punishment enough, we also must get approval on our essay outline plan from Mrs. Caraway (yours truly!) a document that helps clarify for ourselves and our reader just what it is we are doing, and how this great idea meets the course criteria (thus providing a possible highlight of where we have fallen short!)
Year two scholars, as I write this blog, you are preparing for the Purple Hibiscus unit summative, which is your choice of the Creative Task, or the HL essay. This gives you some fun choices to explore, but brings with it the pressure that having wide open creative freedom can bring.
At the close of our two years together, looming in deadly proximity, we have the IB exams, both of which are essays (Paper 1 is actually TWO essays, while Paper 2 is comparative, and involves memorizing quotes) that bring with them the added element of the time limit.
Now, now, now; writing an essay, comparative or otherwise, doesn't have to be such a downer! In fact, it can become something you look forward to! (Okay, maybe that's taking it a bit too far). At the very least, it can be a challenge you are ready and able to meet.
Like anything else worth doing, writing takes what I like to refer to as the three P's: perseverance, passion and patience. You need to eliminate the idea of "TRY my best" and substitute that notion with "DO my best." Do not even entertain the notion of "this will be hard" or "I cannot do this well," or "my teacher will hate this." Do not put it off until the last minute or it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy of doom.
Instead, set aside a quiet space, do some relaxation breathing (think yoga, pilates, or dance) and ELIMINATE DISTRACTIONS. Silence your phone. In fact, just move your phone to a completely different room or floor of your home, if applicable. Do not allow yourself to text friends or scroll through Instagram. It's just you, some paper (or a screen) and words. Take some time to go through your notes and quotes, and begin the process of writing. Don't put the pressure of editing or grammar on yourself at this stage. Writing is a process. Allow your subconscious creativity to flow first, uninhibited. You can fix it all later. Be patient with yourself and your thoughts. Wait for the right words or search them out until you find the one you truly feel is best. Use a thesaurus for inspiration. DON'T SURRENDER.
You get to design your exploration in the HL, so you might as well write about something that interests YOU. Don't think about me (aka your teacher), or anyone else. Glance over the marking scheme. Then, take time to craft your topic, and organize your evidence in such a way that shows off your writing style.
Describing is necessary to set things in motion, but don't stay there! Spend most of your time in analysis. Depth is the key: what is being written/explored, how is the writer exploring it, why those choices, and to what impact? Again, revision and editing will come in the final stages. The first stage of the writing process is....wait for it... PLANNING! When you do begin to put your ideas and plans to paper and write, find something fun in it...something that stirs your creative passion.
AND WIN.
Here are the links to writing tips for the essay, and just writing in general. Read through them--some of the tips in them may be repeated, but reworded in a different way. Sometimes, hearing the same thing multiple times and in different ways is key in helping to cement your understanding! Then, in your post, tell me the tips you found the most helpful or enlightening!
1. https://www.chegg.com/play/student-life/10-tips-for-writing-the-perfect-paper/
2. http://thewritepractice.com/writing-an-essay/
3. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/advice-for-students-10-steps-toward-better-writing.html
Here are the links to writing tips for the essay, and just writing in general. Read through them--some of the tips in them may be repeated, but reworded in a different way. Sometimes, hearing the same thing multiple times and in different ways is key in helping to cement your understanding! Then, in your post, tell me the tips you found the most helpful or enlightening!
1. https://www.chegg.com/play/student-life/10-tips-for-writing-the-perfect-paper/
2. http://thewritepractice.com/writing-an-essay/
3. https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/advice-for-students-10-steps-toward-better-writing.html
Avoid words you don't know:
ReplyDeleteI struggle with this every time I write something even if it is not an essay. I use words that are synonyms to the words that I do know to make me sound smarter even though I would never use those words. I think that the reason why I use words I do not know is because I think I'll get a better grade if I use words that sound fancy.
Why is writing an essay so hard?:
The reason why writing essay are so hard for me to write is because I aim to get an "A" all of the time which stresses me out like crazy. I try to prove something to my teacher that I am smart and that I can write a good essay. I also try to get in the mindset as my teacher so they can understand and maybe even agree with what I write.
Start in the middle:
I always start my essay on the Introduction paragraph but I might need to work on the body paragraphs first instead. That way I get a clear idea of how my essay will be organized and what it will address. Plus if I write the body paragraphs first then my introduction paragraph will sound better and answer the prompt or question needed to analyzed.
1. Not using certain words (or at least sparingly). "Additionally, accurately, factually, and simultaneously are not useful in forming or proving an argument." I've gotten better at this over time but I know I definitely still use redundant or basic words, like "very ___". Grammarly loves to remind of this fact. ;)
ReplyDelete2. When trying to make analyses don't just focus on "why" but also "how". I like this because it allows you to look at the same thing from a different perspective but can also help you answer the same question.
3. Put a focus on communicating your purpose. I had to do this just recently with my Taming of the Shrew essay. There were a couple of good thoughts that I liked in it but when rereading it, they ultimately didn't work to answer my thesis so I had to delete them. It's sometimes hard to delete portions of your essay that you like but in the end it's better if it makes the whole thing clearer and more defined.
Avoid certain words or use them sparingly: I catch myself doing this a lot, especially with the word “that.” When writing I try to be extra conscious about how many filler words I have. It’s difficult for me to distinguish between which words are considered extra and which are necessary to get the point across. To me, an extra “really” or “actually” helps portray intent and passion, but that could just be because I am the author, and it sounds better in my head than it does for people who read it.
ReplyDeleteImportance of a plan: In the past I have struggled with planning out my essays. Typically I just started writing and hoped the ideas came to me. Ever since I started using outlines my writing process has been so much easier. The outlines are not very specific, just enough for me to get my thoughts down and ensure a good idea doesn’t slip away. Knowing what I want to accomplish helps me write my thesis and ensure I don’t go off-topic, and makes the whole process generally more enjoyable and less mentally taxing.
Starting in the middle: I do not use this strategy a lot, but I find it works very well when I don’t know what to write about. For my The Taming of the Shrew Essay, I knew what I wanted to talk about, so I was able to work more linearly. However, for my Persepolis essay, my points were scattered with no clear connection, so it helped to fully develop my ideas with my body paragraphs before trying to link them together with a thesis statement.
I found the second and third links the most helpful because they had a more relaxed tone. Specifically, bullet point 1 in the second article states, “1. Remember your essay is just a story.” This helped me realize that I shouldn't stress over an essay when I have control over it. Now I will be stressed if I procrastinate it, but the freedom of a story lets me be creative and I look forward to writing it. When I look forward to writing things or specific topics I feel like my best work comes out and I provide the best analysis of the topic. Tip 2 from article 2 also resonated with me the most because it states “2. Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?” When I give myself the freedom to create and control what I do, I don't dread doing it. In article 3 bullet point 3 stood out to me the most because it's what I struggle with most, which is starting the essay. Article 3 bullet point states “Start in the middle. One of the biggest problems facing writers of all kinds is figuring out how to start.'' I have such a creative mind that sometimes I get lost in it and starting somewhere is usually right for me because I feel like I have to stick to a solid opening and thesis. After years of writing essays, I am learning that I can change how to write my essays and go at my own creative pace.
ReplyDeleteProofread and Proofread again
ReplyDeleteI find this tip helpful because in order to find the mistakes in your essay you have to look at it over and over. In your brain you might think it flows well but once you look over it many times you will catch the mistakes.
Don't be afraid to dance around
When writing my essay sometimes I think that I have to write in the way it is going to be read but in reality I don't. I can start writing on whatever part I want as long as the end product flows and makes sense together.
Write crappy first drafts
When I write my essay I think that it has to be good but in reality it is just my first draft it is going to be messy. The first draft should just be you putting your ideas onto the page and then you can go through and connect all of those thoughts together. Writing an essay takes time.
Don’t use these words:
ReplyDeleteI found this tip to be very interesting because I’ve had the mindset of making essays sound good rather than focusing on making my points clear. The distinction between ‘filler words’ and ones that support an argument is important for writing thoughtful essays.
Write crappy first drafts:
This tip stood out to me because I tend to have a hard time allowing myself to write truly rough drafts, I’d much rather write an essay once and be done with it. Now knowing how beneficial these first drafts are, I am approaching my next essay with more leniency in writing a real rough draft.
Conclude something:
Conclusions are the part of an essay I write last, not for the obvious reason, but due to avoidance. Without a clearly supported argument with reference to evidence and points used earlier, the purpose of an essay is absent. So, this tip reminded me to spend some more time than I regularly do on my conclusions in order to achieve a meaningful resolution to my essay.
Write Crappy first drafts:
ReplyDeleteI often get too focused on writing perfect first drafts and it ends up giving me writer's block. A first draft should be used to get ideas on the page and see where the words end up taking you. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Don't be afraid to dance around:
I often get stuck trying to write in a linear fashion. I'll spend forever just staring at my document because I don't know what to write for that specific section. I need to learn to write wherever I have ideas.
Don't use words you don't know:
I often have a habit of going on Thesaurus.com and trying to find fancy words. This doesn't rely help me as it can make me sound robotic, like a word vomit. I also stand the risk of using the word incorrectly. I need to rely on naturally expanding my own vocabulary.
Avoid Words You Don't Know
ReplyDeleteI thought this tip was helpful because in my essays, I tend to use the thesaurus website to replace "basic" words to more complex words. However, I want to avoid using the words incorrectly or that aren't the best fit for my sentence. I need to start relying on what I know to avoid the situation.
Write Crappy First Drafts
When I write my essays, I tend to try to perfect it on the first try which defeats the point of it being a rough draft. It should be used to explore different ideas without the approach of it being the best essay in the beginning.
Start From the Middle
Often times, I have many different connections and ideas of what I want to write that I end up being disorganized and stressing over what I should write. However, if I try using this strategy of starting in the middle, I can allow myself to work around with what I have and it'll make my essay flow a lot smoother.
The link that provided me with the most helpful tips was link #2. One tip that provided the most help was the tip of asking myself “how can I make this fun”. Furthermore, the second tip that was the most helpful was the tip that added that an essay is simply storytelling. These tips were helpful to me because I typically forget this in my essays. I become stressed and focused only on facts and trying to get an A. Whereas I need to throw away that mindset and remember to still have fun and find things I want to write about in the essay and a topic I’m passionate about.
ReplyDeleteProofread & Proofread Again:
ReplyDeleteI personally use this tip a million times as I write. I reread each section of my essay countless times to ensure it is my best possible work. It is very easy to miss spelling and grammar mistakes even after rereading them a few times, making close proofreading so important.
Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”:
I found this tip extremely enlightening because I often find myself procrastinating and doing anything I can to avoid writing my essay because I find it very boring. If I could figure out how to make it fun I would have instant motivation and be less stressed when I find myself writing my essay at the last possible moment.
Conclude something:
This tip was very helpful because my conclusions are often summaries of what my essay already said, and I thought this was what a conclusion was supposed to be. This tip opened my eyes and now I am aware of how to properly craft a concluding paragraph.
Proofread and Proofread Again
ReplyDeleteThis tip was helpful because I usually forget to proofread my essays, but I have gotten better at it. Proofreading is important because it is easy to just type away and make mistakes that need to be fixed. Sometimes you can be your greatest editor.
Avoid Words You Don't Know
I tend to try and find higher level words to replace my lower level word choice, but I want to avoid using the wrong word. Using a basic word is better than using a word that is completely wrong and out-of-context. Though still using higher level words is beneficial for an essay.
Before you start writing, ask yourself, “How can I have the most fun writing this?”
This tip is extremely helpful because I find myself becoming bored with the essay I am writing. If I am not having fun writing an essay then the essay won't be as strong and interesting as it should be. Writing an essay can be fun for me as long as the topic I am researching is interesting. I need to start setting myself up for success rather than feeling unmotivated and bored.
SARAH EMMETT, Year 2
ReplyDelete1. Get Feedback
I always struggle with asking for help and getting anyone to proofread my assignments. I know that a great editor and some advice can make a good essay great. I will try to ask for help for more than one person and have my essays peer edited.
2. Write a Crappy First Draft
I am always a perfectionist when it comes to writing. Most times I feel uninspired to write and experience writer's block when the first time I write something isn't cohesive and coherent. Instead of worrying about how I sound before the editing, I will write my thoughts down and worry about the language later.
3. Conclude something
I am one to confuse a conclusion with a summary. I never know how to properly conclude my essays and instead write a summary. I will practice writing conclusions and will plan out my conclusions to know exactly what to say.
The tips I found the most beneficial and enlightening were….
ReplyDeleteMost essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”
Be “source heavy.”
Pace yourself
The first point I found beneficial because when it comes to explaining my evidence and going into detail and really breaking it down I find it difficult to go further than stating my evidence and explaining it briefly. I think it will be beneficial to explain my evidence with how rather than just what and why. Further allowing me to go into details and better support my claim.
As for being source heavy, I believe this idea will also be beneficial for me in the same sense as explaining the how aspect of my evidence. When I begin to struggle to explain my evidence and
Need additional thoughts or points I can turn to other resources (ensuring I cite them as well) to better support my evidence for my claim.
Finally, I think the point of pacing myself will be beneficial to completing essays. Contrary to the article I am not the type to do it the night before, however, I struggle to finish pieces of the essay. I typically will work in short bursts of motivation, however, if I can set time aside to work on my essay and continuously work rather than whenever motivation hits, I think it may be easier to complete essays without the struggle to get started and finish the task.
To start, I found it very interesting how some of the articles on essay writing contrasted one another. Such as the second one saying using quotes and paraphrasing for the majority of an essay is okay, then the third article strongly disproving against it, as it does not show how the author feels about the writing or their own opinions, despite being factual
ReplyDeleteThree tips I found useful:
Avoid Words You Don’t Know
This tip came to me of interest since I am guilty of this constantly in my papers. In order to sound more educated in a topic, I use thesauruses and find synonyms to words, yet most often I do not know the meaning of the words I am using. I want to put it into practice to avoid the words I am unfamiliar with, so I do not risk a lack of clarity in my papers.
Write & Revise
I already follow most of these tips of revising and reviewing my paper, however the specific idea in this tip that caught my attention was pasting my paper in a text-to-speech format, such as Google Translate. I often use this method when I am preparing for oral assessments, however I would like to apply it further, and utilize it in my essays. It also found it interesting to proofread the paper backwards, and go by each word to know what was written other than what I wanted to see written
Remember your essay is just a story
I have never thought about writing as a story before. Most often, I struggle with showing my personal engagement and creativity in my writing, and I end up just regurgitating facts that are connected, but are not telling a story to the reader. I find this tip really intriguing and useful, as it further shows me that an essay is not only knowing the information, but utilizing it in a way that reflects my perspective of the ideas and creates connections.
The tip in which I found most enlightening was to write bad first drafts since they are able to be edited and altered later. This was helpful for my understanding of what my rough draft could be like and take stress off if it needed to be perfect the first time. Without meaning too I normally adhere to this since I need to get my concepts and ideas out in the paragraphs before altering them to be better.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI found the tips about having rough first drafts to be very enlightening. Having the idea in mind that the rough draft is meant to be “rough” makes it easier to just start writing and putting down more ideas on the paper without overthinking it. Not focusing on making a perfect first draft would also help with time management as it would speed up the process of figuring out the overall ideas of the essay while allowing more additional time to be spent on editing the final draft. Approaching the assignment with the mindset that it does not have to be perfect will make the essay seem a lot more manageable and easier to begin.
After reviewing all three articles, I believe I have gained some new knowledge and information to help me write and plan better essays. Something the first article said that stood out to me was “Write and Revise”. I used this technique for our most recent HL essay and I truly saw a difference in my writing. Before this class, I didn’t fully understand the tactic of writing a rough draft, then revising it into a final. Previously, I would write a draft and it would just become my final through a few edits, whereas this time around I really focused on creating a true rough draft then turning it into my final. I noticed this technique allowed me to meet each deadline and I really enjoyed my final product. Another piece of advice that stood out to me was in the third article where it said to “Plan, then write”. This stuck out to me because I use this for most of my assignments in all of my classes. I prefer to make an outline by just brainstorming and dumping points I hope to include in my writing on a blank page, whether it be bullet points or full sentences. I really try to plan my writing out ahead of time so I am not just writing without purpose. For this class, we are given essay outline templates. I chose to use this as well as one of my own to help draft some of my essays before I began to write it. Using an outline allows me to understand what I truly want to focus on within my writing and make sure to tie it into the essay. It allows me to organize my thoughts into sections that in turn become my body paragraphs for my essays. This makes it significantly easier when I start writing my rough draft because I already have my points, my quotes, and purpose for my essay. Overall, I think these articles provided helpful ideas as to how to get the most out of crafting an essay, as well as how to enjoy writing high quality pieces of literature.
ReplyDeleteWrite a crappy first draft:
ReplyDeleteI found this tip the most important because it is always important for me to remember to write down my thoughts and ideas before I organize and refine the essay.
Proofread and Proofread again:
I also found this tip beneficial because I usually forget to proofread my writing multiple times, and for the most part I rely on my critical friends for feedback instead of refining the essay myself after.
Waylan Perez, Year 1:
ReplyDelete"I struggle with staying on task and quite often do not sit down to just write easily. It takes a bit of time, and some background music for me to be able to just sit there and write. I found the tip of just writing almost subconsciously and then editing afterwards to be the most helpful. I think that just writing without thinking about anything else and allowing nothing to distract you by listening to some metal. I find that the most helpful to me, just eliminating any outside distractions."
There were two tips that stood out the most to me and I feel like if I use them, my writing can become much better. The first one is the "crappy rough draft". A lot of the time, I try to write my rough drafts like I would my final drafts but then I end up getting stuck on words or sentences because I am trying to make them sound right rather than getting my ideas out on the page. I need to remember that I will be editing all of it later. The second tip I saw as very useful to me was to know what you're writing about. I get side tract very easily and sometimes go away from the topic that I'm supposed to be writing about. I can see how this would affect essay writing so much and I need to remember to keep looking at my prompt as I am writing.
ReplyDelete1) "Proofread and Proofread again"
ReplyDeleteThis tip is especially important for me as I tend to get impatient and not proofread multiple times. It shocks me every time I get an essay graded how many small spelling errors I make. It would be beneficial for me to adopt this as it would clean up small mistakes that count for a good portion of my grade.
2) "What Surprises me About this Subject?"
I often get discouraged from writing essays because I can't find things to enjoy about it, so this would be beneficial to me. If i could find something I did enjoy about the subject, I'd be able to more passionately write therefore writing better essays.
3) "Conclude Something"
When I write essays I find myself using the conclusion paragraph to summarize everything I talked about. I should instead be able to collect all my thoughts into a conclusion about the main topic or theme instead.
ReplyDeleteThe advice I found most helpful was “Write crappy first drafts,” I tend to edit as I write instead of just getting all my words out. In both my creative and academic writing, I tend to stop to look up information. Part of me really wants to get it right the first try but I need to understand that it’s the "first draft". It’s for my eyes only and is going to be rewritten. This is definitely a piece of advice that I need to implement in my writing habits.
For me, the best pieces of advice are to know the assignment, and constantly remind myself as I'm writing. Constantly reminding myself of what I need to be doing is important for me to not lose track of my prompt as I go through the assignment. It's not uncommon for me to find myself going through the motions and writing an entire paragraph that didn't make sense because I wasn't intentional about reminding myself of the prompt.
ReplyDeleteThe advice that helped me best was to make my rough drafts crappy. When I write my essays, often what I write at first, is what I stick with. I spend hours working on my rough draft, editing it to perfection as I move along. Not only is it time consuming, but it is stressful as well. I focus on finding the perfect wording in every sentence instead of just getting my thoughts out. Working on pouring my ideas onto the page, instead of writing a perfect essay on the first try, will save me time and unneeded stress.
ReplyDeleteDanielle Young: I struggle to pay attention and I find myself getting distracted over anything. I am a distraction and I can't help thinking about anything but what I want to think about. I would like to think of myself as a writer but definitely not in the technical sense. I have tried many times to get myself to write. throwing my phone across the room, closing tabs in my computer, with music, without music, aromatherapy, everything and rarely does it work. when it comes to the 10 tips I already do 6 and all the other tips are familiar. I know my writing game can be improved but the problem isn't something that can be fixed with a article, ADHD can't be solved with a few tricks. So I found these tricks to be not helpful.
ReplyDelete1. Write crappy first drafts
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest hurdles in writing an essay is getting started. It's natural to want to write a perfect first draft, but that's not always possible. By embracing the idea of writing a crappy first draft, you're giving yourself permission to write freely without worrying about getting it right the first time. This approach allows you to get your ideas out of your head and onto paper, which you can then refine in subsequent drafts.
2. Don’t Use These Words (First, second, and third)
When writing an essay, it's easy to fall into the trap of using words like "first," "second," and "third" to organize your ideas. While these words can be helpful in some cases, they can also make your writing sound robotic and formulaic. By avoiding these words, you're forced to think more creatively about how to structure your essay and present your ideas in a more engaging way.
3. Don't be afraid to jump around.
Many writers feel like they need to write an essay in a linear fashion, from beginning to end. However, this approach can be limiting and can lead to writer's block. By jumping around and writing different sections of your essay out of order, you're giving yourself more freedom to explore your ideas and find the best way to present them. This approach can also help you avoid getting stuck on one particular section of your essay, which can be a major time-waster.
The most helpful tips for me were to find a way to make the writing fun and to start the process with the body paragraphs. I find that when I use these methods, I am more successful in my writing. When I like discussing the topic within my essay, I don't overthink it, and I instead just write out my thoughts. The words come to me easier because I'm not forcing myself to write, I'm just doing it automatically. The other helpful tool was starting with the body paragraphs. I have always done this because it feels easier and less stressful. Then, I can construct my introduction and conclusion paragraphs based on what I have already written in the body paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteSome of the tips I found most enlightening were:
ReplyDeleteWrite crappy first drafts: Accept not writing your best paper on the first try.
Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.
From the three articles, I found the following tips helpful:
ReplyDeleteAvoid Words You Don’t Know-
Although I don’t do this often, sometimes I find myself trying to use new vocabulary and realize I don’t exactly know what contexts to use it in. Sometimes it is fine to use a thesaurus as long as you understand when to use such words, and enforces what I usually try to do anyways.
Don't be afraid to jump around-
Sometimes I feel like I can’t stay in one place of the essay at one point, but don’t want to mess with the flow by doing so. This tip focuses on giving freedom and allowing yourself time to proofread later so that these jumps connect.
Pace yourself-
Recently, I’ve seemed to lack in this area, and make the mistake of having deceitful thoughts like the author lists. This tip further enforces that such thinking is untrue and that much time should be given to perfect the essay.
I found avoiding certain words to be a great tip, as I always personally found using words such as first(ly), second(ly), third(ly), and so on to be incredibly repetitive and bland. Another was including many sources, as it will both help to justify your paper and make writing it easier, as lots of it will either be direct quotes or paraphrasing an idea already developed. Other great tips are to use Wikipedia by the sources it provides, not itself directly and to make awful starting drafts, as polishing can happen afterwards.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the articles, I’ve realized that while I can improve on everything the tips discuss, there are a few tips that stand as something that I barely do or don’t do at all.
ReplyDeletePutting too much effort into my first draft is something I struggle with, while the rough draft is supposed to be a process in which you get your thoughts down on paper, helping to let the creativity flow. I often put too much effort into my rough drafts, limiting the size, creativity, and depth of my essays. Another tip I struggle with is avoiding meaningless words. Partially because Grammarly doesn’t catch unnecessary words, my sentences are often confusing simply because of the addition of an unnecessary word. Finally, one of the biggest mistakes I struggled with is grammar and spelling mistakes throughout my essays. This is why I found the tip of proofreading backward to be particularly interesting. I look forward to improving my writing skills by implementing these tips, I plan on keeping these tips in mind when writing my next essay.
Something that I need to keep reminding myself is that an essay is just a story. No matter what the subject is, my priority as the author is to answer the prompt in a way that is readable and intriguing. Rather than just putting information down to check the boxes, it is important to remember that someone is going to read it. If I read it to myself and stumble over the sentence structure or get bored, I know that it needs to change.
ReplyDeleteThe tip I found most helpful from the first article was to start with a good argument. Sometimes, I have so many ideas in my head that I tend to focus more on all different points of view instead of honing in on a single argument. By starting with an argument, I can think more clearly about the issues I want to cover. The second article recommended writing something you are passionate about, which I can heavily relate to. When the passion for writing is there from the beginning, I feel compelled to write to the very best of my ability. According to article 3, proofreading is vital for perfecting a paper. Instead of simply proofreading once, my work could benefit from several rounds of proofreading and editing.
ReplyDeleteThe tips I found most helpful for essay writing are from the second article that say to remember the essay is the story, and to make it fun. I think that sometimes essay writing can be boring, especially when you limit yourself to an easy prompt that doesn't allow you to explore the text in the ways you want to. I remember the essay I had the most fun writing was my Taming of the Shrew essay comparing the play to the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 days. By choosing a topic that interests you and taking creative liberties in your writing style. Additionally, by making your argument have a kind of narrative, it becomes more interesting for the reader to read and for you to write.
ReplyDeleteTips that stood out to me :)
ReplyDeleteGet Feedback/Don't Be Afraid to Get Help:
I have definitely found that getting feedback from either my peers or teachers is extremely beneficial. From my essays, QPA's, to my IO I feel like it is always best to ask for another opinion to get a different set of eyes. With new people, there are new perspectives that can catch any errors or add anything you haven't seen or thought of.
Avoid Words You Don't Know:
Sometimes I try to use big or fancy words that I don't really know too well in order to sound more fancy or smart and in most cases it kind of backfires. This is something I've been working on and still need to do. When I try to use these big vocabulary words sometimes it goes wrong and just makes me sound less smart, so sometimes just sticking to the words I know is okay. I've realized that it's not that serious, and it's okay to not use big words that I don't really know.
Proofread and Proofread Again:
The first proofreads I do on any of my writing activities or assignments don't always catch everything. That's why it is good to proofread again even after proofreading once and even go back to asking for feedback that way someone else can proofread for you as well and catch anything you may have not caught.
Don't Be Afraid To Jump Around:
When I write my essays, I often feel like I am obligated to or I have to start at the beginning and at the introduction. But I've learned over time that I can really start anywhere I want. Sometimes the best thing to do (for me at least), is to start in the middle and then branch off of my ideas. For example, starting in my body paragraphs or working off my quotes and ideas and then going off of that and then writing my introduction. Essentially, there are multiple ways to write essays and it isn't just limited to starting at the beginning of the introduction.
The piece of advice that was the most helpful to me was to write crappy first drafts from the "Advice for Students: 10 Steps Toward Better Writing" by Dustin Wax. I think a lot of the time, I get hung up on writing perfect rough drafts that it causes me to procrastinate to the point where I do not use my writing time to its fullest potential. I believe I need to work on getting all of my ideas onto my rough draft and then later spend time thinking about what I should add or change. Giving myself more time to correct and improve my essay will allow me to make it the best it can be. I need to refrain from becoming overwhelmed with the pressure I put on myself to write the perfect essay on my first try and allow myself to simply write and express all of my thoughts and refine them later.
ReplyDeleteIn the first article, I found advice 7: "Don’t Use These Words" useful because I often find myself using transitional works like "first" or "lastly" when organizing my essay, which I should avoid.
ReplyDeleteFor the second article I was interested in advice 8. Don't be afraid to jump around. I usually see jumping around as counterproductive, something that disorganizes the essay. I might just have to learn how to do it effectively
For the third article I found the first piece of advice; Pace yourself interesting. Normally when I write essays, I like to spend most of my time making the outline, but I like my writing process to happen all at once, as I normally write my within one or two days. Spacing out my writing assignments is a skill I have yet to learn but recently I've realized that I will need to learn it.
For me, I found the second website extremely helpful for knowing how to write a good essay. Essays are depicted as something that will take forever to do, it's a lot of work, and requires a lot of brain power. But in reality, it can be something to explore different ideas and all of a sudden it will become much less of a burden to accomplish. Different ideas can be explored and expanded on in your essays, and it'll all blend together. Personally, I liked tip #7: Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?” It's important to write something that not only other people will be interested in reading, but also yourself. It's vital to have originality within your essay which will ultimately make it more fun for you to write.
ReplyDeleteI think the advice that stuck out to me most came from the first and third article. I realize that I try to follow the advice of proofreading over and over... and over. I try not to read my own work too much because it might make sense to me but not to others. At times when I need someone to be critical of my work I turn to Bree Dickson or other people that will read my work. The third article also stood out to me because I saw the tip of 'plan then write.' I think planning out helps me so much because when I just start writing, I immediately hit a wall in my writing, but planning makes the process so much smoother. I personally really liked 'write crappy rough drafts' because I find that works so well for me so I can improve it after reading it over.
ReplyDelete1. “Avoid words you don’t know”: I used to think that using big words and cool synonyms would help my paper sound smart and improve my grade, but when those words are used incorrectly or in an unnecessary way, I learned using these words can actually do more harm than good, so I resonated with this tip as I have found it particularly helpful throughout my experience writing.
ReplyDelete2. “Start in the middle”: Introductions and conclusions are the most daunting parts of an essay for me as it determines how you welcome your reader and what thoughts you leave them with. By starting with the body paragraphs, I allowed myself time to get my thoughts together and refine my research question or topic of choice before writing these intimidating pieces, so this piece of advice is one I resonate with and recommend to others.
3. “Get feedback”: Sometimes all you need is a critical friend to read your paper and tell you all the things you don’t want to hear. This advice has become the most valuable tool to me as I have more pressure placed on the papers I am writing and I need as much help as I can get (*cough* the IAs). I also try to provide the most honest feedback I can because it has the power to help exponentially in the final stages of writing an essay.
The most interesting and helpful tips I found were:
ReplyDeleteGet Feedback – Don’t Be Afraid to Get Help- Most of the time I end up procrastinating part of my essay and I feel like I have to cut out part of the process of writing it. The part i usually end up cutting out or overlooking is the peer editing and feedback part. I often times feel like it is just the easiest part to avoid and leave out. This tip showed me how easy yet vital this simple part can be to being successful in my essay.
Write & Revise- Just like mentioned above, I often feel that revising is a one time thing. I now realize the importance of looking over my writing in different times and setting as it can reveal many new ideas or incites into corrects or additions I can put into my essay. I definietly think that this is something I will be focusing a lot on in my essays and work to come.
Avoid words you don’t know - As I write my essays, I tend to look for synonyms for “simple” or words that are used often so that I don’t sound repetitive. Avoiding using words I don’t fully understand is something I need to focus on to improve my essay writing.
ReplyDeleteProofread & proofread again - I tend to proofread each paragraph as I write but I feel proofreading the entire essay once I finish and proofreading it again would really benefit my writing and would prevent less typos.
Don’t be afraid to jump around - As I write my essays I tend to go in order of the intro, thesis, body paragraphs, and the conclusion. I feel like jumping around would really help me to complete them easier than to struggle as I go through it.
What i found most useful was:
ReplyDeleteavoid words i dont know: A lot of times i will use fancy words trying to sound smart, but this mostly just hurts me. I'll end up using the wrong words. Like this tip says, i need to focus on doing what i do know so i deont end up hurting myself later.
Start in the middle: Stating at the introduction can be pretty hard for me; most of the time i dont know where to start. Ill usually have the contents of the body paragraphs down in my head before anything, so i should start there more. This tip showed me thats its okay to go out of order if its the easiest thing for me.
Get feedback: Sometimes i get very nervouse to ask the people around me to look over my work. This is mainly because i feel like i dont have a good paper and that theyll judge me for it. Because of this, i sometimes wont get feedback at all, and usually pay the price for it. This tip encouraged me not to be scared to have people help me, because at the end of the day im the one who has a grade on the line.
Write the body first, the introduction second, and the conclusion last.
ReplyDeleteI use this strategy when writing my essays because I find that writing an introduction when you don’t know what you’re introducing can make writing the body more difficult and can narrow my ability to write the essay before I even begin writing.
Most essays answer the question, “What?” Good essays answer the “Why?” The best essays answer the “How?”
This advice has been important to me as it has given me a checklist to fill during analysis of evidence. Analyzing each piece of evidence, I attempt to answer: what the evidence does, how it accomplishes this, and for what purpose.
The most interesting tip I found was "ask yourself, 'How can I have the most fun writing this?'"
ReplyDeletethe subject expands and goes on to say that your brain will come up with answers to "how do I make this fun", but mine only strays to "this won't be fun". But to stray away from that I did find some tips I see myself using.
"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."
and
"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."
When reading about tips for essay writing, I noticed that a recurring piece of advice was to have fun when writing your essay. This tip makes a lot of sense since writing about something that interests you is a lot easier than dreading what you are writing. One article specifically mentioned writing about what surprises you, which I thought was particularly enlightening. However, as the article detailed, when you are surprised about something you are learning, you are really learning and are able to find a piece of the text that interests you. Understanding that an essay is a story is also a very helpful tip and goes along with the previous. Viewing an essay as a story also provides structure for your writing. Stories have a beginning and end as an essay does. Both a story and an essay also consist of conflict and change and understanding this allows for a strong essay. Arguably one of the most important elements of an essay in terms of structure is the thesis statement, which creates an overall statement for the purpose of the essay. In order to write a powerful thesis statement, it is crucial that the writer knows the message they are trying to get across. Understanding why you are writing the essay creates a firm foundation for the piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteThe tip that I found most helpful was to take time and plan out what you are going to write out. I believe that it provides direction and focus to my papers even before I write them. Although I struggle with procrastination, knowing what I'm writing about makes the essay or paper flow better and easier to write overall. I believe planning is such a big part of writing as you gain a deeper understanding of what you're writing about and construct a road map for your reader to follow your ideas. Another great tip that I found was to start in the middle of your paper. Sometimes I just sit and stare at a blank screen because I don't know where to begin and fixate on small aspects of the intro. Starting in the middle of your paper, I think, allows you to just start and be free to take your paper anywhere you want and then you can focus on how to shape your into. Finally, I think another interesting tip was to not be afraid to jump around. As long as you plan and know what youre talking about, jumping around your paper can alleviate writer's block as you don't just get stuck on one section of your paper. I typically do this with my papers when I get stuck. I am able to get all of my ideas out and then fixate on a single section that needs revision and added ideas. I think it's a very good way to get papers done efficiently.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most interesting tips from the articles was to not include words that serve as unnecessary in the essay (such as first, second, etc.). This isn't something I consciously think about, but it does catch my attention if used in abundance. I myself have struggled with this problem at moments, so it's important for me to recognize when I commit this error.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip from the articles that I was interested by was to try to find joy in essay writing. As someone who doesn't have fun when writing but is able to do it successfully, I may try to employ this strategy in the future. I think it would give me another perspective on writing and would help me to produce higher-level work.
The tip that surprised me was that Wikipedia could be used as a source. This is because I've always been told to never use Wikipedia as a source and was seen as this forbidden site for essays. This just shows that it is possible to use it but to be cautious and check the references to see if the info is correct and accurate.
ReplyDeleteAnother tip that I think could be useful is "As you research, ask yourself, 'What surprises me about this subject?'" which could tremendously help in the beginning of my essays because then I can be more invested in them and get a deeper and greater understanding. The fact that I could be more invested in the topic of the essay means that they will be of a higher quality. This could lead to being interested in the topic and trying to find it interesting will result in a better understanding and better quality.
The tip that I found the most useful was from the second article, saying "Before you start writing, ask yourself, 'How can I have the most fun writing this?'" This tip really stuck with me, and I found that looking back, it was the most true when writing my Taming of the Shrew essay. By figuring out a prompt that would make me passionate about writing, I instantly enjoyed writing, and dwelled a lot less over the content, and focused more on the fact that I was enjoying all aspects of the essay, from choosing the quotes, to the analysis. I believe that in order to write about anything and for it to be well written, you must have some personal engagement in the piece, otherwise, you will never find yourself putting in your undivided attention and efforts to the essay.
ReplyDeleteThe tips that I found most helpful mainly include allowing time for the editing process to happen and to get all your ideas out of your head while writing your first draft, as opposed to trying to make it perfect. I usually struggle with this because I want the essay to be great the first time through, so I spend a lot of time on the rough draft editing and trying to write each sentence perfectly, but the essay is never going to be perfect the first time and it is much easier to revise once the whole essay is written out then when you have only written half of it. Another tip that I found intriguing was to think of the writing process differently and answer the questions “why” or “how” rather than “what”, as this can lead to an essay that is more focused on analysis than story retelling. Plus, relating even each sentence back to answer basic questions that relate to the prompt of the essay itself can help you better understand the topic and craft a well-written response.
ReplyDeleteFrom Noelani Pacheco:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all these articles this is the advice that stood out to me the most:
1. The most important details are that the essay should make a careful, well-reasoned case and draw a deliberate conclusion, with a solid thesis statement and references from academic sources. Poor spelling and grammar can lead to poor grades, so avoid using autocorrect or spelling checkers. This impacts me because normally I utilize the source of grammar and spelling check on tools within google docs.
2. Avoid using words you do not know. Normally when I am writing my essays I use thesaurus.com to help find synonyms for particular words to sound more educated or to add “ fluff” to my writing to extend my vocabulary.
3.” The conclusion should be a strong resolution to the paper, not a recapitulation.”( lifehack.org) I always struggle with writing my conclusions and this advice helps me. I have a tendency to rephrase what I already stated in my essay rather than use it to resolve or bring resolution to my paper. I need to propose an explanation for what to address in my paper rather than restate what I previously wrote.
The best advice I received was to start with the body paragraphs and find a method to make writing enjoyable. I don't overthink a topic when I want to explain it in my essay; instead, I just put my ideas into a little color-coded multi-box graphic organized. I don't have to force myself to write; I just do it naturally, so the words come to me more easily. The body paragraphs coming first was the second useful strategy. This is something I've always done because it's simpler and less stressful. Using what I have written in the body paragraphs as a foundation, I can next create my introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
ReplyDeleteOne that I find helpful is remembering that the essay is like a story because talking or writing about stories is kind of easy and sometimes changing your mindset on something can help with motivation because you are not thinking of it as an essay anymore you are thinking of it as a story when thinking of it is a story you can make the essay more fun. personally, if I was told to write a story I would find more enjoyment in that than an essay and thinking of it as a story instead of an essay is one way to have some enjoyment
ReplyDeleteSOme advice that I find helpful is "communicating my purpose", and to "conclude, not summarize".I find that in some of my body paragraphs it seems that there is a lot of unnecessaey information that is provided but I feel pressured to keep it there simply to meet the word count, rather than question ifI truly even need it. Additonally, I have always struggled with having a strong conclusion paragraph and I beleive it is because I am summarizing everything I just said rather than evaluating the information given, how the claim connects to it, and why the reader should care.
ReplyDeleteI thought that the second link had some of the most helpful information. A lot of it is things that I need to work on and it gave exact answers and solutions for how to improve. I find that my essays always come out much better when I am writing about something that I am interested in and I think that is an important part about writing. One approach would be to take a standpoint or argument that I am invested in even if I don't have much interest in the source material. The other parts that helped were the order because writing the body first makes the introduction and conclusion come much more easily and allows for a better flowing essay, and I get stuck writing the introduction a lot of the time, so that would help with that.
ReplyDeleteThe advise that really stuck out to me was about writing a poor rough draft. since I sometimes find it difficult to sit down and create an entire rough draft; instead, I prefer to jot down random thoughts, and then get my essay over with. Rather than taking the time that I do have to create a rough draft I find myself usually not taking advantage of it.
ReplyDeleteThe tip I found most intriguing was to write bad first drafts since they can be edited and changed later. This was helpful because I struggle when writing essays because I want it to be perfect the first time, so when it's not perfect the first time I delete everything. Instead of allowing myself time and then to go back, edit, and change things later.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of putting the "don't use first, second, third stuff" in the list of tips because people kind of make it an unspoken rule so to write it down is better for writers.
ReplyDeleteThe most helpful tip I found was removing the distractions around you before you begin writing. It’s hard to analyze and thoroughly explain what the essay is about when you are in a loud environment or have your phone sending constant notifications right next to you. If we eliminate these distractions and clear our minds, we can focus on the task which results in it being finished faster and the essay to be better overall.
ReplyDeleteThe tips I found most helpful were proofread and proofread again and remember my essay is just a story. I know a lot of people that double-check their work and get a peer edit, but I haven’t really made a habit of doing it multiple times or having multiple people edit my essay, so this would be great for me to start doing. I’ve never thought about how essays are just me writing a story, so I could have fun with this and this could help me be more efficient and make my essays flow better.
ReplyDeleteEDDIE ACEVES YEAR 2
ReplyDeleteThe second link, in my opinion, contained some of the most useful material. There are many topics in it that I need to focus on, and it provides accurate solutions and explanations for how to get better. The quality of my essays always improves when I write about a topic I am passionate about, and I believe that this is a crucial aspect of writing. One strategy would be to adopt a stance or argument that I am invested in, despite the fact that I am not particularly interested in the original material. The order was another aspect that was helpful because it made writing the introduction and end much simpler and allowed me to write a more fluid essay. I frequently have trouble writing the opening.
There were a few key points that stuck with me throughout the articles. These include, proofreading, avoiding numbering off, relax in general, and time management. Proofreading is a tool that seems obvious to most, but a lot of times is forgotten due to lack of effort or time. I find myself forgetting to proofread multiple times, which then causes many small fixable mistakes. Numbering off is bad habit of mine because it's easy to do, but this easy method leads to a sloppy, unorganized papers. Relaxing plays a massive role in essay writing, it's best just to let the words flow and fix later. Finally, time management affects everything on these lists; for example, a writer cant proof read in two minutes they need time to finalize their essay. I will definitely use these tools to help me further my essay building skills.
ReplyDeleteHow can I have the most fun writing this?
ReplyDeleteThis idea in particular is one I tend to follow a lot of the time; I always try to pick a prompt that I enjoy. If there isn't something in the essay or topic I enjoy it's very unlikely that I will write a strong, good, essay.
Focus on communicating your purpose.
This is something I sometimes struggle with, I make it vague where my essay is going and it only makes sense once the conclusion is reached. I need to go back and check, more often, how my essay directs readers where I want them to be.
Get feedback.
I tend to avoid this stage, but paradoxically give my friends a very large amount of feedback. I need to reach out more to people who can read my essay from an outside perspective, to know if it makes sense to someone else other than myself.
I have a lot to work on when it comes to writing essays and I think the tips in these articles are familiar, yet very informative. I think the biggest and most helpful thing that was addressed in the articles was the amount of proofreading that should go into an essay, both before and after you have finished writing it. I tend to barf my thoughts on to the paper when I am writing and sometimes this can be in my benefit, but it is also my biggest failure in situations where I don't proofread. I need to put a lot more time into looking over my work before submitting it because of the way that I write.
ReplyDeleteThe tips I found most useful from the articles were to have fun, pace yourself, and revise your essay. I found these tips the most helpful because I think that they would help my writing process flow better. Since we have free choice in our prompts for HL essays, I think choosing a prompt that I would have the most fun analyzing would help keep me engaged and passionate about the topics of my essays. I have trouble managing my time for essays. Pacing myself will allow me to carefully choose my words and give me ample time to properly convey my argument. Revising my essays was something I saw as optional in my previous years of school. The tip to revise and look for a peer editor has greatly improved my writing this year and it is something that I will not be overlooking in the future!
ReplyDeleteStart in the center
ReplyDeleteI frequently have so many diverse connections and ideas for writing that I become disorganized and worry about what to write. But if I take this approach of beginning in the middle, I can let myself make do with what I have, and it'll help my essay flow much more easily.
Skip Terms You Don't Understand
This advice struck me as useful because I frequently utilize thesaurus websites to switch out "simple" words in my articles with more complicated ones. I do not, however, wish to use the words wrongly or in ways that are not appropriate for my phrase. To escape the issue, I must start depending on what I already know.
Produce shoddy first drafts
I sometimes attempt to write my articles perfectly the first time, which contradicts the purpose of it being a rough draft. It should be utilized to explore different concepts rather than starting out by trying to be the finest essay ever.
I found it interesting that the articles say to write something for yourself rather than the professors. I found that writing the essay for taming of the shrew was a lot easier than pride and prejudice, and after some reflection I've discovered that this is why. I picked a topic I found interesting for both, but one felt more like an exploration and research while the other felt repetitive and just like documenting and explaining a thought process. I got stuck writing something for the grade rather than the experience, and I think if I maintained the mindset from the first essay, I would have done better and had more fun with it. I also think the clarification of a conclusion being an accumulation of all the points rather than a summary is a good distinction to make and may help me with writing those in the future.
ReplyDelete