How To Write A Critical Essay

How To Write A Critical Essay And over-long paragraphs tend to demonstrate that you are not clear about the specific points you are making. Of course, these are general points, and there may be some occasions, or some subject areas, where long paragraphs are appropriate. Narrow your focus and choose an interesting topic depending on the type of essay and purpose so you can create a top notch essay. If you find it hard to come up with an essay topic, ask your teacher for assistance and you will get a topic which you will be required to defend with relevant sources. A different pattern would be to use a paragraph to present and describe an idea/piece of evidence/quote/stage of argument, then to use the subsequent paragraph to explain its relevance. The middle part of the essay must fulfil the promises made in your introduction, and must support your final conclusions. Failure to meet either or both of these requirements will irritate your reader, and will demonstrate a lack of self-critique and of editing. The composers Haydn and Mozart, working in the 18th century, tended to write symphonies to fit reliably and closely within what was called ‘symphonic form’. This set out a pattern for the numbers of movements within the symphony, and for the general structure of writing within each movement. Stop trying to write a good essay (or even a “good-enough” essay). Instead, write aninterestingessay, write an essay you think is fascinating. Essay writing is a daunting affair for most working students today. The workload is enormous and the study hours are on the increase to ensure the syllabus is fully covered. Shorter words are often preferable to longer words, unless there is some specific vocabulary that you need to include to demonstrate your skill. Short to middle length sentences are almost always preferable to longer ones. Correct all of these on your first draft unless you are making drastic changes which require a significant amount of rewriting. If you choose to use a printed copy of your writing, you might find it useful to use a different pen so that the corrections and alterations are clearly visible. Check sentence structure, spelling and punctuation as you revise. If you summarise another writer’s views, you must cite the source correctly. Academic writing must be objective in its approach; that is, students are not simply asked for opinions , but to analyse, judge and propose, using evidence. For this reason, the use of the personal pronouns (I, we, you…) should be avoided. If necessary, the term ‘the author’ may also be used. You may, however, give supported judgements which use references, including examples of data to offer perceptive comment. And when you’re finished, go back and edit it until it’s “good” according to your teacher’s standards. Because when you focus on external approval, you shut down your subconscious, and 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. Every once in a while, I would write a really good essay, but mostly I skated by with B’s and A-minuses. You also need to check spelling, sentence structure and punctuation. After getting an overview of the essay, you will be in a better position to choose a more relevant topic. Begin by brainstorming, sit down, be calm and start a free flow of thoughts and jot down ideas. The need to use such a wide range of academic skills is probably the main reason why the essay format is so popular with tutors as an assignment. Often with report writing there are many tasks to be done. In group work it may be appropriate to allocate tasks between group members. Whatever the situation, try to think ahead and plan your strategy, bearing in mind the time limit that you have to work within. The continued popularity of their work today shows that they clearly managed to achieve plenty of interest and variety within that basic structure. It is the argument, and how you decide to present and back up your argument, that will influence your decision on how to structure your essay. As with teaching, it is often not until you try to communicate an argument and its evidence that you find where the gaps are in your knowledge or argument. So don’t be afraid of writing down your ideas before they are fully formed, or in the ‘right’ order.