If you are in high school, you better be prepared to write an essay at one point. Without some high school essay writing tips, it can be a tad difficult. Tutors use the essays to assess your writing skills, as well as your creativity and expression. An essay requires that you express your ideas and support them with facts, analysis, and in-depth explanations. In the end, you need to persuade the reader to align with your point of view. Sometimes this might be a daunting task and that’s why some high school students opt to buy their coursework online.
However, writing excellent essays is not as easy as it sounds. It would be best to utilize the following high school essay writing tips to become an excellent writer and record good grades.
The different types of high school essays
There are various types of high school essays that you will encounter, and it is important to understand them. Each comes with unique requirements, and you must understand them to write an excellent paper. Here are the four main types.
Expository essay
This essay is the most common, and you will find it in almost all exams. Here, you need to research a topic or theme and develop strong ideas and arguments. Also, you need to analyze the evidence accurately and structure an exposition regarding your ideas.
Argumentative essay
Argumentative essays are comparable to expository essays. However, they are more comprehensive with researched quantitative and qualitative data from various sources to explain your ideas. You are also required to take a stand on a topic, and you need to address the major points that may support or oppose your stand.
Descriptive essay
From the name, you can tell that the essay requires you to be as descriptive as possible about the topic you have been asked to write about. Ideally, such essays are centered on the language, and the creative use of vocabulary, metaphors, and similes can work wonders.
Unlike expository essays, descriptive essays are more creative writing that majorly dwells on developing arguments.
Narrative essay
A narrative essay is more personalized writing where you explain your perspective to the reader. Such essays are also referred to as creative nonfiction essays where the first person is used. Here, you need to be creative and ensure that your essay flows well from beginning to end with a mix of suspense and a persuasive conclusion.
High school essay writing tips- The step-by-step process
Here is how to write a high-scoring high school essay.
Determine the essay type
The first step for writing a grade-A essay is determining the type of essay as there are different types. Understanding this is vital, and any misinterpretation can terribly go wrong for your grade.
Create an outline
Ideally, your outline is your roadmap and helps you organize your thoughts. All essays follow a basic format consisting of an introduction, body, and conclusion. When drafting your outline, write down your topic and create a list of points and arguments that you will include. Also, include examples, facts, and statistics that you will use to support your ideas.
Introduction
The introduction of your essay sets the tone for your entire essay, and you want it to be perfect. You need to get your reader’s attention with clarity by presenting a challenging claim regarding your topic and give some surprising facts about it. You need to discuss your main idea and state your thesis statement and arguments supporting your thesis.
You need a strong thesis statement to inform your reader about your standpoint. Ideally, the statement precludes the conclusion. Ensure that you create a specific statement and take a stand or show the controversial aspects of a topic. It should also address a single idea.
Body
The body contains details and explanations for your introduction’s points supporting your thesis. You should discuss each major point in its own paragraph. Your explanations should contain evidence in the form of quotes, statistics, examples, and facts.
It is essential to do thorough editing and proofreading to eliminate any errors and ensure that your essay structure and flow are perfect. Fortunately, there are advanced high school essay editing and proofreading tools that can help you. They are not only fast but accurate.
Conclusion
The conclusion summarizes your entire essay and provides your reader with closure. It should be a few sentences long that reiterate your thesis and main points. It should be clear and compelling.
High school essay writing tips: The don’ts of essay writing
Now that you know how to write the perfect essay, it is important to know what to avoid when writing high school essays. Here is what you must evade at all costs.
Writing a shallow essay
The main aim of essay writing is to develop and defend a thesis. Thus, it is crucial to do ample research and analysis to back your claims. Avoid re-stating your views or that of other scholars without evidence. That will be like filling your essay with fluff words. If you cannot prove what you are writing, your essay is no good.
Having a weak thesis
A strong thesis statement is a prerequisite for an excellent essay. Ensure that your thesis is specific and in line with your topic.
Filling your essay with quotes
Essays should reflect your understanding of different topics, and your research should support your arguments. Using too many quotes from other research works might undermine your topic’s authority. Hence, use quotes sparingly when you want to address a point that you cannot with your own words.
Committing plagiarism
Plagiarism entails using other people’s ideas and works as your own. If you use words from a source without giving credit or quoting, you have committed plagiarism. Also, rewording articles qualifies as plagiarism because you do not use your own original ideas. Ensure that you develop authentic essays to avoid because tutors do not take it lightly. Fortunately, there are plagiarism checkers that you can use to ensure that your work is plagiarism-free.
With these useful high school essay writing tips, you can become an excellent writer and earn top grades.
