Monday, May 22, 2006

Essay Advice

Keep the focus of your essay in mind when writing your body paragraphs – Humans are their own worst enemy. The focus is to identify the problem, not to give solutions – the place for solutions is in the final thought. Your body paragraphs should focus on the problems that harm us and make us our worst enemy.

No "I think", "In this essay I will"; no "I", ever. Just leave it out – make "I think that humans aare their most dangerous enemy", "Humans are their most dangerous enemy".

Use questions only in the attention grabber or as a final though. Do not use them to introduce your thesis or in body paragraphs.

You thesis needs to be independent – in other words it needs to give your opinion all by itself. Not "I agree with this" or "This statement is correct", but "Humans are their most dangerous enemy".

Be specific or say nothing. Don't end lists with "etc.", "and many others", "something else". Put all the important items in the list and then end it.

Put the reasons in the same order in the introduction as they appear in the body paragraphs.

State your reasons in the affirmative (is, can, does). Refrain from using the negative (is not, can't, don't).

Refrain from using most, biggest, worst in the body paragraphs. It doesn't matter if pollution is the biggest, or just a big problem, it still makes us a danger to ourselves. You are only inviting people to argue that there is a bigger problem than pollution and get distracted from your main idea.

Avoid unnecessary words such as "very" and "actually". They don't add any meaning to your essay. Most scholars agree that "Pollution is a serious problem" and "Pollution is a very serious problem" have the same effect on the reader.

Choose a title that conveys your opinion, not just your topic. "Blame" only gives the topic, but "Blame is Power" communicates what the essay says about blame.