Every scholarship applicant wants to sound like a confident, competent, and intelligent writer when they submit an essay for review. However, many commit some of writing’s worst mistakes, turning their otherwise good easy into a SNAFU. To avoid a mess up, the best thing to do when writing your essay is follow your outline. Don’t change it up halfway through, unless there’s a logical reason to alter your plan. And if you do make changes, go back to the outline stage. Fix it there, first, so you have a guide for the writing.
Remember, though, there are many ways to mess up an essay, and most of them have to do with word choice, sentence structure, and other minutia. Follow these tips to make sure your smooth prose doesn’t read like a hard-to-decipher puzzle.
1. Ditch the adverbs. For the grammar-challenged writers out there, an adverb is a word used to describe how something acts (she moved slowly, he thought pensively). On occasion, incorporation of these types of words can clarify or enhance a sentence, but usually they can be left out or replaced with stronger, more direct verbs. For example, the phrase, “she moved slowly,” could be written as “she crawled,” “she walked,” “she shuffled,” “she inched forward,” etc. Each of the verbs used in place of “moved slowly” is clearer. “Moving slowly” could mean crawling or walking or shuffling, but each of those verbs means a distinct thing. The adverb, in this case, is ambiguous; using the verb gives the reader a picture of exactly what’s going on.
Too often, writers add adjectives and adverbs wherever they can, operating under the impression that it makes the writing stronger. False. The trick is to say what you have to say using the clearest, most direct prose, and often the fewest words possible.
2. Delete the empty words. Many experienced essay fluffers will naturally use empty words. You have to go back and delete them. There’s no need to say, “Not only does the school offer tacos, but it also offers burritos, as well.” How many forms of “too” are in there? Two. Not necessary. “The school offers tacos and burritos,” would suffice.
3. Don’t exaggerate your point. Keep in mind that empty words tend to exaggerate things. The “Not only…but” structure is used in advertisements, as in “not only are you getting this, but you’re getting more!” It’s used to emphasize and exaggerate, and that’s how readers perceive it. However, in an essay, you shouldn’t have to exaggerate anything. If you have a strong, solid thesis and valid supporting points, then the content should speak for itself.
4. Make sure your conclusion actually draws a conclusion. It’s not enough to just write, “The End.” You need to tie up loose ends, bring all of your points together, and either return to the main point—your thesis—or build upon it. There should be some sense of finality after reading the conclusion.
5. Edit, and then take a step back. Editing is an important step, to be sure. You want to make sure you’ve followed the outline, drawn strong conclusions, and used supportive evidence. You also want to make sure your grammar is clear and your sentences read clean. However, you can edit a paper to death. To avoid this, make one pass and then take a step back. Give yourself a breather of a day or two, and then return to the essay. After taking that space, it’ll feel like you’re looking on your essay with a fresh set of eyes, and it’ll be easier to pick out the flaws. Then you can edit again.
Remember, though, there are many ways to mess up an essay, and most of them have to do with word choice, sentence structure, and other minutia. Follow these tips to make sure your smooth prose doesn’t read like a hard-to-decipher puzzle.
1. Ditch the adverbs. For the grammar-challenged writers out there, an adverb is a word used to describe how something acts (she moved slowly, he thought pensively). On occasion, incorporation of these types of words can clarify or enhance a sentence, but usually they can be left out or replaced with stronger, more direct verbs. For example, the phrase, “she moved slowly,” could be written as “she crawled,” “she walked,” “she shuffled,” “she inched forward,” etc. Each of the verbs used in place of “moved slowly” is clearer. “Moving slowly” could mean crawling or walking or shuffling, but each of those verbs means a distinct thing. The adverb, in this case, is ambiguous; using the verb gives the reader a picture of exactly what’s going on.
Too often, writers add adjectives and adverbs wherever they can, operating under the impression that it makes the writing stronger. False. The trick is to say what you have to say using the clearest, most direct prose, and often the fewest words possible.
2. Delete the empty words. Many experienced essay fluffers will naturally use empty words. You have to go back and delete them. There’s no need to say, “Not only does the school offer tacos, but it also offers burritos, as well.” How many forms of “too” are in there? Two. Not necessary. “The school offers tacos and burritos,” would suffice.
3. Don’t exaggerate your point. Keep in mind that empty words tend to exaggerate things. The “Not only…but” structure is used in advertisements, as in “not only are you getting this, but you’re getting more!” It’s used to emphasize and exaggerate, and that’s how readers perceive it. However, in an essay, you shouldn’t have to exaggerate anything. If you have a strong, solid thesis and valid supporting points, then the content should speak for itself.
4. Make sure your conclusion actually draws a conclusion. It’s not enough to just write, “The End.” You need to tie up loose ends, bring all of your points together, and either return to the main point—your thesis—or build upon it. There should be some sense of finality after reading the conclusion.
5. Edit, and then take a step back. Editing is an important step, to be sure. You want to make sure you’ve followed the outline, drawn strong conclusions, and used supportive evidence. You also want to make sure your grammar is clear and your sentences read clean. However, you can edit a paper to death. To avoid this, make one pass and then take a step back. Give yourself a breather of a day or two, and then return to the essay. After taking that space, it’ll feel like you’re looking on your essay with a fresh set of eyes, and it’ll be easier to pick out the flaws. Then you can edit again.
If you find yourself repeating this step several times, it may be a good idea to bring in outside support. Have a teacher or guidance counselor proofread it for you. Some writers obsess about perfection, even though nothing they write ever seems perfect. This feeling can trap you in a never ending circle of revisions and rewrites that will get you nowhere. So if an outside source that you trust says it’s good to go, believe them.
by Kari Cooper
1 komentar:
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