Tag Archives: writing

How to Write a Critical Essay [Ultimate Guide]

December 5, 2019

A critical essay is a type of academic writing where the author analyzes and evaluates a text. For an essay to become critical, you need to claim a text’s particular ideas and then support that claim with evidence.

How to write a critical essay:

Examine a source: read it carefully and critically.
Organize your thoughts: figure out the core claim and evidence, do research of secondary resources.
State a thesis: make sure it has both a claim and details sustaining it.
Write an outline.
Write a draft of your critical essay.
Edit and improve your essay.

Critical essays are among the most common types of writing assignments in college. Also known as analytical, a critical essay is about evaluating somebody’s work (a movie, a book, an article, etc.) and proving that your evaluation is correct.

The problem is, students often confuse a critical essay with a report, a critical precis, or a review.

In this article, we’ll reveal the core characteristics of a critical essay and learn the right way of writing it.

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How to Write a Strong Conclusion for Your Essay

July 7, 2017

Last updated: November 2019

How to conclude an essay:

Restate the thesis by making the same point with other words (paraphrase).
Review your supporting ideas.
For that, summarize all arguments by paraphrasing how you proved the thesis.
Connect back to the essay hook and relate your closing statement to the opening one.
Combine all the above to improved and expanded conclusion.

Ever wondered how to conclude an essay?

For some students, it’s far from the most challenging part of essay writing. They find it more challenging to choose a good topic for an essay, state a thesis, or write a clear essay outline. But our reader Emily has knocked spots off them all when asked to share tips on how to write a conclusion for your essay to impress teachers and help you get an A!

Don’t worry, Emily, you are not alone.

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How to Write a Rhetorical Précis Your Professor Will Never Forget

May 4, 2017

Last updated: November 2019

A rhetorical précis is a type of academic writing where you summarize another piece of text, its main ideas and arguments, in particular, to provide insight into its author’s thesis.

So, it happened again. Your teacher assigned yet another paper to you. It sounds something like “write a précis, in 800-1000 words (approximately four double-spaced pages), of the first two-thirds of ‘Reading: An Intertextual Activity,’ by Robert Scholes. Your precis should cover Scholes’s essay through the top of page 28.”

And we can almost hear you thinking:

What the heck is going on here?

Stand down the panic! This article reveals all the details you need to know for A-worthy precis writing: precis definition, precis format, and precis example for you to understand once and for all what is a precis.

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Want to write better? Start reading, a lot [Infographic]

April 16, 2014

It usually helps me write by reading – somehow the reading gear in your head turns the writing gear.
– Steven Wright

Reading is a new fashion. Again. And it’s cool. We bet, you all can find and cite many statements about how good and useful reading is, how much it can influence a person and his way of thinking, and how awesome it is to sit on your cozy sofa, reading your favorite book and diving (not literally of course) into this imaginary and so wonderful world…

And all such statements are true actually. Many famous writers, singers, politicians, and even movie characters prove the fact of reading’s great influence on people’s mind: if you take a look at their bookshelves, you’ll definitely be surprised. Continue reading →

How to Write a Good Hook for Your Essay

February 24, 2014

Last updated: July 2019

“You have to make choices even when there is nothing to choose from.”
― Péter Zilahy

And you have to find a perfect hook for your essay even when you don’t know what to write.

Strategies for writing an essay hook:

Use literary quotes.
Write a quote from a famous person.
Surprise with a misconception.
Write an anecdote.
Tell a personal story.
Use statistical data.
Ask a question.
Share a fact or a definition.
“Draw” a scene.
Start with a thesis statement.

The #1 prejudice most students have on essay writing: it’s time-consuming, difficult, and bo-o-oring.

False.

When teachers ask you to write an essay, they don’t want to ban your creativity. An essay shouldn’t be boring or too formal but make readers want to check its every word. And your task is grabbing and keeping their attention throughout your writing.

An essay hook is that particular instrument you need to meet this challenge.

image: Gratisography

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