Posts published on March 4, 2014
Resources That Make You A Better Essay Writer
By Robert Morris
From the choice of a proper topic to accurate organization, writing an essay doesn’t come as easy as most people think. To make things even more difficult for students, their academic success and entire future is dependent upon the writing they complete.
In order to help you cover every step of essay writing properly, we will list some of the most useful resources that will make you a more effective writer and thinker.
Different types of essays
Before you start writing a paper, you need to understand that not all types of essays can be written with the same style, organization and techniques. For example, a college application essay requires a more personal style, contrast essays include more research and discussion, persuasive essays require an authoritative standing, descriptive essays should present a clear picture, and so on. The following resources will help you tackle every type of essay:
1. Roane State Online Writing Lab provides organized information about different types of essays. You can also read samples that will help you get a clearer picture for each specific essay you need to write.
2. College application essay writing – NinjaEssays.com will teach you everything there is to know about writing a creative and unique college application essay that will impress the admissions committee.
3. Writing Detective provides an online lesson on how to write contrast essays, after which you can test your understanding through the featured quiz.
4. ReadWriteThink provides interactive tools (such as the Comparison and Contrast Map and Persuasion Map) that will help you organize different types of essays properly.
5. Thesis Builder will help you write your persuasive essay, as well as get ideas on what to write.
About the topic and thesis
Now that you have an understanding of the different types of essays, you need tools that will help you come up with topics and theses.
1. Topic-O-Rama is a valuable source of ideas for topics. The tool will suggest lots of topics for your essay, and you can save the ones you like in a list of possible choices.
2. Thesis Generator 1.0 will help you complete the thesis of your essay. All you need to do is enter the topic, the main argument and a couple of reasons that support that argument; and voila- the generator will return three versions of a thesis statement for your paper.
3. Thesis Statement Generator is another tool that will turn the components you enter into a strong thesis statement.
Essay structure
The structure and organization of your essay is extremely important. In order to outline the paper properly, you need the right organizing tools.
1. The Essay Map tool at ReadWriteThink.org will help you organize your thoughts into a properly outlined essay.
2. Project Write MSU provides detailed graphic organizers which you can easily print and use to outline your paper.
3. The Essay Organizer from Essay Writing Wizard will enable you to organize the paper on your smartphone. The clear steps will guide you through the writing process effortlessly.
Grammar and Syntax tools
An essay cannot be great if you don’t pay attention to grammar and syntax issues and make it perfect from every aspect. MS Word’s spelling and grammar checker is cool, but you shouldn’t rely on it completely.
1. Grammarly is an instant tool that will proofread your essay and indicate the issues that require improvement.
2. UNLV Writing Center is a great source of tips that will help you avoid some of the most common mistakes students make in essay writing.
3. Purdue OWL is a well-known website that offers all information you need about general essay requirements, grammar, syntax, research, and citation.
Plagiarism checking tools
Most of your professors use advanced plagiarism checkers to verify the uniqueness of your essays, so you shouldn’t submit a paper without making sure it’s plagiarism-free.
1. Viper requires a download and installation process, which makes it slightly less convenient. The tool will check your essays quickly and indicate any signs of plagiarism.
2. PlagTracker is all you need if you’re looking for a safe and accurate plagiarism checker that doesn’t require any downloads.
Conclusion
Writing a stellar essay doesn’t require only ideas and writing talent. You need to learn what every type of essay requires and how you should organize its content. It will take a lot of practice before your academic writing becomes nearly perfect, but everything will be much easier now that you have the right tools to guide you through the process.
Robert Morris has worked in education for over 7 years as a teacher, school newspaper adviser, literacy consultant, curriculum writer. He provides teaching and learning materials.
