There are many kinds of academic essays, like an admission essay, graduation essay, compare and contrast essay and many-many others. If you’re assigned with one of the projects, then you should keep in mind that there are certain rules of writing you have to follow, as well as important things to avoid. Remember, there will be no excuse for careless mistakes, when you submit your paper. Having even a single error will definitely affect your overall grade. So, what is it that you must stay away from, as an essayist?
Providing Solely a Plot Summary
Although some of the essays require you to recall the plot details in order to support your viewpoint, your essay shouldn’t contain the summarization of the plot only. In case, it’s the book analysis essay that you’re working on, your instructor knows what happens in the book, as well as you do. After a little recounting of the certain part of the plot, it’s good to stop and make an analytical statement regarding that extract, express what you think about that passage.
Spelling Mistakes
Do yourself and your professor a great favor. Make use of any spell-checker you know if you’re writing an essay on your laptop. Nowadays, due to the bunch of technological wonders, poor spelling is unforgivable.
Abusing Thesaurus
If you rely upon the thesaurus to find the right words for the essay instead of using the vocabulary you have, you’re not going to sound naturally. Moreover, you will most likely use some words incorrectly that will make some of the passages of your essay pointless. Remember, your professor doesn’t want you to be the next Walt Whitman or Emily Brontë. You will get the desired scores when you use your own voice.
Not Answering the Essay Question
If the topic of the essay specifies that you must answer a particular question within the paper, focus on it as you write. If the essay asks for a reflection about the war in Iraq, don’t talk about the weather quirks in Thailand.
Using Unreliable Information Sources
Today, a lot of students prefer using web sources over printed materials in order to find information for the essay. Well, that’s a good tendency since the Internet enables one to find anything in a matter of seconds. However, it’s crucial to be careful. Not all materials are reliable out there. Make sure you know how to determine the facts from doubtful viewpoints.
Careless Proofreading
If a college student is in a rush to submit his essay, he usually skips some essential steps, such as proofreading. When proofreading your essay, you get the real feel of whether your prose is easy-to-read. Just allow your friend to take a look at your writing so that they could point out some weak areas, as well as fix them.
Using Slang
In some sorts of creative writing, using slang is absolutely acceptable. However, when it’s all about academic writing, using slang wording will certainly damage the quality of the paper. Using abbreviated words is a taboo in the most papers as well.
Every essay is an outstanding chance to demonstrate your knowledge and writing abilities, and to get the best rating. Don’t mess it up by making primitive mistakes!