Before You Press Submit: Your Essay Checklist
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It’s easy for it to seem like there are two kinds of students: students who are naturally good at writing essays, and students who find them challenging. Maybe you relate more to the latter, and perhaps even the thought of essay writing gives you a headache! Fear no more: in this article we will be going over the essential elements that are necessary for a strong essay, and which everyone can incorporate.
Do You Make an Argument?
Though it may not feel like it, there is actually a point to essays, the point being to present an argument. Another way to phrase this is: express your own opinion on the subject, but produce evidence and analysis to prove and explain why your opinion is correct.
Your thesis statement is the sentence where you clearly present your argument to the reader. Your thesis should be obvious within the introductory paragraph, allowing the reader to follow along further into the essay. After the introductory paragraph, you need to check in the body paragraphs whether or not you are linking your evidence to your thesis.
Because your argument is the basis of your essay, the thesis statement is not only important, it’s your point of reference. When reading through your essay, make sure you:
Have a clear thesis statement
Go back to your thesis in your body paragraphs
By ensuring that you have developed a strong thesis statement, your argument becomes clear to the reader, which is the first step in writing a compelling essay.
Do Your Points Help Support Your Thesis?
If you remember learning about the typical five paragraph essay model, three paragraphs are the body paragraphs. Of course, you typically aren’t limited to this structure of essay (be sure to discuss structure with your professors), but the idea of having body paragraphs which present certain supporting points is standard.
Because of this, you need to ensure that the points you discuss in your body paragraphs are beneficial and helpful in making your argument. The points need to allow you to segue back to your thesis statement through evidence and analysis, otherwise they are virtually pointless and a waste of word count/text space.
Is Your Evidence Compelling and Your Analysis Thorough?
Next, does the evidence that you present help prove your argument?
It’s easy to think that just adding a quotation related to the topic works well enough, but this is not the case. The evidence that you present, whether it is a quotation or not, needs to help prove your thesis. If it doesn’t, try to find other pieces of evidence that better support your argument.
Following from this, it’s important to thoroughly explain and analyze the evidence you introduce, linking it to your argument. A common trap to fall into is assuming that the evidence speaks for itself; unfortunately, it doesn’t, which is why analysis is important. Break down the evidence that you’re introducing to the reader, and make clear links to your thesis to show how this evidence helps to prove your argument. From doing this, not only are you making a persuasive argument, but you also help your thesis to develop and grow as the essay progresses.
Are You Citing Your Sources/Is This Your Own Work?
Whenever you provide information and/or ideas that are not your own in your writing, it’s necessary that you cite the sources where you found that information. There are different styles of citation format, such as MLA, APA, and Chicago. Make sure you’ve clarified with your professor which format they would like to have the citations in.
There are many online guides that can help you when it comes to how to properly cite materials, one being OWL Purdue. The SMU Writing Centre and Patrick Power Library also have resources available online to help students. Take note: MLA has recently released a 9th edition and APA a 7th edition; some guides have not been updated yet, so it’s important to ensure the guide that you’re using is the correct edition.
If you’ve cited all your evidence, now is a good time to ensure that you have not accidentally plagiarized.
If you’ve paraphrased, is your phrasing different enough from the original?
Is what you have written truly your own ideas and thoughts, and not someone else’s?
Have you made sure to cite correctly, and have not accidentally mixed up a few sources?
Unfortunately, accidental plagiarism faces the same penalties as deliberate plagiarism. If you need guidance, speaking with your professor and/or contacting Research Help are great places to go for additional support. You can also view SMU’s guide for avoiding plagiarism here.
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Is Your Language and Expression Clear?
Finally, the last point is grammar related. It’s essential to look over your essay multiple times for spelling/grammatical errors. Not only will you lose valuable points for these errors, but they hinder your writing and the expression of your argument. It can be difficult to understand a piece of writing if there are many of these mistakes. Here are some things to look out for:
Have you spelled each word correctly?
Are you utilizing punctuation correctly? (i.e. comma, semicolon, etc.)
Is there some variety in your language (you’re not repeating a word too many times in a short amount of space)?
Are your sentences formatted correctly?
Does your writing flow well (there aren’t confusing or wordy sentences)?
It’s important to note that spell/grammar check in Google Docs and Word does not resolve all mistakes. What you can do instead is have someone else read over your work to point out errors, and/or read it out-loud yourself. Both offer a fresh perspective on your writing, revealing mistakes you might have missed.
Hopefully, these few items help you in making final edits before you press submit! If you need more assistance on actually writing and revising your essay, reach out to SMU’s Writing Centre, a fantastic free resource for students. Essay writing can be stressful and exhausting at times, but you got this! Good luck!
If there are any university topics you would find useful and would like to see an article on, feel free to reach out to me at julia.yurchesyn@smu.ca. I would love to hear from you!
References
https://www.smu.ca/academics/the-patrick-power-library.html
https://www.smu.ca/academics/research-help.html