How to write an essay fast
Want to write an essay fast?
In this blog post, I will talk through 3 steps that will allow you to produce a high-quality essay in no time.
If this is the first time you are reading one of my blog posts, I am Dr Dee a global health practitioner and academic.
So, what is an essay? In simple terms it is a presentation of ideas, your own and referenced, that proves that you understand a subject.
The first and most important step in producing an essay fast is preparation and planning.
Make sure you understand the question or topic, then it’s time to create your thesis. A thesis is a statement that highlights the main point of your essay or makes your position clear.
Once this is established you can map out a plan. Each body paragraph should have a clear point supporting your thesis- but note that the paragraphs should be balanced.
This means you may include ideas that disagree with your thesis and then argue against them.
Have a clear idea of what you will conclude although new insights may develop as you write, this leads on to the second step of developing an essay fast; writing.
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The first part of the writing stage is the introduction. In the introduction you want to show that you understand the question or topic by rephrasing the question, defining key terms in a subtle manner, and providing some sort of context in your first few sentences.
Here is an example:
‘Critically evaluate the geographical approaches to the cultural formation of landscapes’
The approaches within cultural geography that shape the discussion around the cultural formation of landscapes have evolved from the early 20th century; scholars have expanded their focus. In the early 20th century cultural geographers such as Carl O. Sauer were focussed on studying the range of human activities and its role in transforming natural landscapes to cultural landscapes, with primary focus on material culture…
The first sentence rephrases the question, the next sentence goes on to provide context whilst explaining or defining key approaches.
The next step is to give an outline of where you intend to go with this essay, what supporting ideas will you present? Signpost using words like ‘then’ ‘next’ ‘firstly’ and ‘lastly’.
That will lead nicely into a first body paragraph. Your plan will tell you what this paragraph is about. Start with a topic sentence where you transition from the last paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Ensure that the point is then supported by evidence. Evidence can include quotations, statistics, and real-life examples. Once you have presented these, interpret the evidence, and ask yourself how this point and evidence supports your argument and relates back to the question or topic of the essay. Repeat these steps for each body paragraph.
The last stage of writing is the conclusion. In the conclusion, you want to summarise your main points without repeating your whole essay. Then point out some new insights that developed from your writing. Finally, emphasise why your argument and these insights matter.
The third step of producing an essay fast is reviewing. In this step, you want to read your essay and perhaps get someone else to read the essay.
Whilst reading you want to make sure that:
1) Your argument is clear and coherent- by making sure you have topic sentences and mini-concluding sentences in each paragraph that relates back to the question.
2) Check for grammar and punctuation- these also improve clarity
3) Referencing — any ideas or evidence that are not your own must be credited. A simple way to do this is by using the Microsoft word references tool; this will automatically generate citations and a bibliography.
That’s it you can now write your essay. If you found this blog post helpful, please show your appreciation.
