21 July 2020: Many students across all universities continue to struggle with writing effective essays. Even the few that consider it an easy feel disappointed when they receive their results. Indeed, failing in a paper implies a failure to abide by the professor’s instructions. Passing with good grades is the only way to show that you have benefitted from the lessons you attend while in college. There are specific criteria that you can follow to get a perfect research paper and enhance your skills in essay writing.

Examine Basic Grammar Rules

Every given assignment that a tutor provides to students has marks on grammar attached to it. While the scores may be granted or denied wholesomely, lecturers may occasionally decide to range them within an absolute scale, like between zero and ten. Some of the basic grammar rules you may need to focus on including your order of words, tenses, and the agreement between verbs and subjects or verbs and objects. The biggest challenge here is that it might be challenging to realize a grammatical mistake when you lack polished grammar in the first place. However, doing a lot of reading in the language could come in handy because you will get used to writing the same way if you are working on how to improve writing skills. Alternatively, you can do online searches on how to use specific concepts in grammar.

Write in Active Voice

Both active voice and passive voice may apply in essay writing. Sharp, clear, and concise communication is mostly achievable when you write in an active voice. Passive voice, on the other hand, tends to be unnecessarily wordy and characteristically lacks energy. In the latter case, it becomes difficult to convey all information, especially when you have to stick to a set word limit. However, particular circumstances might require you to use the passive voice because it is more suitable. Their scenarios are more common in writing scientific research essays, and the writing nearly sounds like a reporting language. Some of the example that shows this difference in the voices used include the following:

• ‘She washed the baby’ instead of ‘the baby was washed by her’
• ‘They attended the lesson’ instead of ‘the lesson was attended by them’
• ‘They took tea’ instead of ‘tea was taken by them’
• ‘He bought them lunch’, rather than, ‘lunch was brought to them by him’

Correct Vocabulary

Each subject area has the most relevant vocabulary that blends with its particular context.  This argument explains why it is possible to tell a person’s profession whenever they speak. In the same way, it’s easy to know how grounded or experienced a person is, based on the terminology they use as they talk. In writing essays, you have to read a lot of materials to widen your understanding if you are wondering how to write a better essay. However, it is advisable to take caution and avoid using terminologies that you do not understand their meaning or those you do not know about their usage. Some people have scored low marks because they messed up using vocabulary that contradicted the point they intended to communicate. Simultaneously, using basing language may portray you as someone who lacks adequate content in the subject area.

Comprehend the Argument of your Essay

Some essays tend to be longer than others. For example, academic essay writing could involve a simple article that only requires three or four pages, while a full research paper or proposal could require a whole pamphlet. Therefore, in the lengthier one, there are possibilities of losing your main idea of focus and writing about irrelevant issues. Although one may think they have attained the required word limit, this could be a looming low score in the assignment. Hence, it is critical always to ensure that you stick to the argument from the beginning to the end, ascertaining that you do not convolute your essay by contradicting yourself. To ensure that you do not lose track of your thesis statement, understand the type of the piece, and try to maintain your point of view. Some of the types of essay you may encounter include:

• Argumentative essay
• Narrative essay
• Descriptive essay
• Expository essay
• Persuasive essay

Use a Range of Sentence Structures

Essays are enjoyable and exciting to read when the writer uses different sentence structures. Understanding the respective elements of your sentences is the first step in working towards your essay improvement. This tip holds for an individual who wants to enhance their performance, and it does not matter if you have previously performed poorly in your previous assignments. The advantage of this strategy is that it captures your reader’s attention by making them wish to continue reading your essay. Maintaining the same structure makes your work dull, keeping your tutor in a position to guess what they are about to read. In your entire work, it is vital to ensure that there are no repetitive sentences. They typically impact your reader’s attitude, making you risk graduating with a low grade point average. Surely, you do not want to spend your resources like energy and time only to have a section of your essay unread.

Be Specific and Use an Objective Language

An objective language helps you convey your message without presenting you as expressing a personal bias, feeling, or opinion. For instance, if your essay involves discussing charts or scientific data, you should be sure to convince your examiner that your argument is based on experimental data and facts that are both quantifiable and measurable. In converse, using a subjective language portrays your essay as baseless, exaggerated, and personal. It is mainly used in speaking rather than writing academic work. Also, being specific in your discussion makes your essay reliable and answers the question and, therefore, provides a solution to a problem. Many students find it challenging to abide by this tip. However, referring to online essay services could help to improve essay writing techniques.

Final Editing

Reviewing your essay is the last but most critical stage in your essay writing process. Your essay may be complete, but you still risk losing points because of a few errors that you were unable to realize while writing. This exercise allows you to check on your word use, spelling, and punctuation, among others. Inquiring from your teacher to let you submit a draft of your essay could also be a way on how to improve essay writing. Alternatively, you may give your essay to a friend to read through or use online sites such as Grammarly.

In conclusion, essay writing can be fun or a source of panic, depending on how prepared and knowledgeable a person is. Using an active voice, following grammar rules, and using the vocabulary, among other tips, could help you score your desired grades in your study. These tips have emerged as vital in academic essay-writing across all fields.