Good Essay

How does a Good Essay take Birth?

Face is the index of the mind. So is essay, an index of one’s personality and knowledge though purpose of essay writing is not to reveal personality and knowledge. Good essay writing should be based on research but it should be original at the same time. It follows therefore one can borrow others’ ideas but must put them in one’s own language that should not be a copycat. Purpose of good essay is to let the reader know what he should know about the topic.

Therefore the essayist first understands who his target audiences are and writes on the subject in the standard suitable for them. The author should have in-depth knowledge of the subject and write according to the knowledge level of the audiences. If he writes without an in-depth knowledge, his mediocrity will be exposed by the critics or it will expose by itself.

He should then start writing with an introduction and begin a paragraph for each idea. Though the essay is of his own words, he should not forget to acknowledge the authors and sources from where learnt the ideas in the appropriate format as otherwise he will be accused of plagiarism. It is an academic offence and he will be liable to disqualification. The writer should revise the write-up as many times as possible and make his writing succinct and concise. The write-up should be in simple words and have the least use of passive voice as in many quarters it is disliked. He should run a spelling and grammar check and edit the essay accordingly but he must take care to verify each correction prompted is really correct or not since spelling and grammar checks are mechanical and final human touch is highly essential as otherwise, it will not give the intended meaning or may give absurd or opposite meaning. However great the ideas are, they will lose their appeal if not put in proper language and grammar.

The writer should not stop with reproducing others’ ideas alone. He should set apart a separate section for discussion of the ideas and say why he agrees or disagrees with all of them or some of them or none of them. He should then move on to the next section called conclusion in which he should state his own conclusion.

As there is no right answer or wrong answer for the essay on a given a topic, the writer need not be worried about the outcome but must put forth his views so strongly and convincingly that his audiences are able to appreciate and agree with his views. This is for an argumentative essay. Therefore, his conclusion depends on the topic and freedom he is given on the subject. If there is only one right conclusion, then he should adhere to it. A good essay would reveal his personality and knowledge naturally.