There are always certain emotions when it comes to school essay writing. You either love it or hate it. There's no in-between.
Unfortunately, most of the time, students seem to choose the second option.
And that’s understandable.
There are all sorts of things to make you not want to write an essay—like difficult topics, lots of requirements for the text, tight deadlines, etc. And that’s not even mentioning external distractions like procrastination, a lack of free time due to other commitments, or even writer's block.
If you’re reading this, then there’s no need to worry. We’re here to help you.
We came up with this guide to make essay writing much more comfortable for you. No matter what grade you’re in—8th, 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th. We have advice for everyone (or you can use this link and get a distinguished help from our writers).
Even more! If you proofread your essay by Grammarly, you’ll avoid grammar and spelling mistakes (and get a better grade!).
In fact, the tips that we’re going to give out in each chapter of our guide will be perfectly suitable for all students, not only those of a specific grade. So make sure to read this post all the way until the end!
What’s the point of dividing the post into chapters, then?
Well, because there will still be some grade-specific information. You’ll find essay writing facts, and more general info about essay writing in your grade.
And even that’s not all.
We’ve also added essay topics. They include English essay topics, argumentative essay topics, persuasive essay topics, and much more. So make sure to check those out, too!
Naturally, we'll start with 8th grade. In our opinion, this is where things start to get serious.
Do not worry, though! You are not alone, and many other kids have problems with their eighth-grade essays.
In this part of our post, we want to explain to you what those problems are all about, how to avoid them, and write excellent grade 8 essays. Below, we have listed things that students are supposed to do when writing 8th-grade essays.
Make a point
You already have experience in writing short, simple essays. Teachers just gave you some English exam essay topics. And mostly you had to cover them by introducing your opinion or stating only what you know on the issue.
In eighth grade essays, you need to make a point, then collect evidence, and present them in your paper.
8th grade is that stage when you start researching the topics of your essays. By the way, eighth-grade essays where you need to make a point are analytic or persuasive in style. Such styles almost always require some research. Thus, to prepare suitable 8th-grade essays, you should get ready for work in the library or, at least, for exhaustive online research, looking for business studies and other good sources. Checking out persuasive essay examples will also help.
Eighth grade is the right time to start making outlines for your essays if you have not made them before. This is especially important after you research the topic of your 8th-grade essay, since you need to organize all information.
Finally, do not forget to proofread and edit your 8th-grade essays. Eighth-grade teachers are stricter when it comes to mistakes and bloopers.
In the 8th grade, you may be asked to write creative essays or division and classification essays, and we are glad to help you prepare them.
Remember, the tips we’re giving in this study guide are perfectly practical for all students. Not only for those in the chapter’s respective grade.
So make sure you check out every chapter for the tips we give out there. You'll also find a couple of useful suggestions.
Don’t forget: there will also be 8th-grade writing prompts at the end of the chapter, as well as essay topics for all other grades.
Tell a story
Thinking of your essay as a terrible burden won’t do you any good.
You have to make things easier for yourself by being more positive.
But how can you make something you don’t like very much seem positive?
Here’s the thing.
Just pretend your essay is a story you want to tell your friends. Everyone likes telling stories, right?
An essay is just the same!
It has a main storyline—your thesis statement. It has plot twists—your arguments. And you also wrap everything up in the end, probably by giving some clues about possible "sequels"—recommendations for further development of your topic.
Isn’t that much more exciting?
By the way, if you want more advanced tips on writing an original composition, make sure to keep reading—you’ll find them later in the post.
Make it interesting for yourself
We all know how it usually goes.
You receive an essay assignment, go home, and start writing. With lots of struggling in there.
Because you’re writing about the things that your teacher wants to see from you. And that's not the best way. You need to make some changes.
Find the things that excite you the most in your topic. No matter what those things may be, you need to make it as enjoyable as possible for yourself.
Try to think of any facts that surprise you. If it seems like there are none, you should try searching harder. There has to be something. Even the tiniest detail can change everything.
All the most genius ideas, whether a bestselling book or a breakthrough invention, appear in the same manner. Their authors start thinking about things one way and then another and then another, and then it all turns out differently.
There’s an element of surprise in creating, and you have to make it work for you, too.
Overcome the difficulties
Feeling overwhelmed is another factor that makes it hard to write an excellent essay.
How can you not be overwhelmed when you know there’s a whole essay that you’re supposed to write? Especially when you’re struggling to even begin.
The thing to remember is that the core of an essay is just five sentences. Incredible, but yes. The rest of your essay is just supporting sentences to back up what you've said in those five main ones.
So, what are those sentences?
- Main thesis. This is where you describe the whole idea of your paper.
- Body sentence 1. The first sentence opens up your thesis a bit more.
- Body sentence 2. You add a counterargument here.
- Body sentence 3. Here, you explain how that counterargument helps the case, as well ways to solve the issue.
- Conclusion. This part is quite self-explanatory.
Does it seem so overwhelming now? You can use this list as one of your worksheets for writing essays.
And while you’re at it, there’s another trick you can try.
Begin writing your school essay with the three body sentences. After they’re done, it will be easier for you to write the conclusion and introduction, since they both basically summarize your whole paper.
- Describe the best and worst qualities of the human race.
- Explain how society benefits from the internet.
- If you could change one part of your life, what would you change, and why?
- Is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never met?
- If you had a time machine, what time would you travel to?
- Can you judge people without knowing them and how they live their lives?
- How would humanity change if we knew the world would end in 10 years?
- What might be the world’s biggest secret?
- What would it be like if you couldn't use your mobile phone for a month?
- What consequences may occur if artificial intelligence keeps developing?
Indeed, writing essays is not a new experience for 9th graders. By this time, they’ve already learned the primary rules of writing different types of essays, requirements for the basic essay format, etc.
Then, what will you have to do when writing grade 9 essays? Well, you will have to improve gained skills, amass your knowledge, develop your positions on various issues, etc.
Anyway, you need more details about grade nine essays, and we are glad to present them. Mainly, we want to talk about different types of the 9th-grade essays you might face, various grade 9 essay topics, etc.
Personal narrative essay
This is one of the standard types of the 9th-grade essays you will have to prepare. You are supposed to create good stories when writing narrative papers. It is an efficient way to learn to express your ideas openly. Narrative essay examples usually demonstrate all the specific features of this type of work (like an essay about school life, for instance).
Cause and effect essay
Cause and effect grade 9 essays will help to investigate causes and effects of some problems, phenomena, events, etc.
Vivid descriptions, some catchy details can make your papers sound much more impressive. You will learn some narrative techniques when completing grade nine descriptive essays.
Sometimes, you will have to write expanded 9th-grade essays that are usually called research papers. Research papers in the 9th grade are devoted to argumentative topics, some controversial issues, like should smoking in public places be banned. Looking for argumentative essay examples will help you understand what's it all about.
You will have to deal with other types of written tasks such as comparative essay, analytical essay, argumentative essay. Also literary analysis papers, writing poetry or fiction, preparing business letters and personal responses, etc. Thus, you will learn writing other essay types and improve your skills.
Do not hesitate to ask your teacher questions if you have difficulties with one of your 9th-grade essays.
Essays are the most common academic paper that looks might seem easy to the writer. Our free tips will help you to get through any essays. Still, if you are stuck on writing, you can always ask us for essay help! It’s 2017, and there's nothing wrong with getting help or searching for sample essays for grade 9.
As you’ve probably realized by now, there won’t be any “classic” or common tips on how to write an essay. No suggestions like “read your assignments," "proofread your work," "write an essay outline," and so on. In fact, we've already given some of that kind of advice away. We also won’t tell you where to find “free essays," as that’s a hazardous business.
Instead, in these “essay writing tips” sections, we’ve decided to get a bit more creative. We’re giving you tips that will not only make essay writing more comfortable for you, but will also make your work stand out.
So keep reading, as you're not even halfway through. There are many more tips waiting for you!
Pay more attention to your sources
If you struggle with writing, try and shift your focus towards research.
This doesn’t mean that you should completely neglect the writing stage. Instead, you’ll just take a slightly different approach.
The trick is as follows. Sometimes, when researching for your essay, you may stumble across a source that describes your thesis or some other thought you wanted to use in your paper with high precision. The source says it so well that you could hardly make it better. Why not quote it then?
Alternatively, you could rephrase the statement in your own words, adding the proper attribution.
As a result, you’ll end up with much more vibrant writing, even though the process itself was way more straightforward.
This technique is quite powerful and makes for an informative essay. However, you need to use it in moderation. You still have to include your own thoughts and ideas in the essay. No quote or citation can create the personality that only you can put into your essay.
Use Wikipedia… the right way
There’s a good reason why Wikipedia is among the top 5 most popular websites in the world.
And even though most professors and teachers still don't think it's a valid source, you can always get a lot of use from it.
The key here is to use it properly. If you do—it will become an outstanding resource for all your essay writing needs.
For instance, Wikipedia is definitely good enough for performing background research. If you've got a topic you know nothing about, Wikipedia will quickly help you get acquainted with it. After reading the Wikipedia articles, you’ll at least know what to begin searching for.
Another way to use Wikipedia is for finding other sources. After you've read an article on your topic, check its reference section. While you can't cite Wikipedia itself, you can find Wikipedia’s links to sources and use them instead.
Have a reader in mind
Remember how we were saying you should make essay writing interesting for yourself?
This is still important—but you shouldn’t forget about the person you’re writing for, either.
The secret is in keeping a balance between not boring yourself and knowing your readers well enough to keep them interested.
When writing your school essay, consider the following:
- A teacher gave you this assignment, so you need to answer some specific questions. And you should make them correct, as your work is going to be marked.
- Apart from answering the central question of your assignment, there's also a set of requirements you need to meet with your essay. Your reader has certain expectations, and you must fulfill them.
- You're not the only one writing a paper. Your teacher will probably read several more works like yours. This fact makes it even more important to make your work unique and exciting. Include unexpected twists and strong statements. Cause a bit of light controversy. As long as it doesn't hurt the quality of your writing—it will be an excellent booster for your essay’s readability.
- The reader won't have enough time to reread if something's unclear. So make sure that your writing is flawless, as the clarity of information will definitely influence the result.
- What environmental issues do we need to solve immediately?
- Should animal testing be banned?
- Is it a threat to people’s privacy to use cameras as a security measure?
- When is the right time to allow children to make their own life decisions?
- What is the right age to start dating?
- Does fashion contribute to society in any way?
- Is there a point to giving homework?
- What’s the difference between knowledge and wisdom?
- How important is trust in building a friendship or any other relationship?
- How does a feeling of importance influence a person's ego?
Like any typical tenth grader, you want to get good grades and want to write excellent grade 10 essays. It seems like ‘till the present moment your grade 10 essays are not that excellent, because they are never graded higher than a B. But, do not give up, keep on striving for better essays and A’s. Our writers are glad to help you cope with this task.
All you need to know to improve your writing and start getting A's are the main characteristics of a correctly written grade 10 essay. Are you sure you recognize them? Are you sure you know what teachers appreciate in grade 10 essays? Let us check this. What follows next are some necessary attributes of a standard essay written by a tenth grader.
It is one of the first attributes that teachers are looking for. It is not enough just to define the topic of your paper. There should be something specific within the chosen subject that you will focus on and give various details about in your paper.
Nothing irritates teachers more than disorganized, illogically written grade 10 essays. In a few words, proper structure of the paper can be defined as a logical, smooth progression of your ideas. It’s especially important when you work with a compare and contrast essay or another similar type.
Support and Development
All ideas or points that you make in the essay should be well-developed, explained, and supported. Mind that all your explanations and supporting evidence should be related to the focus of your grade 10 essay.
To put it into simple words, style means language, the use of words that should be appropriate to the topic, purposes of writing, and the audience.
As we've said earlier, we can also help eighth graders (as well as students from other grades) with our tips and explain the essentials of writing excellent essays.
Essays are the most common academic paper that looks might seem easy to the writer. Our free tips will help you to get through any essays. Still, if you are stuck on writing, you can always ask us for help. Or look for 10th-grade writing prompts.
Utilize advanced story writing
There’s a specific three-act structure that numerous authors in modern writing use.
The acts themselves don't have as sharp of a distinction as acts in a play; instead, they set an uninterrupted narrative flow. As a result, the reader doesn’t even notice the transition from one part of the work to another.
The structure consists of three parts: set-up, confrontation, and resolution.
We won't waste time explaining what those acts mean to modern writing itself. But we will tell how you can use this structure in your essay writing.
- Set-up. This part will contain your essay introduction. You’ll transition from describing what you’re going to talk about in your essay to introducing contradictions and setting the grounds for further development of your story.
- Confrontation. This is where you’ll discuss all the known problems and share your thoughts on the topic. This is also the time to develop an argument and prove your point of view. This part will then gradually transition into the conclusion.
- Resolution. This part is where you’ll conclude everything. Resolve your argument, summarize the opinion you’ve given, and consider all points mentioned in the discussion. It's also possible to provide alternative explanations if the topic is complicated and has multiple perspectives.
Making use of this structure will allow you to focus on the main point of your narration and avoid mindless rambling. The reason is that your primary goal will be clear: to resolve the argument you've set up.
All the introductions you make in the very first part of your essay will encourage you to uncover the main point of your work as soon as possible. As a result, the reader will stay interested, and you’ll have a good opportunity to prove your point.
Don’t let go of your ideas
This is another tip that comes straight from professional writers.
You should always be prepared to write, just in case you suddenly find inspiration. Or a genius idea pops into your head.
Trying to remember an idea long enough to write it down later is risky. And such a plan usually ends up with you forgetting that brilliant thought.
To avoid such regrettable situations, always have a notebook with you. And whenever you feel a sudden flow of inspiration, you'll have a chance to take notes and record all your thoughts.
Check out other people’s essays
It’s almost as if you were reading books to find inspiration. But you’re doing it with essays.
The main difference is as follows. Apart from getting ideas about the content of your essay, you’ll also be able to take into consideration the writing style and formatting of the paper.
The more samples of essays you can look through—the better. You’ll see all the possible options and variations of how this type of assignment can be done.
It doesn’t even matter what the subject of the essay you’re reading is. Whether it’s about the importance of school or the first Moon landing. As long as it brings you enough inspiration—it’s okay. Everyone has a favorite type of book to read to feel inspired, right? It’s just the same with essays.
- Why do teens flee their homes?
- How has school life changed throughout the years?
- What’s the best way to choose which school to go to?
- What marks a good parent?
- How vital is a personal understanding of people's lives?
- What are the consequences of having the excessive amount of money?
- Do teens need to follow all of their parents' guidelines?
- Does less homework make you a better person?
- Should education be free for everyone?
- How do celebrities influence the way teens look and behave nowadays?
You can consider 11th-grade essay writing to be a combination of everything you’ve learned in the three previous years. With the addition of new stuff, of course.
One of the primary goals of writing an essay in the 11th grade is to show that you have a clear understanding of all the important elements of writing.
Working on essays on a regular basis has other benefits as well. It helps you develop the clarity of the thoughts you share. It also increases your engagement of language. And improves your overall language usage skills.
You’re going to have the chance to practice various forms of writing. Those include autobiographies, narrative essays, reflective essays, and responses to literature. However, the primary focus will be on persuasive essays.
Through this type of essay, you’ll be able to share your point of view on a specific topic, as well as deliver a reasonable argument.
A couple of words about ACT writing
There’s quite a lot of info about ACT writing online. So, we’ve decided to give you only the tips we consider most useful, without spending time going over what ACT writing is.
Even though this essay writing test does give you quite a lot of freedom to choose the way you’ll format your paper, there are still several limitations and requirements.
The first limit in ACT writing is time. You have only 40 minutes to write an essay on one of the given prompts. And there are also guidelines regarding what exactly is going to be measured.
Those who’ll check your work will look at:
- Ideas and analysis. This means that you have to answer the question given in the prompt as clearly as possible. You also need to demonstrate your perspective and analyze its relationship to other aspects under discussion.
- Development and support. In other words, the graders want you to explain all the points you make. The trick here is to make each explanation fit into 2 or 3 sentences—not because of word count requirements, but due to the time limit.
- Language use. While writing your essay, you'll have to make sure that all your sentences are clear and easy to understand. Their logic has to be evident. And you should also avoid repetition. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should use a lot of fancy words. But if you do—you have to know what they all mean.
- Organization. Even though there are no strict rules for formatting your paper, that doesn’t mean you can turn in a chaotic mess. Just separate each of your ideas into a paragraph. Watch that the overall structure is logical and understandable. Take care to have smooth transitions.
Try the Elevator Pitch
This is a technique salespeople use when developing a product summary to make sure there’s a high chance of people buying that product.
Why’s it called the “Elevator Pitch”?
Well, it's all based on imagination. People who want to try the Elevator Pitch have to imagine themselves in an elevator. The task is to deliver an argument compelling enough to get your point of view across (or at least make people want to know more) by the time this imaginary lift reaches your desired floor.
When using this technique to write an essay for high school, you boil your ideas down so that only the essentials are left. Even though it's a challenging task, what you have left is a perfect summary. And you can use it to write an introduction that will undoubtedly grab your reader's attention.
Know the limits
It’s important to know when to stop. This statement is especially true when you’re selecting a position to take or choosing the main point you want to prove in your school essay.
Feeling confused? Don’t worry, here’s an explanation.
Your argument has to be compelling enough to capture your reader's attention. But at the same time, you don't want to overdo it and make your essay utterly ridiculous.
Keep the right balance. Don’t talk about things that are too obvious to discuss. On the contrary, however, too controversial of a statement won’t be taken seriously either. And the whole purpose of your essay will be lost.
- What’s the role of successful athletes in popularizing sports?
- What gadgets can be used to improve education?
- In which country is it most difficult to live?
- Should everyone switch to electric or environmentally friendly vehicles?
- Should countries give up their nuclear arsenals?
- Do the world's wealthiest countries help the poor ones enough?
- Should science interfere less with natural processes?
- Is it necessary to give scientists more funding than they get now?
- Is it necessary to punish those who download content from the internet illegally?
- Is it appropriate for students and teachers to interact on social media?
If you have never done grade 12 essays before, this task might seem challenging to you right now. Still, we have to say that it is just your imagination that makes you think so.
Grade 12 essays are very similar to those you have completed before. Maybe, grade 12 essays are a bit longer and require more efforts and knowledge of yours. However, we know for sure that grade 12 essays are something you can cope with.
Here are a couple of general facts about essays for the 12th grade that will help you get rid of your fears and worries.
You will have to write an essay on one of those subjects you have studied: History, English, Literature, etc. So, if you attended classes and were attentive enough, you will not face too many problems.
To write your grade 12 essay, you will have to use one of those essay types. Please, don't say you have no clue what essay types mean! Better recollect all the rules of argumentative, persuasive, expository essay writing. Here you can find tips for writing cause and effect essays, expository essays, as well as expository essay prompts.
So, there seems to be nothing new about grade 12 essays. Besides, your teacher will provide you with detailed instructions.
What can we add to the facts mentioned above? Probably, you want to know some typical characteristics of an excellent 12-grade essay. Even though we've already gone through some of them, a short reminder is never redundant:
- Your 12-grade essay should be adequately organized (especially in history grade 12 essays), have a strong thesis statement, and transitions between paragraphs.
- Assertions that you make should be well grounded and supported with evidence.
- You need to choose proper words and vary sentences in your 12-grade essay.
- Finally, make sure your 12-grade essay is grammatically correct.
Are you one of those students who merely have a hard time putting your thoughts into words?
There are two options for you! Firstly, you can just read our free essay editing tips available on the site. Secondly, you can order essay editing from our custom essay writing service.
We’ve come to the last portion of essay writing tips we’re giving out today. So, why not talk about your college application essay? The tips will also apply to scholarship essay writing, as both of these types of writing share a common core: getting you what you deserve.
Keep the right amount of detail
This one is a bit tricky.
On the one hand, you don’t want to try and tell your entire life story in a single short essay. You need to be aware of the limits.
To make your college essay memorable, choose the most exciting event from your life. Describe it in great detail, without wasting space on the general stuff no one wants to hear.
On the other hand, you can't just spit out everything in only two sentences.
This advice goes very closely with the previous tip. Instead of talking about as many events as possible in one or two sentences each, chose another path. Dedicate a paragraph or two to one very memorable event.
This way, you’ll paint a clear picture of what happened and how it influenced you. And your reader will be grateful.
Nothing is more boring than using the same old phrases over and over again.
Remember how we mentioned that the graders of your essay will also have a bunch more works to read through?
Imagine how would they feel if they had to read the same sayings and expressions in every work.
It would be exhausting and tedious. Even ten minutes of looking at typical English essay examples will give you an idea of how bad the clichés can sometimes get.
Deciding to think outside the box and use a couple of witty phrases is a good thing. But using age-old clichés defeats the purpose.
At the very least, try and find college essay prompts to give you an interesting idea of what to write about if you don't have one assigned yet. Or look at sample college essays to figure out which phrases to avoid. There are plenty of exciting and fresh expressions in English you can use. Why would you ever need stale clichés?
Make yourself memorable
We’ve decided to use this last tip as a sort of a reminder.
It’s been mentioned a couple of times that your essay is going to be just one among many other works.
So, simply writing it well isn’t enough.
You have to make yourself memorable to your reader. Your story needs to stay in the minds of those who are going to read it. Make a strong personal statement so that even some time later, they can pick up your essay and say, "Yes, I know this one…it's about that student."
Along with proving that you're the one who deserves a spot at their school, you'll know that you've put some serious work into writing your personal essay.
Check your essay yourself after writing the first draft. Does the story leave a powerful feeling and brand itself into your mind? If not, what can you do to make it better?
Don't stop with an average result. You can do much better than that. To understand the project even more deeply, look at college essay examples. And then make your work far superior to those.
- What defines a hero?
- What’s a way of making political debates more civil and focused on solving problems?
- If you were a senior mentor, what wisdom would you pass on to a first-year student?
- What are effective ways of convincing people to exercise more?
- What skills should students have in order to convince a school that they deserve a scholarship?
- What might be the cause of World War 3? What would be the consequences?
- Are books still relevant, or should we all switch to computers, phones, and tablets?
- How do the obstacles we encounter in life make us better?
- What sparks your desire for personal growth and self-development?
- Without which fact, quality, or story would your life summary be incomplete?
Have you found what you were looking for? Did our guide help you with your school essay writing? Make sure to share your experience in the comments below!