Top Tips on How to Write an Essay and How to Get Your Essay Done

1. How to write an essay

Writing an essay is not easy. There are plenty of issues with this task. Your skills have to be sufficient to avoid making mistakes. You have to know how to do it. You have to possess knowledge about style and structure. Writing a good essay also presupposes having a brilliant idea concerning the subject. No wonder teachers get almost surprised when they come across an excellent piece of writing.

Many students copy ideas from the Web and put it into essays, creating papers not even worth grading/ It is not widespread in the UK or the US, but in some European countries students still copy major parts of texts found on the Internet without even trying to change them at all. One can presume that this extent of plagiarism in essay writing is acceptable in some cases. Especially, when a student is severely overloaded or stressed, or when he or she has special circumstances, like competitions or the flu. This is completely wrong!

We can only note that copying somebody else's text is a major waste of your time. You waste time surfing the Net for the right essay or an article you can copy, reading (unfortunately, this stage is often skipped) or looking through the text (hopefully), copying, rearranging, etc. Then, you waste your teacher’s time, when he or she is forced to read and grade it. Checking for plagiarism and rejecting the paper takes time, too. Writing a college essay by copying is truly absurd. If you don't have time for writing paper from the introductions to the conclusion - all on your own, the only way out is to order a unique paper. In this case, you'll be involved in the process of monitoring and guiding the writer, offering your ideas, and learning to write from top professionals.

Checking for plagiarism and rejecting the paper takes time, too. Writing a college essay by copying is truly absurd. If you don't have time for writing paper from the introductions to the conclusion - all on your own, the only way out is to order a unique paper. In this case, you'll be involved in the process of monitoring and guiding the writer, offering your ideas, and learning to write from top professionals.

1.1 Essay Writing Service

The issue of getting professional help is very controversial in our society. Some kinds of it are totally acceptable, like visiting a therapist or hiring a nanny. Others are frowned upon. Somehow, essay writing services fall into the second category. Here, we are going to consider the cases when one really needs help writing an essay, and whether it is ethical to get it, and what to do if you can't manage writing your essay on your own.

Why People Sometimes Feel Negatively about Online Paper Services

It is interesting that some spheres of our life allow getting help. As we've mentioned, you can hire a nanny. It is fine to visit classes for newborns and toddlers. After that, if you are optimistic enough, you assume to get help from the educational system. Besides, there are plenty of friends and grannies who are often eager to help you. Of course, the situations are often different; and each parent decides for themselves whether to get professional/ friendly help or not. The bottom line is that it’s ok to get assistance.

When it comes to your own education, the picture varies considerably. You are allowed to get help, but only the kind prescribed by an instruction. If you need college essay writing help, you can consult your teacher. Your teacher can't always help you, especially if you've already missed something important. In this case, you need to get help somewhere else. You can’t possibly ask your family or friends “Write my essay for me!” Why would they? The only logical way out is a custom paper service. Students, just like young parents in the previous example, decide for themselves if they should pay money to get their essays done. Their decision to buy a paper will hardly be supported, so they feel like they don't have that right.

Those who may be responsible for this are:

• mass media;
• the Internet, advertising such services, on the one hand, and ‘motivating’ you to do everything yourself;
• your parents, who don't understand why you need help if they didn't need it twenty years ago.

Why You Should Try an Essay Writing Service

Often, it doesn't just seem that students are too lazy to write their own papers. They actually are. You don't want to yield to your laziness and let it grow into your way of life, do you? If not, try to work on your essay yourself. But don’t hesitate to ask for help, if you face real difficulties. The reasons why a student really should get professional assistance with an essay are usually grouped under the definition ‘the lack of time.’ However, the issues may be much deeper and more diverse:

• health problems: from the flu up to pregnancy and how it influences one’s well-being;
• stress: plenty of other tasks to complete, no matter if they are connected with your studying or your personal life;
• the lack of experience: when it takes you ages to complete the task because the whole experience is new to you;
• language barrier: a very relevant issue for international students;
• and many others.

It’s time to prioritize. If this is the time when you can’t write your essay without help, order it! Just browse for ‘write my paper’ and pick a reliable custom essay writing service.

1.1.1 Custom Essay Writing

Custom writing is quite a successful business nowadays. You can still come across unfair ‘companies’ and freelance writers however. If this happens, you’ll lose more than your money. You’ll lose precious time for sure, as such writers never disappear right from the start. They fake productivity and then, when the right moment comes, they are gone with your money. As a consequence, you’ll also lose out on a chance to get a good grade. That is why you should be really attentive when choosing a custom essay writing service. Your choice should be grounded on the following aspects:

• Personal Recommendations.

This is one of the oldest reasons why we choose a service. It still works! If your friends are satisfied with the service, there are great chances that you’ll be satisfied, too.

• Monitoring the Papers Quality.

A custom essay writer may be a real professional, but he or she is better to be backed up by a team of proofreaders and team-leaders. All the errors in completing a technical task or severe mistakes in the text, if any, should be corrected immediately free of charge.

• A Proper Website.

Just have a look at it! If its content is shallow and it is hosted on a cheap service, this is probably not what you really need.

• The Price.

Again, everything that is cheap will probably be useless to you. Remember that it is not a sale. A custom essay is hard work, taking time and effort. Try to find an optimal price.

• A Real Office.

It is true that many essay writers work from their home. But in addition to the site, a real company should still have a real office for a variety of legal reasons. If there is no office, it should at least make you more cautious.

• Individual Approach.

The company you choose should offer writing on a whole range of subjects, using all the formats that may be required by your teacher. Besides, they should collaborate with you, ask for your ideas, give their examples of what can be written, provide different kinds of outlines, etc. Your ideas should be included in your essay if you insist.

1.2 Essay Writers

Remember that behind any essay writer service there are real people who may or may not meet your expectations. You don’t just use a service, you actually hire an essay writer. In the majority of cases, you can’t be sure as to who is going to write your paper. That is why you should choose the service thoroughly, as described above. The most reliable companies work only with professional online essay writers they can trust. You see, the business is very competitive and every client comment counts. You can evaluate paper writer(s) by a number of aspects, such as:

Professionalism. This is exactly what students want to get from an essay writer service, although this aspect is very unclear. By professionalism, in this case, we mean the ability to fulfill the client’s requirements, i.e. a technical task, and meet the deadline. As you can see, you have partial responsibility here because the task you give to the writer should be clear and specific. As for punctuality, it is obvious that even ‘the greatest masterpiece’ is not needed after the deadline.

Experience. Writing papers is not about talent. It is clear from this article that it is about structure and style. The ideas the writer wants to convey matter a lot. But the most brilliant of these ideas are quite useless when one can’t put them into words exactly as it is required. This skill comes with experience. With time, writer gains a collection of certain knowledge about what to write, some tools and techniques, clichés and ideas, and his or her mistakes have been corrected by proofreaders numerous times.

Creativity. Many may compare an essay writer with a craftsman rather than with an artist. On the other hand, the touch of uniqueness should be present in any essay you order. By uniqueness, we mean ideas. Copying the text is strictly forbidden in any case. Please contact the writer if the ideas in the essay are not clear to you. You might be asked about what you meant, so you have to be prepared for questions.

If you have an opportunity to choose, try to avoid perfectionism as well. Otherwise, ‘the casting’ will take you plenty of time.

2. Essay Writing Tips

Writing an essay requires a number of steps to be made. Sometimes, not knowing how to complete a stage costs student’s time, which makes it impossible to meet the deadline. Procrastination can grow into panick, and diminishes your chances of getting a good grade. That is why you have to know what you are to do and remember the strict sequence of your actions.

Getting doesn't just mean writing it down. It means understanding it completely. If you have any questions about the paper, ask them in class. You'll definitely have some time to write your essay, so reread the task several times after you are home. You'll have more chances to get the answers from you teacher if you do it right away. This is what professional writers do. They make sure they get the technical task right before writing.

If you decide to hire a professional to write your essay, you’ll have to explain the task clearly to get a better grade.

Don't wait for motivation or, moreover, inspiration. This is a compulsory assignment! Do you think you will ever be inspired enough to complete it? If you like the topic, the desire to continue will come during the process for sure. Waiting for a perfect moment to start working only wastes time. On the other hand, if you are the kind of person who can't live without procrastinating, you might put off the starting point slightly in your mind without realizing it. Imagine you have to start right now or that a deadline is nearer than it is in reality. Then, start writing the paper. It will be exactly on time, but these mind games will protect you from real procrastination.

Also note that several destructive patterns may not allow you to start writing on time. They are based on:

• Feeling pity for yourself. Even if you are writing a college essay and everybody in your group does the same, it feels like you are the only one in the world who has to work. There are so many great things to do, but you have to stick to your writing. Or you are not feeling well, and writing is the last thing you want to do. The majority of these excuses have nothing to do with reality. Try to focus. Don't let the pity ruin your plans.
• Feeling nervous. It seems to you that the task is too hard or big for you. You are afraid to fail. Don't think too much about it. When you organize your process of writing, you will become more confident.
• Feeling guilty. Guilt is a widespread feeling for those who have already missed the right time to start. You try to distract from this feeling by doing other thing It feels like you've completed plenty of tasks, but your work remains undone. Remember that the best time to start is NOW!
• Feeling good-for-nothing. If you get low grades for your essays, don't understand how to write them at all, see that it takes others less time and effort, you start doubting your abilities and skills. Just try a little bit harder, learn about writing techniques and your essays will become much better.

It sometimes happens that even the subject of your essay doesn't ring a bell to you. In this case, you know where to start.t. If you know what you are writing about or have chosen the topic yourself, you need to do some research. Writing a good essay requires facts, comparing different standpoints, arguing some ideas and supporting other ones. Preliminary research is vital for you to succeed. Different kinds of essays require different kinds of research. Research papers, such as analytical and definition essays, demand sticking to the methodology. Narrative essays may or may not need research, but it is still really beneficial to your essay.

An outline is a form of planning your writing. You divide the text into sections and try to summarize them before writing. You can even include some conclusions in your outline. A lot of students really hate outlining their essays and get hopelessly stuck on this stage. After proper research, you'll have no difficulty with the outline, especially if you know how to organize your essay. The introduction-main body-conclusion structure is not sufficient to give you a hint about the content of an essay. The pattern should be a little more specific:

• Introduction
• The problem (talking point, thesis)
• Comments about the problem
• Arguments
• Your opinion
• Conclusion

This pattern is suitable for any essay. In your outline, you can rename the sections or leave them as they are. Complete each section with the main information you are going to write there. And that is how your outline is done.

Then, you just write your paper in agreement with your outline and take into consideration what you have found during your research. Don’t be surprised if this stage will take you less time than the previous ones. Often, proper preparation makes the process of writing a college essay easy and enjoyable. On the other hand, it doesn’t mean you can relax now. It is highly important not to get distracted while you are working.

There are plenty of tools that can help you stay focused. For example, you can set a timer for half an hour and concentrate on your writing for this period. After, take a five-minute break and then spend another half an hour working. You can take longer breaks every 3 or 4 intervals. Track your progress. It will motivate you greatly to continue. Don’t even think about surfing the Net again until you are done. Additionally, you have to be prepared that you may find out that you don't find all the information you need. In this case, you'll need to resume your research.

As you can see, essay writing includes a lot of things. Proofreading is one of the most critical stages in the whole process. As it is always the final one, many students simply skip it, happy they’ve ‘completed’ the assignment.

There are so many mistakes you can correct during proofreading! Some of them are simple typos; others are serious grammar and stylistic mistakes. You will see some yourself and correct others with a spell check tool.

If you read out loud, you can also feel and estimate the rhythm of the text. Actually, this stage can’t be ignored even if you order your essay online. Read a custom paper more than once. First of all, if you order an essay from this writer for the first time, you can never be sure about its quality. Secondly, it will help you prepare for any questions from your teacher about your essay. You can also check your essay with a grammar check program.

3. Types of Essay

Several main types of essay are considered the most widespread among college writing assignments: expository, persuasive, analytical, argumentative, descriptive, definition, narrative, process, critical, and compare and contrast essays. All of them have their own formats, which are in some ways similar. At the same time, many details will differ. The objective of the different types essays are also very different. Some of them are written to present some information, others to explain some events and situations, and others to analyze and interpret the facts. There are essays created for ethical purposes, while others are focused on research. Each of them has a specific structure and peculiarities which you are to know if you want your essay to be written right.

3.1 Expository Essay

In this type of essay you have to work on a particular idea, develop it, and build your text around it. In case you don’t understand the concept of an expository essay, you should ask your teacher about it. It is considered to be one of the most complicated types of essays.

How to Write an Expository Essay

An expository essay should include an introduction, a conclusion, and three evidential paragraphs between them. When you are looking for evidence, you should pay attention to the sources that you are going to use. They have to be carefully chosen and reliable. It is easier to build your work on information that is taken from sources which are familiar to you and the style of which is understandable to you personally. Don’t try to operate with information you are not really interested in. All the info you use needs to be credible and reliable. For your expository essay, use examples and information taken from contemporary sources. Information has a tendency to change with time and to become more specific. Keeping an eye on the rhythm of time is the definition of a good writer. Nobody wants to be given obsolete information. The conclusion you make should be influenced by the evidence you’ve used.

Another way to work on your expository essay is to make separate clusters in which you can work on your essay’s topics. Here you can decide which part of your essay needs more time to work on. This will help you control your assignment, which means that you won't miss any elements of your essay. Also, mind your word choice. Check with a dictionary for terms you don’t know.

Try to make your expository essay catchy. This type is quite suitable for filling with interesting information that will draw the reader’s attention. Your essay should win the reader over from the very beginning of your paper. Also, while writing your expository essay, remember why you are writing it. From the introduction to the conclusion, it should be thoughtful . Plus, it should make your reader think about the ideas you want to elaborate through your paper.

3.2 Persuasive Essay

Writing a persuasive essay is a very important skill that will surely help you in your life. It is aimed at persuading a reader to take your side and to adopt a point of view similar to yours. The topics of your paper should be direct. The reader needs to be guided to the point you wish to take him to. An example of a good paper is the one that leaves no reader unpersuaded.

How to Write a Persuasive Essay

Persuasion is not an easy thing. Here are some tips that will show you the main ways of doing it. Stick to your point of view. You cannot persuade anyone if you don’t believe in it yourself. Try to make your idea clear and understandable to your readers. Repeat your thesis several times for your readers to let them accept it on a subconscious level. It is true that something said ten times is better memorized than something repeated only once. But it is also very important not to sound like a broken record. For this purpose, use various types of paraphrasing. It is better to operate information that is socially grounded to persuade people. No one wishes to be told tales. Your essay should reveal the things that are relevant to your audience. Don’t hurry, and take some time to write your essay. No good work is done in a hurry. Think of every sentence you write.

Keep the language of your paper clear and simple. If you decide to use a sophisticated way of presenting your ideas, it may puzzle your reader. All definitions should be very clear. Otherwise, your essay may bore your readers and this is not the best way to persuade. The simpler your style is, the more chances you have to make your readers agree with your point of view.

Think over all possible arguments against your point of view. You will be criticized for sure, so don’t be surprised about it. Try to avoid any weak points in your text. Give examples that prove your point. The more you are sure in what you write and the more you foresee possible ways of being criticized, the more successful your paper will be.

3.3 Analytical Essay

The definition of this essay type is rather simple. This is a piece of writing that analyses a problem or presents an opinion that is based on a certain fact. There are a great number of subjects an analytical essay can be edicated to. Among them are, a piece of literature, a historical event, a scientific fact, etc.

How to Write an Analytical Essay

To start, be aware of what you write about. Do your research on the subject of your essay, whether it is a piece of literature or an event. You have to summarize your opinion about the essay topics concisely. Then, present it as a statement. You should know what you try to prove. Your essay has to be full of examples proving your point. Your point of view can be grounded on the facts present in your research, events of social life, scientific facts or references to the opinions of critics and scientists. Don’t neglect your life experience, either.

Keep in mind that your analytical essay should contain talking points concerning the issue under your consideration. Don’t write from the first person. You also shouldn’t use the second person, i.e. you shouldn’t address the reader directly. Also, exclamatory and interrogative sentences should not be overused. Remember that there is a big difference between quoting and paraphrasing. A direct quotation presents a part of an original piece of text and should contain a reference to the original source in accordance with the format required.

Paraphrasing or indirect quotation, on the other hand, allows summarizing the original text by extracting the main information. An indirect quotation requires a reference to the original source as well. Do not overload your text with citations. Keep the introduction of your essay simple, and concentrate all the findings in the main part of your work. You should avoid slang words in the text and use appropriate expressions that suit your style.

While proofreading your essay, pay attention to grammar mistakes as well as slips in punctuation. Read your work aloud to find weak moments and stylistically disparate parts in it. Also, check the accuracy of dates, facts, and names that are presented in your essay. Try to put your thoughts straight without using too many ‘noise words.’

3.4. Argumentative essay

This is a type of essay that presents a relevant point of view and is aimed at convincing the reader.. A good argumentative essay is based on complete and careful examination of a topic. That is why you have to be well informed of the things you write about. This is the only way to provide your reader with good examples of what you try to convey to them.

How to Write an Argumentative Essay

Focus on the introduction of your paper. It is hard to draw the reader's attention further when you missed it from the very beginning. In the case that your paper contains some original research, make it clear to your reader from the start. Keep in mind the aim of your writing. This is the only way when your paper will produce the desired effect on the reader. You are to have a clear image of what you want your reader to understand in the end.

For your argumentative essay, try to choose topics that you are interested in. This will help you consider different points of view. Think over the matter under your consideration and try to find possible flaws in it, which can be developed into a good argument. This is what makes this kind of essay more difficult than the others. You need to be an expert on the subject you have chosen, and your reader is the one who should be guided through it. Leave space for contradiction within the course of your essay. You can even discuss your work with someone, who has either similar or opposite views. This will help you to see your future work from a different angle and generate new ideas.

If you are not sure about the definition of a particular word, don’t use it. Don’t use inappropriate language either and don’t overload your essay with an abundance of terms. You can make your style catchy instead.

3.5 Descriptive Essay

This paper is one of the examples that has the strongest influence on the reader. It is a type of writing aimed at creating the effect of presence and deep involvement in the events described in it. For that reason, this kind of essay stands out among the others. Its goal is not only to inform a reader about certain facts but to give a definite and clear image of the things described.

How to Write a Descriptive Essay

Before writing, think what you are going to write about. The subject may be a person, an event, a certain place, or an experience. No matter what you choose, you are to have a clear understanding of the subject described. Be very attentive when choosing topics for your descriptive essay, as you are to involve the reader. Make your focus on the reasons why you’ve chosen a topic. Of course, it is much easier to write about things you are familiar with. It will make the choice of words, style, and expressions easier for you.

It seems that the primary goal of an essay is to picture something, as this type of work is based mainly on the description. It is not completely so. There should still be an aim for writing your essay. Think thoroughly about the people’s qualities, events or places you want to describe. This will help your reader to imagine things described in the essay the right way. Also, it will provide the reader with a correct attitude toward the subject of your text, i.e. will help you to convey your ideas. If you do right, reading your work will resemble a journey into a world of your text. For this purpose, be careful with all the details of your description and mind their order.

Pay attention to every detail in your description. It can push your readers to build a precise image. Don’t give a definition to a certain thing or event; make the readers see it with their own eyes. With the right words, this image will make them feel what you want them to feel. This concerns smells, physical appearances, weather, colors, etc. All these images can arouse readers’ emotional response.

3.6 Definition Essay

This type is considered to be quite difficult for students to write. The point is that in a definition essay you are to write about a single word. This means that this word is the subject you have to focus on while working on your paper.

How to Write a Definition Essay

The words you choose to write about as your topics are to be complex and abstract. The simpler the word you pick is, the more plain and shallow your paper will be. This will not produce any effect on your readers. Try to pick a word that can be discussed long enough, one that has different meanings, and that is well-known. Defining such words can be a difficult, but interesting process. The best option is to take a word that has its own meaning for every person. In this case, you can get a rather diversified and strong response to your essay.

What to Include in Your Essay

It is an acknowledged fact that many words change their meaning with time. If you illustrate these changes in your essay, your work will be more academic and complex. Mind the structure of the word. Some words can be a blend of two or more words. Think about each part of the word, and you will have more to write about. Do not skip the process of word formation while writing your essay. Don’t neglect to enumerate the synonyms of the word described. This will help you to broaden the essence of your work. This will also make your reader understand what you want to convey to them. If your readers aren’t aware of the word meaning, they can get it by comparing it with its synonyms.

Use as many examples of the word use as you can. It is really hard to get the essence of the word and its meaning without clear illustration of how it is used in speech. This way, your readers will get a clear picture of all the possible shades the chosen word can have.

How to Work with a Dictionary

Don’t base your work on a word that you don’t understand. Dictionaries can help you to a certain extent, as they provide their users with different examples of usage. But you won’t write a good definition essay unless you understand the word and its meanings. The best essays come out of well-thought-out topics. Nevertheless, do not underestimate the importance of dictionaries, as they can help you and push you to some interesting thoughts about your future essay.

3.7 Narrative Essay

This type of essay definition is the easiest one to understand. Narrative essays is one of the most popular types of assignment, especially at school. It is mainly based on telling a story, usually in chronological order. In most cases, the story comes from writer’s life and is connected to some particular topics.

Our first tip is to try and choose a topic accurately. Think it over. Consider what will be the plot of your story. Has it influenced your life? What conclusions do you want your audience to make after reading your essay? Think about it and try to pick the story that will suit these requirements. Your essay should be interesting and contain events that are worth telling . You will surely make an outline before writing your narrative essay, but in the case of a narrative essay, writing a draft of your story is also very important. Think of the beginning of the essay, the story itself, and the ending. This won’t just help you organize your work, but find the ways how the details of the events described should be arranged.

How to Write a Narrative Essay

Focus on the event that lies at the basis of your essay. Don’t stick to minor details, but to the most important ones and the larger picture. Also, concentrate on the details that will get a good emotional response from the reader. A story that has no ‘hooks’ and that doesn’t play with your imagination is a weak one. Your readers should be captured by the narrative line of your story. Try to include more detail that will catch their attention. There are no examples of a good story that without having protagonists and antagonists. This helps to create necessary tension in the storyline and makes it more entertaining. Consider the features of your characters and try to create the plot based on some kind of conflict or mystery. These are the fundamental elements of real literary works.

Writing Techniques

Decide who will be the narrator in your story. Will it be told from the first, second or third person? As soon as you pick the most suitable form, keep it like that throughout the essay. Don’t switch from one point of narration to another. This is a stylistic mistake that can puzzle your readers. Actually, you can get puzzled yourself, while writing your essay. Also, pay attention to describing locations where your narration takes place. Mention only those characters who took part in an actual story. Describing those who were a mere witness of it will overload the essay greatly.

3.8 Process Essay

Some types of essays differ greatly from the others. They may be different in their aim and purpose. They may even seem quite unusual. This is the case with a process essay. The reason for this is that this type of essay is concerned more about how to do certain things. It may include the writer’s personal attitudes, but they are not the central focus of the text. If you are looking for an example rather than definition, these are the plentiful ‘how to’s’ and ‘what to do if’s’ that we see on the Web every day. High school students are often assigned such essays to see whether they can summarize their personal experience in a piece of writing.

Here are some clues about writing a process essay. First of all, think about the people you address in your essay, i.e. your target audience. Are they aware of the process you are trying to describe? Are they mature (or young) enough to get the correct perception of the things described in your essay? Will your work be useful to them? Think about these things before you start writing. The success of your article will be guaranteed only if you know something about the process you write about or can perform yourself. It is much easier to write about things you know and can handle. Of course, it can be impossible sometimes because of the lack of certain materials and conditions. Try, at least, to read about it or look through other sources with similar topics.

How to Write a Process Essay

When everything is set up, make a list of all the things that your readers will need while performing the process you describe. Without this, your essay will be pointless as you’ll miss the important part of the whole procedure. In the case that you write your essay in a ‘step-by-step’ form, try to provide each of the steps with corresponding pictures that will serve as examples for your readers. Pictures can help them control the whole process and be sure that everything goes the right way.

Indicate the time that has to be spent on performing the process. You should note the whole process time and the one spent on each step separately. This will help your readers gain more control over the process, especially when each step is limited in time.

3.9 Critical Essay

For starters, let's define the term ‘critical essay.’ As it is seen from the definition itself, it is the kind of essay that requires criticism toward a book, film or another piece of art. Although the definition is quite clear, this type has major peculiarities that need to be explained. Its main difference from other essays type is that the critical one is aimed at analyzing the subject using a number of criteria.. It is apparent from the term ‘critical’ that your aim is to evaluate the subject of your essay and to give the reader your opinion.. Your opinion can be based on your tastes, understanding the form of art you criticize, your point of view, and studying experience.

How to Write a Critical Essay

Criticizing is not possible if you are not familiar with the subject of your writing. So before writing, take time and get all the possible information you can about it. Keep your eye on the ideas put in the piece of art you are criticizing, the goals of its author, and if these goals are reached in the end. Don’t forget that all your statements should be provided with good examples. This will make your point of view grounded and reliable. More than that, you will not be the first one to analyze certain pieces of art. So, try to find articles and critical reviews that were conducted by other authors. Such research will help you make your own statements more unique and avoid patterns that are similar to other authors.

Don’t forget that your criticism should be fair. As time goes by, many things are change, including people’s opinions. Your criticism should be grounded and thoughtful. Make it clear whether you’re writing your critical essay from the point of view of your time and age, or a different one. Another option here is to analyze and take into consideration the influence that the work had in the author’s time of writing. This is crucial when examining classic works by renowned authors.

3.10 Compare and Contrast Essay

This type requires comparison of two subjects in order to point out their similarities and differences. Another important thing about this type of paper is that the author needs to give a definite opinion about each subject and to argue them.

How to Write a Compare and Contrast Essay

First of all, you should choose correct subjects to analyze. They may be either similar with slight differences, or different with slight similarities. In other words, they should be different but have common ground for comparison. Careful choice of subject to work with will guarantee the success of your paper. Consider an appropriate title for your compare and contrast essay. It has to suit the text and make its main point vivid and attractive. This type of essay can be really thought-provoking, so try to make the title of your paper as sophisticated as its content.

Writing Techniques

To find the balance between the two subjects and the way you want to contrast them, make a list of features that both subjects have. When the list is ready, try to point out all the things that are similar between them. They can make a basis for your comparison, while the other ones will be considered as differences. You can use them to contrast two subjects of your essay. Don’t forget about the structure of your work. Make an outline in which you can think over the strategy of putting all the things in order, to make a clear and meaningful text. You may start with a comparison of two objects or with contrast. This way is rather popular with this type of essay. The other way requires some kind of mixture of the two when comparison and contrast are closely connected to each other.

Make Your Essay Logical

Mind the aim of writing your paper. Your essay should have a logical beginning and a logical end, not a simple list of differences and similarities. Each set of contrast and comparison items is to have a thesis that will push your reader to certain conclusions. Make sure that your essay is not to meaningless. Not all things are fit to be written about in a compare and contrast essay. Put on your reader's shoes to find any disadvantages in your text, if there are any. Work on all illogical parts to bring your essay to a perfection.

4. MLA format essay

One of the most popular questions online is ‘how to write an essay in MLA format.’ MLA format, or Modern Language Association, is a set of rules concerning the text disposition on the page and the formatting of citations. Almost every student has heard of MLA, but the percentage of those who have mastered it is catastrophically lower. Anyway, it is very important, because it has to do with discipline and plagiarism. An MLA format essay template can be easily found online. Here, we have summarized the most important issues of MLA format that will save you a lot of time.

General Rules

On of the central MLA aspects is margins. They are usually set before typing or pasting the text but can be switched when the text is already there. Your margins should be Normal, i.e. 1 inch from each page side.

Next thing you are to do is the MLA format essay heading. Proper headers, repeated on each page, should be aligned to the right. They should contain your last name and the number of the page. Page numbers can be made via the Insert tab.

Your whole document is to have 2.0 space between the lines with no exceptions. You are to choose the Times New Roman font, size 12. Make sure you don't forget to switch the font, especially if your essay has been written in some Apple application or Google Docs, in which Trebuchet MS, Calibri, or Arial fonts are used more often than Times New Roman. You can't use hyphenation in your MLA essay. The font should also be Regular, not Italicized or Bold.

Your paper should start with your name, your teacher’s name, the course information, and the essay date. Each of these points is to be given on a separate line, aligned to the left. Then, comes the title.

The Title

As Mark Twain once put it, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” Applying this wisdom to formatting your essay, we can only add that it is getting started right. An essay, obviously, starts with the title. MLA format, just like many others, has a lot of specific requirements to it. These requirements may be quite unclear from a sample. So, we will quickly list them below. You don’t want to disappoint your teacher from the very beginning, do you? So, mind the following rules. The title should be typed in the regular font, just like all the rest of the text. Don’t underline it and don’t make it bold. The title should be right in the center of the page. Its parts, if there are two of them, are to be separated by a colon. Use title capitalization. It doesn’t mean that you are to type all the words in capital letters. All the words have to START with capitals.

The exceptions are:

• articles,
• conjunctions,
• and prepositions.

The first word is always capitalized, as in any sentence. As for the last word, it is always capitalized, too. It is quite likely that your title is going to end with a preposition, which is still to start with a capital.

You can’t use any quotations in the title, so there shouldn't be any quotation marks. On the other hand, it may be necessary to use a proper name in the title. It can be a book title or a name of a piece of art under consideration of your critical essay, for example. Such words should be italicized in the title and throughout the essay. Remember that you skip one line after the title by double spacing.

Citation

The in-text citation is one of the most difficult issues when it comes to formatting the essay. We are offering you a sample of how to do it right.

First of all, you must mention the author’s name in the sentence. If it doesn’t fit into the way you want to put it, there is only one option that is equally acceptable. You can write the name in the parentheses after the sentence. The page number, on which this quotation can be found in the source, should go in the same parentheses. You can also have an indirect quotation if you like. Here are the three main options of how you can make an in-text citation in your essay. The first two examples show a direct quotation. The third example illustrates paraphrasing or an indirect quotation.

One of the principle Wilde’s characters, Lord Henry, claimed that, “The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it” (35).

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it” (Wilde 35).

Wilde’s Lord Henry suggested that one can only escape the temptation by yielding to it (35).

If the quotation you plan to use is longer than four lines, you have to arrange it in a separate block. Block quotations should also be moved right as compared to the first line of the paragraph with no first line indentation.

Omit the quotation marks in this case.

Remember that any given academic paper should not contain more than 10% of quoted/paraphrased material. So, if you are assigned to write a two-three page essay, using block quotations is simply unreasonable. Remember, the paper you hand in should present your thinking/reasoning. It can never be a simple compilation of what other people wrote on the subject.

Absolutely all of the sources you use should be mentioned in the list at the end of your essay. This section starts on a new page titled ‘Works Cited.’ The requirements to the font and alignment of this line are similar to those of the title. Don’t forget to double space after it, before you start enumerating your sources. As opposed to the essay paragraphs, the first line of a source is not indented at all. The following lines are indented half an inch.

This MLA format essay outline will make your process of writing much easier. Please, don't feel upset if you can't master all the MLA peculiarities right away! As we have mentioned above, it all comes with experience. There is no student who hasn't spent much time tackling different format styles. So, be patient and attentive. And you will surely succeed!

At the beginning of this article, we have raised the question whether or not students need to write essays. We have also described different types of essays for you to get a clue of what to do when you are assigned a task. But this is not the only reason why we have done it. It gets obvious from the analysis of each type that any essay is a training of logical thinking and consistent presentation of your thoughts. The only two things you have at the beginning is a bare piece of paper and a topic you need to develop. Anybody who knows how to express his or her thoughts correctly and consistently will always have an advantage of convincing others.

It can be you! Being good at writing essays means you have your own opinion. If you master essay writing, you will also be able to analyze your life and understand various situations quickly and easily. So, learn our smart tips to feel much more confident in essay writing.

On the other hand, sometimes it turns out that you just have no opportunity to write your essay. Don’t hesitate to use a custom essay service. Don’t ignore the final result by just handing it in. Learn from it. Try to memorize the patterns used by professional writers or cooperate with them to make the paper really yours. It will take you less time, but will still be a useful experience.