You can also start in the middle of the tension of the story you want to tell. Find the highest tension moment and start your essay there. This rule can be applied to a wide range of topics.
If you are writing about being continuously bullied by your fellow students, put the reader right there from the first line:
“They kicked me in the stomach as I lay on the ground. I thought they will beat me to death. I lost consciousness twice.”
Now, the reader will be curious about what happens next. This action portion shouldn't be longer than a paragraph. Here are more ideas to make this paragraph impressive:
- Body or background should introduce the readers to the cause of an incident/ action you have stated in the introduction part.
- Go back to the hours or even days preceding that moment.
- Help the reader figure out what's going on in the action and who are these people that bullied you? How did you get there? The background is your chance to lead the audience up to that high tension moment:
“It was my first day at a new school. Even though I knew making friends would be hard, I was still optimistic since I was a good soccer player. So, as they were approaching me, I thought they would ask me to join their team and then all of a sudden.....”
The reader is now familiar with what came before the action.
The development part should contain at least three events or scenes that will let the reader grasp the rest of your story. You can go back in time to explain your horrified reaction to the chain of events you were facing so far:
“Even before arriving on campus, I was aware how desperately lonely and isolated I was after my parents' death. There was no one to talk to either in my family or outside of it. I applied to university with the expectation that I would escape from real life hardships and find new friends whom I can confide in....”
So, you should choose very specific and sensory details from the distant past.
To recapitulate:
- The action started with a scene of you being bullied by your fellow students.
- The next part, the background told us about that day, i.e., your expectations and hopes so innocent when compared to the experience you faced.
- In the development part, you go back to show the readers your personal drama and a strong belief that university life would help you to overcome personal struggles. Thus, you set up the context, so this trauma is better understood.
You may also take a different approach, and instead of reflecting the scenes by flashbacks, you can go forward in time from your action. Your development details will thus be placed in a future tense.
Whatever approach you take, stick to the specifics, people, scenes and even dialogue.
The climax is a life lesson. A significant revelation/realization moment – a moment when you learned something about life through the experience:
- “I realized that campus is filled with other college newbies going through the similar experience and eager to make friends with boys like me. They helped me to regain my self-esteem and dignity. And the aftermath was just incredible. The bullies were officially sanctioned and expelled from the school. This unpleasant experience gives me a chance to realize that …”
Actually, you are pointing out:
- Here is what I've learned....
- Here is the importance of this event....
- This is how I am different now....
The conclusion
If you want to stand out from
thousands of essays written every day either for school or publication, you need to end your essay with a vivid illustration. Because readers want to know whether you are actually turning your words into action by enacting this new realization:
“However, two weeks later I still felt as if I were living in a nightmare. Night after night I woke up crying. I was overwhelmed with feelings of fear, inferiority, and sadness. I finally decided to accept the student newspaper editor proposal and write an essay on bullying in school. After I wrote the very last line, I finally felt nothing but relief...”
And this should be a strong ending. That image of a boy resolute to
write an essay and get it published at the very school where he experienced harsh times of bullying shows his acceptance. It tells us that a life lesson was really learned and that he gained the greatest possible advantage out of his atrocity.