One of the students’ coursework is to engage in essay writing as part of his/her learning process. For both writing tasks (short in-class assignment and extended based on research), students will compose texts that build ideas, provide evidence to support their ideas, and are written in an academic style. Many students lose valuable marks due to avoidable writing errors, despite knowing the topic. These typically involve planning, structuring, analysing, and presenting errors and not knowledge errors. With academic competition as it is today, writing is a key component to success.
However, there are some ‘trip-ups’ which can ultimately undermine the good essay and which need to be avoided with practice. Students will be able to identify these mistakes and see how to avoid making them in the future to improve their writing, the message they can express in their writing, and the confidence to write in the future. It’s very important to understand what you shouldn’t do to become a better academic writer.
Starting Without Understanding the Assignment
The number one error students can make is starting an essay without gaining an understanding of the requirements of the assignment. Students will read the question quickly and go straight to researching or composing. This could lead to essays containing the right answers but not answering the question given.
When the deadline is close to the, students will start searching for essay writing services, so that they will be able to get clarity in their assignments and understand the academic structure. But, it’s often best to thoroughly read the assignment prompt before starting to write (BAW, 2022).
Students will be able to recognize key words that will alert them during instruction to what they need to do, for example, ‘analyze’, ‘compare’, ‘evaluate’, or ‘discuss’. The words give some indication of the purpose of the essay and set the mood for the essay in the introduction.
Avoidance of the lack of planning and organisation
Writing a successful essay is not likely to happen by chance. Typically occurs because of planning and organization. Unfortunately for many students, this is an underrated step, and they go straight to writing.
The consequence of disorganization is rambling/confusing essays. It may have ideas that are not well connected, and the reader may lose the thread of the main idea. Students find that when they seek any kind of assignment help, planning is one of the easiest ways they can help them improve their academic writing.
It’s a good idea to have a simple outline before writing. A clear introduction that is organized and that has a focused conclusion that helps to ensure a logical flow of ideas and supports the overall argument.
Weak Thesis Statements
A thesis statement is the beginning of an essay. It informs readers about the essay and sets the central argument or position.
The student is tempted to write a very general or indefinite thesis statement. Because of this, the essay has no focus or direction. The readers might not necessarily be able to see how one part of the discussion relates to the other, and what the purpose of the discussion is.
The thesis statement is clear, specific, and arguable. Should give directions for the essay and lead the reader and writer in discussion.
Description Rather than Analysis
Other frequent problems are overuse of description. Pupils tend to repeat, elaborate, or summarise lots of information or facts in their essays, but without critical interpretation.
Academic writing requires more than just information and descriptions; background information will be helpful. The teacher’s focus is on the way the student is interpreting, evaluating evidence, and developing the argument.
Always asking “why” and “how” is a helpful approach when writing. Rather than giving information to students, share with students the impact of information and how this information contributes to the overall argument.
Weak Paragraph Development
The structure of paragraphs is very important in determining the quality of the essay. Communicating even good ideas is dependent upon well-turned-out paragraphs.
Some students go on to include several ideas that have nothing to do with each other within one paragraph, and other students write paragraphs that are too brief to support their ideas. Adhere to neither of the two techniques, and essays may be poorly readable.
Good paragraphs have a topic sentence, follow-up sentences (evidence and explanation). Ideas for each paragraph should be one and clearly connected to the overall argument. This will help create a structure that is clear and enhance the flow of the essay.
Not providing support for arguments by providing evidence.
Academic essays are required to be backed up by evidence to support claims and arguments. Many students, however, make statements without providing any information or any sources to support the statements.
The writer clearly shows that he/she has done some research beforehand, and could support his/her research with the work. Academic journals and books, and reputable, scholarly websites, are more effective than opinion-based information and questionable websites.
Being able to read, analyse, and evaluate evidence and make arguments with evidence is a requisite skill for good academic writing (Hyland, 2022).
Students need to not only cite the evidence, but also use the evidence in a discussion and explanation of how the evidence will be used to support their arguments.
Conclusion
While several common mistakes may be made when writing an essay, these mistakes can be avoided. The students will have an opportunity to grow their writing and their product by planning their writing, creating a well-developed thesis statement, analyzing, and presenting convincing evidence to support their argument. The focus on the structure of paragraphs, revision, and referencing further reinforces academic writing and enhances performance in general. Students will learn to create better compositions as they develop these habits and acquire communication and critical thinking skills that they will apply to school in the longer-term.
