Creating an essay outline is by all means the most effective and motivating way of learning the writing assignment, organising your ideas on the essay topic, and positioning your own point of view.

The importance of essay outline in writing process is hard to underestimate. It is the solid foundation of a well-structured and considered essay with enchanting essay topic, logically organised paragraphs, strong thesis statements, and unforgettable conclusions. The essay outline helps you put your thoughts together, and have a clear idea of what the essay should be all about.

I could go on, but the point is: when you write your essay outline first, the process of essay writing becomes a piece of cake! However, to make a truly effective and well-organized essay outline, you need to follow these important preparatory steps:

1. Read the Question of Your Essay and Decode It

The first and most important step you should take before writing an essay is to understand what your professor wants to see in your essay wanted from you, thus to decode the writing assignment. The solution to this riddle can be found in your essay question, which asks you either to discuss, compare, contrast, or summarise certain issues. When you know what is expected from you, you know which way of writing an essay to choose.

Just to play safe, here are the definitions of the essay questions, so that you could refresh your memory:

1. “compare” in an essay question means to list in an extended way points of similarity between two or more things;

2. “contrast” asks to dwell on the differences of several things;

3. when “summarising” you are supposed to write down all you know on the essay topic;

4. a “discussion” requires putting the cases for or against some proposition and end with stating your own position;

5. “consider” means to describe a certain subject and say how effective it is.

Once you know what you ought to do, you can get down to creating the essay outline.

2. Verify the Assignment Requirements

But before you do so, you need to verify the requirements for your essay. In the department’s guidelines you shall find the deadlines, the requirements for the essay length and presentation. If some points are not clear to you, do not hesitate to verify them with your teacher. The more you know the better chances your have to write an outstanding essay.

3. Write a Thesis Statement at the Top of Your Paper

You must know that a thesis statement is a single declarative sentence that contains the focus of your essay and tells the readers what it will be all about. But except for helping your readers with understanding your essay, it is of great help to you as well.

A thesis statement helps you think through your ideas and their overall presentation to the readers.
Moreover, it is the wishful salvation each time you get sidetracked from the main idea of your essay, and want to come back to the initial point.

Your should not skip the process of writing a thesis statement at the top of your paper, right after your essay outline. Thus, be sure you compose a strong thesis statement for your essay outline.

4. Brainstorm Ideas for Your Essay

Once a thesis statement is ready, you should start brainstorming your ideas that relate to your thesis statement. Write down all ideas that come to your mind and are related to your topic, even if they are seemingly bizarre or outlandish. You should let your ideas flow as rapidly and spontaneously as possible. When you have collected all your ideas, be sure to revisit them and discard the ones that seem useless.

5. Gather Evidence

It goes without saying that all ideas in your essay must be supported with some evidence that should consist of specific examples or opinions of others. The supporting evidence should prove your thesis statement. Thus, it must be relevant, reliable and presentable.

So, you need to sweat a bit and gather relevant information on your essay topic and select the materials that will come in handy. It is advised not to neglect the basic sources you use every day. Thus, start examining your lecture notes, core texts and handouts. They usually include a sufficient amount of useful information that will supply you with great ideas for the essay outline.

If you want to deepen into the essay topic, you can pick some other sources with detailed information on your essay topic. For instance, articles in journals, or texts referred to by your teacher can provide you with extremely valuable information. But be selective, and do not fall on the first source that you come across. Make a thorough and painstaking search.

6. Organise Your Essay Ideas

Once you have collected the information, you need to think through the structure of your essay and create the first draft. Your essay must be planned in the way that it has a coherent and logical structure.

So far there are no universal standards for organising ideas in essays. However, all your ideas must be arranged in the logical way. For instance, the logical sequence of your facts could be presented in a simple to complex form, be specific or general, etc. Either way, choose which is most appropriate in your case.

When structuring your ideas, do not be too wordy; write down your points in brief one-line sentences that are arranged in a series of headings and subheadings. Use bullet points to describe what each paragraph will contain.

7. Keep References

In the process of gathering information and brainstorming you must remember to write down everything you have consulted as you go along in order to be able to create a bibliography or list of references. Have a notebook where you can put down the information you will need later. Such trick will help you avoid the needless headache when you will be writing an essay.

This is your seven-point plan that you should carry out before writing an essay. The outline with your properly organised ideas, notes, a thesis statement and references will be indispensable when the direct writing process will take place. This action plan will help you prepare your essay outline and save you from many hurdles of essay writing.

>About the Author:

Linda Correli is a staff essay writer for http://www.Go2Essay.com/ She specializes in writing History, Literature and English essays and book reports, as well as admission essays, personal statements and letters of recommendation.

A tragic hero is a protagonist who is otherwise perfect except for a tragic flaw, which will eventually lead to their own demise. Shakespeare is well known for his tragic heroes in his plays. In the story of “Macbeth” there are many factors which contribute to the deterioration of Macbeth. The predication the witches foretold, how Lady Macbeth negatively influenced and manipulated Macbeth’s judgment, and Macbeth’s desire to be King. These main factors cause the downfall of Macbeth from a well respected noble man down to a detested blood-lust fiend.

The prophecies which were foretold by the witches to Macbeth and Banquo greatly affected Macbeth’s degeneration. Without Macbeth hearing the prophecy “All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!/ All hail, Macbeth! Hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor!/ All hail, Macbeth! That shalt be King hereafter.” (I, iii, ll. 48-50)* it wouldn’t have aroused the idea of disposing of King Duncan and the bad influences and manipulation by Lady Macbeth, would have never been inflicted upon him.

Lady Macbeth, who dreadfully influenced and manipulated Macbeth for the worst is also another key factor in Macbeth’s downgrade. After Lady Macbeth read Macbeth’s letter about his fortune that was foretold by the 3 witches, she conducted a deadly plan to kill King Duncan and persuaded Macbeth into following her plan so that Macbeth will become King. Macbeth fell seduced into Lady Macbeth’s plan because of his ambition to become King.

Macbeth’s ambition to be King was the greatest factor of his deterioration. Macbeth’s ambition alone was not a strong enough motive to kill Duncan, but with the other two key factors: the 3 witches’ prophecy and Lady Macbeth’s manipulation this aroused his ambition. Without Macbeth’s ambition his tragic flaw could not come into place. From the moment Macbeth murdered King Duncan for his ambition, he became the tragic hero and developed the fatal flaw which leads him to his death.

With the contributing factors of: the 3 witches’ prophecies, Lady Macbeth’s negative influence and manipulation, and Macbeth’s ambition to be King, all together greatly contributed to the degeneration of Macbeth from a well respected noble man to a detested blood-lust fiend, and then to his untimely demise.

Reference
* Shakespeare, William, ed., Roma Gill, Oxford Press, 1999, All quotations from this play are taken from this volume

Many more papers on this and similar topics may be found at www.freeonlineresearchpapers.com

“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” - was the begging of the greatest speech in the history of humanity. It was the speech that in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar turned the Romans against Brutus and helped justice triumph. Neither actions, nor events could change the wheel of history. The fact is that Antony’s speech was the sole force that made people change their mind.

That is what you have to achieve when writing a persuasive essay - persuade your readers to adopt your point of view and take a particular action. As it proved to be in Julius Caesar, you need to go through thick and thin in order to prove your case and utilize logic and reason to show that your idea is more legitimate than another. But the result is worth the efforts.

So, be sure to master the art of persuasion that will come in handy while writing persuasive essays. Below you will find helpful tips that will make writing persuasive essays as easy as pie.

1. Choose Your Persuasive Essay Topic

Pick up the topic that interests you and raises certain feelings within you. It is also important that your persuasive essay topic deals with urgent matters, and interests people round you. Before getting down to writing a persuasive essay make sure you have enough relevant information for the essay.

A good persuasive essay topic could sound like:

1. Hate should not be tolerated;
2. The status of women in Islam is rather ambiguous;
3. Boxing should be banned because it promotes cruelty.

No matter which topic you will choose, you have to approach essay writing with full responsibility, seriousness, and accuracy.

2. Brainstorm and Define Your Point of View

Before writing an essay, brainstorm! It will help you come out with the conclusion for your persuasive essay topic and define your attitude on the matter you’ve chosen. You can try free writing, clustering or listinganything that will be effective and helpful for you.

After thorough consideration and brainstorming you must be able to express clearly and convincingly why you have chosen this particular position on the subject of your persuasive essay.

3. Test Your Thesis

Your thesis statement, that is your point of view, should be debatable. Otherwise, there will be nothing to prove and nobody to convince. The best way to check whether your thesis is right is to write down a thesis statement directly opposing your own. If you find that possible, you may be sure that the argument for your persuasive essay is right up the street.

4. Understand Another Point of View

Try to step in your antagonists’ shoes and figure out what makes them think different. It is the proven way to counter the opposite point of view, since you will be able to provide contrasting evidence or find mistakes and inconsistencies in the logic of the opposing argument.

5. Study the Prospective Audience.

Be sure to know who will be reading your essay, so that to know what to press on. Try to decide if your audience agrees with you, is neutral, or disagrees with your persuasive essay topic. This choice will help you incline people to your point of view.

6. Use a Pleasant and Reasonable Tone

Antony did not call Brutus names, nor did he accuse him of the Caesar’ death. Instead, he called Brutus “an honourable man,” what turned out to be a brilliant way to pull him down.
Follow the same strategy in your persuasive essays. Use a pleasant and reasonable tone and avoid referring to yourself or addressing your readers. Be careful not to fly into temper and mix up your emotional attachment with your beliefs. Set your emotions aside and analyze all aspects of the persuasive essay topic.

7. Examine Your Persuasive Essay Topic

You need to know your persuasive essay topic from cover to cover if you want to add credibility to your words and make the readers trust you. That goes without saying.

Thus, to be an adept of you persuasive essay topic, use as many legitimate sources as possible. In order to find reliable information, go to the library or interview people who are experts on your persuasive essay topic. It’s also necessary to go beyond your own knowledge and experience.

8. Structure Your Persuasive Essay

Think over the structure of your essay. Make sure that your ideas are well-organized, clear, concise, and up-to-the-point. Try to design your essay by figuring out the order in which you will present your evidence.

Remember to consider your purpose, audience, and your topic while writing an essay. Do your best to give the readers the feeling that you are well-informed about the subject you are dwelling upon.

9. Provide Evidence for Your Arguments

Arguments must always use sound reasoning and solid evidence. Otherwise, you will not establish credibility of your case and lose your readers’ support. Therefore, make sure to use the following evidence for your arguments:

1. facts that come from your reading, observation, or personal experience;
2. statistics that come from responsible sources;
3. quotes from leading experts that support your point of view;
4. examples that will make your ideas concrete and be a proof of your ideas.

No matter which one you will choose to use, make sure the evidence is reliable and comes from original sources.

10. Present a Strong Conclusion in Your Persuasive Essay

Conclusion has the profound impact on the reader. A good conclusion brings the persuasive essay to the satisfying end when your readers hold the same point of view and are ready to defend your statements.

As you close your persuasive essay, clearly redefine the topic and restate the most compelling evidence cited in original form. You should keep in mind that this is the last chance to remind the readers and convince them to accept your position.

Antony’s way to conclude the speech was to mention his devoted love to dead Caesar. It was the last stroke in his immortal speech that made Romans take drastic action against the conspirators. Use something as strong as that.

About the Author:

Linda Correli is a staff writer of Go2Essay.com - custom Essay Writing Help. She specializes in essay writing of argumentative essays, persuasive essays, narrative essays, and descriptive essays.

Writing a persuasive essay is much like preparing for a debate. You need to study your persuasive essay topic from various perspectives, establish your main argument and gather supporting evidence. You also need to know how to write a persuasive essay, namely how to organize parts of the persuasive essay in the way that will work best.

Try the following instructions on how to write a persuasive essay. They are indispensable in writing a well-planned and thoroughly considered persuasive essay.

1. Start with an Impressive Lead-In

The introduction of your persuasive essay is the first words you utter to render the readers to be well-disposed to you. Moreover, it is by the introduction that the reader decides whether to go on reading you essay or leave it in peace. Thus, the introduction of your essay should be attention grabbing and impressive enough to induce the reader to read further on.

Writing a persuasive essay, you need to pay particular attention to the first sentence you are going to write down, namely a lead-in. It is the most important part of the whole persuasive essay, out of which you come out either a winner or a loser.

To write a strong and impressive lead-in, try the following strategies:

1. start with an unusual detail;
2. put a strong statement;
3. quote a famous person;
4. introduce a short and up-to-the-point anecdote;
5. open the essay with a statistic or fact;
6. start with an emphatic rhetorical question;

Before deciding on one of the strategies, try all of them. You will be surprised to find out how different strategies can enrich and smarten up the introduction to your persuasive essay.

After you have put the opening sentence, be sure to introduce a sentence that will show that you see both pros and cons of the subject matter under consideration. Then write a thesis or focus statement, which has to reveal your own point of view. A well-formulated thesis statement is the key to success, as it is the central part of your essay, around which all other parts are organized.

Remember that a good introduction should be brief, concise and end with a closing sentence that will be transitional to the next paragrath.

2. Support Your Thesis in the Body

The body of your persuasive essay is the main part of your writing where you present supporting evidence and elaborate on the reasons you stated previously. The body should be a proof that you have researched and examined your persuasive essay topic and that your arguments are reasonable and reliable.

In order to prove your thesis statement and dispel the opposing arguments, you need to: 1) state the facts of the case; 2) prove your thesis with arguments; and 3) disprove your opponent’s arguments in three consecutive steps.

Statement of facts is a non-argumentative presentation of details, summaries and narration concerning the problem discussion. In this part of the body you should present supporting evidence without stating your own point of view and trying to persuade the readers in it.

First, you should remind the readers of some events, provide vivid illustrations that will show the significance of the topic. Statement of facts should be clear, brief, and vivid. If you obscure the facts, you are defeating the purpose. Thus, delete irrelevant information and information which contributes little to the reader’s understanding.

After you’ve introduced some facts, you can get down to proving your thesis with arguments. This should be the longest section and the central part of your persuasive essay. With the readers rendered attentive by the introduction and informed by the statement of fact, you must show why your position concerning the facts should be accepted and believed.

Now comes the time to deny the truth on which the opposing argument is built. Be patient in thinking over the refutation. It is the most difficult stage that needs time, concentration and absorption.

The proven way to hook readers’ attention is to leave your strongest argument for last so that to leave them with your best thought.

3. Write a Memorable Conclusion.

Your conclusion should be a “mirror image” of your introduction. It means that you should refresh the reader’s memory and remind him of the thesis statement you put in the introduction. It is not a mere waste of time or words, but the best way to convince the reader to take your side.

As well as in writing the introduction, you can try several ways to write a memorable conclusion for your persuasive essay.

Except for restating the introduction, you can summarize the main points to enable the readers to recall the main points of your position.

A nice way to conclude the persuasive essay is to write a personal comment or call for action. It could be: 1) your prediction; 2) a question that will let the readers make their own predictions; 3) your recommendations to solve a problem; 4) a quotation. It’s up to you to decide!

The last line of your persuasive essay, that is the “tag line,” needs special attention, for it is the second most important line after the lead-in. Thus, it is important that it:

1. renders the readers to be well disposed to you;
2. magnifies your points;
3. puts the readers in the proper mood.

Once you have put the full stop after the “tag line”, your work is over. But make sure that the words you have put in your persuasive essay will be “working” long after your readers stop reading it.

About the Author:

Linda Correli is a staff writer of Go2Essay.com - custom Essay Writing Help. She specializes in essay writing of argumentative essays, persuasive essays, narrative essays, and descriptive essays.

Some state that people enjoy speaking about themselves. I should presume such people never sat in front of a blank sheet of paper having to submit their essay next morning. Everything changes when you are left with a crucial question face to face. Instantly all the facts seemed so reasonable before disappear all of a sudden.

I understand that application essay may cause you a lot of agitation, as it suggests a deep self analysis. But it should be that way and no other. Yes, I agree with you that the essay will require a lot of effort and concentration of you. Believe me, this effort is worth taking. Because the writing process is so absorbing and rewarding.

Start your work on essay with defining the topic, statement, or the main idea you want to convey to the reader. Choose the topic that is really important for you. The examiners search for students who will contribute greatly to their educational establishment. An ideal applicant should possess some valuable and unique experience. We look for personalities, individuals and exceptional people. And your essay must demonstrate that you are the one.
A good essay is an effective essay. It reveals both professional and personal aspects of applicant’s personality.

We expect people to construct and prove their point of view on some definite subject with the help of the acquired knowledge and experience.
If you think you have no valuable experience, write about what you have. But make the reader appreciate the significance of your expertise. You can present something trite and ordinary in a completely new way.
Write how your past and your origin influenced your personality development. You may also show how you can contribute to educational process due to the acquired experience.

Before writing properly, think of the details and the order of their presentation.

One of the pledges of a successful essay is a capturing introduction. It can be a short bright story, quotation, a question or a scene description.
In the body of your application essay develop your point of view with well grounded arguments. I also advise you not to give standard answers. And remember that the commission values sincere replies most of all. Be sure to stick to the main point during the whole process of narration. Also do your best to make the most of limited length. If you are describing a concrete situation that influenced you, illustrate it with details. If you are writing about your character features, give an example how you applied them in concrete situations or how you developed them. Don’t forget that examples enliven your essay and too theoretical essays are always so boring to read.

Very often I have to read the essays, where a person gives a lot of opinions on the target subject. But he just forgets to speak his own mind. I want to emphasize that the teachers want to see the reflection of your personality in the essay. Not someone else’s, no matter how great he may be.

Probably it is your first serious written work and that is why mistakes are inevitable. It is natural. But examiners will forgive you some slight mistakes. But after finding some blunders in your work they will give up your essay as a bad job. I strongly recommend not to:

Write about something difficult to prove

Provide the examiner with another version of your autobiography

Pretend to be witty and humorous

Pretend to impress the reader with your rich vocabulary

Make general statements

Rely on computer spelling check.

Write what is not true

Composing a good essay, please also avoid:

Numerous unnecessary repetitions

General descriptions without analysis

Careless interpretation of facts

The essay should end with a conclusion connected with the introduction and proving the main thesis of your work. Writing a conclusion does not mean the end of your work on the essay. Now you are to check your creation in terms of spelling, grammar, punctuation, style, logical structure, etc. It is a good idea to give it for reading to anyone whose opinion is important for you. Their comments may be helpful. And now YOUR application essay is READY, you can share your experiences in writing an essay with everyone!

I have been checking applicants’ essays for more than 12 years. I read about 2000 essays every year, but I am in no case tired of it. Because I have an unquenchable interest for people and a good essay gives me an insight into a person’s inner world. I am always stunned by the diversity of the opinions. And one day I will be glad to read what you have to tell me in your essay.

Jerry Howells has been working as a leading editor at Superiorpapers.com for more than three years. He possesses extensive experience in application essay writing. You can find out more about essay writing tips at http://www.bestessaytips.com.