Theme: Essay tests

Find supporting evidence. Depending on your assignment, you may need to work only with your primary sources (the text or texts you’re analyzing) or with primary and secondary sources, such as other books or journal articles. The assignment should tell you what types of sources are required. Good evidence supports your claim and makes your argument more convincing. List out the supporting evidence, noting where you found it, and how it supports your claim.

• Example of supporting evidence: To support a claim that the dragon’s vengeance was more righteous than Grendel’s mother’s, look at the passages in the poem that discuss the events leading up to each monster’s attack, the attacks themselves, as well as the reactions to those attacks

Make an outline. An outline will help structure your essay and make writing it easier. Be sure that you understand how long your essay needs to be. While some teachers are fine with the standard “5 paragraph essay” (introduction, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion), many teachers prefer essays to be longer and explore topics more in-depth. Structure your outline accordingly.[5]

Make an outline. An outline will help structure your essay and make writing it easier. Be sure that you understand how long your essay needs to be. While some teachers are fine with the standard “5 paragraph essay” (introduction, 3 body paragraphs, conclusion), many teachers prefer essays to be longer and explore topics more in-depth. Structure your outline accordingly.[5]

If you’re not quite sure how all your evidence fits together, don’t worry! Making an outline can help you figure out how your argument should progress.

• You can also make a more informal outline that groups your ideas together in large groups. From there, you can decide what to talk about where.

Thank you for attention.