Understanding an Essay Prompt

It does not matter if you are in high school or in college the directions for writing a basic essay are all the same. Yet, because the writing skills of many incoming college freshman are not up to par with where they should be many professors are finding that they have to re-teach skills that should have already been learned in high school.

Part of the problem with so many students (and people in general) not being able to write clearly and concisely is the fact that English curriculums are not as challenging or demanding of students as they should be. In addition, students are not taught on a consistent basis from year to year, more skills in grammar, syntax and other factors inherent and necessary to be a good writer.

One of the biggest mistakes many people make on high school or college papers is to not follow the directions of the instructor. It sounds simple enough to do, but believe it or not, many people do not read carefully enough the instructions and instead end up turning in a paper that does not meet the basic criteria for a passing grade.

This is why it is a good idea to review some of the more typical writing prompts so that you do not get confused when you encounter one of these.

One of the most common types of essay prompts is the compare and contrast paper. This is very simple. Normally, you are taking two different things and ticking off the similarities and the differences between them in the paper. To compare, means to find similarities. To contrast would mean to find the differences.

In general, the structure of a compare and contrast paper would be an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement followed by one paragraph on similarities, one on differences and one conclusion paragraph. Obviously, if the subject matter is more complex, you would want to devote multiple paragraphs for comparisons and contrasts.

Another common type of essay prompt is the argumentative essay. This just basically means that the instructor wants you to take a side on a particular (usually controversial issue) and present your opinion and then back that opinion up with facts.

A lot of times, people have a tendency to state their opinion and then carry on for several paragraphs simply reiterating that opinion. This would earn an F grade. Your introductory paragraph with a topic sentence stating your stance should be followed by at least three paragraphs (each one devoted to evidence that supports your topic sentence). Again, the end of the paper should have a conclusive paragraph restating your stance on the subject and the three points why.

For more complex issues, you will obviously have more backup paragraphs.

A third type of essay, which is a little more ambiguous, is the analysis paper. Essentially, if you read a book or see a movie, your instructor may ask you to analyze it and then write a paper.

Before writing anything, you need to figure out what the main point of the novel or movie was. Once you narrow down this main point, this would become your thesis, or topic sentence stated in your introduction paragraph.

The introductory paragraph would then be followed by paragraphs with specific actions in the novel or book that show the main theme or whatever your topic sentence is about.

A good part of the battle in writing any essay is simple organization. Many people plop down at their computers and start writing when they should first think and then outline how they want their paper to be organized. By following these generalizations of three basic types of essays, you can easily arrange your thoughts and with some good writing and proofreading, get a passing grade on your paper.