INTRODUCTION (TO THIS GUIDE)

As a tutor in the ASU Writing Center, I understand that many people have difficulties embarking on writing essays. I believe I have developed a method that can help students to not only overcome their difficulties with composing essays, but also ensure that the resulting essay is compelling and relevant for all humankind. I have shared this method with many of the students that I have had the pleasure of tutoring, and I feel that many people could benefit by a first-hand explanation of the method. I also think it is helpful to hear some straight-talk advice from a fellow student instead of reading a bunch of cold and distant "handouts" all the time. So here it is, my method in online form, presented for your enjoyment. (But please keep in mind that the grammatical and writing style that this "essay" uses would probably not be acceptable for use in an academic situation. In other words, do as this essay says, not as it does.)

First off, I will state that there are many other resources on this website and throughout the Web that can help you in the standard process of writing an essay. Therefore I will not discuss in much detail the process of relating the assigned topic to your experiences (if necessary) or the mechanics of having an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. These are all useful things to do, but as with everything I do, I strive to go against the norm. Of course, you cannot strive too far away from the "norm" in writing essays for college classes, but you don't have to adhere to a bunch of pre-set rules and formatting, in my opinion. With that said, allow me to go in order with the different aspects of essay-writing and describe how I approach each of them.

WRITING AN INTRODUCTION & BODY PARAGRAPHS

The introduction is where you lay the groundwork for the rest of your paper. Some professors may still like their students to explicity state the topic sentences of each of the following paragraphs in the introduction. However, if you have not been told to do this, then you can steer away from it. The one thing you must include, however, is a thesis, which is explained elsewhere (see the Resources section). And with the rest of the paragraph, you can generally summarize your topic, touching on general ideas you want to explore in the rest of your paper, but not necessarily using the same words that you will use later.

So let's move down to writing the "body paragraphs". As I said, or inferred, your body paragraphs will be further explanations of the main ideas presented in your introduction. But you don't have to use the same wording from the intro in the topic sentence of your paragraph. You can be slightly more specific, but really the rest of your paragraph is where you can get into specifics. Here, be sure to use concrete details, etc. etc., blah blah, you have heard it all before.

TRANSITIONS

I do want to say something about transitions, though. (Look those up in Resources as well.) It's relatively easy to tie ideas together within your paragraph since everything in it should be relating to the same main topic. You can most likely use transition words, some examples of which are given on the resources page that is linked to too many times on this page, in front of the sentence that you need to tie together with the others. But when it comes to transitioning between paragraphs, the practice becomes slightly more complicated. But of course, I have a method for it (which follows in a paragraph that should not be separate, but is because it was getting too long--do not try this at home).

In my mind, I always look at each of the sentences, and I just think of even the most remote way to connect them. You can get creative here, and being creative is fun. As long as you think of some way to tie the ideas together, everything will seem to flow smoothly. A good way to get the hang of how to do this is to watch some of the best stand-up comedians. You will notice that their act just flows; they go from one topic to the next, but it all seems to connect some how (there are some exceptions, like Mitch Hedberg, who is a good comedian without having his ideas necessarily flow together).

(--another incorrect but necessary paragraph break--)

You can even see this in your own conversations with people, either on the phone or in person. Sometimes you can talk to someone for an hour, or two, or three. How can you do this? How is it possible?! You will notice that as you bring up each topic of conversation (at least, I hope you do not spend two hours talking about the same topic) you think of something in that topic to bring up a new one, and this process continues to repeat until you really have nothing new that you can (or want) to say to that person. Well, that is just like writing essays, except easier, since your whole essay should be bound by one overall topic. So in essence, just think of how you or someone else might "transition" in a conversation from the topic in question to the new topic, and build on that to write your transition.

CONCLUSIONS

This is my favorite part of writing the paper. This is where you think back on all that you have written, and, using the general style of your introduction, summarize the main point you were trying to get across with all of your previous paragraphs. But don't stop there. As I have told many others, I always strive to go a few steps further and relate my topic to the rest of the world and people and life in general. All topics relate somehow to humans or to life because they exist to be written on by humans. So in conclusion to my paragraph on conclusions, look at all you have written and how it compares with your introduction, use that to summarize your findings or the point you have tried to make, and then tie this point in to how we are all to live our lives. This elevates your paper from merely an assignment or something that you wanted to write to something that is relevant for all humanity and will continue to remain so for years to come.

CONCLUSION (TO THE ESSAY GUIDE)

In conclusion to my guide to writing essays, I hope that some of the methods of writing an essay have become clearer to you and perhaps it will be easier in the future. The main point is to stop looking at essays in such a rigid format but as a platform for expressing your thoughts, either on the topic of a literary work or social problem or on your own experience. Looking at it this way and using the methods I have attempted to convey, you can craft an essay that you will enjoy writing and that will not bore you (and the people who read your essay) to tears. In fact, I hope you will do quite the opposite, making a statement that will tie your subject matter and your conclusions in to the lives of all humans, making a topic with seemingly no effect on normal people become relevant to all society. That said, I hope this essay has proven to be a useful tool for you, and that you will use it to create many important and enjoyable essays. After all, the day we humans stop communicating our own thoughts and feelings to others through all of our work is the day that we will cease to be the dominant species on our planet, doomed to a fate similar to that of the once-dominant dinosaurs. Please do not let this happen. Please continue to write, and write beyond your requirements. Only by doing this can you begin to help unlock the dormant potential of the human civilization.

Good luck with your essay!