Essay Prompt

Selecting your essay topic
For many students this is the most difficult part. Choosing an overly-broad topic will make it challenging to provide enough specific evidence in your body paragraphs. You also don’t want to make the topic too specific, because then you may have trouble finding enough resources.

Something else to consider is the type of essay you’ll be writing:

Persuasive – arguing one opinion or point of view
Explanatory – showing/describing an event, usually with a neutral point of view
Compare/Contrast – finding similarities and differences between two people, books, works of art, scenes, or concepts
Narrative/Descriptive – telling a story (often personal)
For persuasive essays, you’ll need to pick a topic that is arguable on two (or more sides). For an explanatory essay, you’ll want to pick a topic which you can either research extensively, or about which you’re already very knowledgeable. When picking a topic for a compare and contrast essay, pick two things that have clear similarities and differences, and make sure you’re identifying two separate people, events, or works. A narrative essay provides more leeway in choosing a topic–essentially, you’ll want to choose a topic that resonates with you.

In general, many people find that when they’re interested in the topic it’s much easier to write the essay. It’s also far more enjoyable. And you may even determine that this subject is your passion!

If you’re struggling, don’t be too rash to pick a topic–do your research and make a list of potential topics so you can weigh your options.

Thesis statement
The thesis statement is usually the most important part of your essay—and basically what the whole paper revolves around. For some, writing the thesis after doing research and gathering substantial information works best. Other times–especially if you’re very familiar already with your topic–writing a thesis statement immediately after selecting your topic works fine.

If you aren’t sure where you stand, I recommend not stressing about the thesis and waiting until after you’ve gathered all the information.

What does a thesis statement accomplish?
A major component to essay writing is getting comfortable crafting thesis statements. A thesis statement organizes and summarizes your ideas and information into a solid argument and subsequently provides your readers (and yourself) with organization throughout your essay.

If you don’t have an assigned topic