Teachers usually hold exams to measure students’ knowledge and ability. In an English exam, students are not only asked to answer some multiple-choice questions, where students are asked to select only one correct answer from the offered list of choices. The teacher sometimes asks students to do an essay test. An essay is typically a short piece of writing that describes the writer’s perspective or story. Writing essays can encourage students to develop ideas. By writing an essay, students can improve their writing skills and gain critical-thinking abilities.
Before writing an essay, students must first understand its characteristics. The following are the characteristics of the essay:
It has a relatively short form and can be read quickly. However, when examining a phenomenon, stay firm and clear.
It contains opinions, points of view, arguments, attitudes, and thoughts from the author himself, who examines a condition or phenomenon.
It is often subjective.
In addition to the characteristics mentioned above, an essay can be identified by the structures listed below:
Introduction
The introduction is the first part of the essay that contains a description or a specific reason that raises the issue.
Content/Discussion
The content/discussion section of an essay discusses an issue or phenomenon in detail by including an analysis of the results of observations made as well as the author’s subjective point of view.
Closing/Conclusion
The closing, or conclusion, of an essay contains the author’s conclusions based on the observations made.
When writing an essay, students sometimes find it difficult. Many students struggle to organize and express an idea. Here are some tips for writing an essay fast.
Determine the Purpose of Writing an Essay
One of the most important things to be able to write a good essay is to determine the purpose of the essay. By knowing the purpose, students can more easily describe the point-by-point structure of the essay they are going to write. For example, if a teacher asks a student to write an essay about education,
A student needs to know that the purpose of writing an essay is to educate and make readers aware of the importance of education. From that goal, students can break it down into titles, themes, outlines, and contents.
For example,
The purpose of writing an essay : awareness of education.
Topic : “Moral education”
Title : The importance of moral education in the era of technology
From understanding the purpose, students can develop it into a title that is relevant to the opinion that they want to write.
Create an Outline
Students could create an outline after deciding on a title and topic. Making an outline is similar to writing an outline of the points to be conveyed in writing. For example, if a student wants to write an essay on moral education in the technological era, the outline that must be written includes a series of problems that occur. Like today’s children’s learning awareness, technology reduces teenagers’ moral awareness, technology has a negative impact on Indonesian children’s morals. Likewise, relevant data, such as statistical data on teenagers’ use of gadget technology, how much time teenagers spend with gadgets, and so on.
Some of the benefits of using an outline in essay writing are as follows:
Ensuring that the writing is conceptual, thorough, and directed.
Make it easier for writers to find supporting material.
Explain the contents
After getting the material according to the outline, the next step to writing an essay is to outline the main points. Describe each point according to the outline concept earlier. Make sure that each paragraph has one clear main topic to describe.
Furthermore, the contents of each paragraph must be considered. The description in one paragraph must be complete and coherent to describe the main idea of the paragraph, including to support or describe the main idea of the essay.
Write a conclusion
The conclusion of the essay can be written last.
This allows students to make the right essay conclusions because students have understood and finished describing all other parts of the essay, so that the conclusions and suggestions made can be appropriate.
Moreover, even if they face any problems, students should write every day. If these errors are corrected, students will become better writers in the future. Students need to read many books to gain vocabulary and in order to increase their knowledge.
Finally, students who are unsure how to begin an essay can always seek help from their teachers, peers, and others who are more knowledgeable and experienced in writing.
By: Muhammad Adi Kurniawan
