Writing Guide developed for The Moorpark College Writing Center in Moorpark, CA.
Audience: college students 18-30
Tone: informative, professional, and funny
How to Write a College-Level Timed Essay
1.READ THE PROMPT AND SCAN FOR KEY WORDS. DON’T BE A VICTIM OF MISUNDERSTANDING.
Read the prompt carefully. Make sure that you understand what your instructor is asking you to do.
Look for keywords to cue your response.
Common keywords and what they mean:
compare: describe the similarities between two concepts/ events
contrast: describe the differences between two concepts/ events
explain: contextualize and clarify a complex concept/ event
list: document a series of concepts/ events in logically organized group(s)
2. MAKE AN OUTLINE BEFORE YOU BEGIN WRITING. MAKE THE HARD DECISIONS FIRST.
Why outlining is important:
a. An outline protects you from writer’s block
No one wants to turn in an essay filled with an introduction, 3 crossed out sentences and a series of blank, shameful pages. Once you have a plan, you don’t have to worry about blanking out halfway through the test.
b. An outline keeps you from rambling and going off topic
You can reference your outline as you get to new paragraphs in your essay to make sure that you are staying on track. This will keep your essay on the Cold War from turning into a review of Dr. Strangelove.
d. An outline forces you to understand what you want to say before you try to say it.
3. USE THE COMPONENTS OF BASIC ESSAY STRUCTURE AS THE FRAMEWORK FOR YOUR OUTLINE.
COMPONENTS OF BASIC ESSAY STRUCTURE:
I. Introduction: Orients the reader to your topic and introduces your argument/ main point.
a.Overview of your topic: Give us a tiny bit of history and let us know why this topic is relevant
b.Thesis: This is where you answer the prompt unambiguously! For a timed essay, don’t worry about being fancy. Just answer the question as clearly and simply as possible, so that you can move on to proving your point!
II. Body: This is where you will put all of your evidence and support! Your body is made up of several paragraphs, each one focusing on a sub-point of your thesis. For a timed essay, 2-4 body paragraphs is usually enough, but make sure to ask your professor what she/he expects.
a. Topic Sentence: A sentence that states the main idea of your paragraph.
b. Evidence: Examples from lectures & assigned readings that support your argument
c. Analysis: An explanation of why and how these examples support your argument.
III. Conclusion: This is where you sum up your argument.
a.) Don’t just rephrase everything you have already said, explain why your argument is relevant. In a persuasive essay/ argument essay, you are typically proving that there is a problem which must be changed. Explain what might happen if that problem were never addressed? Why do you want people to know what you’ve written?
4. PROOFREAD!
This is a timed essay; you don’t need to correct every mistake! Teachers hope for perfection, but they don’t expect it. Make sure to look over your essay when you are finished to avoid missing words, and other mistakes that make your ideas difficult to understand.
5. USE THE CLOCK!
The clock is a tool that you can use to keep yourself on track, not a ticking time bomb that forces you into a sweaty panic! Use it to decide how quickly or slowly you should be working. Allot different amounts of time for each step in the writing process (e.g. Outlining- 10 min, Intro- 10 min, body- 30 minutes, conclusion-10, proofreading- 3 minutes), and force yourself to move on to the next step if you are working too slowly!
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