Rockridge Social Studies

When you think you have finished, you are half way. Once you have written your essay, here are some ways to maximise your potential: 

 

 

• Check that all of your verbs in each paragraph are the same tense. If you start a paragraph in past tense, you must stay in the past tense. You should not change tenses in mid-paragraph. Consider writing the essay in past tense if possible.

 

• See if you can condense what you have written. If you have written eight sentences that could be stated clearly in five, do it.

 

• Look at the verbs and adjectives that you have used. Are they the best and clearest possible?

 

• Check spelling. Run a spell check or let someone else read your work.

 

• If you have used words like never or always, or all or every, be certain they are correct. Most is often better than all. As soon as you say something never happens, the reader will search his or her memory to try to contradict. Your essay will lose credibility if all should have been most.

 

• Have you remembered to cite, using University of Chicago style, any quotations or facts that are not generally known. Never cite dates. Never cite that there are thousands of polar bears. However, if you have stated that 1537 polar bears have ingrown claws, you should cite your source.

 

• Do not use contractions in a formal essay. Use they have instead of they've.

 

• An essay is finished only when time for revision has expired. Your essay is unlikely to be perfect. Refine it until the due date. No one has ever finished an essay a week early. There is always room for improvement; the difference between a C and an A is the refinement.