How to Write a Short Essay

When you are writing a short essay your space and time is limited. You need to convey a valid argument or present a comprehensive thesis in a short amount of space. That is why metaphors and allusions can go a long way. You can convey so much more about a scene or character through one allusion or one metaphor. You can save space and still present a thorough argument when you incorporate these writing tools tactfully.

Obviously you do not want to over-use either of them, the same with any writing tool. But on occasion they might be better suited for your sentence or paragraph.

Making Your Topic Work For You

When you set out to start writing, you may wonder how you can manage your topic and your advisor or TA in order to be as productive as possible. Thankfully there are ways you can make all of these things work for you.

Manage your topic

It is important to remember that the topic you pick first and foremost is not carved into stone. You are not confined to that topic even if things get shaky along the way. Many people change their topic as they begin the research and writing phases. Some students need to pare down their topic or add to it. While you want to ensure your professor is informed of the changes in your topic, you have the freedom otherwise to change any topic that you originally selected for your paper.

• Consider the variables and how these changes could affect the depth of your study, the length, and the academic value. Could you cut out one of the experiments? Could you remove two case studies? Could you refine the years you are covering or the regions? Could you remove a theorist or take out a chapter and still provide a valuable contribution or, more to the point, still finish your paper?
• Talk to your professor or TA about any changes you want to take with your paper. They might be quite sympathetic to your desire to get a better handle of your writing project and they might even offer some suggestions.
• Look over other papers. Ask for examples if some were not provided for you. Use these samples to get a sense of what topics will produce the best papers. You might find that the project is not the grand masterpiece you once believed it to be and that you can actually focus on a much more compact topic.