Has it ever happened that you spend hours researching your English essay, finding perfect quotations and pieces of evidence, and making sure you write every paragraph, only to get a disappointing grade?
Getting lower grades became routine for me in the early days of my English degree because I kept being delusional that my essays were stronger. Eventually, I realised that markers care more about relevant evidence, thoughtful analysis, and clear arguments.
If you want to score an A in your English essay, you can use five simple writing techniques that worked for me.
Table of Contents
1. Building All Paragraphs in My Essay Around One Main Idea
Back then, my supervisor used to tell me that I did not give a clear idea to every one of my paragraphs. What I mean is, I used to discuss several characters and themes at once.
Then, I came across a simple way that helped me plan each paragraph around one idea relevant to my main argument:
- I clearly stated each point that I wanted to prove.
- I also added short quotations and explained each piece of evidence.
- Moreover, I linked each of my points back to my main argument.
2. Applying the Evidence Sandwich
Honestly, I never heard that term until I had to use it as a technique for my essay. I simply,
- Set up the quotation by explaining who is speaking and what is happening.
- Quoted it by including the useful words.
- Analysed it by explaining how the language supported the claim mentioned in my paragraphs.
With this change in my writing approach, I was able to make my essays sound more thoughtful.
3. Linking Each Example Back to My Essay’s Central Argument
As you know, strong analysis is not just explaining what a quotation means. Instead, you are required to show why the meaning matters to your main argument.
Whenever I used to finish my analysis of the evidence, I made it a habit to proceed by asking myself, ‘So what?’ Unbelievably, this question helped me move beyond the obvious points.
4. Choosing Short, Powerful Evidence
Like many other students, I used to believe that I could make my essay look more academically good if I used longer pieces of evidence.
However, when I consulted my supervisor on this matter, he helped me clear this misconception. After that,
- I began including evidence with short phrases. These really helped me get more room to examine and explain each detail.
- Apart from that, I made it a habit to ask myself some questions like, ‘How does the evidence directly support my point?’ or ‘Is it actually helpful to answer the exact question?’
There was also a time when I felt stuck because I had no clue how I could include shorter arguments, as I was already dealing with writer’s block.
Then, I connected with an academic writing company to seek essay writing services. With professional guidance, I was able to learn more ways of including short yet powerful evidence. It helped me make my essay much stronger.
5. Using a Final A-Grade Checklist to Proofread my Essay
Before I submitted any of my English essays, I made it a habit to treat proofreading as more than a simple error-eliminating task. What I did was use a quick final checklist to confirm that my entire essay made sense.
I thoroughly checked my essay and made sure to confirm the following:
- The introduction of my essay gave accurate information that could spark curiosity.
- The thesis arguments in my essay answer the exact topic or research questions.
- Each paragraph that I wrote included a clear claim.
- All evidence, quotations, and phrases were relevant and cited from credible sources.
- All my paragraphs followed a clear, easy-to-understand, and logical structure.
- The conclusions summarised everything clearly without introducing any new insights or repeating the introduction.
- There were no grammar, spelling, punctuation, structural, awkward phrasing, or referencing mistakes.
Summing it All Up
While reading this, you should keep in mind that getting an A in my university English essays was not because I suddenly developed exceptional academic writing skills.
Instead, I secured this grade by learning how I could create my paragraphs around one idea, using the evidence sandwich, using a final checklist, and connecting every example to my essay’s main argument.
As I did, when you use these techniques, writing an A-grade English essay can be easy for you.
