Most of us are familiar with the basic structure of essay writing. For instance, it is necessary to begin with a thesis statement and wrap up with a convincing conclusion.
But, is that all? No, we should beware of common essay writing mistakes.
The Top 5 Mistakes We Make in Essay Writing?
1. Plagiarism
It is one of the most common offenses writers make in academic writing. If you present someone else’s ideas as your own without proper citations and references, you are guilty of plagiarism. Still, you must rely on other people’s works to support your thesis and arguments.
2. The Confusion of Introduction and Conclusion
The introductory part of an essay plays a crucial role in enticing your readers. It must contain the main concepts and the thesis statement. On the other hand, the conclusion should summarize your essay and restate the thesis.
3. Stuffing Too Much Information and Facts
Every writer desires to provide a detailed and meaningful essay. However, they need to take caution not to submit essays with too much information. Just include the vital information your assignment needs.
A good writer will search, filter, and pick only the necessary content for an essay.
4. Grammar and Spelling Mistakes
Nothing annoys readers like bumping into typos and grammatical errors. A typo is an error in typing. For example: “recieve” instead of “receive.”
The good news is word processors like MS Word, Apple iWork, LibreOffice, and Google Docs can simplify editing.
Gone are the days of typewriters!
But, grammatical errors occur when writers break normative writing rules for constructing sentences. They can
- Lead to a sentence that makes no sense
- Change the meaning of the sentence
How to Avoid Typos and Grammatical Errors?
Keep an eye on the following:
Homophones – These are words that sound the same. Examples include
“bare” and “bear”
“bean” and “been”
“blue” and “blew” and so on.
Comma Splices – These errors occur when you put a weak comma between two sentences. Effectively, you should know when to use a full stop, colon, semi-colon, or conjunction instead of a comma.
| Wrong Grammar | Correct Grammar |
| I went to the market, Donald was there. | Option 1: Break it into Two Sentences I went to the market. Donald was there. |
| Option 2: Use a Coordination Conjunction I went to the market, and Donald was there. | |
| Option 3: Use a Subordinating Conjunction When I went to the market, Donald was there. |
Missing Commas – When you begin a sentence with a phrase that sets up the rest of the sentence, place a comma before the it continues. For example
If you see Susan, greet her.
After a lengthy discussion, the employer agreed to increase their salaries.
Punctuation Error – Punctuation refers to the symbols used in sentences. Above all, they make their meaning even more clearer. Punctuation errors irritate people the most. The common punctuation symbols are
- Periods (.)
- Commas (,)
- Question mark (?)
- The exclamation mark (!)
- Quotation marks (“)
- Apostrophes (‘)
- Hyphens (-)
- Colons (:)
- Semi-colons (;)
- Ellipses (…)
- Parentheses ( () ) or brackets ( [] ), and
- Dashes (–)
Besides, you may violate rules of grammar each time you misplace a punctuation symbol.
Read also: How to write a nursing research paper?
5. Incorrect Essay Formatting
Proper formatting of an essay should earn you more points. Fortunately, it is not that difficult! The following are formatting tips:
- Ensure the essay has a title
- Do page numbering correctly
- Use the right fonts – Times New Roman or Arial, 12 points is standard for academic writing
- The page margin should be 1 inch
- Do proper in-text citations and referencing (this will depend on the selected writing style)
Conclusion
Finally, remember to proofread and edit your essay before submission. Submitting an assignment without proofing suggests how careless you are. Be attentive enough!
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