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How to Write Any High School Essay

Last Updated: March 22, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Emily Listmann, MA and by wikiHow staff writer, Hunter Rising . Emily Listmann is a private tutor in San Carlos, California. She has worked as a Social Studies Teacher, Curriculum Coordinator, and an SAT Prep Teacher. She received her MA in Education from the Stanford Graduate School of Education in 2014. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 560,227 times.

Writing an essay is an important basic skill that you will need to succeed in high school and college. While essays will vary depending on your teacher and the assignment, most essays will follow the same basic structure. By supporting your thesis with information in your body paragraphs, you can successfully write an essay for any course!

Writing Help

how to start an essay high school

Planning Your Essay

Step 1 Determine the type of essay you need to write.

  • Expository essays uses arguments to investigate and explain a topic.
  • Persuasive essays try to convince the readers to believe or accept your specific point of view
  • Narrative essays tell about a real-life personal experience.
  • Descriptive essays are used to communicate deeper meaning through the use of descriptive words and sensory details.

Step 2 Do preliminary research on your essay’s topic.

  • Look through books or use search engines online to look at the broad topic before narrowing your ideas down into something more concise.

Step 3 Create an arguable thesis statement

  • For example, the statement “Elephants are used to perform in circuses” does not offer an arguable point. Instead, you may try something like “Elephants should not be kept in the circus since they are mistreated.” This allows you to find supporting arguments or for others to argue against it.
  • Keep in mind that some essay writing will not require an argument, such as a narrative essay. Instead, you might focus on a pivotal point in the story as your main claim.

Step 4 Find reliable sources...

  • Talk to your school’s librarian for direction on specific books or databases you could use to find your information.
  • Many schools offer access to online databases like EBSCO or JSTOR where you can find reliable information.
  • Wikipedia is a great starting place for your research, but it can be edited by anyone in the world. Instead, look at the article’s references to find the sites where the information really came from.
  • Use Google Scholar if you want to find peer-reviewed scholarly articles for your sources.
  • Make sure to consider the author’s credibility when reviewing sources. If a source does not include the author’s name, then it might not be a good option.

Step 5 Make an outline...

  • Outlines will vary in size or length depending on how long your essay needs to be. Longer essays will have more body paragraphs to support your arguments.

Starting an Essay

Step 1 Hook the readers with a relevant fact, quote, or question for the first sentence.

  • Make sure your quotes or information are accurate and not an exaggeration of the truth, or else readers will question your validity throughout the rest of your essay.

Step 2 Introduce your thesis in one sentence.

  • For example, “Because global warming is causing the polar ice caps to melt, we need to eliminate our reliance on fossil fuels within the next 5 years.” Or, “Since flavored tobacco appeals mainly to children and teens, it should be illegal for tobacco manufacturers to sell these products.”
  • The thesis is usually the last or second to last sentence in your introduction.

Step 3 Provide a sentence that’s a mini-outline for the topics that your essay covers.

  • Use the main topics of your body paragraphs as an idea of what to include in your mini-outline.

Step 4 Keep the introduction between 4-5 sentences.

Writing the Body Paragraphs

Step 1 Start each paragraph with a topic sentence.

  • Think of your topic sentences as mini-theses so your paragraphs only argue a specific point.

Step 2 Include evidence and quotes from your research and cite your sources.

  • Many high school essays are written in MLA or APA style. Ask your teacher what format they want you to follow if it’s not specified.

Step 3 Provide your own analysis of the evidence you find.

  • Unless you’re writing a personal essay, avoid the use of “I” statements since this could make your essay look less professional.

Step 4 Use transitional phrases between each of your body paragraphs.

  • For example, if your body paragraphs discuss similar points in a different way, you can use phrases like “in the same way,” “similarly,” and “just as” to start other body paragraphs.
  • If you are posing different points, try phrases like “in spite of,” “in contrast,” or “however” to transition.

Concluding Your Essay

Step 1 Restate your thesis and summarize your arguments briefly.

  • For example, if your thesis was, “The cell phone is the most important invention in the past 30 years,” then you may restate the thesis in your conclusion like, “Due to the ability to communicate anywhere in the world and access information easily, the cell phone is a pivotal invention in human history.”
  • If you’re only writing a 1-page paper, restating your main ideas isn’t necessary.

Step 2 Discuss why the subject of your paper is relevant moving forward.

  • For example, if you write an essay discussing the themes of a book, think about how the themes are affecting people’s lives today.

Step 3 End the paragraph with a lasting thought that ties into your introduction.

  • Try to pick the same type of closing sentence as you used as your attention getter.

Step 4 Include a Works...

  • Including a Works Cited page shows that the information you provided isn’t all your own and allows the reader to visit the sources to see the raw information for themselves.
  • Avoid using online citation machines since they may be outdated.

Revising the Paper

Step 1 Determine if your point comes across clearly through your arguments.

  • Have a peer or parent read through your essay to see if they understand what point you’re trying to make.

Step 2 Check the flow of your essay between paragraphs.

  • For example, if your essay discusses the history of an event, make sure your sentences flow in a chronological way in the order the events happened.

Step 3 Rewrite or remove any sections that go off-topic.

  • If you cut parts out of your essay, make sure to reread it to see if it affects the flow of how it reads.

Step 4 Read through your essay for punctuation or spelling errors.

Community Q&A

Community Answer

  • Allow ample time to layout your essay before you get started writing. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
  • If you have writer's block , take a break for a few minutes. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 2
  • Check the rubric provided by your teacher and compare your essay to it. This helps you gauge what you need to include or change. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1

how to start an essay high school

  • Avoid using plagiarism since this could result in academic consequences. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 1

You Might Also Like

Plan an Essay Using a Mind Map

  • ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/types-of-essays/
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
  • ↑ https://guides.libs.uga.edu/reliability
  • ↑ https://facultyweb.ivcc.edu/rrambo/eng1001/outline.htm
  • ↑ https://examples.yourdictionary.com/20-compelling-hook-examples-for-essays.html
  • ↑ https://wts.indiana.edu/writing-guides/how-to-write-a-thesis-statement.html
  • ↑ https://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/five_par.htm
  • ↑ https://learning.hccs.edu/faculty/jason.laviolette/persuasive-essay-outline
  • ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/paragraphs/topicsentences
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/transitions/
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/ending-essay-conclusions
  • ↑ https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/how-to-write-an-essay/conclusion
  • ↑ https://pitt.libguides.com/citationhelp
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/revising-drafts/

About This Article

Emily Listmann, MA

Writing good essays is an important skill to have in high school, and you can write a good one by planning it out and organizing it well. Before you start, do some research on your topic so you can come up with a strong, specific thesis statement, which is essentially the main argument of your essay. For instance, your thesis might be something like, “Elephants should not be kept in the circus because they are mistreated.” Once you have your thesis, outline the paragraphs for your essay. You should have an introduction that includes your thesis, at least 3 body paragraphs that explain your main points, and a conclusion paragraph. Start each body paragraph with a topic sentence that states the main point of the paragraph. As you write your main points, make sure to include evidence and quotes from your research to back it up. To learn how to revise your paper, read more from our Writing co-author! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Literacy Ideas

Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers

Essay Writing Guide

P LANNING, PARAGRAPHING AND POLISHING: FINE-TUNING THE PERFECT ESSAY

Essay writing is an essential skill for every student. Whether writing a particular academic essay (such as persuasive, narrative, descriptive, or expository) or a timed exam essay, the key to getting good at writing is to write. Creating opportunities for our students to engage in extended writing activities will go a long way to helping them improve their skills as scribes.

But, putting the hours in alone will not be enough to attain the highest levels in essay writing. Practice must be meaningful. Once students have a broad overview of how to structure the various types of essays, they are ready to narrow in on the minor details that will enable them to fine-tune their work as a lean vehicle of their thoughts and ideas.

Visual Writing Prompts

In this article, we will drill down to some aspects that will assist students in taking their essay writing skills up a notch. Many ideas and activities can be integrated into broader lesson plans based on essay writing. Often, though, they will work effectively in isolation – just as athletes isolate physical movements to drill that are relevant to their sport. When these movements become second nature, they can be repeated naturally in the context of the game or in our case, the writing of the essay.

THE ULTIMATE NONFICTION TEACHING RESOURCE

essay writing | nonfiction writing unit | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

  • 270  pages of the most effective teaching strategies
  • 50+   digital tools  ready right out of the box
  • 75   editable resources  for student   differentiation  
  • Loads of   tricks and tips  to add to your teaching tool bag
  • All explanations are reinforced with  concrete examples.
  • Links to  high-quality video  tutorials
  • Clear objectives  easy to match to the demands of your curriculum

Planning an essay

essay writing | how to prepare for an essay | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

The Boys Scouts’ motto is famously ‘Be Prepared’. It’s a solid motto that can be applied to most aspects of life; essay writing is no different. Given the purpose of an essay is generally to present a logical and reasoned argument, investing time in organising arguments, ideas, and structure would seem to be time well spent.

Given that essays can take a wide range of forms and that we all have our own individual approaches to writing, it stands to reason that there will be no single best approach to the planning stage of essay writing. That said, there are several helpful hints and techniques we can share with our students to help them wrestle their ideas into a writable form. Let’s take a look at a few of the best of these:

BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC.

Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question’s meaning or prompt. Students can practice this in class by responding to various essay titles, questions, and prompts, thereby gaining valuable experience breaking these down.

Have students work in groups to underline and dissect the keywords and phrases and discuss what exactly is being asked of them in the task. Are they being asked to discuss, describe, persuade, or explain? Understanding the exact nature of the task is crucial before going any further in the planning process, never mind the writing process .

BRAINSTORM AND MIND MAP WHAT YOU KNOW:

Once students have understood what the essay task asks them, they should consider what they know about the topic and, often, how they feel about it. When teaching essay writing, we so often emphasize that it is about expressing our opinions on things, but for our younger students what they think about something isn’t always obvious, even to themselves.

Brainstorming and mind-mapping what they know about a topic offers them an opportunity to uncover not just what they already know about a topic, but also gives them a chance to reveal to themselves what they think about the topic. This will help guide them in structuring their research and, later, the essay they will write . When writing an essay in an exam context, this may be the only ‘research’ the student can undertake before the writing, so practicing this will be even more important.

RESEARCH YOUR ESSAY

The previous step above should reveal to students the general direction their research will take. With the ubiquitousness of the internet, gone are the days of students relying on a single well-thumbed encyclopaedia from the school library as their sole authoritative source in their essay. If anything, the real problem for our students today is narrowing down their sources to a manageable number. Students should use the information from the previous step to help here. At this stage, it is important that they:

●      Ensure the research material is directly relevant to the essay task

●      Record in detail the sources of the information that they will use in their essay

●      Engage with the material personally by asking questions and challenging their own biases

●      Identify the key points that will be made in their essay

●      Group ideas, counterarguments, and opinions together

●      Identify the overarching argument they will make in their own essay.

Once these stages have been completed the student is ready to organise their points into a logical order.

WRITING YOUR ESSAY

There are a number of ways for students to organize their points in preparation for writing. They can use graphic organizers , post-it notes, or any number of available writing apps. The important thing for them to consider here is that their points should follow a logical progression. This progression of their argument will be expressed in the form of body paragraphs that will inform the structure of their finished essay.

The number of paragraphs contained in an essay will depend on a number of factors such as word limits, time limits, the complexity of the question etc. Regardless of the essay’s length, students should ensure their essay follows the Rule of Three in that every essay they write contains an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion.

Generally speaking, essay paragraphs will focus on one main idea that is usually expressed in a topic sentence that is followed by a series of supporting sentences that bolster that main idea. The first and final sentences are of the most significance here with the first sentence of a paragraph making the point to the reader and the final sentence of the paragraph making the overall relevance to the essay’s argument crystal clear. 

Though students will most likely be familiar with the broad generic structure of essays, it is worth investing time to ensure they have a clear conception of how each part of the essay works, that is, of the exact nature of the task it performs. Let’s review:

Common Essay Structure

Introduction: Provides the reader with context for the essay. It states the broad argument that the essay will make and informs the reader of the writer’s general perspective and approach to the question.

Body Paragraphs: These are the ‘meat’ of the essay and lay out the argument stated in the introduction point by point with supporting evidence.

Conclusion: Usually, the conclusion will restate the central argument while summarising the essay’s main supporting reasons before linking everything back to the original question.

ESSAY WRITING PARAGRAPH WRITING TIPS

essay writing | 1 How to write paragraphs | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

●      Each paragraph should focus on a single main idea

●      Paragraphs should follow a logical sequence; students should group similar ideas together to avoid incoherence

●      Paragraphs should be denoted consistently; students should choose either to indent or skip a line

●      Transition words and phrases such as alternatively , consequently , in contrast should be used to give flow and provide a bridge between paragraphs.

HOW TO EDIT AN ESSAY

essay writing | essay editing tips | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

Students shouldn’t expect their essays to emerge from the writing process perfectly formed. Except in exam situations and the like, thorough editing is an essential aspect in the writing process. 

Often, students struggle with this aspect of the process the most. After spending hours of effort on planning, research, and writing the first draft, students can be reluctant to go back over the same terrain they have so recently travelled. It is important at this point to give them some helpful guidelines to help them to know what to look out for. The following tips will provide just such help: 

One Piece at a Time: There is a lot to look out for in the editing process and often students overlook aspects as they try to juggle too many balls during the process. One effective strategy to combat this is for students to perform a number of rounds of editing with each focusing on a different aspect. For example, the first round could focus on content, the second round on looking out for word repetition (use a thesaurus to help here), with the third attending to spelling and grammar.

Sum It Up: When reviewing the paragraphs they have written, a good starting point is for students to read each paragraph and attempt to sum up its main point in a single line. If this is not possible, their readers will most likely have difficulty following their train of thought too and the paragraph needs to be overhauled.

Let It Breathe: When possible, encourage students to allow some time for their essay to ‘breathe’ before returning to it for editing purposes. This may require some skilful time management on the part of the student, for example, a student rush-writing the night before the deadline does not lend itself to effective editing. Fresh eyes are one of the sharpest tools in the writer’s toolbox.

Read It Aloud: This time-tested editing method is a great way for students to identify mistakes and typos in their work. We tend to read things more slowly when reading aloud giving us the time to spot errors. Also, when we read silently our minds can often fill in the gaps or gloss over the mistakes that will become apparent when we read out loud.

Phone a Friend: Peer editing is another great way to identify errors that our brains may miss when reading our own work. Encourage students to partner up for a little ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours’.

Use Tech Tools: We need to ensure our students have the mental tools to edit their own work and for this they will need a good grasp of English grammar and punctuation. However, there are also a wealth of tech tools such as spellcheck and grammar checks that can offer a great once-over option to catch anything students may have missed in earlier editing rounds.

essay writing | Perfect essay writing for students | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

Putting the Jewels on Display: While some struggle to edit, others struggle to let go. There comes a point when it is time for students to release their work to the reader. They must learn to relinquish control after the creation is complete. This will be much easier to achieve if the student feels that they have done everything in their control to ensure their essay is representative of the best of their abilities and if they have followed the advice here, they should be confident they have done so.

WRITING CHECKLISTS FOR ALL TEXT TYPES

writing checklists

ESSAY WRITING video tutorials

essay writing | essay writing tutorial28129 | Essay Writing: A complete guide for students and teachers | literacyideas.com

The content for this page has been written by Shane Mac Donnchaidh.  A former principal of an international school and English university lecturer with 15 years of teaching and administration experience. Shane’s latest Book, The Complete Guide to Nonfiction Writing , can be found here.  Editing and support for this article have been provided by the literacyideas team.

+1 (603) 932 7897

[email protected].

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5 Common Types of High School Essays (With Examples)

  • Last modified 2023-10-18
  • Published on 2021-08-28

how to start an essay high school

When it comes to high school essays, descriptive and narrative essays are very similar in the sense that they encourage writers to be creative in expressing their ideas. Expository and argumentative essays focus on providing clear information and making compelling points. Analytical essays require writers to present their arguments and are intended to enhance readers’ understanding of a topic, while persuasive writers try to persuade readers to accept a point of view.

In this article, we will go into details about each one to help you better define the type and the writing method when you start writing. 

1. Descriptive high school essays

A descriptive essay asks writers to describe something vividly —object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc., but more commonly you will be asked to describe something abstract —emotions, experiences, or something outside of your typical experience.

A descriptive essay allows writers to be creative and have the freedom to express, especially when the topic is personal about them and what they care about, for example, their favorite food or their culture. Even though this sounds easy, this type of essay tests the writer’s ability to make appropriate word choices and have a strong creativity to help readers visualize the overall picture of what they are writing about. A descriptive essay normally starts with introducing the subject or object of description, continuing with giving an overall picture, and then going into details.

Below is an example of a descriptive essay from Yourdictionary :

I watched a thunderstorm, far out over the sea. It began quietly, and with nothing visible except tall dark clouds and a rolling tide. There was just a soft murmur of thunder as I watched the horizon from my balcony. Over the next few minutes, the clouds closed and reflected lightning set the rippling ocean aglow. The thunderheads had covered up the sun, shadowing the vista. It was peaceful for a long time.

I was looking up when the first clear thunderbolt struck. It blazed against the sky and sea; I could see its shape in perfect reverse colors when I blinked. More followed. The thunder rumbled and stuttered as if it could hardly keep up. There were openings in the cloud now, as if the sky were torn, and spots of brilliant blue shone above the shadowed sea.

I looked down then, watching the waves. Every bolt was answered by a moment of spreading light on the surface. The waves were getting rough, rising high and crashing hard enough that I could hear them.

Then came the rain. It came all at once and in sheets, soaking the sand, filling the sea. It was so dense I could only see the lightning as flashes of light. It came down so hard the thunder was drowned. Everything was rhythmic light and shadow, noise and silence, blending into a single experience of all five senses.

In an instant it stopped. The storm broke. The clouds came apart like curtains. The rain still fell, but softly now. It was as if there had never been a storm at all, except for a single signature. A rainbow, almost violently bright, spread above and across the water. I could see the horizon again.

2. Narrative Essay

A narrative high school essay is similar to a descriptive essay but focuses more on the story description rather than object description. The story can be about a personal experience that the writer has had, an event, a story, an incident. Writers can even narrate a fictional experience that they haven’t had. Narrative essays are typically written in the first person. For example, the personal statement high school students have to write for college applications.

The purpose of a narrative essay is not only to tell a story, but also to highlight the importance of the experience. Therefore, to write a perfect narrative essay, writers must include the elements of settings, context, plot, ending, and climax.

We have an example from a student’s work, which was published on the blog: People’s Republic of Creativity

Glup, glup.

I sat watching the plunger slowly make its way down the tube and into Miriam’s body. Inside the tube was a clear unknown liquid that would soon be injected into my own body. This was the third time this week, the twelfth time this month, and who knows how many times since we have been trapped in this hell on earth. Each day, we have only been given the bare minimum of food, water, and sleep. I don’t know how much longer we can survive before deemed useless by him.

Miriam fell out of her chair and onto the cold concrete floor, screaming in pain. She scrambles for something she can grasp onto to prop her malnourished body up. Then the piercing sound just suddenly stopped. Her thin arms that look only of bones and skin drop to the ground and she lay still on the floor, as if she were…dead. Please don’t tell me she’s dead! No, she couldn’t be; we promised each other to live until the day of liberation.

She needs to live.

It was my turn. He walked over with a syringe full of what had just been injected into Miriam. I try to focus on the red, black, and white badge on his left arm instead of letting the fear crawl in and take over my brain. But the unsettling tension stirs my thoughts around and around.

“Twin A1387, let’s hope what happened to your sister doesn’t happen to you.” He smirked. The needle pierced through my skin and my body was suddenly aflame. The raging blaze spread through every one of my veins, until I was shrouded in darkness.

When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in an empty confinement. The space next to me, the space for Miriam, was empty too. Where was everyone? Most importantly, where was Miriam?

I got up and set my bare foot onto the dirty, wooden floor. Suddenly, my head started spinning and along with it, the world spun too. I fell to the ground, and when I could finally lift my head, what I saw above me terrified me. It was him, death in human form, and beside him were four of his helpers. They grabbed my arms and forced me to stand up.

“Good morning A1387. I am afraid your dear twin sister couldn’t handle the injections from yesterday. Let’s hope your fragile little limbs can endure those chemicals. I wonder how many more injections it will take for you to meet your pathetic sister,” he said, patting my head. His tone was playful, but deadly.

I froze. What? Miriam…dead? That one word, “twins”, has taken away everything of what feels like my past life, and now my last hope? I felt a surge of anger, hatred, sadness, fear, devastation swirling inside me like boiling lava in a volcano, ready to erupt. I wanted to scream, to shout, to kill him, but I couldn’t. My soft limbs felt as if they would collapse merely by trying to stand up. They would be harmless and defenceless against the Angel of Death. When he saw the hatred on my face, he started laughing hysterically and simply said, “What a shame; she was only 13. I cannot wait to see how long it will take for you to fall apart!”

3. Expository Essay

According to Purdue University , the expository essay is a genre of essay that requires the student to investigate an idea, evaluate evidence, expound on the idea, and set forth an argument concerning that idea in a clear and concise manner. To accomplish this, writers use the method of comparison and contrast, definition, example, cause, and effect, etc.

Writers are not required to argue or make a personal opinion, but to present balanced and well-organized facts and figures.

In an expository essay–as the name suggests–you need to expose the particular subject in question by providing enough information. It is an informative piece of writing that provides a balanced analysis of the topic. It does not contain any personal opinion; instead, it is based on real facts and figures. Therefore, this kind of high school essay is commonly assigned in high school or college in order to test students’ familiarity with a topic and ability to convey information.

This is an example from College Board’s SAT Writing Prompt.  

In response to our world’s growing reliance on artificial light, writer Paul Bogard argues that natural darkness should be preserved in his article “Let There be dark”. He effectively builds his argument by using a personal anecdote, allusions to art and history, and rhetorical questions.

Bogard starts his article off by recounting a personal story – a summer spent on a Minnesota lake where there was “woods so dark that [his] hands disappeared before [his] eyes.” In telling this brief anecdote, Bogard challenges the audience to remember a time where they could fully amass themselves in natural darkness void of artificial light. By drawing in his readers with a personal encounter about night darkness, the author means to establish the potential for beauty, glamour, and awe-inspiring mystery that genuine darkness can possess. He builds his argument for the preservation of natural darkness by reminiscing for his readers a first-hand encounter that proves the “irreplaceable value of darkness.” This anecdote provides a baseline of sorts for readers to find credence with the author’s claims.

Bogard’s argument is also furthered by his use of allusion to art – Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” – and modern history – Paris’ reputation as “The City of Light”. By first referencing “Starry Night”, a painting generally considered to be undoubtedly beautiful, Bogard establishes that the natural magnificence of stars in a dark sky is definite. A world absent of excess artificial light could potentially hold the key to a grand, glorious night sky like Van Gogh’s according to the writer. This urges the readers to weigh the disadvantages of our world consumed by unnatural, vapid lighting. Furthermore, Bogard’s alludes to Paris as “the famed ‘city of light’”. He then goes on to state how Paris has taken steps to exercise more sustainable lighting practices. By doing this, Bogard creates a dichotomy between Paris’ traditionally alluded-to name and the reality of what Paris is becoming – no longer “the city of light”, but moreso “the city of light…before 2 AM”. This furthers his line of argumentation because it shows how steps can be and are being taken to preserve natural darkness. It shows that even a city that is literally famous for being constantly lit can practically address light pollution in a manner that preserves the beauty of both the city itself and the universe as a whole.

Finally, Bogard makes subtle yet efficient use of rhetorical questioning to persuade his audience that natural darkness preservation is essential. He asks the readers to consider “what the vision of the night sky might inspire in each of us, in our children or grandchildren?” in a way that brutally plays to each of our emotions. By asking this question, Bogard draws out heartfelt ponderance from his readers about the affecting power of an untainted night sky. This rhetorical question tugs at the readers’ heartstrings; while the reader may have seen an unobscured night skyline before, the possibility that their child or grandchild will never get the chance sways them to see as Bogard sees. This strategy is definitively an appeal to pathos, forcing the audience to directly face an emotionally-charged inquiry that will surely spur some kind of response. By doing this, Bogard develops his argument, adding gutthral power to the idea that the issue of maintaining natural darkness is relevant and multifaceted.

Writing as a reaction to his disappointment that artificial light has largely permeated the presence of natural darkness, Paul Bogard argues that we must preserve true, unaffected darkness. He builds this claim by making use of a personal anecdote, allusions, and rhetorical questioning.

4. Argumentative Essay

The argumentative high school essay is similar to the expository essay, because it requires writers to present their evidence-based arguments. Writers have to present a thesis statement, gather and evaluate evidence, and establish a position on the topic. Many people think argumentative and expository essays are the same. They belong to a similar genre, but an argumentative essay requires more research than an expository essay. An expository essay is normally used in the SAT test, because test takers are required to investigate and present points from the prompts given. An argumentative essay is generally used in a final project or a capstone, which requires length and detailed research. The essay is divided into 3 parts: introduction, body, and conclusion. The introduction has a topic and thesis statement, the body has evidence and arguments, and the conclusion summarizes the arguments and potential directions for future research.

Below is an example from a GRE writing answer from ETS : 

Prompt : The best ideas arise from a passionate interest in commonplace things

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement above and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how those considerations shape your position.

Passion is clearly necessary for a truly great idea to take hold among a people—passion either

on the part of the original thinker, the audience, or ideally both. The claim that the most lucrative

subject matter for inspiring great ideas is “commonplace things” may seem initially to be counterintuitive. After all, aren’t great ideas usually marked by their extraordinary character? While this is true, their extraordinary character is as often as not directly derived from their insight into things that had theretofore gone unquestioned. While great ideas certainly can arise through seemingly pure innovation… say, for example, Big Bang cosmology, which developed nearly all of its own scientific and philosophical precepts through its own process of formation, it is nevertheless equally true that such groundbreaking thought was, and is, still largely

a reevaluation of previous assumptions to a radical degree… after all, the question of the ultimate nature of the universe, and man’s place in it, has been central to human thought since the dawn of time. Commonplace things are, additionally, necessary as material for the generation of “the best ideas” since certainly the success among an audience must be considered in evaluating the significance and quality of an idea.

The advent of Big Bang cosmology, which occurred in rudimentary form almost immediately upon Edwin Hubble’s first observations at the Hooker telescope in California during the early 20th century, was the most significant advance in mankind’s understanding of the universe in over 400 years. The seemingly simple fact that everything in the universe, on a very large scale, is moving away from everything else in fact betrays nearly all of our scientific knowledge of the origins and mechanics of the universe. This slight, one might even say commonplace, distortion of tint on a handful of photographic plates carried with it the greatest challenge to Man’s general, often religiously reinforced, conception of the nature of the world to an extent not seen since the days of Galileo. Not even Charles Darwin’s theory, though it created more of a stir than Big Bang cosmology, had such shattering implications for our conceptions of the nature of our reality. Yet it is not significant because it introduced the question of the nature of what lies beyond Man’s grasp. A tremendous number of megalithic ruins, including the Pyramids both of Mexico and Egypt, Stonehenge, and others, indicate that this question has been foremost on humankind’s collective mind since time immemorial. Big Bang cosmology is so incredibly significant in this line of reasoning exactly because of the degree to which it changed the direction of this generally held, constantly pondered, and very ancient train of thought.

Additionally, there is a diachronic significance to the advent of Big Bang cosmology, which is that, disregarding limitations such as the quality of optical devices available and the state of theoretical math, it could have happened at any point in time. That is to say, all evidence points to roughly the same raw intellectual capacity for homo sapiens throughout our history, our progress has merely depended upon the degree of it that a person happens to inherit, a pace that has been increasing rapidly since the industrial revolution. Yet this discovery had to happen at a certain point in time or another—it cannot have been happening constantly or have never happened yet still be present—and this point in time does have its own significance. That significance is precisely the fact that the aforementioned advent must have occurred at precisely the point in time at which it truly could have occurred—that is to say, it marks the point in our history when we had progressed sufficiently to begin examining, with remarkable substantiated acuity, the workings of the universe across distances that would take millions of human lifetimes to reach or to traverse. The point for the success of this advent must necessarily have been, additionally, the point at which the audience concerned was capable and prepared to accept such a radical line of reasoning.

Both factors, a radical, passionate interpretation of the commonplace and the preparedness to accept such an interpretation, are necessary for the formulation of a truly great idea. If the passion is absent from an inquiry by the thinker or by the bulk of an audience, the idea will die out if it comes to fruition at all. If the material is not sufficiently commonplace to be considered by an informed audience of sufficient size, the same two hazards exist. Given these two factors, the idea must still be found palatable and interesting by the audience if it is to hope to gain a foothold and eventually establish itself in a significant fashion.

5. Analytical Essay

An analytical essay is a writing genre that provides an in-depth analysis of a topic, ranging from art, music, literary text to politics, science and philosophy, etc. Analytical essays can boost a writer’s writing skills and overall comprehension of a topic, while helping readers become more educated about the subjects of importance. This type of essay is not to persuade readers to a certain point of view, but to provide a well-rounded and comprehensive analysis for the readers. The analytical essay is normally used in the GRE writing section.

A good analytical essay includes a thesis statement that states your main argument, followed by an analysis of your thesis and evidence to support it.

We will take an example from a student’s work about CRISPR, a genetic engineering method. The full essay can be accessed here , but below is the preview of the essay:

No matter how much money people are willing to pay for health care, they may still suffer terribly from incurable diseases such as AIDS and cancer because of the underdevelopment of medical technology. However, today, the advancement in human knowledge has led to the introduction of human gene-editing, turning impossibility to possibility. In particular, the recent technology for genome editing called CRISPR has been having a groundbreaking impact on research in genetic science. This is due to its remarkable potential to simply cure genetic diseases in an embryo before they have a serious effect on further developmental progression. Although currently, there have been numerous debates regarding its extension in research for widespread uses, CRISPR is a completely promising technology because of the benefits it brings to people.

CRISPR, or Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, is the newest innovation in genetic engineering. The way CRISPR works is similar to “the scissor-like action of Cas 9 to target… any specific DNA sequence” (Baylis and Rossant). By making cuts in specific locations in DNA, CRISPR can cure diseases and make alterations in an embryo’s DNA, which prevent diseases from being passed down to following generations (Baylis and Rossant). Throughout the history, governments and researchers came up with different approaches politically and scientifically in attempt to control population. They hoped to encourage the “richest, wisest and healthiest to breed like rabbits” and the “sick, stupid, and poor to take one for the empire and remain childless” (Comfort 28). The second attempt happened during the 20th century, when the U.S government passed the law preventing marriage and immigration that would threaten a perceived core American “stock.” Another more extreme example was when Nazi sterilization law further advanced this population control approach. Later in the century, a biotechnological approach was established as a safer and more humane way to manage population health (qtd in Comfort 28). “Gene surgery,” which is similar to CRISPR technology, was established and followed by contentious debates regarding ethical issues between disease treatment and human trait enhancements. Currently, there has been a halt in the use of CRISPR because of the increase in concern from the public about the pros and cons of this technology.

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how to start an essay high school

how to start an essay high school

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how to start an essay high school

3 Essay Tips for High Schoolers

It can be hard to start high school and have a lot of new academic expectations set on you. Writing your first few essays can be especially overwhelming when you’re not sure where to start or how to get the information you need. But not all hope isn’t lost. Here are a few tips that you can use to help you get your essays done without stressing out.

1. Time It Out

When you get an assignment, your first instinct may be to immediately start working on it and save any outlining or research for later. But you’ll end up doing more work and taking up more time that you don’t need having to go back and figure out the specifics of what you want to cover, or what you can cover in the page limit you have. Instead, look over the requirements and choose a couple of topics you may want to write about, then do some preliminary research to figure out if it’s worthwhile to write about or not. 

But unfortunately, sometimes personal issues or other classes may take more time than you planned. If you’re lacking time, look at this list of the best essay writing service Reddit users like. 

2. Take Good Notes 

Something that will help you both in high school and even in your career is to take quality notes. The first step is to start by getting down the main ideas, as without those you won’t be able to gain an understanding of the material or have something to reference when you’re writing your paper. 

But the main ideas aren’t all you should be focusing on. The second step is getting into the specifics as much as possible, especially with any caveats or exemptions that will be useful to you. For example, for literature and history essays, if you want to write a paper comparing two countries or texts it can be useful to highlight not only a summary of the ideas but the specifics on how they’re different from one another, and your notes can be a great reference. 

The third is to write down any questions you might have. These will be useful if you need to talk to your teacher or go to tutoring for more help as you’ll have specific examples or concepts to bring up, and they can also be a launching point for an essay. Not only does it make for a more interesting and potentially interesting essay to start with a question that you’re seeking the answer to rather than starting with an answer or suggestion that you’re attempting to prove, but you’re likely to gain a deeper understanding of the material if you have to research the topic on your own and write about it in your own words.

A general note-taking tip is to write in shorthand, as you’ll be able to use more space on the information if you cut down on words and use symbols or individual letters instead of writing everything out. You should also take notes with your essay in mind. If you know you want to write about a specific idea regarding the topic, make sure you focus on the topics in class or in your meetings that are most relevant so you’ll have a good starting point, rather than having to use the text exclusively. 

3. Take Advantage of the Library & Other Resources

Your best resource is the library, whether that be the one at your school or the public library. Either way, the library has a number of resources that you can use to help you with your essays. The books are the most obvious, especially if you’re writing about literature or another subject that’s been well-documented over the years. This includes encyclopedias, which are useful if you’re writing about a scientific or historical subject, and other nonfiction like memoirs and books about historical analysis. Using books is a great way to get information from experts in the field who have done the research beforehand to collect knowledge from sources you may not have access to or may be able to connect some dots in a way that you haven’t and help you write your essay. 

But that isn’t all the library is good for. If you don’t have a computer at home or have spotty internet, the library has you covered. It’s likely formatted with several computers that will give you access to news articles, educational resources, and other sources that will help you write your papers. 

Boost Your Essay Writing Process

Writing papers doesn’t have to be a difficult task if you think proactively. Making sure that you use proper time management skills, think about your topic while you’re taking notes, and use all of the resources available to you, both physically and over the web, can make the essay writing process a lot easier. 

how to start an essay high school

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How to Write a High School Essay Outline Education Executive Function Writing High School How to Write a High School Essay Outline How to Write a High School Essay Outline

  • by Stephen Szczepanek
  • September 23, 2021
  • Education , Executive Function , High School , Writing

Writing a strong essay at high school is an important skill, but it can often be hard to know where to start. We often focus on learning content, what we’re going to write about, that we don’t spend as much time learning the skills of how to write. One of the crucial components of this is knowing how to create an essay outline. Starting with a thorough, planned and well-researched outline is the first step to writing an essay — it will guide your ideas, focus your writing and help you to properly unpack the question. Here is some guidance on how to approach this task; follow these tips and you’ll be writing strong essay outlines in no time.

1. PLANNING:

It cannot be stressed enough how important planning is to an essay. The reader can always tell when proper thought has been put in to the structure of the argument, when time has been taken to lay out the points, to consider quotations, supporting evidence, before launching straight into the writing process. It can be tempting to overlook the importance of a plan, especially in a timed exam context; you might think, why waste time planning, the ideas are in my head, surely I should jump in and get something down now? As much as you might want to do this, it is always best to schedule time to plan. If you’ve got an hour to write an essay, make sure fifteen minutes of it is spent planning. That time spent is always worth it; although you might have slightly less time to write, what you do write will be more focused, coherent, and will get you more marks. With a strong plan, your argument will be clear, and you will be able to convince your reader of what you are saying.

Where do you start then, with making this all-important plan? Of course, to a certain extent, it’s true that everyone will have their own way of forming an essay outline; what works for one person might not work for another. It will be a learning process as you figure out exactly how best you make your plans. But there are certain general guidelines to writing such an outline, certain things you want to make sure you include to get you fully ready to start writing.

2. STRUCTURE:

First, start with the structure. No matter how wildly different the subject matter, no matter the eloquent prose that expresses the arguments, most essays will have the same basic structural form. We can distill this form down into an accessible template to use when constructing our own essays, to give the best vehicle for transmitting an argument. Broadly speaking, your essay will have the following format: introduction, body, conclusion. The body will contain your discussion points, which will explain and defend your argument. There will be at least two points, each of the format: view, explanation plus evidence, criticism, rebuttal and discussion. If you have more space, then you can include more than two points; but remember, it’s always better to go into two points in the proper depth than only be able to cover three more shallowly.

So our structure will look as follows:

Introduction Body — point one — point two — {…} Conclusion

This is the structure you want to start with at the beginning of an essay outline. Write it out on a piece of paper, then begin to flesh out the details. How you do so will vary somewhat between the subject and style of question, but this structure will still apply. In your introduction, you say what you’re going to say. Then you explain this view at the beginning of your first point, giving your first evidence for it; you raise a potential criticism, showing that you’re considering the argument from all angles; then you resolve the criticism and consider its implications, giving stronger support for your view. You do this for each point, and then in your conclusion, you wrap up by summarizing what you’ve said, and raise any interesting further questions. Say what you’re going to say, say it, then say what you’ve said. This is the basic structure of an essay.

So first, we start an essay outline by applying this structure to our question. If it’s a compare and contrast literature question, we choose two main excerpts for points one and two, and then analyze what they show If it’s a science subject, then each point will present a view, the supporting evidence, and then analyze opposing interpretations. A philosophy, or any discursive essay, will offer a view, cover the potential objections, and respond to them. Fitting it into this structure will give you a nice cohesive argument.

3. ARGUMENT:

So how do we formulate the argument of our essay? Where is the best place to start? The crucial first step is to consider the question in full-depth. Unpack it; on a piece of paper, sketch out all the aspects of the topic you’re studying that it hints at; think about the evidence you could use related to it, the ideas it might be sparking. It’s up to you to interpret the question and to answer it specifically; if you start your essay by showing what you understand by the question, what you are taking it to mean, and then you respond to it directly, then no one can say you didn’t answer the question properly. Your answer will be pertinent and focused. Start by defining your question, and define any relevant terms you need to answer it. In doing so, you will pull out the argument you wish to make.

4. EVIDENCE:

From here, you want to sketch out the exact pieces of evidence you’re going to include in your essay, the secondary literature, the excerpts from novels, the data, whatever it might be. Think of the views you want to consider, and the ones of your own you wish to put forward. Start to fit these into the structure we discussed above. By now you’ll have an idea of the overall argument you want to put forward. Fleshing it out with direct pieces of evidence now will give you the shape of the body of your essay, and will mean you are well on your way to getting started writing. In selecting these, make a note of potential interpretations, criticisms, and how you might respond to these.

With your well-defined question, and your outline of evidence, with criticisms and rebuttals of this, the plan of the body of your essay will be complete. You can now outline your introduction, and conclusion; it is often easier to do this after the body is fully worked out. Here you can now state the overall argument you will be putting forward, and why you support it. Some people like to write their introductions and conclusions after the rest of the essay, but it’s good to at least include a few points in your outline of what you’ll say here.

You’ll now have a full-fledged outline and you’ll be ready to write! With this preparation done, you can start writing; don’t be afraid to launch in. Despite the emphasis I’ve placed on planning here, it is possible to over plan; you don’t want to get stuck in this phase, worried about how to actually get words down. When you feel your argument is mostly together, it’s time to get some words down on the page. It’ll feel much better when you do — your essay will be taking shape! Remember that the exact details and structure will change as you write; you want to be flexible, and not constrain yourself too much by trying to plan everything. An outline is just that; an outline, a guideline to helping you write the rest; it can be rough, and not exact.

Follow these steps and your outlines will be strong and focused, and your essays will start to flow more and more naturally onto the page. There’s a few steps here, but don’t let that daunt you: every time you make such an outline, it will become easier, and soon they’ll be second nature. If you can develop this crucial skill well now, you’ll find it hugely rewarding throughout your academic life.

how to start an essay high school

Stephen Szczepanek

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14 Ways to Write Better in High School

Write better essays, papers, reports and blogs

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how to start an essay high school

  • B.A., English, University of Michigan

Whether you're putting together a research paper for class, posting a blog, composing your SAT essay or brainstorming for your college admissions essay , you just kind of need to know how to write. And sometimes, high school kids really struggle to get the words from their brain onto paper. But really, writing is not all that tricky. You should not break out in a cold sweat when your teacher announces an essay exam . You can write better in six minutes if you just use some of these tips to help you get the ideas that flow so easily from your mouth to do the same thing from your fingertips. Read on for 14 ways to write better essays, blogs, papers, the works!

1. Read Cereal Boxes

Yep, cereal boxes, magazines, blogs, novels, the newspaper, ads, e-zines, you name it. If it has words, read it. Good writing will challenge you to up your game, and bad writing will help you learn what not to do.

A variety of reading materials can influence you in subtle ways, too. Ads are often perfect examples of succinct, persuasive text. The newspaper will show you how to hook a reader in a few lines. A novel can teach you how to incorporate dialogue seamlessly into your essay. Blogs are great for demonstrating an author's voice. So, if it's there, and you've got a second, read it.

2. Start a Blog/Journal

Good writers write. A lot. Start a blog (maybe even a teen blog?) and advertise it all over Facebook and Twitter if you're interested in feedback. Start a blog and keep it quiet if you're not. Keep a journal. Report on things happening in your life/around school/ around your home. Try to solve daily problems with quick, one-paragraph solutions. Get started on some really unique creative writing prompts . Practice. You'll get better.

3. Open Up a Can of Worms

Don't be afraid to get a little risky. Go against the grain. Shake things up. Tear apart the poems you find meaningless on your next essay. Research a touchy political subject like immigration, abortion, gun control, capital punishment, and unions. Blog about topics that generate real, heartfelt, impassioned discussion. You don't have to write about hummingbirds just because your teacher loves them.

4. To Thine Own Self Be True

Stick with your own voice. Nothing sounds faker than a high school essay with words like alas and evermore sprinkled throughout, especially when the author is a skater kid from Fresno. Use your own wit, tone, and vernacular. Yes, you should adjust your tone and level of formality based on the writing situation (blog vs. research paper), but you don't have to become a different person just to put together your college admissions essay . They'll like you better if you're you.

5. Avoid Redundancy

Just drop the word "nice" from your vocabulary. It doesn't really mean anything. Same goes for "good." There are thirty-seven better ways to say what you mean. "Busy as a bee," "sly as a fox," and "hungry as a wolf" belong in country songs, not in your ACT essay .

6. Keep Your Audience in Mind

This goes back to adjusting your tone and level of formality based on the writing situation. If you're writing to gain entrance to your first choice for college, then perhaps you'd better not talk about that time you made it to second base with your love interest. Your teacher is not interested in your sticker collection, and the readers on your blog don't care about the stellar research project you put together on the migratory habits of emperor penguins. Writing is one part marketing. Remember that if you want to be a better writer!

7. Go To the Dark Side

Just for the heck of it, allow yourself to consider the possibility that the opposite opinion is actually correct. Write your next essay defending the 180 of your thought processes. If you're a Coke person, go Pepsi. Cat lover? Defend dogs. Catholic? Figure out what the Protestants are talking about. By exploring a different set of beliefs, you open up your brain to endless creativity, and maybe garner some fodder for your next debate, too.

8. Make It Real

Boring writing doesn't use the senses. If your writing assignment is to report on the local parade and you fail to mention the shrieking kids, dripping chocolate ice cream cones, and rat-tat-tatting from the marching band's snare drum, then you've failed. You need to make whatever you're writing about come alive to your reader. If they weren't there, put them on that street with the parade. You'll be a better writer for it!

9. Give People Goosebumps

Good writing will make people feel something. Tie something concrete – relatable –to the existential. Instead of talking about justice as a vague idea, tie the word, "judgment," to the sound the gavel makes as it hits the judge's desk. Tie the word, "sadness," to a young mother lying on her husband's freshly dug grave. Tie the word, "joy" to a dog careening around the yard when it sees its owner after two long years at war. Make your readers cry or laugh out loud at the coffee shop. Ticked off. Make them feel and they'll wanna come back for more.

10. Write Creatively When You're Sleepy

Sometimes, the inspiration bug bites when you're all strung-out from being up too late. Your mind opens up a bit when you're tired, so you're more likely to shut down the "robot-I-am-in-control" portion of your brain and listen to the whisper of the muses. Give it a whirl the next time you're struggling to get out of the gate on your take-home essay.

11. Edit When You're Fully Rested

Sometimes those late-night muses steer your writing vessel directly into a rocky shoreline, so don't make the mistake of calling your work done at 3:00 AM. Heck, no. Make time the next day, after a long, satisfying rest, to edit all of those ramblings and misspelled words.

12. Enter Writing Contests

Not everyone is brave enough to enter a writing contest, and that's just silly. If you want to become a better writer, find some free writing contests for teenagers online and submit everything you wouldn't be embarrassed to see plastered all over the Internet. Often, contests come with editing or feedback, which can really help you improve. Give it a shot.

13. Dive Into Nonfiction

Not all good writers write poetry, plays, scripts, and novels. Many of the most successful writers out there stick to nonfiction. They write memoirs, magazine articles, newspaper articles, blogs, personal essays, biographies, and advertisements. Give nonfiction a shot. Try describing the last five minutes of your day with startling clarity. Take the latest news report and write a two-paragraph description of the events as if you were there. Find the coolest person you know and write your next essay about his or her childhood. Write a two-word ad for the best pair of shoes in your closet. Try it – most of the good writers do!

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5 Tips for Teachers Assigning Essays to High School Students

Essay assignments are a nightmare for many high school students. The fear of essay writing is often the result of not fully understanding the purpose of an essay or the writing process for completing one. A helpful tactic when teaching essay writing is to start with essay concepts, which may help to reduce the student’s apprehension.

What kind of essay should students write?

There are several types of essays and it’s important to explain the kind essay you wish the student to create. This clarity helps the student focus on techniques specific to that essay type. Is this to be a persuasive essay to bring the reader into agreement with the author on a topic? If so, then students should understand how to present a thesis and the supporting evidence behind it. These two concepts can be taught in separate classes since they are complicated issues to understand.

If you are assigning a narrative essay then the process of describing an experience becomes important. The students learn how to establish a setting, with a plot and characters, much as in fiction writing. Unlike fiction, the purpose of this type of essay is to make a point instead of entertain.

Because these two essay genres have quite different purposes, it is good to work with one until students are comfortable before moving to the other type. The knowledge of both of these types of essays will serve the student well when applying for college, performing their college-level work or later when applying for jobs.

Teach how to outline

A typical classroom scenario is assigning an essay to a roomful of high school students and then watching them stare at a blank sheet of paper. At this point in their education, the words may not come easily and they need a tool to get them started. Teaching good outlining techniques gives the student a way to organize random thoughts into a structure.

A useful outline for a persuasive essay might be:

  • State the thesis
  • Present Topic No. 1
  • Present the supportive evidence for Topic No. 1
  • Present Topic No. 2
  • Present the supportive evidence for Topic No. 2
  • Present Topic No. 3
  • Present the supportive evidence for Topic No. 3
  • Summarize the thesis

Discuss what information is a fit for each section and what is not. A verifiable fact that supports the thesis might be appropriate while an anecdote may not.

Using class time to write

Have the students spend some time in class working on their essays. This gives you a chance to observe and comment on the students’ process. Good examples can be highlighted to the class so they learn by the scenario. Questionable examples or ones that the student is “on the fence” about can be posed to the class for discussion.

Your presence while the students write is as an authoritative resource, something they may not have when writing at home, in the library or in study hall. This also facilitates a “learning as you go” environment which means the student need not fully understand a concept before continuing to write.

Teach the mechanics

High school students rarely have the opportunity to practice writing essays over and over to develop expertise. By focusing on the structure and how to assemble thoughts on the paper, you give the student a foundation on which to build their skills. Practicing the use of good essay structure frees up the student to begin to think about content.

Introduce and reinforce creativity

Along with the mechanics, encourage students to be original and creative in their work. High school students may still look outside of themselves for content when they already have a wealth of information within from which to draw. Show them how to tap into their own experiences to create unique content. Explain the use of anecdotes and metaphors. Give examples of good openers and summaries. This promotes more ownership of the words than if they are left to rewrite other content they have found.

Teaching essay styles and techniques to high school students helps reduce their fear of writing exercises. It gives students tools they will use in college and throughout their adult lives. It teaches them good writing habits and why writing is so important.

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  • Example of a great essay | Explanations, tips & tricks

Example of a Great Essay | Explanations, Tips & Tricks

Published on February 9, 2015 by Shane Bryson . Revised on July 23, 2023 by Shona McCombes.

This example guides you through the structure of an essay. It shows how to build an effective introduction , focused paragraphs , clear transitions between ideas, and a strong conclusion .

Each paragraph addresses a single central point, introduced by a topic sentence , and each point is directly related to the thesis statement .

As you read, hover over the highlighted parts to learn what they do and why they work.

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Table of contents

Other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about writing an essay, an appeal to the senses: the development of the braille system in nineteenth-century france.

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

In France, debates about how to deal with disability led to the adoption of different strategies over time. While people with temporary difficulties were able to access public welfare, the most common response to people with long-term disabilities, such as hearing or vision loss, was to group them together in institutions (Tombs, 1996). At first, a joint institute for the blind and deaf was created, and although the partnership was motivated more by financial considerations than by the well-being of the residents, the institute aimed to help people develop skills valuable to society (Weygand, 2009). Eventually blind institutions were separated from deaf institutions, and the focus shifted towards education of the blind, as was the case for the Royal Institute for Blind Youth, which Louis Braille attended (Jimenez et al, 2009). The growing acknowledgement of the uniqueness of different disabilities led to more targeted education strategies, fostering an environment in which the benefits of a specifically blind education could be more widely recognized.

Several different systems of tactile reading can be seen as forerunners to the method Louis Braille developed, but these systems were all developed based on the sighted system. The Royal Institute for Blind Youth in Paris taught the students to read embossed roman letters, a method created by the school’s founder, Valentin Hauy (Jimenez et al., 2009). Reading this way proved to be a rather arduous task, as the letters were difficult to distinguish by touch. The embossed letter method was based on the reading system of sighted people, with minimal adaptation for those with vision loss. As a result, this method did not gain significant success among blind students.

Louis Braille was bound to be influenced by his school’s founder, but the most influential pre-Braille tactile reading system was Charles Barbier’s night writing. A soldier in Napoleon’s army, Barbier developed a system in 1819 that used 12 dots with a five line musical staff (Kersten, 1997). His intention was to develop a system that would allow the military to communicate at night without the need for light (Herron, 2009). The code developed by Barbier was phonetic (Jimenez et al., 2009); in other words, the code was designed for sighted people and was based on the sounds of words, not on an actual alphabet. Barbier discovered that variants of raised dots within a square were the easiest method of reading by touch (Jimenez et al., 2009). This system proved effective for the transmission of short messages between military personnel, but the symbols were too large for the fingertip, greatly reducing the speed at which a message could be read (Herron, 2009). For this reason, it was unsuitable for daily use and was not widely adopted in the blind community.

Nevertheless, Barbier’s military dot system was more efficient than Hauy’s embossed letters, and it provided the framework within which Louis Braille developed his method. Barbier’s system, with its dashes and dots, could form over 4000 combinations (Jimenez et al., 2009). Compared to the 26 letters of the Latin alphabet, this was an absurdly high number. Braille kept the raised dot form, but developed a more manageable system that would reflect the sighted alphabet. He replaced Barbier’s dashes and dots with just six dots in a rectangular configuration (Jimenez et al., 2009). The result was that the blind population in France had a tactile reading system using dots (like Barbier’s) that was based on the structure of the sighted alphabet (like Hauy’s); crucially, this system was the first developed specifically for the purposes of the blind.

While the Braille system gained immediate popularity with the blind students at the Institute in Paris, it had to gain acceptance among the sighted before its adoption throughout France. This support was necessary because sighted teachers and leaders had ultimate control over the propagation of Braille resources. Many of the teachers at the Royal Institute for Blind Youth resisted learning Braille’s system because they found the tactile method of reading difficult to learn (Bullock & Galst, 2009). This resistance was symptomatic of the prevalent attitude that the blind population had to adapt to the sighted world rather than develop their own tools and methods. Over time, however, with the increasing impetus to make social contribution possible for all, teachers began to appreciate the usefulness of Braille’s system (Bullock & Galst, 2009), realizing that access to reading could help improve the productivity and integration of people with vision loss. It took approximately 30 years, but the French government eventually approved the Braille system, and it was established throughout the country (Bullock & Galst, 2009).

Although Blind people remained marginalized throughout the nineteenth century, the Braille system granted them growing opportunities for social participation. Most obviously, Braille allowed people with vision loss to read the same alphabet used by sighted people (Bullock & Galst, 2009), allowing them to participate in certain cultural experiences previously unavailable to them. Written works, such as books and poetry, had previously been inaccessible to the blind population without the aid of a reader, limiting their autonomy. As books began to be distributed in Braille, this barrier was reduced, enabling people with vision loss to access information autonomously. The closing of the gap between the abilities of blind and the sighted contributed to a gradual shift in blind people’s status, lessening the cultural perception of the blind as essentially different and facilitating greater social integration.

The Braille system also had important cultural effects beyond the sphere of written culture. Its invention later led to the development of a music notation system for the blind, although Louis Braille did not develop this system himself (Jimenez, et al., 2009). This development helped remove a cultural obstacle that had been introduced by the popularization of written musical notation in the early 1500s. While music had previously been an arena in which the blind could participate on equal footing, the transition from memory-based performance to notation-based performance meant that blind musicians were no longer able to compete with sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997). As a result, a tactile musical notation system became necessary for professional equality between blind and sighted musicians (Kersten, 1997).

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Bullock, J. D., & Galst, J. M. (2009). The Story of Louis Braille. Archives of Ophthalmology , 127(11), 1532. https://​doi.org/10.1001/​archophthalmol.2009.286.

Herron, M. (2009, May 6). Blind visionary. Retrieved from https://​eandt.theiet.org/​content/​articles/2009/05/​blind-visionary/.

Jiménez, J., Olea, J., Torres, J., Alonso, I., Harder, D., & Fischer, K. (2009). Biography of Louis Braille and Invention of the Braille Alphabet. Survey of Ophthalmology , 54(1), 142–149. https://​doi.org/10.1016/​j.survophthal.2008.10.006.

Kersten, F.G. (1997). The history and development of Braille music methodology. The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education , 18(2). Retrieved from https://​www.jstor.org/​stable/40214926.

Mellor, C.M. (2006). Louis Braille: A touch of genius . Boston: National Braille Press.

Tombs, R. (1996). France: 1814-1914 . London: Pearson Education Ltd.

Weygand, Z. (2009). The blind in French society from the Middle Ages to the century of Louis Braille . Stanford: Stanford University Press.

If you want to know more about AI tools , college essays , or fallacies make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples or go directly to our tools!

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

  • An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
  • Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
  • A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Essay Writing Tips and Resources for Junior & High School Students

Essay writing as a skill.

Students sometimes see essay writing as something you are either good at or you aren’t. This is a mistake, and leads to a lack of effort and a lot of essays that don’t live up to their potential. Writing a good essay is a skill, one that can be practiced and improved upon. With these essay writing tips and the resources linked to in the sections below, students can learn to start producing papers they can be proud of.

Brainstorming and Preparation

Picking a Topic: A good essay starts long before any actual writing happens. The first thing you’ll need to do is select a topic. Good essay topics take careful thought—don’t just decide to write about the first thing that comes to mind. One guideline to remember is that, in general, the narrower your topic is the better. A specific, restricted topic helps you keep your essay organized and focused. It’s also best to choose a topic you find interesting—even in the most boring of subjects or books there’s likely to be one aspect that interests you on some level.

Doing Research: Depending on the type of essay, the next step may be to do some research. Be sure to allocate plenty of time for this very important task. Use as many different kinds of materials as possible—from websites to books to documentaries—and keep an eye out for themes and ideas that keep popping up. These are the kinds of things that should probably make an appearance in your essay. And don’t forget to take notes during the research process, so you’ll be able to find the information and quotes you need later on.

Outlining: Then you’re ready to starting outlining your essay. This can be as specific or as general as you want, but it’s best to approach each essay with a plan in mind rather than writing it from scratch. If you at least have an idea of what main ideas you are going to cover and in what order, you’ll take a lot of stress out of the actual writing process. Graphic organizers such as mind maps and Venn diagrams can really help you get your ideas in order and make sense of all your notes and information.

Types of Essays

The other thing you’ll want to do before you start writing is consider the essay’s genre. Each type of essay has its own rules and conventions. You don’t want to finish the conclusion just to realize that your persuasive essay has somehow turned into a research paper. These are a few of the essay writing genres most commonly assigned:

Research Papers: A research paper is meant to educate the reader about something, so this type of essay is the one that requires the most research. It should also be very formal, and should include plenty of quotes and citations.

Persuasive Essays : The whole point of this kind of paper is to convince your audience to agree with you about something. Everything you write, every fact and quote you use, should be focused on strengthening your argument and the persuasive power of your essay.

Literary Analysis: These essays are about a particular book or other text, but this isn’t a book report. You’ll want to summarize the book briefly, but the bulk of the paper needs to be about analyzing and interpreting it (or certain aspects like a particular character or theme).

Compare and Contrast Essays: This is pretty straightforward—in this type of essay you’ll need to compare and contrast two or more things (books, time periods, countries, paintings, etc). The most common issue students have with these papers is focusing too much on comparing and forgetting to contrast, or vice versa.

Reflective Essays : Also called personal essays or narrative essays, these papers are about your personal experiences. They will be structured more like a story, and so won’t follow the usual five-paragraph format. Also, this is the only kind of essay you probably won’t need to do any research for.

Writing the Essay

It’s finally time to start writing the first draft. Don’t worry about editing at this point, or about getting everything perfect. It’s best to just write a full first draft, then go back to revise it and make sure it sounds smooth and is well-organized. It can even help to skip the introduction and go straight to the body paragraphs , then come back and write the introduction at the end. After all, you won’t be completely sure what your paper is about until it’s actually written. Make sure to be familiar with the five-paragraph essay format as many teachers require you to write this way, and even if they don’t, it provides a helpful structure to follow.

Your most powerful tools for keeping yourself organized and focused during the essay writing process are your thesis and topic sentences. The thesis statement can usually be found at the end of the first paragraph, and provides a general guideline for what you’re going to discuss throughout the essay. Each body paragraph should then start with a topic sentence , which is like a mini thesis that provides an outline for just that paragraph. Everything in a paragraph should relate back to its topic sentence, and every topic sentence should relate back to the thesis statement. This keeps you from rambling and makes your essay easier to read (and grade).

Intros and Conclusions

These two parts of your paper deserve a special mention for two reasons. Many students find these paragraphs the hardest to write, and at the same time they are arguably the two most important paragraphs. After all, the introduction and conclusion are the first and last parts of your writing the teacher will see, and so are very influential on their impressions about your essay.

Introductions : The most crucial part of the intro paragraph is the last sentence or two, which constitutes the thesis statement (see above). But what about the rest of the paragraph? A good strategy is to start general and narrow down into your specific topic. For example, you might start by mentioning the tragic effects of war in general, and then move into discussing WWII is particular. It can also help draw reader interest to start the introduction with a quote, question, brief story, or personal experience (avoid starting with a dictionary definition though—that tactic is overused and not terribly professional).

Conclusions : It’s a good idea to devote the first few sentences of the conclusion to giving a brief summary of what you’ve discussed in your essay—in short, to restating your thesis statement. But you don’t want to just summarize in your conclusion. That’s redundant, and not very interesting. Instead, use the second half of the conclusion to answer the questions “So what?” and “Who cares?” Consider relating your paper to a current event or important issue, introducing an interesting question for the reader to ponder, or providing a call to action.

Revising and Proofreading

A lot of students skip over these steps. But a first draft hardly ever makes for a good essay. You’ll need to go though and tighten the focus and organization, improve the grammar and sentence structures, and scan for typos and mistakes. Editing is a part of essay writing, not something separate or less important.

Good editing takes place in two steps. First is the revision stage, where you pay attention to the large-scale issues. This is where you add and delete sentences, move paragraphs, and rewrite or delete anything that isn’t working or distracts from your thesis. Make sure every paragraph addresses a single idea, and that idea is reflected in the topic sentence. Check your thesis statement—does it accurately reflect what your paper is about? During this stage you’ll also want to pay attention to how the paper sounds. Does it flow well? Are there transitions? Are all the sentences too long or too short, or is there a good variety? And consider the format of your paper—does it look professional?

Then, when you’re happy with the paper as a whole, you can begin to proofread. This involves editing for good grammar and spelling, eliminating unnecessary words , and checking facts, page numbers, and quotes to make sure they’re accurate. This reason you should do this last is that, if you don’t, you might spend a lot of time fixing the grammar in a sentence only to realize later that sentence needs to be deleted because it’s off topic. And remember not to rely on Microsoft to do these tasks for you—spell check doesn’t catch everything, and grammar check is just plain wrong at least half the time.

Avoiding Perfectionism

No essay will ever be perfect. All the same, essay writing can be a frustrating task because it’s hard to figure out exactly when you’ve finished. Put plenty of time and effort into your paper, but don’t stress yourself out by trying to write the world’s best essay. A good rule of thumb is that when you start changing things back to the way they were in your previous revision, you should probably stop and call the essay complete. Writing doesn’t have to be a stressful process, after all—and these essay writing tips will hopefully go a long way towards making it an easy and maybe even a fun process.

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How To Write A High School Essay

Table of Contents

How to Write a High School Essay

What is the purpose of a high school essay.

A high school essay is a piece written by a student to tell of their high school experience.

High school gives people an opportunity of self-discovery which influences their future career life and helps them grow psychologically, emotionally and physically. It is the place where one knows who they are and what they want in life.  This article serves to give students tips on how to write a high school essay.

high school essay

The high school essay serves different purposes:

•    Identifies who a person is- a high school essay tells the reader who the character is based on their experiences throughout high school;

•    Acts as a journal- a high school essay being a collection of events and affairs might be used by a student as a journal where they fill in what goes on in their life;

•    Enhance creativity- there are so many ways of writing a high school essay and the student develops creative high school essay writing skills to make their pieces stand out .

Topic choice

  • Argumentative

Tips to guide you in selecting the best topics for a high school essay include:

  • Refer to course material to ensure your topic is covered in class and is not out of context
  • When brainstorming, take a general concept and form a theory around it. Narrow down from there what aspects you would like to explore.
  • Choose an interesting topic. This gives you motivation to do more research and makes it easier to relate to.

Below is a list of some interesting good high school essay topics that you might work on.

Top 10 argumentative topics for high school essay

In argumentative essays , the student can choose to from given list:

  • High school does little to build self esteem. Discuss
  • Games and sports are more fulfilling than chemistry lessons
  • Teachers should not get cozy with students
  • Should high school education be mandatory?
  • Should sex education be taught in high school?
  • Why is it important for high school students to wear uniform?
  • Is guidance and counseling really helpful for teenagers?
  • Should prom be abolished?
  • Do you think some games are overrated than others?
  • How often should teenagers be allowed TV time?

Top 10 persuasive topics for high school essay

In persuasive high school essay writing, the student is required to pick a side and defend it adequately to convince the reader that his opinions are right and correct. Some examples are:

  • Should students in high school be allowed to have phones?
  • Do you think juvenile shapes a teenager or makes them worse?
  • Should schools regulate the internet for their students?
  • Is working while schooling really appropriate?
  • Should students get scholarships based on their grade or what they are good at?
  • Do you think teachers should be allowed to use phones in class?
  • Should students be allowed to have jobs?
  • Should schools offer fast foods?
  • Should students with disabilities be treated differently than the rest?
  • Should student cases be tried at court or by the school board?

Top 10 narrative topics for high school essay

Narrative high school essay writing is written as an allegorical tale of how something was done. Some examples are:

  • How was your first day in high school?
  • Explain the day the drama team won the national trophy
  • How has your journey through high school been?
  • How did you spend your summer?
  • Everyday practice as a football coach
  • What is your favorite high school memory?
  • What has high school taught you so far?
  • What are your plans after graduation?
  • What is unique about your school?
  • How often do you go for academic trips?

Top 10 topics for a personal essay at high school

This is an essay that majors on your own life as a student and gets into intimate details about who you are. Examples of these high school essay topics are:

  • How to deal with your first heartbreak
  • How to battle low self esteem trying to fit in
  • That feeling of Feeling unwanted
  • The interpersonal conflict of career choice
  • How relationships with family affect learning
  • What regrets do you have after being in school all these years?
  • How fears and insecurities keep you focused
  • Why you hated math and the math teacher
  • Why prefer summer camp to staying at home
  • Making friends in high school

Top 10 topics for a reflective essay at high school

A reflective essay is one that focuses on a particular incident and what you learnt from it. It could be a personal essay for example:

  • The day someone mum was so proud of you for an achievement
  • How the death of a loved one affected your social life
  • How your life choices created conflict
  • A moment when you spoke in front of people for the first time
  • A time when you were so afraid
  • When you know that someone you loved was not perfect
  • A moment you needed someone to be there for you
  • When you realized that you were in love
  • When you were humiliated or embarrassed
  • A time when you felt sad

Top 10 teaching topics for high school essay

These are the areas that a teacher, motivational speaker or counselor may teach, for example:

  • Leadership and problem solving
  • Relationships love and sex
  • The importance of career goal
  • Drugs and drug abuse
  • HIV and aids
  • The importance of good financial management
  • How to build and maintain friendships
  • Peer pressure, cause and effects
  • Self esteem, self worth and awareness
  • Making  an all round individual

Top 10 of good research topics for high school essay

These are questions that students can pick out when conducting research where they do field work and come up with recommendations. Some sample questions are:

  • The impact of phones on academic performance of students
  • To find out the effects of action movies on the behavior of teenagers
  • To investigate the effects of parenting on self esteem
  • To establish the impact of the internet on moral standing of students
  • To find out the effects of interpersonal relationships in building teamwork
  • To determine the relationship between co curricular and academic excellence
  • To explore the impact of working on the academic performance
  • To find out the relationship between self esteem and social interactions
  • To investigate how censorship affects language
  • To see the impact of social media on social interactions

Essay structure

Sample high school essay outline, introduction.

The impact of social media on social interactions

The 21st century is overwhelmed with social media like Instagram, Whatsapp, Twitter and Snapchat. These have contributed to the youth being addicted to their phones and have neglected face to face communications time. They have forgotten the basic concepts of communication.

Thesis statement

Social media is not suitable for the teenagers as it interferes with their communication skills:

  • It interferes with face to face conversation- most people have 1000+ followers on social media while in real sense they do not have friends. This creates fake identities.
  • Interferes with social interactions- social media has made the youth impermeable to the society. They do not go out or speak to their friends but are on the phone every other time.
  • It breaks self esteem- watching their peers on social media makes them think they are not good enough ad this has promoted social ills like bleaching and prostitution.

Social media does more harm than good and therefore should be observed very keenly. Teenagers should be monitored on how they use social media to reduce dependency otherwise the next generation of adults will be like robots with no sense of direction.

Tips on introduction writing

Most people do not know how to start a high school essay and these tips will be of help when writing the introduction for a high school essay:

  • Have a clear, simple topic that is catchy;
  • Introduce your argument in short sentences;
  • Make a good first impression through your writing style;
  • Be creative e.g. introduce with a provocative question;
  • Take advantage of the 2nd person ‘you’.

Tips on writing a high school essay thesis

A high school essay thesis should follow the tips:

  • Think about the question(s) you are trying to answer;
  • Decide on how general or broad your topic will be;
  • Be realistic in choosing a thesis statement. It should be doable;
  • Pick an issue that relates to everyday life;
  • Keep it brief. High school thesis writing for essay could tempt you to write too much but it should be short and precise.

Tips on body (paragraphs, length and transition)

  • Have clear sentences that are short. Ensure that the sentences are well constructed and punctuated for an easy read;
  • Arrange your points into paragraphs. Each section should contain a single concept;
  • Avoid using too many transitions as this becomes monotonous. Be creative in how you join paragraphs. They should not sound fixed;
  • Ensure that you follow the correct high school essay outline;
  • Do not veer off topic in your argument. Stick to your thesis as much as possible.

Tips on conclusion writing

Here we offer the best tips on how to conclude a high school essay.

The conclusion for a high school essay contains your general opinion on the topic of choice. It is a summary of the essay and therefore you should not introduce any new points in the conclusion.

  • Make any necessary disclaimers to make sure your audience fully understands your point of view;
  • Provide useful recommendations based on observations stated. You cannot recommend something you did not say in the body of your essay.

Sources for essays

The internet contains tons of information and it is one of the best places to source. There are guidelines provided on how to write high school essays. Besides, it is efficient and convenient. Students can source for more essays from their teachers, books in the libraries and through brainstorming. Brainstorming also gives high school essay writing guides to students.

You could ask your teacher for some high school essay writing help if stuck at a particular point.

Finalizing the essay

  • The final step towards writing an essay is proofreading. It ensures that your work is error free and the correct high school essay outlining is done.
  • Check on the grammar used, the sentence construction and punctuation.
  • It is also crucial to check for plagiarism in your work.
  • Ensure that the formats are well followed.
  • Make citations and reference of quotes and information used from their relevant sources.

Tips on perfect high school essay writing

perfect high school essay

These tips for a high school essay writing give guidelines on how to write perfect high school essay:

  • Prepare an outline of your ideas. Come up with a high school essay draft that outlines all your thoughts;
  • Make your sentences short in your high school essay introduction;
  • Choose a topic that you are interested in;
  • Consider the length of your article to guide you into what to write;
  • Build your case by giving real life examples. It will ensure that your high school essay prompts the reader to continue reading;
  • Do not be objective in your writing but ensure you cover both sides of the argument;
  • Take time to do research on the topic of your choice;
  • Take time to write the essay. Do not write it in a hurry as it will sound rushed;
  • Add finishing touches to your essay to your high school essay conclusion;
  • Proofread and edit your work making sure you follow the outline for a high school essay.

how to start an essay high school

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How to Write the National Honor Society Essay + Example

how to start an essay high school

What’s Covered:

National honor society: four pillars and essay, five tips for writing your nhs essay, nhs essay example, time well spent.

What do former first lady Michelle Obama, actor Chadwick Boseman, singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and Carrie Underwood, and baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. have in common?  They were all members of the National Honor Society (NHS).

As you apply for membership in this national organization, remember NHS membership is based on meeting criteria in four areas that the NHS calls its four pillars: Scholarship, Service, Leadership, and Character .  

Scholarship 

The first pillar, scholarship , requires that a student earns a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale or equivalent. Many high schools set a higher GPA bar for their school’s chapter. If you meet your school’s academic requirement, congratulations, you’ve passed the first hurdle. 

Now it’s important that you carefully complete the application and write a compelling essay.  Most high schools require students to write a 300-500 word essay that showcases their commitment and accomplishments in the other three pillars.

Service refers to the contributions you make to your school and or community on a volunteer basis, without receiving any compensation. For your most significant service activities, be sure to explain why you choose to support certain organizations and why you chose specific roles. 

Showcase your leadership in your school and or community while working with or for others. Remember, stating that you are the captain of a team, president of a club, or supervisor of a shift does not prove that you are a leader. A leader makes things happen, sets a good example, and inspires others to give their personal best. Clearly state why you were selected to hold a leadership position and how you effectively lead. There are many successful leadership styles. Communicate your unique brand of leadership. 

Character is how you conduct yourself with high standards of honesty, reliability, and respect for others. Many attributes define good character, and they all reflect a personal commitment to ethical and compassionate interactions with others as well as how you treat yourself. Results are only part of the story.  How you achieved them is critically important to communicate.

Think about how many NHS applications your school counselor reviews each year. Not every student who completes an application is selected for the honor. So how do you make your essay stand out?  Here are five strategies:

1. Make it Personal and Individual  

Your application form provides the facts about the scope and range of your involvement and contributions to your communities. Be sure that you write your essay in a way that brings this data to life. A compelling essay enables the reader to feel a strong connection to you. Express your unique values, aspirations, and priorities. State the motivation behind your choices and the trade-offs you’ve made. Be honest about challenges and what you have learned through your mistakes. And be sure the tone of the essay sounds like you and nobody else. 

2. Share Your Stories

People love to hear and remember stories, not simply facts and figures. Express themes and points that you want to share by relaying stories that bring these concepts to life. Stories can be poignant, funny, suspenseful, or surprising. Any approach that makes a reader want to continue reading is a great one.

3. Be Humble and Bold

Many students find it hard to express their hard-earned accomplishments without sounding boastful. Proudly stating your achievements without sounding brash is possible and important. Clearly state your motivations, your challenges, your vulnerabilities, and your mistakes to mitigate any concerns.  

4. Follow Tried and True Essay Guidelines

Channel all the advice you’ve received over the years about how to write a great essay. Do you have a clear thesis around which you have organized your thoughts? Compelling topic sentences to hook your reader? Strong supporting sentences to back up your reasoning? Have you avoided clichés? Do you vary your sentence structure and word choice? Does the text flow and keep the reader engaged? Last, but not least, have you checked and double-checked your grammar, punctuation, and spelling?

5. Draft, Edit, Edit, Edit, Polish

Writing is an iterative process so give yourself the time necessary to land on the best approach for explaining why you are deserving of the NHS honor. There are many ways to tackle an essay. Try a few to determine which is the most effective. Then, when you determine the best approach and are satisfied with your latest draft, share it with someone whose opinion you value. 

Looking for someone to read over your essay? Check out Collegevine’s free essay help ! Our peer review system will help you get feedback from other students so that you can improve your NHS essay and college essays.

While there is not a single template for a strong essay, here is an example of an NHS essay written by an 11th-grade student who was accepted into NHS.

Success is not only about improving yourself, but also about improving life for others. While my GPA shows my commitment to academics, how I spend my time and conduct myself outside of school reveal my commitment to making the world a better place, consistent with the values of the National Honor Society. 

For the two years my grandfather lived in a nursing home, each weekend I took my dog EJ to visit him. I witnessed first-hand the healing power of animals as EJ lifted his and the other residents’ spirits. Because of this experience and because monkeys are my favorite animal, when I heard about Helping Hands (HH), the only organization in the world that raises capuchin monkeys to be live-in assistants to people with spinal cord injuries, I reached out to volunteer. 

Both in the summer and during the school year, I assist the trainers. Monkeys begin training when they are teenagers. It typically takes three to five years until they are ready to be placed with a person. My first job is to clean the cages of 60 monkeys. (Not my favorite responsibility.) I also prepare meals and construct and distribute dexterity “toys.” 

While not glamorous, my work is critical to the success of the initiative. The physical support the monkeys provide is unbelievable. They turn pages of books, scratch itches, pour water, and retrieve dropped items… Most importantly, I have seen the life-changing impact a monkey’s companionship has on a partner, including a college-age student confined to a wheelchair after a spinal cord injury from hockey. 

In the spring, summer, and fall I also volunteer at Gaining Ground (GG), a non-profit that grows organic produce to donate to food pantries, shelters, and meal programs. When I volunteered at a local food pantry, it struck me that recipients receive mostly canned and packaged food. I think it is important that people in need receive fresh fruits and vegetables, and I enjoy the physical work of weeding, harvesting, cleaning, and packing produce.

Soon after I began volunteering at GG, my rabbi gave a sermon about the working conditions of tomato farmers in Florida. (It reminded me of Grapes of Wrath, and I couldn’t believe inhumane practices continue.) Her sermon motivated me to support the Coalition of Immokalee Workers by distributing postcards urging Trader Joe’s and Stop & Shop to only buy tomatoes from farms that agree to fair wages and human rights. Both chains have now agreed, showing that a little effort by many people makes a difference.

Last, I believe a story is the best way to explain my “behind-the-scenes” leadership. At the annual nighttime football game, one of my soccer teammates (not someone I hang with) was drunk. When our principal came over to the bleachers, my teammate’s friends fled. Concerned that my teammate would fall and hurt herself, I brought her outside the stadium, called her parents, and waited with her until they came — without worrying about social retribution. Despite getting grounded, she thanked me for my help.

I would be honored to be recognized by NHS for my service, leadership, and character. Thank you for your consideration.

The time you invest in composing an effective NHS essay will help you when you’re ready to write your college essays! Essays are important components of applications to selective colleges. Getting into NHS is also an honor that may boost your application at some schools. Remember, you can estimate your chance for acceptance using Collegevine’s free chancing calculator . This tool will factor in your GPA, test scores, extracurriculars, and more to calculate your odds of admission at hundreds of schools across the country.

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how to start an essay high school

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6+ High School Application Essay Examples [ Admission, Central, Private ]

High School Application Essay Examples

Embarking on the high school application process can be daunting, but mastering the art of the application essay can set you apart. This comprehensive guide, enriched with essay examples , will navigate you through crafting an impactful and memorable high school application essay. From understanding the prompt to showcasing your unique story, we’ll provide practical tips and examples to enhance your writing skills, ensuring your essay stands out in the competitive world of high school admissions.

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Essay writing as part of the application to enter the institution may sound kind of difficult. But it really wasn’t as the applicant was given a set of instructions on how to come up with what she or he had to write. They were given a topic to write and this was the test they had to take to see if they fit the qualifications to get admitted to the institution.  The most common topic to write in an essay was a career type. What you wanted to be when you grow up. It was a challenge but most of us have gone through that and could say, it was worth it.

3+ High School Application Essay Examples

1. high school application essay.

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2. Private High School Application Essay

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3. 8th Grade High School Application Essay

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How to Write a High School Admission Essay

Embarking on the journey of writing a high school admission essay can be a significant step in your educational path. This piece of writing, often referred to as a college essay or application essay, is more than just a formality. It’s a chance for you to showcase your personality and aspirations, making it crucial for not only high school applications but also for college and scholarship applications.

Understanding the Essay’s Purpose

At its core, the admission essay is your chance to provide a glimpse into who you are beyond your academic scores. It’s not just about showcasing your achievements; it’s about narrating your story and aspirations. This narrative is what the admission committee will use to distinguish you from other candidates, making it a key component of your middle school application essay or any other educational application process.

Choosing the Right Topic

Selecting an appropriate topic is essential. Your topic should reflect an aspect of your personality or an experience that has played a significant role in your personal development. Whether it’s a challenge you’ve overcome, a unique experience, or a personal achievement, it should give insight into your character and how it has shaped you. For a short essay for high school , choosing a concise yet impactful topic is vital.

Crafting Your Essay

Organizing your thoughts is the first step in the writing process. Draft an outline to structure your essay effectively. Begin with a captivating introduction, followed by a body that provides a deeper insight into your topic, and conclude with a summary that ties back to your main thesis, demonstrating why you are a great fit for the school.

Engaging Introduction

The introduction is crucial in grabbing the reader’s attention. Start with an engaging hook – it could be a compelling anecdote, a question, or a surprising fact. This initial engagement is particularly important in a short essay for high school, as you have limited space to make an impact.

Body of the Essay

In the body of your essay, provide detailed accounts of your experiences or reflections. Use vivid descriptions to bring your story to life. This part of the essay is where you can elaborate on your experiences, making it relevant in a scholarship essay or any admission essay.

Concluding Your Essay

Your conclusion should leave a lasting impression. It’s not just about ending your essay, but about tying your narrative back to the main goal – to showcase why you are a suitable candidate for the school. A strong conclusion is essential in any application essay , whether it’s for high school, college, or a scholarship.

Revising and Editing

Revision is key in the essay-writing process. Pay attention to clarity, detail, and the flow of your essay. Grammar and spelling are equally important. Consider getting feedback from others, as a fresh pair of eyes can often catch things you might have missed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Stay true to yourself in your essay. Avoid embellishing your experiences or straying from the essay prompt. Keep your language clear and straightforward, avoiding clichés and overly complex phrases.

Final Touches

Remember, your high school admission essay is a reflection of your personality. Let your individuality shine through your words. With a well-thought-out narrative essay , your essay can become a compelling part of your application, whether it’s a college essay, a middle school application essay, or a scholarship essay. Be honest, authentic, and let your unique story guide your writing.

4. High School Application Essay Template

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5. High School Academy Application Essay

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6. Sample High School Application Essay

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7. High School Admission Application Essay

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Tips on Writing a Good High School Essay

To all students wishing to write a good high school essay to wow the right people. I have some tips for you to use. These tips of course vary with people but these are the common ways to writing a good high school essay to amaze the right people as well as to get you accepted to the institution of your choice.  So without further ado, let’s get right to it.

  • Think: It may sound cliché, but the best thing to do before writing a good high school essay is to think. Think of what you are planning on writing. Think of the topic and the subtopics you want to add in your essay.  Ask yourself what you wish to talk about. Make some notes in a different paper as a guide.
  • Planning : After thinking about what you wish to write, plan on it. This is often taken for granted. But when you get to plan on what you wish to write, everything goes smoothly. Just a reminder though, an essay does not have to be very long since that would be a different literary piece.
  • Short and Concise : As stated above, an essay does not have to be very long. Essays usually have one to three paragraphs long. Beyond that is usually unheard of, so make it short and concise as possible.
  • Make some notes:  A reminder when writing a good essay is to always make some notes. Make a draft if you wish. This helps with how you construct your sentences and construct what you wish to write about.
  • Review: after you write your essay, review. Check the necessary things like spelling, grammar, and sentence construction. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just as long as it follows the strict grammar guidelines.

How many sentences do I need to write to let it be considered an essay?

One to three paragraphs, with 5 to 8 sentences can already be considered an essay. The one thing you need to know is when writing an essay, all you need is one topic, and you talk about it.

What are the usual topics to write for a high school essay application?

The most common topic they often ask students to write is about career goals.

Is there a limit to how many words needed to write?

This may depend on the directions in the paper, but for a high school essay application it would range between 300 words to 1000 words.

Do I need to reach the word count for it to be considered a good essay?

It is not the word count that matters but what you have written. This is what counts.

What other types of essays are there?

There are a lot of types but the most common are career essays , narrative essays and argumentative essays

Writing an essay can be tiresome or difficult if you have no idea what to do or what to write. But with some examples shown above and some tips on writing them, it would be easier. Remembering how to write an essay and how to construct the right words would make a whole lot of difference. A few things to consider when writing, be creative but concise the same time.

Choose a topic you want to talk about and go from there. Do not make it too lengthy that you lose sight of what you really wish to convey. Lastly, you don’t need to reach the 1000 word word count, as long as you reach the minimum word count. For a high school student, that would be around 300 words. Now that you have some ideas on what to write and how to do it, I hope your next essay would be something to be proud of.

how to start an essay high school

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How To Write A High School Application Essay | 6 Steps To Follow

We’ve heard it all before—it’s time to write that essay for college applications. While you already know what your essay should look like (an original piece of writing, two pages long, written in the first person), figuring out how to start is often the most difficult part. Whether an open-ended prompt or a strict “topic” makes you nervous, there is certainly a lot of pressure to make your essay stand out.

First, relax and breathe; this isn’t as hard as it looks! Secondly, you should keep in mind that all college essays share one thing: they each reveal something about you. In other words, the main goal of any essay is to shed light on your personality, character, or experiences—and hopefully do so in a compelling way.

No one wants to read an essay that sounds like it was written for another student . So how can you stand out? You have to show admissions officers who you are. To help you do this, we’ve provided some tips on how to write a high school application essay . They aren’t just any tips! These are tried-and-true approaches used by students who have successfully captured the interest of the colleges they wanted to attend.

The Essential Essay Components

First of all, keep in mind that all successful personal essays share several key components: they’re sincere; they use examples (but not too many); and most importantly, they reveal something about the author.

What does this mean for you? It means that getting started can be the hardest part of writing your essay. Once you have the right mindset, taking action is much easier than it sounds. You just need to know where to start! The best way to do this is by following our simple “process.” See below.

*When choosing an angle for your essay, avoid submitting essays about how excited you are about attending university or what a great opportunity college will be (even if it’s true!). Instead, ask yourself questions like What challenges/obstacles have my background created? How will I change after experiencing these obstacles? Who am I outside of academics and extracurriculars? What unique quality do I have that others might not? *

The Process for Successful Essay Writing

Step 1: Write down an essay topic.

You probably have lots of topics in mind already—there are thousands! But it’s best to start with one you’re comfortable discussing, which means focusing on a topic within your own experience.

Even if the prompt asks you to write about something more general or abstract, narrow it down to include details from your own life instead of making sweeping statements. For example, “What does ambition mean to you?” could become “How has my definition of ambition changed since I started high school?” Or “What are some obstacles that students face when applying for college?” could be expanded into something like “the feeling of isolation I felt while applying to college.”

Step 2: Brainstorm some ideas.

Take a minute and let your mind wander, then write down all of the thoughts that come up (you can always cut them later). The more you brainstorm, the better. Write about each experience from different angles and explain why it’s important to you; try to do so with as many details as possible. Think of this process like sculpting—a few quick sketches aren’t enough to create a work of art, but they’re a great way to get started!

Step 3: Narrow your topic and jot down introductory sentences.

Start by choosing one of your ideas and writing an opening sentence for your essay (e.g., “My earliest memory of giving back to my community is from when I was seven years old…”).

Step 4: Write a rough draft.

Don’t worry about the length, grammar, or structure of your essay at this stage—you are just trying to get all of your ideas onto paper! You can edit it later. If you need help getting started with brainstorming or drafting, check out our helpful blog post on how to write an introduction for an essay.

Step 5: Edit your essay.

Once you have written down all of your ideas and thoughts, take some time to organize them into a logical narrative that works well grammatically and makes sense logically (e.g., order matters!). Think about improving transitions between ideas and making sure each sentence flows well into the next (and that all of your ideas are relevant to the prompt).

Step 6: Repeat!

Once you’ve written the first draft, don’t stop there. Set your essay aside for a day or two, then come back and edit it again with fresh eyes. Edit and revise as many times as necessary until it is the best essay you can write about this topic.

·  Stay focused, and structure your essay around a central idea. Your paper will be stronger if each paragraph leads to a logical conclusion supported by details from your personal life.

Don’t hesitate to use transitional words and phrases (e.g., “moreover,” “for example”) to make your essay read like a well-organized piece of writing.

·  Each sentence should contribute something meaningful to the overall development of the essay; remove anything extra or superfluous. Ask yourself if what you’ve written is truly relevant to the topic, and get rid of phrases that don’t advance the essay’s central argument.

·  Proofread your final draft for spelling, grammar, punctuation (especially commas), and capitalization (in sentences like this one). Use our Proofreading Checklist to help you remember all of these steps!

·  Ask someone else to proofread it too! Maybe a trusted teacher or family member would be willing to give their feedback on your work. A fresh set of eyes will catch any remaining errors that you might have missed, giving you an even stronger paper in the end.

Before You Submit Your Essay

· Reveal your personality.    

                *Avoid generalities; include specific details that pertain to the prompt.*

While effective essays typically have a “hook,” this is not always true . If you feel that your essay lacks a hook, it may be because your topic is too specific to the prompt and fails to reveal details about yourself. This can happen when writers spend their entire essays describing an event in detail without showing how it affected them personally.

While descriptions of events can paint a vivid image, they don’t tell readers much about you or why the event matters so much to you. To avoid this problem, try thinking of experiences from different angles and explain why they’re important to you; think of this process like sculpting—a few quick sketches aren’t enough to create a work of art, but they’re a great way to get started!

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How to Start a Scholarship Essay (With Examples)

how to start an essay high school

As an admissions officer, I reviewed thousands of essays for students seeking admission and scholarships. The essay is one of the most important parts of the scholarship application process–a strong essay can go a long way. However, with so much competition, it is important for your scholarship essay to stand out. That’s why it’s important for you to start a scholarship essay off right!

There are some very simple things that you can do to ensure that your essay is engaging from the very first sentence. In fact, beginning your essay with an exciting opening is one of the most important things you can do, because it will immediately distinguish your essay from the others. 

Keep on reading to learn more about how you can nail the very first sentence and start your essay off right!

Engage the reader with the first sentence

No matter what type of essay you are writing, you will want to ensure that the very first line grabs the attention of the reader. One of the biggest mistakes that students make when starting their essay is simply restating the prompt. This is bland and boring. 

Now, you might be wondering, “how do I engage the reader with the very first line of my essay?”. The good news is that there are several ways that you can do this that are very simple to do. 

Related:  How to answer scholarship essay questions about your career goals

Begin with dialogue

First, you could begin your essay with conversation. This can be an interesting and unexpected way to start your scholarship essay. Maybe someone asked you an unexpected question? Perhaps you were having an interesting conversation with a friend or family member? Either way, dialogue can be a powerful tool to start your essay.

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Put the reader in your shoes.

Alternatively, you can choose to start your essay by placing the reader right in your shoes and show them something from your life. Appeal to the senses and show the reader what you see, hear, smell, or taste. These specific details will help your essay come to life and make it even more memorable. 

Also recommended: What’s the best scholarship essay format?

Scholarship essay introduction example

Next,  we’ll look at a specific example of how you can open up your essay. Let’s say you are applying for the Questbridge scholarship program . One of the essays that you will be asked is:

We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most influenced you. How are they shaping your future aspirations?

You might be tempted to rephrase the question and start your essay with something like:

“I have grown up in a rural context and this has formed my aspirations and allowed me to accomplish academic success…”

This is generic and will not engage your reader at all. 

Instead, what if you started off your essay with something like this:

“I look outside my bedroom window and see Henry, my favorite chicken, pecking at something in the dirt.” 

Makes a big difference, right? As a reader, you are probably wondering: why does this person have chickens outside their bedroom window? Why did they name this particular chicken Henry?

See also: Here are our top writing & essay scholarships for students!

Keep the ending of your essay in mind as you write the opening

While crafting your opening, be open to ideas about how to close your essay. There is no need to stress about the ending now, but being mindful of effective ways to end an essay is always a good idea. Say you are opening your scholarship essay with Henry the chicken. Is there a way for Henry to make an impactful appearance at the end of the essay to close things out in a way that perfectly wraps everything up? The key is for the essay ending to be meaningful and memorable for the reader. 

Don’t miss: Our free scholarship search tool

If you can’t think of a “wow” scholarship essay beginning, keep writing!

Sometimes, we know what we want to say, point by point, but we are not ready to be creative when it comes to opening an essay. In that case, keep writing! There is always the option of going back and crafting an engaging opening after your essay is written. Simply write your main idea where the first paragraph would be to guide you as you write. After, go back when your creative juices are flowing, and craft the amazing opening (and closing) that your scholarship essay deserves!

Final thoughts

As shown, there are many questions that we as readers will have after reading an engaging essay opening such as the one just shared; We want to learn more about the student who is writing this essay. After all, as a writer trying to stand out in a pile of essays, that is our main goal. 

We hope that you have a better understanding of how to start a scholarship essay so you can maximize your chances of winning scholarships!

Additional resources

Scholarships360 is the go-to for all things college admissions and scholarships! Wondering how to write a 250 word essay and how to write a 500 word essay ? Curious how to write an essay about yourself ? Wow, do we have the resources to help! Additionally, check out our free scholarship search tool to help you finance your college education. Best of luck to you and your future endeavors! 

Key Takeaways

  • The first sentence of the essay is what makes the reader want to continue reading 
  • Engage the reader by appealing to the senses
  • Create a sense of wonder in your essay, making the reader want to learn more about you
  • Keep the ending of the essay in mind as you craft the beginning

Frequently asked questions about how to start a scholarship essay

What is an essay hook, how long should my scholarship essay be, scholarships360 recommended.

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  5. How to Write Any High School Essay: 12 Steps (with Pictures)

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  1. How to Write Any High School Essay (with Pictures)

    1 Determine the type of essay you need to write. Check the specific requirements for your essay provided by your teacher to see what type of essay you need to write. While the essays will differ in subject matter, they tend to follow the same 5 paragraph structure.

  2. How to Structure an Essay

    The second principle is that background information should appear towards the beginning of your essay. General background is presented in the introduction. If you have additional background to present, this information will usually come at the start of the body. The third principle is that everything in your essay should be relevant to the thesis.

  3. How to Start an Essay: 7 Tips for a Knockout Essay Introduction

    One way to start your essay is with a shocking, unexpected, or amusing fact about the topic you're covering. This grabs the reader's attention and makes them want to read further, expecting explanation, context, and/or elaboration on the fact you presented.

  4. The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay

    Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline. Writing: Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion. Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

  5. How to Write an Essay Introduction

    Step 1: Hook your reader Your first sentence sets the tone for the whole essay, so spend some time on writing an effective hook. Avoid long, dense sentences—start with something clear, concise and catchy that will spark your reader's curiosity.

  6. Essay Writing: A Complete Guide for Students and Teachers

    BREAK THE QUESTION DOWN: UNDERSTAND YOUR ESSAY TOPIC. Whether students are tackling an assignment that you have set for them in class or responding to an essay prompt in an exam situation, they should get into the habit of analyzing the nature of the task. To do this, they should unravel the question's meaning or prompt.

  7. 5 Common Types of High School Essays (With Examples)

    1. Descriptive high school essays A descriptive essay asks writers to describe something vividly —object, person, place, experience, emotion, situation, etc., but more commonly you will be asked to describe something abstract —emotions, experiences, or something outside of your typical experience.

  8. 3 Essay Tips for High Schoolers

    Here are a few tips that you can use to help you get your essays done without stressing out. 1. Time It Out. When you get an assignment, your first instinct may be to immediately start working on it and save any outlining or research for later. But you'll end up doing more work and taking up more time that you don't need having to go back ...

  9. How to Write a College-Worthy Essay in High School

    Essential Parts of the High School Essay. You should divide your essay into three main paragraphs: an introduction, body, and conclusion. Provide a brief overview of the topic in the introduction. Here, you also mention the statement that you are going to develop through the entire essay. The essay body is the main part where you give some ...

  10. How to write an essay

    Using evidence. Evidence is the foundation of an effective essay and provides proof for your points. For an essay about a piece of literature, the best evidence will come from the text itself ...

  11. High School Essay

    2. Write the body. For high school essays, the body is sometimes just composed of one paragraph. Here you need to expound your topic. You may also see short essay examples & samples. 3. End with a conclusion. Write your final statements in the conclusion. Try to summarize your ideas into one or two sentences.

  12. PDF Strategies for Essay Writing

    number of paragraphs in your essay should be determined by the number of steps you need to take to build your argument. To write strong paragraphs, try to focus each paragraph on one main point—and begin a new paragraph when you are moving to a new point or example. A strong paragraph in an academic essay will usually include these three ...

  13. How to Write a High School Essay Outline

    This is the structure you want to start with at the beginning of an essay outline. Write it out on a piece of paper, then begin to flesh out the details. How you do so will vary somewhat between the subject and style of question, but this structure will still apply. In your introduction, you say what you're going to say.

  14. 14 Ways to Write Better in High School

    1. Read Cereal Boxes Yep, cereal boxes, magazines, blogs, novels, the newspaper, ads, e-zines, you name it. If it has words, read it. Good writing will challenge you to up your game, and bad writing will help you learn what not to do. A variety of reading materials can influence you in subtle ways, too.

  15. Tips for High School Essay Assignments

    Essay assignments are a nightmare for many high school students. The fear of essay writing is often the result of not fully understanding the purpose of an essay or the writing process for completing one. A helpful tactic when teaching essay writing is to start with essay concepts, which may help to reduce the student's apprehension.

  16. Example of a Great Essay

    In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills. Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

  17. Essay Writing Tips and Resources for Junior & High School Students

    Brainstorming and Preparation Picking a Topic: A good essay starts long before any actual writing happens. The first thing you'll need to do is select a topic. Good essay topics take careful thought—don't just decide to write about the first thing that comes to mind.

  18. What Are Good Sentence Starters for Essays?

    You're introducing a new idea, such as at the beginning of an essay or of a paragraph; You're presenting a conclusion or summary, for instance at the end of an essay. You want to add emphasis to a particular sentence or point. You want to write a hook to captivate readers. The sentence requires certain context, such as background information.

  19. High School Essay, How To Write Guide

    Fill out the order form step-by-step. We need you to be detailed. Get Custom Essay from: 12.95$ Order now How To Write A High School Essay January 12, 2017 Basic Essay Writing Tips Last modified on May 11th, 2022 How to Write a High School Essay What is the purpose of a high school essay? The high school essay serves different purposes:

  20. How to Write the National Honor Society Essay + Example

    If you meet your school's academic requirement, congratulations, you've passed the first hurdle. Now it's important that you carefully complete the application and write a compelling essay. Most high schools require students to write a 300-500 word essay that showcases their commitment and accomplishments in the other three pillars.

  21. High School Application Essay

    1. High School Application Essay Free Download 2. Private High School Application Essay Free Download 3. 8th Grade High School Application Essay Free Download How to Write a High School Admission Essay Embarking on the journey of writing a high school admission essay can be a significant step in your educational path.

  22. How To Write A High School Application Essay

    Step 1: Write down an essay topic. You probably have lots of topics in mind already—there are thousands! But it's best to start with one you're comfortable discussing, which means focusing on a topic within your own experience. Even if the prompt asks you to write about something more general or abstract, narrow it down to include details ...

  23. How to Start a Scholarship Essay (With Examples)

    The first sentence of the essay is what makes the reader want to continue reading. Engage the reader by appealing to the senses. Create a sense of wonder in your essay, making the reader want to learn more about you. Keep the ending of the essay in mind as you craft the beginning.

  24. Guide To Writing Your Grad School Admission Essay

    How do you get started? What should a grad school admission essay include? Follow our guide below to get started. What Is a Statement of Purpose for Grad School?

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    380 likes, 1 comments - 75percentchance_ on February 7, 2024: "Create an AP Study Schedule According to the College Board, you should start studying at least t..." 75percentchance on Instagram: "Create an AP Study Schedule According to the College Board, you should start studying at least three months before your AP exams.