When the QE essay was first introduced I immediately became very nervous. I always get a little scared when and essay is assigned, because I consider myself a writer, and feel slightly embarassed when there is a strong negative feedback to my work. So hearing about the QE essay made me anxious, simply because I felt as though I needed to defend my self proclaimed title as "the good writer". As I worked on the QE essay, I realized that I had used five main steps to complete it.
Step One: Learn about the essay. The biggest mistake anybody can make with an essay is ignoring the directions. Writing an essay about ponies in the 1800s is just dandy, but it isn't so great if the assignment was to write an essay about the Russian Revolution. It is important to know the subject matter, format, and style that your essay requires. It is nearly impossible to do well on an essay with out knowing these things.
Step Two: Pick the topic wisely. In the QE essay we were given a list of topics and told to pick which one we would like to write about. There was no catch, just a choice. This was probably the most important part of the essay for me. Picking the right topic on an essay with that many choices can make or break your grade. The rest of the essay depends on this point, so I picked a topic that I not only liked, but felt I could easily support.
Step Three: Find quotes and sources. When five sources are required, but only three may be quoted, it is pretty important to find similarities between articles and stories, and find the quotes that BEST support your theory. When I have hand picked articles to choose from, I'm expected to find great quotes because they have been laid out in front of me. This is also essential. Your quotes and sources will support your entire paper; without it the essay falls flat. I knew I needed quotes that described how emotion affects creativity, but I realized well I was working that the quotes needed to be ones I could elaborate on and explain.
Step Four: Begin the rough draft. Now that all of the puzzle pieces are there, its time to put them together. I always put a lot of work into my rough drafts because I know that if I do a good job from the beginning, I'll have less to fix later. Unfortunately, I did not completely understand the "voice" I was supposed to be using, but I already had all of the basic ideas I needed.
Step Five: After someone else edits your work, fix it. After we got back the corrections on the rough draft I was not happy by the work in front of me. I thought I had done so well! But I knew that with this grade already in, I was going to have to really blow the final essay out of the park. So I read the comments I was given, and really worked the parts that had been marked. If I was told I needed more elaboration, I elaborated more. It is hard to take constructive criticism, but it is important too.
The QE essay had many steps drawn out over a long time. These steps are the basic steps that I take when it comes to any kind of writing. The QE essay was different than other papers I've written, but it essentially has the same steps of knowing what you're doing, picking a topic, finding your quotes/support, writing the paper, and, finally, editing the paper. Of course there is step six too, which is pretty important: TURN IT IN!!! Step One: Learn about the essay. This step is essential when you're completing an assignment. Writing a killer essay on why ponies should be allowed to take people to school is very well and good, but it won't benefit you much when you're supposed to be writing about the Russian Revolution. Not knowing the format you're supposed to write in, the kind of essay (persuasive, research, narrative, informative, massive combination) you're writing, and what the subject should be guarantees a failing grade. The QE essay was not set up in a way that I have ever seen before. It obviously wasn't a five paragraph essay, but it did have the structure of three sections. If I had merely decided that those sections were suggestions, I would not be able to right the kind of paper that was expected of me.
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