what is an original composition essay

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• 9 Ways to Write a More Original Essay to Impress Your Teachers and Improve Your Marks

As a bright student who aspires to the upper echelons of the university league tables and the highest degree classification, you’re naturally going to want your essays to stand out from the crowd.

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Faced with the same essay question and reading material, it’s likely that there’s going to be a significant degree of conformity among the essays produced by your classmates. Having read the same literature or scholarship, everyone tends to end up writing much the same thing – which must get rather boring for the person marking it! If you want to reach the top marks and impress your teacher or lecturer, as well as developing your own knowledge of the subject and cultivating your capacity for original thinking, you need to start writing more original essays. So how do you make yours a bit different, so that it gets noticed? Here are a few tips to give you some inspiration.

1. Choose an obscure topic

2. Defend a minority opinion

If you can’t find a suitably obscure topic to write about that’s within the limits of the brief you’ve been set, your other option is to argue the case for an opinion that deviates from the standard accepted one. For extra brownie points this could even be your own theory, providing that you have a reasonable amount of evidence to support it, and providing that you also consider other opinions in your essay. Be careful with doing this, as you could risk making a fool of yourself if you choose to defend a widely discredited opinion with lots of evidence stacked against it. If you do choose this tactic, brainstorm all the possible objections or responses to it and pre-empt them in your essay. This way, as the person marking your essay reads through it and starts to think, “But what if…?” or “and how about…?”, you’ll have a response ready and waiting for them. This will show that you’ve thought about it in considerable depth, adding weight to your argument and proving that you’re someone with the intellectual curiosity to explore new ideas.

3. Read obscure scholarship

If you read the same material as everyone else, the chances are fairly high that you’ll end up writing a very similar essay to everyone else. While you should certainly not disregard the material on your reading list – far from it – you can do a little extra reading outside the prescribed literature and impress your teacher or tutor with your additional knowledge. If you’re not sure where to start with finding other things to read, here are some good sources of information and advice: – Your teacher or tutor – the easiest way to get a few extra ideas for additional reading material is to ask your teacher or tutor. They should be willing to provide you with this, and you’ll also score some more brownie points upfront by asking in the first place. A word of warning, though: if you’ve asked for extra reading material, they’ll probably be expecting to see evidence in your essay that you’ve read it! So be careful you don’t shoot yourself in the foot. – Footnotes – these are a great place to look for additional (relevant) reading material by scholars or writers who’ve been cited somewhere in the text, but who may not have been on your original reading list. The author and title of the publication should be included in the footnote, with more details in the bibliography at the back. – Ask the librarian – though the librarian isn’t going to know every single piece of scholarship in the library like the back of their hand, they may be able to point you in the direction of some other publications that may contain relevant material. – Google search – though you should try to avoid using the internet for performing actual research , it could prove useful in locating some scholarship on the subject you’re writing about. If you read a Wikipedia article, the points made in the article should have clickable footnotes for supporting evidence; click on them, and you’ll jump to the bottom of the page for details of where this point came from. Then you just need to look up the book or article, either in the library or online (if you search the title of the publication, you might be able to find a digital version available to read online).

4. Try a different structure

If you’re struggling to find something original to say in the actual content of your essay, you could instead try experimenting with a different structure to the one you imagine your peers will be using. Particularly at A-level, you’ll find that what you’ve learned in class, and the way in which the questions are worded, makes a particular structure suggest itself straightaway. Rather than going with your first inclination, you could perhaps experiment with a different way of structuring it. That doesn’t mean you should dispense with the conventions of an introduction and conclusion, of course. Trying a new structure just means thinking outside the box when it comes to how you deal with the evidence you have available to discuss. Doing something different with the structure should capture the interest of the person marking it – but do make sure it’s for the right reasons, rather than because your argument is all over the place!

5. In English Literature, compare your set text with others

If you’re asked to write an essay about the set text you’re working on, it can be difficult to come up with something original. You and your classmates will probably be regurgitating the same interpretations given to you by your English teacher, and although this is an opportunity to come up with your own original interpretations, it’s not always possible to think of something that hasn’t already been thought of. A possible avenue for writing something a bit more original in this situation is to add in some comparisons with between the set text and other literature of the same author or period, or upon which your set text may have had an influence. For example, say you’re studying Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Unless they’ve been instructed otherwise, your classmates are probably going to stick exclusively to talking about this specific book. So, to be more original, you could bring in other works by Orwell, as well as other dystopian fiction  likely to have been influenced by Orwell. An example of a phrase you might use could be, “This is an idea Orwell had touched on four years previously in Animal Farm …”. Or, “This idea was to have a profound influence on Margaret Atwood, who developed the idea decades later in The Handmaid’s Tale ”. Try not to shoehorn references to other works into your essay just for the sake of it; only include them where it would develop your argument further, or add some context. Done properly, referring to other texts in this way helps make your essay more original at the same time as impressing the person marking it with the breadth of your knowledge.

6. Include photographs, charts and other illustrations

Provided they don’t detract from the words, visual illustrations could be another way to add originality to your essay. While you’ll need to be careful that they don’t come across as trying to divert attention away from an ill-formed argument in the writing itself, illustrations – such as charts, graphs, tables, photographs, diagrams and so on – can be a great way to support the text and make the overall essay more rich and interesting. Carefully thought-out visual features such as these can be an extremely effective way of conveying information, and, if nothing else, will certainly give your teacher or lecturer something of a break in the monotony of essay-marking!

7. Use more advanced language and syntax

Making use of a good vocabulary and employing advanced sentence structures are ways in which you can make your essay more linguistically original. What’s more, rather than aping the written style of whichever author or scholar you happen to be reading at the time, make sure you write in your own voice. That doesn’t mean you should write conversational English; it simply means that you need to find your own tone of voice and communicate confidently in it. The reader needs to feel that you know what you’re talking about, so confident use of language, in particular the effective use of sophisticated words and more advanced syntax, are crucial. Your essay shouldn’t read as though you’ve had a thesaurus next to you while you were writing it and replaced all the simpler words with more complicated ones; but a cleverly delivered under-used word will give a good impression.

8. Use an analogy

This tip may not be applicable to all essays, but one way of making your essay more original is to explain a complex concept using an analogy. An analogy, simply put, is when you compare one thing with another to help explain something. Most students will battle on with trying to explain something with a straightforward definition. However, if you can find a simpler way of explaining it using an analogy, then you may be able to summarise the concept far more effectively. For example, the pressure with which water escapes from a bucket with a hole in it can be used to explain exponential decay in radioactive substances. In both cases, the rate of a consumptive process depends on how much there is left of whatever is being depleted, which results in an exponential rate of decay. Drawing comparisons in this way takes advantage of the reader’s existing knowledge of something else to explain something new to them. Providing your analogy doesn’t become too tenuous, this is a sure-fire way to deliver greater originality in your essay.

9. Give your own opinion

Many students are so absorbed in writing about the opinions of other people that they forget to include anything of their own. This gives you an easy way of making your essay more original than theirs, by including your own opinion. You should avoid using the pronoun “I” too much (the received wisdom is that you should never say it, but there is a time and a place in my view), and your essay shouldn’t revolve around it; but there’s certainly nothing wrong with giving your own intelligent responses to the things you’ve read. Doing so shows a genuine interest in the subject, and it’s unlikely that your classmates will have made such an effort as this. With a little extra effort and thought, it’s relatively easy to make your essay stand out from the crowd. Is it worth putting in this extra elbow grease? Absolutely. You’ll be rewarded with good academic references, a deeper knowledge and, ultimately, better grades.

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How to Write a Composition

Last Updated: December 6, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 7 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 806,770 times.

You don't have to be a good writer to write well. Writing is a process. By learning to treat writing as a series of small steps instead of a big all-at-once magic trick you have to pull off will make writing a composition much easier and much more fun. You can learn to brainstorm main ideas before you start writing, organize a draft of those main ideas, and revise your composition into a polished essay. See Step 1 for more information.

Composition Template

Pre-Writing

• What is the purpose of the composition?
• What is the topic of the composition?
• What are the length requirements?
• What is the appropriate tone or voice for the composition?
• Is research required? These questions are good for you to ask.
• Pre-writing: gathering your thoughts or research, brainstorming, and planning the compositions
• Writing: actively writing your composition
• Editing: re-reading your paper, adding sentences, cutting unnecessary parts, and proofreading

• Try a timed writing by keeping your pen moving for 10 minutes without stopping. Don't shy away from including your opinions about a particular topic, even if your teacher has warned you from including personal opinions in your paper. This isn't the final draft!

• Write the topic in the center of the paper and draw a circle around it. Say your topic is "Romeo & Juliet" or "The Civil War". Write the phrase on your paper and circle it.
• Around the center circle, write your main ideas or interests about the topic. You might be interested in "Juliet's death," "Mercutio's anger," or "family strife." Write as many main ideas as you're interested in.
• Around each main idea, write more specific points or observations about each more specific topic. Start looking for connections. Are you repeating language or ideas?
• Connect the bubbles with lines where you see related connections. A good composition is organized by main ideas, not organized chronologically or by plot. Use these connections to form your main ideas.
• Don’t worry about coming up with a polished thesis statement or final argument now; that can come later in the process.

• Your thesis statement needs to be debatable. In fact, many thesis statements are structured as the answer to a well-formulated question about the topic. "Romeo & Juliet is an interesting play written by Shakespeare in the 1500s" isn't a thesis statement, because that's not a debatable issue. We don't need you to prove that to us. "Romeo & Juliet features Shakespeare's most tragic character in Juliet" is a lot closer to a debatable point, and could be an answer to a question like, “Who is Shakespeare’s most tragic character?” [4] X Research source
• Your thesis statement needs to be specific. "Romeo & Juliet is a play about making bad choices" isn't as strong a thesis statement as "Shakespeare makes the argument that the inexperience of teenage love is comic and tragic at the same time" is much stronger.
• A good thesis guides the essay. In your thesis, you can sometimes preview the points you'll make in your paper, guiding yourself and the reader: "Shakespeare uses Juliet's death, Mercutio's rage, and the petty arguments of the two principal families to illustrate that the heart and the head are forever disconnected."

Writing a Rough Draft

• Introduction, in which the topic is described, the issue or problem is summarized, and your argument is presented
• Main point paragraph 1, in which you make and support your first supporting argument
• Main point paragraph 2, in which you make and support your second supporting argument
• Main point paragraph 3, in which you make and support your final supporting argument
• Conclusion paragraph, in which you summarize your argument

• Proof includes specific quotes from the book you're writing about, or specific facts about the topic. If you want to talk about Mercutio's temperamental character, you'll need to quote from him, set the scene, and describe him in detail. This is proof that you'll also need to unpack with logic.
• Logic refers to your rationale and your reasoning. Why is Mercutio like this? What are we supposed to notice about the way he talks? Explain your proof to the reader by using logic and you'll have a solid argument with strong evidence.

• Ask how. How is Juliet's death presented to us? How do the other characters react? How is the reader supposed to feel?
• Ask why. Why does Shakespeare kill her? Why not let her live? Why does she have to die? Why would the story not work without her death?

• Only use words and phrases that you have a good command over. Academic vocabulary might sound impressive, but if you don’t fully grasp its meaning, you might muddle the effect of your paper.

• Try writing a rough draft the weekend before it's due, and giving it to your teacher for comments several days before the due date. Take the feedback into consideration and make the necessary changes.

• Moving paragraphs around to get the best possible organization of points, the best "flow"
• Delete whole sentences that are repetitive or that don't work
• Removing any points that don't support your argument

• Think of each main point you're making like a mountain in a mountain range that you're flying over in a helicopter. You can stay above them and fly over them quickly, pointing out their features from far away and giving us a quick flyover tour, or you can drop us down in between them and show us up close, so we see the mountain goats and the rocks and the waterfalls. Which would be a better tour?

Expert Q&A

• Write a point, and expand 2 lines on that particular point. Thanks Helpful 9 Not Helpful 2
• Open source software called Free Mind can help with the pre-writing process. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 2
• You can always add more circles to your guiding diagram if you think the much you have is not sufficient. Thanks Helpful 5 Not Helpful 3

Tips from our Readers

• Remember to always proofread your composition after you have finished! Small typos like a missed comma or a misspelled word are easy to miss the first time around.
• If you want to outline your composition, try using a mini white board. This makes it easier to erase things and restructure your outline if you need to.
• It's hard to write with distractions, so try to pick a quiet place where you won't be disturbed to work on your assignment.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/writing-your-essay
• ↑ https://www.deakin.edu.au/students/studying/study-support/academic-skills/essay-writing
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/544/01/
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/685/05/
• ↑ https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/how-to-write-an-essay/essay-structure
• ↑ https://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/writing-well/essay.html
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/grammarpunct/commonerrors/

About This Article

To write a composition, start with a brainstorming session to get your thoughts down on paper. You can create a formal outline during this time, or experiment with bubble exercises and free-writing. Next, create a clear thesis statement to base your composition around. Then, write an introduction, 3 main paragraphs, and a conclusion that summarizes your argument. Read through and revise your content, and don't forget to proofread thoroughly! To learn more about the "rule of 5" and how to back up your statements in a composition, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Original Research

An original research paper should present a unique argument of your own. In other words, the claim of the paper should be debatable and should be your (the researcher’s) own original idea. Typically an original research paper builds on the existing research on a topic, addresses a specific question, presents the findings according to a standard structure (described below), and suggests questions for further research and investigation. Though writers in any discipline may conduct original research, scientists and social scientists in particular are interested in controlled investigation and inquiry. Their research often consists of direct and indirect observation in the laboratory or in the field. Many scientists write papers to investigate a hypothesis (a statement to be tested).

Although the precise order of research elements may vary somewhat according to the specific task, most include the following elements:

• Table of contents
• List of illustrations
• Body of the report
• References cited

Check your assignment for guidance on which formatting style is required. The Complete Discipline Listing Guide (Purdue OWL)  provides information on the most common style guide for each discipline, but be sure to check with your instructor.

The title of your work is important. It draws the reader to your text. A common practice for titles is to use a two-phrase title where the first phrase is a broad reference to the topic to catch the reader’s attention. This phrase is followed by a more direct and specific explanation of your project. For example:

“Lions, Tigers, and Bears, Oh My!: The Effects of Large Predators on Livestock Yields.”

The first phrase draws the reader in – it is creative and interesting. The second part of the title tells the reader the specific focus of the research.

In addition, data base retrieval systems often work with  keywords  extracted from the title or from a list the author supplies. When possible, incorporate them into the title. Select these words with consideration of how prospective readers might attempt to access your document. For more information on creating keywords, refer to this  Springer research publication guide.

See the KU Writing Center Writing Guide on Abstracts for detailed information about creating an abstract.

Table of Contents

The table of contents provides the reader with the outline and location of specific aspects of your document. Listings in the table of contents typically match the headings in the paper. Normally, authors number any pages before the table of contents as well as the lists of illustrations/tables/figures using lower-case roman numerals. As such, the table of contents will use lower-case roman numbers to identify the elements of the paper prior to the body of the report, appendix, and reference page. Additionally, because authors will normally use Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2, 3) to number the pages of the body of the research paper (starting with the introduction), the table of contents will use Arabic numerals to identify the main sections of the body of the paper (the introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, conclusion, references, and appendices).

Here is an example of a table of contents:

ABSTRACT..................................................iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS...............................iv

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS...........................v

LIST OF TABLES.........................................vii

INTRODUCTION..........................................1

LITERATURE REVIEW.................................6

METHODS....................................................9

RESULTS....................................................10

DISCUSSION..............................................16

CONCLUSION............................................18

REFERENCES............................................20

APPENDIX................................................. 23

More information on creating a table of contents can be found in the Table of Contents Guide (SHSU)  from the Newton Gresham Library at Sam Houston State University.

List of Illustrations

Authors typically include a list of the illustrations in the paper with longer documents. List the number (e.g., Illustration 4), title, and page number of each illustration under headings such as "List of Illustrations" or "List of Tables.”

Body of the Report

The tone of a report based on original research will be objective and formal, and the writing should be concise and direct. The structure will likely consist of these standard sections:  introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion . Typically, authors identify these sections with headings and may use subheadings to identify specific themes within these sections (such as themes within the literature under the literature review section).

Introduction

Given what the field says about this topic, here is my contribution to this line of inquiry.

The introduction often consists of the rational for the project. What is the phenomenon or event that inspired you to write about this topic? What is the relevance of the topic and why is it important to study it now? Your introduction should also give some general background on the topic – but this should not be a literature review. This is the place to give your readers and necessary background information on the history, current circumstances, or other qualities of your topic generally. In other words, what information will a layperson need to know in order to get a decent understanding of the purpose and results of your paper? Finally, offer a “road map” to your reader where you explain the general order of the remainder of your paper. In the road map, do not just list the sections of the paper that will follow. You should refer to the main points of each section, including the main arguments in the literature review, a few details about your methods, several main points from your results/analysis, the most important takeaways from your discussion section, and the most significant conclusion or topic for further research.   

Literature Review

This is what other researchers have published about this topic.

In the literature review, you will define and clarify the state of the topic by citing key literature that has laid the groundwork for this investigation. This review of the literature will identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies between previous investigations and this one, and suggest the next step in the investigation chain, which will be your hypothesis. You should write the literature review in the  present tense  because it is ongoing information.

Methods (Procedures)

This is how I collected and analyzed the information.

This section recounts the procedures of the study. You will write this in  past tense  because you have already completed the study. It must include what is necessary to replicate and validate the hypothesis. What details must the reader know in order to replicate this study? What were your purposes in this study? The challenge in this section is to understand the possible readers well enough to include what is necessary without going into detail on “common-knowledge” procedures. Be sure that you are specific enough about your research procedure that someone in your field could easily replicate your study. Finally, make sure not to report any findings in this section.

This is what I found out from my research.

This section reports the findings from your research. Because this section is about research that is completed, you should write it primarily in the  past tense . The form and level of detail of the results depends on the hypothesis and goals of this report, and the needs of your audience. Authors of research papers often use visuals in the results section, but the visuals should enhance, rather than serve as a substitute, for the narrative of your results. Develop a narrative based on the thesis of the paper and the themes in your results and use visuals to communicate key findings that address your hypothesis or help to answer your research question. Include any unusual findings that will clarify the data. It is a good idea to use subheadings to group the results section into themes to help the reader understand the main points or findings of the research. 

This is what the findings mean in this situation and in terms of the literature more broadly.

This section is your opportunity to explain the importance and implications of your research. What is the significance of this research in terms of the hypothesis? In terms of other studies? What are possible implications for any academic theories you utilized in the study? Are there any policy implications or suggestions that result from the study? Incorporate key studies introduced in the review of literature into your discussion along with your own data from the results section. The discussion section should put your research in conversation with previous research – now you are showing directly how your data complements or contradicts other researchers’ data and what the wider implications of your findings are for academia and society in general. What questions for future research do these findings suggest? Because it is ongoing information, you should write the discussion in the  present tense . Sometimes the results and discussion are combined; if so, be certain to give fair weight to both.

These are the key findings gained from this research.

Summarize the key findings of your research effort in this brief final section. This section should not introduce new information. You can also address any limitations from your research design and suggest further areas of research or possible projects you would complete with a new and improved research design.

References/Works Cited

See KU Writing Center  writing guides  to learn more about different citation styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago.  Make an appointment  at the KU Writing Center for more help. Be sure to format the paper and references based on the citation style that your professor requires or based on the requirements of the academic journal or conference where you hope to submit the paper.

The appendix includes attachments that are pertinent to the main document but are too detailed to be included in the main text. These materials should be titled and labeled (for example Appendix A: Questionnaire). You should refer to the appendix in the text with in-text references so the reader understands additional useful information is available elsewhere in the document. Examples of documents to include in the appendix include regression tables, tables of text analysis data, and interview questions.

Updated June 2022  

How to Write an Original Composition Essay?

Essay Writing on the Basis of Your Mind

When shaping up your thoughts, keep in mind that your viewpoint is what really matters. Perhaps you are 100% sure that your task lies in presenting the most significant brand-new insight absolutely unknown for the world, but there is no need to place such unnecessary pressure on yourself. Make certain to name all your independent points of view without thinking that someone else may appear to present the same way of thinking. If you conduct a thorough research, take into consideration your target audience and provide the reasonable conclusions at the end using your own thoughts, what you get at the end is worthy of your writing about.

Write an Original Essay: Take into Consideration the Opposed Sides of the Subject

When getting all your thoughts and ideas together, make sure to concentrate on making a certain number of good points that are opposed to your mind. Thus, you will get an opportunity to cover all the basic aspects of your subject matter from all possible angles. Don’t miss a chance to analyze every concept that comes into your mind related to your subject. Choose the most crucial ones and leave the rest behind. Moreover, it is OK in case you give preference to one and a little bit later change your decision in the process of writing. All you need to do is to select another one.

How to Write an Original Composition Essay: Editing Is Important!

When you’re about to present your thoughts on a piece of paper, make sure to keep them as simple as possible, at least when you’re working on your initial draft. Feel free to provide some words that you’ve successfully learned in the process of research to improve your vocabulary and make use of sentence structure that your content could reflect the way you’re comfortable while speaking. Once you’ve successfully drafted something on the basis of the structure and words you know, make sure to polish your essay up by adding some style and flair. It is OK to mix up the structure of the sentences used within the paper, using all the techniques that have been presented by your college instructor during the academic year (gerunds, conditional clause compound sentences, etc.). In order to generate an original essay , use at least 2 editors. Ask the other person to have your essay edited for you.

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Are You Concerned About Originality in Your Writing?

by Melissa Donovan | Jan 7, 2020 | Creative Writing | 44 comments

How original does your writing need to be?

Today’s post is an excerpt from my book Ready, Set, Write: A Guide to Creative Writing , which takes you on a tour through various forms and genres of creative writing, providing you with tools, techniques, and tips to write more and write better. Enjoy!

Originality in Writing

A lot of artists struggle with originality. Of course, we all want to be original, but is it possible? Is there anything new under the sun?

Some say there are no new stories, just remixed and rehashed versions of stories we’re all familiar with. Often, when someone calls a piece of work original, a close examination reveals its roots in the creative works that preceded it.

Most of us writers have had ideas that we dismissed because we thought they were too similar to other works. But just because your idea is similar to another one, perhaps a famous one, should you give up on it?

Instead of giving up on a project that you think has been done before, you can simply make it your own.

Look at it this way: Everything already exists. The ideas, plots, characters, language, and subject matter—they’re already out there in someone else’s work. Originality isn’t coming up with something new; it’s using your imagination to put old concepts together in new ways.

To test this theory, see if you can guess the following famous story:

A young orphan who is being raised by his aunt and uncle receives a mysterious message from a nonhuman stranger. This message sets him on a new path, and he embarks on a great adventure. He receives special training from a mentor who teaches him superhuman skills. He acquires loyal allies, including a guy and a girl who end up falling for each other. Our hero eventually faces off against a terrible villain who is terrorizing everyone and everything that he knows and loves—the same villain who killed his parents.

I’m not advocating for writers to go out and dissect popular stories and then rewrite them with a new twist (although that’s not a bad idea). What I am advocating is seeing writing ideas through to completion instead of casting them aside because they have something in common with a story you’ve read or seen on film or television.

Creative writing is about imagination, discovery, and sharing your thoughts, ideas, and experiences with readers. I don’t know about you, but I’ve had several writing ideas that seemed brilliant at first but later just seemed like a retelling of some old story that everyone already knew.

But when I read a superb novel or watch a fantastic movie, I often realize upon reflection that these works share elements with lots of other stories. I don’t know if J.K. Rowling ever realized that Harry Potter had so much in common with Luke Skywalker. Whether she did or not, the lesson we can all take away is that she forged ahead and believed in the story that she wanted to tell.

Creativity isn’t always coming up with something new; often, it’s simply finding new connections, perspectives, and combinations of elements. Letting go of your ideals regarding originality and reshaping them with this new understanding will send you soaring into less inhibited and better writing experiences.

Do you ever discard writing ideas that you feel have been done before? Do you find yourself on a constant quest for a fresh idea? Why do you suppose some people have a deep need to produce work that is considered original? Have you ever examined a story or a poem that you thought was original only to realize that it shared similarities with stories and poems that came before?

Use the synopsis about Star Wars and Harry Potter above to write your own story (or outline).

44 Comments

Great article — I agree with it wholly. Everything you want to write in fiction has already been done before, and it’s the truth. I had to come face to face with that fact once when I’d written a story, and later discovered that it was too much similar to someone else’s when I wasn’t even aware of it! That’s why hunting for ideas is such a useless job, when there are so many better ones to do.

You might want to check the article I wrote on this subject two months ago: Why Hunting for Plots is Worthless http://www.writerstreasure.com/plot-hunting-worthless/

Thanks for the great post.

One of the biggest challenges in creativity is the removal of imaginary barriers and limitations — and this is just one of many. Thanks, Idrees.

This was a great post. The search for an original writing idea drives me insane. I find myself constantly passing on ideas out of fear that I’ll be seen as a copycat. Your post has given me renewed hope that people will be able to see my stories not for how they are similar to other stories, but for the way I make them my own. Thanks for the morale boost!

You’re welcome, Megan. Keep writing!

Strive to be excellent. That is always rare enough to be its own kind of originality.

Originality for its own sake is almost always a failure. It may get an artist a little peer attention but the general public just shakes its head, if they even notice. Some would like to claim that this is because the masses are ignorant of aesthetics. I think it is because the masses responds to excellence foremost and only recognizes originality when it is good enough to be enjoyed despite its earth shattering uniquety.

Yes, I know uniquety is not a word. Failing to be excellent, I have no recourse but to attempt originality.

Great response, Mikel. Yes, I think one’s time is much better invested in striving toward excellence. Sometimes I wonder if originality ever did exist or if everything is just some new and improved version of something else. Even a light bulb, surely one of the most important inventions in the last 1000 years, is based on the sun.

Plato said there are no new ideas, but I think he ripped it off.

Ha! Your comment gave me a good laugh. Thanks!

Yup, I think he ripped it off from King Solomon, Ecclesiastes…”There is nothing new under the sun.”

Ah, yes, seems that he might have done just that.

(Shame on me, I had this page open and comment ready but forgot to hit submit!)

I really enjoyed this post. It felt a little comforting knowing that original ideas are difficult if not impossible to come by. I recently had a conversation with a friend about how come up with ideas. I told her the story about when I was younger, I came up with an idea for a superhero who basically controlled electricity and traveled by a hover board, similar to what was in Back to the Future 2. On top of all of that, he was a black kid with some funky hair, so basically it was me. A couple years later I’m watching Kids WB and they are airing a new action cartoon called Static Shock… which I later researched was based on a comic book and it was almost the same exact character I created. So had I tried to sell this idea, I’d definitely come into some trouble.

Today, my ideas come from life experiences. I know people have gone through whatever I’m trying to explain, but I think it’s how I tell my story that may make it sound fresh and new. I’m also interested in retelling historical stories that aren’t as popular or well known. But I can go on all day about this topic so I’ll save it for a future blog post. Thanks for inspiring me yet again!

Many years ago, I outlined a story that was about a kid who went off to magic school. It was eerily similar to a novel that came out later — Harry Potter. And when I outlined my idea, I had thought, “Nobody’s going to read this; it’s silly.” Turns out I’m the one who’s silly. Still, I just looked over those old notes a few weeks ago and realized that though the basic premise was similar to Harry Potter, my story would have been vastly different (female lead character, based more in sci-fi than fantasy). Yeah, original ideas are impossible. But I’m definitely hooked on the notion of combining things in new ways. So, how about a school for vampires? Hehee.

I cosign that idea of vampire school. Surely vampires have to go somwhere to learn all about their history and proper vampire manners.

With all this hype over vampires and werewolves, I feel kinda bad about mummies and Frankenstein’s monster (and his bride). Surely they could have a revival.

I know! Many monsters are getting neglected. What about the beasts that aren’t monsters, like unicorns? Nobody says anything about them!

I wonder what kind of twist can be plotted using unicorns as the driver.

Or winged horses… Adult versions of children’s fairytales.

I agree with Megan. I often think my ideas have sprung from some of my favorite stories or movies and have scrapped them before I have started. Its great to know im not going crazy and am very much not alone ! Thanks !

I think all my ideas come from my favorite stories. Right now, I’m really into Lost (yes, I’m way late on that bus). I would say that it comes across as perhaps the most original show/book/movie I have ever seen. But if I take it apart, I find out that it’s just a new way of combining and retelling a bunch of old characters and stories. In some cases, the show even references its own sources! White rabbits and “going down the rabbit hole” galore!

Much of the pleasure in reading is the recognition of a well-disguised plot. If what what we read is similar to what we have read, it is an easier read – less the challenge and more the gratification. The more original a work is, the less popular it will be – sadly.

I couldn’t agree more. I’m not a lazy reader, so I definitely appreciate plots and characters that present a decent mental challenge. Some people like to read (or watch TV and movies) just to relax and tune out. That’s fine once in a while, but mostly, I like art that makes me think.

I wrote a piece of flash fiction called Sherry’s Last stand, someone who commented on it said it reminded her of a movie were people were turned into wax figures. Ah I said, House of Wax 1953 Vincent Price! LOL – I never thought about my Sherry’s Last stand being similar, but I guess it is a new twist on an old idea… and that’s it really isn’t it ? Giving new and original twists to old ideas even if we didn’t realise it was an old idea in the first place! :O)

I think this happens to writers all the time. I’ve heard countless, woeful stories from writers who thought they’d created something original only to discover there were similar stories already in existence. I think the trick is not to try so hard to be original but to be brave enough to put your own story out there even if it does share similarities with other (often more famous) works. The key is to combine different story elements in unique ways rather than try to come up with something that nobody has ever thought of before.

Well I think you are absolutely right, and really from what I’ve seen there is very little that has not already been written about, but that in itself should not stop us. I never occurred to me Whether Sherry was an original story or not, it was just a story I had to tell.

I think the value of storytelling is not in originality but in emotional content, but that’s just me.

This article has opened up a whole new perspective for me! Thank you, I’ve been trying to write this one story for years. Years. And what is stopping me is every time I get an idea I think its great but then almost immediately I shoot it down cause its similar, even in just the slightest way to a book I just read, or a movie I just saw or just by coincidence. I keep self-criticising myself, but thank you, Melissa for an exceptionally well-done article.

I think it’s inevitable. I see similarities in novels, movies, and TV shows all the time. In fact, for every story out there, I can always draw several similarities to other stories, so why should my work be an exception? That’s the thought that keeps me going when I feel like everything’s been done.

Ok. So I have an idea for a historical novel; however, I found a similar book that focuses on the same character. Of course many of the events would be the same because it is historical fiction. My idea is greater in complexity and has more breadth. This will be my first attempt at writing a novel. I was quite discouraged when I found “my book” already written. Should I pursue and write my story? Or is it a hopeless endeavor because no publisher will publish a book similar to another….but better, of course!

My guess is that once you start writing, your story will diverge and end up being quite different from the one you’re worried about. I say go ahead with your idea and see what happens.

I guess I am fortunate I never run out of ideas.Once in a while I take a break for two days or so then approach my computer again with a fresh perspective and the ideas flow freely.

That’s awesome! Most writers I know either have too many or too few ideas.

Hi Melissa,

Great article. I, too, hesitate all too often because I am writing something that feels, or I fear could be, redundant. I have begun telling myself that no matter how often or in what context a story is told, there will always be someone hearing/reading it for the first time. That has helped open the possibility of a perpetual audience. Thanks again!

Thanks, Billie! You’ve made a great point!

I’ve always said it isn’t the concept it’s the execution. Now if I could just get a concept or two I’d be on my way…

I think concepts are easy to find, but coming up with a compelling concept, one you simply must write about…that’s another story!

I feel a lot of have similar interests and it would draw us closer of we all shared our individual thoughts and experiences through the stories we write. Just keep putting yourself out there. Have no fear.

That’s another good point! We share the human experience so it’s only natural that similar concepts and themes would appear in our work. Thanks, Teresa!

I love a romance author John a Lindsey, I’ve read about 10 books of hers. All the books have similar heroes and heroines. Do you know what keeps me going back to read more? She has different twist to the stories. Each story though set in the 17 century has unique characters that makes it really good.

Personally, I detest the idea that what I have written has no originality. Come on, it is my brain, the drama acted in my mind. A writer’s quote says “A writer is a world trapped in a person.” I’ve never had issues with originality. Though I’ve discarded badly written stories before. They were simply not good. As we all know, writers drive themselves hard and condemn their work first…*smiles*

I love this piece!

Writers can be overly critical of their own work. That’s a good thing if we use it to improve our writing, but it can also hold us back if it prevents us from writing or sharing our work. Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Deb!

After reading what all of you have to say about originality I suppose I must rethink my position. I am not a writer but I have many original (or so I thought) ideas for stories. I only wish I had the talent to use those ideas. Is there such a thing as collaboration with writers that need ideas? Thanks LDon

Yes, there are many writers who work with partners. Ideally, you would find someone whose skills complement yours. But you can also practice and study the craft to improve your own skills so you don’t have to rely on a partner.

Melissa, Bravo. Excellent! I just started my website about two months ago. I am experimenting with a free website before I launch the website I really want to produce. It’s for fun really! I have been writing for a very long time. However, I have never really been good at grammar or proofreading. I did a google search and came across your website. I have bookmarked your website and will use it often as I tackle my entries. Thanks.

This particular article caught my attention. I have been telling my sister, “there is nothing new out there to write, everything has been thought of”, for a very long time. Thanks for opening my eyes to approach writing differently.

I had to comment because I am discovering it’s harder to get your ideas on this vast internet. So again I say BRAVO! Ever since starting my website I am paying more attention to the lay out of websites. Yours is fantastic! I noticed you used WordPress and I have been watching editorials on WordPress. When I launch my “dream” website that is what I plan to use, WordPress.

I wish you all of the best as you continue to produce great and helpful articles about writing.

Take care, Heartburnvents

P.S. Sorry I haven’t used my real name. I wish to remain anonymous.

WordPress is, without a doubt, the best platform for an author’s website. I think it’s a good idea to experiment on a free site before investing in a self-hosted presence. Good luck to you!

Great post. I love your synopsis of Harry Potter/Star Wars. It shows just how different two stories can be with the same basic plot. I think I’ll do your exercise and see what I come up with.

Thanks, Vivienne. I hope you have fun with the exercise.

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What Are the Different Types and Characteristics of Essays?

• An Introduction to Punctuation
• Ph.D., Rhetoric and English, University of Georgia
• M.A., Modern English and American Literature, University of Leicester
• B.A., English, State University of New York

The term essay comes from the French for "trial" or "attempt." French author Michel de Montaigne coined the term when he assigned the title Essais to his first publication in 1580. In "Montaigne: A Biography" (1984), Donald Frame notes that Montaigne "often used the verb essayer (in modern French, normally to try ) in ways close to his project, related to experience, with the sense of trying out or testing."

An essay is a short work of nonfiction , while a writer of essays is called an essayist. In writing instruction, essay is often used as another word for composition . In an essay, an authorial voice  (or narrator ) typically invites an implied reader  (the audience ) to accept as authentic a certain textual mode of experience. 

Definitions and Observations

• "[An essay is a] composition , usually in prose .., which may be of only a few hundred words (like Bacon's "Essays") or of book length (like Locke's "Essay Concerning Human Understanding") and which discusses, formally or informally, a topic or a variety of topics." (J.A. Cuddon, "Dictionary of Literary Terms". Basil, 1991)
• " Essays are how we speak to one another in print — caroming thoughts not merely in order to convey a certain packet of information, but with a special edge or bounce of personal character in a kind of public letter." (Edward Hoagland, Introduction, "The Best American Essays : 1999". Houghton, 1999)
• "[T]he essay traffics in fact and tells the truth, yet it seems to feel free to enliven, to shape, to embellish, to make use as necessary of elements of the imaginative and the fictive — thus its inclusion in that rather unfortunate current designation ' creative nonfiction .'" (G. Douglas Atkins, "Reading Essays: An Invitation". University of Georgia Press, 2007)

Montaigne's Autobiographical Essays "Although Michel de Montaigne, who fathered the modern essay in the 16th century, wrote autobiographically (like the essayists who claim to be his followers today), his autobiography was always in the service of larger existential discoveries. He was forever on the lookout for life lessons. If he recounted the sauces he had for dinner and the stones that weighted his kidney, it was to find an element of truth that we could put in our pockets and carry away, that he could put in his own pocket. After all, Philosophy — which is what he thought he practiced in his essays, as had his idols, Seneca and Cicero, before him — is about 'learning to live.' And here lies the problem with essayists today: not that they speak of themselves, but that they do so with no effort to make their experience relevant or useful to anyone else, with no effort to extract from it any generalizable insight into the human condition." (Cristina Nehring, "What’s Wrong With the American Essay." Truthdig, Nov. 29, 2007)

The Artful Formlessness of the Essay "[G]ood essays are works of literary art. Their supposed formlessness is more a strategy to disarm the reader with the appearance of unstudied spontaneity than a reality of composition. . . . "The essay form as a whole has long been associated with an experimental method. This idea goes back to Montaigne and his endlessly suggestive use of the term essai for his writing. To essay is to attempt, to test, to make a run at something without knowing whether you are going to succeed. The experimental association also derives from the other fountain-head of the essay, Francis Bacon , and his stress on the empirical inductive method, so useful in the development of the social sciences." (Phillip Lopate, "The Art of the Personal Essay". Anchor, 1994)

Articles vs. Essays "[W]hat finally distinguishes an essay from an article may just be the author's gumption, the extent to which personal voice, vision, and style are the prime movers and shapers, even though the authorial 'I' may be only a remote energy, nowhere visible but everywhere present." (Justin Kaplan, ed. "The Best American Essays: 1990". Ticknor & Fields, 1990) "I am predisposed to the essay with knowledge to impart — but, unlike journalism, which exists primarily to present facts, the essays transcend their data, or transmute it into personal meaning. The memorable essay, unlike the article, is not place or time-bound; it survives the occasion of its original composition. Indeed, in the most brilliant essays, language is not merely the medium of communication ; it is communication." (Joyce Carol Oates, quoted by Robert Atwan in "The Best American Essays, College Edition", 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin, 1998) "I speak of a 'genuine' essay because fakes abound. Here the old-fashioned term poetaster may apply, if only obliquely. As the poetaster is to the poet — a lesser aspirant — so the average article is to the essay: a look-alike knockoff guaranteed not to wear well. An article is often gossip. An essay is reflection and insight. An article often has the temporary advantage of social heat — what's hot out there right now. An essay's heat is interior. An article can be timely, topical, engaged in the issues and personalities of the moment; it is likely to be stale within the month. In five years it may have acquired the quaint aura of a rotary phone. An article is usually Siamese-twinned to its date of birth. An essay defies its date of birth — and ours, too. (A necessary caveat: some genuine essays are popularly called 'articles' — but this is no more than an idle, though persistent, habit of speech. What's in a name? The ephemeral is the ephemeral. The enduring is the enduring.)" (Cynthia Ozick, "SHE: Portrait of the Essay as a Warm Body." The Atlantic Monthly, September 1998)

The Status of the Essay "Though the essay has been a popular form of writing in British and American periodicals since the 18th century, until recently its status in the literary canon has been, at best, uncertain. Relegated to the composition class, frequently dismissed as mere journalism, and generally ignored as an object for serious academic study, the essay has sat, in James Thurber's phrase, ' on the edge of the chair of Literature.' "In recent years, however, prompted by both a renewed interest in rhetoric and by poststructuralist redefinitions of literature itself, the essay — as well as such related forms of 'literary nonfiction' as biography , autobiography , and travel and nature writing — has begun to attract increasing critical attention and respect." (Richard Nordquist, "Essay," in "Encylopedia of American Literature", ed. S. R. Serafin. Continuum, 1999)

The Contemporary Essay "At present, the American magazine essay , both the long feature piece and the critical essay, is flourishing, in unlikely circumstances... "There are plenty of reasons for this. One is that magazines, big and small, are taking over some of the cultural and literary ground vacated by newspapers in their seemingly unstoppable evaporation. Another is that the contemporary essay has for some time now been gaining energy as an escape from, or rival to, the perceived conservatism of much mainstream fiction... "So the contemporary essay is often to be seen engaged in acts of apparent anti-novelization: in place of plot , there is drift or the fracture of numbered paragraphs; in place of a frozen verisimilitude, there may be a sly and knowing movement between reality and fictionality; in place of the impersonal author of standard-issue third-person realism, the authorial self pops in and out of the picture, with a liberty hard to pull off in fiction." (James Wood, "Reality Effects." The New Yorker, Dec. 19 & 26, 2011)

The Lighter Side of Essays: "The Breakfast Club" Essay Assignment "All right people, we're going to try something a little different today. We are going to write an essay of not less than a thousand words describing to me who you think you are. And when I say 'essay,' I mean 'essay,' not one word repeated a thousand times. Is that clear, Mr. Bender?" (Paul Gleason as Mr. Vernon) Saturday, March 24, 1984 Shermer High School Shermer, Illinois 60062 Dear Mr. Vernon, We accept the fact that we had to sacrifice a whole Saturday in detention for whatever it was we did wrong. What we did was wrong. But we think you're crazy to make us write this essay telling you who we think we are. What do you care? You see us as you want to see us — in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. You see us as a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal. Correct? That's the way we saw each other at seven o'clock this morning. We were brainwashed... But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain and an athlete and a basket case, a princess, and a criminal. Does that answer your question? Sincerely yours, The Breakfast Club (Anthony Michael Hall as Brian Johnson, "The Breakfast Club", 1985)

• What Is a Personal Essay (Personal Statement)?
• The Difference Between an Article and an Essay
• The Essay: History and Definition
• What Is Expository Writing?
• 'Whack at Your Reader at Once': Eight Great Opening Lines
• Classic British and American Essays and Speeches
• Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
• The Title in Composition
• What is a Familiar Essay in Composition?
• Understanding Organization in Composition and Speech
• Development in Composition: Building an Essay
• What Is Tone In Writing?
• List (Grammar and Sentence Styles)
• Point of View in Grammar and Composition
• A Guide to Using Quotations in Essays
• Compose a Narrative Essay or Personal Statement

An Original Thesis: Does That Even Exist?

February 1, 2018

By Soondos Mulla-Ossman

You've just gotten back your first paper of the semester. Your professor is making a face. "I liked your paper, but..." You know what's coming. "I was hoping for a little more...originality."

Coming up with an original idea can be hard for any writer, especially if you've endured the tumultuous process of brainstorming, writing an outline, a first draft, a second draft, etc. And yet, in spite of it all, it's not enough. After all, how can you be truly "original" when at least one of the 7.6 billion other people in the world probably already took your idea? You're bound to accidentally talk about a concept that's already been explored, even if you don't realize it until the professor hands you back your graded essay.

The truth is, it's hard to know which ideas are common and which aren't in an area you've just been introduced to. For example, say you've read The Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the first time. Your class has little discussions about it as you work through chapter by chapter. Some students bring up observations you were already thinking about. Some mention things you hadn't considered prior. Either way, when it's time to write, you know other conversations about the book exist, but you're just not familiar with them all. It could take weeks, even months of poring through secondary texts to get even a faint grasp of what you could talk about.

The very core of a writer's topic is communicated through the thesis, so let's start from there. Going off of the example of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde , say you want to talk about Dr. Jekyll's upbringing and how that influenced his actions in the book. That's a broad, common idea, but you can set it apart from this overdone concept by applying a second layer to it. This typically consists of a specific perspective or lens which professors may introduce, such as Marxist, feminist, queer, historical, and psychological perspectives. These lenses serve to frame your scope-or in other words, focus the way you relay your argument. So, if I want to talk about the elements that factored into how Dr. Jekyll was raised, I may want to focus on the historical context behind it-hence applying a historical lens.

That's not always enough, though. Say that with the aid of a historical lens, you decide that you want to write your paper about how London society at the time was responsible for shaping Dr. Jekyll into the kind of person that he was at the start of the novel. Unfortunately, a lot of people may have talked about that. So now what? Here's where the third layer comes into play. For this, zero in on something very specific within the text-and it doesn't have to be explicitly related to the topic of the second layer. A lot of people talk about the historical context of the story. But do people talk about how the police system worked at that time? Or how criminal detective work in general functioned? What about the culture of social structures? Housing? These elements compound in the eventual pursuit of Mr. Hyde, but some may dismiss them as minor themes in the broader story. Here's where you can be different. Grab those seemingly "little" ideas and expand upon them. Take those things that people don't ordinarily care about and make people care about it.

All of a sudden, your thesis statement has gone from "I wanna write about Dr. Jekyll's upbringing" to "Dr. Jekyll grew up a victim of the police force's historical tendencies towards truancy." Bam. Of course, a more unique topic does come with some drawbacks. One of the first things that may be immediately apparent is that finding sources may have just gotten a whole lot harder. After all, if not a lot of people are talking about it already, then how are you going to get quotes? This can be remedied with unyielding searching and reaching out to professors and library staff for help. Searching the history of London's police force, for example, provides helpful documentation that can be bent into your own interpretations.

Secondly, you'll have an easier time finding arguments against your own. Having a strong voice of disagreement may actually be a blessing in disguise, because professors may also expect you to address an opposing argument in your paper. If it's easy to pick out the counterarguments for your claim, then you can just as easily prepare a refutation.

That's about it. Crafting an original idea can be as simple as grabbing multiple seemingly random concepts and bringing them together. Originality is not coming up with something from nothing, but considering and responding to what many different people have said in the past and molding them all together into something you can truly call yours. I have always considered originality to be one of the most important things to consider when planning any paper, and I definitely hope this at least provides some guidance in your own process.

The Critical Turkey

Essay Writing Hacks for the Social Sciences

How Can I Be Original in my Essay Writing? Critical Analysis and Original Argument

One of the most sought-after, and yet misunderstood, attributes of a social science essay or dissertation is originality. To achieve a grade in the 90s range here at Edinburgh (that is, an A++, an exceptionally good mark), for example, according to our marking descriptors , your essay needs to display ‘an exceptional degree of insight and independent thought’, ‘flair’, and indeed ‘originality’. Independent analysis and originality, however, should not just be a consideration for the higher grade ranges. Rather, this blogpost suggests to think of it as a scale ranging from complete unoriginality (to be avoided) to very high degrees of originality (to be pursued, but within the  limits of good scholarship). Below are suggestions how to avoid the former, and how to work towards the latter.

‘Original Contribution’ Originality

Let’s start at the very pinnacle of originality, as this will help you understand why originality is such a priced asset in academia, and where this whole thing is coming from. Before you read this section, though, I want to emphasise that this is not what is normally expected from an undergraduate student essay. You can achieve excellent grades without it. You don’t need this even for an A+ (in Edinburgh terms, an 80s essay), it might just be what takes you from an A+ to an A++ (90s). This level of originality means you have come up with what is often referred to as an ‘original contribution’, a genuinely new idea, typically based on some original data (for example from interviews or questionnaires that you have yourself designed, planned and conducted) that adds genuinely new insight and understanding to the body of existing knowledge. This level of originality is a requirement if you are doing a PhD, it certainly helps with your Master’s or Bachelor’s thesis, but is very unusual and not typically expected in standard essay writing. For professional academics, however, originality is a key currency. It’s what gets their research published in prestigious journals, and forms an important part of academic reputation.

This is so you understand where the people who are teaching you, grading your essays, and writing such marking descriptors are coming from. For them, for us, it’s key to what we do. For you, however, certainly up to the level of where you write your dissertation, this kind of originality is not something you typically need to worry about (there might be exceptions, for example if an assignment specifically asks you to come up with an original research idea).

Still, if you want to go for it, do go for it. What you should know, however, is that you can only do this on the basis of really, really knowing the topic you are writing about very, very well. In order to contribute new insights, you need to know what insights already exist. Sometimes you might have an idea that you haven’t read about anywhere else, but that doesn’t mean someone else hasn’t had that idea first. If it’s already out there, it’s not your original idea, even if you discovered it on your own terms. This means before you can lay claim to your new idea being original, you need to do a lot of reading, and gain a lot of knowledge. Only this extensive knowledge gives you the ability to identify the gaps in the existing knowledge, and whether or not your new idea really does make the contribution you think it makes. In your essay or dissertation, you then also need to explicitly address this, usually through some kind of literature review that summarises the existing ideas and arguments, identifies the gaps of knowledge, and explains how your new idea addresses these gaps.

Sounds tough? It is. And I haven’t even started on how to design your own research project, collect your own data etc. It is indeed beyond the scope of this blogpost. It needs a lot of focus and dedication, and that is why this kind of originality is usually reserved for bigger research projects, in which you have time to do all that digging, and time to do all that original research. For a standard university essay, it means a lot of extra work for marginal gains.

 A more realistic view of originality in undergraduate essays

The good news however, is that the above is only one kind of originality. There is a different kind that can be employed, and that can be used throughout your essay. This is not so much a matter of introducing new data or ideas (ie what you put in your essay), but a question of how you discuss existing information, how you write, how you assemble your argument, how you bring the readings into discussion with each other etc. The focus here indeed shifts from the what to the how .

What to avoid

Let’s start with what you should try to avoid. On this end of the spectrum there is unoriginal writing. This is writing that mostly just repeats what others have written before, with little of your own input or critical discussion. Such an essay will make the usual, obvious points and not add much to it. It can show itself, for example, in entire paragraphs being mere summaries of one of the readings, without integrating it with the essay argument or with other relevant readings. In other cases, there might be integration with other readings or the argument, but only in a way that someone else (another reading or the lecture on the topic) has done before. This re-telling of parts of a lecture is indeed not too uncommon in weaker essays, and at times the exact same references and sometimes even the exact same quotes are used as the lecture does.

For this case especially, a word of warning: This last example is not just unoriginal, it is poor scholarship and potentially plagiarism. You must not just retell the story in the same way someone else has, whether this is the lecture or another reading, pretending it’s your own work.

Avoid, then, mere summaries of readings. And avoid summaries of other people’s summaries of other literature. At best, this type of unoriginality will make the difference between a B and a C (ie it is typically what prevents an essay from reaching the B or 60s level in our marking scheme). At worst, it is plagiarism, and will get you into trouble.

Critical Analysis and Original Argument

How to write in an original way, then? To start with, there are two layers to consider. The first one is critical analysis, the second is original argument. Both are expressed in both the macro-organisation of your essay and the micro-level of how you write.

Critical analysis

I have written in more detail on how to be critical in social science essay writing in this blogpost . Do read it if you want more detail. To summarise the main points, first, you need to critically engage with the literature. This means questioning the assumptions different authors build on, having a closer look at the methodology they use, contextualising them with other studies that have been done on the topic, but also understanding the context in which the work has been produced, and how this might have influenced the author and their motives. Do not misunderstand critical engagement with disagreeing with the author. You might disagree, but there is also such a thing as critical appreciation, in which you agree with someone precisely because you have examined their work in detail, and have found them to be convincing. This, too, demonstrates critical engagement. This first element of critical analysis mostly shows itself on the micro-level of how your write your essay, how you present your ideas and those of others, always with an attention to the details of the studies you present, and an awareness of different interpretations.

Second, critical analysis can mean formulating a critique of the social/political phenomenon you are looking at. This means asking the power question: How does power, and how do hierarchies and inequalities (economic, political, symbolic etc.) show themselves in how, for example, poverty is discussed in media discourses, policy responses to climate change, or the design of school curricula? This second element of critical analysis can play a key part in how you organise your essay on the macro-level, and how you assemble your overall argument. You can thus organise and structure your essay around a key ctitique that puts into focus the role of such power and hierarchy relations.

Original Argument

And this brings me to the point on ‘original argument’. It depends a little on the essay question, but it is almost always a good idea to formulate an argument, an arguable statement relating to the essay question, introduced in the introduction, and serving as a lynchpin throughout your essay. This could be, for example, ‘this essay argues that tabloid media discourses on poverty are deliberately designed by their owners to blame poverty on the poor, and legitimise welfare cuts and a low-tax, low-spend government’, or it could be ‘that the resistance by policy-makers against sustainable policies, particularly in the US, can be explained by the economic power and political influence the fossil fuel industry still holds, both in the form of financing so-called ‘science’, and through lobbying various levels of government’. Or it could be ‘This essay will argue that the way British history is taught, in particular in its ‘small island’ version introduced by the conservative government in English schools, aims at isolating British history from its colonial context, and obscuring the role of colonial exploitation in the development of the modern British state’.

Let’s keep some perspective here. The above examples are very detailed and nuanced thesis statements that you might see in an A+ essay – something you maybe want to strive for, if your ambitions are that way inclined. But even more reduced versions (e.g. ‘I am going to argue that the school curriculum is an expression of still-existing colonial relations’ or ‘poverty discourses serve to legitimise welfare cuts’) will go a long way. The important thing is that whatever your argument is, it should indeed be arguable, that is, one should be able to argue against it. And indeed, as you then proceed to write your essay, you should anticipate various counter-arguments, what someone else might say and what evidence they might use to argue against you. Address these counter-arguments as appropriate, and show why you find them less convincing.

The essay, then, in a macro-sense, can be organised around such an argument. On the micro-level of how this shows itself as you write along, you then need to develop this argument as your essay proceeds. This is done primarily through signposting, adding a sentence or two at the end of each point or paragraph, making the connections between the different points clearer, and how they relate to the argument. Signposting is usually understood as improving the flow of the essay. This is indeed one of its functions. There is another function, however, which is that it actually helps you develop, and bring to the fore, what your argument is. When it finally comes to the conclusion at the end of your essay, you merely need to bring the different strings of the argument together, and put them into context with the essay or research question.

Final Thoughts

Both critical analysis and original argument take you beyond merely reproducing what is already out there. They help you develop your own take on things, and put your own stamp on the essay. They will demonstrate your credentials as an independent, critical thinker. They are the keys that will help you unlock ‘originality’ in your essay.

Part 2 of ‘How to be original’ will go a step further, and suggest two techniques for turbocharging your originality, (a) using case studies and (b) theoretical frameworks. Stay tuned for updates.

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4.4: Organically Structured Essays

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Learning Objective

• Identify characteristics of organically structured essays

In high school, the SAT and other standardized testing formats value a very rigid, formulaic approach to essay writing. Some students who have mastered that form, and enjoyed a lot of success from doing so, assume that college writing is simply more of the same. The skills involved in a very basic kind of essay—often called the five-paragraph theme—are indispensable. If you’re good at the five-paragraph theme, then you’re good at identifying a clear and consistent thesis, arranging cohesive paragraphs, organizing evidence for key points, and situating an argument within a broader context through the introduction and conclusion.

In college, you will build on and move beyond those essential formulaic skills. Your college professors are looking for a more ambitious and arguable thesis, a nuanced and compelling argument, and real-life evidence for all key points, all in an organically structured paper.

Link to Learning

This resource from the UNC Writing Center explains how college writing differs from writing in high school.

The figures below contrast the standard five-paragraph theme and the organic college paper. The five-paragraph theme, outlined on the left, is probably what you’re used to: the introductory paragraph starts broadly and gradually narrows to a thesis, which readers expect to find at the very end of that paragraph. In this format, the thesis invokes the magic number of three: three reasons why a statement is true. Each of those reasons is explained and justified in the three body paragraphs, and then the final paragraph restates the thesis before gradually getting broader. This format is easy for readers to follow, and it helps developing writers organize their points and the evidence that goes with them. That’s why you learned it.

The figure on the right represents a paper on the same topic that has the more organic form expected in college. The first key difference is the thesis. Rather than simply positing a number of reasons to think that something is true, the thesis in an organic essay puts forward an arguable statement: one with which a reasonable person might disagree. An arguable thesis gives the paper purpose. It surprises readers and draws them in. You hope your reader thinks, Huh. Why would the author come to that conclusion? and then feels compelled to read on. The body paragraphs, then, build on one another to carry out this ambitious argument.

In the classic five-paragraph theme it hardly matters which of the three reasons you explain first or second. In the more organic structure, each paragraph specifically leads to the next. The last key difference is seen in the conclusion. Because the organic essay is driven by an ambitious, non-obvious argument, the reader comes to the concluding section thinking, OK, I’m convinced by the argument. What do you, author, make of it? Why does it matter? The conclusion of an organically structured paper has a real job to do. It doesn’t just reiterate the thesis; it explains why the thesis matters. Some instructors will call this the so what? Given what you’ve argued in your essay, so what? What the takeaway or the call to action?

Five Paragraph Essay vs. organic essay

Compare the five-paragraph model on the left with the organic model on the right.

The substantial time you spent mastering the five-paragraph form was time well spent; it’s hard to imagine anyone succeeding with the more organic form without the organizational skills and habits of mind inherent in the simpler form. But if you assume that you must adhere rigidly to the simpler form, you’re blunting your intellectual ambition. Your professors will not be impressed by obvious theses, loosely related body paragraphs, and repetitive conclusions. They want you to undertake an ambitious, independent analysis, one that will yield a thesis that is somewhat surprising and challenging to explain.

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...sessments/5603

Understanding that college writing will demand more than a five-paragraph essay is the first step. But then what? How do writers move beyond the formulas that are so familiar and well-practiced and begin to develop organic writing?

A good starting place is to recharacterize writing as thinking. Experienced writers don’t figure out what they want to say and then write it. They write in order to figure out what they want to say. Experienced writers develop theses in dialog with the body of the essay. An initial characterization of the problem leads to a tentative thesis. Then, drafting the body of the paper reveals thorny contradictions or critical areas of ambiguity, prompting the writer to revisit or expand the body of evidence and then refine the thesis based on that fresh look. The revised thesis may require that body paragraphs be reordered and reshaped to fit the emerging thesis. Throughout the process, the thesis serves as an anchor point while the author wades through the morass of facts and ideas. The writer continues to read to learn more about his or her issue and refines his or her ideas in response to what is learned. The dialogue between thesis and body continues until the author is satisfied or the due date arrives, whatever comes first.

Consider the following example.

Your political science professor asks you to write a paper on legislative redistricting. The professor spent a lot of time in class talking about motivations for redistricting, state redistricting laws, and Supreme Court redistricting cases. You decide to write about those three topics using the following thesis:

Legislative redistricting is a complicated process that involves motivations for redistricting, state redistricting laws, and Supreme Court decisions.

Then you write a section on motivations, a section on state laws, and a section on Supreme Court decisions.

On the first draft of the paper, the professor comments: “This paper tries to cover too much and has no point to make. What’s the original point you are trying to defend? You are just restating everything we said about redistricting in class. Keep thinking.” You realize at this point that you have tried to write a five-paragraph essay, and it doesn’t work.

You go back to the drawing board. Your professor said you needed an arguable, original point and to avoid just restating everything from class. You think about what interested you most in the discussion of redistricting and remember talking about the Goldilocks principle of getting the balance of voters “just right.” You also remember that the professor mentioned a current case before the Supreme Court involving your home state.

You research the case and decide to revise your thesis to argue that your state has not achieved the Goldilocks balance but has erred on the side of excessive racial representation in some districts. Rather than using the body paragraphs of the paper to give three reasons for why that overrepresentation occurred, you decide to first give background on the racial divisions within the state, followed by profiles of two districts where over-representation of one race has occurred.

After writing those sections, you read further about the current status of the Supreme Court case and find that one of the districts you discuss in the paper isn’t involved in the case and that the Court’s decision has still not been handed down. You decide to rewrite one of the profile sections to focus on the district in the Supreme Court case. Then you add a section overviewing the current court case. You use your conclusion to make a recommendation to the Supreme Court about how the case should be decided.

Once the conclusion is drafted, you go back to the introduction and tighten the thesis to focus just on the two districts covered in the court case. You also revise the initial background section to include specific mention of those two cases. Now you are writing like a college writer, using writing as a tool for thinking and developing the paper in response to your growing understanding.

An organically structured argument is a beautiful thing. For one, it gives a paper authentic momentum. The first paragraph doesn’t just start with some broad, vague statement; every sentence is crucial for setting up the thesis. The body paragraphs build on one another, moving through each step of the logical chain. Each paragraph leads inevitably to the next, making the transitions from paragraph to paragraph feel wholly natural. The conclusion, instead of being a mirror-image paraphrase of the introduction, builds out the argument by explaining the broader implications. It offers new insight, without departing from the flow of the analysis.

A paper with this kind of momentum may read like it was knocked out in one inspired sitting. But don’t be fooled In reality, just like accomplished athletes and artists, masterful writers make the difficult look easy. As writer Anne Lamott notes, reading a well-written piece feels like its author sat down and typed it out, “bounding along like huskies across the snow.” However, she continues,

This is just the fantasy of the uninitiated. I know some very great writers, writers you love who write beautifully and have made a great deal of money, and not one of them sits down routinely feeling wildly enthusiastic and confident. Not one of them writes elegant first drafts. All right, one of them does, but we do not like her very much. [1]

https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...sessments/5604 https://assessments.lumenlearning.co...essments/20430

• Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (New York: Pantheon, 1994), 21. ↵

Contributors and Attributions

• Practice: Organically Structured Essays. Provided by : University of Mississippi. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Revision and Adaptation. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Moving beyond the five-paragraph theme.. Authored by : Amy Guptill.. Provided by : The College at Brockport, SUNY. Located at : textbooks.opensuny.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/. Project : Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. . License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
• Organic and Inorganic. Authored by : John D.. Located at : https://www.flickr.com/photos/john-pa/6425182999/ . License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
• Three-story theses and the organically structured argument. Authored by : Amy Guptill. Provided by : The College at Brockport, SUNY. Located at : textbooks.opensuny.org/writing-in-college-from-competence-to-excellence/. Project : Writing in College: From Competence to Excellence. License : CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

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From Boring to Brilliant: How to Write Original and Unique College Essays

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How often do you find yourself stuck in a creative rut trying to come up with interesting and unique college essays? Your essays might be a dull read, lack inspiration, or fail to make a memorable impact.

There could be several reasons behind this, such as struggling with writer's block, feeling rushed to meet deadlines, or simply not being confident in your writing abilities.

Whatever the reason, college professors go through thousands of essays, and the last thing they want is to read the same old thing over and over again.

What does originality mean in an essay?

Originality means coming up with a fresh perspective on a well-known topic. It’s about presenting your ideas in a unique way that captures the reader's attention. It’s not about reinventing the wheel. Instead, it's about finding a new angle to approach a topic that has already been discussed.

Why is originality important?

Originality is important because it sets you apart from other students and showcases your creativity. College professors read several essays, and having one that stands out and sticks in their minds can make a big difference. Additionally, originality can demonstrate your ability to think outside the box, which is valuable in any field.

Now that it has been established why originality is important, the question is: How can you infuse originality in your college essays? In this blog post, we'll explore how to write original and unique college essays that will leave a lasting impression on your readers.

1. Brainstorm on how to approach it differently

A common mistake that many students make is fixating on what they believe is the standard approach. This results in generic essays that fail to stand out.

To make your essay unique, brainstorm ideas on how to approach it from a different perspective. Think creatively, draw from your personal interests, and share your distinct experiences to make your essay stand out.

For example, instead of writing about a common topic like climate change, you could focus on how climate change affects something important to you, like the coral reefs in your hometown.

By exploring your own interests and using your unique experiences, you can bring a genuine sense of passion and authenticity to your essay. This will make it different from what other students are writing and will grab the attention of your readers.

2. Deviate from the standard accepted opinions

College professors value students who can think critically and express their own opinions. Therefore, when writing essays, don’t be afraid to deviate from the standard opinions and take a different stance on a topic.

One way to make your essay stand out is by challenging the conventional beliefs that most people share. For instance, let's say the majority of people believe that technology has negatively impacted social interactions.

Instead of following the crowd, you could choose to argue that technology has actually enhanced communication and fostered new forms of connection in our modern society. By challenging conventional beliefs and presenting a fresh perspective, your essay would undoubtedly stand out from the crowd and captivate the attention of your readers.

Always ask yourself: Can I offer a fresh perspective? Can I approach the same topic from a unique angle?

3. Generate new, creative ideas

Originality is key when writing college essays . Try to generate new ideas that have not been written about before.

To produce original ideas, you can get inspiration from literature, historical events, or current events. Read widely and research extensively to find new, innovative ideas on the topic.

For instance, let's say you're asked to write an essay on the effects of social media on society. Instead of rehashing the commonly discussed points, you could explore how social media has influenced political movements throughout history by examining cases such as the Arab Spring or the Black Lives Matter movement.

By delving into these real-life examples and drawing connections to the broader impact of social media, you can provide a unique and thought-provoking analysis that sets your essay apart.

Having trouble coming up with creative angles or ideas? This is where our expert essay writers can help . In addition to writing, citing, and proofreading essays, they are also involved in the research and brainstorming process, helping you take your essays from boring to brilliant.

4. Use metaphors and analogies to make it vivid

Figurative languages like metaphors and analogies are powerful tools that can make your essay stand out from the crowd.

They breathe life into your essay and make it engaging and memorable for the reader. You can always use them to make your essays interesting and capture the attention of readers.

For instance, instead of simply stating that you are interested in pursuing a career in medicine, you can make it memorable by using a metaphor to describe your passion: " My desire to become a doctor is like a flame that never dies out, constantly fueled by the joy of healing and helping others. "

However, be sure to use metaphors and analogies sparingly so they don't overshadow the main message of your essay.

5. Incorporate personal experiences

Personal experiences are a great way to illustrate your points and make your essay more relatable. They add depth and credibility to your writing and are an excellent tool for conveying your message.

To make your essays unique, use personal anecdotes to show how you felt and what you learned from the experience. When you share your feelings, challenges, and eventual success, it not only makes your essay more interesting but also offers real proof of the ideas you're supporting.

For example, let's say you're writing an essay about the importance of perseverance. Instead of relying solely on general statements, you can share a personal anecdote about a time when you faced a significant challenge and overcame it through sheer determination.

Remember: Your personal experiences are special to you, and when you present them in a compelling way, they can create a bond with your readers and make your essay stand out from the rest. This is another reason why it’s a bad idea to use AI for writing essays .

6. Get creative with storytelling

Storytelling is the essence of creative and original writing.

Your essay should highlight your experiences, and what better way to showcase that than through storytelling?

Make it stand out by telling a personal story that shows your unique perspective. You can also use vivid imagery, anecdotes, and descriptive language that engages the reader more.

Personal stories could include how you overcame a difficult obstacle, a significant moment in your life that shaped you, or a turning point that led you to where you are now. Your story should reflect who you are and what you value in life.

How do you fix dry writing?

One way to fix dry writing is to start by conducting thorough research on the topic and gathering relevant and interesting facts. Once you’ve gathered your information, you can use creative writing techniques, like metaphors, similes, or other literary devices, to make your writing more engaging.

7. Add humor to make it interesting

An essay that can make people laugh is an essay that captures attention and leaves a lasting impression.

When writing, try to add humor whenever possible to make the essay interesting to read . It also shows that you aren't afraid to be vulnerable.

For instance, let's say you're writing a personal narrative about a funny mishap you experienced while traveling. By sharing humorous details and showcasing your ability to laugh at yourself, you not only bring entertainment to your readers but also reveal your willingness to embrace moments of vulnerability.

However, be careful to use wit and humor wisely while ensuring it aligns with the overall tone and purpose of your essay. It needs to enhance the essay and not detract from the main message.

8. Do not plagiarize

One of the best ways to ensure your essay is unique is to write it from your perspective. Avoid copying and pasting other people’s work, and don’t steal ideas because they’ll be easily recognizable by the professor.

If you use sources for research or inspiration, ensure you cite them properly. Also, cite direct quotes, and if you’re unsure of a particular phrase’s origin, it's best to rephrase it.

Plagiarism in any form — whether from websites, books, or other students— is a serious offense that can lead to dire consequences, including expulsion from the college. That’s why your essays should always be completely original and authentic.

The good news is when you buy a college paper from Writers Per Hour , you get a plagiarism report entirely free of charge. That way, you know you’re paying for 100% original essays.

9. Ask for feedback

Before submitting your essay, ask someone else to review it to get a fresh perspective. 

This person could be a teacher, friend, or parent. Choose someone you trust who will keep your best interest in mind and give constructive feedback.

Listening to someone else’s input can help you identify areas that need improvement, and you can make the necessary changes for your essay to stand out.

How do I make my writing not cringe?

Your writing can make you cringe if you lack confidence in your writing or lack understanding of your audience. It might be helpful to read your essay aloud, and if something makes you cringe, change it.

Additionally, always consider your audience when you write. Use a formal tone and avoid slang or overly casual language. Lastly, be sure to edit and proofread your work thoroughly to avoid any embarrassing mistakes.

Writing a unique college essay requires time, effort, and dedication. However, it always pays to be creative and unique rather than lost in the large pool of similar essays. With the right approach and mindset, you can easily transform your boring writing into something brilliant and engaging.

Always strive for originality and make an effort to write in a distinct manner that sets you apart from your classmates. Additionally, infusing your essays with your unique personality can make them truly outstanding and earn you high scores!

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The Difference between an Essay and a Composition

In a few cases, an essay and a composition can mean the same thing. However, your composition for a music class will look much different than your composition for a history class.

What is an Essay?

An essay is an informative piece of writing that includes an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The purpose of an essay is to present a specific point that a writer has chosen to make on a topic and to lay out the reasoning for why the writer reached that conclusion. When the writer has completed their essay, they have in their hands a literary composition. Essays can only be completed using the written word.

What is A Composition?

A composition is any creative work, and creativity does not always come in the form of the written word. Written compositions can be essays, but there are many other forms of writing that fall under the definition of a composition. In fact, all original pieces of writing are defined as written compositions, including all the writing forms that are not essays. Compositions can also include many other forms other than writing, as well.

Essays come in four basic types: expository, persuasive, descriptive, and narrative. Expository essays present facts about a topic, persuasive essays argue a point and try to convince readers to agree on that point, a descriptive essay paints a story using words, and a narrative essay tells a true story from a writer's personal experience. Each type of essay has its own structure to be followed but all should analyze, present, or describe a specific topic.

Compositions come in many forms: plays, short stories, musical scores, art, novels, and poems. Each has their own requirements for structure and allowances for creativity. Any original creative work is a composition, whether it's written, performed, sculpted, or drawn. Both modern American author Stephen King and 16th Century music composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart are known for famous compositions like the novel The Stand and the opera The Marriage of Figaro.

While you don't need to be a great writer to publish a composition that will make you famous someday, you won't be able to take any shortcuts on learning an art form and honing it through years of practice. Whether your practice includes a pencil, word processing software, a paintbrush, or a piano, the original and creative results of that practice will all be compositions.

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• How to write an argumentative essay | Examples & tips

How to Write an Argumentative Essay | Examples & Tips

Published on July 24, 2020 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on July 23, 2023.

An argumentative essay expresses an extended argument for a particular thesis statement . The author takes a clearly defined stance on their subject and builds up an evidence-based case for it.

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Table of contents

When do you write an argumentative essay, approaches to argumentative essays, introducing your argument, the body: developing your argument, concluding your argument, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about argumentative essays.

You might be assigned an argumentative essay as a writing exercise in high school or in a composition class. The prompt will often ask you to argue for one of two positions, and may include terms like “argue” or “argument.” It will frequently take the form of a question.

The prompt may also be more open-ended in terms of the possible arguments you could make.

Argumentative writing at college level

At university, the vast majority of essays or papers you write will involve some form of argumentation. For example, both rhetorical analysis and literary analysis essays involve making arguments about texts.

In this context, you won’t necessarily be told to write an argumentative essay—but making an evidence-based argument is an essential goal of most academic writing, and this should be your default approach unless you’re told otherwise.

Examples of argumentative essay prompts

At a university level, all the prompts below imply an argumentative essay as the appropriate response.

Your research should lead you to develop a specific position on the topic. The essay then argues for that position and aims to convince the reader by presenting your evidence, evaluation and analysis.

• Don’t just list all the effects you can think of.
• Do develop a focused argument about the overall effect and why it matters, backed up by evidence from sources.
• Don’t just provide a selection of data on the measures’ effectiveness.
• Do build up your own argument about which kinds of measures have been most or least effective, and why.
• Don’t just analyze a random selection of doppelgänger characters.
• Do form an argument about specific texts, comparing and contrasting how they express their thematic concerns through doppelgänger characters.

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An argumentative essay should be objective in its approach; your arguments should rely on logic and evidence, not on exaggeration or appeals to emotion.

There are many possible approaches to argumentative essays, but there are two common models that can help you start outlining your arguments: The Toulmin model and the Rogerian model.

Toulmin arguments

The Toulmin model consists of four steps, which may be repeated as many times as necessary for the argument:

• Make a claim
• Provide the grounds (evidence) for the claim
• Explain the warrant (how the grounds support the claim)
• Discuss possible rebuttals to the claim, identifying the limits of the argument and showing that you have considered alternative perspectives

The Toulmin model is a common approach in academic essays. You don’t have to use these specific terms (grounds, warrants, rebuttals), but establishing a clear connection between your claims and the evidence supporting them is crucial in an argumentative essay.

Say you’re making an argument about the effectiveness of workplace anti-discrimination measures. You might:

• Claim that unconscious bias training does not have the desired results, and resources would be better spent on other approaches
• Cite data to support your claim
• Explain how the data indicates that the method is ineffective
• Anticipate objections to your claim based on other data, indicating whether these objections are valid, and if not, why not.

Rogerian arguments

The Rogerian model also consists of four steps you might repeat throughout your essay:

• Discuss what the opposing position gets right and why people might hold this position
• Highlight the problems with this position
• Present your own position , showing how it addresses these problems
• Suggest a possible compromise —what elements of your position would proponents of the opposing position benefit from adopting?

This model builds up a clear picture of both sides of an argument and seeks a compromise. It is particularly useful when people tend to disagree strongly on the issue discussed, allowing you to approach opposing arguments in good faith.

Say you want to argue that the internet has had a positive impact on education. You might:

• Acknowledge that students rely too much on websites like Wikipedia
• Argue that teachers view Wikipedia as more unreliable than it really is
• Suggest that Wikipedia’s system of citations can actually teach students about referencing
• Suggest critical engagement with Wikipedia as a possible assignment for teachers who are skeptical of its usefulness.

You don’t necessarily have to pick one of these models—you may even use elements of both in different parts of your essay—but it’s worth considering them if you struggle to structure your arguments.

Regardless of which approach you take, your essay should always be structured using an introduction , a body , and a conclusion .

Like other academic essays, an argumentative essay begins with an introduction . The introduction serves to capture the reader’s interest, provide background information, present your thesis statement , and (in longer essays) to summarize the structure of the body.

Hover over different parts of the example below to see how a typical introduction works.

The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of education. The use of the internet in academic contexts is on the rise, and its role in learning is hotly debated. For many teachers who did not grow up with this technology, its effects seem alarming and potentially harmful. This concern, while understandable, is misguided. The negatives of internet use are outweighed by its critical benefits for students and educators—as a uniquely comprehensive and accessible information source; a means of exposure to and engagement with different perspectives; and a highly flexible learning environment.

The body of an argumentative essay is where you develop your arguments in detail. Here you’ll present evidence, analysis, and reasoning to convince the reader that your thesis statement is true.

In the standard five-paragraph format for short essays, the body takes up three of your five paragraphs. In longer essays, it will be more paragraphs, and might be divided into sections with headings.

Each paragraph covers its own topic, introduced with a topic sentence . Each of these topics must contribute to your overall argument; don’t include irrelevant information.

This example paragraph takes a Rogerian approach: It first acknowledges the merits of the opposing position and then highlights problems with that position.

Hover over different parts of the example to see how a body paragraph is constructed.

A common frustration for teachers is students’ use of Wikipedia as a source in their writing. Its prevalence among students is not exaggerated; a survey found that the vast majority of the students surveyed used Wikipedia (Head & Eisenberg, 2010). An article in The Guardian stresses a common objection to its use: “a reliance on Wikipedia can discourage students from engaging with genuine academic writing” (Coomer, 2013). Teachers are clearly not mistaken in viewing Wikipedia usage as ubiquitous among their students; but the claim that it discourages engagement with academic sources requires further investigation. This point is treated as self-evident by many teachers, but Wikipedia itself explicitly encourages students to look into other sources. Its articles often provide references to academic publications and include warning notes where citations are missing; the site’s own guidelines for research make clear that it should be used as a starting point, emphasizing that users should always “read the references and check whether they really do support what the article says” (“Wikipedia:Researching with Wikipedia,” 2020). Indeed, for many students, Wikipedia is their first encounter with the concepts of citation and referencing. The use of Wikipedia therefore has a positive side that merits deeper consideration than it often receives.

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An argumentative essay ends with a conclusion that summarizes and reflects on the arguments made in the body.

No new arguments or evidence appear here, but in longer essays you may discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your argument and suggest topics for future research. In all conclusions, you should stress the relevance and importance of your argument.

Hover over the following example to see the typical elements of a conclusion.

The internet has had a major positive impact on the world of education; occasional pitfalls aside, its value is evident in numerous applications. The future of teaching lies in the possibilities the internet opens up for communication, research, and interactivity. As the popularity of distance learning shows, students value the flexibility and accessibility offered by digital education, and educators should fully embrace these advantages. The internet’s dangers, real and imaginary, have been documented exhaustively by skeptics, but the internet is here to stay; it is time to focus seriously on its potential for good.

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 argumentative essay tends to be a longer essay involving independent research, and aims to make an original argument about a topic. Its thesis statement makes a contentious claim that must be supported in an objective, evidence-based way.

An expository essay also aims to be objective, but it doesn’t have to make an original argument. Rather, it aims to explain something (e.g., a process or idea) in a clear, concise way. Expository essays are often shorter assignments and rely less on research.

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 .

The majority of the essays written at university are some sort of argumentative essay . Unless otherwise specified, you can assume that the goal of any essay you’re asked to write is argumentative: To convince the reader of your position using evidence and reasoning.

In composition classes you might be given assignments that specifically test your ability to write an argumentative essay. Look out for prompts including instructions like “argue,” “assess,” or “discuss” to see if this is the goal.

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An Overview of the Writing Process

What is an essay.

If you were asked to describe an essay in one word, what would that one word be?

Okay, well, in one word, an essay is an idea.

No idea; no essay.

But more than that, the best essays have original and insightful ideas.

Okay, so the first thing we need to begin an essay is an insightful idea that we wish to share with the reader.

But original and insightful ideas do not just pop up every day.  Where does one find original and insightful ideas?

Let’s start here: an idea is an insight gained from either a) our personal experiences, or b) in scholarship, from synthesizing the ideas of others to create a new idea.

Life teaches us lessons. We learn from our life experiences. This is how we grow as human beings.  So before you start on your essays, reflect on your life experiences by employing one or more of the brainstorming strategies described in this course. Your brainstorming and pre-writing assignments are important assignments because remember: no idea; no essay . Brainstorming can help you discover an idea for your essay. So, ask yourself: What lessons have I learned? What insights have I gained that I can write about and share with my reader? Your reader can learn from you.

Why do we write?

We write to improve our world; it’s that simple.  We write personal essays to address the most problematic and fundamental question of all: What does it mean to be a human being? By sharing the insights and lessons we have learned from our life experiences we can add to our community’s collective wisdom.

We respect the writings of experts. And, guess what; you are an expert! You are the best expert of all on one subject— your own life experiences . So when we write personal essays, we research our own life experiences and describe those experiences with rich and compelling language to convince our reader that our idea is valid.

For example:

For your Narrative essay: do more than simply relate a series of events. Let the events make a point about the central idea you are trying to teach us.

For your Illustration essay: do more than tell us about your experience. Show us your experience.  Describe your examples in descriptive details so that your reader actually experiences for themselves the central idea you wish to teach them.

For the Cause-and-Effect essay : do more than simply tell us about how one thing cause another thing. Evaluate that causality and form an idea about them, so that you can offer your reader some basic insight into the relationship.

One final thought. Often students say, “I’m young; I don’t have any meaningful insights about life.” It’s true that you may not be able to solve the pressing issues of the day, but think of it another way. What if a younger brother or sister came to you and in an anxious voice said, “I’ve got to do X.  I’ve never had to do X. You’ve had some experience with X.  Can you give me some advice?” You may have some wisdom and insights from your own life experience to share. Don’t worry about solving the BIG issues in this class. You can serve the world as well by simply addressing, and bringing to life in words, the problems and life situations that you know best, no matter how mundane. So think of your audience as someone who can learn from your life experiences and write to them and for them.

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• Authored by : Paul Powell. Provided by : Central Community College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution
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Guest Essay

José Andrés: Let People Eat

By José Andrés

Mr. Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen.

In the worst conditions you can imagine — after hurricanes, earthquakes, bombs and gunfire — the best of humanity shows up. Not once or twice but always.

The seven people killed on a World Central Kitchen mission in Gaza on Monday were the best of humanity. They are not faceless or nameless. They are not generic aid workers or collateral damage in war.

Saifeddin Issam Ayad Abutaha, John Chapman, Jacob Flickinger, Zomi Frankcom, James Henderson, James Kirby and Damian Sobol risked everything for the most fundamentally human activity: to share our food with others.

These are people I served alongside in Ukraine, Turkey, Morocco, the Bahamas, Indonesia, Mexico, Gaza and Israel. They were far more than heroes.

Their work was based on the simple belief that food is a universal human right. It is not conditional on being good or bad, rich or poor, left or right. We do not ask what religion you belong to. We just ask how many meals you need.

From Day 1, we have fed Israelis as well as Palestinians. Across Israel, we have served more than 1.75 million hot meals. We have fed families displaced by Hezbollah rockets in the north. We have fed grieving families from the south. We delivered meals to the hospitals where hostages were reunited with their families. We have called consistently, repeatedly and passionately for the release of all the hostages.

All the while, we have communicated extensively with Israeli military and civilian officials. At the same time, we have worked closely with community leaders in Gaza, as well as Arab nations in the region. There is no way to bring a ship full of food to Gaza without doing so.

That’s how we served more than 43 million meals in Gaza, preparing hot food in 68 community kitchens where Palestinians are feeding Palestinians.

We know Israelis. Israelis, in their heart of hearts, know that food is not a weapon of war.

Israel is better than the way this war is being waged. It is better than blocking food and medicine to civilians. It is better than killing aid workers who had coordinated their movements with the Israel Defense Forces.

The Israeli government needs to open more land routes for food and medicine today. It needs to stop killing civilians and aid workers today. It needs to start the long journey to peace today.

In the worst conditions, after the worst terrorist attack in its history, it’s time for the best of Israel to show up. You cannot save the hostages by bombing every building in Gaza. You cannot win this war by starving an entire population.

We welcome the government’s promise of an investigation into how and why members of our World Central Kitchen family were killed. That investigation needs to start at the top, not just the bottom.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said of the Israeli killings of our team, “It happens in war.” It was a direct attack on clearly marked vehicles whose movements were known by the Israel Defense Forces.

It was also the direct result of a policy that squeezed humanitarian aid to desperate levels. Our team was en route from a delivery of almost 400 tons of aid by sea — our second shipment, funded by the United Arab Emirates, supported by Cyprus and with clearance from the Israel Defense Forces.

The team members put their lives at risk precisely because this food aid is so rare and desperately needed. According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification global initiative, half the population of Gaza — 1.1. million people — faces the imminent risk of famine. The team would not have made the journey if there were enough food, traveling by truck across land, to feed the people of Gaza.

The peoples of the Mediterranean and Middle East, regardless of ethnicity and religion, share a culture that values food as a powerful statement of humanity and hospitality — of our shared hope for a better tomorrow.

There’s a reason, at this special time of year, Christians make Easter eggs, Muslims eat an egg at iftar dinners and an egg sits on the Seder plate. This symbol of life and hope reborn in spring extends across religions and cultures.

I have been a stranger at Seder dinners. I have heard the ancient Passover stories about being a stranger in the land of Egypt, the commandment to remember — with a feast before you — that the children of Israel were once slaves.

It is not a sign of weakness to feed strangers; it is a sign of strength. The people of Israel need to remember, at this darkest hour, what strength truly looks like.

José Andrés is a chef and the founder of World Central Kitchen.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

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Essay vs Composition: Difference and Comparison

Some students make a mistake, thinking an essay and composition are synonymous. These terms are not contrary on the one side, and on the other side, there is a significant distinction between them.

Key Takeaways Essay and composition are both forms of academic writing that require critical thinking, analysis, and effective communication; essay is a more specific term that refers to a piece of writing that presents a thesis statement and supports it with evidence and analysis. The composition can encompass various types of writing, including essays, narratives, and descriptive pieces; an essay is a specific type of composition with a more structured format. An essay includes an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion, while composition may not have a specific structure or format.

Essay vs. Composition

Essays are about the writer’s opinion on a particular topic. They are structured and follow patterns, including an introduction, a body paragraph, and a conclusion. The composition can be about any topic, and it is not structured. It is not about any specific opinion or argument.

As such, essay and composition are not interchangeable terms. They also have different writing purposes. An essay aims to push readership to develop their position on a topic. A composition explains the topic and compares phenomena without declaring the author’s position.

An essay is a text of a small volume (sometimes a college essay can be up to 7-10 pages long, but usually, the required volume is not more than 2-3 pages). The essay is written in a prosaic style. In an essay, the author states his personal opinion on a topic.

The author can express his vision in a free form. In an essay, the author is speaking on a particular phenomenon, event, or opinion that is reasoning with his view. The essay requires not only gathering specific relevant information but also adding it to your thoughts and arguments.

This is not a one-day job for most students. That is why they apply to paper writing services for help from skilled professional writers. These services aim to teach students how to explain their thoughts and structure their essays correctly.

The work created with the help of writing services is a completed essay that can be added to the student’s impressions. The composition is a creative paper presenting the author’s thoughts and feelings on the topic without explaining his opinion.

For example, the composition topic about the Great Depression is “Franklin D. Roosevelt’s role during the Great Depression.” The essay topic about the Great Depression will be: “Did the New Deal solve the problem of the Great Depression?”

Comparison Table

What is essay.

This genre has recently become popular, but its roots date back to the 16 th century. Today, the essay is offered as a college and university assignment. An essay is a type of work built around a central topic.

The main purpose of writing an essay is to provoke the reader into reflection . Writing an essay allows learning to formulate your thoughts, structure information, find arguments, express the individual impression, and formulate your position.

The characteristics of an essay are a small volume, a specific topic, and free composition. The author must build a trusting relationship with the reader; therefore, writing an essay is much more difficult than writing a composition.

What is Composition?

A composition is a creative work, on a prescribed topic. It has a clear presentation structure.

In the composition, you can agree or disagree with the opinion of other authors, express your thoughts about what you read, compare works of different authors, and analyze their vision. A composition is expected to provide full disclosure of the topic.

To provide it, the paper must follow a set structure: an introduction that outlines the essential problem of the topic. This body explains and reveals the main idea of the composition and a logical conclusion. Therefore, a composition has a larger volume than an essay.

Main Differences Between An Essay And Composition

• There is a significant difference in style. A composition mainly contains the analysis of the topic. At the same time, the author’s position is clearly expressed in the essay.
• Compositions and essays vary in length. The essay, most often, has a small volume because the author’s thoughts must be clearly stated. The composition has a prescribed structure and a larger volume.
• An essay allows the author to express creativity and show his vision and attitude toward a specific phenomenon. A composition explains the topic according to its concept and doesn’t have to be supplemented with unusual thoughts. 
• To write an essay, finding an original idea or developing an out-of-the-box view of a situation is significant. At the same time, writing a composition requires reading about the topic and talking about it.  

Last Updated : 11 June, 2023

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Emma Smith holds an MA degree in English from Irvine Valley College. She has been a Journalist since 2002, writing articles on the English language, Sports, and Law. Read more about me on her bio page .

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