| When your professor begins to talk about that essay | | | | To tell good sample essays from bad ones check if |
| in class, take down notes scrupulously. Write down | | | | the body or middle section is followed by the |
| anything he says about the parts of the essay, what | | | | conclusion. In this section, the writer needs to restate |
| each part should contain, and what kind of | | | | the main thesis of and reiterate the statements in |
| supplementary sections, if any, will be required for | | | | the body briefly. The purpose of the conclusion is so |
| the essay. Usually essays will have an introduction, a | | | | that the reader doesn't need to go back to a |
| body and a conclusion. | | | | previous section to recall something. Sometimes, a |
| To tell good sample essays from bad ones, check if | | | | bibliography or listing of works cited comes after the |
| the introduction contains a brief statement of the | | | | concluding paragraph. |
| main argument(s) of the writer as well as some hint | | | | After checking if all the parts are in place, read over |
| at how he intends to pursue that contention in the | | | | it to find grammatical and spelling errors. If there are |
| paper. | | | | words you do not understand, look up their meanings |
| To tell good sample essays from bad ones study the | | | | in a dictionary. If you can't find a word in a good |
| body section. This is the portion where the subject | | | | dictionary, chances are it was misspelled. Even the |
| matter will be discussed. There should be one | | | | best writer make slips in spelling. Just because an |
| paragraph for each of the author's major arguments. | | | | article has a wrongly spelled word doesn't mean it |
| Included in that paragraph you should find the | | | | won't make a good sample essay. If you do find a |
| subordinate ideas that support that argument. If | | | | wrongly spelled word, from the context, you can |
| citations are required, check the way the author | | | | usually easily guess what the writer had intended to |
| inserted citations. Was it consistent with the methods | | | | write. If you do find grammatical errors, on the other |
| of the formatting style he used? | | | | hand, chances are that isn't a good sample essay. |