Sometimes however, I have to shake my head in disbelief at the quality of the work.  No, thats a lie.  The majority get assigned to the trash bin.  But instead of deleting today’s contribution,  I thought Iwould turn it into a test case on what to do if you like to fail.

Here is the article title I recieved -

Why BaByliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons is Good

First, lets chat about the obvious mistake.  Should you use a plural followed by “is”?  Which reads better – Why BaBliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons Is Good … or Why BaBliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons Are Good.

Now English is a language that will let you take many liberties in form and structure.  I know my article here will be packed with them.  But the title is the SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT FEATURE in an article.  Get it wrong and your tutor will start warming up the FAIL pen.

What else can you pick up in the title?  I read it and thought – “was the author stoned when he wrote this?”.  Where are the catchy benefits to get me to read?  How about -

Hit 10 Yards Further With BaByliss Nano Titanium Flat Irons

Can BaByliss Nano Titanium Irons Improve Your Game?

After reading the title my mouse pointer was hovering over the delete button as I continued into the first paragraph.  Here it is -

“A flat iron, alternatively known as hair straightener and straightening iron, has come a long way since its start during the late 1800s. In fact, flat irons have now developed the concept of hair styling, and they are more than just a tool to make straight your hair and can be used to test a spectrum of hair styles such as curling, flipping, and creating waves. However, the good functioning of a flat iron depends upon the type of material used for the making of its plates. Best part of the top end flat irons are made from resources such as ceramic and tourmaline. Now there is an advance for ceramic and tourmaline flat irons in the form of Titanium Flat Irons.”

Why does this fail?  Think about it for a second.

Is the article about golfing products or hair straighteners?  I am not too sure as it lacks direction.  The words just aimlessly wander the page.  If the title is the slap in the face to get attention, then the first paragraph sets the scene.  As a reader I want to know what the article is about.  And importantly, what entices me to read the other 4 or 5 paragraphs.  The biggest mistake here is the hero of the article (titanium flat irons) is the last point to be mentioned in the article.  Make it the first.  Grab your readers and let them know what journey they are signing up for.  Sure, create intruige.  But don’t leave it until all your readers have left to do it.

Technorati Tags: essay structure, fail, grammar, Persuasive Essay

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Now many people reading the above heading may look at it and, shaking their head and think, ‘What a stupid question!’ I know I did too because the answer is surely obvious, isn’t it? Well, that’s what I thought for many years for the simple reason that I believed (like I am sure that many of you do) that there was no way that you could expect to write ‘good’ essays in practice if you did not also have ‘good’ essay structures in place that showed a clear line from the first thought that you wrote on the screen/page in front of you until the very last thing that you put in your conclusion.

And yet, despite this simple reasoning, I never cease to be amazed at the sheer number of essay papers I have seen with little or no effective structuring to them and this is so obviously to their detriment because otherwise good ideas can all too easily be lost within a poor structure. Therefore, when it comes to producing any essay I would advise you to always look to have the following word in mind when writing your essay – ‘PLANNING’.

When thinking of your essay structures, however, I would also advise you to look to first ‘group’ ideas together at the planning stage. For example, if you are writing an essay about the ‘Nazi Party’s hold over Germany’ you may group ideas in the following way -

(a) Economic
(b) Social
(c) Political
(d) Propaganda

At the same time, however, you need to show an appreciation of any ‘crossover’ between areas because. for example, some issues like the ‘Jewish Question’ may relate to all four areas of division used for the ‘grouping’ of ideas. This is because, by way of illustration, it may be economic and social due to the fact that the Nazi Party played on the idea that Jewish people were not German citizens and were taking jobs away from those who were so that they were detracting from Germany’s national economy. Moreover, it was also a polical and propaganda issue because the Nazi Party blamed the Jewish people for a lot of the problems that the country was experiencing as a whole. Therefore, there is a need to think carefully about the way in which you express your ideas in practice since it is also important to make sure that you express your ideas clearly in concise precise sentences that are pointed and clear in what they are saying.

Technorati Tags: essay structure, Essay Writing

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