The+Essay.

Throughout the year, as my peers have asked me to edit some of their written work, I've noticed some common improvements that could be made. These recommendations are no guarantee of a 9 on your essay, but I hope you all can use some of this advice towards furthering your potential as good writers. (Feel free to add on if you feel I've omitted anything). -//Don’t sacrifice quality for quantity:// Sure, it looks awesome to have a nice, long essay, but in the greater scheme of things, it would be so much more effective to stick with a couple short paragraphs filled with informative and compelling points rather than three full pages of senseless dribble. -//Try to throw in some sentence variations:// Yes, this sounds so trivial. “Well duh, of course I knew that”. Be that as it may, I’ve noticed that people have a tendency to choose the same monotonous sentence structures and it really does take away from the effectiveness of one’s writing. Don’t be afraid to use sentences that require commas and several conjunctions. Steer away from terse phrasing, unless it’s an intentional attempt to draw attention to something in particular- a literary technique that I advise staying away from unless you’re absolutely sure of your mastery of English composition. -//If you’re not 100% sure of what the word means, DON’T USE IT:// An expansive vocabulary is impressive and can reflect quite well on both you and your written work. But please, please, **please** don’t use words if you’re unsure of their meaning. I can’t tell you how many times I've read someone’s piece and thought, “Wow, they’re doing pretty well”, and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, some random word (undoubtedly found within the pages of some beat up thesaurus) pops up and kills the entire essay for me. Don’t do that to yourself. Stick to what you know. -//No superfluous diction:// Sometimes we lose ourselves in the…passion…of writing… and begin throwing in every ten-dollar word that we know. I know I’m certainly guilty of this crime. Like I said before, vocabulary is important, but don’t bog down your paper with too much fancy wording. It gets to the point where it’s just unbearable and begins taking away from your essay’s quality. -//Keep track of how much time you have left:// I can’t even BEGIN to tell you how many times while writing a timed essay I’ve looked up to check the time and the damn clock tells me that I have five minutes left to finish when all I’ve gotten done is my introduction. Don’t let that happen. Keep in check, constantly watching to see that you’re making good timing. As much as time restrictions annoy me, they’re apparently an inevitable part of AP English, so don’t get distracted- every minute you’re given is of the utmost value. -//Take any advice Mr. Adams has given you on you prior work:// I know, it’s crazy-HE ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT. -//Keep your RIP sheet handy:// Seriously-utilize this paper. It sucks to lose points simply by using one or two words you should have avoided. That’s all I can think of at the moment. I sincerely hope you all do well on the written portion of your final. Good luck APES. I think that this person wrote a great amount of helpful tips and pointers, but I have also noticed when I grade people's papers, they use the word "that" alot. It's a filler word which makes your paper seem less magnificent. Only use the word "that" when you need to (you rarely need to use the word anyways). Almost everything you say makes sense with out the word "that".