Avoid long introductions. Inappropriately long introductions is the fastest way to make a reader lose interest.  While context is important, it should be handled briefly.  Steer clear of too much introductions and you’ll be on your way.

Keep it brief, relative to your essay. A 500-word essay will likely work best with a much shorter introduction than what a 10,000-word paper will require.     The shorter your paper, the less points you have to prepare the reader for – as such, the less verbose your  introduction needs to be.

Things To Avoid

1. Unnecessary background information.  Stick only to context that directly affects your topic.  Also, don’t bother including information that will be common knowledge to your audience – if they’re already familiar with it, it’s unnecessary.
2. Self-referencing.  It’s amateurish and states things that are a matter of fact.  Avoid it.
3. Confusing discussion.  The goal of an introduction is to effectively lay the groundwork for the paper, tell the reader what to expect and deliver your main thesis.  Anything more than that might end up muddling your main points, so stick to the core information.
4. Poor grammar.  The smoother the flow of your introduction, the quicker the reader can get into your work.  Poor grammar and other erroneous writing mechanics will stifle that.  Make sure you use a modern grammar software to help iron out any kinks.

1. Formats. You know how a lot of the essays you wrote in high school followed the five-paragraph format?  College professors tend to scoff at that.  Think of the five-paragraph structure like training wheels.  Now that you’re in college, they have to come off.
2. Language.  Professors tend to expect a broader language base and a deeper vocabulary in university writing.  This is likely something you’ll have to work on – don’t worry, your writing software should be able to help.
3. Types of papers.  Depending on courses you signed up for, you will likely be exposed to papers you’ve never even heard of back in school.  In many ways, you’ll feel like you’re starting from scratch, but it does get better as the semester rolls on.
4. Ideas.  Most students can get away with half-baked ideas in high school.  University writing tends to be more strict with the depth of your arguments and the strength of your discussions.  The days of writing a paper with only half your devoted focus might need to come to an end.
5. Volume.  Mostly, students are just shocked at the amount of reading and writing that needs to get done.  It’s necessary, though – writing papers is one of the best way to engage your thought processes.    Chances are, you’ll need to learn time-management too, if you’re going to survive this phase of your life without stressing out too much.

Most courses in this field fall under one of four areas of emphasis.  These are:

1. Interpersonal and organizational communication.  This concerns issues  and dynamics that occur in different group settings, including one-on-one, small groups and large groups.
2. Rhetoric.  Often, this examines persuasive and argumentative communication, as done in political and social settings.
3. Performance studies.  As the name implies, this focuses on he relationships between different types of performance art and everyday life.
4. Media/film studies.   Here, you explore practical techniques and strategies in media (such as TV and film), as well as its influence in culture.

Most communication studies papers work in much the same way as a lot of academic writing.  That is, you study material, evaluate  other authors’ treatment of the material and form an original argument about it.  The big difference is, in this field, your focus tends to be fixed on a communication phenomenon, with your paper staging an attempt to better understand it.

Of course, papers in these courses will need to receive the same type of care in editing and proofreading as you do with your other subjects.  At the least, make sure to use a grammar checking software to guarantee that your ideas come through clearly.

1. Declaring you’re absolutely right.  If you’re absolutely right, then your argument need not be argued – it’s a fact.  Don’t let that reality stop you, though.  Declare your position absolutely and irrefutably correct from start to finish.
2. Using a tone that suggests you’re absolutely right.  You don’t have to say it out loud either.  You can just insinuate it with every other sentence.  Granted, you’ll need some sneaky writing abilities here.  Work hard enough, though, and you’ll eventually find your groove.
3. Purposely sounding pompous, in order to sound authoritative.  Use big words that only someone authoritative will know.  Never mind that the only reason you’re able to use them is because your affordable grammar software happens to include a very good thesaurus.
4. Ignoring valid points in the opposing point of view.  Every argument has a counter-argument that could be valid, given certain premises.  Ignore them all.  Don’t even mention, much less acknowledge them in your paper.  Remember: you’re absolutely right.
5. Insulting those who don’t agree with your assertions.  Make sure to insert sentences that use silly names to refer to people who may disagree with your points.  Try: idiot, stupid, imbecile, retarded, dim-witted and missing-a-screw.  Those always go well.

If you’re struggling with drilling a paragraph of quoted material down to size, here are some guidelines you can use.

1. Avoid block quotations like the plague.  Quoting large blocks of words can make your job easier.  However, it also takes away from any impact your own ideas can make.   Only do it if omitting any words will affect the original material’s most important points.
2. Quote short fragments whenever possible.  Rather than quote full sentences, see if you can communicate the same idea while quoting just fragments.  A lot of what people say, especially in interviews, tend to be repetitive, so picking the most appropriate representation should of their thought will often do.
3. Make sure your quote represents the source’s complete thoughts.  One danger of quoting fragments is that you drill down the source’s ideas to one sound bite.  Thus, it’s easy to end up taking their words out of context.  Be responsible when you quote, taking pains to ensure doing so won’t misrepresent the source by putting words in their proper context.

As always, we encourage you to use a grammar corrector whenever you write, regardless of whether you quote long blocks or sparse excerpts.  Not only will a software-based proofreader save you time, it’s usually more thorough and accurate than any writer who’s tired, sleepy and bothered by a deadline can ever hope to be.

1. Purpose.  Is there a clear purpose to your paper?  Are your ideas directed at a common goal?  An uncertain purpose is the surest way to half-hearted discussions later on in the body of the paper.
2. Organization and structure.  Are your ideas organized in a logical manner that allows you to build up an effective argument?  Do you have your strongest points at areas where they can make the most impact?
3. Transitions.  Does the audience feel like they know what’s going on the whole time?  While suspense and surprise can be effective literary devices, they’re usually unsuccessful when employed for academic papers.  Readers want to know where they’re going the whole time – make sure they do.
4. Critical thinking.  Are your ideas original?  Are your interpretations valid?  How deep have you delved into the subject?
5. Supporting ideas.  Your supporting ideas should be strong enough to hold up the premises set by your main argument.  Will the audience leave convinced?
6. Writing mechanics.  How well-written is your paper?  Did you even run it through a good grammar software?  Even the best ideas will falter when beset by faulty writing.

What can you do to make sure your writing reflects your personality?

1. Make it yours.  How?  By writing about your experiences, your background, your thoughts and your ideas, instead of seguing into someone or something else.   Employ your own words, communicating it such that your personality shines through, rather than that promoted by a bland and safe stylebook .
2. Be approachable.  Keep your writing style approachable by leaving out the difficult words and complicated language.  That may have worked for you for some courses in school, but that’s not helping your cause here.  Keep it classy, but approachable.
3. Show intelligence.  As a corollary to the above, you need to pair approachability with intelligence.  Everybody loves a smart applicant, they just don’t like it when you’re too smug for your own good.

One guaranteed way to ensure good style in your cover letters and application essays is to use a formal writing software.  There are many settings for these specialized types of program and they include tweaks that can really give your style the approachability it deserves, even while you’re looking to paint yourself as an intelligent candidate.

Philosophy. Personal experience can prove valuable in Philosophy papers, often as a way to illustrate an argument.  Make sure the connection between your account and the argument is clear, lest leave the reader wondering why you chose to divulge your sexual proclivities in a college essay.

Arts. When writing about film, literature and other works, using personal experience as a tangential reference works very well.  Their inclusion should not be as straightforward as an illustration, though; rather, they need to be used as an accessory, either to demonstrate a tangential point, to give context to an analysis or for effect.  Discussions of how specific types of readers react to a piece is almost always welcome.

History. If you’re discussing current history, then some personal experience may be thrown in, especially if you’re recounting something first hand.  For much of historical writing, though, it should be avoided to retain objectivity.

Women’s Studies, Language Studies. In these fields, personal experience can serve as direct evidence for analytical and argumentative essays.  While it won’t carry the same weight as a study with a sufficient sample, it can be accepted in moderation.

One area that most students think will require heavy use of personal experiences is religious studies.  In truth, though, that’s not at all the case.  Religion courses are often best approached using a cultural, historical or textual perspective, leaving your strong personal beliefs out of the equation.

It goes without saying, never write a college paper without the aid of a grammar assistant software.  Whether you’re writing objective arguments or recounting personal experience, delivering it in an error-free form is always mandatory.

Basically, what you’re going to do at this point is revision – objectively rewriting parts of your paper in order to improve them.  The first step to revising is to look at the big picture and implement large-scale  revisions when needed.  These questions should help guide you about what to look for.

1. Did you meet all the requirements of the assignment brief?   Obviously, if the paper doesn’t supply what’s been asked in the brief, it’s unfinished.  Review the assignment, checking whether your paper answers every question, uses every required reference and discusses every idea outlined in the requirements.  If it doesn’t, fix them.
2. Did your ideas come out the way you wanted them to?  Were you able to communicate your message clearly or is there risk of the reader understanding things differently?  Never allow the reader any room for misinterpretation.
3. What general strengths does your paper have?  Figuring out the strong points of your paper is good practice for developing a critical eye.  For the purposes of your paper, it also lets you know which sections aren’t due for a revision and should be kept out of when you’re doing your rewriting.
4. What general weaknesses does it exhibit?  List down the general weaknesses first.  Only after you’ve identified the different weak areas of your piece should you try formulating a plan to address them individually.

After these “big picture” revisions, you’ll still have to do smaller-scale ones, such as editing and proofreading, much of which you can probably accomplish using an effective grammar software.

First, let’s define the two:

Concession refers to the act of conceding to opposing concerns.  After all, the fact that a topic is debatable means that an equally valid case can be made to the view opposite your own.   Acknowledging the validity of those ideas shows that you’ve considered multiple perspectives to come to your conclusion.

Counterargument comes hand in hand with conceding.  You can’t, after all, simply give up a point and leave a gaping hole in your paper.  If you want to make your own position stronger, you have to debunk the point you conceded to, using counterarguments that effectively “tear it apart.”

Effective Concessions and Counterarguments

There’s no clear-cut rule to making concessions and counterarguments.  For the most part, you’ll have to treat them on a case to case basis.  Here are some ideas about how to come up with ones that work:

1. Keep it short, limiting it to a single paragraph in the paper.  Otherwise, you risk using concessions and counterarguments as your primary method of proof.
2. Consider the type of audience who will be reading your paper when choosing what issues to use.  Pick ones they are likely to come up with on their own.
3. While you’re conceding points, remain firm on your position.
4. Be tactful and respectful throughout your counterarguments.  Rude language will just alienate the reader.
5. Use a grammar fixing software.  It goes without saying, but it bears repeating – bad writing can destroy even the strongest arguments.