How to write a good essay (step by step)

In order to write a good essay it is very important that you eliminate the idea that writing is too complicated.

To start, think about the topic of the essay and write down any ideas that come to mind. Write down everything you remember, without worrying about putting it on paper in an elaborate way. Later, these ideas will be organized.

Also think of a quote or historical fact that you can reference. This shows you have general knowledge.

After you've written down everything that came to your mind, develop your initial ideas. Thus, the first paragraphs of what were once just loose ideas begin to emerge.

In the next step, structure your essay thinking about how you will introduce the ideas, develop your arguments, and conclude that propose a solution.

Now that much of the work is done, use connectives and ensure that your text is cohesive and, above all, coherent, thus convincing your reader.

Finally, review what you wrote by reading it carefully. This reading allows you to correct minor inattention flaws that can damage your text, which is why it is very important.

Step by step to make a good writing:

  1. Reflect on the topic of writing
  2. Develop initial ideas
  3. Structure your essay
  4. Use connectives and be consistent
  5. review what you wrote

1. Reflect on the topic of writing

Reflect on the topic being proposed and sketch out, even mentally, what you know about it. If you have time, making a draft and listing the main ideas is a good way to start.

Asking and answering questions is an exercise that can help you put together a blueprint.

Example:

Let's think about the theme "The role of society in combating violence in schools":

  • What? Violence in schools.
  • How does it happen? Friction between students or between students, faculty and staff.
  • Why does it happen? Lack of respect, limits etc.
  • When or since when does it happen? There are more and more cases of violence in schools.
  • Where does it happen? It happens inside or outside schools.
  • What can be done? The school must involve the school community for moments of awareness that encourage respect for people.

In this way, you delimit your approach and, with that, you are able to present convincing arguments about the points you intend to make in your text.

In addition, this organization allows you to not run the risk of running away from the topic and to be able to better control your time.

Take the opportunity to think of examples, historical data or a quote that are related to the topic of the essay. Use them throughout your text and enrich it.

There is an important thing to understand the difference between theme and subject. Theme is an approach that can be taken to a subject. In the example above, we have

Subject matter: school violence
Theme: the role of society in combating violence in schools
Other possible themes: teacher training to face violence in schools, the factors that lead students to be violent at school.

2. Develop initial ideas

Once you have organized your ideas in the previous step, the time to write your text becomes much easier.

In this step, your mental outline, or draft, begins to turn into paragraphs with developed ideas. Add the examples, historical data or quote you were able to gather. All of them are resources that greatly enhance a text, in addition to showing that you have knowledge.

Example:

Violence in schools happens between students or between students, teachers and staff. This problem has been more and more frequent and, therefore, requires a close look at its causes. The lack of limits for students in the family environment is one of them.

Victims of school violence are often attacked at school, but also outside. An example of this are the social networks, in which the aggressors take advantage to pressure the victims and, with that, leave them more and more fragile.

The school must involve the community for moments of awareness that encourage respect for people. With this initiative, it may be possible to sensitize the population to the need to commit to ending this type of violence, which is a problem for each one of us.

3. Structure your essay

Most essays you write are essay-argumentative. This is the type of writing required in Enem.

The essay-argumentative writing is the one in which you defend an idea through arguments. In its structure it must contain an introduction, development and conclusion.

1. THE introduction is used to contextualize the reader about the topic of the essay, that is, after reading the introduction, the reader will know the ideas that will be addressed in your text.

The introduction doesn't have to be long, after all, you just have to make the ideas clear to the reader, without exposing your arguments.

2. O development is used for you to argue about each of your ideas. The ideal is to present data that show your knowledge, as this is a way to convince the reader.

The development is the longest part of the essay, as it is where you will defend your ideas with arguments.

3. THE conclusion it is used to introduce the reader to what can be concluded from the ideas you presented in the development. To do this, you must gather ideas and propose a solution.

The conclusion shouldn't be long. On average, it usually has the same number of paragraphs as the introduction contains.

4. Use connectives and be consistent

A good essay needs to have a logical sequence. For this, we use connectives to ensure that ideas do not get loose and that the text is not a simple tangle of sentences.

So, however, that way, but they are terms used to offer the text a greater connection between sentences and ideas.

In addition to presenting a logical sequence, your text must be coherent, that is, it cannot present ideas that contradict each other. If you are contradictory, you will not be able to defend your ideas, and your text will be confused and incoherent.

5. review what you wrote

Finally, reread your text.

This is very important, because with the final reading you can identify errors in concordance, lack of punctuation, or a mistake made due to lack of attention.

The final review gives you the opportunity to correct certain errors and thus not lose points in writing for oversights.

Examples of ready-made essays

Samples of grade 1000 essays from Enem 2018 with the theme "Manipulation of user behavior by controlling data on the internet":

Written by Mattheus Martins Wengenroth Cardoso

"The advent of the internet enabled an advance in the forms of communication and allowed greater access to information. However, the sale of private user data proves to be a big problem. Despite efforts to curb this practice, combating user manipulation through data control represents an enormous challenge. It can be said, then, that negligence on the part of the government and the strong individualistic mentality of businessmen are the main responsible for the situation.

First, the absence of government measures to combat the sale of personal data and the manipulation of behavior on the networks should be highlighted. According to thinker Thomas Hobbes, the State is responsible for ensuring the well-being of the population, however, this does not happen in Brazil. Due to the lack of action by the authorities, large companies feel free to invade the privacy of users and selling personal information to business owners who want to direct their advertisements. In this way, consumer opinion is influenced, and the right to freedom of choice is threatened.

Furthermore, the search for personal gain above all can also be blamed for the problem. According to Marxist thought, prioritizing the personal good over the collective creates countless difficulties for society. By selling private data and manipulating user behavior, companies invade the privacy of individuals and violate important rights of the population in the name of individual interests. Thus, the union of society is essential to ensure collective well-being and combat data control and the manipulation of behavior in the digital environment.

It is inferred, therefore, that ensuring privacy and freedom of choice on the internet is a major challenge in Brazil. Therefore, the Federal Government, as the highest level of executive administration, must act in favor of the population, through the creation of laws that prohibit the sale of user data, so that companies that use this practice are punished and the privacy of users is assured. In addition, society, as a group of individuals who share cultural and social values, must act together and fight the manipulation and control of information, through boycotts and mobilization campaigns, so that businessmen feel pressured by the population and are forced to abandon the practice.

After all, as stated by Rousseau: “the general will must emanate from everyone to be applied to everyone”."

Edited by Luisa Sousa Lima Leite

"The Technical-scientific-informational Revolution, which began in the second half of the 20th century, inaugurated numerous advances in the information technology and telecommunications sector. Although this technological modernization movement has been fundamental to democratize access to digital tools and participation in social networks, this process was accompanied by the invasion of the privacy of users, due to the control of data carried out by companies of technology. Considering that the use of Internet users' private information can induce them to adopt intolerant or to adhere to political positions, it is essential to seek alternatives that inhibit this behavioral manipulation in the Brazil.

At first, it is necessary to assess how the use of personal data by technology servers contributes to foster intolerant behavior on social networks. In line with the philosopher Hannah Arendt, diversity can be considered inherent to the human condition, so that individuals should be used to living with what is different. However, the filtering of information effected by digital networks inhibits user contact with content that diverges from their point of view, since the algorithms used favor publications compatible with the profile of the Internet user. Consequently, there are restrictions to debate and confrontation of opinions, which, in turn, favor the segmentation of the virtual community. This scenario makes it difficult to live with difference, as defended by Arendt, which reinforces intransigent behaviors such as discrimination.

Then, it is relevant to examine how the control over the content that is published on websites favors the adhesion of internet users to a certain ideological bias. Given that social network servers such as "Facebook" and "Twitter" profile users based on on the pages they visit, it becomes possible to identify trends in the political positioning of the individual. In possession of this information, technology companies can privilege the dissemination of news, including those from non- confirmed, in order to reinforce the user's political positions, or even to modify them to suit the interests of the company. Thus, there is the possibility of ideological manipulation on the network.

Therefore, the need to combat the use of personal information by technology companies is evident. Therefore, it is the duty of the Legislative Power to apply punitive measures to companies that use private data to filter content on their networks. This would be done through the creation of specific legislation and the formation of a parliamentary commission, which will assess situations of misuse of personal information. This proposal is intended to avoid the behavioral manipulation of users and, if approved, will certainly contribute to optimizing the experience of Brazilians on the internet."

5 simple steps to make a GOOD WRITING (they really help!)

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