Building an academic essay from scratch

Essay-structuring tools for non-mother tongue English (ESL) students ~ essay writing for beginners

What you’ll learn
At the end of my course, students will be able to build essays that have a crystal clear introduction, body section and conclusion.
They will have gained the necessary skills to understand the prompts or essay questions given to them by college and university lecturers.
The course will also give students the tools they need to find good sources and to reference them correctly.
By the end of my course, students will also be able to monitor their own work and to do self-evaluation on their essays.
This course can help you pass academic literacy tests in your first year at college/varsity and thus get you out of taking extra modules.
Requirements
You will need an internet connection and, if possible, a word processor (such as Microsoft Word).
Description
Are you looking for an all-in-one course that will explain the process of essay writing step-by-step? In this course, you will learn how to organize your academic essays well, and how to create a golden thread of logic that runs through your entire essay. You will also learn where to find the best sources and how to cite (or reference) information from sources such as books, journals and the Internet. By using the methods taught in this course, you will be able to confidently complete the essay-writing process at college and university. And the best part is that you will be saving so much time by accessing all the necessary information in one place without having to sift through ads and irrelevant online tutorials anymore!

We will start by constructing strong paragraphs which will then be used as building blocks in the construction of good essays. There will be plenty of opportunities to practice the new organization and writing tools which you learn, because the course also includes some custom made activities, many of which you can download and complete as MS Word, pdf and .html (or Google Chrome) files. Some other great features of the course is that it is visually-oriented with plenty of graphics and images; that we use real-world examples; that every section comes with take-away templates, checklists or downloadables; and that you can work at your own pace in your own time.

By the end of the course, you should be able to

– understand what an essay should be about based on prompt verbs

– present information in excellent essay format

– know what is expected in Harvard referencing/citation

– use information from the Internet and other sources and reference (cite) it properly

– understand why students are often penalized for plagiarism

– spot poor syntax and grammar more easily

– have an overarching argument (or golden thread) running throughout your writing

In summary, in the lessons of this course I will unpack the process of essay writing and equip you with tried and tested methods which ensure well-organized writing. I will teach you step by step how to use the Harvard citation (referencing) system properly and how to avoid getting into trouble for copying and pasting information from the internet. The course may also be used as a supplemental resource for GED essay writing.

I hope that you will enroll so that this course may help you to understand the essay writing process, and so that you will start achieving consistent success in your essay writing with the help of the tools which I provide. I hope to see you inside!

DISCLAIMER | This course does not form part of any accredited national qualifications framework. Students are encouraged to refer to their specified institutional guidelines with regard to essay formatting and referencing systems. The instructor of this course cannot be held liable for students’ academic results obtained after taking the course.

Who this course is for
Target students for this course include university students who struggle to organize their essays and high school seniors who want to improve their essay writing in preparation for college /university. The course is designed for students who do not speak English as their home language.