Easy Guide For College Students: Writing A Great 4-Page Essay

College students will be required to write many essays throughout their school career, from single-page to 4-page to even longer. Fortunately, this guide will help you write a great writing assignment regardless of the length. Read more about the basics of academics so you have a foundation to build your 4-page essay outline on.

Step 1: Find Out What is Included in the 4 Pages

For most college writing assignments, you will need to include a reference page. In some cases, your professor may count the reference page as part of the 4 pages you must complete. If you are unsure, ask so you do not end up doing extra work.

Step 2: Brainstorm and Do Preliminary Research to Choose the Best Essay Topic

If you already have your topic, you can skip this step. Otherwise, start listing as many topics that you can think of that would fulfill the assignment requirements. Once you have a few to choose some, pick the best 2-3. Take these couple topics and do preliminary research. Look around for information on each topic. After deciding which would be most interesting, narrow your selection to one topic. Continue to research this until you can find a topic that is the right size to meet the 4-page length requirement for your paper.

Step 3: Complete Your Research

One of the easiest ways to do research is to write each fact on a note card. When it is time to organize your outline, you can freely move your facts around and then write them in a document. Additionally, you can label the facts with their corresponding reference information so writing your citations and reference page is easier.

Step 4: Write Your Thesis Statement

Your thesis statement is going to guide your paper. You can write it across the top of your 4-page essay outline to guide you as you put your paper together. Your thesis should briefly mention each of your major points, which will be located as the first sentence in each of your paragraphs.

Step 5: Know the Format of a 4-Page Writing Assignment

A 4-page writing assignment includes an introduction, multiple body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You will need to discuss at least three main points, which would make up three body paragraphs. You can also add more paragraphs as needed to provide all the information and reach your word count.

Step 6: Create Your Outline

Write your thesis statement at the top of your outline. Then, outline the body paragraphs by writing the main point as the topic sentence with the label I, II, III and so on. Beneath this, use A, B, C, and so on to label your supporting details.

Step 7: Write a Rough Draft

The rough draft for your essay will be easy to compose if you wrote a thorough outline. Take the thoughts on your outline and turn these into sentences, adding words to improve readability and clearness as needed. Don’t forget your reference page.

Step 8: Proofread (Twice)

It is best to proofread twice. This is because readability uses the right side of the brain and spelling and grammar uses the left. Read through once for readability and again to check for errors. Then, type your assignment (if you did not do the rough draft in the computer) and submit it to your teacher the way they recommended.

Once you understand the basic process for writing an essay, you can compose almost any assignment. Always pay close attention to your professor’s specific guidelines and then follow this full-proof writing process to get a high grade on your paper every time.