Got that difficult assignment that you do not know how to sort it out? You might want to try these tips which can definitely earn you some good grades in your assignments.
College Life and Assignments
Anybody that has been to college understands how tough it is. The classes are sometimes so packed that students hardly get out of there with new information, the whole balance of schooling and making adult decisions seems so new to them, and the assignments are forever coming. Fortunately, most colleges, especially post graduate courses are not attended five days a week, eight hours a day, but with the influx of assignments that students receive on a daily, they end up spending their whole day in the library and having a non existent social life.
It seems as if the slogan for college life is ‘Learn hard, and kill yourself while you are at it.’ The pressures for a good enough GPA, coupled with paying off student loans, paying school fees, do students who are not on scholarship, sorting out housing situations and simply just being a student, tends to weigh these young ones down. It is bad enough without assignments and their various demands coming into the mix.
Most courses, when offered, are riddled with assignments. These assignments help to give a better understanding of what is being taught in class. Whether students like it or not, these horrible ways to torture students are going no where. These assignments are tools to enable students to get a better world view and apply what they have learnt in everyday situations. This is the true purpose of assignments, giving students critical thinking skills, teaching them to work hard, and teaching them the value of respecting deadlines. If only these lessons could be taught another way.
The Difficulty of Assignments
Unfortunately, not all teachers know when the assignments they have given are enough. In college, a student may study one major, resulting in 3 or 4 subjects throughout the course of the four years. Each of these subjects have varying degrees of intensity. Some courses need more attention and some, well, are simply easier to get done.
The difficult part of the studying comes about when there are more than an appreciable number if assignments given to the same student. This them becomes a balancing marathon of which assignment to give yourself for and which to wing. Unfortunately, in college, ‘winging it’ is frowned upon. This is because each essay requires such a deep amount of research that most students would be blank if they did not at least put in the work. Such is the difficulty of college level essays.
Fortunately, many of these essays are given out at the beginning of the semester, to be presented at the end of the semester. Some of these assignment essays are unfair examination essays, theses and project work. There is usually an amount of time allotted for these essays. If you are able to begin on time, you might be able to finish early enough to not be stressed.
When writing essays for assignments, you have to come up with a fool proof game plan to be able to present the perfect paper. The strategizing has to begin immediately you get the essay topic. From that moment, there is going to be a lot of brainstorming on how to make the deadline work. With a good enough game plan, you can begin working and finish in good time without much stress.
Perfect Game Plan for Assignment Writing
As mentioned earlier beginning to strategize the very moment you have the topic of your writing takes a big load off in terms of what next to do and how much time is needed to write. Time moves fast, and without a good plan in motion, you might end up having to rush through your essay writing which is not good in the slightest bit.
Here are some tips you can follow in order for your essay writing experience to be less disturbing.
1. Get the understanding of the main topic
One of the ways to make your essay rich and easier to write is when you get an understanding of the topic. You should take your time to read the topic several times, making notes on how you understand what is being required of you. The worst thing that you can possibly have happening is your essay being totally off the point of what is required of you.
2. Read the key question several times-
Make it a habit to read and understand he key question. Most essays have a key question in the form of a topic, and you have to provide your answer in an essay form. Take note of certain key words which may be included like ‘Explain’, ‘Discuss’, ‘Critically analyse’. These words tell exactly what your professor wants you to in the essay. Ask questions if you do not understand what is being required of you.
3. Make a timeline of how you want to do the assignment
Timelines always work. In fact, having a plan before you go to the battlefield of writing gives you a 60% assurance of a victory. You should attempt to set out a good plan and a timeline, starting from the time you would need to do the research to the time you would need to send in your work. Be careful to give realistic time allocations and work diligently at keeping to time.
4. Gather your research materials
Always take the time to gather your sources together before you begin plundering through them. Have all of the sources you would need handy so that it takes less time to get the necessary information for the essay you are writing. People who have sources handy tend to not procrastinate because they hardly reach roadblocks where they would have to begin searching for their sources.
5. Study the given outline properly
Most essays have an outline. Even if the essay does not come with an outline, your teacher might prefer one outline or another. It is expedient that you find out which outline exactly your teacher prefers and study it. Doing your assignment exactly how your teacher prefers it gives extra marks. And leaves you smiling at the end of the day. It definitely is worth the hustle.
6. Start by writing a draft
Never begin writing your final work without having it drafted out. Some students dislike this part because it feels like you would need extra time to complete several drafts than you would need time to write the work you are writing straight on. However, there are perks to having a draft. You get to make changes to your ideas and the way you made expositions on the various points quickly. Also, mistakes can easily be checked and corrected. Send in your draft t your supervisor and have him check off on it before you go on to write the final essay. Have others you respect read your draft as well. Ideas could be welcomed and changes could be made.
7. Apportion your writing
One mistake that students make is attempting to sit down at a go and complete all of their writing. This is a very bad practice as it leaves you burned out and results in a subpar essay. Have a target each day leading to the deadline. Try to spend a few hours a day, maybe one or two on segments of these papers. When you do things like that, fresh idea come with each new day, and your writing would always remain fresh and interesting to read. The best part of the essay would be that you would not write as if you are eager to complete the paper.
8. Add examples to your work
Writing an essay without examples is a failure to bring out the points in a way that would either be relevant to the society or be applicable to the reader. Examples always give the reader the chance to mull the idea over and over in their heads and come up with a next to perfect understanding of the point you are trying to put across. Sometimes, ideas, when out in an essay by themselves do not mean much until they are backed up with meaningful examples.
9. Employ the use of grammar checkers and editing softwares.
You cannot always be able to tell the exact grammatical errors in your work. This is the reason why taking time to consult with online grammar checkers makes the work a tad easier. Just be careful to weigh all suggestions given before incorporating them into your writing. At the end of the day, you have a more logical approach to writing your paper than the computer has.
However, having a grammar checker handy brings your mind to mistakes you probably would have never guessed were there.
10. Never procrastinate
Always seek to start your assignment on time, finish on time, have enough time to proofread your essay, and send it in on time. Pushing deadlines could be avoided if you begin planning to write and being disciplined about your daily targets. Apportioning the work slowly helps in taking out the potential for a burn out.
When students are given assignments, usually, they panic. But with some of these tips, Assignment writing no longer needs to be a headache. You can just have it written in time, meticulously and then come out with great grades at the end of the day. It is really that simple and stress free. Bear in mind that planning is everything and execution requires discipline. After all, a great essay dies not come easily at all.
