Can Essays be Short: How Long and some Topic Examples
An essay is a type of writing that involves the expression of information and the opinion of the student. It is mostly written in middle school and high school.
Essays are also written as part of college courses. There are times when they are written in the business world as reports.
At first, a student might tend to think writing a short essay is a walk in the park and it takes a very short time. In reality, short essays can be more demanding just like long paper assignments.
The opinions you have and your thoughts must be summarized neatly.
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Can Essays be Short?
An Essay can be short if the arguments being presented are few and the points to be proven are short. This can also be when a teacher wants you to put down full information within a short time. Also, an essay can be short when the audience wants shorter pieces but still with an impactful and informative content.
As such, a reader will not perceive a short essay as one with invaluable information. As a writer, you can express yourself with important information without the need for numerous pages of content and within a short time.
How Long is a Short Essay?
Just because the essay you are writing is short does not mean there should be no striking information. These types of essays should still be able to catch the attention of the reader.
A short essay should be between 200-500 words, with a strict word count that should give accurate information within a short time.
After doing proper research and planning, this type of essay should take a student 45 minutes to 1 hour to finish. It features 5 paragraphs an introduction, the thesis, the main body, and a conclusion.
The main body contains the core ideas of the essay and therefore should have about 3 paragraphs.
Short essays still need proper formatting of headings and subheadings to break down vital information to avoid confusing the reader. In addition to this, use shortlists and bullets to make a precise point within the essay.
The major essence of this type of essay writing is to make learners put ideas and arguments into one piece given a limited word count, space, and time.
The topic and the requirements of your teacher are the factors that will determine the length of your short essay. With a good topic that has ideas, this word count is enough to convey your message effectively.
Depending on the instructions of your teacher, two pages are enough if the spacing is double and one page if the spacing is single. Nevertheless, these elements can have different formatting styles depending on the instructions given by the teacher.
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How to Write a Short Essay
Do not be tempted to think that short essay writing does not involve extensive research. A good writer must get all the relevant sources such as journals and books.
Your source of information should be up to date. Recent sources are more accurate and not outdated facts.
Make sense of all the ideas you have by knowing the particular point you want to explore. Since it’s a short essay, ensure that sentences are not only well-defined but also accurate.
After brainstorming your ideas, outline them systematically to avoid losing ideas when you start writing. An outline with thoughts and arguments can make it easy to write short essays that have a broad topic.
Within the short word count provided, discuss the main ideas without leaving crucial points out. Therefore, your outline should figure out the information to be covered in each of the paragraphs.
Having done that, writing is going to be very easy because of ready sources and outline. Editing and proofreading is very important. Impeccably articulated ideas are nothing if the short essay is full of spelling, grammar, and other orthographic errors. For proper continuity and flow, students should ensure that all the paragraphs are connected logically using the right transitions.
A typical short essay usually features an introduction, followed by the thesis then the main body. Below breakdown of these stages of writing will enable you to arrive at an elaborate structure of writing that is easy for your tutor to understand:
Introduction
Whether you are writing an academic paper or a simple essay, first impression is paramount. Start your short essay by writing an introduction that attracts the audience.
Your focus as a student is to craft a catchy introduction that will intrigue the readers and make them eager to read on.
A good introduction should not be more than 5 sentences. Make it concise and informative for the reader to capture the main idea easily.
Start with a sentence persuading the audience to get a grip on the worthiness of your essay.
Thesis
This is the last part of your introduction section.
Here, ensure that the focus is on the problem you intend to explain to the readers in the main body. Also, include a claim showing that you are going to explore the problem.
A good thesis provides a basis for the readers to be able to contend with your reasons and therefore it should sound contentious. Phrase your thesis in a precise and clear manner so that readers can figure out your principal idea easily.
The Main Body of your Essay
Follow the five-structure format of a good short essay. However, 3 of these paragraphs are solely for the main body.
Here, discuss all the key ideas providing relevant facts and evidence. The first paragraph should contain the principal argument supported by suitable facts. If you have essay arguments that you feel the supportive facts are not effective, place them at the bottom paragraph.
Use linking words, conjunctions, and vocabularies appropriately to ensure your body contains a cohesive text. In the end, you will achieve a flowing essay where the ideas appear gradually from the strongest to the weakest.
Finally, Conclude
Place your analysis results in the final paragraph as a conclusion. In this part, try to prove how the major ideas you have discussed in the main body are in line with the thesis statement.
To please your tutors, do not write a conclusion that only summarizes your writing. Have a reply to all the questions that were raised at the beginning of the essay.
This will leave readers who have a fresh view of the subject. It simply means that you began the essay by drawing the readers’ attention, and conclude by making them satisfied with the information they have read.
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Examples of Short Essay Topics
For a good short essay, the toughest huddle is arriving at the right topic. Broad topics will be the best option for composing an informative research essay.
Below are interesting 2022 topic examples you can write about:
1. What the Ukraine invasion by Russia means to the rest of the world
2. The changes brought about by TikTok
3. How about the government imposing heavy taxes on junk and fatty snacks to combat rising cases of obesity?
4. When is the ideal age for students to think about dating?
5. How nuclear weapons are destabilizing peace and stability in the world
6. Athletes Vs footballers, who makes the most money?
7. Introduction of sex education in high schools as a mandatory subject.
8. The entire world population should be Covid-19 vaccinated
9. How difficult and boring a week can be without the internet and technology?
10. A cursory analysis of the relationship between the United States of America and Russia
When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.
