quality of a good essay

Top 10 Qualities of a Good Essay

Why are students often asked to write an essay? Because this is a type of writing work in which students learn to express their thoughts about different topics. The reasoning should be backed up by facts and statements about a particular topic. However, the author’s opinion is the main one here, and it develops students’ creative and scientific thinking at the same time.

So what makes a good essay? You will find the answer to this question in this article. Only through finding and studying additional information will you be able to develop your critical thinking .

Here are some basic points and qualities of good writing that will make your essay successful:

Small Volume.

Of course, when creativity is in its full flow, you want to write without stopping, but the first sign of what a good essay is precisely its compact volume.

Here you need to explain your opinion about the topic’s subject matter clearly, concisely, and with specific arguments that will support your opinion. Avoid arguing about your statements because it will confuse you and the reader and negate all the work on the arguments.

Specific Topic and Your Subjective Opinion.

The subject of the essay is always specific. It does not happen that the essay has several different thoughts and topics. This is what distinguishes it from other types of paper works.

Your arguments and subjective opinion should be the same. The purpose of your work is to convince the reader that your opinion is true, backed by strong facts, and is consistent throughout the work.

Free Composition

What does it mean? The essay has no specific writing rules. Yes, a certain structure distinguishes this type of work from others, but the essay composition itself is free.

If you are unsure where to start or how to write an essay, try to find free essays online by contacting professionals .

Do not use too long sentences or try to surprise the reader with difficult terms and strange words, especially if you are not sure about their meaning. On the contrary, your main task here is to engage the reader and make contact with him through the text.

As we have already written, the author needs to establish contact with the reader.

The sentences and arguments that you will use in your work should be specific but not written in strict form. You should choose the point of support of your arguments and the main opinion and stick to it throughout the work.

Sometimes arguments have to be more specific and sometimes unobtrusively described in the body of the essay.

You should try to provide information as if “by the way” so that the reader feels like you are referring to him through the text and want to explain your impressions specifically to him. Contact with the reader is very important in this form of writing.

The Paradox

One of the most important qualities of an essay is that it should surprise the reader. You should use some strong phrases or quotes that will support your argument throughout the work.

The advantage will be on your side if you use paradoxical definitions or phenomena, which will appear simultaneously as indisputable but mutually exclusive statements. Feel free to use abstracts and aphorisms.

Meaningful Unity

This is probably the only paradox of the genre (not including the point written above). Why? Because the essay must be subjective , it must have a free composition and characteristics, but at the same time, it must have an internal semantic unity.

Your personal opinion should be expressed and supported here. Actually, this is about supporting the same opinion, which you will support with different thesis and statements. All of them should bring the idea of the essay to one specific conclusion, that is your opinion.

Use of Simple Language

Your essay can be written in any form, but at the same time, it is not necessary, or better to say, you cannot use slang, shortening words, light-hearted tone, using strange abbreviations, and formulaic phrases. Do not forget that this is a serious piece of work with specific arguments and not an arbitrary letter to a friend.

Authoritarianism

You should submit information in such a way as to persuade the reader to adopt the same position he supports in his work. The author should not use aggressive words, but his arguments should be specific, and they should be considered indisputable.

Use an Element of Surprise

To make your essay memorable, do not be afraid to use catchy phrases, loud quotes, and unexpected arguments. This will arouse emotions in the reader, and your essay will be remembered. The main thing is that the used arguments are not aggressive, do not contradict your basic opinion, and are not written in rough language.

The Logic of Presentation.

Again, despite the free composition, the essay must have internal unity and the coherence of the author’s statements that express his opinion.

Because the rules of writing an essay are rather conditional, the author has the opportunity to fully indulge in his creative potential and use various interesting methods for writing this genre of paperwork.

The main thing to remember is that your thoughts and arguments should be united and interest the reader to read your work and take your side.

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Eight Characteristics of Good Writing

by Melissa Donovan | Dec 2, 2021 | Better Writing | 31 comments

What’s the difference between bad and good writing?

How important is it for a writer to be able to discern the difference between good writing and bad writing?

Pretty important, if you ask me.

I know some writers aren’t concerned with quality. In today’s do-it-yourself and get-it-done-fast world, quality plays second fiddle to quantity. Who cares if your books are full of typos, bad grammar, and poor logic as long as you have published lots and made a bunch of money?

The Characteristics of Good Writing

So, what constitutes good writing? Opinions on the matter vary widely. There will be different traits that make good fiction versus good poetry or good nonfiction. However, we can cull together a general list of the characteristics of good writing (in no particular order):

Clarity and focus: In good writing, everything makes sense and readers don’t get lost or have to reread passages to figure out what’s going on. Focused writing sticks with the plot or core idea without running off on too many tangents.
Organization: A well organized piece of writing is not only clear, it’s presented in a way that is logical and aesthetically pleasing. You can tell non-linear stories or place your thesis at the end of an essay and get away with it as long as your scenes or ideas are well ordered.
Ideas and themes: Is the topic of your paper relevant? Does your story come complete with themes? Can the reader visualize your poem? For a piece of writing to be considered well crafted, it has to contain clearly identifiable ideas and themes.
Voice: This is what sets you apart from all other writers. It’s your unique way of stringing words together, formulating ideas, and relating scenes or images to the reader. In any piece of writing, the voice should be consistent and identifiable.
Language (word choice): We writers can never underestimate or fail to appreciate our most valuable tools: words. Good writing includes precise and accurate word choices and well crafted sentences.
Grammar and style: Many writers would wish this one away, but for a piece of writing to be considered good (let alone great), it has to follow the rules of grammar (and break those rules only when there’s a good reason). Style is also important in ensuring that a piece of writing is clear and consistent. Make sure you keep a grammar book and style guide handy.
Credibility or believability: Nothing says bad writing like getting the facts wrong or misrepresenting oneself. In fiction, the story must be believable (even if it’s impossible), and in nonfiction, accurate research can make or break a writer.
Thought-provoking or emotionally inspiring: Perhaps the most important quality of good writing is how the reader responds to it. Does she come away with a fresh perspective and new ideas? Does he close the cover with tears in his eyes or a sense of victory? How readers react to your work will fully determine your success as a writer.

I want to add an honorable mention for originality. Everything has been done before, so originality is somewhat arbitrary. However, putting old ideas together in new ways and creating remixes of the best that literature has to offer is a skill worth developing.

Why You Need to Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Writing

To write well, a writer must be able to recognize quality in a piece of writing. How can you assess or improve your own work if you can’t tell the difference between mediocre and better writing in others’ work? This is why it’s so important for writers to be dedicated readers!

Writing is also an art form and therefore subject to personal taste. Can you read a book and dislike it but acknowledge that the writing was good? Have you ever read a book and loved the story but felt that the writing was weak?

A writer should be able to articulate why a piece of writing succeeds or fails, and a writer should also be able to recognize the qualities in a piece of writing even when it doesn’t appeal to their personal taste. These skills are especially necessary when writers are reviewing or critiquing other writers’ work and when revising, editing, and proofreading their own work.

Where do you stand? Do you rate other people’s writing? Do you worry about whether your own writing is any good? Would you add or remove any characteristics of good writing from this list? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment, and keep writing.

31 Comments

I have had work published. I have even won a competition and still I lack the courage to really commit to it. It’s like I heard a character in a ‘soap’ once saying: ” If I dream of doing it I can always hold onto the dream and live on the’ I could have done it if I tried’, whereas if I go ahead and do it I just might not be ‘good’ and then everything will be gone then, dream and all ! ” Everything you say makes sense but it’s courage I now seek to acquire as well as certain’ devil may care attitude . Courage and self belief and wee bit of discipline. 2012 might just be the year ! Michelle

Michelle, I actually think it’s healthy to have dreams that we don’t fully intend on pursuing. It’s good for the imagination! A person might be interested or passionate about dozens of things and cannot possibly make careers out of them all. But courage is something else… and I don’t think anyone can give you courage. You have to find it within yourself. The first step is to decide that you are going to brave the writing career. After that, you muster up the courage. It’s there inside you, and if you really want it, you’ll find it 🙂 Good luck to you!

Good one, Michelle, and needed too.

So many blog posts on how to drum up business or write enticing posts or articles, or even how to avoid embarrassing grammatical errors (not that those are not important).

So little on just plain old good writing. Writing that is unusually good, that delights, that informs with impact,

I love the freedom an informal style of modern English. But sometimes I worry a bit that contemporary readers are being fed to many tiny sentences to appeal to an ever-diminishing attention span.

A good list you have there. Maybe I would add that I value fluency. That adroit facility of the accomplished writer who’s covered miles of (digital) paper and now can write not only accurate and clear words and sentences but also compelling and memorable prose.

Ah, fluency is definitely necessary to good writing, although I think it comes with experience, so it might only apply to older or more advanced writers. Great food for thought, Bill. Thanks!

Loved this blog post. It actually reminded me of a quote by Oscar Wilde, “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.”

That quote could spur a debate, I’m sure! Thanks for sharing it, Michael. I’m going to give Oscar Wilde’s idea some serious consideration.

“A writer should be able to articulate why a piece of writing succeeds or fails, and a writer should also be able to recognize the qualities in a piece of writing even when it doesn’t appeal to personal taste”

I’m reading a book right now with a story line that I don’t particularly care for. Eight chapters into it, I’m not fully invested into the story. BUT, the author’s grasp of human emotion/interaction and her ability to explicate the nuances with clarity is brilliant. That fact alone keeps interested and pulls me forward.

Ah! I’ve been there too!

This is a very well written blog, and the advice is good for teaching people how to get their points across. However, my problem is not that I can’t tell good from bad; apparently I’m quite good at assessing the quality of other authors’ writing and helping them iprove it. My problem is that though I love writing and am proud of my plot lines and characters, I don’t have a way with words and I just can’t write. Does anyone have any advice on how to make things WORK once you have everything planned out, or am I doomed to the life of an author who can’t write? That sounded really dismal.

How do really know your writing is bad? If you’ve got a plot that you love, characters that are filled with layers and truth, set them free! Turn off those negative thoughts and just run with it. Write your story through to the end. If you believe in what you’ve got so far then let it lead you. You will surprise yourself. You proved with your post above that you can convey feeling, let your characters have their voice. Take a deep breath and jump/write!! Best of luck and courageous hugs!

Thanks, Beckie. Well said!

My guess is that your way with words isn’t as bad as you think. I didn’t have any trouble understanding what you wrote. However, if you want to strengthen your skills in vocabulary, word choice, and sentence structure, there are two things you can do: read as much as possible and engage with poetry. Pick up an introductory book on poetry and you’ll learn tons of techniques in this area (which you can apply to fiction and nonfiction). This one can be expensive but it’s worth every penny: Perrine’s Sound and Sense . Good luck to you!

Thank you, both you and Beckie. That’s really good advice. 🙂 I’ll try to be more positive.

Yes! Keep your chin up and stick with it.

In my estimation, for what it’s worth, you write very well. You were clear and concise. I understood the points you were trying to convey. You even allowed a bit of your personality to shine through with self deprecation. Don’t be so hard on yourself, if you wish to be a writer then you should write. I am learning that for one to write compelling characters , one must be well acquainted with the characters they are creating. I am working on fleshing out some characters who are too one dimensional. Life is not black and white. I am trying to write in between the lines in gray. Good luck with your writing.

I’ve been perusing your site all morning. I’ve found some terrific tips, some very well-thought common sense approaches to working through difficulties in writing. And as soon as I push the submit button on this I’ll be subscribing!

Though I’ve been published and produced, I find myself in an almost constant state of questioning even the most basic ability to write. On the one hand, a local critic stated “proves he can write” and “there’s a simplicity in the writing that is quite refreshing.” On the other hand, I face a writer’s group (all women) each week who continually tell me my writing is sorely lacking because there aren’t enough issues (conflicts) in any given piece and therefore the characters do not exhibit enough “emotional levels.” Facing this type of weekly demolition has made me think I need to go back to doing what I used to do (before I became unemployed!): write for my own enjoyment and forget about any further publishing.

Where can one go to determine if there is even the slightest bit of talent worth further pursuit? I don’t mean a full-on critique of a piece, but a simple “I’d give it up if I were you.” or “This [writing] shows promise, keep learning and keep writing.”

Hmmm, Paul, possibly find a few dudes for your critiques? Also, are the women published? Have good reviews themselves? Read widely in your genre? Men and women do sometimes have widely varying ideas of what makes a good story. You may be writing good, solid, plot-driven adventures (I don’t know–maybe you’re into steamy historical romance) that don’t rely on a lot of emotional nuance. I’d look for beta-readers who understand what you are trying to accomplish.

Or take the girls with a big grain of salt and use what seems to deepen your own writing while recognizing that women’s brains are different. We have bizarre and incomprehensible ideas about relationships and whatnot. I read an interesting theory from the creators of the Dramatica Pro story outlining software about how a “masculine” character (or story) is about getting from point A to Point Z while overcoming every obstacle in between whereas a feminine character (or story) is about getting everything into balance and restoring chaos to equilibrium. Both perfectly fine stories. (I prefer the masculine-type storylines myself).

Post those good reviews and read ’em every day. I have some really nice rejections that I savor whenever I’m feeling inadequate.

Thanks, Melissa!

Two of the ladies have been published but have no reviews of their work. All have complimented the basic plot lines. Their big complaint would seem to fall into the theory from Dramatica Pro you mention; they are looking for every female character to make absolute sense to them strictly within their belief structure of how the characters should/must react to a particular situation. Otherwise, they give solid line-edit critiques and they do point out the occassional hole in content.

None of them read within my genre – if I even have one, that is. I’d classify my novels as “budscapades” (you like my mash-up moniker?) – in other words the main characters are male (female characters do show up along the way) and they are definitely plot driven stories. In entering the Amazon Breakout Book Award Contest, I classified the novel as “bromantic comedy” (plenty of action for guys with a hint of romance for women).

Both your suggestions are solid. I’m sticking with the ladies but will weigh their critiques carefully before implementation and I’ll have to find some men who can show the same amount of weekly dedication to the process.

Thanks, Paul! I think that critique groups can be immensely beneficial, but I also think that each writer has to decide which feedback to apply and which to discard. Objectively, there’s good writing and bad writing, but subjectively, we all have our opinions and preferences. I guess you have to decide whether you want to step up the emotional levels in your characters and add more conflict or if you want to keep your work minimalist.

Here’s what matters: once you do publish, unless you are looking for awards and accolades, the trick is really to find your audience. And there is an audience for everything (as popular culture demonstrates). You might also take a hard look at what the others in your writing group are producing and ask whether this group is a good match to your writing style and needs. You can also ask one of the women in the group to work more closely with you to bring those emotional levels up, if you think you’d like to stretch yourself and experiment a little.

Final word of advice: do not give up on writing or publishing. Forge ahead! You might even look for a creative writing class or workshop — you’ll get a broader range of feedback.

And thank you, Melissa (not Melissa-me, Melissa-you) for putting some analysis into the question of what makes good writing. I get so frustrated with the “Good writing is subjective; it’s just what you like or don’t like,” crowd. The more you study writing, the more you begin to see the difference between good vs bad.

The difficulty, I suppose, is because writing is as complex as any other language. It’s too complex to learn by having the rules explained to us by helpful parents, “Now dear, this is a verb. It always goes after the subject. Is it time to make a poo-poo?” We learn the rules of spoken language by hearing it at a time when our brains are primed and programmed to take it in. Many people don’t start learning to read or write until after that language window is closed. Those of us who learned to read at the same time we were learning to talk have an advantage.

Yes, I’d have to agree that the younger we are when we are taught to read and write, the more naturally it comes. There is much about writing that is subjective, but I believe there is plenty that can be assessed critically and objectively: grammar, spelling, and punctuation, for starters.

i tell every mother about my baby can read…they agree and then dont get it for their child..

I have to admit, I share a lot of the insecurities that I have read in the comments here. I’m pretty young and new to the game, and I’m worried that even if I somehow finish this idea that I have (non-fiction) I wont be taken seriously given my lack of a college degree. I have this internal conflict raging in my subconscious, so much so that I’m starting to have dreams about it. Do I go ahead and share my thoughts with others or should I keep them to myself?

It doesn’t help that I have a fear of failure, I suppose. Writing is where I clarify my ideas and feelings, and I’m afraid that my work will be ripped apart by people that dislike it or dismiss my thoughts, mostly because I’ll take it as them dismantling my soul. Does anyone else feel this way?

As I’m writing this I’m slowly realizing that I think that what I need is a little encouragement from people that don’t know me. Man, writing is awesome!

Even if you have a degree, people can still rip your ideas apart. I believe strongly in the value of higher education, but I also know (for a fact) there are plenty of folks with degrees who lack common sense or good hearts. And there are plenty of bright people with good hearts and common sense who do not have degrees. Then again, if you’re that torn up about not having a degree, why not just go get one?

Having said all that, I think you can simply shift your focus. Most of the best writers in the literary canon did not have degrees. Many did not even finish high school. Of your favorite authors, how many have BAs or MAs? Do you know? Do you care? (I don’t.)

As for failure, everyone’s afraid of it. I don’t think we’re meant to eliminate the fear. It’s more a matter of moving forward even though we are afraid. I would say that if you publish a book, some people are not going to like it. That’s just the way it is. So what? Focus your attention and energy on all the people who do like it. If you work hard and write, and put it out there (and do your marketing), you’ll find your audience. Embrace them, and don’t worry so much about everybody else. Good luck to you!

never worry about what anyone says…if someone takes the time for a a scathing review instead of just chucking it in the trash, then you must have struck a chord with that person…all publicity is good publicity…people will want to find out what made this reviewer so angry/….if they are intelligent…

Writing well is the price of admission. But beyond the basics is where it gets squishy. Eudora Welty said something like “You’re only writing when you surprise yourself”. What does that mean? You write until you discover.

I don’t know–I would say you’re only writing when you’re putting words on the page. Surprises and discoveries are bonuses in the writing process for me. Maybe it’s because I write a lot of nonfiction, which isn’t full of discovery or surprise the way fiction is.

Great article. I’m going to link to it on Reddit!

i think another goal of writing is to use the fewest words possible to convey an idea…similies and metaphors fill this bill…but simple truth sticks with people especially when it is a parable for something much more meaningful.

I think that’s a good goal, although it’s not every writer’s goal. I love clear, simple language, but there are exceptions when I come across a poem or story that is dripping with rich language.

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How to Write the Perfect Essay

06 Feb, 2024 | Blog Articles , English Language Articles , Get the Edge , Humanities Articles , Writing Articles

Student sitting at a desk writing in a notebook

You can keep adding to this plan, crossing bits out and linking the different bubbles when you spot connections between them. Even though you won’t have time to make a detailed plan under exam conditions, it can be helpful to draft a brief one, including a few key words, so that you don’t panic and go off topic when writing your essay.

If you don’t like the mind map format, there are plenty of others to choose from: you could make a table, a flowchart, or simply a list of bullet points.

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Thanks for signing up, step 2: have a clear structure.

Think about this while you’re planning: your essay is like an argument or a speech. It needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question.

Start with the basics! It’s best to choose a few major points which will become your main paragraphs. Three main paragraphs is a good number for an exam essay, since you’ll be under time pressure.

If you agree with the question overall, it can be helpful to organise your points in the following pattern:

YES (agreement with the question)
AND (another YES point)
BUT (disagreement or complication)

If you disagree with the question overall, try:

AND (another BUT point)

For example, you could structure the Of Mice and Men sample question, “To what extent is Curley’s wife portrayed as a victim in Of Mice and Men ?”, as follows:

YES (descriptions of her appearance)
AND (other people’s attitudes towards her)
BUT (her position as the only woman on the ranch gives her power as she uses her femininity to her advantage)

If you wanted to write a longer essay, you could include additional paragraphs under the YES/AND categories, perhaps discussing the ways in which Curley’s wife reveals her vulnerability and insecurities, and shares her dreams with the other characters. Alternatively, you could also lengthen your essay by including another BUT paragraph about her cruel and manipulative streak.

Of course, this is not necessarily the only right way to answer this essay question – as long as you back up your points with evidence from the text, you can take any standpoint that makes sense.

Step 3: Back up your points with well-analysed quotations

You wouldn’t write a scientific report without including evidence to support your findings, so why should it be any different with an essay? Even though you aren’t strictly required to substantiate every single point you make with a quotation, there’s no harm in trying.

A close reading of your quotations can enrich your appreciation of the question and will be sure to impress examiners. When selecting the best quotations to use in your essay, keep an eye out for specific literary techniques. For example, you could highlight Curley’s wife’s use of a rhetorical question when she says, a”n’ what am I doin’? Standin’ here talking to a bunch of bindle stiffs.” This might look like:

The rhetorical question “an’ what am I doin’?” signifies that Curley’s wife is very insecure; she seems to be questioning her own life choices. Moreover, she does not expect anyone to respond to her question, highlighting her loneliness and isolation on the ranch.

Other literary techniques to look out for include:

Tricolon – a group of three words or phrases placed close together for emphasis
Tautology – using different words that mean the same thing: e.g. “frightening” and “terrifying”
Parallelism – ABAB structure, often signifying movement from one concept to another
Chiasmus – ABBA structure, drawing attention to a phrase
Polysyndeton – many conjunctions in a sentence
Asyndeton – lack of conjunctions, which can speed up the pace of a sentence
Polyptoton – using the same word in different forms for emphasis: e.g. “done” and “doing”
Alliteration – repetition of the same sound, including assonance (similar vowel sounds), plosive alliteration (“b”, “d” and “p” sounds) and sibilance (“s” sounds)
Anaphora – repetition of words, often used to emphasise a particular point

Don’t worry if you can’t locate all of these literary devices in the work you’re analysing. You can also discuss more obvious techniques, like metaphor, simile and onomatopoeia. It’s not a problem if you can’t remember all the long names; it’s far more important to be able to confidently explain the effects of each technique and highlight its relevance to the question.

Step 4: Be creative and original throughout

Anyone can write an essay using the tips above, but the thing that really makes it “perfect” is your own unique take on the topic. If you’ve noticed something intriguing or unusual in your reading, point it out – if you find it interesting, chances are the examiner will too!

Creative writing and essay writing are more closely linked than you might imagine. Keep the idea that you’re writing a speech or argument in mind, and you’re guaranteed to grab your reader’s attention.

It’s important to set out your line of argument in your introduction, introducing your main points and the general direction your essay will take, but don’t forget to keep something back for the conclusion, too. Yes, you need to summarise your main points, but if you’re just repeating the things you said in your introduction, the body of the essay is rendered pointless.

Think of your conclusion as the climax of your speech, the bit everything else has been leading up to, rather than the boring plenary at the end of the interesting stuff.

To return to Of Mice and Men once more, here’s an example of the ideal difference between an introduction and a conclusion:

Introduction

In John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men , Curley’s wife is portrayed as an ambiguous character. She could be viewed either as a cruel, seductive temptress or a lonely woman who is a victim of her society’s attitudes. Though she does seem to wield a form of sexual power, it is clear that Curley’s wife is largely a victim. This interpretation is supported by Steinbeck’s description of her appearance, other people’s attitudes, her dreams, and her evident loneliness and insecurity.

Overall, it is clear that Curley’s wife is a victim and is portrayed as such throughout the novel in the descriptions of her appearance, her dreams, other people’s judgemental attitudes, and her loneliness and insecurities. However, a character who was a victim and nothing else would be one-dimensional and Curley’s wife is not. Although she suffers in many ways, she is shown to assert herself through the manipulation of her femininity – a small rebellion against the victimisation she experiences.

Both refer back consistently to the question and summarise the essay’s main points. However, the conclusion adds something new which has been established in the main body of the essay and complicates the simple summary which is found in the introduction.

Hannah is an undergraduate English student at Somerville College, University of Oxford, and has a particular interest in postcolonial literature and the Gothic. She thinks literature is a crucial way of developing empathy and learning about the wider world. When she isn’t writing about 17th-century court masques, she enjoys acting, travelling and creative writing.

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Academic Skills
Reading, writing and referencing

Writing a great essay

This resource covers key considerations when writing an essay.

While reading a student’s essay, markers will ask themselves questions such as:

Does this essay directly address the set task?
Does it present a strong, supported position?
Does it use relevant sources appropriately?
Is the expression clear, and the style appropriate?
Is the essay organised coherently? Is there a clear introduction, body and conclusion?

You can use these questions to reflect on your own writing. Here are six top tips to help you address these criteria.

1. Analyse the question

Student essays are responses to specific questions. As an essay must address the question directly, your first step should be to analyse the question. Make sure you know exactly what is being asked of you.

Generally, essay questions contain three component parts:

Content terms: Key concepts that are specific to the task
Limiting terms: The scope that the topic focuses on
Directive terms: What you need to do in relation to the content, e.g. discuss, analyse, define, compare, evaluate.

Look at the following essay question:

Discuss the importance of light in Gothic architecture.

Content terms: Gothic architecture
Limiting terms: the importance of light. If you discussed some other feature of Gothic architecture, for example spires or arches, you would be deviating from what is required. This essay question is limited to a discussion of light. Likewise, it asks you to write about the importance of light – not, for example, to discuss how light enters Gothic churches.
Directive term: discuss. This term asks you to take a broad approach to the variety of ways in which light may be important for Gothic architecture. You should introduce and consider different ideas and opinions that you have met in academic literature on this topic, citing them appropriately .

For a more complex question, you can highlight the key words and break it down into a series of sub-questions to make sure you answer all parts of the task. Consider the following question (from Arts):

To what extent can the American Revolution be understood as a revolution ‘from below’? Why did working people become involved and with what aims in mind?

The key words here are American Revolution and revolution ‘from below’. This is a view that you would need to respond to in this essay. This response must focus on the aims and motivations of working people in the revolution, as stated in the second question.

2. Define your argument

As you plan and prepare to write the essay, you must consider what your argument is going to be. This means taking an informed position or point of view on the topic presented in the question, then defining and presenting a specific argument.

Consider these two argument statements:

The architectural use of light in Gothic cathedrals physically embodied the significance of light in medieval theology.

In the Gothic cathedral of Cologne, light served to accentuate the authority and ritual centrality of the priest.

Statements like these define an essay’s argument. They give coherence by providing an overarching theme and position towards which the entire essay is directed.

3. Use evidence, reasoning and scholarship

To convince your audience of your argument, you must use evidence and reasoning, which involves referring to and evaluating relevant scholarship.

Evidence provides concrete information to support your claim. It typically consists of specific examples, facts, quotations, statistics and illustrations.
Reasoning connects the evidence to your argument. Rather than citing evidence like a shopping list, you need to evaluate the evidence and show how it supports your argument.
Scholarship is used to show how your argument relates to what has been written on the topic (citing specific works). Scholarship can be used as part of your evidence and reasoning to support your argument.

4. Organise a coherent essay

An essay has three basic components - introduction, body and conclusion.

The purpose of an introduction is to introduce your essay. It typically presents information in the following order:

A general statement about the topic that provides context for your argument
A thesis statement showing your argument. You can use explicit lead-ins, such as ‘This essay argues that...’
A ‘road map’ of the essay, telling the reader how it is going to present and develop your argument.

Example introduction

"To what extent can the American Revolution be understood as a revolution ‘from below’? Why did working people become involved and with what aims in mind?"

Introduction*

Historians generally concentrate on the twenty-year period between 1763 and 1783 as the period which constitutes the American Revolution [This sentence sets the general context of the period] . However, when considering the involvement of working people, or people from below, in the revolution it is important to make a distinction between the pre-revolutionary period 1763-1774 and the revolutionary period 1774-1788, marked by the establishment of the continental Congress(1) [This sentence defines the key term from below and gives more context to the argument that follows] . This paper will argue that the nature and aims of the actions of working people are difficult to assess as it changed according to each phase [This is the thesis statement] . The pre-revolutionary period was characterised by opposition to Britain’s authority. During this period the aims and actions of the working people were more conservative as they responded to grievances related to taxes and scarce land, issues which directly affected them. However, examination of activities such as the organisation of crowd action and town meetings, pamphlet writing, formal communications to Britain of American grievances and physical action in the streets, demonstrates that their aims and actions became more revolutionary after 1775 [These sentences give the ‘road map’ or overview of the content of the essay] .

The body of the essay develops and elaborates your argument. It does this by presenting a reasoned case supported by evidence from relevant scholarship. Its shape corresponds to the overview that you provided in your introduction.

The body of your essay should be written in paragraphs. Each body paragraph should develop one main idea that supports your argument. To learn how to structure a paragraph, look at the page developing clarity and focus in academic writing .

Your conclusion should not offer any new material. Your evidence and argumentation should have been made clear to the reader in the body of the essay.

Use the conclusion to briefly restate the main argumentative position and provide a short summary of the themes discussed. In addition, also consider telling your reader:

What the significance of your findings, or the implications of your conclusion, might be
Whether there are other factors which need to be looked at, but which were outside the scope of the essay
How your topic links to the wider context (‘bigger picture’) in your discipline.

Do not simply repeat yourself in this section. A conclusion which merely summarises is repetitive and reduces the impact of your paper.

Example conclusion

Conclusion*.

Although, to a large extent, the working class were mainly those in the forefront of crowd action and they also led the revolts against wealthy plantation farmers, the American Revolution was not a class struggle [This is a statement of the concluding position of the essay]. Working people participated because the issues directly affected them – the threat posed by powerful landowners and the tyranny Britain represented. Whereas the aims and actions of the working classes were more concerned with resistance to British rule during the pre-revolutionary period, they became more revolutionary in nature after 1775 when the tension with Britain escalated [These sentences restate the key argument]. With this shift, a change in ideas occurred. In terms of considering the Revolution as a whole range of activities such as organising riots, communicating to Britain, attendance at town hall meetings and pamphlet writing, a difficulty emerges in that all classes were involved. Therefore, it is impossible to assess the extent to which a single group such as working people contributed to the American Revolution [These sentences give final thoughts on the topic].

5. Write clearly

An essay that makes good, evidence-supported points will only receive a high grade if it is written clearly. Clarity is produced through careful revision and editing, which can turn a good essay into an excellent one.

When you edit your essay, try to view it with fresh eyes – almost as if someone else had written it.

Ask yourself the following questions:

Overall structure

Have you clearly stated your argument in your introduction?
Does the actual structure correspond to the ‘road map’ set out in your introduction?
Have you clearly indicated how your main points support your argument?
Have you clearly signposted the transitions between each of your main points for your reader?
Does each paragraph introduce one main idea?
Does every sentence in the paragraph support that main idea?
Does each paragraph display relevant evidence and reasoning?
Does each paragraph logically follow on from the one before it?
Is each sentence grammatically complete?
Is the spelling correct?
Is the link between sentences clear to your readers?
Have you avoided redundancy and repetition?

See more about editing on our editing your writing page.

6. Cite sources and evidence

Finally, check your citations to make sure that they are accurate and complete. Some faculties require you to use a specific citation style (e.g. APA) while others may allow you to choose a preferred one. Whatever style you use, you must follow its guidelines correctly and consistently. You can use Recite, the University of Melbourne style guide, to check your citations.

Further resources

Germov, J. (2011). Get great marks for your essays, reports and presentations (3rd ed.). NSW: Allen and Unwin.
Using English for Academic Purposes: A guide for students in Higher Education [online]. Retrieved January 2020 from http://www.uefap.com
Williams, J.M. & Colomb, G. G. (2010) Style: Lessons in clarity and grace. 10th ed. New York: Longman.

* Example introduction and conclusion adapted from a student paper.

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7 Qualities of a Successful College Essay

Bonus Material: 30 College Essays That Worked

The college essay is one of the most important aspects of a student’s application.

It gives applicants an opportunity to articulate their personal values, character traits, and perspectives. It’s also a chance to add more value to your application, simply by demonstrating who you are outside of your resume and transcript.

A “successful” college essay is one that makes the most of these opportunities and, in many cases, earns an acceptance.

We’ve demystified what most admissions officers look for in college applications . But what are these officers looking for in the college essay itself? What are the top qualities of a successful application essay?

In analyzing various essays of admitted applicants, we’ve come up with a list of the characteristics that most of these pieces have in common. We’ll be referring to some of these pieces throughout the post.

Plus, we give you access to 30 college essays that earned their writers acceptance into Ivy League schools. Grab these below.

Download 30 College Essays That Worked

Here’s what we cover:

What is The College Application Essay (in a nutshell)?
7 Qualities of a Successful Essay
Bonus: 30 College Essays That Worked

The College Application Essay In a Nutshell

Most students applying to a college or university in the U.S. must submit an application essay (or “personal statement”) with their application.

Depending on the application platform the college uses (typically either Coalition or the Common App ), students have 500-650 words to craft a response. While each of these platforms has college essay prompts, it’s helpful to view these prompts as general guidelines as to what colleges are looking for in a response.

Based on these prompts and our own experience coaching college essay students , the application essay is:

the chance to say what the rest of your application doesn’t say
a demonstration of your character, values, and/or voice
the platform to show who you are outside of a resume/transcript
an introspective personal essay

The college essay is NOT :

a rehashing of your resume
an excuse or explanation of other components of your application
a formal, five-paragraph essay
what you think “colleges want to hear”

A standard college application includes an academic transcript, recommendation letters, extracurricular / activities section, an optional resume, and standardized test scores. The essay is an addition to these 4 general components, so it makes sense that it should complement them by saying something new.

That’s why we like to define the essay as a “demonstration of character, values, and/or voice.” True, these elements can be inferred from other components of the application. But the essay is your opportunity to clearly and personally demonstrate what matters to you, who you are at the core, and/or your essential perspectives of the world.

For this reason, the college essay is introspective and personal. Colleges want to hear that “I” voice in the application essay, loud and clear, and they want active, intelligent reflection.

You can see this in action in the 30 college essays that worked, which you can download below.

( Note: Some colleges might require applicants to submit supplemental essays in addition to their personal statement. These often have very specific prompts and different word lengths. Here are 8 great tips for approaching supplemental essays . )

7 Qualities of a Successful College Essay

We’ve assessed several college essays of applicants admitted to a wide range of schools, including Ivy League institutions. While extremely diverse, these pieces generally had the following characteristics in common.

1. Introspective and reflective

Many English teachers tell their students not to use the first-person “I” in their essays. While this might be the standard for some academic essays, the college essay should include that “I.” What’s more, it should include a lot of that “I”!

This can be understandably uncomfortable for students, many of whom may simply not be used to talking about themselves openly and declaratively on a page. It can also feel awkward from a stylistic point of view for students who are not used to writing in the first-person.

Yet colleges want to hear your words in your own voice, and they are especially interested in learning more about your perspectives on the world and insights gleaned from your various life experiences. That’s why many successful college essays are highly introspective, full of the writer’s active reflections on what they’ve learned, how they view the world, and who they are.

We typically see the bulk of such introspection at the end of an essay, where the writer summarizes these reflections (although this is by no means standard), as we can see in the conclusion to Erica’s essay here, which describes her earlier attempt to write and publish a novel:

Sometimes, when I’m feeling insecure about my ability as a novelist I open up my first draft again, turn to a random chapter, and read it aloud. Publishing that first draft would have been a horrible embarrassment that would have haunted me for the rest of my life. Over the past half-decade, I’ve been able to explore my own literary voice, and develop a truly original work that I will be proud to display. This experience taught me that “following your dreams” requires more than just wishing upon a star. It takes sacrifice, persistence, and grueling work to turn fantasy into reality.

In her personal statement, Aja reflects deeply on what she specifically learned from an experience described earlier on in the piece:

I found from my experiment and questioning within my mind that my practices distinguished me from others, thereby allowing me to form relationships on the basis of common interest or personality, rather than cultural similarities, that summer. I valued the relationships more, and formed a deep connection with my lab partner, whom I had found was similar to me in many ways.

Notice how both of these selections contain a lot of that first-person voice, which is critical to elaborating perspectives, learning points, and introspective thoughts. And did we mention that admissions officers are looking for those specific perspectives, learning points, and thoughts that compose who you are?

2. Full of a student’s voice

An academic transcript can be revealing to admissions officers. The same goes for recommendation letters and resumes. But it’s hard to convey an individual voice in these application components. The college essay is your prime vehicle for speaking directly to colleges in your own words about what matters to you.

Successful college essays thus veer away from the formal voice many students employ when writing academic essays. Rather, they showcase a student’s unique way of expressing themselves on a page, which can be, for example, humorous, informal, intimate, lyrical, and/or speculative.

Voice is at the forefront of Elizabeth’s essay about her love for “all that is spicy:”

I am an aspiring hot sauce sommelier. Ever since I was a child, I have been in search for all that is spicy. I began by dabbling in peppers of the jarred variety. Pepperoncini, giardiniera, sports peppers, and jalapeños became not only toppings, but appetizers, complete entrées, and desserts. As my palate matured, I delved into a more aggressive assortment of spicy fare. I’m not referring to Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, the crunchy snack devoured by dilettantes. No, it was bottles of infernal magma that came next in my tasting curriculum.

Notice how Elizabeth’s descriptions of her passion for spice are rich with her voice: playful, intelligent, and humorous. This also gives us insight into a specific aspect of her character–that’s the power of voice when it comes to personal essay writing, and college admissions officers are very interested in applicants’ characters.

3. Descriptive and engaging

You don’t have to be a natural creative writer to compose a successful college essay. Yet competitive essays aren’t afraid to dive deeply into a subject and describe it, whether that description relates to imagery, emotions, perspectives, or insights. A college essay shouldn’t leave the reader guessing in any way–it should be highly specific and it should tell your story in an engaging fashion.

Harry’s more intellectual essay presents his views on common values in society. He is careful to be very specific and descriptive in these views, incorporating both a relevant incident from history and his own direct relationship to the issue:

Admittedly, the problem of social integration is one I feel can be widely overstated – for example, when I was looking into some research for a similar topic a couple of years ago, I found numerous surveys indicating that ethnic minorities (especially Islam) identify much more closely with Britain than do the population at large. Still though, I, like many others, find myself constantly troubled by the prospect of the war from within that seems to be developing. This fear is fuelled by events such as the brutal killing of the soldier Lee Rigby at the hands of two British Muslims a couple of years ago.

In her essay, Amanda is extremely detailed in describing her experience as a caretaker for a difficult child. The result is a clear portrait of the challenge itself and Amanda’s relationship to this challenge, told from the perspective of an engaging storyteller:

Then I met Robyn, and I realized how wrong I was. Prone to anger, aggressive, sometimes violent (I have the scar to prove it). Every Sunday with Robyn was a challenge. Yoga, dancing, cooking, art, tennis – none of these activities held her interest for long before she would inevitably throw a tantrum or stalk over to a corner to sulk or fight with the other children. She alternated between wrapping her arms around my neck, declaring to anyone who passed by that she loved me, and clawing at my arms, screaming at me to leave her alone.

The successful college essays we see always emerge from a place of honesty. Writing with honesty also is more likely to accurately convey a student’s unique voice, inspire reflection and introspection, and result in a descriptive, meaningful piece (all of the qualities listed in this post!).

Sometimes this means adopting a candid or direct voice on the page. James starts his essay frankly in this singular statement:

Simply put, my place of inner peace is the seat of that 50 foot sliver of carbon and kevlar called a rowing shell, cutting through the water in the middle of a race.

Or it might mean describing a challenge, vulnerability, or perspective truthfully, as Martin does in his essay about the experiences that have molded his character over the years:

Looking back, I have never been the “masculine boy” as society says my role to be. I have always thought I do not fit the social definition of a male as one who is “manly” and “sporty” and this alienating feeling of being different still persists today at times. However, I also have become more comfortable with myself, and I see my growth firsthand throughout high school.

Given that many universities value “truth” in their own mission statements and mottos, admissions officers will prioritize those essays that ring with a student’s honest voice.

5. Unconventional & distinct

This is by no means a requirement of a successful college essay. But many of the essays that earn students acceptance at their dream schools veer away from the predictable or expected, as we saw in Elizabeth’s essay above (“I am an aspiring hot sauce sommelier”). They are, in a nutshell, 100% unique.

We’ve seen some essays, for example, that follow more radical structures, such as list formats or experimental narratives. Others focus on unexpected subjects, like Shanaz’s piece on the relevance of Game of Thrones in her life and trajectory of learning.

And, time and again, successful college essays step away from what admissions officers already see in applications–academics, standardized tests, extracurricular activities, and classes. They may focus on something very specific (hot sauce or Game of Thrones ), seemingly ordinary (eating a kosher meal in public or working on a problem set), or personally interesting (a historic murder or wrestling game).

Regardless, the essays that “work” emphasize the unexpected, as opposed to the expected. Distinct essays will also feel as if they could not have been written by anyone else .

6. Well-written

This might also sound like an obvious quality of a successful essay, but it’s still worth mentioning. The most competitive application essays showcase strong writing skills, providing evidence of a student’s ability to tell a specific story artfully and well.

Essays should also be error-free, grammatically precise, and stylistically on point. Successful pieces also might demonstrate versatility through varied sentence structure, word choice, and rhetorical or literary devices. Lastly, well-written essays typically adhere to a specific storytelling structure.

This excerpt from Justin’s essay about his experience in the California Cadet Corps, for example, displays a high command of language, word choice, and sentence structure:

Through Survival, I learned many things about myself and the way I approach the world. I realized that I take for granted innumerable small privileges and conveniences and that I undervalue what I do have. Now that I had experienced true and sustained hunger, I felt regret for times when I threw away food and behaved with unconscious waste.

7. Meaningful

Above all, a successful college essay adds value to a student’s holistic college application. It is full of meaning , in that it

showcases a student’s unique voice
elucidates an applicant’s particular perspective(s), character trait(s), and/or belief(s) and
honestly conveys a significant component of who a student is

It might be difficult to compress the entirety of who you are into 650 words. Yet it is most certainly possible to craft 650 words that add significant meaning to an overall application in terms of a student’s personal potential for the future. This is exactly what admissions officers are looking for .

What can you do to ensure that your college essay aligns with these successful qualities? You can check out examples of essays that do!

You can download 30 actual college essays that earned their writers acceptance into Ivy League schools, right now, for free.

Kate is a graduate of Princeton University. Over the last decade, Kate has successfully mentored hundreds of students in all aspects of the college admissions process, including the SAT, ACT, and college application essay.

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6 qualities of the perfect essay.

What does an excellent essay look like? As a student, asking yourself this question is the first step to creating a killer composition. It helps you understand exactly what you must do to create an essay that answers the topic and compels the reader.

But even with that said, answering that question is not always as easy. After all, many kinds of essays are considered “great” for different reasons, which essentially means there is no universal standard for a killer composition. But do not worry, after reading this article, you will be able to product content as professional as an essay writing service would.

We have compiled six qualities of a good essay to help you know what to pay attention to when writing compositions henceforth. Let’s get started.

One of the qualities of an excellent essay is its focus. A good piece of writing has a single idea that resonates from the start to the end. For example, if your essay topic is “The production and sale of cigarettes should be made illegal,” you need to focus on why the manufacture of this product should be outlawed. Do not jump angles; in this case, argue for the legality of producing cigarettes and making them available to the masses.

To ensure that your essay nails the focus, you should do a good job of defining your topic. It means that if you’re allowed to select your own topic, go for something that you already know a bit about, and that will hold your interest. Ensure that each paragraph carries a single main point or topic sentence for the rest of your essay. Do not mix up ideas in your paragraphs.

Development

A good essay has an excellent flow and a logical development of the central idea. Every paragraph you write should support and expand on the main idea of your composition. It’s also imperative that you use as many examples, descriptions, details, and other illustrative devices to explain your ideas as much as possible. The more descriptive your essay is, the better its story development.

It would be best if you tied in every idea, example, fact, and statement with the central idea of your essay. It means that each sentence and paragraph should stick to the main point to make it easy for the reader to identify your work as a single reading. Do not introduce new ideas that have absolutely no bearing on your topic. Doing this makes your essay lack unity and can make it hard for the reader to follow through with whatever you are communicating.

A great essay is logical, has a smooth flow, and is well put together. Simply put, everything in your writing should make sense to a reader. Make sure that your composition has all three basic components to achieve coherence. These are:

Introduction: It serves as an introduction to your writing. Generally, you have to present information in this order—a general statement about the topic that provides context for your argument, a thesis statement, and a ‘road map’ of the essay, where you tell how your writing will present and develop your opinion.

Body: This section is where you develop and elaborate your argument. You can do it by presenting a reasoned case supported by evidence. The body is similar to the overview you provide in your introduction.

It is important to remember that your body should be sectioned into paragraphs. Moreover, each body paragraph should develop one main idea that supports your argument.

Conclusion: This is where you wrap up your essay. Do not provide any new ideas, instead restate the central argument of your composition and your final stance on it.

Sources and Evidence

Another important quality of an excellent essay is correct, accurate, and complete citations. Your school might require you to use a certain citation style (e.g., APA, Harvard, MLA, Chicago, and so on), while others may allow you to choose a preferred one. No matter the case, you need to comply with the guidelines of the formatting style you have to follow correctly and consistently.

If you are unsure of things, make a point of checking your school’s writing manual. Alternatively, you can get essay help online ; just be sure to find a reputable and well-reviewed platform.

Correctness

A great essay is error-free and portrays an excellent command of English from the start to the end. Besides, the sentences within it make sense and carry a single idea. Not to forget, punctuations are used correctly.

Writing a killer essay is a sure-fire way of getting excellent grades in school. Don’t know how to go about it? You can always learn by paying attention to these qualities during your writing. Better yet, you can always turn to a professional essay helper for assistance.

About the Author

Mirko Humbert

Mirko Humbert is the editor-in-chief and main author of Designer Daily and Typography Daily . He is also a graphic designer and the founder of WP Expert .

Phenomenal English

Solution destination to your problems, qualities of a good essay, features a good essay must have.

As far as student essays it is necessary to take care of each and every technical point as it is examined by the examiner. For literary essays there is some margin of playing with essay as its main aim is to grasp the attention of readers. The following some qualities every essay must have.

Easy words, phrases, expressions, vocabulary and language should be used. Too much ornamental language, excessive use of adjectives and different expressions must be avoided. Complex sentences and constructions would bar the readers from comprehending your content.

Complete and Clear Thesis Statement

Thesis statement is essence of the essay and whole essay you are going to write, you build around it. Thesis statement is not only necessary for readers as it gives clear idea about main idea or topic but it is also necessary for the writer as it gives him clear vision to write his essay.

Purity of Language

Language used in the essay must be pure means there should not be presence of foreign words, colloquial phrases, slang expressions and informal style. Foreign words, phrases, sentences and constructions must be translated into English language if they are necessary to use for some reasons.

Presence of Quotations and Hooks

Hooks are some twistful and curiosity creating sentences which arise the readers to find the answer of that twist and a bond is created between readers and essay. Quotations on the other hand give readers a pleasure and relevence to the topic of essay.

Accuracy in Supporting Details

Conciseness of language, unity of thought in paragraphs.

Sentences building a paragraph should express a single thought or argument. One paragraph should be used to prove or refute a single argument or logic. More than one argument in a single paragraph will confuse the readers.

Unity of Form

Unity of the form of the essay must be preserved. If the essay being written is narrative it must narrate some incident, if it is descriptive then it must describe some person, place or thing and if it is reflective it must reflect serious thinking on some abstract idea. Change in the form of essay will confuse the reader and also leave a bad impact.

Order or Sequence of Information

The information being imparted in the essay must be in a logical sequence or order. For example if youe are writing a reflective essay on some abstract topic like unemployment first you must put forth the damages done by unemployment then causes of unemployment and then suggestions or solutions of unemployment. It will be a smooth going for readers and whole essay will serve the purpose at once.

Reflective Conlusion

The conclusion should reflect the whole essay in one paragraph. It is like a short collection or summary of all arguments and points discussed in the essay. In conclusion a writer generally lashes out his verdict in the favour or against his topic.

Irritating Concepts of Grammar

Why we don't add s or es in verbs with singular subjects in Present Indefinite Tense
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8 Qualities Of A Good Essay

Author Sandra W.

The Qualities of a Good Essay

The essay format should look like a college-level writing assignment. Your essay should be labelled correctly and all the steps of the writing process stapled neatly to the back.
The thesis sentence should be perfectly clear and should be at the end of the introduction. It should contain a single, provable claim. Specifically, the thesis contains a period of time and your claim about it.
The essay introduction should be short and precise and it should contain any needed background information.
For the body, each paragraph should contain a clear topic sentence that ties back to the thesis and contains a single, provable claim. In each paragraph, you should use specific details and examples to prove, support or illustrate the central idea.
The essay should include enough proof in each paragraph to convince the reader that the claim in the topic sentence is true. It should also include enough proof in the entire essay to convince the reader that the claim in the thesis is true.
The writing should be smooth since the writer uses linking words to link his or her ideas together clearly, effectively and logically. Every sentence should be perfectly clear and the reader does not need to ask the writer to explain anything.
You should eliminate unnecessary words, phrases and sentences. Your essay should be free from major errors such as sentence fragments, run-on sentences and comma splice errors.
The essay should have a variety of sentences such as complex and compound sentences. You should also take your time to proofread your essay carefully and ensure that your punctuation and spelling is correct.

The Qualities of a Good Leader

Categories: Leadership

About this sample

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Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 462 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Effective communication, strong decision-making skills, inspiration and motivation, adaptability.

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How to Be a Good Person Essay

What does it mean to be a good person? The essay below aims to answer this question. It focuses on the qualities of a good person.

Introduction

What does it mean to be a good person, qualities of good person, works cited.

The term “good” has relative meanings depending on the person who is defining it. Several qualities can be used to define what constitutes a good person. However, there are certain basic qualities that are used to define a good person. They include honesty, trust, generosity, compassion, empathy, humility, and forgiveness (Gelven 24).

These qualities are important because they promote peaceful coexistence among people because they prevent misunderstandings and conflicts. A good person is fair and just to all and does not judge people. He or she is nice to everyone regardless of religion, race, social and economic class, health status, or physical state (Gelven 25).

A good person treats other people with respect, care, and compassion. Respect shows that an individual values and views the other person as a worthy human being who deserves respect. Compassion is a quality that enables people to identify with other people’s suffering (Gelven 27). It motivates people to offer help in order to alleviate the suffering of others. A good person has compassion for others and finds ways to help people who are suffering. Showing compassion for the suffering makes them happy.

It promotes empathy, understanding, and support. In addition, good people are forgiving. They do not hold grudges and let go of anger that might lead them to hurt others. They think positively and focus their thoughts on things that improve their relationships (Needleman 33). They avoid thinking about past mistakes or wrongs done by others. Instead, they think of how they can forgive and move on.

A good person is honest and trustworthy. This implies that they avoid all situations that might hurt the other person, such as telling lies, revealing secrets, and gossiping (Needleman 34). As such, their character or personality cannot be doubted because they do not harbor hidden intentions.

They act in open ways that reveal their true characters and personalities. On the other hand, good people are kind and respectful. They offer help voluntarily and work hard to improve the well-being of other people. In addition, they treat all people equally despite their social, physical, or sexual orientations. Good people do not discriminate, hate, deny people their rights, steal, lie, or engage in corrupt practices (Tuan 53).

Good people behave courageously and view the world as a fair and beautiful place to live in (Needleman 40). They view the world as a beautiful place that offers equal opportunities to everyone. Good people believe that humans have the freedom to either make the world a better or worse place to live in. They act and behave in ways that improve and make the world a better place.

For example, they conserve the environment by keeping it clean for future generations. A popular belief holds that people who conserve the environment are not good but just environmental enthusiasts. However, that notion is incorrect and untrue. People conserve the environment because of their goodness. They think not only about themselves but also about future generations (Tuan 53). They are not self-centered and mean but generous and caring.

Good people are characterized by certain qualities that include trust, honesty, compassion, understanding, forgiveness, respect, courage, and goodwill. They do not steal, lie, discriminate, or deny people their rights. They think about others’ welfare and advocate for actions that make the world a better place. They promote justice and fairness because they view everyone as a deserving and worthy human being.

Gelven, Michael. The Risk of Being: What it Means to be Good and Bad . New York: Penn State Press, 1997. Print.

Needleman, Jacob. Why Can’t We be good? New York: Penguin Group US, 2007. Print.

Tuan, Yi-Fu. Human Goodness . New York: University of Wisconsin Press, 2008. Print.

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Essay on Qualities Of A Successful Student

Students are often asked to write an essay on Qualities Of A Successful Student in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Successful Student

Introduction.

A successful student isn’t just someone who gets good grades. They also show certain qualities that make them stand out. These traits help them excel not only in academics but also in life.

Self-Discipline

A successful student has self-discipline. They manage their time well, prioritize tasks, and avoid procrastination. This helps them complete assignments on time and study regularly, leading to better grades.

Curiosity is another key trait. Successful students have a thirst for knowledge. They ask questions, seek answers, and are always eager to learn new things. This helps them understand and remember lessons better.

Determination

Determination is critical. Successful students don’t give up easily. They face challenges head-on and work hard to overcome them. This determination helps them achieve their academic goals.

Respectfulness

Successful students are respectful. They listen to their teachers and classmates, value their opinions, and treat everyone with kindness. This creates a positive learning environment.

In conclusion, a successful student has self-discipline, curiosity, determination, and respectfulness. These qualities help them excel in school and prepare them for future success.

250 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Successful Student

Being a successful student is not just about getting high grades. One of the most important qualities is hard work. A student who works hard knows that learning takes time and effort. They do not give up easily and are always ready to put in the extra time to understand their lessons.

Time Management

Another key quality is time management. A successful student knows how to plan their day. They make sure they have enough time for studying, doing homework, and rest. They understand that every minute counts and use their time wisely.

Curiosity is also a significant quality. A curious student is always eager to learn new things. They ask questions and try to find answers. They are not afraid of making mistakes because they know that mistakes are part of learning.

Respect is another important quality. A successful student respects their teachers, classmates, and themselves. They listen to others and value their opinions. They treat everyone with kindness and fairness.

Responsibility

Lastly, responsibility is a vital quality. A successful student takes charge of their learning. They complete their assignments on time and prepare for exams well in advance. They understand that their success depends on their actions.

In conclusion, being a successful student is about more than just getting good grades. It involves working hard, managing time, being curious, showing respect, and taking responsibility. These qualities not only help in school but also in life.

500 Words Essay on Qualities Of A Successful Student

A successful student is not defined only by their grades, but also by their habits, skills, and attitude towards learning. There are several qualities that contribute to a student’s success. Let’s explore these qualities in detail.

Hard Work and Diligence

Hard work is one of the most important qualities of a successful student. Success does not come easy; it requires dedication and effort. Successful students understand that they need to put in the time and effort to understand and learn new concepts. They do not shy away from challenges but face them head-on, knowing that it is an opportunity to grow.

Curiosity and Love for Learning

Successful students have a deep love for learning. They are always curious and eager to know more. This quality drives them to explore new topics, ask questions, and seek answers. Their thirst for knowledge helps them to excel in their studies and beyond.

Good time management is another crucial quality. Successful students know how to balance their time between studies, hobbies, rest, and other activities. They plan their day well, ensuring they have enough time for each task. They understand that time is precious and make the most of it.

Responsibility and Discipline

Successful students are responsible and disciplined. They take ownership of their learning, completing assignments on time, and preparing well for exams. They understand the importance of following rules and maintaining discipline, both in and out of the classroom.

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from failures and setbacks. Successful students understand that failure is a part of the learning process. They do not get disheartened by poor grades or difficult subjects. Instead, they learn from their mistakes, pick themselves up, and try again.

Good Communication Skills

Good communication skills are vital for a successful student. They need to express their ideas clearly, both in writing and speaking. This helps them to share their thoughts, ask questions, and engage in meaningful discussions with teachers and classmates.

In conclusion, being a successful student is about more than just getting good grades. It’s about having a positive attitude towards learning, working hard, managing time well, being responsible and disciplined, being resilient, and having good communication skills. These qualities not only help students succeed in school but also prepare them for success in life. Remember, success is not an overnight achievement, but a result of consistent efforts and the right attitude.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Example Of Essay On Qualities Of A Good Teacher

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Education , Teaching , Society , Students , Goals , Character , Knowledge , Success

Published: 12/03/2019

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In the society today education is the important thing in one’s life. The kind of learning and teaching one receives depends tremendously on the type of teacher as well as the capability of the student. Additionally, teachers and students come in different types, others are good while others are a bad. The qualities of a good teacher and student are analyzed through values, character traits and behaviors, leaning and teaching style as well as goals. Good student and teacher should posses certain qualities. Undeniably, knowledge is one the character trait that a good teacher should have. Additionally, to his/her professional knowledge, good teacher should diversify her/his capability in different fields such as humanity, society, culture, and politics, so as to provide students with varied information. Good teacher should be passionate to both the subject and the students. The lessons carried out by good teachers are always entertaining and enjoyable. A good teacher always has numerous teaching styles depending on the situation. These teaching styles include delegator, facilitator, formal authority, and demonstrator. Another quality that a good teacher should have is love, devotion, and care for his/her students. In most cases students demonstrate immaturity, a good teacher should be able to handle students affectionately and gentle. He/she should be an excellent manager. Certainly, some of the characteristics of a good teacher include accessible, interesting, patient, approachable, undersdanding, fair, concern and respectful. Good teachers set their goals based on different areas; personal goals, lesson improvement goals as well as organizational goals. Some personal goals of a good teacher include being physically and emotionally equipped to handle the challenges of his/her work. Furthermore, a good teacher goal will be to improve professional relationship. On the other hand organizational goals of a good teacher are to be organized in classroom. Above all the goals of a good teacher are always directed towards the success of the student both academically and socially. All these goals become a pillar to an all rounded teacher. In reality it is difficult to find ideal good teacher. Many teachers have some qualities of good teacher but due to humanistic nature they fail in some occasions. Hence effective teaching goes beyond the teaching of the subject matter. Good teachers always share common characteristic of strong dedication to continual improvement, humility, care, and parenting, based on essential enthusiasm to inspire students to learn and be successful. The success of a good teacher depends on the qualities of a student.

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Qualities of a Hero

This essay about the qualities of a hero explores the key characteristics that define heroic individuals. It emphasizes courage, not just as bravery in the face of danger, but as the determination to act despite fear. Altruism is highlighted as the selfless concern for the welfare of others, demonstrated by those who prioritize communal needs. Integrity is discussed as adherence to moral and ethical principles, ensuring trustworthiness and consistency in one’s actions. The essay also considers resilience, the ability to recover from setbacks and continue striving towards one’s goals. Empathy, the understanding and sharing of others’ feelings, is crucial for connecting and helping effectively. Lastly, humility is portrayed as an essential attribute, reflecting heroes who seek no reward for their deeds. Collectively, these traits encapsulate the essence of heroism, portraying it as accessible to everyone and capable of inspiring societal improvement.

How it works

When we think about heroes, our minds often conjure images of caped crusaders and gallant knights. However, the essence of a hero is not captured by their costume or era but by the qualities that define their character. These are the individuals who step up in moments of need, who act with courage and integrity, and who impact the lives of others in profound and enduring ways.

Courage, undoubtedly, stands as the cornerstone of heroism. It’s not merely the bravery to undertake perilous feats but the resolve to confront adversity while fearing the outcome.

Courageous individuals are not fearless; rather, they choose to persist despite their fears. This quality is vividly illustrated in everyday life, such as by the firefighters who rush into burning buildings or the whistleblowers who stand up against corporate malfeasance, risking their careers for the sake of truth and accountability.

Another indispensable trait of a hero is altruism. True heroes serve others, often placing collective needs above their own. Altruism drives individuals to perform acts of kindness and generosity without expecting anything in return. Consider a volunteer who dedicates hours to help the homeless or the passerby who intervenes to help someone in distress. These actions are motivated by a genuine desire to improve the lives of others, making altruism a hallmark of heroism.

Integrity is also central to a hero’s character. This quality involves adhering to moral and ethical principles, even when no one is watching and especially when making the right choice is challenging. A hero with integrity is honest and maintains strong moral principles. For instance, a business leader who prioritizes fair labor practices over higher profits demonstrates integrity, fostering trust and respect among peers and subordinates alike.

Furthermore, heroes exhibit resilience. Life inevitably presents challenges and setbacks, but heroes display an exceptional capacity to recover and press forward. Resilience is not about avoiding failure; rather, it’s about learning from mistakes, adapting, and continuing to strive towards one’s goals. This quality is seen in individuals overcoming personal tragedies or setbacks to achieve significant accomplishments, serving as an inspiration to all.

In addition to these core qualities, empathy plays a crucial role in heroism. Empathy involves understanding and sharing the feelings of others. It enables heroes to connect with individuals on a deeper level, fostering compassion and motivating them to act in service of those in need. A doctor working in war-torn regions, for example, may be driven by empathy to provide medical care under dangerous conditions, striving to alleviate the suffering of others.

Finally, true heroes are humble. They do not seek glory or recognition for their actions; instead, they perform heroic deeds out of a sense of duty or moral obligation. Their humility is what often inspires others to recognize them as heroes in the first place. This trait ensures that their actions are focused on the greater good rather than personal gain.

In exploring these qualities, we find that heroism is multifaceted. It is not confined to the extraordinary individuals who make headlines; rather, it is a potential that resides within each of us. Whether it’s through grand gestures or quiet acts of kindness, heroism is about making a positive impact on the world and inspiring others to do the same. Thus, by understanding and cultivating these qualities, we can all strive to be heroes in our own ways, contributing to a better and more compassionate society.

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6 Common Leadership Styles — and How to Decide Which to Use When

Rebecca Knight

Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances call for different approaches.

Research suggests that the most effective leaders adapt their style to different circumstances — be it a change in setting, a shift in organizational dynamics, or a turn in the business cycle. But what if you feel like you’re not equipped to take on a new and different leadership style — let alone more than one? In this article, the author outlines the six leadership styles Daniel Goleman first introduced in his 2000 HBR article, “Leadership That Gets Results,” and explains when to use each one. The good news is that personality is not destiny. Even if you’re naturally introverted or you tend to be driven by data and analysis rather than emotion, you can still learn how to adapt different leadership styles to organize, motivate, and direct your team.

Much has been written about common leadership styles and how to identify the right style for you, whether it’s transactional or transformational, bureaucratic or laissez-faire. But according to Daniel Goleman, a psychologist best known for his work on emotional intelligence, “Being a great leader means recognizing that different circumstances may call for different approaches.”

RK Rebecca Knight is a journalist who writes about all things related to the changing nature of careers and the workplace. Her essays and reported stories have been featured in The Boston Globe, Business Insider, The New York Times, BBC, and The Christian Science Monitor. She was shortlisted as a Reuters Institute Fellow at Oxford University in 2023. Earlier in her career, she spent a decade as an editor and reporter at the Financial Times in New York, London, and Boston.

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Guest Essay

Donald Trump’s Secret Shame About New York City Haunts His Trial

A photograph of a pigeon spreading its wings and seemingly about to attack a tiny paper cutout of Donald Trump.

By Elizabeth Spiers

Ms. Spiers, a contributing Opinion writer, is a journalist and a digital media strategist.

With jury selection underway in Donald Trump’s criminal trial in Lower Manhattan, the former president’s chickens have finally come home to roost. It feels uniquely appropriate that Mr. Trump will have to endure the scrutiny on his old home turf. New York City residents have been subjected to his venality and corruption for much longer than the rest of the country, and we’re familiar with his antics — the threats, the lawsuits, the braggadocio, his general ability to slip through the tiniest crack in the bureaucracy or legal system just fast enough to avoid the consequences of his actions. He rose to fame here, but was never truly accepted by the old money elites he admired. The rich and powerful sometimes invited him to their parties, but behind his back they laughed at his coarse methods and his tacky aesthetic. His inability to succeed in New York in quite the way he wanted to drove much of the damage he did to the country as a whole, and arguably his entire political career.

For many of his admirers, Mr. Trump represents a certain kind of rich person whose wealth and success are emblematic of the American dream, and on the campaign trail, that was the story he told. That illusion was reinforced by “The Apprentice,” a heavily scripted pseudocompetition in which Mr. Trump pretended to fire people, something that in real life he generally has others do. He likes having authority but not doing the hard work of leadership and prefers to outsource the dirty work to underlings and lawyers.

It’s harder for Mr. Trump to avoid the actual untelevised reality of who he is in New York City, where he grew up the son of a wealthy Queens real estate developer and used his inheritance less to grow the family business than to grow his personal brand. His business dealings were murky , sometimes mob-connected and riddled with high-profile failures and bankruptcies . Serious real estate investors did not regard him as a peer. Eventually, banks began to refuse to lend him money. He was ruthlessly skewered by New York publications, most famously by Spy magazine, which called him a “short-fingered vulgarian.”

But he had a taste for being in the public eye — constantly. Gossip columnists at his favored tabloids often received tips from Mr. Trump about himself, even about his own sexual escapades, under the pseudonym John Barron . If you want to get attention without paying for public relations consultants, another good way to do it is to run for public office. Mr. Trump expressed interest in the presidency starting in the late 1980s, took steps in that direction in 2000 and considered it again in 2012 before being elected in 2016.

All of these qualities make Mr. Trump what the complexity scientist Peter Turchin refers to as an “elite aspirant.” It may seem absurd to refer to a rich guy who went to an Ivy League school and has been a public figure for a long time as an aspiring elite, but by Professor Turchin’s definition, Mr. Trump fits the term because he wanted forms of power he did not have. He had wealth, which is one of Professor Turchin’s four types of elite power, but precariously. He had neither the kind of influence that media figures who deal in persuasion have nor the raw political power that elected officials do. He admires dictators and people whose power is derived from violence (military figures, law enforcement) because he doesn’t have that, either.

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, the song goes, but Mr. Trump couldn’t make it here — at least not the way he craved — despite being born here and being one of the few people who could afford it.

So it’s easy to understand why he bashes his hometown as a crime-ridden hellscape, and why the Oval Office appealed. Washington offered him political power but also something he may have wanted even more: the respect New York denied him.

No physical space in New York City is more emblematic of Mr. Trump than his flagship Trump Tower. It’s flashy, slightly out of place on Fifth Avenue , with what seems like a general aesthetic philosophy that one can never have too much gold plating. When he got permission to tear down the Bonwit Teller building, which used to stand on that site, he promised to donate its Art Deco friezes to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He destroyed them instead. New York magazine’s Marie Brenner wrote at the time that the building’s approval “ legitimized a pushy kid nobody took seriously. ”

The details of the criminal case getting underway in Manhattan make it salacious (A porn star! Hush money!) and it would probably have been a career-ending scandal for any other president, but against the backdrop of Mr. Trump’s endless appearances in supermarket tabloids, it just seems like par for the course. New Yorkers pride themselves on a certain kind of skepticism that allows them to spot a con man, but Mr. Trump’s cons have always been so out in the open that we may have underestimated his vindictiveness and his capacity to do real harm.

There were glimpses of it, though. It’s tough to identify the nadir of Mr. Trump’s bad behavior in New York, but I believe it was in 1989, when he took out ads in major media outlets (including this one) calling for the death penalty to be reinstated in New York State after five Black and Latino teenagers were accused of raping a jogger in Central Park. The five men had their convictions vacated in 2002, but Mr. Trump still refuses, out of malice or vanity, to apologize or acknowledge their innocence. When asked whether he believes they should have been convicted, he still insists that they admitted their guilt .

One of the men, Yusef Salaam, is now a member of the New York City Council. The day Mr. Trump was arrested in April of 2023, Mr. Salaam wrote, in an ad mocked up to look like Mr. Trump’s original, “I hope that you exercise your civil liberties to the fullest, and that you get what the Exonerated Five did not get — a presumption of innocence and a fair trial.”

And that’s what he’s getting, at last.

In many ways Mr. Trump’s success outside of New York is a function of a characteristic he has that the city itself does not: an inferiority complex. Even when confronted with evidence of his wrongdoing, he insists that he is a victim, and now so are the people who vote for him. When he was indicted in Georgia , he told his followers, “They’re not coming after me. They’re coming after you — and I’m just standing in their way.”

Mr. Trump was successful in part because he projected his own anxieties onto the people who were loyal to him. When pressuring the Georgia secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, to help him overturn the results of the 2020 election, he said, “They’re going around playing you and laughing at you behind your back, Brad, whether you know it or not, they’re laughing at you.” Mr. Trump both fears and loathes being laughed at, and publicly seethed his way through the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2011 when, as expected, he was the butt of some of the jokes. “He was pissed off like I’d never seen him before,” Chris Christie later said . “Just beside himself with fury.” The evening confirmed Mr. Trump’s suspicions that the elites were sneering at him and he wasn’t in on their jokes.

In this sense he’s a lot like Richard Nixon, who, as his former aide Tom Charles Huston said, understood “in his gut” when middle-class people “felt they were being put upon, because he felt he had been put upon.”

Mr. Trump also feels that he has been put upon not just by the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, and the New York attorney general, Letitia James, but by all of the New York City liberals who did not take him seriously when he put on a faceful of makeup, donned a comically long tie and climbed into the clown car bound for Washington. There is some relief for New Yorkers who are witnessing the prospect of his comeuppance, though. The rest of the country is seeing a side of Mr. Trump that New York City residents have always been familiar with: the guy who’s angry that he hasn’t been accepted in the elite circles he admires and is outraged that others have.

Elizabeth Spiers, a contributing Opinion writer, is a journalist and a digital media strategist.

Mr. Winter used a small paper cutout of Donald Trump to create this image.

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow the New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Instagram , TikTok , WhatsApp , X and Threads .

Ashland High School senior is local Daughters of the American Revolution essay winner

SHERBORN — An Ashland High School senior has been selected as this year's Framingham chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution local essay winner.

Emily Umholtz was selected from among seven area Good Citizen winners and selected by judges not affiliated with the DAR. She is a Student Council representative, a 2024 class officer and has been a captain for two years for ultimate frisbee.

Her future plans include attending college to major in chemistry, with a sub-focus in law and justice.

Umholtz was honored in February during the DAR's Good Citizen Award Ceremony at The Sherborn 1858 Town House.

Each year, the Framingham chapter of the DAR invites seven schools to participate in its Good Citizen Program.

Other students selected as Good Citizen winners by their schools included Alivia Toure, of Bellingham High School; Lunah Semprum, of Framingham High School; Reese Holmes, of Holliston High School; William Adamski, of Hopedale Junior-Senior High School; Caroline Kane, of Hopkinton High School); and Robert Lyons Jr., of Milford High School.

Each school’s faculty and student body committee choose one student from their senior class to become their school’s Good Citizen; students are recognized and awarded by the Framingham chapter of the DAR. Each Good Citizen must have and maintain the qualities of dependability, service, leadership and patriotism.

During the ceremony, Master Sgt. Andrew Baumgartner, of West Point Military Academy, served as guest speaker. He spoke of his love of education and his experiences during his years of service.

Also speaking was Vice President General of DAR Paula Renkas.

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Carrie Ann Inaba Remembers Len Goodman as 'Beloved Patriarch' of DWTS Family on First Anniversary of His Death (Exclusive)

"I hear his voice every time I see perfection. I hear him saying, 'It's a 10 from Len,'" Carrie Ann Inaba writes in an exclusive tribute for late 'DWTS' head judge Len Goodman one year after his death

Adam Taylor/Disney/Getty

On the one-year anniversary of Len Goodman ’s death , Carrie Ann Inaba is paying tribute to the late head judge of Dancing with the Stars in an exclusive essay for PEOPLE. Goodman — alongside Inaba and Bruno Tonioli — joined the ABC’s dance competition as judges in 2005. Aside from hiatuses during season 21 and 29, Goodman remained on the series until his retirement in 2022.

Five months later, Goodman died on April 22, 2023, surrounded by his family at a hospice in Kent, England. According to BBC News , the ballroom legend had bone cancer.

"It is with great sadness to announce that Len Goodman has passed away peacefully, aged 78," his manager Jackie Gill said in a statement released to the outlet at the time. "A much loved husband, father and grandfather who will be sorely missed by family, friends and all who knew him."

Christopher Willard via Getty

In September, DWTS hosts Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough announced they planned to keep Goodman’s “spirit alive” in the ballroom with a new Mirrorball Trophy — now named the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy in his honor.

The following month, Dancing with the Stars alums — including Maks Chmerkovskiy , Kym Johnson-Herjavec , Tony Dovolani , Karina Smirnoff , Anna Trebunskaya , Edyta Śliwińska , Louis van Amstel and Mark Ballas — and current pros performed a touching dance in honor of Goodman.

Below, read Inaba’s tribute to Goodman on the first anniversary of his death.

Working with Len was always a pleasure. He was an elegant man with a mischievous smile who loved life to the fullest, and he lived his life to the fullest. Len was always doing something. He was making plans, attending social events, going out to dinner, playing golf with friends or getting a great manicure, and everything he did he loved. He just loved it. He also loved to discover new music and always had the coolest playlists. He’d play songs you've never heard before that were wonderful. And I will always remember Len with a little skip in his step and a twinkle in his eye.

What I miss most about him is that right before every show, we would all hold hands, Len, Bruno, and I. The three of us would always take a moment before every show to connect. We'd hold hands, we’d look into each other’s eyes, and we would wish each other good luck and say I love you. We NEVER missed doing that, not once, in all the years of shows we did together, and this created such a deep connection between the three of us.

Len and I would disagree — which was often! — since we came from such different backgrounds and that's what makes the [judging] panel unique. But when we disagreed, what people don't know is that during commercial break, there’d always be a pat on the back, a laugh, or a smile we'd always give each other. We just had a very strong camaraderie and we knew that we were always in it together, whether or not we were on the same page at that moment.

Len was a traditionalist and I always tend to love innovation and honest expression of self, and so we agreed to disagree, while always keeping our friendship intact. I wish there was more of that in the world, and that is one of the most beautiful qualities of Len's that I miss the most about him.

Len is always going to be the heart of Dancing with the Stars . His legacy will continue on. The Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy is befitting because it reminds us of the man who sat at the center of that desk and taught us all about the beauty of the traditional ballroom dances. The new trophy celebrates that and comes complete with his little bowtie, which is so perfect.

I hear his voice every time I see perfection. I hear him saying, “It's a 10 from Len.” The tribute performance that Jenna and Val choreographed last season will always be one of the greatest moments in Dancing with the Stars history. By keeping it simple and straight to the point and so traditional, Len would’ve definitely given that a standing ovation. I could picture him giving a gentle nod of his head in appreciation. Seeing everyone come back to the show — Edyta, Louis, Maks, Tony, Karina, Kym — having everybody back there to celebrate Len was a powerful moment and really expressed the beauty that DWTS has given us and the big family that we have become.

We really are a family, and Len will always be the beloved patriarch. I miss him so much. I think we all do.

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Dancing with the Stars is set to return for season 33 this fall on ABC and Disney+.

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Top 10 Qualities of a Good Essay
Free Composition. The Ease. The Paradox. Meaningful Unity. Use of Simple Language. Authoritarianism. Use an Element of Surprise. The Logic of Presentation. Here are some basic points and qualities of good writing that will make your essay successful:
Example of a Great Essay
The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement, a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas. The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ...
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Credibility or believability: Nothing says bad writing like getting the facts wrong or misrepresenting oneself. In fiction, the story must be believable (even if it's impossible), and in nonfiction, accurate research can make or break a writer. Thought-provoking or emotionally inspiring: Perhaps the most important quality of good writing is ...
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Step 2: Have a clear structure. Think about this while you're planning: your essay is like an argument or a speech. It needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question. Start with the basics! It's best to choose a few major points which will become your main paragraphs.
PDF Five Qualities of Good Writing
The following is a brief description of five qualities of good writing: focus, development, unity, coherence, and correctness. The qualities described here are especially important for academic and expository writing. FIVE QUALITIES OF GOOD WRITING . FOCUS idea. Each paragraph should have a clear . An essay should have a single clear central
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The essay writing process consists of three main stages: Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline. Writing: Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion. Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling ...
Writing a great essay
2. Define your argument. As you plan and prepare to write the essay, you must consider what your argument is going to be. This means taking an informed position or point of view on the topic presented in the question, then defining and presenting a specific argument. Consider these two argument statements:
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The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. This article provides useful templates and tips to help you outline your essay, make decisions about your structure, and ...
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1. The introduction. This is the paragraph where you open your essay, pull in the reader, and share your thesis statement. A thesis statement is one sentence that tells the reader your main idea and makes a claim. The rest of your essay follows up on this claim and supports your idea. 2.
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A startled buzzing of flies, hornets. The slithering, ticklish sensation of a garter snake crawling across floorboards. "Left behind, as if in haste, were remnants of a lost household. A broken toy on the floor, a baby's bottle. A rain-soaked sofa, looking as if it had been gutted with a hunter's skilled knife.
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Top 10 Qualities of a Good Essay

Small Volume.

Specific Topic and Your Subjective Opinion.

Free Composition

The Paradox

Meaningful Unity

Use of Simple Language

Authoritarianism

Use an Element of Surprise

The Logic of Presentation.

Eight Characteristics of Good Writing

The Characteristics of Good Writing

Why You Need to Know the Difference Between Good and Bad Writing

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