Is anyone here good at writing essays?

autumn wren

I have to find an article from a nursing journal and complete a summary on it with an opinion. Its been about six or seven years since I've had to write any kind of essay or paper. I don't have any of my old english/writing textbooks anymore and am completely clueless of how to even begin doing this. I also have to have appropriate citing. Help!!

SSM&JLM

How long does it have to be?  Summaries are pretty easy, intro paragraph, go through the article pointing out relevant research, results, etc, summary paragraph to close.

They've changed the way your cite things since I was in college and grad school, so you'll probably have to look online for that.

autumn wren

They really didn't give us a set length that they wanted it to be, but they did say that they wanted appropriate citing. I used to be awesome at writing papers...I could write a 10 pg paper within a couple hours and made an A on every one I had to write. I even wrote a paper for a friend of mine just because I loved to write them haha. Now since it's been so long, I'm out of the loop and really don't even know where to begin. I'm just going to go sit with a blank sheet of paper and write a rough (really rough) draft. Maybe it'll come back to me once I really get started.

tshott

You should be able to google how to cite properly.  I think it's called MLA style, but I could be wrong on that.  It's been a few years since I've had to write a paper.

KathyGee

 I guess I look at writing essays in this format:

• Intro - why is this subject compelling enough to write about/background
  
• Thesis statement - what is the main point you wish to communicate, and how will you defend it
• Three separate points of evidence which support your thesis
• If applicable, another exploration of evidence which does not support your thesis, but how you choose to explain it in light of your thesis.
• Conclusion. 

for appropriate citations, you can use APA format or MLA or whatever your school recommends.

I do a ton of it in my grad program now, and that's the part I hate the most!

brie&drew

KathyGee:

 I guess I look at writing essays in this format:

• Intro - why is this subject compelling enough to write about/background
  
• Thesis statement - what is the main point you wish to communicate, and how will you defend it
• Three separate points of evidence which support your thesis
• If applicable, another exploration of evidence which does not support your thesis, but how you choose to explain it in light of your thesis.
• Conclusion. 

for appropriate citations, you can use APA format or MLA or whatever your school recommends.

I do a ton of it in my grad program now, and that's the part I hate the most!

I'm with Kathy. Start with as rough a draft as you need, even just an outline to get you started and get your thoughts flowing. Make as many drafts as you need to, make sure it flows and has all the points you want it to. I've used AP, APA, MLA, and another random citation style, if your school hasn't specified, just be consistent with one throughout the paper.

Good luck!

oreille

As far as citing goes, for a paper for a science or medical field, such as nursing, you'll probably use APA style. Your professor should have specified, or there should be a general rule for all nursing classes.

I just finished grad school, and while I had several books on how to cite things appropriately, I almost always used this website by Purdue University:

 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

autumn wren

Thank you ladies! Especially Kathy...what you wrote seemed to bring it all back. For some reason I had forgotten all of that, especially *gasp* the thesis statement. haha

autumn wren

Whoa!! You guys, I seriously just sat down and wrote this thing AGAIN in two hours. It came back to me once I started writing! Thanks soo much!