Teachers don’t like assigning essays. Students don’t like writing them. But it doesn’t have to be a no-win situation. Nothing works like repetition. Students need to write fairly lengthy essays (minimum 2 typed pages) frequently throughout high school. Their writing skills will improve. And they will thank their teacher, some of them years later, for having to grind through the process of becoming a proficient writer. They will skim through college courses and enjoy a rewarding career.

Students should be required to respond to many of the literary pieces they read, more or less, in essay form. An essay by definition is an organized, well-developed discussion of one subject dealt with at some length. Students’ typed essays should be at least two pages long. One should remind them of a good essay’s structure and provide a handout with this basic information:

1. Brief opening paragraph with a clear thesis statement usually at the end of the paragraph.
2. Several half-page body paragraphs each of which includes a topic sentence that introduces one aspect of the thesis.
3. Brief concluding paragraph that gives closure to the essay but does not restate the thesis.

In addition to these organizational criteria, essays should include transitional devices that link paragraphs; they should contain minimal grammatical or mechanical errors. And, yes, spelling is important. Students must own and use a dictionary to correct misspelling. One simply cannot rely on Spell-Check. Before writing an essay, they should organize their ideas by taking notes and developing an outline of key ideas. It’s helpful for younger students if the teacher assigns an essay then divides the class into small groups. They exchange and write down their ideas. Although most essays are written out of class, a few should be written in class so that the teacher can regularly assess each student’s writing ability. A good procedure for essay writing is to assign the topic, discuss it with the class, and clarify misconceptions. Students always ask about length. As a homework assignment, they organize their ideas in note form then write a minimum of five paragraphs including introduction, body, and conclusion, and proofread their work.

How does a teacher constantly assign essays throughout the year and manage the grading? Grading essays is time consuming and difficult. It’s not like grading math tests since essay writing is extremely subjective. We want to be fair to each student.  One has to bear in mind that poor penmanship, or poor class participation can affect a teacher’s response to an essay; after an hour’s reading, the teacher gets tired and crotchety. So, in order grade fairly, this is a workable procedure: quickly read a set of essays, assign a temporary grade, and place the set in piles—A essays, B essays, and so on. Then reread each essay more carefully and note errors in the margin for students to correct. Make sure that all essays in each category–A, B, etc.–are of the same caliber.

How does one ensure that students correct errors? Note errors in the margin with a red pen—sp, cs, frag, and so on. (One can distribute a handout of abbreviations for writing errors on the first day of class.) Students correct their errors throughout each essay. If they fail to do so, deduct grade points. Nothing works like the gradebook!

Display the best corrected, retyped essays on a school-wide bulletin board for others to admire. Students will surreptitiously reread their own essays!