Identify the main idea/problem of the article. It often lies in the title of the text. If you have a title, be sure to write a sensible comment to it. If there is no title, don't make up your own, a detailed study of the my perfect paper reviews is enough. If the idea is misunderstood, there is a great risk that all the work will go to waste.
Do not hesitate to ask yourself questions and give complete answers. What did the author want to convey to the readers? What sentences/phrases are the most significant in the text? What is the subject matter of the article? These and some other questions (depending on the content) must be answered clearly so that the content of the essay does not contradict the source and arouse the readers' interest.
Do not confuse an essay with an outline. You should not write a paraphrase of an article, because an essay is primarily a creative work, so copying expressions here is inappropriate.
Think through the algorithm of essay writing in advance. Muddy writing will lead to nonsense in the text, so all thoughts and arguments need to be structured. Proper presentation of information will allow you to successfully set the accents in the text, entice the reader and achieve the highest evaluation of the work.
A minimum of text with a maximum of information. The essay should be informative, but quite brief. If an article is voluminous, it doesn't mean that it's of high quality, and the essay is proof of that. Writing an essay of several pages makes no sense, because the main goal is to get the reader to the essence without overloading it with a mass of secondary information. Only the most significant, weighty and interesting facts, reasoning and conclusions.
Do not be afraid to express your opinion, do not be stingy with arguments and personal arguments. Just agreeing/disagree with the writer's position is not enough. It is important to present your own arguments, defend your point of view and present it so that the reader is not left in doubt of your correctness. You can use examples from literature (journalism, philosophy, history, etc.), the writer's talking points, and personal experience as arguments.
Inaccuracies in the writer's article are an excellent opportunity to defend your position. Try to find inconsistencies in the author's words, any inaccuracies, and the most emotional statements in the article. They will help you to reveal the basis of your judgments and make your arguments more convincing. This advice applies to an essay whose author disagrees with the writer's point of view.
If time permits, write the essay on a draft first. No matter how perfect the essay may seem at first glance, after re-reading it, the writer often has a desire to make grammatical, spelling, and/or stylistic corrections. As practice shows, the most literate and neatest works are those that, after careful checking, are rewritten from draft to draft. Agree, it is frustrating to get an undervalued grade because of small flaws, so try to allocate 5-10 minutes for an error-free rewrite of the essay.
Related Resources:
Using special strategies when writing an essay
Introduction to different types of essays