You must learn to write essays from an excess of knowledge. Go to lectures, read up on the subject in the library, look up the latest academic papers and thoroughly immerse yourself in the essay subject before writing. Without this work to find out the information, you cannot write an essay with authority and command of your essay subject matter. Here are some tips to help you when you gather this information.
Collect more information than you will use
Although your research will give you a mass of information, you must use only the information that answers the question set. You will probably collect a hundred facts, read a dozen opinions and review three or four of the most recent academic discussions of the subject. However, to answer the question set, you must cut this information down to the key facts, most pertinent opinions and perhaps refer to only the most relevant discussion papers.
Read primary sources first
If you were writing an essay on the Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet, you could not write a good one without first reading the play. Too often, students ignore the primary source of material. If you are writing an essay on Rousseaus philosophy, theres no excuse for not reading the original source contract rather than a critique of Rousseaus writings. Studying the primary sources of information let you assess other information written on the subject.
Use a systematic way of taking notes
You need to have a method of note-taking. No matter how you record the information, cards, notebook or in a computer database, bear the following in mind.