A 500 word essay is a short essay that should not take a lot of time to write. The main reasons why students are forced to write the 500 word essay is because most teachers believe that this writing activity will help them study better for the final exams, since a 500 word essay is a short task and does not consume much time.
The typical student in high school or university is asked to write many essays: 1000-word essays, 2000-word essays, 5000-word essay, etc.
In many cases the length of an essay is given as 500 words. It is true that a 500-word essay can be written by following some simple steps and keeping a few important points in mind.
Understanding what it takes to successfully complete a 500 word essay requires a clear understanding of how an effective 5 paragraph essay should be structured and formatted including its introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion.
And most importantly, you need to understand critically important writing techniques like make sure your arguments are sound through clear definitions of concepts; quotation of sources that reinforce your position; support for claims and arguments; use of transitions between body paragraphs.
From a student’s perspective, the key to writing an excellent essay is not in the length of word that you choose but how effectively and persuasively you communicate your ideas and analysis through the language that you employ in your essay.
Contents
How to start writing a 500 word essay
A 500 word essay could possibly be written on any given subject but only if the writer was knowledgeable about said topic. The steps involved in writing a 500-word essay are as follows:
- Find a great topic: The first step in writing a good 500 college essay would start finding an interesting topic to write about like “why do people get tattoos” or something of that nature relevant to their life experience or studies.
- Review existing literature: They would then go to credible sources relevant to the topic and look over them for information that backs up their ideas for the content of the 500 word essay.
- Note down the points or ideas that support your main idea or thesis statement. Make sure these points relate directly to your main point.
- Develop them into full sentences and then combine two or more of them into longer complex sentences.
- Create an outline: Once they have found this information they should make a detailed outline that takes into consideration any possible counter-arguments one might have against what is being written and how it can be defended in an effective way with more facts or statistics.
- Deciding on the structure of your essay and where the introduction(first paragraph) goes along with each body paragraph and conclusion (final sentence).
- Construct an outline so that each paragraph has one topic sentence that clearly states what will be discussed further on in each respective paragraph.
- Write your essay: Then once all of the facts are organized into an easy to follow structure, they can begin writing their paper which should end with a strong reason why those who read it should agree with them on the subject.
It is also important to make sure that each paragraph has a topic sentence and at least three strong supporting sentences, all of which are related to your main point.
- Proofreading and editing: The final step is proofreading and editing your essay. Remove unnecessary words in the sentence structure keeping only those words absolutely necessary for understanding. And then do some spell checking of your draft essay.
Importances of proofreading a 500 word paper
- Proofread your essay a second time making sure that all changes made have been incorporated effectively into the text.
- Proofreading ensures that you have not left out any of the important points or facts included in your essay.
- Proofreading ensures that there are no grammatical mistakes and all facts, statistics or other data included in the body of the essay are properly referenced using either parenthetical citation or footnotes/ endnotes as appropriate.
Finally, proofread your essay again to make sure that you have written a perfect paper. Ensure then that you have not left out any of the important points or facts included in your essay.
If you follow the steps outlined above, you will be able to write an outstanding 500-word essay and also help others learn how to effectively write essays of appropriate length.
The structure of a 500-word essay
An 500 essay must comprise of the following: Introduction, Body paragraphs, and conclusion. Here is more information on how to structure a your essay.
500 Essay Introduction paragraphs:
An introduction must have a sentence that states what is going to be mentioned in the article. The first paragraph is meant to be the introduction and it should offer a short explanation of what the essay will cover with an easy prediction for how one can reasonably see that point proven after reading on.
This has to follow the thesis statement.
For example: ‘There has been an increase in crime rates over the years’.
Evidence: Then it is important to include supporting points for your opening statement which is termed as evidence. These are facts or opinions.
Example of use of evidence when writing a 500 words essay
“Crime rates have increased due to an increase in population by 20% because of immigration into cities with little government control. As this is happening many people are left with no option but to turn towards stealing as a means of survival through which they find themselves behind bars.“
500 Words Essay Body Paragraphs:
Body paragraphs: The next portion would be a body paragraphs which have 3 parts each and are meant to back up what was said in the first paragraph with facts, statistics or examples from experience, expertise of studies. In this part 1 usually states a thesis statement about what will be said further in their paper while 2 and 3 (in case there are more than three) both state the main points they plan on making regarding their topic. After this the writer must consider possible counter-arguments that someone might make against what they are saying, but still remain fair.
Each of those has 3 different aspects which need to be included too.
For example; the has to be a topic sentence, evidence, and a concluding statement within each body paragraph.
Evidence: Facts, statistics or opinions are known as evidence in essays. It is important to use this effectively because it increases the credibility of your work and also helps out when writing your outline for an essay.
The most common way to support your thesis statement in a 500-word essay is by using facts and definitions from books, journals and internet sources.
Journal websites are another great way to use facts and statistics for any 500 words essay topic.
Conclusion statement:
The conclusion of an essay should have a concluding sentence that leaves the reader with a clear idea of what you were talking about. A 500 word paper should then end with a strong conclusion to bring everything together and finally show the reader why they read it in the first place.
How many paragraphs are in a 500 word essay?
A 500-word essay can be divided into 3 to 5 paragraphs. This makes it more manageable and easier to write when compared to a longer essay of about 5000 words or more.
Any type of issue can be addressed in an independent essay ranging from sports to politics.
The length is determined by how much info you want to include in your paper. So, if you have enough space for all information that should be added then there’s no need to stress over it.
A few things can help you with a suitable introduction and conclusion for your 500-word composition:
- When writing an introductory paragraph, make sure that the first sentence catches attention and sets the tone for further reading; at the same time, provide sufficient background information about your essay.
- After the opening paragraph, add a thesis statement that clearly defines your position (take into account all sides of the issue) or provides an argument for the topic under consideration.
- The main body of your 500 word essay should consist of two more paragraphs concentrating on proving that you have done thorough research and have sufficient knowledge to discuss this subject at length.
One last thing: Do not forget to mention which side you are taking in regard to this particular problem/issue being discussed in your paper.
How to write a good introductory paragraph for a 500 word essay
It has to be relevant – don’t use any words that are not necessary describing your topic.
You need to be creative and not just repeat what other people have already mentioned on this issue.
Your essay introduction should contain a brief description of your theme with some examples.
It is also important to make sure that you are giving enough background info so that readers can understand the problem further (use both factual and emotional details but don’t forget about relevance).
A thesis statement has to include 2 things: a point of view/opinion and an argument for why you think this is the case or how come you believe in that particular position.
If you are writing an argumentative essay, then the thesis statement for your essay would look something like this example below: “There are several reasons why I’m against legalizing marijuana.”
Is 500 words good for an essay?
Generally, you can say that yes, it is. The most important thing when writing a 500 word essay is to make your structure clear so that your readers get all details and can understand what exactly you are saying.
Now let’s assume that you have:
1 sentence for the introduction, 3 sentences in each body section (should include topic-sentence, evidence and conclusion), then there will be 2 supporting points per body section + 1 more statement of support in your conclusion = 6 statements altogether – enough material on which you can build a strong argumentation.
So that’s how many points/ideas do we need to address our issue in order to prove that we know about this problem well enough: 4+2+6=10 points.
Now we have to connect the first and second body section (that’s why you should keep your paragraphs short – it will be easier for readers to read and understand your writing). Thus, our second paragraph should include one more supporting idea/point in regard to the previous statement; this way readers will see that you’re trying to build an argument on your thesis statement. In other words, all of these statements will work as “links” between the first and second body sections. With every new point presented in your essay, make sure that it is relevant enough or appears logical so that your reader can follow everything without any problems. Finally, provide a strong conclusion stating once more why exactly do you think that legalization is NOT a good idea.
Can you write 500 words in a day, 24 hours or 1, 2,5, 12 hours?
It depends on you, of course – if the topic for your essay was interesting and you were into it, then there would be no problem finishing it in less than 24 hours.
Most students can write a 500 words essay in a day or less. Most of our essay writers can write a 500 word essay in an hour or 30 minutes.
The most important thing is making sure that your introduction is catchy enough so that the reader would take some time to read all the way through.
Don’t forget about supporting points – just because they are not directly related with what has already been said does not mean that they should be left out!
Try to finish your essay quickly but do not sacrifice quality for a short period of time – it is better to write a 500-word essay carefully and proofread it twice than rush into writing, rush through the whole process and still be unable to create a well-organized and properly structured 500 words paper.
What should you remember about ‘500 word essay’ writing?
Basically, your goal is to keep your reader interested in finding out more details on what exactly you’re trying to say; how would legalization affect our community (or country) etc., so that they can answer these questions by themselves just from reading your thesis statement.
Try not to use too many facts/trivial information which are irrelevant for this particular topic as it will distract the attention from the main point of your argumentation/discussion.
