I'm a first-gen student and I genuinely don't know how to write an essay that impresses professors.

[JohnOORT]

This might sound silly, but I feel like I missed a memo somewhere. I graduated high school, I got into college, but no one ever actually taught me how to write a college-level essay. I write what I think are solid papers—clear thesis, evidence, conclusion—and I keep getting B- and C+ with comments like 'needs more critical analysis' or 'this is too descriptive.' I don't know what 'critical analysis' looks like on the page. I don't have family members who went to college to ask. I'm navigating this completely alone. Can someone explain, in simple terms, the difference between a summary and an analysis? How do I move from telling the professor what happened to actually arguing something? I feel so behind everyone else.

 

[Quinn]

The "too descriptive" comment KILLED me until a tutor explained it like this: Description is painting a picture. Analysis is explaining why the picture matters AND what it says about the artist AND how it connects to other paintings AND why anyone should care.

Quick trick: After every quote or fact, write AT LEAST three sentences about it. What does it imply? What assumptions does it reveal? How does it connect to your main argument? If you can't do that, maybe the quote isn't earning its keep.