While most people consider essays to contain either mere fantasies (in the case of fiction), or cold, hard facts (in the case of non-fiction), the content of essays can also be an indicator of the writer’s mental and emotional state. This fact has long been used by test graders across the United States to check for signs of child abuse, depression or even threats of violence.

But it seems that only recently (i.e. since the 1999 Columbine High School incident) has more stress and sensitivity been placed on this kind of “mental and emotional screening”. In fact, since the September 11 terrorist attacks, more and more of these “crisis papers” are appearing.

The interesting thing about this is that not only can you see the mental and emotional state of the writer from essays, but also from any form of written response, such as math or science questions - though the conclusions drawn are far more limited.

So, perk up when you’re writing your essays. After all, you never know when you’ll be recommended for counseling for writing an angst-filled essay in your exams.

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A fifth grader at Homeville Elementary School in West Mifflin recently won $5,000 in an essay competition sponsored by Nickelodeon - “…which must be spent on improving play activities at her school.” Her essay topic? The importance of play.

Now, while you might be thinking: Hah? I say this is an important opportunity to remind us how useful essay writing skills really are. If a fifth grader can win $5,000, imagine how much a 17-year old can win. Of course, I’m simplifying things a lot, but I’m sure you get my point.

Circumlocution - in essay writing - is the use of a large number of words to say something which can be said equally well, if not better, in fewer words. Circumlocution introduces unnecessary “floweriness”, which is generally an irritant to readers, judges (for competition essays) and examiners (for examination essays). The possibility of making grammatical mistakes also increases as the quantity of words written rises and sentence structures become more complicated.

An example of circumlocution would be:
Circumlocution - I want an idea of how long it would take for this project to be completed.
Concise Version - I want an estimate of the project’s time frame.

There are a few reasons why circumlocution occurs. For one, the writer might not be able to find the exact word to express a certain thought. For everyday conversations, this is normal as thinking of a suitable word at the spur of the moment is indeed difficult. But for essay writing - where you should have time to refer to a dictionary, thesaurus or friend - circumlocution is inexcusable. In fact, if circumlocution persists in your essay writing, it indicates a weak vocabulary.

Another reason for circumlocution is that a writer may falsely believe that by using longer, more complicated sentences, containing bigger and more “bombastic” words, it will seem more impressive. Well, what do you think? Would any sane person say that the long phrase “at this precise moment in time” is more impressive than the word “now”? Obviously not.

So, kick circumlocution out of your essay writing “strategies”, and start writing concise sentences now. The more you practice writing concise sentences, the faster you will improve your essay writing!

“It is important that we leave no stone unturned…”, or “It is with my deepest regret that I have to inform you.” Well, we’ve all heard cliches - phrases so commonly used that they have become hackneyed. Of course, cliches were once phrases extremely suitable for the particular context they applied to, but they have been used far too often in inappropriate contexts and consequently, have lost their original force.

So, given the negative connotation attached to cliches today, should we use them in our writing? I’d have to use a hackneyed phrase myself: It depends. In general, cliches should be avoided like the plague because it is more likely that they will be used inaccurately, rather than otherwise. In letter writing, cliches can also suggest a lack of sincerity as they are common expressions rather than your own original thoughts and feelings.

But when used sparingly and appropriately, they deliver a very strong message because well-used cliches not only show your understanding of the language but they also represent your strong intent at pushing through that message (to the extent that you are willing to use a cliche).

Therefore, let me reiterate the words of almost all English teachers today: Do Not Use Cliches unless you really, really understand how they should be used. This translates as: If you happen to be in doubt over the appropriate context of any commonly used phrase, do not use it - especially if you are writing an examination-level or competition-level essay.