Essays depend upon the careful and intelligent execution of many skills. There are many difficult aspects of writing an essay. The most challenging factors of essay writing are constructing an outline, especially an informative essay outline, and applying unique and personal insight through critical thinking.
Essay writing forces the author to critically think and formulate their own thoughts and opinions. An essay, especially an argumentative essay and synthesis essay, requires one to observe and comprehend multiple sources, ideas, and opinions, and then uses that knowledge to provide a take on the subject that is reinforced by the chosen information gathered. After viewing a significant amount of research needed to skillfully complete the paper, the author must provide personal insight into the essay. This effort is challenging to any student because it requires an in-depth analysis of the material and critical thinking. A significant amount of analytical proficiency is needed to successfully execute this task. Critical thinking is also arguably the most important skill learned through essay writing because it equips students with skills that can be used to help them make good decisions, understand the consequences of actions, and solve complex problems in their lives, inside and outside of the educational environment. By forcing the author to draw their own informed conclusions, the essay actively becomes a direct representation of the scholar’s understanding of the subject. Therefore, the insight contributed in an essay is of the upmost importance.
Critical thinking also tends to be much more difficult because it is built upon an adequate ability to understand language and comprehension. A lot of the information that can be commentated on within statements and arguments are subtle and easily missed. This also makes it challenging for the writer because it is necessary to look at the information with a significant amount of detail. Critical thinking is complicated to teach because it cannot be universally implemented. This skill works on a case-to-case basis. It becomes very hard for a teacher to provide rules and outlines of how to be prosperous in this exercise in a multitude of scenarios. Ultimately, it is hard to apply familiar solutions to problems that appear new to the viewer.
Someone’s perception also may heavily impair their ability regarding examining material. Many people struggle with critical thinking due to biased experiences and social conditioning. Biased experiences may constitute an individual to not fathom more than what has been observed through their personal encounters. It may be hard for these people to distinguish and comprehend facts that contradict their beliefs. This can only be escaped if systems for others to check one’s thinking and share different perspectives are fostered in order to help reconstruct the situation. Social conditioning also impacts critical thinking because it trains individuals to respond in a way that is approved of by society in general and groups within said society. This can be conflicting because some may respond in a way that satisfies the majority for social acceptance.
Essay writing can be a strenuous activity. Employing unparalleled insight by critically thinking is the most difficult endeavor in writing an essay. However, it is important to engage in essay writing to develop a greater understanding of any topic.