8 Tips for Academic Success in
English / Language Arts Courses

By: Michael S.

1. Challenge Your Opinions

Whether speaking up in class or writing an essay or journal, you only improve your work if you take the time to consider points of view different from your own. What might someone else think? How would you respond to their differing opinions?

2. Review, Edit, Rewrite, Repeat

Journals and essays ask a lot of you: provide an opinion, back it up, and provide enough context that readers will understand what you have written. When a draft is completed, put it aside for at least an hour and revisit it with fresh eyes. Does it make sense? Have you provided enough justification for your answer, or did you just raise more questions? It can take two, three, even four drafts to complete your work, but the reward of arriving at a complete, well-thought out answer is worth the effort.

3. Great Thinkers are Great Readers

There is a wide world of words available, from novels to poetry, Owl Kids magazine to The Atlantic Cities, the New Yorker to Sports Illustrated. The narrative flow of your favourite novel has much to teach you about writing as the editorial analysis of a personal essay, so vary your reading habits. The ability to understand and express yourself in a variety of styles will serve you well.

4. Study, Do Not Memorize

While it is important to know the plot of a book, teachers rarely want to see you summarize it. When studying, focus instead on the ideas, themes, imagery and character development you discussed in class. Practice writing these ideas down and a few examples from the book that demonstrate them. The plot summary is there to support your answer, not be your answer.

5. Take the 10-Word Challenge

Try to express your thoughts in ten words or less in each sentence. While it is tempting to use every large word you know and to write long run-on sentences, teachers are rarely impressed when their students do so. Instead, they prefer short, clear statements that flow together. The more efficiently you can express yourself, the better you retain your audience's interest.

6. "But What About...?"

When editing, prompt yourself to critique your own work by challenging every statement you have written. Begin your thoughts with words such as "But what about..." or "Yes, but..." and see where your thoughts go. The object is not to prove yourself wrong, but to see if you need to clarify what you have written. If you find yourself making some good points against your own work, perhaps you had better begin another draft.

7. Always Use Topic Sentences

Organization is key to any writing project, and topic sentences are your sticky notes for success. If a paragraph has no end, re-visit your topic sentence. What is the paragraph supposed to be about? What is it meant to say? If your paragraph contains information unrelated to the topic sentence, then start a new one. If a long paragraph all relates to your topic sentence but is long-winded, then re-write the sentences so that they are more specific and to the point.

8. Take a Break

Language Arts is hard work - constantly challenging your thoughts and the way you express them is the mental equivalent of lifting weights. If you find that you simply cannot put any more valuable thought into your project, then set it aside, get up and walk around. Even a 10-minute break can be the difference between a B and an A grade, leaving you refreshed for another hour's revision.