Essay Builder is an easy-to-use tool to help you get started on your essay. It supports multiple types of essays and will lead you through each part of your essay by giving you instructions, sample text, and links to additional resources. It also tracks your progress throughout. Additionally, you can choose to switch between build and analyze mode to check your essay as you go.
- If you have an essay in progress, upload it into the Essay Builder canvas.
- Select an Essay Type and choose Update to load an essay template.
- Read and follow the instructions on each of the cards.
- Once you’ve completed a card, select Continue to mark the card as done.
- When you’ve completed all of the cards, use the Essay Editor tab in Bartleby Write to analyze and finish your essay.
As you work with each card, you can either begin typing or use the Add to Draft option to insert placeholder text that can be replaced later. Additionally, you can work on the cards in any order you desire.
Uploading an Existing Essay
If you’ve already started drafting your essay, choose one of the upload options and follow the prompts to load your draft into the Essay Builder canvas. For more information on using the Upload Tools, check out the Bartleby Write User Guide.
Choosing an Essay Template
Use the dropdown menu to select your desired essay type. Essay Builder supports a number of different essay types and is adding more all the time. If you don’t see your type of essay, choose the one that is closest to it.
The Essay Builder tool provides various essay templates that students can choose from based on the requirements of their assignment.
Once you’ve selected the essay type, use the Update button to load the Essay Builder cards into the Essay Builder canvas.
Navigating with the Outline Dropdown
Use the Outline dropdown in the Bartleby Write toolbar to quickly locate and navigate to a specific Essay Builder card.
The Bartleby Write toolbar also provides easy access to a particular Essay Builder card while using the tool.
Working with Essay Builder Cards
The content for each Essay Builder card is specific to the type of essay and the part of that essay it applies to. However, all the cards have a consistent format and a set of tools for building your essay. You can open any card by clicking on it and close any card by clicking on the arrow (^) in its upper right corner. Following is a description of the parts of the Essay Builder cards:
1. Title and Category
Each Essay Builder card has a title and category at the top. The title tells you what section and paragraph of the essay the card applies to. The category tells you what part of the specific paragraph is being described.
2. What is This?
This part of the card explains what to include in this part of the essay and provides an option to add placeholder text to the draft. If you’re ready to draft this part of the essay, you can type directly into the Essay Builder canvas using the explanation as a guideline. You can also use the Add to Draft option to add the placeholder text to the draft as a reminder of what’s required so that you can replace it later.
3. Example
This part of the card provides sample text so you can see a concrete example of how to approach this part of your essay. The content of the card will not match the subject matter of your essay, but it should give you a good idea of the structure and language that can be used.
4. Learn More
Where appropriate, Essay Builder will provide links to additional documentation to help you build your writing skills. The resources may be specific to the essay type and section you’re working on or more broad and applicable to multiple essay types or writing.
5. Continue
When you’re finished with a card, click Continue to close the card, mark it as done, and move on to the next card. If you aren’t finished with this part of the essay, you can move on to another card by closing the current one or simply selecting another one. You can change the status of a card you’ve previously marked as done by simply opening the card and clicking on the green checkmark.
Wrapping Up
Once you’ve gone through all the cards, your essay is almost complete. Just a few more things to check before you turn it in:
- Reread the prompt to make sure you’ve satisfied the requirements of the assignment.
- Make sure you’ve replaced any placeholder text from the Add to Draft feature with your own content.
- If your instructor has specified a length, use the word count in the upper-right hand corner to check the number of words in your essay. Note that a double-spaced page is typically 250 words.
- For some types of essays and assignments, you may have more than one of the same type of paragraph in the body. For example, with an argumentative essay, you will typically have two or more paragraphs with arguments that support your thesis. In this case, the essay template is a guide but the actual number of supporting paragraphs will be dictated by your assignment and content.
- Switch to the writing help tool and use Bartleby Write to check your essay for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and potential plagiarism.
- While in the writing help tool, use Citation Analysis to check for missing citations and then use the citation builder to add them.
At this point, your essay should be ready to go. Use Bartleby Write to download the document in your desired file format, make any required formatting changes, and turn it in.