You may wind up following a garden of forking paths and lose your way. To prevent this, stop periodically while drafting your essay and reread the assignment. Its purposes are likely to become clearer. Consider the assignment in relation to previous and upcoming assignments. Ask yourself what is new about the task you're setting out to do.
Instructors often design assignments to build in complexity.
Knowing where an assignment falls in this progression can help you concentrate on the specific, fresh challenges at hand. Understanding some key words commonly used in assignments also may simplify your task. Discuss the role of gender in bringing about the French Revolution. In a strong discussion essay, the thesis would go beyond a basic restatement of the assignment question. You might test the similarities and differences of the revolutionary aspects being discussed.