How to Write an Essay Using the Drapes Method

How to Write an Essay Using the Drapes Method

Sep 07, 2012DRAPES is an essay writing method that helps the students with elaboration techniques, which in turn, facilitates students to come up with interesting as well as well-structured essays and academic papers. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that, with DRAPES in your stride, you can never run out of ideas and arguments to include in your essays.

WHAT IS DRAPES?

First and foremost, let us discuss what DRAPES. As mentioned earlier, DRAPES is a writing technique or method that facilitates students to develop effective essay writing skills. Each letter in the word 'DRAPES' represents a unique yet important component of a decent essay:

D stands for Dialogue.
R represents Rhetorical question.
A symbolizes Analogy.
P signifies Personal Experience.
E denotes Examples. 
S stands for Statistics.Needless to mention, these components, when used in perfect sync with basic essay writing rules, help students to come up with inspiring essays.

How to Use DRAPES as an Essay Writing Technique

Given below is a list of steps that will help you make the most of the DRAPES technique:

1. Organize your Thoughts, Ideas and Arguments

It helps to first create appropriate sections such as introduction, body and conclusion on a sheet of paper. The next step is to then note down your ideas in the apposite sections on the paper. For instance, if you get a thought that fits to be included in the introduction, then you should note it down in this first section. In the same way, if a main idea or argument strikes your mind, then you should note it down in the body of the essay.

2. Apply DRAPES

To make the most of the DRAPES method, you must employ all the six components of this technique.

• DialogueDialogue can be defined as a method of including appropriate quotes in the text of the essay. In simpler terms, dialogue is the use of professional opinion to stress your point in the essay. Dialogue can be included in two ways in an essay: you can either choose to use a direct quote or can reword the argument or idea. If you choose to use direct quotes, then you must remember to include the quote in quotation marks. Moreover, you must also remember to note down the reference of the quote so that you can later include it in the reference or bibliography page of your essay.
• Rhetorical QuestionRhetorical questions are undoubtedly the best way to engage readers, as these questions tend to entice the readers to think, which inadvertently gets them interested in reading further. Rhetorical questions make the maximum impact when they are used in the introduction or the conclusion.
• AnalogiesAgain, analogies help the writer emphasize on the point they want to make. By using similes and metaphors in your writing, you also get a chance to exhibit your prowess of the language, thus making a desired impression on the reader. Needless to mention, the use of anecdotes will take your essay or academic paper to another level, as it will make the reader realize that you as a writer and researcher have complete grip over the subject, and that you know how to convey your message.
• Personal ExperienceMentioning a personal experience that is associated with your essay's theme is surely going to earn some brownie points. This is especially true as a narrative of a personal experience can make readers agree with you on certain points or arguments, which otherwise they would not agree to. However, while including personal experiences in your essay, you must be overtly cautious to ensure that the personal experiences are relevant and that they do not mislead the readers from the main theme or thesis.
• ExamplesExamples play a significant role in any form of writing, especially as relevant examples not only make your writing look good, but also strengthen your position in your essay. More often than not, personal experiences and examples go hand in hand in any essay, and make the maximum impact when used in sync with each other.
• StatisticsResearch findings and scientific outcomes, when mentioned in the form of ratios and percentages in your essay, facilitate the readers with verified and established facts that further your standing in the essay, and hence should be used wherever appropriate in your essay without fail.

Once you have made sure that you are prepared to use all the above-mentioned DRAPES techniques, the next step is to start working on the introduction, main body as well as the conclusion of your essay. While writing the introduction, you should understand and make sure that the introduction should entice the reader to read further, should literally draw them to your writing. A rhetoric question can certainly help you do; in addition, you must also make sure that an introduction should state the topic of your essay as well as your stand or position on the topic. Since you have already planned DRAPES for your essay, you can try and include the prepared sentences and questions in the introduction to make the maximum impact on the reader.While writing the main body, you have to be restrained and stay on the topic all the time. The DRAPES components that make the maximum impact are analogies/anecdotes, dialogues, statistics and personal experience. It is a must to mention here that writing about one reason, point or argument in one paragraph will bestow your essay with the requisite clarity of though as well as lucidity.Last but not the least; the conclusion of your essay should be impactful enough to leave the reader thinking about the subject. An easy trick to write an inspiring conclusion is to use the same DRAPES component that you used in your introduction. For instance, if you used a rhetoric question in your essay, end your conclusion with another rhetoric question that is relevant and is inspirational in approach.