Let’s face it, writing a current events essay can be challenging if you are not adequately prepared. It is a laborious process, especially if you are to select a current event issue, formulate a topic, plan, write, and polish your essay within a tight deadline.
The bitter truth is that no professor will teach you how to write one. Well, at least not as deep as our detailed guide here will do in the next less than a quarter an hour of your time. Yet it is an assignment assigned at grades 6-8, high school, college, university, and sometimes even at Ph.D. levels.
In most cases, your role is to present points or concrete arguments about the event in question. In essence, you need to plan, research, and engage your best writing, critical thinking, and creativity skills. Good analysis, organization, and presentation are necessary more like when writing a synthesis essay or expository essay.
With all that in mind, let’s find the way out. You can read this article and scoop some ideas on the elements that make a good current events paper, even if you are writing it for the first time.
What is a current events essay?
A current events essay describes a recent issue, situation, phenomenon, or happening that is interesting, drawing the attention of many people, shocking, or fascinating. In some cases, current event essays describe an event that is yet to happen. It helps relate what you have learned in class to the real-world situations that occur around you. Most current event essays are five-paragraph essays.
In a current events essay, you are to address the historical context, current state, and the potential short- and long-term effects of a given aspect of a current issue or phenomenon that has a global impact. In most cases, the topics will relate to concepts from the law, politics, international relations, technology, science, sociology, medicine and health, and other controversial societal issues. You will take a current event or issue and present it in its context.
It is a common assignment for students taking English writing classes, which is meant to assess writing, editing, and research skills. It also informs students about important occurrences across the world.
When writing one, you are to reflect on and form opinions about social justice and also learn how to spot publication bias. And as you write it, you get to hone your reading comprehension, summary, creativity, and critical thinking skills.
As well, writing an essay on current events helps you to develop your argumentative and persuasive skills.
Now that we know what a current events essay or the paper is let’s explore the various steps you should take to write one successfully.
Steps to Write a Current Events Essay
Before everything else, let us show you the steps you need to follow when writing a current events essay. Although there is no one single proven way to approach such an essay better, these steps can help you avoid writer’s block and write a current events essay that becomes your teacher’s favorite. To write a current events essay, follow these steps:
1. Select a topic you find interesting
Although some professors or educators provide specific instructions about what topic to choose or write about, others leave it up to you (the student) to choose one. When allowed the flexibility of selecting a current events essay topic, you need to be very careful.
Check whether the instructions have specific time constraints on the topic you are to select. For instance, the instructions could stress that you focus on current events within the last year, one month, or five years.
You also need to check whether your topic has to relate to a specific area, field, or industry. For example, understand whether it is a topic relating to education, banking, investments, technology, sports, business, religion, discrimination, gender, or politics.
Finally, check whether you need to choose a topic that weaves some analytical aspects. This step should help you choose a topic that will not end up with a descriptive tone.
To choose a fit essay topic, you can focus on your notes, ask for insights from classmates and peers, or consult with your teacher. And as you select a topic, remember to choose one that is interesting, easy to find information about, and one you can write a complete 5-10 page essay on.
Suppose you are unsure and cannot get enough help from your teacher. In that case, you can engage an essay writing service for topic selection and further guidance.
2. Choose a reputable news source and select an article
Some of the good places to find topics and articles for a current events essay include New ELA, NY Times, National News, Local news websites, Sports News, The Atlantic, BBC News, Daily Mail, The Economist, The Guardian, Investopedia, Forbes, TIME Magazine, The Harvard Business Review, National Public Radio (NPR), CNN News, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and other credible news outlets.
The source you select should be reliable, reputable, and credible. It should be one that writes well-researched, verified, and trustworthy news. After finding the source, research for an article that is fresh as you write about a current event. Besides, choose an article on the correct topic and ensure it has the right information for your current events paper.
If you are writing a current events paper for a politics class, use the section of the major newspapers that deals with political matters. In the same way, if you are writing on science topics, target the science and technology section of the newspaper for appropriate articles.
Consider choosing from scholarly sources such as empirical journal articles, scholarly books, government documents, or peer-reviewed articles.
3. Read the selected article and take notes
After you have selected the article, read through it severally. In the first few instances, skim through the article to have a rough idea of its contents, then subsequently read as you take notes.
When reading, highlight the critical points within the article. If you are unsure of some vocabulary used in the article, use a dictionary and note the contextual meaning of the words.
You should then use the highlighted notes to identify the 5 Ws: who, what, where, when, why, and how. Answer briefly the questions below:
- What happened?
- Where did it happen?
- When did it happen?
- Who was involved?
- Why did it happen?
- How did it happen?
Determining these aspects helps you develop an angle of analysis, develop lead sentences, craft a strong thesis statement, and develop claims and arguments necessary for your current events paper. You can also document your thoughts about the article and its content.
4. Develop a thesis statement and hook for your essay
With the notes, you can develop a thesis statement and choose a good hook for your essay. A current events essay needs to be captivating, which means supporting the main arguments with credible evidence. Therefore, develop a strong thesis that each body paragraph will support using evidence.
If you are writing a current events essay on human trafficking during COVID-19, you can use the hook and thesis below:
Hook: In a study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), it emerged that the COVID-19 pandemic had had a devastating impact on the victims and survivors of human trafficking, with an increased targeting and exploitation of children and women.
Thesis Statement: It is time for the world leaders, investigative agencies, and law enforcement agencies to come together and develop a platform that would curb human trafficking, especially during challenging times such as pandemics and natural disasters.
5. Select the sources you are going to use to support the thesis
Research is the most critical yet intimidating part of writing any paper. However, to set yourself up in the right direction, consider doing this:
- Understand the number of sources you are to use to determine the scope of your research
- Choose credible sources. This primarily depends on the instructions. Some professors and teachers will allow you to use media and business articles. At the same time, some will only accept essays written with scholarly sources.
- Know the scope of your research or paper before commencing research. Try to write down the main points that you will use to support the thesis then research.
These are blueprints for your research as you seek to expound on the 5Ws and H of your current events essay paper.
The sources should help you fortify your position. Find and quote from experts, public figures, and scholars in the field.
When researching, look for relevant passages. Then, skim and read the documents with the 5Ws and H in your mind. If a section has ideas, consider them and highlight the significant points. You can also use the organizing tools to organize ideas from the sources.
6. Create an outline
A current events essay follows the five-paragraph essay format:
- Introduction
- Body paragraphs
- Conclusion
The body section is where the rubber meets the road as you provide evidence to support the thesis. For example, you can use subheadings in the body corresponding to the 5Ws and H.
Below is a breakdown of what should go where:
Introduction
- What is the event?
- What happened or is yet to happen?
- Where did it happen?
- Who was involved?
- Why did it happen?
- What are the consequences?
- Which media has covered the event, and when did it do so?
The answers to these questions should be brief. The purpose of your current events essay introduction is to give the reader insight into the event. Brevity helps you to sound reliable, knowledgeable, and engaging. The introduction should not exceed five to six sentences in most cases unless it is a very long essay.
Body Paragraph 1
- Give a history of the event
- What factors led to the event, and who was involved
Body Paragraph 2
- Explain the two sides that people can take regarding the event (one side agrees, the other disagrees)- give adequate reasons.
Body Paragraph 3
- Explain the significance of the event
- As yourself, “who will the event impact?”
- What will happen?
- What roles do the people involved play?
- What can be done to change things, and by who?
Conclusion
- Summarize the crucial details from your essay
- Discuss the possibility of bias in the article
- Reflect how bias informs you of the way the article was created
- Let your readers know why the event is significant enough to be covered in an essay.
Works Cited Page
- List of the sources used in the essay
7. Write the first draft
It is now time to make the outline count with the outline completely. Then, you can start organizing your research and developing ideas in your essay. We advise that you begin by writing the body paragraphs, then the introduction, finally winds up with the conclusion. We are of the opinion that writing the introduction last ensures that it is excellent, composed, and consistent.
Regardless of the process, even if you begin writing chronologically (from introduction to conclusion), only focus on writing and not perfection when developing the first draft.
Select from the important passages you read evidence that support your thesis. Paraphrase, quote, summarize from the sources, then provide an appropriate citation. Write the respective headings, subheadings, and paragraphs and use transitions to maintain a good flow.
Your first draft should be rough, which means writing and not editing. Then, when writing the conclusion, it should be a re-cap of your essay. It should have a rephrased thesis and some important points of your research.
To avoid writer’s block, ensure that you systematically complete the paper when you have the will and zeal to write. Do not wait until later. Instead, plan your essay and complete it in phases before the deadline.
8. Proofread and edit the essay
With everything completed, it is time to refine the first draft and turn it into a final draft. First, edit your essay for the flow of ideas and sentence structure. Check whether there are ambiguous sentences, run-on sentences, or sentences that don’t make any sense and are correct. If there are essay phrases that have been misplaced, ensure that you replace them with the best ones.
Proceed to proofread your essay for spelling and grammar errors. To conclude the polishing process, countercheck the sources cited in your essay. Check if the citations are done per the preferred format and that sources used in the in-text citations appear in your list of references in the right format.
If possible, have another person read your essay. You can trust our online proofreaders to read your essay, highlight mistakes, and make necessary corrections. You will get a smart paper that explains the significance of these changes. Your essay sells ideas to your professor or markers and anticipates the best Grade.
Tips when writing a current events paper
Use the following tips to perfect your current events essay.
1. Always read, understand, and analyze the essay question or the essay prompt
Check the limiting terms that define the scope of the topic, the content terms that are specific to the task, and the directive terms that define what your essay will be about. Directive terms include discussing, evaluating, comparing, illustrating, or exploring.
2. Define your arguments as you plan to write the essay
Ensure that you have claim statements, thesis statements, and good hooks related to the main topic. Make an informed opinion, position, or point of view on the topic.
3. Use evidence, reasoning, and scholarship.
Evidence should offer data and facts to support your claim. It could be statistics, examples, quotations, and facts. Reasoning helps connect the evidence to your main argument. You will have to use reason when evaluating the evidence to show how it fits in the context of your paper. The scholarship aspect helps show how your arguments relate to what you have cited.
4. Ensure that your essay has an excellent organization
Use good essay hooks, thesis statements, and write befitting background information in your introduction. Next, organize the body paragraphs using different paragraphing techniques for a good flow. Finally, let your conclusion leave the readers yearning for more from you. It should show how the topic fits a broader context of your discipline, the significance of your findings, and factors that you have covered that might be interesting to your readers.
5. Have an essay plan
An essay plan will help you avoid writers’ block. It will also help break down the parts of the writing process, which makes it easier to concentrate, focus, and achieve more.
6. Have an essay checklist to help you refine and polish the paper
Develop the checklist from the rubric or marking scheme if one is provided. If one is not provided, look at some factors for a successful essay and mark your paper against the checklist.
7. Cite sources and evidence in your essay
Check whether each of the in-text citations is done as per the requirements. Equally, ensure that your list of references is up-to-date and formatted correctly in MLA, APA, Chicago NB, Chicago AD, or Harvard formats.
8. Do not plagiarize
Ensure that every information you use is well-cited. Acknowledge others for their credible information as you use their evidence, findings, and data to write your essay. This also means referring to verified sources such as authoritative newspapers, government journals, company data, images, and scholarly articles.
9. Be impartial
When writing, describe an event objectively without taking a subjective position. Look at the causes, factors, and other background details of the event that are not accessible. Choose not to guess or misrepresent ideas. Instead, analyze the chosen issue or event critically. And if you are writing about an event that is yet to occur, write what is expected based on evidence. Make good predictions and offer rationale or justifications to support your arguments. Your current event essay must be objective, convincing, informative, and educative.
These current essay tips can be the only determinant for getting the best Grade off your current events essay. Perfect and polish your writing, reading and comprehension, analytical, and organization skills because that is what is being tested. Avoid using complicated vocabulary. Instead, focus on the simplicity required in scholarly writing.
Current Event Topics
We have brainstormed, researched, and come up with various current event essay topics that you can choose and write about. Alternatively, these topics can be a great starting point for you to brainstorm and develop an appropriate topic.
- How Twitter is a significant political tool
- The USA uses drone strikes to attack terrorists; how accurate is the move?
- Causes of the high cost of healthcare in the USA
- Shortage of nurses and healthcare workers in the USA
- Wildfires in Australia
- Is the WHO trustworthy?
- Is Big Pharma taking us round with COVID-19 vaccines?
- Controversies of green energy
- Ballooning student loans in the USA
- Is social media to blame for rising teenage suicides?
- Is TikTok better than Google?
- Trump presidency and international relations
- Afghan women rights under Taliban 2.0
- Black Lives Matter Movement in America
- How COVID-19 changed the global politics
- Are mandatory vaccination laws legal?
- Should the USA reduce its strictness to illegal immigrants considering its built on the same workforce?
- Should children above 15 years be allowed to vote?
- Should the government be representative?
- Should developed nations stop funding corrupt developing countries?
- Should rich people be exposed?
- Do rich people control the world
- Are wars a tool to thwart developing nations?
- The war in Syria is a creation of selfish leaders
- Why America and Russia are not on good terms
- Should North Korea stop nuclear weapons manufacturing?
- Relationship between North Korea and the USA
- The impacts of COVID-19 on Tokyo Olympic
- Eliud Kipchoge’s 1:59 marathon Record
- Should NFTs be banned?
- Is Blockchain the next big thing for the world?
- Nations should negotiate with North Korea
- Causes of global hunger and poverty
- Is NATO an effective organization
- Did the COVID-19 change the global healthcare system?
- Is it possible that we are headed for a third world war?
- Is China an observer of human rights?
- Is China the new world’s superpower?
- China is the world’s kitchen, a chief polluter
- Is the Indian Judicial system better?
- Foreign aid has hurt Africa for ages
- African leaders are mainly corrupt, and dictators
- Should Africa be recolonized
- Is China using loans and foreign aid to recolonize Africa?
- Is cycling better than football?
- Covid-19 and the Olympic games
- How covid-19 has affected sports
- Should euthanasia be legalized
- The endless destruction of Amazon and what governments are doing
- Sex work should be legalized
- Women rights in Afghanistan
- Mental healthcare of the LGBTQ people
- How COVID-19 Exposed the Flaws of America’s Private Health Insurance System
- Why should Korea not forgive Japan for its past war crimes?
- Did History Repeat Itself in Afghanistan?
- The Afghanistan-Taliban scandal
- Is Dubai a hub for international organized financial crimes?
- Social isolation of prisoners during covid-19?
- Was the media skewed in telling lies during the pandemic?
- The no-mask mandate in England
- Why is it time to lift COVID-19 restrictions?
- Mandatory vaccinations and global travel
- Was the alarm around COVID-19 necessary?
- Housing shortage in China
- Gender reveal parties are a waste of time
- Is democracy doing any good?
- Social distancing distanced people all over the world
- Vaccine equality
- Science and lies during the covid-19
- Politics behind climate change
- Fascism in the contemporary society
- Can Trump make it back in 2024?
- Covid-19 and property pricing in New York
- Media censorship and oppression
- The media only sings the tunes of the rich
- Effects of covid-19 on financial stabilities of families
- Being a Muslim in China
- Are electronics the ultimate weapons?
- Are the media houses making us more divisive through the news?
- The third hand in Myanmar chaos
- Africa and its ballooning foreign debts
- Why do African countries store their money abroad?
- Immigration and covid-19
- Access to food and water during the pandemic
- Should TikTok be banned?
- Is TikTok a tool that has enabled LGBTQ people to come out?
- Is universal basic income attainable?
- Are trade unions any better in contemporary society?
- Who runs the world?
- Role of the New Silk Road from China to Pakistan
- Justice in a divided country
- Is Kim Jong-Un displaying his insecurity by flexing his nuclear muscles?
- Is Trump among the best Presidents the USA ever had?
- Is Medical marijuana a promise for terminally ill patients?
- Can medical marijuana be used to manage COVID-19 symptoms?
- Deepwater Horizon Explosion and the environment
- Walmart and gun ordinances
- Consumer behavior in the age of social media
- Nissan’s CEO a wanted man
- The latest breakthroughs in Fusion power
- Elizabeth Holmes and her Theranos ideas
- Is Next-Gen Graphics the next big thing?
- Using CRISPR to reverse blindness
- Silicon valley’s greatest disaster
- Thorium as the future of energy
- Apple’s M1 Chip as a game-change
- Rise of bank fraud
- Ponzi schemes in the 21st Century
- The rise and fall of HTC
- Humanoid robots and the future
List of Current Events to Write About
We have listed elsewhere social issues that you can also look into as possible topics and titles for your current event essay. Apart from those, here are suggestions of recent events that you can check and pick an appropriate topic. First, focus on what is in the news pertaining to these areas, then choose your angle of analysis.
- Activism
- Airline travel
- ANTIFA
- Artificial intelligence
- Assisted suicide
- Atheism
- Autism
- Bilingual education
- Biofuels
- Black lives matter
- Blockchain technology
- Border Security
- Cancer
- Capital punishment
- Censorship
- Census
- Charter schools
- Childhood obesity
- Citizen scientists
- Civil rights
- The civil war in Ethiopia
- Climate change
- Climate change
- Concussions and injuries in football
