How to Stay Neutral and Objective in Essay Writing

Not every academic writing assignment will be a personal essay. Some pieces of essay homework require keen research and candid analysis. And that might be hard given that every topic evokes at least minimal emotions. 

A person cannot be impartial in any case. Even boredom and indifference turn into emotions, albeit not brightly colored. Yet, when you have to play the role of equitable researcher, you can’t express too much. With all that, how to write a neutral essay? 

Here are some principles as a means of keeping a poker face when your professor requires it. You can lean on one or two particular principles or combine the maximum of them. That depends on your essay writing assignment. Now then! 

1. Remember That Your Opinion Is Not a Fact 

Some people mix up their opinions with facts and expect others to think the same things as if those are axiomatic. Yet, views, beliefs, and judgments have nothing to do with objective reality. Moreover, your way of thinking can’t affect the positioning of your objects of observation. 

For instance, you can’t call one object good and write in a derogatory manner about the contrasting thing. In your essay, they are equal, no matter what you think. 

Still, you always have the right to express your opinion. To do it skillfully in a neutral essay, mark your judgment with the following phrases: 

• I get from this;
• To my way of thinking;
• I sense;
• I suppose;
• I fancy the idea of;
• From my point of view;
• According to my way of seeing this fact;
• To my mind;
• As I see it;
• In my estimation;
• Other phrases.

Of course, you can come up with something outstanding and original. So if you are looking how to remain neutral in an essay, the main goal here is to separate facts and feelings in an essay.  

2. Vice Versa: Remember That Facts Are Not Opinions 

When researchers provide factual materials, that means they have already conducted research. They don’t suppose that the phenomena function like that — they have proven them after completing a study. Sure, not all facts are axiomatic. But if there is solid objective evidence, it’s not a thought anymore.

3. Find the Equilibrium of Elucidation

When you have to compare something, you can’t give preference to one object and ignore the other one. If you clarify one aspect of an object, that means you will have to take into account the same feature in another. To make this process easier…

Give definitions of every object in an essay 

Find official definitions and use them as a basis. Don’t forget that you have to cite them properly! 

Pay attention to contrasting opinions of experts

Don’t think one expert thought will suffice. It’s better to read/listen to what experts with contrasting opinions suppose. So, you need a balance between positive, negative, and neutral thoughts. 

Find approximately the same number of sources for every object

In situations of contrast, you can’t use ten sources to depict one thing and only 2 for another. The number of sources for every object doesn’t have to be precisely equal though. It can be a plus-minus one or two. But the difference shouldn’t be drastic. 

4. Find Statistics for Every Case You Depict

Numbers won’t add emotional color by themselves. The results might cause emotions but statistics only show how it is. Yet, remember that stats can vary. The choice of respondents influences the results and subsequent conclusions of the study. So, again, it’s better to find the results of different studies and compare them. 

5. Use Only Verified Sources for Illustration 

The best sources are those that have autoreactive authorship. The best idea is to lean on what scientists and researchers present. For essay writing, you can trust articles from your colleges’ intellectual repository. Materials from scientific bases like Google Scholar or CORE will be good too. But don’t confide in “factual” information of random websites.

By the way, Wikipedia isn’t the source that provides objective data. It can be a good hub of references. But if the article doesn’t have a proper bibliography, then you’ll have to search extra. 

6. Use Impartial Tone for an Essay 

Describe the phenomenon, don’t engage in a dispute about its validation and significance. Don’t praise an expert whose opinion you find cool. And don’t downplay the importance of thoughts of people you don’t like. 

7. Demonstrate Different Opinions and Facts Precisely 

Editorializing isn’t a way out. If the researcher says that some flowers can be yellow, don’t add that still some of those flowers can be blue. They didn’t say something you wanted to add but you still need specific information badly? Then find an expert who mentions this aspect. Yet again, don’t put the needed opinion above others. 

If you have an opportunity, make quotes. Nevertheless, there is no need to write a mosaic essay that only consists of others’ opinions. 

In the End: how to write an objective essay

Being neutral never means being indifferent about an essay subject or topic. Vice versa, neutrality is somewhat a skill you have to develop. And it requires a lot of extra work and research.