The term diagnostic essay is not well absorbed by students, as they often get confused and wonder what they need to diagnose or test in an essay. However, the functioning of a diagnostic essay is different from a diagnostic research paper. Such essays aim at testing the existing skills among the new college students. The professors assign the diagnostic essay to the students right at the beginning of an academic session because it helps them evaluate students’ existing abilities and knowledge. The diagnostic essay guide will help us learn and review the things that can be checked in every diagnostic assignment.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more related videos

Definition and Objective of a Diagnostic Paper

According to universities in the US, diagnostic essays are defined as a topic that is presented to the student that needs to be answered in the form of an essay. Answering diagnostic essay topics becomes highly challenging due to limited time and strict deadlines. Thus, it is not necessary to research per se due to time limitation and strict deadlines.

The prime objective of a diagnostic essay is to analyze each student’s writing style and level of knowledge during the course. However, each student doesn’t need to show in-depth knowledge of books or conduct extensive research in such essays. The diagnostic essay is also known as a time-limited creativity test that helps diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of each student. On the completion of a diagnostic paper, the professor analyzes it and offers a future recommendation for improvement. When analyzing such articles, critical things are formatting rules, writing patterns, grammatical errors, and other flaws. Additionally, such writing assignments also assist the teachers in future planning activities and assignments based on skill levels.

Even though these essays are not graded, yet they need to be completed efficiently to give the professors an idea of a student’s ability. The essay allows professors to see the power of the students related to preparation, essay formation, logic, creativity, tactical thinking and editing. Remember that one should also show good proofreading skills.

Structure and Format for Diagnostic Essay

Do not forget that your time is limited, so it is vital to learn the diagnostic essay’s exact structure. Having complete knowledge of design helps in eliminating the need for additional editing and rewriting. Standard design for a diagnostic essay includes three sections, an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion.

Introduction

Revisit the purpose of the essay in your own words to introduce the essay topic. The prompt will be followed by the main points of arguments that will be discussed in body paragraphs. The last sentence of the introduction will present a thesis statement. A thesis statement is a sentence stating your side of view on the topic, supported by a few pieces of evidence.

Body Paragraphs

The body paragraphs are a significant part of the essay and are divided into three different paragraphs. The standard rule followed for this section is “one idea, one paragraph”. In each paragraph, you will make an idea and relate it to your thesis statement. You can include statistics, data or any personal experience to support your argument with evidence.

Conclusion

You are summarizing each point stated in the paragraphs in a way that supports the thesis statement. Avoid using any new idea in the conclusion part. You can rephrase the thesis statement differently, in conclusion, to clarify to the target audience the actual meaning of the discussion. The conclusion section should end in a way that points out an issue for future research.

Important Points to Remember!

• Remember to be as precise as possible when presenting your ideas and arguments.
• Avoid writing general statements without supportive evidence and using examples to help the teaching staff know that you are ready for the assignment.
• Always try to write short and meaningful sentences that make explicit claims and are more comfortable to edit and proofread. Moreover, short sentences will also help in maintaining a strict deadline.

25 Recent Diagnostic Essay Topics

Many universities in the United States give topics to the student for their diagnosis and offer them the freedom to think and create their ideas. One can look through existing diagnosis essay topics to analyze and use available views on these topics. Below are some popular diagnostic essay topics in various disciplines that one can work on.

Society and Computers

• Does social media help in improving or damaging physical communication between individuals in society?
• Should the government reduce the legal age for consumption of alcohol among American youth?
• Is standard learning methods more beneficial than distance learning education?
• What is the psychological and physiological reason behind the racial conflicts that exist in society? Which is more prominent among the two?
• What can you interpret about the impact of social networking on society in the next ten years?

Healthcare and Nursing

• What is the impact of college life on the sleep patterns of today’s students?
• What is the influence of nursing theorists, and what is my social input?
• How can an ER department help in reducing stress levels?
• Should you consider traditional medicine practices over contemporary medicines?
• What is more important in nursing? Honesty or politically correct actions?

Business Management

• What are the benefits of offshore solutions on business enterprises?
• What are the most effective ways to prevent gender biases in the workplace?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of outsourcing?
• What are the benefits and challenges of using social media on companies?
• Success in a business is impossible without good employers as well without a strong leader. Do you agree?

Political Science

• The foreign policy of Afghanistan is damaging the presence of the United States in the country.
• Can mediation methods help in achieving political agreement?
• Does transparency of information convey by media impact the unbiased reporting of TV channels?
• Who is your favourite political personality, and why?
• Are religion conflicts and political conflicts two different things and cannot be linked? Do you agree or disagree?

Culture and Education

• Will electronic books replace print books in the coming years?
• How does social media play an essential role in impacting the body image of young people?
• Can online bloggers have considered journalists?
• Can interactive content help the students to learn similar to what physical teachers do?
• The unified education system and alternative teaching methods, which one is better for the United States?

Example Diagnostic Essay Outline

Students need to plan and create a strong outline before starting with their diagnostic essay writing. For demonstrating an example outline, we will choose a topic related to social media and business management.

Example

TOPIC: “In what ways does social media considered potential damage to businesses?”

• The introduction includes a strong hook sentence and a summary of the three body paragraphs with a strong thesis statement.

According to the security experts of social networking sites, a digital footprint still exists in the online platform even after deleting or modifying the information in social media. Such incomplete actions make social media damaging for businesses because of lack of security, theft and incorrect management. Through such reasons, it can be assumed that social media presence in the industry requires substantial control and security through corporate ethics and safety policies.

• Body Paragraphs introduce three different ideas to support the thesis statement.

A digital footprint is referred to as a collection of information present in an online platform that can be derived through search or links.
The presence of online theft makes it necessary for CEOs to consider online presence carefully.
Financial and theft risks arise in businesses due to weak management and the absence of strict guidelines for online content.

• The conclusion is a summary of the evidence and restating the thesis.

Therefore, it can be stated that social media can be damaging for entities due to poor content management and the absence of robust security guidelines. Thus, I believe that online policies should be included in corporate ethics to manage digital footprint effectively.

Are you still stuck with how to write a diagnostic essay? You can take our online essay writing help service for a fast and high-quality essay! We have some of the most professional and experienced experts to guide you with your essay writing.