How to Structure an Essay
The question that usually comes up is, ‘how to structure an essay?’ Essay writing is an essential part of your academic life. From primary schools, teachers focus on teaching kids words and are able to piece the taught words in a sentence together. Eventually, you get the hang of how an essay gets written and what are the basics that you need to cover for your essay to be coherent and readable. However, one thing that often gets neglected amidst these teaching lessons is the structuring of an essay which is something that gets visibly obvious when you don’t pick up on it later on during college life. Hence, an essay structure needs to be focused upon as well.
Now that we know the root of the problem, which is an essay structure, you must be taught in various courses how to get a grip on it so that you can implement it in your essay writing. Otherwise, it is likely that the quality of your essay might be affected, and you’d like to avoid that at all costs.
Let’s have a look at how you can rectify your writing style before it gets out of hand.
The Basics of an Essay Structure
Let’s address the basics of essay structuring first. Just as a callback so that in case you’ve forgotten, you can jog your memory. In Essay Writing 101, you must’ve been taught that an essay consists of 3 parts which are introduction, body, and conclusion. Now, these parts establish the foundation of most essays. But before we dive into it, there are a few aspects we’d like to discuss with you. For instance, an essay writing piece is supposed to be informative to the reader, but there are also numerous ways of departing knowledge.
You could spit bits and pieces of facts one after another, and it’d be pointless to the reader until you present them with a scenario that describes each fact in length so that a reader is able to grasp the concepts and document them in their head with context. Furthermore, you must make sure that your essay is easily understandable, even for a person who has no prior knowledge of the subject. At this point, an essay structure comes into play as it binds the whole thing together to be more comprehensive. So, allow us to guide you on how you can structure your essay in the best way possible and for your audience to be able to understand you.
Studying an essay structure example might help in streamlining the process for you.
Studying Essay Structure Examples
One of the things that might be extremely useful for you with essay structures is the sample examples. If you are to study a few, you should be able to grasp a clear idea of how each author has penned down their thoughts given the topic at hand. There are plenty of learning opportunities within the examples themselves. The general idea is to make mistakes and then learn from those mistakes so that you can improve yourself for the better. For instance, if you forget to structure your first paragraph, which is your introduction, then no sweat. You can rewrite the introduction in the next draft of yours.
Essay structure examples are the best way through which writers can learn a lot. Hence, once you have a topic in mind, you should go all out and research thoroughly until you can find relevant examples which can teach you a thing or two. Keep in mind you can improvise as much as you want because the first few write-ups will be serving as your drafts. Until you believe you have rendered the perfect essay, you can pen down your final version. Essay help UK would be able to help you out better.
Essay writing at its finest
To construct an essay, you have to make sure that you are knowledgeable about the topic you’re writing about. Otherwise, if you attempt to understand as you write, there are chances that you might leave your readers also confused. An essay structure helps you in this very regard. It becomes the outline or the framework of your essay. Thus, allowing you to stay on track as well as avoid confusing your audience.
One of the issues you’d often face is how to kick off your essay. Obviously, your introduction needs to be interesting; however, what if you end up misleading the readers? What if you’re talking about one thing and going completely off the rails in the rest half of the essay? We wouldn’t want that now, would we? Reach out to an essay writing service if you’re desperate.
Writing the best essay possible
First off, bear in mind that in your introduction, you have to introduce your topic and not divulge all the information right away. But how should you do that? Well, how about you start with an open-ended question that you can answer later on through your content body. This way, you should be able to lead your reader right where you want them to be so that you can get to the point gradually by eventually stating your evidence and examples that should back your main points.
Let’s talk about how each paragraph of yours needs to be written. Apart from the introduction and conclusion, how should your content body paragraphs be constructed? Well, you can use the following format or template in order to have an idea. You can even improvise the paragraphs as you go.
Each paragraph will discuss a new point that correlates to your essay topic. Open the paragraph using a topic sentence that will be based on the first main point that you’re going to present—followed by a few supporting sentences that ought to explain your main point. Now, add some evidence that can serve as proof that your main point is indeed impactful. If you’ve got any analysis on the presented evidence, share that as well, making sure not to steal the limelight from the main topic. Lastly, a concluding sentence should wrap up this paragraph. Make use of transitional words while switching to a new topic paragraph.
Types of Essay
In general, you’d find there are multiple essay structure types. Often, an essay is a derived version of another existing essay format. However, there are minor tweaks that can change the entire prose of an essay; hence the different types came into formation. Let’s have a look at these types:
Structuring an Argumentative Essay
An argumentative essay can be quite a headache; however, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to write an argumentative essay structure.
Drafting the final essay structure:
- First Paragraph (Introduction)
It consists of a background for the thesis statement, which is to be presented next.
- Form an argument and provide evidence
- Write the body graphs
Must consist of a claim, evidence and explanation and tie everything back to the thesis statement.
- Additional paragraphs
If you have other points that you consider, need to be addressed, mention them at the end write before the conclusion.
- Conclude the essay in such a way that it ought to have an impactful exit. For example, a call-to-action, a hypothetical or something along the lines of “it’s all for the greater good” would even work.
Structuring a Persuasive Essay
For a persuasive essay structure, you need to put on your most convincing attitude so that you can actually get your reader to take some action. Here’s a step-by-step guide that ought to be helpful:
- Introduction
A persuasive essay introduction kicks off using an interesting first statement which can be referred to as the “hook”, followed by a background that supports the need for such a statement. Do mention your thesis statement; otherwise, your essay would be incomplete.
- Body Paragraphs
Your body paragraph will consist of a topic sentence followed by due evidence and its analysis. Follow the same pattern for each paragraph until you’re mentioned all your points.
- Conclusion
Wrap the essay by surmising your entire discussion and establishing its significance. Furthermore, you can also include food for thought as well.
Structuring a Narrative Essay
A narrative essay structure consists of the following:
- Introduction
A narrative essay introduction follows a similar pattern to that of a persuasive essay, with the difference being that it’s usually in a first-person perspective.
- Body
An overview is given, along with the additional background to make sense of the story, the people surrounding it, and the element of foreshadowing is key. Include a climax.
- Conclusion
Provide a resolution and a moral to the story. Also, include its significance.
Structuring an Analytical Essay
An analytical essay’s introduction and a conclusion are pretty much like any other essay that’s been mentioned thus far. The only difference being the body content. An analytical essay structure usually consists of:
- Introductory sentence
- Analysis and evidence
- Results
Repeat until you’ve made all your points
