Writing an essay

1. The Structure of an Essay

           Your essay should start with an introductory paragraph. There are actually many different ways to begin an essay; therefore, the format of the introductory paragraph is flexible. Often, essays begin with a general introductory statement. This statement could be an anecdote, description, striking statistic, a fact that will lead to your thesis, etc. Beginning this way, you will use the first few sentences to prepare, or "lay the groundwork" for your thesis, and use the last sentence of the first paragraph to present your thesis. However, your thesis statement can be anywhere in your introduction. In a longer essay, you can even wait to present your thesis until the second paragraph or later. Also for a longer essay, you should begin to introduce a few supporting ideas in the first couple of paragraphs. These supporting ideas should be the topics that you will discuss in full in your body paragraphs. For a short essay, presenting supporting ideas during the introduction is optional.

         Your second paragraph generally begins the body of the paper. (For a longer paper, the body of the paper may not begin until the third paragraph or later). This paragraph should begin with a topic sentence that introduces the first supporting idea (the support for your thesis). You should use the middle of the paragraph to discuss your support, give examples, and analyze the significance of these examples. Your last sentence of the body paragraph could be used to draw a conclusion for that supporting idea, or to transition into the next paragraph.

          Your next two body paragraphs should follow the same format as your first body paragraph. They should each have a separate topic sentence and supporting ideas, but the three paragraphs should work together to prove your thesis. If you are writing a longer paper, you will have more than three body paragraphs, but they should all follow this format.

       The form of your conclusion, like your introduction, is flexible. One good way to conclude a paper is to begin the last paragraph with a statement that reflects on what has been stated and proved, without repeating it exactly. Then you should briefly restate your key points to gently remind the reader how well you proved your thesis. Your conclusion should end with a statement or idea that leaves a strong impression and provokes further thought.

2. The essay

          To define the essay briefly, one can say that it is a piece of writing usually short (3 to 10 pages), written in prose, and that may be on any subject. The essay is generally based on other people's statements. In the essay you can include your personal opinion, and some examples to illustrate your point of view. It is written about one topic, just as a paragraph is. However, the topic of an essay is too long and too complex to discuss it in one paragraph. Therefore, you must divide the topic into several paragraphs, one for each major point. In general, essays have three basic parts: introduction, body and conclusion.

1. The Introduction

It is the first section of your essay. This makes it extremely important, because first impressions are often lasting ones. It consists of two parts: a few general statements about your subject to attract your reader's attention, and a thesis statement, that states the specific subdivisions of your topic and/or the "plan" of your paper. The introduction then, begins with remarks to interest people. As it progresses, it should present general ideas or facts to orient the reader. Then, it will narrow its focus, and move from general to specific facts smoothly and logically.

2. The body Paragraphs

They are the longest section of you essay. In a short essay there are usually three body paragraphs, each one considering in detail one aspect of the essay's controlling idea. This is called a three-point essay. At the beginning of each of your support paragraphs, there is a topic sentence that tells what the rest of your text is going to be about. This sentence should direct your readers back to the controlling idea and indicate which aspect of it you are going to discuss. Once you present your topic, you need details and facts to support it. It is not enough to state your position; your reader needs to be convinced that your point of view is valid an accurate. There is not any rule that determines how long a body paragraph should be. The more relevant detail you can bring in to support each of your topic sentence, the clearer your points will be.

3. The Conclusion

The ideas in this part must be consistent with the rest of your essay. In it, you should restate the controlling idea. This restatement is usually more effective when it is located at the beginning of the conclusion. It reminds your public about the major points you were trying to make, and it indicates your essay is about to end. Many writers like to end their conclusion with a final emphatic sentence. This strong closing statement will make your readers think about the implications of what you wrote. You do not introduce your points in your conclusion.