How to write an essay: Essay structure
- What's in this guide
- Introduction
Essay structure
- Additional resources
Writing an Introduction
- Section One is a neutral sentence that will engage the reader’s interest in your essay.
- Section Two Picks up the topic you are writing about by identifying the issues that you are going to explore.
- Section Three is an indication of how the question will be answered. Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue, and in which order.
Writing a Body Paragraph
- The topic sentence introduces the topic of your paragraph.
- The sentences that follow the topic sentence will develop the central idea of your topic.
- The concluding sentence is the last sentence of your paragraph and restates the idea expressed in the topic sentence.
Writing a Conclusion
- Re-read your introduction – this information will need to be restated in your conclusion emphasising what you have proven and how you have proven it.
- Begin by summarising your main arguments e.g. ‘This essay has considered…..’
- State your general conclusions, explaining why these are important .
- The final sentences should draw on the evidence you have presented in the body of the essay to re-state your conclusion in an interesting way (use a transitional word to get you started e.g. Overall, Therefore)
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- Writing steps
Learning objectives
This resource will help you:
- Understand the purpose and function of academic essay writing.
- Develop your ability to plan and structure an effective academic essay.
- Build skills to develop and produce a credible academic essay.
What is the purpose of essay writing?
Academic essays have multiple purposes, including to:
- analyse, argue, and reflect;
- compare and contrast different positions; and
- discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a position.
Essays can be chronological, sequential, or logical in order. The essay question or purpose should guide how the content is organised and how your position/findings are presented.
- Analysing Assignment Questions (PDF 611 KB) Check out these workshop slides presented by the Student Success team to learn more about analysing assignment questions.
Types of essays
All essays follow a similar structure to that discussed so far, however there are some slight differences to their purpose, tone, vocabulary, and the way evidence is incorporated.
How do you structure an essay?
The table below indicates what is generally included in each section of an essay.
Essay writing (RMIT)
This video (2:08 min) from RMIT provides an excellent overview of the structure of an essay.
Additional resources
- Essay writing (2.17 MB) Check out these workshop slides presented by the Student Success team to learn more about essay writing. This resource contains examples of an Introduction, Body paragraph and a Conclusion.
- Academic Phrasebank (The University of Manchester) Get some ideas for high quality sentence starters from the Academic Phrasebank.
- See an example essay plan and annotated essays from Monash University (2024).
- APA Style (American Pyschological Association, 2024) APA Style is the place to go if you are referencing and formatting in APA7 style.
- What are credible sources? (UniSC) This resource will teach you the skills required to identify credible sources of information.
Access Student Services
- Services and support (UniSC) UniSC offers a range of services for students, including help with academic skills, careers and employability advice, library support, and accessibility and wellbeing services. Visit Services and Support on the Student Portal to find out more.
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- Essays | Feedback (UniSC) Help us help you! Share your thoughts on the Essays Guide and shape the resources that will support your academic success. It will take less than 5 minutes to complete this feedback form.
Griffith University. (n.d.). Essay editing and review checklist .
Griffith University. (n.d.). Organise and analyse research literature .
Martin's Journaling Jive!. (2022, July 21). First draft tips for students and writers! . [Video]. YouTube.
McCune, V. (2004). Development of first-year students' conceptions of essay writing. Higher Education, 47 (3), 257-282. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HIGH.0000016419.61481.f9
Microsoft Education. (n.d.). School celebration [GIF]. GIFFY
Morley, J. (2023). Academic phrasebank . The University of Manchester.
Monash University. (2024). Example essay outlines .
RMIT University Library Videos. (2021, October 28). Essay writing . [Video]. YouTube.
The University of Melbourne. (2020, March 26). Task analysis . [Video]. YouTube.
UNSW. (2023, September 19). Construct an essay plan .
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- Updated: Dec 17, 2024 2:53 PM
- URL: https://libguides.usc.edu.au/skills/essay
- UniSC Library YouTube
IMAGES
COMMENTS
3. Argumentative essays. An argumentative essay is a type of essay that aims to persuade the reader to adopt a particular stance based on factual evidence and is one of the most common forms of college essays. 4. Expository essays. An expository essay is a common format used in school and college exams to assess your understanding of a specific ...
An easy way to write your thesis statement is to think of it as a summary of your essay. Your thesis makes and supports your essay's point in one concise sentence. When you proofread your finished essay, make sure your thesis is clearly stated in your introduction paragraph. If it's not clear, go back and write a definitive thesis statement.
1. Topic sentence . This is the first sentence, and it expresses the paragraph's main idea. It acts like a mini-hook that attracts the reader's attention. Let's say you're working on a descriptive essay about your brother's room. Bad topic sentence: My brother's room is a mess. Good topic sentence:
An essay always includes an introduction, body, and conclusion, but organizing the body requires careful consideration. FAQ ... Transition sentences may be included to transition between different paragraphs or sections of an essay. A good transition sentence moves the reader on to the next topic while indicating how it relates to the previous ...
Writing an Introduction. Section One is a neutral sentence that will engage the reader's interest in your essay.; Section Two Picks up the topic you are writing about by identifying the issues that you are going to explore.; Section Three is an indication of how the question will be answered. Give a brief outline of how you will deal with each issue, and in which order.
Essays follow the same guidelines for introductions as any other piece of writing, with an extra emphasis on presenting the thesis prominently, ideally in the topic sentence. By the end of your introduction paragraph, your reader should know without a doubt what your essay is about.
Essays can be chronological, sequential, or logical in order. The essay question or purpose should guide how the content is organised and how your position/findings are presented. Analysing Assignment Questions (PDF 611 KB) ... Use of third person - sentences without use of 'I', 'me', 'my', 'our', 'we'.
Essay writing process. The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay.. For example, if you've been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you'll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay, on the ...
Longer essays may include several sections that identify main points, with multiple paragraphs in each section. Each body paragraph has four elements: 1) topic sentence, 2) supporting evidence, 3) analysis, and 4) concluding sentence. The topic sentence identifies the main point of the paragraph.
What are the 5 parts of an essay? Explore how the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion parts of an essay work together.