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A writers guide.

To

really be successful at writing essays


it is important to have a solid structure.
This enables you to do two things well
1. It ensures that you are answering your
question (or focusing your thesis)
2. It approaches what you are trying to say
in a logical (and hopefully convincing)
fashion

For

the most basic structure of an essay


you need to begin with a thesis
statement.
This is a statement of the position on
which you are going to be writing
If you are answering an essay question,
it is a restructuring of the question in the
form of a statement
Put simply, it is like the topic sentence of
the whole essay

For

example, if the question is;


What does a well structured essay
look like?

Then your thesis statement might be


A well structured essay has a
powerful but simple structure which
it uses to convince the reader of an
argument.

Your

thesis statement is the topic


sentence in your introductory
paragraph
It is followed by an outline of the
evidence you are going to use to
support your thesis statement
In the most basic essay this will take
the form of a minimum of three points
The paragraph is completed by an
explanation or concluding sentence

In

the example of the question;


What does a well structured essay
look like?
The thesis statement is;
A well structured essay has a
powerful but simple structure which
it uses to convince the reader of an
argument.

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure


which it uses to convince the reader of an argument.

Your

first piece of evidence, or first


point, might be;
It begins with a strong introductory
paragraph which introduces the
topic, states the points it will use,
and then explains how they support
the thesis.

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure


which it uses to convince the reader of an argument. It begins
with a strong introductory paragraph which introduces the
topic, states the points it will use, and then explains how they
support the thesis.

Your

second point might be;


It follows this with a series of
paragraphs which takes each of the
points in turn and shows how they
answer the question or support the
thesis statement.

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure which


it uses to convince the reader of an argument. It begins with a
strong introductory paragraph which introduces the topic, states
the points it will use, and then explains how they support the
thesis. It follows this with a series of paragraphs which take each
of the points in turn and shows how they answer the question or
support the thesis statement.

Then

your third point might say;


It finishes with a conclusion that
summarizes the argument you have
been making, restates the points you
have used, and strongly puts your thesis
statement.

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure


which it uses to convince the reader of an argument. It begins
with a strong introductory paragraph which introduces the topic,
states the points it will use, and then explains how they support
the thesis. It follows this with a series of paragraphs which take
each of the points in turn and shows how they answer the
question or support the thesis statement. It finishes with a
conclusion that summarizes the argument you have been
making, restates the points you have used, and strongly puts
your thesis statement.

The

explanation, or concluding sentence


would then say;
This simple structure allows the essay
writer to make their argument clearly
and logically.

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure


which it uses to convince the reader of an argument. It begins
with a strong introductory paragraph which introduces the
topic, states the points it will use, and then explains how they
support the thesis. It follows this with a series of paragraphs
which take each of the points in turn and shows how they
answer the question or support the thesis statement. It finishes
with a conclusion that summarizes the argument you have
been making, restates the points you have used, and strongly
puts your thesis statement. This simple structure allows the
essay writer to make their argument clearly and logically.

Your

introductory paragraph is now


complete

The

aim of the body of the essay is to take


each of the points that you outlined in your
introduction and show how they support
your thesis statement
It generally uses a paragraph for each
point
Each paragraph restates the point, gives
evidence to support it, and then concludes
with an explanation, or concluding
sentence.
The strongest essays use the concluding
sentence to link to the next point.

The

first point from our introduction


was;
A well structured essay has a powerful but simple structure
which it uses to convince the reader of an argument. It
begins with a strong introductory paragraph which
introduces the topic, states the points it will use, and then
explains how they support the thesis. It follows this with a
series of paragraphs which take each of the points in turn
and shows how they answer the question or support the
thesis statement. It finishes with a conclusion that
summarizes the argument you have been making, restates
the points you have used, and strongly puts your thesis
statement. This simple structure allows the essay writer to
make their argument clearly and logically.

So

the first paragraph of the body


might begin with;
Any well structured essay will have a
strong introductory paragraph that
outlines how the writer is going to
tackle the question or support their
thesis.
Notice that it deliberately links back to
the question, What does a well
structured essay look like?

Any well structured essay will have a strong introductory


paragraph that outlines how the writer is going to tackle the
question or support their thesis.

The

next part of that paragraph will


give the evidence for this point
In this essay it might say;
A strong introduction means that the

reader already knows the argument that


the writer is going to use. It demonstrates
that what is being said makes sense.
Most importantly, it shows how what they
are saying will answer the question.

Any well structured essay will have a strong introductory


paragraph that outlines how the writer is going to tackle the
question or support their thesis. A strong introduction means that
the reader already knows the argument that the writer is going to
use. It demonstrates that what is being said makes sense. Most
importantly, it shows how what they are saying will answer the
question.

The

concluding sentence in this


paragraph links it back to the question
and, hopefully, leads logically to the next
point

If the introduction is strong it means the essay is


more likely to be well structured and each point
in the body will support the writers thesis.

Any well structured essay will have a strong introductory paragraph


that outlines how the writer is going to tackle the question or
support their thesis. A strong introduction means that the reader
already knows the argument that the writer is going to use. It
demonstrates that what is being said makes sense. Most
importantly, it shows how what they are saying will answer the
question. If the introduction is strong it means the essay is more
likely to be well structured and each point in the body will support
the writers thesis.

So

the first paragraph of the body is the


first point in the introduction, gives the
evidence for that point and shows how it
supports the thesis, while linking to the
next point

The

next paragraph of the body is,


obviously, the next point from the
introduction and does the same things

A well structured essay has a powerful but simple


structure which it uses to convince the reader of an
argument. It begins with a strong introductory
paragraph which introduces the topic, states the points
it will use, and then explains how they support the
thesis. It follows this with a series of paragraphs (the
body)which take each of the points in turn and shows
how they answer the question or support the thesis
statement. It finishes with a conclusion that summarizes
the argument you have been making, restates the
points you have used, and strongly puts your thesis
statement. This simple structure allows the essay writer
to make their argument clearly and logically.

The bulk, or body, of the essay is also


crucial to a well structured essay. It
should take each of the points made in
the introduction in turn and use at least a
paragraph to show how they support the
thesis of the writer. It is in the body that
the evidence is discussed. In a literary
essay quotes from the text are utilized to
support the thesis. In a well structured
essay the body leads the reader to the
conviction that the thesis is sound.

The

final point in the body of the


essay should be based on the final
point from the introduction
Once again it needs to relate this point
back to the question and provide
evidence for the writers thesis
Rather than linking to the next point,
the final body paragraph leads into
the conclusion

A well structured essay has a powerful but


simple structure which it uses to convince the
reader of an argument. It begins with a strong
introductory paragraph which introduces the
topic, states the points it will use, and then
explains how they support the thesis. It follows
this with a series of paragraphs (the body)which
take each of the points in turn and shows how
they answer the question or support the thesis
statement. It finishes with a conclusion that
summarizes the argument you have been
making, restates the points you have used, and
strongly puts your thesis statement. This simple
structure allows the essay writer to make their
argument clearly and logically.

The final part of a well structured essay


is the conclusion, or concluding
paragraph. The function of this
paragraph is to summarize the
argument that has been presented. It
restates the points that were used in
evidence. It also returns to the original
thesis statement or question to show
that this has clearly been answered. In
this way, the concluding paragraph is a
crucial part of a good essay structure.

Now

that the argument of the essay has


been presented it is time to present the
conclusion
At this time it is important to restate the
thesis that the essay has been arguing
Briefly touching on the points covered
shows how they were used to provide
evidence
The paragraph ends with a strong
statement of the thesis of the essay
In some ways it is the reverse of the
introduction

Remember

the question;
What does a well structured essay look
like?
So

the opening sentence to the


concluding paragraph might say;
A simple structure, which progressively
covers the evidence in order to
convince the reader of an argument, is
the basis of a well structured essay.

A simple structure, which progressively covers the evidence in order


to convince the reader of an argument, is the basis of a well
structured essay.

Each

of the points are then restated to


remind the reader of the logic of the
evidence.

A clear and precise introductory paragraph


sets out the thesis. The body of the essay
deals with each of the points of evidence
in more detail. A concluding paragraph
summarizes the logic of the essay.

A simple structure, which progressively covers the evidence


in order to convince the reader of an argument, is the basis
of a well structured essay. A clear and precise introductory
paragraph sets out the thesis. The body of the essay deals
with each of the points of evidence in more detail. A
concluding paragraph summarizes the logic of the essay.

Then

the final sentence is a strong


statement of the thesis of the essay

Anyone who can present a piece with


these features will have presented an
essay which is well structured.

A simple structure, which progressively covers the


evidence in order to convince the reader of an argument, is
the basis of a well structured essay. A clear and precise
introductory paragraph sets out the thesis. The body of the
essay deals with each of the points of evidence in more
detail. A concluding paragraph summarizes the logic of the
essay. Anyone who can present a piece with these features
will have presented an essay which is well structured.

And

there we have it, a well


structured essay.

With

this sort of structure, it doesnt


matter what question you are answering
Nor does it matter if you are simply
presenting an argument without a
question
Provided you have a thesis statement
and can provide at least three points to
support it, you have enough for an
essay
Now it is your turn

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