Writing a high-quality essay requires you to understand the parts and the structure of an essay. The parts include the introduction, body, and a conclusion. Organizing the body of an essay can be challenging. Although there are a variety of ways to structure an essay, deciding on the structure and how to use it can help you develop writing and communication skills to use in academics or in your career. In this blog post, we will discuss on the parts of an essay, the different types of essays, examples
of essay structures, and some important tips in structuring your essay.
Parts of an essay
Introduction
Every essay starts with an introduction. This is where you introduce your topic of discussion to your reader and summarize the points you tend to include in the body of your essay briefly. In the introduction, you state your thesis. A thesis is the most important part of an essay as it states the point of the writer and thus it must take a clear stance and should not have terms such as “seems to” or possibly could as these terms show uncertainty.
The best way to write your summary is by taking it as a summary of your essay. Your thesis makes and supports your essay’s point in one concise sentence. Once you are done writing your essay, proofread the essay and ensure that your thesis is clearly stated in the introduction. In case it is not clear, you can rewrite it to ensure it meets the intended purpose. Consider writing an interesting introduction to capture the attention of your readers to keep them reading your essay to the end.
Body
The body of an essay is the part where you elaborate on your analysis, argument, research, and evidence to support your thesis. It should be organized into different paragraphs with each paragraph concentrating on a different aspect of the topic. It can include citations and quotations to reference materials from which you borrowed your data. You can refer to your thesis if you are not sure whether to include a certain point or detail in the body of your essay. If the detail supports your thesis, it should be included in the body but if it does not, then you should leave it out. Your thesis should act as a guide on what to include in your essay and thus everything in the body should relate to your thesis. You can keep the body of your essay organized and engaging by ensuring all your paragraphs begin with a topic sentence and relate to your thesis.
Conclusion
A conclusion is the last part of an essay where you summarize the ideas discussed in the body. The conclusion should bring together the major points of your essay showing how they relate. The main purpose of a conclusion is to summarize the main points of your argument and draw a final decision or judgment concerning your research problem. In some cases, the conclusion attempts to connect the essay to broader issues or areas of further study.
Please note that you are not supposed to introduce any new ideas in the conclusion. The conclusion should act as a reminder of what has been discussed in the body of your essay. You can also refer back to the introduction to prove to the examiner that you have discussed the topic thoroughly.
- Types of essays
There are different types of essays. Although each type of essay can take a different format, the structure will always be the same. Despite the nature of your essay, it must have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. The basic essay structure will always remain the same even when the instructions are different. The following are the most common types of essays.
- Narrative essays.
A narrative essay tells a story. The story can either be fictional or non-fictional. Narrative essays test the writer’s ability to express their experience in a creative and compelling way by following an appropriate narrative structure. Your tutor will use a narrative essay to test your ability to tell a story in a clear and interesting way.
When compelling a narrative essay, you are expected to think about where your essay starts and where it ends. You must use eye-catching language and a satisfying pace when writing a narrative essay to win the attention of the reader.
- Descriptive essays
A descriptive essay gives a vivid, detailed description of something, a place, or an object. In some cases, it gives a detailed description of something more abstract like an emotion. Together with narrative essays, these are the most creative types of essays in the academic writing field. Descriptive essays test your ability to use language in an original and creative way to convey an image in the mind of the reader of what you are describing. As a writer, you are expected to use words to create clear, descriptive images.
- Expository essays
Expository essays are fact-based essays focused on proving a writer’s point by communicating factual information. They require exploring a particular subject matter and presenting your findings by building a well-structured and objective argument. In simple words, an expository essay provides a clear, focused
explanation of a topic, process, or set of ideas. Essays in this category do not set out to prove a point but rather to give a balanced view of their subject matter.
Expository essays are usually short assignments assigned to students to test their composition skills or their understanding of a certain subject. They involve less research and original arguments as compared to argumentative essays.
- Persuasive essays
A persuasive essay is an essay that presents logical arguments with an emotional appeal to convince readers of your point of view using solid evidence such as research, stating facts, examples, and quotes from experts. They can be a form of academic writing and personal writing. Most persuasive essays begin with a question that the writer spends the essays arguing in favor of or in opposition to. The writer
makes a firm statement and back-up the statement with a combination of data, research, and anecdotal evidence. When writing a persuasive essay, informing a reader is not enough as you are expected to use language that convinces the reader that your way of thinking is the best. Persuasive writing is very important in the world of business as advertising, website copywriting, and general branding rely heavily on persuasive writing to convince potential customers.