How do you write a good structured essay?

Question

I have to do my coursework and i need to get started and I don't know how. I won't type the essay title here. i want to do it myself with my own ideas. It's just how should I structure it?

Answer 1

When writing an essay, think of it in 3 stages - beginning, middle and end. The beginning is an introduction to the reader of the subject you're writing about, the middle is an elaboration of the introduction with facts, case studies, etc, and the end is a summary/conclusion of your subject matter to round off the essay. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

I think the best way of doing it is to try and make a link in your own mind as to all the things you need to say, making sure you have all the details, then say it to yourself and you may find that you can find connections between things that would flow well in a essay, so there aren't just different bits of information all over the place.

If you have trouble, try writing down things you want to put in the essay on pieces of paper and then re-arrange them on your bed or desk so that it flows well and is easy to understand.

Obviously you need an introduction first and this is the place to briefly (100 words or so) say what the subject is and some general details describing it. You should say what you mean to do in the essay(just discuss it, attempt to disprove what people think or whatever)

After that you should get all your information together and try to split it into paragraphs (or subjects if you prefer).

At the end write a conclusion (again only about 100 or so words) summing up what the essay is supposed to have made the reader realise and what you think of the subject etc.

Hope this helps. If you want anymore advice, please e-mail me

Answer 3

I usually take a new paragraph for each point I am trying to make. I then use the first sentence of the paragraph as a sort of subtitle or summary of the paragraph.

I also use the first paragraph to state and/or explain the question - if background is needed to understand it. I also make the last paragraph a sort of summary - like 'and that is why I think that we should have a president instead of a monarch'.

Start by making a list of the most important points that you are trying to get across. Then each one of those becomes a paragraph. If any of the points are related then try to put them in a sensible order - like don't have how to calculate VAT on the total before you get to a total.

I hope that makes sense and helps a bit.
Well done for wanting to do the actual answering yourself!

Answer 4

Once you know how to structure an essay, you can write an essay aboutt anything.

The most simple way I can explain how to structure an essay is to imagine your essay to be shaped like downward pointing triangle.

Your essay starts off broad as you give detail abou the background information to the topic. Then it becomes narrower as you explore the evidence and the arguments and then it becomes narrower still and you get nearer to your conclusion then the triangle comes to a point and you settle on your final conclusion.

Answer 5

well, ive done plently and am still doing them!
basically u need to start wif an introduction- basically say what ure gonna say in your essay. (for example a sociology essay on divorce you would say "i am going to look at the various ways in which divorce has .... by looking at the effects of ....." etc. )then you need a paragraph for points about one side of the argument then for the other etc and then conclude it- easy. what subject is it for cos each subject essay is structured slighlty differently really! but basically the intro introduces what ure gonna talk about and then each of the other paragraphs are saying a different point or view.
good luck with it- theyre difficult and boring but stick with it and if u get a good grade u have that to fall back on if you completely flop the exam!!! (try hard wif ure exams tho its worth it in the end)

Answer 6

You should always have a Topic sentence (Thesis) this way readers will know what your essay is about. This can be your introduction paragraph. Then go into further explanation of your topic. Try to use quotes for support and if you do, remember to analyze your quotes. Never end a paragraph with a quote. When you are ready to conclude your essay bring it all back to your thesis statement. I hope this helps you.

Answer 7

Stick to the old adage: beginning, middle and end.

Whenever I have to sit down and write something, I do a sort of sketch before hand - list of all the details I need to include, and decide where they should come in the piece.

Then, sit down and get typing. And don't obsess about the first line - it's not as important as you might think. It's the general feel of the piece that really matters.

Good luck.

Answer 8

Hi!!

Try this (has worked for me...)

1.1 Introduction (brief overview of topic)

1.2 Area of research and Research question (specify exactly what you will be doing.. be sure to limit yourself, it's soooo easy to take a too broad approach..)

1.3 Hypothesis (What do you expect to find? Why?)

2 Theory - overview (what are the most common theories in your field of research?)

2.2 Research Theory (Which theory will you focus on?)

2.3 Relevance ( Here u can list previous research done in the field and compare them with your choosen topic - in what way is your idea unique? That's called Internal relevance.. External relevance is sort of "why my research matters to society".. can be tricky!)

3: Method (Will you be using interviews? Previously collected data? Lab results? And exactly HOW will u do it?)

4: Findings (This one I can't give you any ideas since I don't know the topic.. Data+ explanation of data for each section is common..)

5: Results (An overview of your findings)

6: Analysis (What do your results imply? - here you answer your research question!!! Link it to theory section for bonuspoints!)

(5+6 can be one section as well..)

7: Reflections and Future perspectives (Sounds corny but has earned me some huge points - a section where you scrutinize your findings!! In what way are they lacking? How would you do it differently?? A larger essay on the same topic? Stuff like that..)

The very best of luck!! Eat lot's of ice cream while writing and have some fun with it!!

/Miss E

Answer 9

Go back to the tutor who set the essay and own up to not knowing... you need some basic help with English.

Asking other people here to do it for you, is NOT achieving for yourself... it's called cheating! And you will NEVER learn this way!

I speak as a retired home educator of seventeen years whose Asperger son's written and reading skills, knocks spots of his peer group from every type of schooling background (his IQ is 129, his emotional level, child) yet, despite this, his Asperger kicks in all the time and blocks positive progress with his abilities and he is unable to take constructive criticism, when he writes stories and submits them, so he gives up trying.

I just wish his AS, would stop kicking in and let him use the brilliant skills he has to his advantage, for his future. They likely will one day, when he is around 30 years of age, since that's how long it took his AS dad to mature to his fullest emotionally, and cope with criticism, to a small degree, then, become a late student and start to mature inside his career.

You can't let others do the work for you, or lead you by the hand... you must go back again and re-learn what your past teacher's failed to teach you properly.

You'll get such a kick out of learning for yourself.

good luck.

Answer 10

How to Write a Book Review

These links are essentially the same, just choose the one that makes the most sense to you..!!!

The book report you write should be four paragraphs long. Remember to use correct conventions (margins, indent paragraphs, capitalization, punctuation etc.)

http://www.kyrene.k12.az.us/staff/gmeade/how_to_write_a_book_report.htm

http://www.ehow.com/how_11249_write-book-report.html

How to Write a Book Report (Upper Elementary School level)

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/wsbookreportelem.html

How to Write a Book Report (Middle and High School level.)

http://www.infoplease.com/homework/wsbookreporths.html

Book Reports and Summaries

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/writingabookreport/a/report.htm

Compose a Thesis Statement

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/thesis.html

Basic Structure

http://members.tripod.com/~lklivingston/essay/

Literary Terms

http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/lit_terms/

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.