Before you ever write your first essay sentence or any paragraphs, you need to know how to structure your essay. The most important aspect surrounding writing an essay is getting each of the paragraphs organized and in a chronological order so that the ideas flow smoothly from one to the next. In the writing, you are trying to make your argument known and prove your point with a series of researched and cited facts.
In short, what you must include in any academic essay are the three following points in multiple paragraphs:
- Introduction containing a thesis
- Body paragraphs (there will be multiple, take a look at this outline)
- Conclusion
Digging Deeper into Your Essay Paragraphs
Each of the paragraphs of your essay is going to fall into one of the categories mentioned. To better understand where to place your gathered information, you need to comprehend what part should go where.
The beginning of the essay is also knowns as the introduction. This section is typically three to five sentences long. In this first paragraph, you will let the reader know what they will be learning by stating the essay topic and clearly answer the question in a well-developed thesis statement.
Next comes the main content of the essay. These paragraphs are referred to as the body. Depending on the type of essay and the requirements set forth by your instructor, this should contain at least two or three main facts that back up your thesis statement that you declared in the beginning. At minimum the body should be at least two paragraphs. It can be as many paragraphs as you need it if every detail included is relative to what your essay is about.
The final paragraph is your conclusion. It should be about three or four sentences, and it should adequately go over and reinstate all the ideas you have discussed throughout the essay. The thesis should be explained again along with a summary of all the major points that were touched on.
Organizing Your Essay Paragraphs
In order for your ideas to seamlessly move the reader from one point to the next, you have to keep your essay paragraphs organized. Start by looking at your topic and thesis statement. Then, take into consideration what points you want to make, and what questions the audience may have surrounding what you are writing about. You may even want to scribble a quick outline to help in getting a starting point for the order of your paragraphs.
Jot down these main points and consider those to be your different essay paragraphs. While you are performing your research, you can take each bit of information that you want to use and place in under the appropriate heading. It will start out looking like a jumbled mass of notes, but you can fine tune it later into something that is more cohesive.
Some of the questions that may be asked are:
- What are you saying and why is it true?
- What is the counterargument and how does your evidence disprove it?
- Why is what you are saying important?
Make a Visual Map of Your Essay
You are the one writing the essay which means you will be the one answering each question mentioned. You have to explain in whatever word count length it takes, what point you are making. Th easiest way to do this is by creating a section for each question. Start by writing down a basic answer to each question. This is going to give you a good idea of what needs to be researched and how best to put everything in order. You can see an example of an essay map here so you know what exactly you should be making.
Putting All Your Essay Paragraphs Together
This is the step where you start to put one idea in line with the next through writing sentences. Take your outline and essay map and start from the beginning. Elaborate on all your points so that your ideas are more clear and can easily be read.
Remember that each of your paragraphs should only talk about one idea. If you try to jam more than one idea into a paragraph, it can confuse the reader, and your point will be lost. Begin your paragraph with a topic sentence. This tells the reader what the rest of the paragraph is going to talk about. Don’t stray from that topic sentence in your writing. If you are done talking about one topic, start a new paragraph. There really are no limits on the number of paragraphs you can have, as long as they all fit appropriately within your essay.
Finally, use sentences that are quick and easy to read and clear transitions from one idea to the next. By doing so, you will more crisply relay your message, and there will be no questions what point you are trying to get across.
The more that you write essay paragraphs, the easier it will get to properly organize them into a well written paper.
Hiring a Professional Writing Service
For some, getting the proper structure down for writing a paper is just too difficult. You may also not have the time necessary to perform all the research and make the appropriate citations and a proper bibliography. Whatever the reason is for not being able to complete the work, there are professional writing services out there that can do the job for you. Look at some of the products that are offered by clicking here.
Ideally, you want to learn how to write your own paper. The satisfaction that goes along with honing in this skill is one that cannot be mistaken. It is also the only way you are going to be able to write about the topics necessary when taking standardized testing.