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5 Main Parts of an Essay: An Easy Guide to a Solid Structure

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You might think of essays as boring assignments for explaining the themes in Huckleberry Finn or breaking down the characters in The Great Gatsby , but the essay is one of the most timeless forms in all of literature. It’s a genre that includes deep readings of texts, personal essays, and journalistic reports. Before you get to any of that, you need to figure out the basic parts of the essay.

What Are the Parts of an Essay?

You can think of any essay as consisting of three parts: the introduction, the body, and the conclusion. You might see some small variations, but for the most part, that is the structure of any essay.

Take the five-paragraph essay as a simple example. With that form, you get one introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph. That’s five paragraphs, but three parts.

What Are the Main Parts of an Essay Printable 2022

Like a good word burger: how to write the three parts of an essay.

A good essay is much like a good burger (or a sandwich, but we’re a burger society here). Your intro and conclusion are the buns sandwiching the patty, cheese, and other good toppings of the body paragraphs.

What Is an Introduction Paragraph?

“Hello! My name is Seymour. It’s nice to meet you.” That might seem like a simple, non-essay introduction, but it has all the basic components of what you want in an  introduction paragraph . You start with the hook. Your hook is the first sentence of your entire essay, so you want to grab people’s attention (or hook them) immediately.

From there, you have sentences that lead the reader directly to the thesis sentence . Your thesis is possibly the most important part of your entire essay. It’s the entire raison d'être . It’s what you’re arguing or trying to accomplish with your essay as a whole.

Kaboom! That, the sound of the entire universe forming in an instant, giving rise to apples, toenails, and what we know today as the humble five-paragraph essay. Since that fortuitous moment, the five-paragraph essay has become the favorite assignment among English teachers, to the bemusement of students. Although many educators, professionals, and youths have valid criticisms about the form, the five-paragraph essay is an important component of developing writing skills and critical thought. 

What Is a Body Paragraph?

The body paragraphs are the main part of your essay burger. Each body paragraph presents an idea that supports your thesis. This can include evidence from a literary source, details that build out your thesis, or explanations for your reasoning.

The first sentence of each body paragraph is known as the topic sentence . You can kind of think of it like a smaller part of your thesis sentence. It’s the main idea that you want to discuss in that specific body paragraph. The rest of the body paragraph is made up of supporting sentences, which support that topic sentence.

While many are critical of the five-paragraph essay’s rigid form, that rigidity is part of what makes it so advantageous. Every five-paragraph essay is an introductory paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion paragraph, and they will always have that structure. With such a stable form, a writer truly only needs to worry about the contents of the essay, putting all the focus on the actual writing and ideas, not the organization.

What Is a Concluding Paragraph?

A burger needs a solid, sturdy bottom bun. Otherwise, the burger would fall apart. The same holds for a conclusion. A good conclusion holds the essay together, while offering a unique finishing touch to the whole thing.

The conclusion is at once the easiest and hardest part of the essay. It’s easy in that it mostly involves restating your thesis and much of what you already discussed. The hard part is thinking outside of the essay and considering how your thesis applies to components of real life.

In conclusion, the five-paragraph essay is a useful and effective form for teaching students how to write and develop their critical thinking skills. It’s not without its setbacks, but it’s a simple form that can give way to other ways of writing. Longer research papers are essentially five-paragraph essays with more body paragraphs, while short fiction and creative writing require similar critical thought and writing acumen. Even if you don’t write, five-paragraph essays can teach you how to use your voice and express your ideas.

Explore Essay Examples

Understanding each part of an essay is essential to writing one, but seeing actual essay examples in the wild can take you from essay noob to essay expert. Look at specific types of essays, and see if you can pick out the different parts in each one — from thesis statements to hooks and concluding sentences. 

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The Five Steps of Writing an Essay

Mastering these steps will make your words more compelling

• Tips For Adult Students
• Getting Your Ged

• B.A., English, St. Olaf College

Knowing how to write an essay is a skill that you can use throughout your life. The ability to organize ideas that you use in constructing an essay will help you write business letters, company memos, and marketing materials for your clubs and organizations.

Anything you write will benefit from learning these simple parts of an essay:

• Purpose and Thesis

Introduction

Body of information.

Here are five steps to make it happen:

Purpose/Main Idea

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Before you can start writing, you must have an idea to write about. If you haven't been assigned a topic, it's easier than you might think to come up with one of your own.

Your best essays will be about things that light your fire. What do you feel passionate about? What topics do you find yourself arguing for or against? Choose the side of the topic you are "for" rather than "against" and your essay will be stronger.

Do you love gardening? Sports? Photography? Volunteering? Are you an advocate for children? Domestic peace? The hungry or homeless? These are clues to your best essays.

Put your idea into a single sentence. This is your thesis statement , your main idea.

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Choose a title for your essay that expresses your primary idea. The strongest titles will include a verb. Take a look at any newspaper and you'll see that every title has a verb.

Your title should make someone want to read what you have to say. Make it provocative.

Here are a few ideas:

• America Needs Better Health Care Now
• The Use of the Mentor Archetype in _____
• Who Is the She-Conomy?
• Why DJ Is the Queen of Pedicures
• Melanoma: Is It or Isn't It?
• How to Achieve Natural Balance in Your Garden
• Expect to Be Changed by Reading _____

Some people will tell you to wait until you have finished writing to choose a title. Other people find that writing a title helps them stay focused. You can always review your title when you've finished the essay to ensure that it's as effective as it can be.

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Your introduction is one short paragraph, just a sentence or two, that states your thesis (your main idea) and introduces your reader to your topic. After your title, this is your next best chance to hook your reader. Here are some examples:

• Women are the chief buyers in 80 percent of America's households. If you're not marketing to them, you should be.
• Take another look at that spot on your arm. Is the shape irregular? Is it multicolored? You could have melanoma. Know the signs.
• Those tiny wasps flying around the blossoms in your garden can't sting you. Their stingers have evolved into egg-laying devices. The wasps, busying finding a place to lay their eggs, are participating in the balance of nature.

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The body of your essay is where you develop your story or argument. Once you have finished your research and produced several pages of notes, go through them with a highlighter and mark the most important ideas, the key points.

Choose the top three ideas and write each one at the top of a clean page. Now go through your notes again and pull out supporting ideas for each key point. You don't need a lot, just two or three for each one.

Write a paragraph about each of these key points, using the information you've pulled from your notes. If you don't have enough for one, you might need a stronger key point. Do more research  to support your point of view. It's always better to have too many sources than too few.

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You've almost finished. The last paragraph of your essay is your conclusion. It, too, can be short, and it must tie back to your introduction.

In your introduction, you stated the reason for your paper. In your conclusion, you should summarize how your key points support your thesis. Here's an example:

• By observing the balance of nature in her gardens, listening to lectures, and reading everything she can get her hands on about insects and native plants, Lucinda has grown passionate about natural balance. "It's easy to get passionate if you just take time to look," she says.

If you're still worried about your essay after trying on your own, consider hiring an essay editing service. Reputable services will edit your work, not rewrite it. Choose carefully. One service to consider is Essay Edge .

Good luck! The next essay will be easier.

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The Basics of Effective Essay Writing

As you progress through school, you’ll be required to write essays. And the farther along in school you get, the more complex and demanding the essays will become.

It’s important that you learn early on how to write effective essays that communicate clearly and accomplish specific objectives.

An essay is a written composition where you express a specific idea and then support it with facts, statements, analysis and explanations. The basic format for an essay is known as the five paragraph essay – but an essay may have as many paragraphs as needed.

A five paragraph essay contains five paragraphs. However, the essay itself consists of three sections: an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

Below we’ll explore the basics of writing an essay.

Select a Topic

When you first start writing essays in school, it’s not uncommon to have a topic assigned to you. However, as you progress in grade level, you’ll increasingly be given the opportunity to choose the topic of your essays.

When selecting a topic for your essay, you’ll want to make sure your topic supports the type of paper you’re expected to write. If you’re expected to produce a paper that is a general overview, then a general topic will suffice. However, if you’re expected to write a specific analysis, then your topic should be fairly specific.

For example, let’s assume the objective of your essay is to write an overview. Then the topic “RUSSIA” would be suitable. However, if the objective or your essay is to write a specific analysis, then “RUSSIA” would be far too general a topic. You’ll need to narrow down your topic to something like “Russian Politics: Past, Present and Future” or “Racial Diversity in the Former USSR”.

If you’re expected to choose your own topic, then the first step is to define the purpose of your essay. Is your purpose to persuade? To explain how to accomplish something? Or to education about a person, place, thing or idea? The topic you choose needs to support the purpose of your essay.

The purpose of your essay is defined by the type of paper you’re writing. There are three basic types of essay papers:

• Analytical – An analytical essay paper breaks down an idea or issue into its key components. It evaluates the issue or idea by presenting analysis of the breakdown and/or components to the reader.
• Expository – Also known as explanatory essays, expositories provide explanations of something.
• Argumentative – These types of essays, also known as persuasive essays, make a specific claim about a topic and then provide evidence and arguments to support the claim. The claim set forth in argumentative (persuasive) essays may be an opinion, an evaluation, an interpretation, cause-effect statement or a policy proposal. The purpose of argumentative essays is to convince or persuade the reader that a claim is valid.

Once you have defined the purpose of your essay, it’s time to brainstorm. Don’t choose just one topic right off the bat. Take some time to consider, contrast and weigh your options.

Get out a piece of paper and make a list of all the different topics that fit the purpose of your essay.

Once they’re all down on paper, start by eliminating those topics that are difficult or not as relevant as others topics. Also, get rid of those topics that are too challenging or that you’re just not that interested in. Pretty soon you will have whittled your list down to just a few topics and then you can make a final choice.

Organize Your Ideas Using a Diagram or Outline

Some students get scared to start writing. They want to make sure they have all their thoughts organized in their head before they put anything down on paper.

Creating a diagram or outline allows you to put pen to paper and start organizing your ideas. Don’t worry or agonize over organization at this point, just create a moderately organized format for your information.

Whether you use a diagram or outline doesn’t really matter. Some people prefer and work better with the flowing structure of a diagram. Others like the rigid and logical structure of an outline. Don’t fret, once you get started, you can always change formats if the format you chose isn’t working out for you.

The following are useful steps for developing a diagram to organize ideas for your essay.

• Get started by drawing a circle in the middle of a paper just big enough to write in.
• Inside your circle, write your essay topic.
• Now draw three or four lines out from your circle.
• At the end of each of lines, draw another circle just slightly smaller than the circle in the middle of the page.
• In each smaller circle, write a main idea about your topic, or point you want to make. If this is a persuasive (argumentative) essay, then write down your arguments. If the object of the essay is to explain a process (expository), then write down a step in each circle. If your essay is intended to be informative or explain (analytical), write the major categories into which information can be divided.
• Now draw three more lines out from each circle containing a main idea.
• At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle.
• Finally, in each of these circles write down facts or information that help support the main idea.

The following are useful steps for developing an outline to organize ideas for your essay.

• Take a page of paper and write your topic at the top.
• Now, down the left side of the page, under the topic, write Roman numerals I, II, and III, sequentially.
• Next to each Roman numeral, write the main points, or ideas, about your essay topic. If this is a persuasive essay, write your arguments. If this an essay to inform, write the major categories into which information will be divided. If the purpose of your essay is to explain a process, write down each step of the process.
• Next, under each Roman numeral, write A, B, and C down the left hand side of the page.
• Finally, next to each letter, under each Roman numeral, write the information and/or facts that support the main point or idea.

Develop a Thesis Statement

Once you have an idea for the basic structure of your essay, and what information you’re going to present in your essay, it’s time to develop your thesis statement. A thesis statement states or outlines what you intend to prove in your essay. A good thesis statement should be clear, concise, specific, and takes a position.

The word “thesis” just sounds intimidating to most students, but a thesis is actually quite simple. A thesis statement (1) tells the reader what the essay is about and (2) what points you’ll be making. If you’ve already selected an essay topic, and developed an outline or diagram, you now can decide what points you want to communicate through your essay.

A thesis statement has two key components. The first component is the topic, and the second is the point(s) of the essay. The following is an example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of a child raised in Pena Blanca is characterized by little playing, a lot of hard work and extreme poverty. An example of an analytical thesis statement:

An analysis of the loan application process for citizens of third world countries reveals one major obstacle: applicants must already have money in order to qualify for a loan.

An example of an argumentative (persuasive) thesis statement:

Instead of sending tax money overseas to buoy struggling governments and economies, U.S. residents should be offered tax incentives for donating to companies that provide micro loans directly to the citizens of third world countries.

Once you’re done developing a thesis statement that supports the type of essay you’re writing and the purpose of the essay, you’re ready to get started on your introduction.

Introduction

The introduction is the first paragraph of the essay. It introduces the reader to the idea that the essay will address. It is also intended to capture the reader’s attention and interest. The first sentence of the introduction paragraph should be as captivating and interesting as possible. The sentences that follow should clarify your opening statement. Conclude the introduction paragraph with your thesis statement.

The body of your essay is where you explain, describe or argue the topic you’ve chosen. Each of the main ideas you included in your outline or diagram will become of the body paragraphs. If you wrote down four main ideas in your outline or diagram, then you’ll have four body paragraphs.

Each paragraph will address one main idea that supports the thesis statement. The first paragraph of the body should put forth your strongest argument to support your thesis. Start the paragraph out by stating the supporting idea. Then follow up with additional sentences that contain supporting information, facts, evidence or examples – as shown in your diagram or outline. The concluding sentence should sum up what you’ve discussed in the paragraph.

The second body paragraph will follow the same format as the first body paragraph. This paragraph should put forth your second strongest argument supporting your thesis statement. Likewise, the third and fourth body paragraphs, like the first and second, will contain your third and fourth strongest arguments supporting your thesis statement. Again, the last sentence of both the third and fourth paragraphs should sum up what you’ve discussed in each paragraph and indicate to the reader that the paragraph contains the final supporting argument.

The final paragraph of the essay provides the conclusion. This paragraph should restate your thesis statement using slightly different wording than employed in your introduction. The paragraph should summarize the arguments presented in the body of the essay. The last sentence in the conclusion paragraph should communicate that your essay has come to an end. Your concluding paragraph should communicate to the reader that you’re confident that you’ve proven the idea as set forth in your thesis statement.

Having the ability to write effective essays will become increasingly important as you progress through high school and into college. If you’ll internalize the format presented above, you’ll develop the ability to write clear and compelling essays.

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Trying to devise a structure for your essay can be one of the most difficult parts of the writing process. Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them.

The First Steps

Before you can begin outlining, you need to have a sense of what you will argue in the essay. From your analysis and close readings of primary and/or secondary sources you should have notes, ideas, and possible quotes to cite as evidence. Let's say you are writing about the 1999 Republican Primary and you want to prove that each candidate's financial resources were the most important element in the race. At this point, your notes probably lack much coherent order. Most likely, your ideas are still in the order in which they occurred to you; your notes and possible quotes probably still adhere to the chronology of the sources you've examined. Your goal is to rearrange your ideas, notes, and quotes—the raw material of your essay—into an order that best supports your argument, not the arguments you've read in other people's works. To do this, you have to group your notes into categories and then arrange these categories in a logical order.

Generalizing

The first step is to look over each individual piece of information that you've written and assign it to a general category. Ask yourself, "If I were to file this in a database, what would I file it under?" If, using the example of the Republican Primary, you wrote down an observation about John McCain's views on health care, you might list it under the general category of  "Health care policy." As you go through your notes, try to reuse categories whenever possible. Your goal is to reduce your notes to no more than a page of category listings.

Now examine your category headings. Do any seem repetitive? Do any go together? "McCain's expenditure on ads" and "Bush's expenditure on ads," while not exactly repetitive, could easily combine into a more general category like "Candidates' expenditures on ads." Also, keep an eye out for categories that no longer seem to relate to your argument. Individual pieces of information that at first seemed important can begin to appear irrelevant when grouped into a general category.

Now it's time to generalize again. Examine all your categories and look for common themes. Go through each category and ask yourself, "If I were to place this piece of information in a file cabinet, what would I label that cabinet?" Again, try to reuse labels as often as possible: "Health Care," "Foreign Policy," and "Immigration" can all be contained under "Policy Initiatives." Make these larger categories as general as possible so that there are no more than three or four for a 7-10 page paper.

With your notes grouped into generalized categories, the process of ordering them should be easier. To begin, look at your most general categories. With your thesis in mind, try to find a way that the labels might be arranged in a sentence or two that supports your argument. Let's say your thesis is that financial resources played the most important role in the 1999 Republican Primary. Your four most general categories are "Policy Initiatives," "Financial Resources," "Voters' Concerns," and "Voters' Loyalty." You might come up with the following sentence: ÒAlthough McCain's policy initiatives were closest to the voters' concerns, Bush's financial resources won the voters' loyalty.Ó This sentence should reveal the order of your most general categories. You will begin with an examination of McCain's and Bush's views on important issues and compare them to the voters' top concerns. Then you'll look at both candidates' financial resources and show how Bush could win voters' loyalty through effective use of his resources, despite his less popular policy ideas.

With your most general categories in order, you now must order the smaller categories. To do so, arrange each smaller category into a sentence or two that will support the more general sentence you've just devised. Under the category of "Financial Resources," for instance, you might have the smaller categories of "Ad Expenditure," "Campaign Contributions" and "Fundraising." A sentence that supports your general argument might read: "Bush's early emphasis on fundraising led to greater campaign contributions, allowing him to have a greater ad expenditure than McCain."

The final step of the outlining process is to repeat this procedure on the smallest level, with the original notes that you took for your essay. To order what probably was an unwieldy and disorganized set of information at the beginning of this process, you need now only think of a sentence or two to support your general argument. Under the category "Fundraising," for example, you might have quotes about each candidate's estimation of its importance, statistics about the amount of time each candidate spent fundraising, and an idea about how the importance of fundraising never can be overestimated. Sentences to support your general argument might read: "No candidate has ever raised too much money [your idea]. While both McCain and Bush acknowledged the importance of fundraising [your quotes], the numbers clearly point to Bush as the superior fundraiser [your statistics]." The arrangement of your ideas, quotes, and statistics now should come naturally.

Putting It All Together

With these sentences, you have essentially constructed an outline for your essay. The most general ideas, which you organized in your first sentence, constitute the essay's sections. They follow the order in which you placed them in your sentence. The order of the smaller categories within each larger category (determined by your secondary sentences) indicates the order of the paragraphs within each section. Finally, your last set of sentences about your specific notes should show the order of the sentences within each paragraph. An outline for the essay about the 1999 Republican Primary (showing only the sections worked out here) would look something like this:

I. POLICY INITIATIVES

II.  VOTERS' CONCERNS

III.  FINANCIAL RESOURCES

            A.  Fundraising

                        a.  Original Idea

                        b.  McCain Quote/Bush Quote

                        c.  McCain Statistics/Bush Statistics

            B.  Campaign Contributions

            C.  Ad Expenditure

IV.  VOTERS' LOYALTY

Copyright 2000, David Kornhaber, for the Writing Center at Harvard University

Tips for Online Students , Tips for Students

How To Write An Essay: Beginner Tips And Tricks

Updated: July 11, 2022

Published: June 22, 2021

Many students dread writing essays, but essay writing is an important skill to develop in high school, university, and even into your future career. By learning how to write an essay properly, the process can become more enjoyable and you’ll find you’re better able to organize and articulate your thoughts.

When writing an essay, it’s common to follow a specific pattern, no matter what the topic is. Once you’ve used the pattern a few times and you know how to structure an essay, it will become a lot more simple to apply your knowledge to every essay. 

No matter which major you choose, you should know how to craft a good essay. Here, we’ll cover the basics of essay writing, along with some helpful tips to make the writing process go smoothly.

Photo by Laura Chouette on Unsplash

Types of Essays

Think of an essay as a discussion. There are many types of discussions you can have with someone else. You can be describing a story that happened to you, you might explain to them how to do something, or you might even argue about a certain topic. 

When it comes to different types of essays, it follows a similar pattern. Like a friendly discussion, each type of essay will come with its own set of expectations or goals. 

For example, when arguing with a friend, your goal is to convince them that you’re right. The same goes for an argumentative essay. 

Here are a few of the main essay types you can expect to come across during your time in school:

Narrative Essay

This type of essay is almost like telling a story, not in the traditional sense with dialogue and characters, but as if you’re writing out an event or series of events to relay information to the reader.

Persuasive Essay

Here, your goal is to persuade the reader about your views on a specific topic.

Descriptive Essay

This is the kind of essay where you go into a lot more specific details describing a topic such as a place or an event. 

Argumentative Essay

In this essay, you’re choosing a stance on a topic, usually controversial, and your goal is to present evidence that proves your point is correct.

Expository Essay

Your purpose with this type of essay is to tell the reader how to complete a specific process, often including a step-by-step guide or something similar.

Compare and Contrast Essay

You might have done this in school with two different books or characters, but the ultimate goal is to draw similarities and differences between any two given subjects.

The Main Stages of Essay Writing

When it comes to writing an essay, many students think the only stage is getting all your ideas down on paper and submitting your work. However, that’s not quite the case. 

There are three main stages of writing an essay, each one with its own purpose. Of course, writing the essay itself is the most substantial part, but the other two stages are equally as important.

So, what are these three stages of essay writing? They are:

Preparation

Before you even write one word, it’s important to prepare the content and structure of your essay. If a topic wasn’t assigned to you, then the first thing you should do is settle on a topic. Next, you want to conduct your research on that topic and create a detailed outline based on your research. The preparation stage will make writing your essay that much easier since, with your outline and research, you should already have the skeleton of your essay.

Writing is the most time-consuming stage. In this stage, you will write out all your thoughts and ideas and craft your essay based on your outline. You’ll work on developing your ideas and fleshing them out throughout the introduction, body, and conclusion (more on these soon).

In the final stage, you’ll go over your essay and check for a few things. First, you’ll check if your essay is cohesive, if all the points make sense and are related to your topic, and that your facts are cited and backed up. You can also check for typos, grammar and punctuation mistakes, and formatting errors.  

The Five-Paragraph Essay

We mentioned earlier that essay writing follows a specific structure, and for the most part in academic or college essays , the five-paragraph essay is the generally accepted structure you’ll be expected to use. 

The five-paragraph essay is broken down into one introduction paragraph, three body paragraphs, and a closing paragraph. However, that doesn’t always mean that an essay is written strictly in five paragraphs, but rather that this structure can be used loosely and the three body paragraphs might become three sections instead.

Let’s take a closer look at each section and what it entails.

Introduction

As the name implies, the purpose of your introduction paragraph is to introduce your idea. A good introduction begins with a “hook,” something that grabs your reader’s attention and makes them excited to read more. 

Another key tenant of an introduction is a thesis statement, which usually comes towards the end of the introduction itself. Your thesis statement should be a phrase that explains your argument, position, or central idea that you plan on developing throughout the essay. 

You can also include a short outline of what to expect in your introduction, including bringing up brief points that you plan on explaining more later on in the body paragraphs.

Here is where most of your essay happens. The body paragraphs are where you develop your ideas and bring up all the points related to your main topic. 

In general, you’re meant to have three body paragraphs, or sections, and each one should bring up a different point. Think of it as bringing up evidence. Each paragraph is a different piece of evidence, and when the three pieces are taken together, it backs up your main point — your thesis statement — really well.

That being said, you still want each body paragraph to be tied together in some way so that the essay flows. The points should be distinct enough, but they should relate to each other, and definitely to your thesis statement. Each body paragraph works to advance your point, so when crafting your essay, it’s important to keep this in mind so that you avoid going off-track or writing things that are off-topic.

Many students aren’t sure how to write a conclusion for an essay and tend to see their conclusion as an afterthought, but this section is just as important as the rest of your work. 

You shouldn’t be presenting any new ideas in your conclusion, but you should summarize your main points and show how they back up your thesis statement. 

Essentially, the conclusion is similar in structure and content to the introduction, but instead of introducing your essay, it should be wrapping up the main thoughts and presenting them to the reader as a singular closed argument. 

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Steps to Writing an Essay

Now that you have a better idea of an essay’s structure and all the elements that go into it, you might be wondering what the different steps are to actually write your essay. 

Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Instead of going in blind, follow these steps on how to write your essay from start to finish.

Understand Your Assignment

When writing an essay for an assignment, the first critical step is to make sure you’ve read through your assignment carefully and understand it thoroughly. You want to check what type of essay is required, that you understand the topic, and that you pay attention to any formatting or structural requirements. You don’t want to lose marks just because you didn’t read the assignment carefully.

Research Your Topic

Once you understand your assignment, it’s time to do some research. In this step, you should start looking at different sources to get ideas for what points you want to bring up throughout your essay. 

Search online or head to the library and get as many resources as possible. You don’t need to use them all, but it’s good to start with a lot and then narrow down your sources as you become more certain of your essay’s direction.

Start Brainstorming

After research comes the brainstorming. There are a lot of different ways to start the brainstorming process . Here are a few you might find helpful:

• Think about what you found during your research that interested you the most
• Jot down all your ideas, even if they’re not yet fully formed
• Create word clouds or maps for similar terms or ideas that come up so you can group them together based on their similarities
• Try freewriting to get all your ideas out before arranging them

Create a Thesis

This is often the most tricky part of the whole process since you want to create a thesis that’s strong and that you’re about to develop throughout the entire essay. Therefore, you want to choose a thesis statement that’s broad enough that you’ll have enough to say about it, but not so broad that you can’t be precise. 

Write Your Outline

Armed with your research, brainstorming sessions, and your thesis statement, the next step is to write an outline. 

In the outline, you’ll want to put your thesis statement at the beginning and start creating the basic skeleton of how you want your essay to look. 

A good way to tackle an essay is to use topic sentences . A topic sentence is like a mini-thesis statement that is usually the first sentence of a new paragraph. This sentence introduces the main idea that will be detailed throughout the paragraph. 

If you create an outline with the topic sentences for your body paragraphs and then a few points of what you want to discuss, you’ll already have a strong starting point when it comes time to sit down and write. This brings us to our next step… 

Write a First Draft

The first time you write your entire essay doesn’t need to be perfect, but you do need to get everything on the page so that you’re able to then write a second draft or review it afterward. 

Everyone’s writing process is different. Some students like to write their essay in the standard order of intro, body, and conclusion, while others prefer to start with the “meat” of the essay and tackle the body, and then fill in the other sections afterward. 

Make sure your essay follows your outline and that everything relates to your thesis statement and your points are backed up by the research you did. 

Revise, Edit, and Proofread

The revision process is one of the three main stages of writing an essay, yet many people skip this step thinking their work is done after the first draft is complete. 

However, proofreading, reviewing, and making edits on your essay can spell the difference between a B paper and an A.

After writing the first draft, try and set your essay aside for a few hours or even a day or two, and then come back to it with fresh eyes to review it. You might find mistakes or inconsistencies you missed or better ways to formulate your arguments.

Add the Finishing Touches

Finally, you’ll want to make sure everything that’s required is in your essay. Review your assignment again and see if all the requirements are there, such as formatting rules, citations, quotes, etc. 

Go over the order of your paragraphs and make sure everything makes sense, flows well, and uses the same writing style . 

Once everything is checked and all the last touches are added, give your essay a final read through just to ensure it’s as you want it before handing it in. 

A good way to do this is to read your essay out loud since you’ll be able to hear if there are any mistakes or inaccuracies.

Essay Writing Tips

With the steps outlined above, you should be able to craft a great essay. Still, there are some other handy tips we’d recommend just to ensure that the essay writing process goes as smoothly as possible.

• Start your essay early. This is the first tip for a reason. It’s one of the most important things you can do to write a good essay. If you start it the night before, then you won’t have enough time to research, brainstorm, and outline — and you surely won’t have enough time to review.
• Don’t try and write it in one sitting. It’s ok if you need to take breaks or write it over a few days. It’s better to write it in multiple sittings so that you have a fresh mind each time and you’re able to focus.
• Always keep the essay question in mind. If you’re given an assigned question, then you should always keep it handy when writing your essay to make sure you’re always working to answer the question.
• Use transitions between paragraphs. In order to improve the readability of your essay, try and make clear transitions between paragraphs. This means trying to relate the end of one paragraph to the beginning of the next one so the shift doesn’t seem random.
• Integrate your research thoughtfully. Add in citations or quotes from your research materials to back up your thesis and main points. This will show that you did the research and that your thesis is backed up by it.

Wrapping Up

Writing an essay doesn’t need to be daunting if you know how to approach it. Using our essay writing steps and tips, you’ll have better knowledge on how to write an essay and you’ll be able to apply it to your next assignment. Once you do this a few times, it will become more natural to you and the essay writing process will become quicker and easier.

If you still need assistance with your essay, check with a student advisor to see if they offer help with writing. At University of the People(UoPeople), we always want our students to succeed, so our student advisors are ready to help with writing skills when necessary. 

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Basic Essay Structure: Introductory and Concluding Paragraphs

Introduction.

By Karen Christie, Ph.D. Department of Cultural and Creative Studies National Technical Institute for the Deaf Rochester Institute of Technology

Extended "discourse," such as class presentations or essays written as school assignments, has a particular structure arising from particular expectations and standards. Such structure, expectations, and standards vary across languages and modes. For example, the organization of information to be communicated through written English essays differs from spoken English presentations, presentations in American Sign Language (ASL), and essays written in French or Chinese.

Research has indicated that deaf students may not be fully aware of the audience expectations, cultural conventions, or standards by which their essay writing is judged. Like many nonnative users of English, deaf students may create essays which are viewed as having weak organization and a lack of flow. Specifically, one researcher has noted that the conventions for opening and closing academic essays differ significantly across various language groups, and difficulties are evident in these areas when non-natives begin composing essays in English ( Kaplan, 1966 ).

This module focuses on two aspects of the development of a basic essay: the introductory and concluding paragraphs . It describes academic conventions and expectations in writing introductions and conclusions. The goal is to clarify the cultural conventions-audience expectations and the expectations of teachers-that must be demonstrated in order to be a successful writer.

The module also briefly delineates the writing of the thesis statement , the statement that includes the main point of the essay. Although thesis statements can be implied and can appear truly anywhere in an essay, it is suggested that basic writers begin with a directly stated thesis statement which appears in the introduction. As students become more experienced with writing and the purpose of thesis statements, they may demonstrate skill in communicating implied thesis statements or in incorporating thesis statements in the body of their essays.

In the Research Findings and Implications section of this module, a summary of studies which have addressed the above-mentioned aspects of essay writing is provided. In addition, the module offers Guided Practice in developing introductions and conclusions for various essay topics. Lastly, Action Steps are included which teachers can employ to support their students' learning of the cultural conventions of basic essay structure.

Major Considerations

1. Strings of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, have basic rules for being used and understood. These rules are sociocultural conventions which establish expectations and provide structure for the information being communicated.

2. In addition to restricted access to linguistic features of English, Deaf students, like nonnative users of English, lack access to the cultural conventions for organizing their writing. This becomes particularly evident when one looks at their writing for academic purposes.

3. For some deaf students who have acquired ASL as a native language or primary language, these students may bring to the task of writing a different set of expectations for organization of information than what is expected for writing in an academic setting.

4. While deaf students tend to have a basic awareness of introductory and concluding paragraphs as part of the development of a basic essay, they frequently feel at a loss for any strategies helpful for creating openings and closings in written English.

5. Instruction in which students are given examples to analyze various approaches to writing introductory and concluding paragraphs, as well as direct teaching of cultural conventions, assists students in developing their essay writing skills.

Process Summary

Basic Essay Structure

Most written English essays follow a particular structure which instructors use to evaluate their students' writing. The basic structure consists fundamentally of three parts:

1. An introductory paragraph 2. One or more body paragraphs 3. A concluding paragraph

One of the purposes of the introductory paragraph is to house the main point of the essay. This point, or the thesis statement , often occurs at the end of the introductory paragraph. In addition, the point often reappears and is summarized at the beginning of the concluding paragraph. Support for and elaboration of the point appears in the middle, or body, paragraphs. The configuration below represents basic discourse structures.

This configuration illustrates three different discourse structures ---ASL discourse, spoken English discourse, and written English discourse (see Christie et al., 1999 ). These structures are visual representations of the framework or schemata people use for communicating information. They also represent the expectations of the audience.

The first structure in the configuration shows that a person giving a presentation in ASL directly states the point or topic of the presentation at the beginning. This point is fleshed out, explained, and repeated in closing the presentation.

The second structure , which represents a spoken English presentation, in contrast, gets to the point much later. The speaker often will begin with a personal anecdote and give information to the audience which will lead to the points of the presentation. Thus, in this type of presentation, the speaker allows the audience time to think about inferring the points from information being presented.

The third structure shows that the point of a written English essay often occurs at the end of the introductory paragraph. The introductory paragraph is represented by the first triangle, which begins generally and leads to a specific point. The next two boxes are the body paragraphs. This is where the support for the point is organized. Finally, the conclusion is represented by an inverted triangle, showing a restatement of the point and a gradual fading of the specifics of this topic into greater generalities.

There are also a variety of "rhetorical modes" (types of essays) used in essay writing such as comparison/contrast, process, definition, and argument. Note that the topic of the essay and the rhetorical mode need to be compatible. The type of rhetorical mode will influence both the content and organization of the essay. Since basic essay structure is often taught using the modes of narration and exposition , these types of essay will be utilized in this module.

Following prewriting activities such as clustering and outlining (see the SEA Site module Reading and Writing in Content Areas ), students will need to develop both the subject/topic of the essay and the thesis statement.

The Thesis Statement

While various "rules" abound for creating a thesis statement in basic writing and composition texts, a thesis statement is generally viewed as a sentence in which the writer asserts the main point the essay will make about the topic. (See also the SEA Site module Paragraph Structure .)

A thesis statement may be a statement that identifies the topic and indicates how the writer has decided to limit or focus the topic. The following thesis statement outlines the limited focus of the topic:

My most valued possessions are those which spark memories of significant past events.

Another type of thesis statement structure is used as an organizing guide with the inclusion of supporting points. These supporting points will be developed in the body paragraphs. The following is a thesis statement with organizing subpoints :

My most valued possessions consist of my photo albums, my postcard collection, and my box of mementos.

Finally, a thesis statement may be a broad identification of the topic which indicates the writer's opinion , such as the following:

The necklace my grandmother gave me for my 16th birthday is the most valued of all my possessions.

In creating a thesis statement, the degree of specificity used in the introductory paragraph of the essay may be a writer's prerogative. Since a similar statement may be used in the concluding paragraph to summarize the main point, students may use one type of thesis statement in the introduction and a different type in the conclusion.

Introductory Paragraphs

In focusing on introductory paragraphs , it is clear that the cultural expectations in written English are that the writer introduce the topic or subject of the essay and then proceed to a statement of the main point of the essay. In introducing the topic, it is important that the writer engage the attention or curiosity of the reader .

Often, students are not expected to write a fully developed introductory paragraph in their first drafts of an essay. In these drafts, students should be honing in on their basic point and fine-tuning their supporting ideas.

The challenge of introducing a particular topic comes with a set of reader expectations . One way in which writers create introductions is to begin with a broad approach to the topic. For example, when introducing the topic of "my most valued possessions," one could describe the valued possession(s) of a number of people (for example, Elvis Presley, Hillary Clinton, or one's grandparents) before focusing on one's own possessions.

Another way to introduce the topic would be to offer snapshots of one's many possessions before finally focusing on the most valued possessions. Introducing this topic could begin with a description of funky things one owns or the most expensive things owned. This could lead to the most valued things one owns.

Sometimes, writers will create an introduction which leads to a shift in expectations . A long diatribe about all the worthless things that are cluttering up one's life may lead to an ending concerning the valuable things one cherishes most.

Some topics naturally lend themselves to particular types of introductory paragraphs. In content areas, students are often asked to create essays about topics in which they may need to write an introduction giving the reader background information on the topic. An essay about perceived dangers in American culture may begin with statistical information on violent crimes.

All of these various strategies may be used alone or in combination. In the aforementioned topic concerning dangers in American culture, one may also use questions or quotations related to this topic. Quotations may stimulate readers' background knowledge regarding the topic, and posing questions to readers gives them a sense of how they would approach the topic.

Langan (2001) lists various strategies for creating introductions . A number of strategies can be used in one introductory paragraph. An adapted list includes the following:

A. Begin with a broad approach to the topic and narrow it down. B. Begin with an opposite idea you will develop or one that leads to a shift in expectations. C. Give important background information or create a brief story. D. Utilize surprising questions or quotations related to the topic.

Transitions and Thesis Statements

While students often have developed a thesis statement prior to the fleshing out of their introductory paragraph, thesis statements sometimes need to be changed to fit into the introductory paragraph. Frequently, a transition will assist the student in creating coherence in the introductory paragraph (see the SEA Site module Expressing Logical Relationships ). Transitions also serve to alert the reader to the importance of the sentence. In the basic essay sample provided later, note how the "skeleton" thesis statement given in examples above has a transition which facilitates the flow of the introduction.

Concluding Paragraphs

In writing a concluding paragraph , one typically begins with a transition , which alerts the reader to a statement summarizing the main topic or subpoints of the essay. The goal now is to lead the reader to a satisfactory closing. This occurs in several ways.

Frequently, a writer will recall the subpoints of the essay for the reader and hint at points beyond the scope of the essay. The paragraph below illustrates this type of concluding paragraph.

As you can see, my photo albums, postcard collection, and box of mementos are irreplaceable. If there were a fire in my house, these would be the things I would grab first. When I settle down, I should put them in a safe deposit box in the bank. Without these valued possessions, I would feel that parts of my life were missing and I would be unable to share them, and the memories they inspire, with my great grandchildren.

Conclusions to narrative essays often point out for the reader the lesson learned or the understanding achieved by the event recounted. The following concluding paragraph exhibits features of this strategy.

Thus, the confusion I experienced related to the number of laps I was swimming led to my most embarrassing moment. After some teasing by my family and teammates, the coach talked with me about how I could be certain about the number of laps. After this, one of my teammates always wrote the number of laps I had left to swim on a clipboard and had it ready for me to see. While I lost other races, none were ever again due to the confusion in lap counting.

Finally, a concluding paragraph often has a sense of the future about it-the next logical step to consider or a new topic that has arisen. An essay about how technology is being slowly accepted concludes in this manner.

Therefore, computers have sneaked into my life. Both at play, at home, and at work, I now depend on computers. Not only that, I am becoming more dependent on technological things every day. I guess you really can't stop technology from becoming an important part of your life when you learn how much easier life is with technological advances. In fact, this holiday season I may be buying a pager and a DVD player!

To summarize, the basic strategies for concluding an essay include the following:

A. Recall/summarize the subpoints. B. Tell the long-term outcome or lesson learned. C. Give a sense of the future.

Openings and Closings

The introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph serve as buffers -a slow preparation of the readers for the meat of the essay and the gradual moving away from the topic. In truth, only the thesis statement and the concluding statement directly address the topic of the essay.

An additional consideration in writing introductions and conclusions is the relatedness of the two paragraphs . While an introductory paragraph might consider valuable possessions one had as a child, the concluding paragraph might consider valuable possessions one may have in the future. Thus, a writer may strive to think about how the introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph work together. In this way, the student can view the essay now not as composed of various parts but, rather, as a whole.

It is a good practice for students and teachers to read a number of essays and analyze the strategies a writer used when introducing and concluding the paper. There are quite a number of other strategies beyond those presented in this module. "Model essays" written by former students as well as published professional essays are good sources of basic essays for reading and analyzing.

Basic Essay Sample

In reading below a sample of a personal example essay , you may wish to note the strategies used for writing the introductory paragraph and concluding paragraph . In addition, the thesis statement appears in these paragraphs in two different forms. It may be helpful to introduce the student to the diagram provided at the beginning of the Process Summary section and then analyze the sample essay together.

Type of Essay : Personal example essay Assigned Topic : People you would like to meet

Desired Meetings

I've been fortunate to have met many wonderful people. I have had the chance to meet some elderly family members before they died and also some well-known people. When I was young, I met my great grandfather, which is nice because my mother talks about him so much. I've met I. King Jordan, who became president of Gallaudet University following the "Deaf President Now" protest. I've also met famous people such as Maya Angelou, former U.S. President George Bush, and Terry Bradshaw. However, three people I wish I could have met are Emeline Pratt, Zora Neale Hurston, and Laurent Clerc.

One person I would like to have met is Emeline Pratt, who was my great great grandmother. I have recently done some family history research with my mother and found out a lot about this amazing woman. I would love to be able to meet her to ask her about her life. For example, I know that her parents died when she was still young and she went to live with another family. I wonder why the other family didn't adopt her legally? How did the family agree to take Emeline and raise her? Also, Emeline had 10 children and moved a lot when she was in her childbearing years. I wonder how she did it and why they moved so much. Meeting Emeline Pratt would answer many of my questions. It would be interesting to get her views on her life and find out what she was like as a person.

Another person who would be fascinating to have met would be Zora Neale Hurston. Ms. Hurston, who died about forty years ago, wrote one of the best books I have ever read. The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God , was not recognized as a great book while Ms. Hurston was alive. I would like to have told her how important her book was to me and ask her about how she wrote it. Often, when I read a book, I feel I get to know who the writer is. I would be curious to see if Ms. Hurston is like I imagine or if she was different. It would also be interesting to know what Ms. Hurston thinks about contemporary African American women writers such as Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison.

Finally, I think that most Deaf Americans would like the opportunity to shake hands with Laurent Clerc. I would like to thank him for agreeing to come to America with Thomas Gallaudet and tell him how much Deaf people, even today, appreciate him. Because Clerc grew up in France and later moved to the United States, I would love to chat with him about differences between the two cultures. Clerc also could share with me his experiences with Abbe de l'Epee, who founded the first Deaf school in the world, and Jean Massieu, the first Deaf teacher of the Deaf. I think that if Clerc allowed me to watch him teach a class of Deaf students, I would still learn a lot from him. I wonder what Clerc would think of mainstreaming, cochlear implants, and TTYs. Just meeting him would be a great honor.

Thus, the three people I would like to chat with include a family member, a writer, and an educator of Deaf people. These people reflect my interests and my love of history. All these people have been dead for many years. However, if they could come back to life for just a brief meeting with me, I think that would be a dream come true.

Strategies Used

In the essay "Desired Meetings," the writer used several strategies to introduce the topic and lead her readers to the thesis statement. The opening sentence "I have been fortunate to have met many wonderful people" is a much more general statement that the closing sentence of the introduction which mentions three particular people. Thus, there is an overall sense of beginning with a broad statement and leading to a more controlling statement- broad to narrow .

The writer then gives snapshots , that is, brief examples of various people she has had the opportunity to meet. These snapshots also provide a bit of background information about the writer and her interests. This use of background information , while not a prominent strategy, does allude to the type of people the writer will focus on.

The concluding paragraph of this essay offers a summary of the subpoints of the essay. The first sentence refers to each of the three people who appear in the previous body paragraphs. Clearly, it is also the sentence in the conclusion which relates most directly to the body of the essay. One could argue that there is a sense of the future about the ending of this essay even though it has a greater sense of fantasy.

Research Findings

In analyzing 600 compositions from nonnative English writers, Kaplan, (1966) noted that the paragraph development of these writers followed different organizational formats depending on their language background. One research study has shown that Deaf writers have some basic knowledge of discourse rules but apply them in writing less frequently than hearing writers ( Marschark, Mouradian, & Halas, 1994 ). However, both Deaf writers and nonnative English writers with basic writing skills need to be specifically taught how paragraphs and essays are expected to be developed and constructed.

Ball (1991) reported that African American students typically prefer to use different organizational patterns for academic writing tasks than the organizational patterns American mainstream teachers expect and reward. Therefore, teachers with basic writers from diverse cultural backgrounds should also directly teach about the organizational structure expected.

Livingston (1989) studied the revision strategies of Deaf writers and found that teachers tended to ask Deaf writers for more information and indicated the need for additions and elaborations following their first drafts. In addition, Deaf writers were able to improve their initial drafts with subsequent revisions although the revisions seemed to be focused on grammar. Thus, Livingston suggested that teachers form their questions on students' drafts by looking at the writing from a whole (that is, discourse-based instead of sentence specific) especially during the initial drafts.

Bienvenu (1993) , Bienvenu and Colonomos (1989) , and Roy (1989) described the structure of an ASL lecture or presentation. Deaf students may follow this type of structure when writing their early drafts in English. One researcher ( St. Clair, 1980 ) found that the written compositions of Native American students also used structures influenced by features of their culture's rules for storytelling or public speaking. For deaf students who use ASL, directly teaching an awareness of the ASL structure and contrasting it with the written English structure may be helpful.

Guided Practice

Guided Practice Strategies  

Action Steps

1. While students often find strategies helpful, an instructor can best assist a student by giving examples and explaining the purpose of these strategies (see the "Basic Sample Essay" section). Without understanding the purposes of these strategies , a writer may use them haphazardly. Basic writers often feel pressured into writing to prove what they know and disregard the fact that they need to write so that readers can easily follow their information flow and so that the essay communicates as a whole piece.

2. Before assigning a topic or guidelines for topic selection, review basic English texts to determine the type of essay you will expect students to write (that is, example essay, argumentative essay, etc). Clarifying the type of essay will assist students in their organization and thinking.

3. After you assign a topic or students select a topic, discuss the limitations of the topic . For example, "a point will need to be made and supported in 3-5 body paragraphs."

4. Give students time to think about the topic by discussion, making webs, outlines, or free-writing These pre-writing activities allow students to search for ways to limit their topic, group similar ideas, and create a main point (thesis statement).

5. Have students "talk through" their papers : retell the story, free-write it, or create a videodraft. In this way, students have the information they are planning to use already thought through. Thinking and writing at the same time often requires a lot of cognitive energy. In this way, much of what students want to say is already clear in their minds. Everhart and Marschark (1988) have shown that frequently the complexity of Deaf student's productions is greater in sign language than in their written productions.

6. If students are using a videodraft , it may be beneficial to show them contrasts between an appropriate ASL presentation and the structure of an English essay (see Christie, Wilkins, McDonald, & Neuroth-Gimbrone, 1999 ). In this way, a positive transfer of knowledge of discourse structure can occur across the presentation of information in two different ways.

7. Often, when students retell a story, create a videodraft, or begin their first draft(s), they do not include a formal introduction and conclusion. Familiarize them with the basic format of the essay and the general conventions for writing an academic essay. Allow the students to note the lack of introductory and concluding information included in their own initial drafts.

8. Have students develop several thesis statements in appropriate form from the main point.

9. Introduce students to examples of basic essays to read and analyze . Note the strategies used for introducing and concluding the essays. In general, students often feel that this introductory and concluding material is a bit "off the point" of their main point. Discuss the expected functions of introductory and concluding paragraphs.

10. Allow students to practice writing introductory and concluding paragraphs using various strategies. You may suggest that the students create one or more introductory and concluding paragraph pairs before discussing which pair fits a holistic reading of the essay.

11. Meet individually with students to discuss the early drafts of their papers. Often teachers' written comments are misunderstood or contain assumptions which could be clarified during one-on-one meetings. Refrain from grammatical correction in the early drafts (see Livingston, 1989 ). This often interferes with the student's ability to focus on the structure of the essay as a whole.

13 Rules for Writing Good Essays

To write a good essay, you have to make your message clear..

Posted March 7, 2018 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

To write a good university essay you have to make your message clear. This means organizing your key points, supporting them with a series of evidence-based arguments, and wrapping it all up at the end so the reader knows what they've learned. To do this well, you need to take the reader's perspective. If you can see what might trip them up as they read your work, then you can avoid pitfalls that will confuse or bore them. Here are some tips to help you avoid the easy pitfalls. Once understood, these rules can be broken. But if you're unclear on how to approach your writing, these tips can help.

1. Your opening paragraph should clearly describe what you are going to discuss in the essay. These three things are vital: What’s the thesis (or problem), why is it important, and how are you going to address it? If you have each of those items in your opening paragraph your reader will know what they are reading, why they are reading it, and what they can expect to get out of it.

2. Organize the essay so that it covers a set list of subtopics that each support your main thesis. If it's a long essay, you should break it up into sections with headings that focus on specific subtopics. Introduce these topics in the opening paragraph of the essay (see 1 above). Overall, you want to organize information so it is easy to understand and remember.

3. Start paragraphs with opening sentences that explain what the paragraph is going to say. Then write sentences that follow one from the other and are easy to read. Avoid paragraphs that are too long, that read like lists, or that have no main thesis. Summarize complex paragraphs with concise sentences that explain what the paragraph said.

4. Create transitions between paragraphs so that one paragraph follows from the next. You are trying to make it all easy to understand for your reader. The more organized your writing, the more clearly you will understand and communicate your own ideas.

5. Make your sentences work. Avoid long sentences. When in doubt, break long sentences into smaller sentences. Avoid sentences that are repetitive and don't provide new information. Throw away weak and empty sentences ("Angioplasty is an important procedure." "Emotions are a central element in people's lives."). Sentences also need to be crystal clear. You can check for clarity by making sure they read well. Read them out loud to yourself or have someone else read them out loud to you.

6. Explain novel terms (jargon) when you introduce them . Don’t assume your reader knows what terms mean. Avoid jargon except where it communicates key concepts. Imagine the reader knows less about the topic than you do.

7. In science writing, you can use synonyms for key concepts only when you are first explaining them. After that, use the same word every time to refer to the idea. For example, you might want to write, 'affect,' and then 'emotions,' and then 'feelings.' If you use different words every time you refer to an idea, your reader will get confused. Define a term and then use it consistently.

8. Be careful when you use words like ‘this’ or ‘that’ or ‘their’ or ‘those’ or 'these' or 'they.' These words are often not as tightly connected to what they reference as you think. Check every one of them and see if you can rewrite it more clearly. When you use *these* words carelessly, your reader will need to think more to understand what you are referring to. *That* will break the flow and make it harder to understand what you're actually try to say. *They* (the readers) won't know who you're referring to. By simply stating what you are referring to specifically, you make your writing clear. It is better to be repetitive than unclear.

9. Use concrete information. Concrete information is powerful, is appealing, it is easier to understand, and it sticks in people's memory . Concrete information includes things like examples, statistics, quotes, facts, and other details. The more sentences that go by without communicating new concrete information or ideas that develop your thesis, the more likely your reader is to get bored .

10. If you have an interesting idea, check to see if someone else has already had it. If they have, cite them. Chances are someone has at least hinted at your clever insight, and you can use them as a springboard to say something even more interesting. This will demonstrate scholarship and an understanding of the broader context.

11. Make sure everything is relevant. Don’t include random facts that are not relevant. Don't include extra words that you don't need ("actually," "very," "in many ways," "the fact that"). Don't include paragraphs that have lots of cool facts if they aren't related to your central thesis. These slow down your reader and confuse them because they expect to hear content that is related to your theme. After you write a first draft (where you are just trying to get ideas down on paper), see what you can cut out to focus your argument on what matters.

12. The very best essays provide their own critique. End with something like this before the final summary: Provide criticism of your key point (appropriately referenced). Then provide criticism of the criticizer that you referenced (with another reference). If you can do this well, then in most instances you will have demonstrated thorough understanding of the issues. After this, provide your conclusion.

13. In the conclusion, take a position, make a prediction, or propose some future actions (an experiment, an implication, a new question to be addressed, etc). Summarize your thesis and the evidence you’ve provided in a concise way without being wishy-washy.

You might also be interested in my top 10 job interview tips or top 10 science-based study skills.

Follow me on Twitter .

Thomas T. Hills, Ph.D. , is a professor of psychology at University of Warwick.

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Guest Essay

What Sentencing Could Look Like if Trump Is Found Guilty

By Norman L. Eisen

Mr. Eisen is the author of “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial.”

For all the attention to and debate over the unfolding trial of Donald Trump in Manhattan, there has been surprisingly little of it paid to a key element: its possible outcome and, specifically, the prospect that a former and potentially future president could be sentenced to prison time.

The case — brought by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, against Mr. Trump — represents the first time in our nation’s history that a former president is a defendant in a criminal trial. As such, it has generated lots of debate about the case’s legal strength and integrity, as well as its potential impact on Mr. Trump’s efforts to win back the White House.

A review of thousands of cases in New York that charged the same felony suggests something striking: If Mr. Trump is found guilty, incarceration is an actual possibility. It’s not certain, of course, but it is plausible.

Jury selection has begun, and it’s not too soon to talk about what the possibility of a sentence, including a prison sentence, would look like for Mr. Trump, for the election and for the country — including what would happen if he is re-elected.

The case focuses on alleged interference in the 2016 election, which consisted of a hush-money payment Michael Cohen, the former president’s fixer at the time, made in 2016 to a porn star, Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg is arguing that the cover-up cheated voters of the chance to fully assess Mr. Trump’s candidacy.

This may be the first criminal trial of a former president in American history, but if convicted, Mr. Trump’s fate is likely to be determined by the same core factors that guide the sentencing of every criminal defendant in New York State Court.

Comparable cases. The first factor is the base line against which judges measure all sentences: how other defendants have been treated for similar offenses. My research encompassed almost 10,000 cases of felony falsifying business records that have been prosecuted across the state of New York since 2015. Over a similar period, the Manhattan D.A. has charged over 400 of these cases . In roughly the first year of Mr. Bragg’s tenure, his team alone filed 166 felony counts for falsifying business records against 34 people or companies.

Contrary to claims that there will be no sentence of incarceration for falsifying business records, when a felony conviction involves serious misconduct, defendants can be sentenced to some prison time. My analysis of the most recent data indicates that approximately one in 10 cases in which the most serious charge at arraignment is falsifying business records in the first degree and in which the court ultimately imposes a sentence, results in a term of imprisonment.

To be clear, these cases generally differ from Mr. Trump’s case in one important respect: They typically involve additional charges besides just falsifying records. That clearly complicates what we might expect if Mr. Trump is convicted.

Nevertheless, there are many previous cases involving falsifying business records along with other charges where the conduct was less serious than is alleged against Mr. Trump and prison time was imposed. For instance, Richard Luthmann was accused of attempting to deceive voters — in his case, impersonating New York political figures on social media in an attempt to influence campaigns. He pleaded guilty to three counts of falsifying business records in the first degree (as well as to other charges). He received a sentence of incarceration on the felony falsification counts (although the sentence was not solely attributable to the plea).

A defendant in another case was accused of stealing in excess of $50,000 from her employer and, like in this case, falsifying one or more invoices as part of the scheme. She was indicted on a single grand larceny charge and ultimately pleaded guilty to one felony count of business record falsification for a false invoice of just under $10,000. She received 364 days in prison.

To be sure, for a typical first-time offender charged only with run-of-the-mill business record falsification, a prison sentence would be unlikely. On the other hand, Mr. Trump is being prosecuted for 34 counts of conduct that might have changed the course of American history.

Seriousness of the crime. Mr. Bragg alleges that Mr. Trump concealed critical information from voters (paying hush money to suppress an extramarital relationship) that could have harmed his campaign, particularly if it came to light after the revelation of another scandal — the “Access Hollywood” tape . If proved, that could be seen not just as unfortunate personal judgment but also, as Justice Juan Merchan has described it, an attempt “to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election.”

History and character. To date, Mr. Trump has been unrepentant about the events alleged in this case. There is every reason to believe that will not change even if he is convicted, and lack of remorse is a negative at sentencing. Justice Merchan’s evaluation of Mr. Trump’s history and character may also be informed by the other judgments against him, including Justice Arthur Engoron’s ruling that Mr. Trump engaged in repeated and persistent business fraud, a jury finding that he sexually abused and defamed E. Jean Carroll and a related defamation verdict by a second jury.

Justice Merchan may also weigh the fact that Mr. Trump has been repeatedly held in contempt , warned , fined and gagged by state and federal judges. That includes for statements he made that exposed witnesses, individuals in the judicial system and their families to danger. More recently, Mr. Trump made personal attacks on Justice Merchan’s daughter, resulting in an extension of the gag order in the case. He now stands accused of violating it again by commenting on witnesses.

What this all suggests is that a term of imprisonment for Mr. Trump, while far from certain for a former president, is not off the table. If he receives a sentence of incarceration, perhaps the likeliest term is six months, although he could face up to four years, particularly if Mr. Trump chooses to testify, as he said he intends to do , and the judge believes he lied on the stand . Probation is also available, as are more flexible approaches like a sentence of spending every weekend in jail for a year.

We will probably know what the judge will do within 30 to 60 days of the end of the trial, which could run into mid-June. If there is a conviction, that would mean a late summer or early fall sentencing.

Justice Merchan would have to wrestle in the middle of an election year with the potential impact of sentencing a former president and current candidate.

If Mr. Trump is sentenced to a period of incarceration, the reaction of the American public will probably be as polarized as our divided electorate itself. Yet as some polls suggest — with the caveat that we should always be cautious of polls early in the race posing hypothetical questions — many key swing state voters said they would not vote for a felon.

If Mr. Trump is convicted and then loses the presidential election, he will probably be granted bail, pending an appeal, which will take about a year. That means if any appeals are unsuccessful, he will most likely have to serve any sentence starting sometime next year. He will be sequestered with his Secret Service protection; if it is less than a year, probably in Rikers Island. His protective detail will probably be his main company, since Mr. Trump will surely be isolated from other inmates for his safety.

If Mr. Trump wins the presidential election, he can’t pardon himself because it is a state case. He will be likely to order the Justice Department to challenge his sentence, and department opinions have concluded that a sitting president could not be imprisoned, since that would prevent the president from fulfilling the constitutional duties of the office. The courts have never had to address the question, but they could well agree with the Justice Department.

So if Mr. Trump is convicted and sentenced to a period of incarceration, its ultimate significance is probably this: When the American people go to the polls in November, they will be voting on whether Mr. Trump should be held accountable for his original election interference.

What questions do you have about Trump’s Manhattan criminal trial so far?

Please submit them below. Our trial experts will respond to a selection of readers in a future piece.

Norman L. Eisen investigated the 2016 voter deception allegations as counsel for the first impeachment and trial of Donald Trump and is the author of “Trying Trump: A Guide to His First Election Interference Criminal Trial.”

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