A dictionary defines the word "essay" as being "a short piece of writing giving someone's ideas about politics, society etc". Professional writers sometime publish books of essays. However it has also come to have a special meaning in schools. It is the form of writing where students show that they can use the English language to effectively express facts and opinions. The following suggestions relate to the school essay.
In the school essay there is an basic structure which all but the most gifted students should follow. It is called the "Five-paragraph essay" and an internet search will find many references to this form from educational institutions throughout the world. Different people give different advice, but hopefully the following will contain some useful suggestions.
There are three major components to a good essay: ideas, organisation and crafting. Each of them are equally important in achieving a good result.
Without ideas you can't write an essay because you have nothing to say. It's as simple as that. And yet many students try to begin writing their essay when they have only a vague idea about what they want to say. As a result they end up "waffling", making vague statements, repeating themselves and getting themselves into knots.
So, before you write, you need as many ideas as you can. This is where "brainstorming" comes in. Some people like to brainstorm using a diagram; others like to use lists with sublists. Whatever technique you use, the idea is to get down every idea you can think of. If you are writing an opinion essay make sure that, no matter what your opinion is, that you are as familiar with the arguments of others who disagree with you.
As your list of ideas gets longer you should start to think about the structure of a five-paragraph essay requires you to have three strong main arguments, with each of these arguments being supported by a variety of sub-arguments, examples, facts, anecdotes, analogies and so on. So, at a certain point, you should begin to think about how you can group your ideas into three major sections. What you are looking for is a structure which looks something like this.
While we have used the word "argument", please understand that it has a broad meaning in this context. It does not mean that your essay needs to consist only of arguments in the one direction, either all for or all against. You can use your understanding of the other side of the argument to show, as one of your main arguments, that you understand the opposing case and yet still do not support it. We will talk more about this a little later on.
The structure of the five paragraph essay is as follows.
| Introduction | First main argument | Second main argument | Third main argument | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Introduce your main arguments, "say what you are going to say". | Give your first main argument with supporting items. | Give your second main argument with supporting items. | Give your third main argument with supporting items. | Summarise your arguments, "say what you have said". |
Notice the word "structure". This word most commonly is used to refer to a building. What makes a building hold together are the connections between the building materials such as wood which have been chosen. In a similar way what makes your essay hold together are the connections between the ideas you have chosen to use.
There are several types of connections. These include:
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The most simple way of connecting paragraphs can be represented by the following diagram where 3 main arguments are listed.
| Part | Possible connection words or phrases |
| Introduction | |
| Firstly... / In the first place... / The most important reason... / | |
| Secondly... / Another reason why... /Another important reason... | |
| Thirdly... / A third and final reason... / | |
Here are some of the many places on the internet where good advice on essay writing can be found.
http://www.deakin.edu.au/studentlife/academic-skills/resource-room/essayguide.doc