If you are at university and wanting to ensure that the essays you submit will be structured well and easy to be followed by your reader. This will mean that they will have a better chance of understanding your work and thus providing you with a good mark.
If you are new to academic writing, then you may be unfamiliar with the structure of an essay at university. You will probably have spent a few hours or so trying to get used to writing essays at college, yet these will be considerably different to what you will do at this higher level.
After all, you want to bet getting the best grades possible from the work that you submit, so if your essay or report is structured in the wrong way, then you may end up missing out on marks because your thoughts aren't clear and your argument is a little fumbled. Below I will set out some steps that you can take when thinking about the actual structure of your paper and what you will need to submit an essay you can be proud of.
Step 1. Organizing your work area will mean that it will be easier to sort through and understand all of your academic work. Also, you will want to make sure that you have everything else on your computer cleared away. Don't open Itunes and close down any other chat software that you may have on there. This is the time that you want to concentrate on your studies and ensure that you give it your full attention and potential.
Step 2. Be informed - Many people seem to think that they can look at a computer screen, type a few thousands words and hey presto you have an essay! Well, probably it would be an essay in an ideal world, but let me tell you that the world is far from ideal and in order to sound credible to anyone who is going to read your work, you need to be able to understand all of the material that you need to source, read and digest. If you havent got around to this stage yet, then feel free to go and learn about the subject you want to write, even if this is only an introduction.
Step 3. What, How and Why? - You should also be thinking about when, where and who - these are termed as the seven honest serving men and will get you through your academic life. You are not just going to structure your essay around a topic and throw all the information you have learned about it on to paper and submit that as an essay. Your lecturer/professor will be looking for your critical evaluation and thought process and want you to be constantly asking, well why is that, or how is that, or why did that happen, etc. You can also structure your answers this way.
Establish what you are going to be talking about. Explain to the reader how things have been established and also put signposts connecting one concept to another.
By answering specific areas of your essay and guiding your reader through your paper, you will be able to concentrate on some of the arguments that have stood out in other academics' works.
Step 4. Choose a direction - You will want to set out a map or guide to how you are going to write everything and what way you will link each part to the next. You will also need to think about having the essay flow and choose the direction you want your argument to take. All great essays have a firm base that is built upon and they lead to a finalized position. Make sure yours does too and don't rely on not knowing where you are going to.
Step 5. Write it and Write well - actually getting down to the writing is a good start indeed, but structuring your writing to have a beginning, middle and end is the way to go. Every part of your essay should have an introduction, a central body allowing the reader to see your argument, and then a conclusion of the particular section that links and leads onto the next.
Step 6. Preparation - this is one of the most important things to possess when you are writing an essay and more important in any piece of academic essay. You will need to understand that you have to prepare and plan your argument as well as your overall goal of writing this particular essay. Some students will find it a lot easier than others to map out their thoughts on the essay that they are about to write, while others will find it a real mental challenge to do this. You need to understand that certain parts of your argument will belong in certain parts of your paper, and thus completing a plan and preparing beforehand will make this task significantly easier for you.
Also, if you want to get the best out of your submitted essays then you should have a proofreader or editor take a look at your work.
If you are new to academic writing, then you may be unfamiliar with the structure of an essay at university. You will probably have spent a few hours or so trying to get used to writing essays at college, yet these will be considerably different to what you will do at this higher level.
After all, you want to bet getting the best grades possible from the work that you submit, so if your essay or report is structured in the wrong way, then you may end up missing out on marks because your thoughts aren't clear and your argument is a little fumbled. Below I will set out some steps that you can take when thinking about the actual structure of your paper and what you will need to submit an essay you can be proud of.
Step 1. Organizing your work area will mean that it will be easier to sort through and understand all of your academic work. Also, you will want to make sure that you have everything else on your computer cleared away. Don't open Itunes and close down any other chat software that you may have on there. This is the time that you want to concentrate on your studies and ensure that you give it your full attention and potential.
Step 2. Be informed - Many people seem to think that they can look at a computer screen, type a few thousands words and hey presto you have an essay! Well, probably it would be an essay in an ideal world, but let me tell you that the world is far from ideal and in order to sound credible to anyone who is going to read your work, you need to be able to understand all of the material that you need to source, read and digest. If you havent got around to this stage yet, then feel free to go and learn about the subject you want to write, even if this is only an introduction.
Step 3. What, How and Why? - You should also be thinking about when, where and who - these are termed as the seven honest serving men and will get you through your academic life. You are not just going to structure your essay around a topic and throw all the information you have learned about it on to paper and submit that as an essay. Your lecturer/professor will be looking for your critical evaluation and thought process and want you to be constantly asking, well why is that, or how is that, or why did that happen, etc. You can also structure your answers this way.
Establish what you are going to be talking about. Explain to the reader how things have been established and also put signposts connecting one concept to another.
By answering specific areas of your essay and guiding your reader through your paper, you will be able to concentrate on some of the arguments that have stood out in other academics' works.
Step 4. Choose a direction - You will want to set out a map or guide to how you are going to write everything and what way you will link each part to the next. You will also need to think about having the essay flow and choose the direction you want your argument to take. All great essays have a firm base that is built upon and they lead to a finalized position. Make sure yours does too and don't rely on not knowing where you are going to.
Step 5. Write it and Write well - actually getting down to the writing is a good start indeed, but structuring your writing to have a beginning, middle and end is the way to go. Every part of your essay should have an introduction, a central body allowing the reader to see your argument, and then a conclusion of the particular section that links and leads onto the next.
Step 6. Preparation - this is one of the most important things to possess when you are writing an essay and more important in any piece of academic essay. You will need to understand that you have to prepare and plan your argument as well as your overall goal of writing this particular essay. Some students will find it a lot easier than others to map out their thoughts on the essay that they are about to write, while others will find it a real mental challenge to do this. You need to understand that certain parts of your argument will belong in certain parts of your paper, and thus completing a plan and preparing beforehand will make this task significantly easier for you.
Also, if you want to get the best out of your submitted essays then you should have a proofreader or editor take a look at your work.
About the Author:
Nick manages an online editing student documents company who provide online essay editing service to students and academics who are working at college and university. If you have a document that you feel could do with a spot check, then you should take a look at the website.
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