An essay’s basic structure includes an introduction, a few body paragraphs and a conclusion. Regardless of the essay type, most writers use a few distinct approaches to structure their essay’s body in a way that promotes professionalism and ensures their points are easy to understand. Learning more about the fundamentals of essay layout will help you enhance your writing skills and reinforce your arguments, no matter your educational level or career.
In this 10-minute read, we will explain how to structure essay, list steps to take when organising your writing and offer expert tips for acing this type of work in no time, so let’s dive in!
What’s the structure of essay?
An essay structure is literally a plan for organising your work and presenting your points. As a rule, a good essay contains three distinct sections:
- Introduction
- Body
- Conclusion
Keeping this structure in mind when writing your essay will make it easier for you to decide what information to include in each part of your essay and enable you to structure your writing in a logical and coherent manner. For instance, if you’re writing an essay on the development of the vehicle, you have to begin by providing information about the first car and its specifications.
How to layout an essay?
Here are the three basic steps you can follow to make sure all information contained in your essay is presented as clearly as possible:
Step 1: Prepare a concise introduction
The introduction of an essay typically presents your thesis statement or topic, offering insights into what you intend to discuss throughout the remainder of the paper. It can help you provide an overview of the chosen topic while setting the stage for the arguments you aim to make in each of the parts of an essay.
Make sure to begin your introduction with a brief sentence that catches the reader’s attention and avoid overly detailed or long sentences. Next, summarise your findings or applicable theories and define the terms you intend to use.
Step 2: Add body paragraphs
The body is the longest part of your essay, which generally includes five paragraphs. You can use it to elaborate on your arguments and analysis, as well as present research, evidence and other important information supporting your claims. It is this part of an essay where you include quotations and citations, giving credit to other people’s words and ideas you used to support your arguments.
Limit this section to a single idea or point per paragraph to make certain that your writing is as concise as possible. Additionally, ensure that each paragraph starts with a topic sentence directly related to your central thesis or idea. This will help to keep your essay paragraph structure engaging and organised.
Step 3: Craft a compelling conclusion
A conclusion is the last section of your essay, in which you have to summarise the presented ideas and explain how the many points you mentioned in your body relate to one another. Writing a solid conclusion is the best way to explain the overall significance of your argument(s) to the reader.
Depending on the type of essay you are working on, you can also add a call-to-action sentence to inform the reader of what you’d like them to do. For instance, if your essay is on recycling, you can add a call to action that motivates them to start recycling themselves.
A good essay structure example usually looks as follows:
Other types of essay structures
Even though all essay structures must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion, a few different “styles” can be applied to how you present your ideas in the body of an essay. These styles are as follows:
Problems, methods and solutions
Essays that address a particular issue, whether theoretical or practical, can be organised using the problems-methods-solutions approach. In the case of such a structure of essay writing, you outline the problem, describe a method or theory you used to find an appropriate solution and then present your solution.
Compare and contrast
The compare-and-contrast structure is frequently used in essays with more than one central subject. For instance, a literary analysis essay will compare two distinct texts, while an argumentative essay will evaluate the strengths of various arguments.
There are two main ways to structure a compare-and-contrast essay:
- Block. When using the block method, you cover each subject at a time. Here, you may write several paragraphs about one subject, then several about the other subject and then make comparisons to the previous sections.
- Alternating. In the case of an alternating method, you contrast one subject with another, switching back and forth between discussing both topics in one paragraph.
Chronological or cause-and-effect
A chronological approach is probably the simplest way to arrange your essay’s body paragraphs. It enables the discussion of events in the order of occurrence, and you can talk about the connections between them as you go. For instance, you can introduce your argument and provide some specifics as to why you believe that argument is sound in one paragraph. Then, get ready to introduce the next idea in the paragraph or section that follows.
Now that you know what basic steps to take when writing an essay structure of different “styles,” let’s move on to helpful tips prepared for you by our dedicated online essay writer team.
Expert tips for structuring your essay
Here are a few helpful tips our essay writers recommend you take into account when organising your paper:
Make time to prepare your essay
Understanding an essay structure can assist you in better organising your thoughts and the information you have gathered so that you can adapt them to fit the topic of your essay. Remember, the time you invest in creating your outline and structure will help you to compose a cohesive and clear copy that is simple for your readers to understand, saving you time in the long run.
Follow the structure
Once you’ve determined which essay structure is appropriate for your topic, keep to it as much as possible. This way, you will ensure that all of your arguments are presented logically and that your essay accurately addresses the topic. Consider modifying your structure if your thoughts change or you conclude that the outline requires improvement.
Begin with claims that are simpler
If you look at the structure of a good essay, you will see that simple claims always come first, followed by more controversial or complex ones. This is done primarily to help readers understand the logic behind the essay better and prevent the writer from overloading them with too much information.
Offer some background info at the beginning
Background information can aid a reader’s comprehension of your essay and the topics you research. In addition to incorporating this information in your essay’s introduction, consider including it at the beginning of the body section to inform the reader about the specific issue you are discussing in your essay.
Finally, revise your essay for coherence and clarity, paying particular attention to its structure. This will help ensure your paper is appropriately organised and communicates your ideas well.
Bottom line
For many students, getting started is the most challenging aspect of writing an essay. Knowing how to organise an essay will help you to get past this terrifying initial step by providing a clear skeleton upon which you can easily flesh out your ideas. With that step completed, you’ll be well on your way to completing the assignment in no time.
However, if you are unsure how to structure an essay for university and need professional help, don’t hesitate to contact our qualified experts at any time of day or night. They have years of expertise writing various types of essays for thousands of high school, college and university students from across the globe, and they will gladly assist you with crushing the task!
