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Necessary tips for creating a useful outline for your essay

How To Write A Winning Essay: Structure Is A Key

Sometimes it can be just a wrong time for you to write an essay - you may not have enough time for it or simply don't want to engage in such a challenging and time-consuming task. However, after reading this post, you should know exactly how to create a top-notch paper easily and without requesting the help of professional writers!

Writing essays is not much of a creative task that you need some sort of special inspiration for. There is a standard formula for writing a successful one and this is what this article will cover.

I am going to go over a standard school English essay, therefore this information will not necessarily be relevant for any other academic assignment, but some tips do apply to most.

Your essay ought to comprise around five paragraphs with the first constituting an introduction to the topic and the final - its conclusion. The reason the standard appears formulaic is to facilitate the work of the assessor. Thus they will concentrate on the content instead of getting irritated by the uncomfortable structure, which can immediately lower your mark.

Start off with a brief plan of what you would want to include after conducting some research on the topic and then proceed to writing your academic assignment as advised below.

Introduction

The first section allows you to present the topic and your position on it. But first of all, grab the reader's attention by starting with a 'hook' statement, which can be a number of things. You can use an interesting statistic, a citation or a rhetorical question. Whatever you believe will make the reader want to read on. After the reader is 'hooked', introduce your thesis statement (or your line of argument) to reveal what you will be debating for in your work. It should be direct and unambiguous to ensure the reader knows your side from the start. Then follows a mini-outline of the examples you will use to illustrate your ideas in order to convince why your point is valid. It should give the reader an understanding of what to expect and makes it clear what the essay is about. Your final sentence should enable a smooth transition to the main body of your essay. As you see, your introduction should only consist of three or four sentences - consider revising it if it is substantially longer because it is not what your teacher wants to see.

Main Body

The main purpose of this section is to provide examples that support your thesis and break down several that oppose it. Always use a separate paragraph for each new concept.

Relate the opening sentence to the mini-outline in the introduction. Try to use your strongest argument or example in the initial body paragraph unless there are more obvious reasons to employ chronological order in your essay. Check your instructions thoroughly and follow them throughout your writing.

It is no use having one-sentence paragraphs just mentioning examples - you are required to expand on each idea and justify why it is relevant to the topic and your argument. You need to place them in the context to convey your point to the reader. So if you are using a historical figure, for instance, it might be a good idea to include facts from their biography or accounts of contemporaries that would prove their relevance to the question at hand.

Then go on to explain why that example proves your thesis. Imagine that you are having a dialogue and your partner is constantly questioning everything you are saying - this way you will come across as a convincing and persuasive writer.

Use transitional phrases to link sections. This will show where one idea ends and the next one begins. Keep in mind that you are writing for your reader - you have to be making their life easier in all ways possible.

Conclusion

Your conclusion is not merely an afterthought. It is your final opportunity to get the reader on your side; therefore, some strict rules still apply.

Oddly enough, you can think of your conclusion as complementing your introduction. It should be reflecting what was mentioned there and keep it similar length as well. Effective conclusions usually start with concluding transitions and take the reader back to the introductory 'hook'. After which you should paraphrase your thesis and reiterate it. This way you reinforce your argument and tie it to the penultimate element of your conclusion - a succinct summary of the key points of your main body. Your final sentence should be a call to action or your issue's link to the global context. Its purpose is to bring the essay to a close and encourage the reader to explore the topic in more detail themselves.

Some general advice is to plan ahead which would set you up for a strong, focused essay and aim to include a variety of ideas instead of similar ones. For this purpose, use as many external sources as you can. The more times you adhere to this structure and utilize it to write on different topics, the more second nature it becomes. What should you do in this case? It is normal to make mistakes at first, but you should gradually improve and reach a high standard soon enough.

© Copyright 2018 Frank Hudson (frhudson at Writing.Com). All rights reserved.
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