Essay: plan and structure of the text

The modern student should be able to write not only essays and essays, but also essays on various topics. It is essay writing that helps to develop critical thinking and the ability to beautifully put thoughts on paper.

And it does not matter if you study to be a philologist, historian or chemist, you should know what this type of writing is and how it differs from an ordinary school essay. Is ox essays legit? To understand this question, let's look together at the features of the plan and structure of the text of the essay.

Peculiarities of writing an essay

So, what should a student do to write a great essay? He should express his ideas regarding a particular problem using convincing arguments. Moreover, he should present his ideas in a sequence that will seem absolutely logical and understandable to the reader.

When writing a short essay, the student must accomplish several important tasks:

• formulate clear theses

• support them with arguments

• analyze a range of data

• provide counterarguments

• Draw conclusions.

Structure of the essay

As a rule, a short essay consists of five sections, each of which performs a separate function. The structure of the text is as follows:

Introduction

thesis #1

• argument A

• argument B

• argument C

thesis #2

• argument A

• argument B

• argument C

thesis #3

• argument A

• argument B

• argument C

Conclusion

If necessary, the student may summarize key theoretical points, historical facts, or statistical data in an additional structural section. This section should be placed between the introduction and the first thesis.

Introduction

In the first part of the essay, it is necessary to draw the audience's attention to the urgency of the problem discussed. In the last sentence of the first paragraph, it is necessary to clearly formulate the main thesis statement.

It is worth noting that the total length of the introduction and conclusion directly depends on the length of the essay. The total number of these two parts should not exceed 10% of the entire paper. That is, if the teacher has set the task of writing an essay that is 1000 words long, then the first and last paragraphs of the essay should consist of no more than 100 words.

The main part

As a rule, the main body of an essay consists of three blocks, each of which expresses a different idea. Each paragraph should contain one thesis statement supported by several arguments. The number of arguments may vary from one to five.

In the main part, it is important not to break the logical chain and present the ideas in a consistent manner. It is advisable to discuss ideas in the direction of the whole to the particular.

Let's imagine that you are writing an essay about the dangers of smoking. The structure of the main part of your paper will look as follows:

thesis #1 - Smoking affects the respiratory organs

argument A - Smoking contributes to the development of lung cancer

argument B - smoking worsens chronic diseases (bronchitis, asthma, etc.)

thesis #2 - Smoking affects a person's appearance

argument A - skin becomes dull and dry

argument B - hair becomes brittle

argument C - teeth become covered with dark plaque.

thesis #3 - Smoking is bad for a pregnant woman's health.

argument A - complications during pregnancy are possible.

argument B - Increases the likelihood of premature birth.

argument C - increased likelihood of fetal disease or death

Conclusion

The conclusion should simply summarize the main arguments. There is no need to add anything new. The last paragraph of the essay should not contain any data, facts, or inferences that were not previously mentioned in the text.

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Essay Structure