Benefit 1: Accessibility
One of the main benefits claimed for cryptocurrencies is that they are easily accessible by anyone with secure web access.
• Development of cryptocurrencies has reflected all the elements of Smith’s (2001) model of innovative cultures: ease of participation, freedom from external control, and the prospect of social and financial rewards.
• More than 5000 cryptocurrencies on the market – total market valuation estimated > $300 bn (Brown & Smith, 2021)
Benefit 2: Innovation
Easy access to cryptocurrencies has encouraged the development of innovative applications
Examples: BAT tipping; Litecoin ease of use; Sports club cryptocurrencies (Patel, 2021)
Benefit 3: Return on investment
Cryptocurrencies have not yet shown that they can retain or grow their initial value. However, for Bitcoin in particular, investors have been attracted by the promise of significant return on their investment.
• Highest rate of return – 18% (Dasman, 2021)
Risk 1: Volatility
Cryptocurrencies are subject to price volatility due to the combined influence of supply and demand, investor and user sentiments, government regulations and media hype.
• Bitcoin price jump after media promoted Proshare’s introduction of exchange-traded fund (Reiff, 2022).
• Examples of investor speculation and reactive trading impacting particular cryptocurrency price (Van Welle, 2021)
• “The Musk Effect” - how the value of Bitcoin is affected by Elon Musk’s tweets (Lapin, 2021)
Risk 2: Insecurity
Cryptocurrencies have inherent vulnerabilities, creating insecurity that cannot be overcome solely by regulation.
• Cryptocurrency is designed so as not to need gatekeepers such as banks or government – this means there is no third party to undo any harm if a protocol or code turns out to contain bugs (Power, 2021).
• Global crypto exchanges are poorly regulated and vulnerable to political instability and turmoil. This affects investor’s confidence in their ability to translate crypto balances into widely accepted currency. (Blowden, 2021)
Risk 3: Limited liquidity
The high trading volume of cryptocurrencies put strain on a nascent system of global crypto exchanges. Whilst improving volume capacity has helped, a more robust system is required to meet the burgeoning trading demand and improve liquidity.
• The success of cryptocurrency is dependant on the ability to ‘cash out’ to fiat (government issued) currencies via crypto exchanges. These are currently insufficiently regulated and developed, causing confidence and supply issues (Rutherham, 2021).
To be recommended in very limited circumstances
Paragraph plans provide an overview of your essay and provide an effective starting point for structured writing. The next step is using this plan to expand on the points as you write your essay.
In almost all cases, written assignments call for students to explore complex topics or aspects of an area of study. Any academic writing task is an opportunity to show how well you understand a particular topic, theme or area. Usually this means demonstrating how various ideas, knowledge, information or ways of thinking are connected within the context of the task or area of focus.
This means that successful academic writing presents ideas logically, and that there is high connectivity within the writing. In other words, the aim should be for writing to have high flow to help make the connections clear.
Three ways to achieve this include:
Topic sentences, or the leading sentences of a paragraph, play a key role in connecting the ideas of an essay. High-flow topic sentences should look to include three key elements:
Consider the following examples of topic sentences in response to an essay question about Virtue Ethics.
A low-flow topic sentence : Aristotle defined phronesis as practical wisdom.
This sentence does not reference the topic (virtue ethics), nor does it link to an idea from a previous paragraph. It does however, introduce the sub-topic of the paragraph (phronesis).
A high-flow topic sentence: Another fundamental concept in Virtue Ethics is phronesis.
This sentence refers to the essay topic (virtue ethics), acknowledges that this is an additional concept that build on the previous paragraph, and introduces the topic of this paragraph (phronesis).
Well-constructed paragraphs have high connections between sentences. In general sentences that promote flow should:
The following paragraph example can be considered high-flow. It includes sentences that reference the previous sentence ( underlined ), add new information ( maroon ) and use topic words ( green ).
Another fundamental concept in Virtue Ethics is phronesis. According to Aristotle, phronesis is a form of practical wisdom through which individuals make principled decisions in line with virtues such as courage and honesty (reference). Its practical nature means that phronesis can only be developed over a lifetime of carefully considered actions and sober reflection . This practice builds a person’s moral character, allowing them to make morally-defensible choices even in unfamiliar and complex situations (reference). In other words, it is a kind of social and professional skill, which at first requires conscious effort and can still result in mistakes. However, through discipline and persistence, it becomes second nature. As a result, practitioners consistently act wisely and in accordance with the virtues they uphold . Their wise actions further strengthen their own character and contribute to human fulfilment at both individual and community levels (reference).
Transition words help make the relationships and connections between ideas clear. Some examples of helpful transition words and phrases for various types of connections include:
Like X, Y is... Unlike X, Y is... In other words, This means that... For example, For instance, | Moreover, Furthermore, Additionally, Likewise, Similarly, | However, On the other hand, Therefore, As a result, Consequently, Hence, Thus, |
Success Now! workshops are available live online or on campus. Register here for workshops on research and writing . You can also organise an individual consultation here to talk to a learning advisor about planning your assignments.
Find the right college for you.
Writing an essay for college admission gives you a chance to use your authentic voice and show your personality. It's an excellent opportunity to personalize your application beyond your academic credentials, and a well-written essay can have a positive influence come decision time.
Want to know how to draft an essay for your college application ? Here are some tips to keep in mind when writing.
A typical college application essay, also known as a personal statement, is 400-600 words. Although that may seem short, writing about yourself can be challenging. It's not something you want to rush or put off at the last moment. Think of it as a critical piece of the application process. Follow these tips to write an impactful essay that can work in your favor.
Few people write well under pressure. Try to complete your first draft a few weeks before you have to turn it in. Many advisers recommend starting as early as the summer before your senior year in high school. That way, you have ample time to think about the prompt and craft the best personal statement possible.
You don't have to work on your essay every day, but you'll want to give yourself time to revise and edit. You may discover that you want to change your topic or think of a better way to frame it. Either way, the sooner you start, the better.
Before you begin the writing process, take time to understand what the college wants from you. The worst thing you can do is skim through the instructions and submit a piece that doesn't even fit the bare minimum requirements or address the essay topic. Look at the prompt, consider the required word count, and note any unique details each school wants.
Students seeking help for their application essays often have trouble getting things started. It's a challenging writing process. Finding the right words to start can be the hardest part.
Spending more time working on your opener is always a good idea. The opening sentence sets the stage for the rest of your piece. The introductory paragraph is what piques the interest of the reader, and it can immediately set your essay apart from the others.
One of the most important things to remember is to keep to the essay topic. If you're applying to 10 or more colleges, it's easy to veer off course with so many application essays.
A common mistake many students make is trying to fit previously written essays into the mold of another college's requirements. This seems like a time-saving way to avoid writing new pieces entirely, but it often backfires. The result is usually a final piece that's generic, unfocused, or confusing. Always write a new essay for every application, no matter how long it takes.
Don't try to guess what the admissions officials want to read. Your essay will be easier to write─and more exciting to read─if you’re genuinely enthusiastic about your subject. Here’s an example: If all your friends are writing application essays about covid-19, it may be a good idea to avoid that topic, unless during the pandemic you had a vivid, life-changing experience you're burning to share. Whatever topic you choose, avoid canned responses. Be creative.
Essay prompts typically give you plenty of latitude, but panel members expect you to focus on a subject that is personal (although not overly intimate) and particular to you. Admissions counselors say the best essays help them learn something about the candidate that they would never know from reading the rest of the application.
Use your usual vocabulary. Avoid fancy language you wouldn't use in real life. Imagine yourself reading this essay aloud to a classroom full of people who have never met you. Keep a confident tone. Be wary of words and phrases that undercut that tone.
Capitalize on real-life experiences. Your essay may give you the time and space to explain why a particular achievement meant so much to you. But resist the urge to exaggerate and embellish. Admissions counselors read thousands of essays each year. They can easily spot a fake.
When you finish the final draft, run it through the spell checker on your computer. Then don’t read your essay for a few days. You'll be more apt to spot typos and awkward grammar when you reread it. After that, ask a teacher, parent, or college student (preferably an English or communications major) to give it a quick read. While you're at it, double-check your word count.
Writing essays for college admission can be daunting, but it doesn't have to be. A well-crafted essay could be the deciding factor─in your favor. Keep these tips in mind, and you'll have no problem creating memorable pieces for every application.
Generally, essays for college admission follow a simple format that includes an opening paragraph, a lengthier body section, and a closing paragraph. You don't need to include a title, which will only take up extra space. Keep in mind that the exact format can vary from one college application to the next. Read the instructions and prompt for more guidance.
Most online applications will include a text box for your essay. If you're attaching it as a document, however, be sure to use a standard, 12-point font and use 1.5-spaced or double-spaced lines, unless the application specifies different font and spacing.
The goal here is to use an attention grabber. Think of it as a way to reel the reader in and interest an admissions officer in what you have to say. There's no trick on how to start a college application essay. The best way you can approach this task is to flex your creative muscles and think outside the box.
You can start with openers such as relevant quotes, exciting anecdotes, or questions. Either way, the first sentence should be unique and intrigue the reader.
Every application essay you write should include details about yourself and past experiences. It's another opportunity to make yourself look like a fantastic applicant. Leverage your experiences. Tell a riveting story that fulfills the prompt.
When writing a college application essay, it's usually best to avoid overly personal details and controversial topics. Although these topics might make for an intriguing essay, they can be tricky to express well. If you’re unsure if a topic is appropriate for your essay, check with your school counselor. An essay for college admission shouldn't include a list of achievements or academic accolades either. Your essay isn’t meant to be a rehashing of information the admissions panel can find elsewhere in your application.
The best way to make your essay interesting is to write about something genuinely important to you. That could be an experience that changed your life or a valuable lesson that had an enormous impact on you. Whatever the case, speak from the heart, and be honest.
Mental health struggles can create challenges you must overcome during your education and could be an opportunity for you to show how you’ve handled challenges and overcome obstacles. If you’re considering writing your essay for college admission on this topic, consider talking to your school counselor or with an English teacher on how to frame the essay.
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This page is the first of two that describe the processes involved in producing an essay for academic purposes, for school, college or university and covers the planning stages of essay writing, which are important to the overall process.
The second page, Writing an Essay , provides more information on the steps involved in actually writing an essay. We recommend you read both pages to gain a full understanding.
Developing the skill of essay writing takes practice, time and patience , your essay writing skills will improve and develop the more you write.
With the help of your course tutor (teacher or lecturer) and peers (other students) and from constructive feedback from the marker of your work, writing an essay will become easier as you progress through your studies and your confidence increases.
This page details general good practice in essay planning, including what you should do and what you should try to avoid. It is important however, that you understand the specific requirements of your school, college or university.
Writing an essay helps you to consider the issues raised in your course and to relate them to your own experience, way of thinking, and also any wider additional reading and research you may have undertaken in order to tackle the essay topic.
Writing an essay (or other assignment) is an important part of the learning process. In the writing of an assignment, learning occurs as you think through and interpret the points raised (together with those of other writers on the subject).
Presenting your experience and showing understanding within your assignment will, from the marker's point of view, demonstrate your knowledge of the subject area.
The original meaning of an essay is ' an attempt ', or a try, at something. It is therefore appropriate to consider writing an essay as a learning exercise.
Essays, and other academic writing, focus the mind and encourage you to come to conclusions about what you are studying.
Writing is often the best possible way to assimilate and organise information. Writing helps to highlight any areas that you have not fully understood and enables you to make further clarifications. It develops your powers of criticism, analysis and expression, and gives you a chance to try out your and other writers' ideas on the subject.
The feedback you receive from the marker of your essay should help to advance your study skills, writing, research and critical thinking skills .
As an essay - in the context of this page - is an assessed piece of work, it can be very useful to consider what the person who will be assessing the work, the marker, will be looking for.
Although different types of essays in different subject areas may vary considerably in their style and content there are some key concepts that will help you understand what is required of you and your essay.
When marking an assignment, a marker will look for some of the following elements, which will demonstrate you are able to:
Find relevant information and use the knowledge to focus on the essay question or subject.
Structure knowledge and information logically, clearly and concisely.
Read purposefully and critically. (See our page: Critical Reading for more)
Relate theory to practical examples.
Analyse processes and problems.
Be persuasive and argue a case.
Find links and combine information from a number of different sources.
Answer the Question
One main factor, always worth bearing in mind, is that a marker will usually only award marks for how well you have answered the essay question.
It is likely that the marker will have a set of criteria or marking guidelines that will dictate how many marks can be awarded for each element of your essay.
Remember it is perfectly possible to write an outstanding essay, but not to have answered the original question. This will, in all likelihood, mean a low mark.
Planning is the process of sorting out what you want to include in your essay.
A well-planned and organised essay indicates that you have your ideas in order; it makes points clearly and logically. In this way, a well-planned and structured essay enables the reader, or marker, to follow the points being made easily.
Essay assignments are usually formulated in one of the following ways:
As a question
A statement is given and you are asked to comment on it
An invitation to ‘ outline’ , ‘ discuss’ or ‘ critically assess’ a particular argument or point of view
Remember always write your essay based on the question that is set and not on another aspect of the subject. Although this may sound obvious, many students do not fully answer the essay question and include irrelevant information. The primary aim of an academic essay is to answer the task set, in some detail.
To help you do this, you might find the following list of stages helpful.
The essay plan below contains ten steps.
It is often useful to complete the first six steps soon after receiving your essay question. That way information will be fresh and you are more likely to be thinking about your essay plan as you do other things.
Study the essay question intently.
Write the essay question out in full.
Spend some time, at least half an hour, brainstorming the subject area.
Write down your thoughts on the question subject, its scope and various aspects.
List words or phrases that you think need to be included.
Note the main points you should include to answer the question.
If, at this point, you feel unsure of what to include, talk to your tutor or a peer to clarify that you are on the right track.
Once you have finished the first six steps and you feel sure you know how to proceed, continue to expand on your initial thoughts and build a more in-depth essay outline.
Skim through any course material or lecture handouts and start to build up a more detailed outline. Scan through your own lecture notes, and if anything strikes you as relevant to the assignment task, write where to find it on your detailed outline
Write down where you will find the necessary information on each of the points in your detailed outline (lecture notes, course handouts etc.). Indicate on the outline where you feel that some further research is necessary.
Be careful not to allow your outline to become too complicated; stick to main points and keep it relevant to the question.
If you have been given a reading list or a core text book then check the relevant sections of that.
See our page: Sources of Information for more ideas of where you can find relevant information for your essay.
Academic essays usually have a word limit and writing within the word limit is an important consideration. Many institutions will penalise students for not writing the correct amount of words – for example, the essay question may call for a 2,000 word essay, there may be a 10% grace, so anything between 1,800 and 2,200 is acceptable.
Think about the main elements that need to be covered in the essay. Make sure you allocate the greatest number of words to the 'main body of the essay' and not to a subsidiary point.
Decide how much space you can devote to each section of your outline. For example, a third of a page for the introduction, half a page for point 1 which has two sub-points, one and a half pages for point 2 which has five sub-points etc. Although you will not follow such a space scheme rigidly, it does enable you to keep things under control and to know how much detail to put in, keeping the balance of the essay as you originally planned.
Of course, you will make minor adjustments to your essay plan as you actually write. However, do not make major adjustments unless you are absolutely certain about the alternative and how it fits into your original scheme.
Having a strong essay plan makes the actual task of writing an essay much more efficient.
Continue to: Writing an Essay Sources of Information
See also: Essay Writing Tips Note-Taking for Reading Finding Time To Study
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Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]
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Have you ever started writing an essay then realized you have run out of ideas to talk about?
This can make you feel deflated and you start to hate your essay!
The best way to avoid this mid-essay disaster is to plan ahead: you need to write an Essay Plan!
Essay planning is one of the most important skills I teach my students. When I have one-to-one tutorials with my students, I always send them off with an essay plan and clear goals about what to write.
Essay Planning isn’t as dull as you think. In fact, it really does only take a short amount of time and can make you feel oh so relieved that you know what you’re doing!
Here’s my 7-Step method that I encourage you to use for your next essay:
The 7-Step Guide on How to write an Essay Plan
I’ve been using this 7-Step essay planning strategy since I was in my undergraduate degree. Now, I’ve completed a PhD and written over 20 academic journal articles and dozens of blog posts using this method – and it still works!
Let’s go through my 7 steps for how to write an essay plan.
Prefer to Watch than Read? Here’s our video on writing an Essay Plan.
1. figure out your essay topic. here’s how..
Where did your teacher provide you with your assessment details?
Find it. This is where you begin.
Now, far, far, far too many students end up writing essays that aren’t relevant to the essay question given to you by your teacher. So print out your essay question and any other advice or guidelines provided by your teacher.
Here’s some things that your assessment details page might include:
The essay question is really important. Once you’ve printed it I want you to do one thing:
Highlight the key phrases in the essay question.
Here’s some essay questions and the key phrases you’d want to highlight:
Will artificial intelligence threaten the future of work? | Artificial Intelligence, Work |
How does the film ‘Frozen’ challenge and/or for children who watch it? | Frozen, gender roles, children |
What are the reasons behind the rise of right-wing nationalism in the past 10 years? | Nationalism, Past 10 years |
What are the most effective strategies for raising developing nations out of poverty? | Developing Nations, Poverty, Strategies |
This strategy helps you to hone in on exactly what you want to talk about. These are the key phrases you’re going to use frequently in your writing and use when you look for sources to cite in your essay!
The other top thing to look at is the marking criteria. Some teachers don’t provide this, but if they do then make sure you pay attention to the marking criteria !
Here’s an example of a marking criteria sheet:
Sample Essay Topic: Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?
Takes an informed position on the issue of climate change | 30% |
Critically examines competing perspectives on the topic | 30% |
Applies theoretical ideas to practical situations | 30% |
Academic writing and referencing | 10% |
Now, if you have a marking criteria you really need to pay attention to this. You have to make sure you’ve ticked off all the key criteria that you will be marked on. For the example above, your essay is going to have to make sure it:
The reason you need to be really careful to pay attention to this marking criteria is because it is your cheat sheet: it tells you what to talk about!
Step 1 only takes you five minutes and helps you to clearly clarify what you’re going to be talking about! Now your mind is tuned in and you can start doing some preliminary research.
Now that you know what your focus is, you can start finding some information to discuss. You don’t want to just write things from the top of your head. If you want top marks, you want some deep, detailed and specific pieces of information.
Fortunately, your teacher has probably made this easy for you.
The top source for finding information will be the resources your teacher provided. These resources were hand picked by your teacher because they believed these were the best sources available our there on the topic. Here are the most common resources teachers provide:
The lecture slides are one of the best resources for you to access. Lecture slides are usually provided online for you. Download them, save them on your computer, and dig them up when it’s time to write the essay plan.
Find the lecture slides most relevant to your topic. To take the example of our climate change essay, maybe climate change is only discussed in three of the weeks in your course. Those are the three weeks’ lecture slides you want to hone-in on.
Flick through those lecture slides and take quick notes on a piece of paper – what are the most important topics and statistics that are relevant to your essay question?
Now, move on to the assigned readings . Your teacher will have selected some readings for you to do for homework through the semester. They may be eBooks, Textbooks or Journal Articles.
These assigned readings were assigned for a reason: because they have very important information to read ! Scan through them and see if there’s any more points you can add to your list of statistics and key ideas to discuss.
Next, try to find a few more sources using Google Scholar. This is a great resource for finding more academic articles that you can read to find even more details and ideas to add to your essay.
Here’s my notes that I researched for the essay question “Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?” As you can see, it doesn’t have to be beautiful #Studygram notes! It’s just rough notes to get all the important information down:
Once you’ve read the assigned lecture slides and readings, you should have a good preliminary list of ideas, topics, statistics and even quotes that you can use in step 3.
Do your initial notes look a little disorganized?
That’s okay. The point of Step 2 was to gather information. Now it’s time to start sorting these ideas in your mind.
The best way to organize thoughts is to create a Mind-Map. Here’s how Mind-Maps often look:
For your essay plan Mind-Map, write the essay question in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it.
Then, select the biggest and most important key ideas that you think are worth discussing in the essay. To decide on these, you might want to look back at the notes you took in Step 2.
Each key idea will take up around about 200 – 350 words (1 to 2 sentences).
Here’s a rough guide for how many key ideas you’ll want depending on your essay length:
Once you’ve selected your key ideas you can list them in a circle around the essay question, just like this:
Last, we need to add detail and depth to each key idea. So, draw more lines out from each key ideas and list:
Here’s how it might look once you’re done:
You’re well and truly on your way to getting your essay down on paper now.
There’s one last thing to do before you start getting words down on the manuscript that you will submit. You need to arrange your topics to decide which to write first, second, third, fourth, and last!
Here are some things to keep in mind:
To ensure your points logically flow, think about how you’re going to transition from one idea to the next . Does one key point need to be made first so that the other ones make sense?
Do two key points seem to fit next to one another? If so, make sure you list them side-by-side.
Have a play around with the order you want to discuss the ideas until you’re comfortable. Then, list them in order. Here’s my order for my Climate Change essay:
[Introduction] | 125 |
What is climate change? | 250 |
Is climate change caused by humans? | 250 |
What are the current impacts of climate change? | 250 |
What are the future impacts of climate change? | 250 |
Is climate change reversible? | 250 |
[Conclusion] | 125 |
Each of these key ideas is going to turn into a paragraph or two (probably two) in the essay.
All good essays have clear paragraphs that start with a topic sentence . To turn these brainstormed key points into an essay, you need to get that list you wrote in Step 5 and turn each point into a topic sentence for a paragraph.
It’s important that the first sentence of each paragraph clearly states the paragraph’s topic. Your marker is going to want to know exactly what your paragraph is about immediately. You don’t want your marker to wait until the 3 rd , 4 th or 5 th line of a paragraph before they figure out what you’re talking about in the paragraph.
So, you need to state what your key idea is in the first sentence of the paragraph.
Let’s have a go at turning each of our key ideas into a topic sentence:
What is climate change? | Climate change is the term used to explain rising atmospheric temperatures caused by carbon build-up in the atmosphere. |
Is climate change caused by humans? | Most scientists believe climate change is caused by humans. |
What are the current impacts of climate change? | Climate change is having an impact on people and environments right now. |
What are the future impacts of climate change? | The effects of climate change are expected to increase in coming decades. |
Is climate change reversible? | The window for reversing climate change is rapidly closing. |
Okay, now the rubber hits the road. Let’s get writing!
When you write your first draft, don’t put pressure on yourself. Remind yourself that this is the first of several attempts at creating a great essay, so it doesn’t need to be perfect right away. The important thing is that you get words down on paper.
To write the draft, have a go at adding to each of your topic sentences to turn them into full paragraphs. Follow the information you wrote down in your notes and Mind-Map to get some great details down on paper.
Forget about the introduction and conclusion for now. You can write them last.
Let’s have a go at one together. I’m going to choose the paragraph on my key idea “Is climate change caused by humans?”
I’ve already got my first sentence and my brainstormed ideas. Let’s build on them to write a draft paragraph:
Your turn – have a go at your own draft paragraphs based on your Mind-Map for your essay topic! If you hit a rut or have some trouble, don’t forget to check out our article on how to write perfect paragraphs .
Once you’ve written all your paragraphs, make sure you write an introduction and conclusion .
Gone over the word count? Check out our article on how to reduce your word count.
Okay, hopefully after your three hour essay drafting session you’ve got all your words down on paper. Congratulations!
However, we’re not done yet.
The best students finish their drafts early on so they have a good three or four weeks to come back and re-read their draft and edit it every few days.
When coming back to edit your draft , here’s a few things to look out for:
Phew! That essay was tough. But with this essay plan, you can get through any essay and do a stellar job! Essay planning is a great way to ensure your essays make sense, have a clear and compelling argument, and don’t go off-topic.
I never write an essay without one.
To sum up, here are the 7 steps to essay planning one more time:
The 7-Step Guide for How to Write an Essay Plan
Nice fun and concise approach to essays, thank you
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Essay structure.
What is a good structure?
A good structure to your academic work is vital to make it understandable, easy to read and engaging. An essay or report tells a story, so as any good story does, it needs a beginning, a middle and an end. It's not just the work as a whole that needs structure but your paragraphs too. This section includes guidance on how to create a good overall essay structure. For more information about creating structure for your individual paragraphs see our paragraph structure guide .
Why do I need to learn structure?
To gain good marks and fulfil the learning outcomes of your assignments, you need to demonstrate that you understand the concepts and the work that you have used to form your argument. Structure also ensures that:
How do I use structure?
The basic structure of any academic work looks something like this:
Creating sections helps you to plan how much you need to write on each area. This breaks the task down into smaller chunks.
For example:
Essay word count - 3,000 words Introduction - 300 words Main body - 2,400 words Conclusion - 300 words
If your subject has three major themes you can then break the main body down again:
Essay word count - 3,000 words Introduction - 300 words Main body - 2,400 words (theme 1 - 800 words; theme 2 - 800 words; theme 3 - 800 words) Conclusion - 300 words
This is not a precise rule; you can adjust the word counts to accommodate where more emphasis is needed or not, but it can be used to break a large word count into manageable sections.
Trying to devise a structure for your essay can be one of the most difficult parts of the writing process. Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them.
The First Steps
Before you can begin outlining, you need to have a sense of what you will argue in the essay. From your analysis and close readings of primary and/or secondary sources you should have notes, ideas, and possible quotes to cite as evidence. Let's say you are writing about the 1999 Republican Primary and you want to prove that each candidate's financial resources were the most important element in the race. At this point, your notes probably lack much coherent order. Most likely, your ideas are still in the order in which they occurred to you; your notes and possible quotes probably still adhere to the chronology of the sources you've examined. Your goal is to rearrange your ideas, notes, and quotes—the raw material of your essay—into an order that best supports your argument, not the arguments you've read in other people's works. To do this, you have to group your notes into categories and then arrange these categories in a logical order.
Generalizing
The first step is to look over each individual piece of information that you've written and assign it to a general category. Ask yourself, "If I were to file this in a database, what would I file it under?" If, using the example of the Republican Primary, you wrote down an observation about John McCain's views on health care, you might list it under the general category of "Health care policy." As you go through your notes, try to reuse categories whenever possible. Your goal is to reduce your notes to no more than a page of category listings.
Now examine your category headings. Do any seem repetitive? Do any go together? "McCain's expenditure on ads" and "Bush's expenditure on ads," while not exactly repetitive, could easily combine into a more general category like "Candidates' expenditures on ads." Also, keep an eye out for categories that no longer seem to relate to your argument. Individual pieces of information that at first seemed important can begin to appear irrelevant when grouped into a general category.
Now it's time to generalize again. Examine all your categories and look for common themes. Go through each category and ask yourself, "If I were to place this piece of information in a file cabinet, what would I label that cabinet?" Again, try to reuse labels as often as possible: "Health Care," "Foreign Policy," and "Immigration" can all be contained under "Policy Initiatives." Make these larger categories as general as possible so that there are no more than three or four for a 7-10 page paper.
With your notes grouped into generalized categories, the process of ordering them should be easier. To begin, look at your most general categories. With your thesis in mind, try to find a way that the labels might be arranged in a sentence or two that supports your argument. Let's say your thesis is that financial resources played the most important role in the 1999 Republican Primary. Your four most general categories are "Policy Initiatives," "Financial Resources," "Voters' Concerns," and "Voters' Loyalty." You might come up with the following sentence: ÒAlthough McCain's policy initiatives were closest to the voters' concerns, Bush's financial resources won the voters' loyalty.Ó This sentence should reveal the order of your most general categories. You will begin with an examination of McCain's and Bush's views on important issues and compare them to the voters' top concerns. Then you'll look at both candidates' financial resources and show how Bush could win voters' loyalty through effective use of his resources, despite his less popular policy ideas.
With your most general categories in order, you now must order the smaller categories. To do so, arrange each smaller category into a sentence or two that will support the more general sentence you've just devised. Under the category of "Financial Resources," for instance, you might have the smaller categories of "Ad Expenditure," "Campaign Contributions" and "Fundraising." A sentence that supports your general argument might read: "Bush's early emphasis on fundraising led to greater campaign contributions, allowing him to have a greater ad expenditure than McCain."
The final step of the outlining process is to repeat this procedure on the smallest level, with the original notes that you took for your essay. To order what probably was an unwieldy and disorganized set of information at the beginning of this process, you need now only think of a sentence or two to support your general argument. Under the category "Fundraising," for example, you might have quotes about each candidate's estimation of its importance, statistics about the amount of time each candidate spent fundraising, and an idea about how the importance of fundraising never can be overestimated. Sentences to support your general argument might read: "No candidate has ever raised too much money [your idea]. While both McCain and Bush acknowledged the importance of fundraising [your quotes], the numbers clearly point to Bush as the superior fundraiser [your statistics]." The arrangement of your ideas, quotes, and statistics now should come naturally.
Putting It All Together
With these sentences, you have essentially constructed an outline for your essay. The most general ideas, which you organized in your first sentence, constitute the essay's sections. They follow the order in which you placed them in your sentence. The order of the smaller categories within each larger category (determined by your secondary sentences) indicates the order of the paragraphs within each section. Finally, your last set of sentences about your specific notes should show the order of the sentences within each paragraph. An outline for the essay about the 1999 Republican Primary (showing only the sections worked out here) would look something like this:
I. POLICY INITIATIVES
II. VOTERS' CONCERNS
III. FINANCIAL RESOURCES
A. Fundraising
a. Original Idea
b. McCain Quote/Bush Quote
c. McCain Statistics/Bush Statistics
B. Campaign Contributions
C. Ad Expenditure
IV. VOTERS' LOYALTY
Copyright 2000, David Kornhaber, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
“Why should you make a plan for your essays? Why 'waste time' ...? Because it will pay off in the long run in terms of the relevance, organisation and clarity of your essay.” Don Shiach, How to Write Essays
An academic essay is a very specific form of writing. Its purpose is to answer the question in an organised and comprehensive manner. In order to do this, care should be taken at the planning stage so that you can be confident that you have included the most relevant material and that your reader can follow your line of argument as you make the points that lead to your conclusion.
You should now be able to draft either a simple conclusion or a rough plan of your introduction. This is the point where you need to be deciding the key points for each of your paragraphs.
The number of key points that you need to make to reach your conclusion will, to some extent, be dictated by the length of your essay. Academic paragraphs are usually between 200 and 300 words long (they vary more than this but it is a useful guide). With that in mind, you should be able to work out roughly how many points you need to make given the length of your essay. If we look at 3 examples:
2,000 word essay (200 for introduction, 200 for conclusion, leaves approx. 1,600 word main body) = 6-8 paragraphs (6-8 points) 3,000 word essay (300 for introduction, 300 for conclusion, leaves approx. 2,400 word main body) = 8-12 paragraphs (8-12 points) 4,500 word essay (450 for introduction, 450 for conclusion, leaves approx. 3,600 word main body) = 12-18 paragraphs (12-18 points)
The paragraphs in the longer essays will probably be grouped into themes to give your argument a bit more organisation.
Now you know how many points you need, spend time deciding what they are. You can do this as a list of bullet points, a mind map, a diagram; whatever works for you.
We have workshops on finding quality information if you need any help and advice with this.
Using the reading you have done, revisit your draft introduction/conclusion to see if you want to amend it due to your reading. Once this is done, create a plan of the middle section of your essay which is much more detailed than your original rough plan and which takes into account any changes you made to the conclusion.
Include in your plan, your main sections and arguments, in the order in which you will present them. It may be a good idea to write out in full the topic sentence of each paragraph - the sentence that makes the point that the paragraph is about. You can see from this if your essay has a natural flow , with the general narrative (logical story leading to your conclusion) making sense.
Many students write the middle section of the essay first. If this is your preferred method, use the detailed plan you have just created to help you do so. When you are satisfied with your middle section, tidy up the draft introduction or fill out your conclusion to add more detail.
This forms the basis of your essay. From now on you are revising and editing it, not writing it.
An essay plan is a way to identify, select, and order the points you want to make in your essay. It helps you to work out your argument and your structure before writing, which should make the writing process more efficient and focussed. Sometimes essay plans are set as formative assignments so tutors can provide feedback before you write your full essay.
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If you have an essay plan as an assignment, the main purpose is to give your lecturer enough information about your structure and main points so they can give you useful feedback. Follow any guidance you have been given, but usually an essay plan doesn’t have to be in full sentences; an outline structure of main points in a bullet point list, maybe with some further details of the evidence you will use or explanation under each point, is often enough. See these guides on how to do simple outline plans for an essay:
How to plan an essay (University of Newcastle)
Structuring the essay (Monash University)
Group similar ideas.
The aim of planning is to put down all your ideas and then to sort through them and order them. Look at where the ideas group together to see if any common themes start emerging, as these might form the paragraphs in your essay. See the video below for an example of how to group and order ideas in a plan.
Planning: General structure [video] (University of York)
We rarely follow our essay plans exactly because our ideas develop as we write. If you don’t keep to your plan, it isn’t a sign of failure or a sign that planning doesn’t work. However, you may need to reflect on your planning process - are you over-planning and it takes too much time, or are your plans too vague and more detail would help? If you have strayed from your plan, a good strategy is to check the structure of your essay afterwards to make sure it all matches up. See the guide below on how to do a reverse outline as a useful part of your redrafting process.
Reverse outlines (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
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(Last updated: 13 May 2021)
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This guide is for anyone looking to vastly improve their essay writing skills through better knowledge what is meant by good 'essay structure'.
Essay writing is a key component to academic success at every level. It is, essentially, the way in which people within the academic community communicate with each other. Thus, there are fundamental ways in which academics structure their work and formal ways of communicating what they have to say. Writing essays is not simply a hoop for students to jump through. The vast majority of instructors and professors also write essays at a professional level, and they do not ask of their students anything less than the standard that is asked of them.
Where too many students go wrong in writing their essays is in either failing to plan ahead (not giving sufficient, care, thought, or time to the process) or in not understanding the expectations of essay writing. Of these expectations, appropriate and effective essay structure is critical. Students often lose valuable marks by failing to structure their essays clearly and concisely to make the best of their ideas.
So how do you structure academic writing? What is the best essay structure format?
First, consider what an essay is . What is it supposed to do? At its core an essay is simply an argument . Now, by argument we don’t mean a slanging match between two angry people. Rather, we are talking about a formal argument. An idea or a claim, which is supported by logic and/or evidence.
Imagine the following scenario: you feel the time has come to approach your boss about getting a raise at work. Imagine yourself walking into your supervisor’s office and requesting that raise. Almost automatically, your mind formulates a rhetorical structure. There are effective and ineffective ways of asking of making such a request. The effective strategy will have a logic and an order. You will firstly claim that you deserve a raise. And you will give evidence to support why you deserve that raise. For example: you are a hard worker, you are never late, you have the admiration and respect of your colleagues, you have been offered another position elsewhere and you want the pay matched. And so on. And you would probably wrap up your discussion with an overview of of why giving you more money is important.
And that is fundamentally an essay. Every good essay has three basic parts: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
This simple guide will show you how to perfect your essay structure by clearly introducing and concluding your argument, and laying out your paragraphs coherently in between. Your essay writing can be dramatically improved overnight simply by using the correct essay structure, as explained below.
When you are writing an essay , every sentence and every paragraph is important. But there is something extra important about introductions. Just like going out on a date for the first time, you want the introduction to be just right, almost perfect. You want to put your best self forward and create a great first impression.
You should already know this, but most professors and instructors will start grading your work in their head as soon as they begin reading it. They will be sorting your essay, maybe not in terms of a grade, but most definitely in terms of strong/weak, interesting/dull, or effective/ineffective. And most will have some notion of where your essay falls on that scale before they even finish the introduction. It will be the rarest of markers who withholds judgement until the end. The introduction is something you absolutely must start strong.
Always develop an introduction that clearly sets out the aims of what you are about to write and, if applicable, refers to the subject under investigation. State what the essay will try to achieve and briefly mention some of the main points you will consider. The idea is to give the marker an overview of your argument, to show that your thought process is logical and coherent and that you have carefully thought the question through. Don’t try to go into any of your key points in depth in your introduction – they will each be covered by a full paragraph later on. If the question is an ‘either or’ or a ‘how far do you agree’ question, it is useful to set out both sides of the argument briefly in the introduction in preparation for exploring the two sides later in the essay.
Think of your introduction as a thumbnail picture of the whole essay. Anyone, but especially the marker, should know the essay subject and how you intend to prove or disprove it, just from having read just the introduction.
Take the following example:
You have been given this assignment: The main purpose of Gothic fiction is to break normal moral and social codes. Discuss.
A strong introduction should read something like this:
It is certainly true that many works of Gothic fiction manifest the transgression of normal moral and social codes as their major theme. Their emphasis on female sexuality, their breaking of the boundaries between life and death and their shocking displays of immoral religious characters would all suggest that this is indeed the case. However, it is also important to consider other major aspects of the genre that might be considered equally important in purpose, such as its fascination with the supernatural, its portrayal of artificial humanity and its satirical social attacks. This essay will explore these conflicting purposes with reference to several different Gothic texts to discover what might be best described as the ‘main’ purpose of the genre.
Reread that paragraph. Does it tell you what the topic of the essay is? What the point is? What the essay plans to do? Now, without reading think about just the size of that paragraph. If a marker were to see an introduction that were any less than that they would automatically know, without even reading a word, that the topic was not going to be well introduced. That is not to suggest you simply fill up the paragraph, but that a certain amount of information in the introduction is expected.
It is worth pointing out that in a much longer essay an introduction does not need to be limited to a single paragraph. Generally, however, it will be.
The second part of the essay is the body. This is the longest part of the essay. In general, a short essay will have at least three full paragraphs; a long essay considerably more.
Each paragraph is a point that you want to make that relates to the topic. So, going back to the ‘give me more money’ example from earlier, each reason you have for deserving a raise should be a separate paragraph, and that paragraph is an elaboration on that claim.
Paragraphs, like the essay overall, also have an expected structure. You should start a new paragraph for each major new idea within your essay, to clearly show the examiner the structure of your argument. Each paragraph should begin with a signpost sentence that sets out the main point you are going to explore in that section. It is sometimes helpful to refer back to the title of the essay in the signpost sentence, to remind the examiner of the relevance of your point. Essay writing becomes much easier for you too this way, as you remind yourself exactly what you are focusing on each step of the way.
Here's a signpost sentence example: One important way in which Gothic fiction transgresses normal moral and social codes is in its portrayal of the female heroine.
Further sentences in this paragraph would then go on to expand and back up your point in greater detail and with relevant examples. The paragraph should not contain any sentences that are not directly related to the issue set out in the signpost sentence. So you are writing an essay that clearly separates its ideas into structured sections. Going back to the wage-raise example: in the middle of talking about how punctual you are, would you start talking about how you are a good colleague, then about that client you impressed, and then talk about your punctuality again? Of course not. The same rules apply: each paragraph deals with one idea, one subject.
The last section of your essay is the conclusion. In general, this will also be a single paragraph in shorter essays, but can go on to two or three for slightly longer discussions.
Every well-structured essay ends with a conclusion . Its purpose is to summarise the main points of your argument and, if appropriate, to draw a final decision or judgement about the issues you have been discussing. Sometimes, conclusions attempt to connect the essay to broader issues or areas of further study.
It is important not to introduce any new ideas in the conclusion – it is simply a reminder of what your essay has already covered. It may be useful again to refer back to the title in the conclusion to make it very clear to the examiner that you have thoroughly answered the question at hand. Make sure you remind them of your argument by very concisely touching on each key point.
Here an example of an essay conclusion:
Overall, whilst it is certainly true that the characters, plots and settings of Gothic fiction seem firmly intended to break normal moral and social codes, the great incidence within the genre of the depiction of the supernatural, and in particular its insistent reference to social injustice and hypocrisy might suggest that in fact its main purpose was the criticism and reform of society.
Now you should have a solid grasp of a typical essay structure but might not know how to actually begin structuring your essay. Everyone works differently. Some people have no trouble thinking everything out in their head, or putting together a plan, and starting with the introduction and finishing with the conclusion.
One surefire way to make your life easier is to, in the first instance, write out an essay plan . Jotting down a plan where you create a structure, which details what your essay will cover, will save you time in the long run - so we highly recommend you do this!
When planning your essay structure, we suggest writing from the inside out and doing the body paragraphs first. Since each body paragraph is a main idea, then once you know what your main ideas are, these should come fairly easily. Then the introduction and conclusion after that.
If you're really struggling - or just curious - you can also look into the Essay Writing Service from ourselves here at Oxbridge Essays. We can put together a comprehensive essay plan for you, which maps out your essay and outlines the key points in advance, and in turn makes the writing process much easier.
One final thought to remember: good essays are not written, they are rewritten . Always go over your first draft and look for ways to improve it before handing it in.
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Using authentic samples, we examine and analyse the essentials of good arguments and the key components of essay and paragraph structure.
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Essay planning is an important step in academic essay writing. Proper planning helps you write your essay faster, and focus more on the exact question. As you draft and write your essay, record any changes on the plan as well as in the essay itself, so they develop side by side. One way to start planning an essay is with a 'box plan'.
University essays differ from school essays in that they are less concerned with what you know and more concerned with how you construct an argument to answer the question. This means that the starting point for writing a strong essay is to first unpick the question and to then use this to plan your essay before you start putting pen to paper ...
Again, we'd recommend sticking with standard fonts and sizes—Times New Roman, 12-point is a standard workhorse. You can probably go with 1.5 or double spacing. Standard margins. Basically, show them you're ready to write in college by using the formatting you'll normally use in college.
Make a plan. Planning your essay makes it more likely that you have a coherent argument. It enables you to work out a logical structure and an endpoint for your argument before you start writing. It means you don't have to do this type of complex thinking at the same time as trying to find the right words to express your ideas.
Introduction: Address the question, show why it's interesting and how you will answer it. Main body: Build your argument. Put your groups of ideas in a sequence to make a persuasive argument. One main point in each paragraph. Conclusion: Summarise your arguments and evidence, and show how they answer the original question.
Revised on July 23, 2023. An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph, giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold. You'll sometimes be asked to submit an essay outline as a separate ...
The basic structure of an essay always consists of an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. But for many students, the most difficult part of structuring an essay is deciding how to organize information within the body. This article provides useful templates and tips to help you outline your essay, make decisions about your structure, and ...
In a 1000-1500 word essay, aim for three to four main points. In the initial plan, try to express the main idea of each point in a single, clear sentence. These can become topic sentences—usually the first sentence of each paragraph which summarise the information in the paragraph. In your second plan, you develop these points further.
Making an all-state team → outstanding achievement. Making an all-state team → counting the cost of saying "no" to other interests. Making a friend out of an enemy → finding common ground, forgiveness. Making a friend out of an enemy → confront toxic thinking and behavior in yourself.
Having a paragraph plan is an effective way to map out your essay and ensure that you address the key points of the essay in detail - especially for longer forms of essays and academic writing that students engage with at university. An basic paragraph plan would generally contain: The thesis statement (for an essay)
Follow these tips to write an impactful essay that can work in your favor. 1. Start Early. Few people write well under pressure. Try to complete your first draft a few weeks before you have to turn it in. Many advisers recommend starting as early as the summer before your senior year in high school.
This page is the first of two that describe the processes involved in producing an essay for academic purposes, for school, college or university and covers the planning stages of essay writing, which are important to the overall process. The second page, Writing an Essay, provides more information on the steps involved in actually writing an ...
The italicised portions serve to offer more of the expository depth needed for an academic essay. •Narration - You seek to tell a story (or case study), relevant to your essay's main focus. Bear in mind that narration can in itself function as expository writing - the difference is in its method.
The 7-Step Guide on How to write an Essay Plan. Figure out your Essay Topic (5 minutes) Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes (20 minutes) Brainstorm using a Mind-Map (10 minutes) Arrange your Topics (2 minutes) Write your topic Sentences (5 minutes) Write a No-Pressure Draft in 3 Hours (3 hours)
The basic structure of any academic work looks something like this: Title/Question. Introduction (approx. 10% of the word count) Main body - development of argument (approx. 80% of the word count) Conclusion (approx. 10% of the word count) References/Bibliography. Creating sections helps you to plan how much you need to write on each area.
Essay planning step 2: Brainstorming or freewriting. Once you know how many ideas you need, the next step is writing down what you know (and what you still have to find out). There are many ways that this can be achieved. You can either create a mind map, or just write out all your ideas on a piece of paper.
Making a detailed outline before you begin writing is a good way to make sure your ideas come across in a clear and logical order. A good outline will also save you time in the revision process, reducing the possibility that your ideas will need to be rearranged once you've written them. The First Steps. Before you can begin outlining, you need ...
At this stage, write down the basic structure as a list. Think of each line as a new heading or section of your essay. Arrange these main points in a way that you think is most logical and where the ideas flow together well. Do not be afraid to experiment with alternative structures, as this process may lead you to refine your argument further.
An academic essay is a very specific form of writing. Its purpose is to answer the question in an organised and comprehensive manner. In order to do this, care should be taken at the planning stage so that you can be confident that you have included the most relevant material and that your reader can follow your line of argument as you make the points that lead to your conclusion.
Essay plans. An essay plan is a way to identify, select, and order the points you want to make in your essay. It helps you to work out your argument and your structure before writing, which should make the writing process more efficient and focussed. Sometimes essay plans are set as formative assignments so tutors can provide feedback before ...
Step 2: Pick one of the things you wrote down, flip your paper over, and write it at the top of your paper, like this: This is your thread, or a potential thread. Step 3: Underneath what you wrote down, name 5-6 values you could connect to this. These will serve as the beads of your essay.
It is worth pointing out that in a much longer essay an introduction does not need to be limited to a single paragraph. Generally, however, it will be. The body of your essay. The second part of the essay is the body. This is the longest part of the essay. In general, a short essay will have at least three full paragraphs; a long essay ...
Outlining is a vital part of the essay planning process. It allows the writer to understand how he or she will connect all the information to support the thesis statement and the claims of the paper. It also provides the writer with a space to manipulate ideas easily without needing to write complete paragraphs.
Learn how to write a persuasive and well-structured essay. Argumentative essay writing is one of the most widely-used assignment types for coursework degrees in the Australian university context. In this workshop, we walk you through the whole process of breaking down essay questions, taking a position towards the question, and structuring, planning, writing as well as editing your essay.
Stop sending your kids to college until you have done this (But 1st, Like & Send this to a parent that needs this message)! STOP placing the expectation on your children to go to...