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Preparing a Structured Essay

Preparing a Structured Essay

Written by Ashley Squires, Ph. D.

Sometimes it is difficult for students to write a structured essay. They often have such problems:

  • The main idea is in the end of the essay (Maybe it is the most popular issue in Russia)
  • A student starts to write and then goes away from a theme
  • A writer repeats the same idea again and again
  • A student doesn’t know about what he/she wants to write and then engages in empty talk
  • A writer just says everything that he/she has

 

I want to offer a possible solution of these issues. By going from one step to another, a writer won’t forget anything important:

0)Find a theme

At this point a theme can be genera enough. All you should do is understand an area where you will do research.

1)Search for information about a topic

You should try to find any information and data that is relevant to the area; it will help you to figure out your topic. By reading different sources, you can find various views on the issue.

2)Formulate your opinion

Now, it is high time to formulate your opinion. The more information you have found, the easier it will be to clarify your thoughts.

3)Understand who your target audience is

Who are you trying to convince? Scientists or the general public?  Liberals or conservatives? Atheists or religious people? And so on.

4)Find specific arguments for your audience

Arguments should depend on your audience. For instance, sometimes, it is an advantage to include a lot of quantitative evidence like statistics and graphs. However, if an expected reader doesn’t like numbers, maybe you should focus on emotional reasons.

In addition, now you have everything to write a thesis.

5)Think about possible counterarguments of opponents

You can ask somebody to argue with your arguments or create counterarguments by yourself.

6)Break counterarguments

If you see a flaw in the argumentation, everybody will find it too. Thus, you should explain why this flaw isn’t important in advance.

7)Make an outline

a)Create big blocks - Just general ideas about how to divide the essay into different parts

b)Understand what should be written in each paragraph

c)Find a logical order for the paragraphs - Here, you also can think about connections between paragraphs.

8)Write the essay

Now your essay is almost complete. The only thing you should do is to write it.

9)Edit the essay

Thu, 23 January 2020