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Writing Skills: Structure of an essay
Flash back
By now you know quite well how to brainstorm about any topic, select the most appropriate ideas, isolate and prioritize them. You also know that you must ideally discuss the most important ideas first, and then move on to the peripheral ones in your essay. Now let's see how exactly you must write a good piece of prose.
Parts of an essay
An ideal essay comprises three parts:
1. Introduction
2. Body text
3. Conclusion
Don't miss out on any of these parts, because without these, an essay looks incomplete.
1. Introduction
This is a catchy opening paragraph (or two), which reveals how the topic is connected with your text and what the reader will discover in the essay. It also establishes the mood and the pace of your essay (i.e. whether your essay's tone is cheerful, solemn, neutral or fast paced or slow).
Remember: The introduction establishes first contact with your readers and holds immense importance. If the introduction is boring, then the reader won't go on reading, so you must make it really interesting.
2. Body text
This is the main part where you discuss the topic in detail. You also establish a 'flow' through your writing without being redundant, to make the reader go on reading without getting bored. For a short essay, the body text can be of two or more paragraphs.
3. Conclusion
You must give a closing to satisfy your readers, or leave them thinking about your essay. In a short story, the conclusion usually reveals the point of the story or the moral behind it or why you wanted to write this story. In an argumentative essay, you could either draw a firm conclusion, or leave the subject appropriately open to readers' opinions. The closing is usually of one (or two) paragraphs in a short essay.
Take a look at this piece of text
Sample I
Earth: the Blue Planet
Air is a mixture of many different gases. The two major gases that make up the air around us are nitrogen, which forms 78% and oxygen which makes up 21% of it. 1% of air is made up of argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, zenon, ozone and water vapour. Smoke, dust and pollutants are also part of the atmosphere.
As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, the light is broken up. The most common colour is blue.
We call the blue effect out sky.
This is a poorly written piece, lacking a proper introduction and conclusion. It jumps straight to the body text, and this too is disappointing. Overall, there is an incomplete 'feeling' about it.
Now take a look at this essay.
Sample II
Earth: the Blue Planet
One of the major characteristics that makes Earth different from the other planets in out solar system is its air or atmosphere.
Air is a mixture of many different gases. The two major gases that make up the air around us are nitrogen, which forms 78% and oxygen which makes up 21% of it. The remaining 1% of air is made up of the gases argon, carbon dioxide, neon, helium, krypton, hydrogen, zenon, ozone and water vapour. In addition, smoke, dust and pollutants from human life also merge into the atmosphere.
As sunlight passes through our atmosphere, the light is broken up into the colours of the specturm. The most common colour is blue.
It is this layer of air or atmosphere which gives Earth the special blue characteristics. So that's why we are often called the "Blue Planet". We call the blue effect out sky.
See the difference? The introduction (red), body (blue) and conclusion (green) give a proper shape to the text. The introduction is short and precise. The conclusion is clear, concise and delivers the point of the essay perfectly.
Now make sure that you always write with a proper introduction, body and conclusion. I'll be back with more interesting details. See you next week!
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