Why Write Essays?

Why Write Essays? Analytical - An analytical essay paper breaks down an idea or issue into its its key components. It evaluates the issue or idea by presenting analysis of the breakdown and/or components to the the reader. Be sure to provide a map, by previewing or outlining your essay, so that your target reader is at no time unsure which way you are going and where you are taking them. These definitions may not always be necessary and you should use your own discretion based on the subject material. Now, down the left side of the page, under the topic, write Roman numerals I, II, and III, sequentially. Get started by drawing a circle in the middle of a paper just big enough to write in. Expository - Also known as explanatory essays, expositories provide explanations of something. This is the third paragraph of our introduction which contains a preview of the essay. This functions as kind of map to navigate the reader. We can tell that this is a preview from the use of key words such as “this essay will focus on”. Notice that further into this paragraph, signposting language is used to designate the structure of the essay, for example phrases such as “the first, second and last section”. Notice too that even a preview into the conclusion is mentioned here. If you're expected to choose your own topic, then the first step is to define the purpose of your essay. Or to education about a person, place, thing or idea? The topic you choose needs to support the purpose of your essay. The introduction should outline the problem, explain why it’s important, and briefly outline the main arguments. Don’t start with a dictionary definition â€" this is clichéd and boring. It should sum up the main arguments in the middle and finish with a conclusions that finally answers the essay question. Be careful not to focus on only one minor point in the conclusion - it is essential to summarise all of the main points covered. This outline of your essay will set up a sort of contract with your reader, explaining what you will deliver to them in the body of your essay. Let’s imagine then, that we have spent some time and worked on our first draft of our essay and have written the introduction to the essay question. We can analyse the text in our sample introduction and look at the elements it needs to contain. We will try to make it clearer for you by actually using a sample introduction that was written for a real-life academic essay. In a previous online tutorial video we introduced you to a real-life assignment question and talked about how to structure the introduction and conclusion to an essay. Today we are going to have a look at the structure of a body paragraph â€" these paragraphs make up the most substantial part of an essay, report or case study. This video will introduce useful advice on how to write a well-developed paragraph. Daily workshops are delivered throughout semester and target reading, writing, speaking and referencing skills. They are a great way to bring your academic literacy skills ‘up to speed’. Your tutors will be keen to help you learn and progress. Essays need to have a beginning, a middle and an end. A very common mistake that students make is introducing new material, new evidence or new points into their conclusion that have not been previously mentioned in the body of the essay. This video will introduce useful advice and tips on how to write an effective conclusion to an essay, report or case study. If you experience difficulty in structuring and developing your body paragraphs, you can always talk to a HELPS Advisor or one of our volunteers. They are always ready to help you if you need assistance at any stage of the writing process.