Guide To Essay

An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task.

Either way, your essay will have the same basic format.

If you follow a few simple steps, you will find that the essay almost writes itself. You will be responsible only for supplyingideas, which are the important part of the essay anyway.

Don't let the thought of putting pen to paper daunt you.

These simple steps will guide you through the essay writing process:

Decide on your topic.

Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas.

Write your thesis statement.

Write the body.

Write the main points.
Write the subpoints.Elaborate on the subpoints.

Write the introduction.

Write the conclusion.

Add the finishing touches.

Topic Has Been Assigned

You may have no choice as to your topic. If this is the case, you still may not be ready to jump to the next step.

Think about the type of paper you are expected to produce. Should it be a general overview, or a specific analysis of the topic?If it should be an overview, then you are probably ready to move to the next step. If it should be a specific analysis, make sure your topic is fairly specific. If it is too general, you must choose a narrower subtopic to discuss.

For example, the topic "KENYA" is a general one. If your objective is to write an overview, this topic is suitable. If your objective is to write a specificanalysis, this topic is too general. You must narrow it to something like "Politics in Kenya" or "Kenya's Culture."

Once you have determined that your topic will be suitable, you can move on.

Organize Your Ideas

The purpose of an outline or diagram is to put your ideas about the topic on paper, in a moderately organized format. The structure you create here may still change before the essay iscomplete, so don't agonize over this.

Decide whether you prefer the cut-and-dried structure of an outline or a more flowing structure. If you start one or the other and decide it isn't working for you, you can always switch later.
Diagram

Begin your diagram with a circle or a horizontal line or whatever shape you prefer in the middle of the page.
Inside the shape or on the line,write your topic.
From your center shape or line, draw three or four lines out into the page. Be sure to spread them out.
At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle or horizontal line or whatever you drew in the center of the page.
In each shape or on each line, write the main ideas that you have about your topic, or the main points that you want to make.
If you aretrying to persuade, you want to write your best arguments.
If you are trying to explain a process, you want to write the steps that should be followed.
You will probably need to group these into categories.
If you have trouble grouping the steps into categories, try using Beginning, Middle, and End.
If you are trying to inform, you want to write the majorcategories into which your information can be divided.
From each of your main ideas, draw three or four lines out into the page.
At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle or horizontal line or whatever you drew in the center of the page.
In each shape or on each line, write the facts or information that support that main idea.

When you have finished, you have the basicstructure for your essay and are ready to continue.
Outline

Begin your outline by writing your topic at the top of the page.
Next, write the Roman numerals I, II, and III, spread apart down the left side of the page.
Next to each Roman numeral, write the main ideas that you have about your topic, or the main points that you want to make.
If you are trying to persuade,...