Need some tips on how to write an essay? Look no further –here is the essay format, from the introductory paragraph to the conclusion.
You’ve probably heard the term essay from one of your teachers before.
But if you’re one of those students who don’t pay attention because you’re thinking about something else, like sneakers or tech, you probably don’t know what an essay is.
But more importantly, you definitely don’t know the structure of an essay… and how to write one.
This is probably why you searched this topic and landed on this article. So, I’m going to help you out.
First, an essay is a type of long-form writing.
It is meant to either argue for a belief, persuade readers into believing something, or to expose an idea or process by sharing how-to steps.
The Essay Format
The easiest way to learn the structure of a 5-paragraph essay is by imagining a burger. This process is called the Essay Burger Plan.
So, I’m sure all of you know what a basic hamburger looks like. If you’re vegetarian, imagine a Veggie burger. They both look the same.
How to Write the Intro Paragraph
Anyway, the top bun of the burger is your introduction paragraph. This is where you will try to capture the reader’s attention.
Following the first bun is usually a slice of lettuce.
If you normally don’t have this in your burgers, then I have to ask: Are you a monster? Who eats a straight-up meat burger?
But I digress.
The lettuce is where you would put the thesis.
The thesis is a statement that tells the reader what your essay will be about.
This is where you would put your stance on an idea or argument, or what the theme of your essay will be. It is also part of your intro paragraph.
For example, if you received an essay question that asks you: “What tastes better: beef burgers or veggie burgers?” your thesis can be:
“Veggie burgers taste better because they are loaded with natural flavours.”
How to Write the Body Paragraph
Next is the patty. This is where you are going to place your body paragraphs.
In the body paragraphs, you are going to defend your thesis.
You are going to write your reasons for why veggie burgers taste better than beef burgers, for instance.
You’re going to use your thoughts/beliefs, facts, research, history, quotes, case studies, science…anything that can be used to prove that your stance is reasonable.
You also have to add examples to legitimize your reasons. And after each example, you have to explain how it is related to your reasoning.
So, continuing with the burger example, I could say:
“To start, veggie burgers have a lot of natural ingredients.
On the national health site, it says that X brand of ‘veggie burgers have fresh ingredients such as carrots, green peas, and mushrooms improving the patties taste and health.’
This example proves that only natural vegetables are used in producing the patties, which adds to its flavour.”
Additionally, there are usually three body paragraphs per essay (at the intro level anyway). So your burger is actually a triple-burger.
How to Write the Conclusion Paragraph
In the bottom bun, you’re going to write the conclusion.
You’re going to close out your essay by summarizing everything that you talked about earlier.
The easiest way to do this is to re-write your thesis and the important points that you made.
So, if you were comparing veggie burgers and beef burgers, you can write:
“Therefore, the flavours in veggie burgers exceed those in beef burgers because only fresh, natural flavours are used as ingredients.”
And that’s basically how you write an essay.
If you want more tips on essay writing, such as how to write it faster, read this post.
Transitions and Sentence Starters
In addition, I want to add that you should always try to make your essay easy to read.
You can do this by adding smooth transitions and using sentence starters, as well as using simple language for explanations.
Here’s a small list of transitions you can add to your essay to make it flow better (you can find more here):
- In addition
- First, second, third
- Even though
- Regardless
- For the purpose of
- Given that
- In conclusion
- Eventually
- in the center of
- adjacent to
And here are some sentence starters you can use (you can find more here):
- In addition to
- For example
- Accordingly
- As a result
- Because
- On the other hand
- Especially
- Granted
- As you can see
- For all of those reasons
Final Thoughts
By following this essay structure, you can write a pretty darn good essay.
Just make sure your content and arguments are sound and you’ll for sure impress your teacher.