LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

How to Write an Essay: Step by Step Guide With Examples

An essay is a brief piece of writing that explains, analyzes, and interprets a topic; it’s also a summary of a particular subject in which the author expresses an opinion.

The essay is a very useful, practical and simple learning and expression tool and it has rules, specifications or details regarding its format and content you must know to be able to do it correctly. Some of the most frequent questions about the essay are:

Does the essay need a title? How many paragraphs does an essay have? Does it have headings and a conclusion? Does the essay have a full stop? Are the introduction, body and conclusion on separate pages? How do you make the cover of an essay?

Here, we will address these frequent questions that come up when you need to write an essay.

What is an essay

The difference between an essay and informational text, like what you might find in an encyclopedia, is that an essay is freer, and its parts are not separated by headings.

The format of an essay and most common doubts

The essay does have each of these parts but they are not identified as in a monographic work, but rather they are written one after another. An example of an essay can be seen at the end of this article.

The parts or structure of an essay

Introduction , body of the essay, form and organization the body, conclusion .

Here goes the author’s personal opinion, (You, the person doing the essay, your opinion) an essay has, of course, personal opinions in its body, however, in the conclusion these must be emphatic.

How to write a reference in APA format

Author(s) Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of Book. Publisher. (Optional: Edition)

Author(s) Last Name, First Initial. Middle Initial. (Year of Publication, Month Day). Title of Webpage. Retrieved from Website URL

Example of an essay

More examples.

COMMENTS

  1. Essay Structure: The 3 Main Parts of an Essay

    Take a look at the basic essay structure below and see how the parts of an essay work together to present a coherent, well-reasoned position, no matter what topic you're writing about. ... like several novels, concepts, or essays you've been assigned to read. There are a few different ways to structure a compare-and-contrast essay. The most ...

  2. How to Structure an Essay

    An essay that concerns a specific problem (practical or theoretical) may be structured according to the problems-methods-solutions approach. This is just what it sounds like: You define the problem, characterize a method or theory that may solve it, and finally analyze the problem, using this method or theory to arrive at a solution.

  3. How to Write an Essay Outline

    How to Write an Essay Outline | Guidelines & Examples. Published on August 14, 2020 by Jack Caulfield.Revised on July 23, 2023. An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph, giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold.

  4. How to Write an Essay Outline in 4 Steps

    An essay outline is essentially an essay's skeleton. It's a text representation of an essay's thesis and key supporting points. An essay outline serves multiple purposes, including helping its writer organize their thoughts before they start writing, giving readers a quick synopsis of the essay, and acting as a roadmap for the writer to follow as they work through their supporting ...

  5. How to Format a College Essay: Step-by-Step Guide

    At College Essay Guy, we too like good stories well told. The problem is that sometimes students have really good stories … that just aren't well told. They have the seed of an idea and the makings of a great story, but the essay formatting or structure is all over the place.

  6. Example of a Great Essay

    This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. ... The result was that the blind population in France had a tactile reading system using dots (like Barbier's) that was based on the structure ...

  7. Complete Guide to Essay Format: MLA, APA, and Chicago Explained

    Here's a simplified example of how the first page of an MLA-formatted essay might look: First Page of an MLA Paper: APA Essay Format APA Structure and Layout. APA format follows a set structure that includes a title page, abstract, body, and references. Title Page: The title page in APA format is crucial as it sets the tone for your paper. It ...

  8. PDF What Does an Essay Look Like?

    What Does an Essay Look Like? Although there are many effective ways to write an essay, one standard method in schools is the ... Do not discuss new material in the conclusion paragraph. It is only to restate and summarize material that was presented in the body of the essay. If you have made it to the final paragraph of an

  9. Essay Writing: How to Write an Outstanding Essay

    1 Argumentative essay. Argumentative essays assert or defend a position. This is the most common type of school paper, so keep that in mind when writing your first college essay. 2 Admissions essay. Most colleges request an admissions essay in applications, which typically revolve around why you're interested in their school. 3 Persuasive essay

  10. How to Write an Essay: Step by Step Guide & Examples

    In expository essays, the most common type assigned to students, the fundamental idea (often the problem or question) is typically placed towards the end. The essay then develops this central idea through explanations, comparisons, and exemplifications. Body of the essay. The body consists of the points that develop the essay in depth.