Component Parts of an Academic Essay
An academic essay comprises of three parts:
1. Introduction
2. Body
3.Conclusion
4. References
Introduction
to Essay Writing
An essay, in its simplest form, is a paper that does two things: states
a purpose and supports that purpose with clear, vivid details and examples. Of
course, your mastery of the English language and of style can take those two
things and develop an essay that either moves readers into further reading or
score a better grade.
Four
purposes in essay writing:
- to inform - very important in academic writing
because no matter what class a student takes, he/she will be asked to
explain, to illustrate things.
- to persuade - another important purpose in
academic writing; students (and people in general) should be able to argue
a point using logical reasoning.
- to express - we see this more in journal
writing, in creative non-fiction; it's the expression of feelings.
- to entertain - again, we see this more outside
of academic writing and more in works with a creative quality.
Once you have your topic and have figured out your essay's purpose, you need to
know the must-have components for any academic essay:
Introduction
Something that engages readers about your topic and makes them want to
continue reading. The introduction gives an over-view of the project and
reveals the thoughts that the writer wants to pass across. Introduction part
also defines the key terms of the question to ensure that the reader is
understands the terminology used.
Thesis
Usually seen at the end of the introduction, the thesis expresses two
things: the essay's topic and the writer's overall thought on that topic.This
is your argument, and as such, it has to be something that can be ARGUED, i.e.,
an opinion. FACTS are not good theses; where is there to go once you've stated
a fact?
Body
Paragraphs
The body of an essay is where you
SHOW support for your argument, your thesis. Clear points need to be
established, support of those points need to be developed, and connection to
the essay's overall idea needs to be stated. Within the body section of an
essay, you will find three important components: topic sentences, support
sentences, and closing sentences. These will be discussed more in an upcoming
post on body development. Here, I'll mention this - topic, support, and closing
sentences are what give body paragraphs points, support, and connection to essay's
overall idea.
Conclusion
Something that closes the essay without simply repeating what's already
been stated. In the worst essays, I've had students who literally cut and
pasted parts of their introduction into their conclusion. BIG no no. A conclusion
should make a reader feel something, think something, or do something.
References
References are
the materials that you use for researching your essay. There are specific
styles that you use for writing your references. These are called referencing
or writing styles. They include:
1. American
Psychological Association (APA)
2. Modern
Language Association (APA)
3. Harvard
4. Chicago
Assignment
Sample of an essay
Pages : 1
References : 2
Writing style :
APA
Explain and
critically assess Frankfurt's distinction between bullshitting and lying
