Assignment essay tasks are set to assist students to develop mastery of their study subject. Firstly, assignment tasks enhance understandings about subject matter. Yang and Baker (2005) reason that “to master your learning materials and extend your understandings, you need to write about the meanings you gain from your research” (p. 1).
Essays are used to assess your understanding of specific ideas and your ability to explain these in your own words. Essays are usually written in a discursive style, bringing together ideas, evidence and arguments to address a specific problem or question. They follow a particular structure: you will set out your argument in the introduction.
A short guide to essay planning and structure 5 You could use a diagram like this to help you order your ideas. Write each of your main points into a section of the structure. Introduction Introductory paragraph Second introductory paragraph if necessary Body of essay 1st main point 2nd main point 3rd main point 4th main point 5th main point.
The first sentence of each paragraph (sometimes called a topic sentence) should tell the reader what the paragraph is about. The rest of the paragraph is used to explain or develop this idea. The final paragraph, the conclusion, summarises the points made in your essay body paragraphs. You should not introduce new information in the conclusion.
Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.