Essay Structure

Essay Structure

1. means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument.

   • Although there are guidelines for constructing certain classic essay types, there are no set formula.
   • It's helpful to think of the different essay sections as answering a series of questions your reader might ask when encountering your thesis.
     • "What?"
       • What evidence shows that the phenomenon described by your thesis is true?
     • "How?"
       • How does the thesis stand up to the challenge of a counterargument?
     • "Why?"
       • Why does your interpretation of a phenomenon matter to anyone beside you?
   • Mapping an Essay
     • Essay maps ask you to predict where your reader will expect background information, counterargument, close analysis of a primary source, or a turn to secondary source material
   • Signs of Trouble
     • A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through"
       • Be wary of paragraph openers that lead off with "time" words ("first," "next," "after," "then") or "listing" words ("also," "another," "in addition").
         • Although they don't always signal trouble, these paragraph openers often indicate that an essay's thesis and structure need work

2. A typical essay

   • introducing the argument
   • analyzing data
   • raising counterarguments
   • concluding