Essay Writing Skills

Essay writing skills: format example

It is important to understand the basic format of an essay. This way, you will be able to plan your content around the basic format of an essay: the introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Introduction

The introduction is the opening paragraph of your essay. It tells the reader about the topic you are writing about and briefly states the main points you will expand on throughout the main body of your essay. An introduction usually contains:

• A hook: a memorable sentence to draw your reader in and give them something to think about.

• Background information: contextual information that gives your reader a better understanding of the topic you are exploring in your essay.

• Essay brief and outline of main points: this tells the reader what your essay is about and the things you will be writing about throughout the main body of the essay.

Main Body

The main body is split into different paragraphs. This is where you expand on your ideas or your argument to show the reader that you are able to analyse and interpret information effectively while also forming your own opinion on the topic. A good structure to follow when writing the main body paragraph is PEE. This stands for: point, evidence, explain:

• Point: a statement relating to your essay brief.

• Evidence: back up your point with examples (this is where your research comes in handy!). This can be in the form of a quote or paraphrase, both of which must be properly cited.

• Explain: analyse your evidence; go into detail about what it shows and how it relates to your topic.

Conclusion

The conclusion is the final paragraph of your essay. It summarises the main points made throughout your essay and gives the reader something to think about when bringing the essay to a close. A conclusion usually does these three things:

• Reviews the main point of your essay brief.

• Summarises the main points of your argument.

• Offers a recommendation/improvement/question.

Critical Thinking Skills in Essay Writing

In the main body of your essay, it's your chance to show off your critical thinking skills and let the reader know how knowledgeable you are about your essay topic!

But, what is critical thinking? Let's begin by looking at the meaning:

Critical thinking helps to strengthen your point of view and enhance the way you express your ideas. It also helps you to reflect on your own opinion and also to question the views of others. In short, critical thinking involves not just taking things at face value.

Critical thinking also enables you to read between the lines, i.e., by considering meanings that may not be initially obvious. When thinking critically, you should consider the following:

• What does the evidence suggest or imply?
• Are there any positive or negative connotations?
• Do I agree or disagree with other points of view?
• What is my own opinion on the topic?
• Who wrote the evidence; are they biased?
• Is there anything the researcher/writer missed or didn't acknowledge?
• Is the research credible and reliable?

Improve your English Essay Writing Skills

We will now look at a few things you can do to help improve your English essay writing skills. It is important to note that these are simply suggestions; everyone writes in different ways and will find different things helpful!

Steps to writing an essay

There are different steps you can take before, during, and after writing an essay to ensure that your thoughts are well organised and your work is clear.

Before

Before writing an essay, it can be very helpful to write down your initial ideas to help you plan out what you want to focus on in your writing.

Fig. 1 - Mind map example.

Planning for an essay can be done in various ways. You could organise your thoughts by creating a mind map like the one shown above, for example, or you could write a list.

Whichever way is best for you, you should begin by focusing on your essay brief or question. It is important to have a good understanding of the main purpose of your essay or the question you will be answering. This will make it easier to plan out the rest of the writing. It may be useful to highlight any keywords in the brief/question so that you know what to focus on when writing.

When planning your essay, you should also ask yourself the following questions:

What is the brief/question telling me to do?

Do I understand the purpose of my essay?

Do I have to argue for or against something?

Can I develop this in the main body of my essay?

You could separate your plan into different sections to help determine the main points you will make in each paragraph:

During

Now you've finished your plan, it's time to look at each section of your essay in more detail and start writing.

When stating the brief in your introduction, consider the following questions:

• What is my essay about?

• What is the purpose of this essay?

When outlining the main points and/or argument you will make in your introduction, consider the following questions:

• Am I arguing for or against something?

• What am I trying to prove to the reader?

• What key points will I further expand on in the body of my essay?

• Am I going to be discussing/analysing any theories?

During the writing of the main body of your essay, you should ensure that your ideas are clear and flow well. A good way to do this is to link your writing back to the brief. Linking back to the brief is important to show that you understand it fully and your argument clearly relates to it.

Linking can also be done between paragraphs – think of your paragraphs like a chain!

Another way to make sure your ideas are clear is to make sure your vocabulary is not too complicated. Although you may think that advanced vocabulary is more impressive, it is often unnecessary! Complicated language may cause confusion between you and the reader, as they may not understand the meaning of the words and could get distracted from the main purpose of your essay.

Because of this, it is better to stick to vocabulary that you are familiar with, as this will ensure your writing is concise and your main points are easier to understand for the reader.

When writing your conclusion, you could consider the following questions:

• What is the main message of my essay?

• What ideas did I raise in the main body of my essay?

• What is my overall opinion of the topic?

• How did I contribute to the study of my topic?

After

After you have finished writing, you should allow yourself time to proofread your work to ensure that you have not made any obvious mistakes such as spelling or grammar errors.

Put your proofreading abilities to the test! Can you spot the errors in the following essay writing example?

Below is the correct version of the text. The parts that have been corrected are highlighted: