Structure
Structure
Transcript
Let's talk about the structure of an essay. We know the basic parts of the essay, but what order should they go in? There's no one answer to this question. There are different kinds of academic essays and different ways to structure an academic essay. In addition to the basic guidelines, what nearly every essay needs, we'll provide a few sample structures and a few visuals to help you think about ordering your arguments in support of your claim.
You might ask, why are there so many different options? In academic writing, you're usually trying to persuade your reader of something, but the way you go about doing that will vary depending on the class, the field of study, and the preferences of the professor and even what argument you're trying to make.
So there are a lot of right ways of doing it depending on the circumstances. We don't want to hang you in by just offering you one sample structure. It's also important to mention a little bit about using outside resources. You'll likely have to do this for a research paper at some point. It's important to know that there are several sets of rules for formatting academic papers, for letting your reader know where your outside information came from through references.
Typically, professors will let the class know which style they prefer. One commonly used example is MLA, or the Modern Language Association. They have a style guide, and if your professor tells you use MLA style, you know to follow their rules.
You might ask, why are there so many different options? In academic writing, you're usually trying to persuade your reader of something, but the way you go about doing that will vary depending on the class, the field of study, and the preferences of the professor and even what argument you're trying to make.
So there are a lot of right ways of doing it depending on the circumstances. We don't want to hang you in by just offering you one sample structure. It's also important to mention a little bit about using outside resources. You'll likely have to do this for a research paper at some point. It's important to know that there are several sets of rules for formatting academic papers, for letting your reader know where your outside information came from through references.
Typically, professors will let the class know which style they prefer. One commonly used example is MLA, or the Modern Language Association. They have a style guide, and if your professor tells you use MLA style, you know to follow their rules.