How To Write A Standard Essay

 

How to Construct an Essay Although writing an essay is daunting for many people, it can be pretty straight-forward. This page is a general recipe for constructing an essay, not just in philosophy, but in most other humanities disciplines (such as English, History, Philosophy, eligious eligious !tudies, etc." an and d perhaps social sciences. #t should be an appropriate guide for writing at the middle school, high school, and lower college le$els.  %ote that what # pro$ide here are only general only general guidelines. guidelines. !o, be sure to chec& to see if your instructor has different guidelines. #f your instructor has not gi$en clear guidelines, then these should satisfy him or her, since they are pretty standard.

Table of Contents: '. *. +. . 0. 1. 2.

ormat e)uirements Essay !tructure eneral riting Tips !tyle / Punctuation rammatical Errors Humorous riting uidelines 3itations / eferences

4. ele$ant 5in&s

1. Standard Format Requirements •

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Typed 6 use a word processor (such as 7icrosoft ord" ord" on a computer. Doublespaced - the space between lines on the page. 1! point font 6 standard si8e of the te9t. Times "ew Roman 6 standard font style.

!. Essay Structure The first thing to notice is that the basic form of an essay is )uite logical. 5et:s loo& at the standard structure of an essay starting with the most general. ;ou ;ou can di$ide your paper into three main sections<

1. #ntroduction or the introduction section, you will need to do two things< introduce your topic and pro$ide a thesis statement. Typically, Typically, these two tas&s should be accomplished acco mplished using only one paragraph for a short  paper, but can be longer for longer papers. irst, introduce your topic. The introductory paragraph(s" should briefly orient the reader to the topic and pro$ide a conceptual conc eptual map of the rest of the pa paper. per. ;our t$esis statement is the main point of your paper and should address the paper topic assigned by your instructor. t$esis statement !econd, pro$ide thesisassigned statement. the main point of your paper andspecific, should address the paperatopic by ;our your instructor. 7a&e  is sure your thesis statement is clear, declarati$e, and on-topic. ;ou ;ou should be able to pro$ide p ro$ide the thesis statement in one or two sentences

 

(most instructors prefer one, concise sentence" for a fairly short paper (about '-4 pages". #t is usually  best stated at the end of your introduction section (the end of the first paragraph if your introduction introduction section is only a single paragraph in length".

!. %ody The body section should consist of at least se$eral paragraphs where you will pro$ide support for your thesis statement in the form of reasons, e$idence, arguments, justification, and so on. That is, you ha$e something you want to communicate or argue for (your thesis" and here is your chance to e9plain it in detail, support it, and defend it. Each paragraph in the body section should ha$e a topic sentence and, perhaps, a transition sentence. The topic sentence is the particular point you are trying to ma&e in the paragraph. #t:s sort of li&e a mini-thesis statement. #t should be the first sentence of the paragraph (though in some cases it is appropriate to be the second sentence". A transition sentence is a sentence that helps lin& the points of each paragraph together by ma&ing a smooth transition from the pre$ious paragraph. #f done, it can be done in the first sentence. A good way to tie all the points together throughout the body bod y section is to ha$e them all clearly state how they support the thesis statement. That way it is ob$ious that all of your  paragraphs tie together. %ote %ote that the first sentence of the paragraph may satisfy both goals. That is, is, you may ha$e a topic sentence that also ser$es to transition well. Another option is to ha$e a transition sentence first and then a separate topic sentence following it.

&. Summary The summary section (often misleadingly called a =conclusion>" is a short sho rt recap of what you ha$e said in the essay. ;ou ;ou might want to pro$ide a slightly different $ersion of your thesis statement as the first sentence of this paragraph and then pro$ide a few sentences that sum up what the body section said in support of the thesis statement. The summary section should be only one paragraph long for a short  paper, but can be longer for longer papers. (!ome instructors e$en thin& that summary summary sections are unnecessary for short papers."  Note: #t:s a good idea to put these sections titles in as headings in your paper pa per to organi8e and brea& things up for yourself. #f your instructor doesn:t want headings in your paper, just ta&e them out before you print it to turn it in. #t is also helpful for long papers pap ers to put in additional headings to brea& up the body bod y section (such as =irst Argument,> =!econd Argument,> and so on".

&. 'eneral (ritin) Tips 1. T$in* + Discuss amiliari8e yourself with the material before you begin writing. ;o ;ou u won:t be able to write much if you don:t ha$e anything to put on the page. Thin& about your paper topic as soon as you get the paper assi)nment prompt from your instructor. This can be facilitated in a number of ways. A great way is to discuss the issue with your instructor or teaching assistant. Also, try tal&ing about it to a friend or family member.

 

!. Rou)$ Drafts + Editin) rite rough drafts ahead of time. or many people, writing their rough ideas down as rough drafts help rite them see their ideas more clearly than e$en e$e n thin&ing about them. Then, ta&e a brea& from the essay (this usually re)uires at least a half, if not full, day". After the lengthy brea& (for e9ample, the ne9t day", go bac& and edit more. epeat this process as necessary until finished. (This is why it is important to start wor&ing on your essay far in ad$ance." Also, don:t be afraid to just type without thin&ing too much about whether it:s good. ;ou ;ou can always go  bac& and edit it. 7any people find it best to just sit down and write a bunch without much reflection. ?ust ma&e sure you ha$e enough time to go bac& and edit.

&. Comments,R Comments,Re-iew e-iew @nce you ha$e a final draft ready, ha$e someone read it to loo& for errors and pro$ide feedbac&. 7any instructors encourage students to turn in early drafts to them for comments. co mments. ?ust be sure to chec& and see if your instructor allows you to do so.

. Style + /unctuation @$erall, the paper should demonstrate a command of the writing process and the author:s care in crafting it. #n particular, ma&e sure to a$oid errors of spelling, punctuation, grammar, sentence structure, $erb tense, and $ocabulary, such as the following< '. Doublespace after periods and colons0 sin)le space after commas and semicolons.  Always double-space before you start a new sentence. %otice, howe$er, that this is not standard for web  pages, which is why # ha$e single spaces after e$erything here. *. "o contractions. 3ontractions are words that use an apostrophe (  " to put two words together, such as don’t , won’t , couldn’t , you’re  you’re.. #nstead, to be more formal, write out the words li&e this< do not, would not, could not , you are. are. +. /ut punctuation inside quotations. #f you put something in )uotations that is immediately followed by punction (such as commas or colons", then put the punctuation mar& inside the last )uotation mar&. 3orrect 3orrect Cjor& proclaimed. (%ote< # &now this rule doesn:t seem right. The Critish style of writing has the punctuation outside the )uotation mar&s, which ma&es more sense to me. Howe$er, the American styl stylee re)uires that you write it the other wa way. y."" . /ut parent$etical citations outside of quotations. 3orrect< 3orrect (Author +*". #ncorrect