There are many types of academic essays, and they are a central feature of education from junior high school right through to postgraduate studies. So learning the skills required to write effective, focused, high-value essays is definitely time well spent.
Although they vary in length and type, there are certain aspects to essay writing that are common to all. Whatever the length or type of essay, you will need an effective process to make your writing predictably good.
There are three main stages to follow:
Prepare: It can be tempting to skip or skimp, but that will never be a good idea. Decide on your topic (if it is set for you, then decide on your response to the prompt), do your research, and create your essay outline.
Write: Set out your argument, backing it up with references to source texts and appropriate quotations, and write your introduction and conclusion.
Review and revise: Perhaps the least popular part of the process. Often we are sick of the sight of the essay when we finish. But points can be lost and mistakes missed if we don’t carefully read and check our work.
This guide will take you through the writing process with examples and annotated guides to help you.
A literary analysis essay seeks to explore and analyze a piece of writing (or, in some syllabi, a visual text like a film, advertising poster, or graphic text). In most cases, the text in question will be a novel, play, poem, short story, or a nonfiction text.
It is easy to fall into the trap (especially in examinations) of summarizing or explaining what the text says, but this is not what a literary analysis is. Rather, a literary analysis focuses not on what the author says but on how they achieve the effect on the reader that they do. So if a text amuses, or frightens, or intrigues the reader, we are concerned with understanding how the author has achieved that.
The essential preparation for writing a literary analysis text is to be familiar with the text being analyzed. In an examination where the text is unseen, this requires the courage and the discipline to spend adequate time reading and re-reading the text before writing.
Where the text is already familiar to you, then the better you know it, the better chance you have of writing a good analysis of it.
Once you are familiar with the text, then you need to follow certain steps to make sure your essay is effective. Your essay should comprise the following sections:
An introduction that sets out the thesis statement and the approach your essay will take.
The main body paragraphs, each introduced by a topic sentence and dealing with a discrete idea.
The conclusion that neatly sums up the argument and how you have demonstrated your main point.
Essay outline examplePrompt: “In A Streetcar Named Desire, how does Williams bring the setting of the play vividly to life?”
Thesis statement: The initial stage directions before Scene One begins use a wealth of descriptions that appeal to our sense of sight, smell, touch, and sound.
Body paragraph topic sentences:
The visual elements of the scene setting bring not just the look of the scene to life but contribute to how the play communicates to its audience.
Hearing is appealed to by the mention of “tinny piano” music.
The sense of smell is invoked by talk of coffee and bananas.
Our sense of touch responds to the description of the “warm breath of the river.”
Unlike an analytical essay, a narrative essay tells a story. Usually, this is a personal story about your own experience (although it can be fictional, too). As is the case with a descriptive essay, this type of essay allows for more creativity than most academic writing.
The narrative essay is an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to articulate events and circumstances in engaging and creative ways. The structure is determined more by narrative flow than by logical progression.
Narrative essays are most common in high school, and apart from composition classes in some university courses, you are unlikely to encounter them after high school. Some college application processes also give you the opportunity to write a narrative essay.
The simple word essay describes quite an extensive range of document types. They vary in length, structure, and purpose, but they all share some commonalities: the language used should be formal academic English, and they should be carefully planned to ensure they are cohesive and purposeful.
Some essays are designed to explore a topic or area of study, while others focus on persuading the reader of the author’s point of view. Essays are usually set by academic institutions to test one or more of a student’s skills. There are four main types of essay commonly required.
Types of essay
Essay type
Skills tested
Example prompt
Argumentative
Using research to form an opinion
Constructing an argument based on evidence
Does the prevalence of social media have a positive or negative impact on adolescent mental health?
Narrative
Presenting an engaging narrative
Creative use of language
“Character is forged in adversity.” To what extent has this been your experience?
Expository
Subject knowledge
Clear communication
Explain the impact of antibiotics on medical procedures in the 20th century.
Descriptive
Creative use of language
Describing sensations
Describe your most precious possession.
High school and university essays might often include textual analysis, especially when studying literature.
NoteExamination essays, written under supervision within a strict time limit, usually without access to research material, require additional skills. But they also share the elements described in this article for essays written outside of exam conditions.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Hannah Skaggs.
Revised on
December 10, 2024.
A research paper explores and evaluates previously and newly gathered information on a topic, then offers evidence for an argument. It follows academic writing standards, and virtually every college student will write at least one. Research papers are also integral to scientific fields, among others, as the most reliable way to share knowledge.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Hannah Skaggs.
Revised on
December 10, 2024.
When you’re learning how to quote a quote within a quote, the key is to use double quotation marks for the main quote and single quotation marks for the inner quote. However, if you’re writing in UK English, you’ll want to do the opposite.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Hannah Skaggs.
Revised on
December 2, 2024.
Learn how to improve your academic writing by removing bias, organizing your paper well, adding variety in the words and sentences you use, writing in active voice, editing thoroughly, and taking advantage of smart tools.
Academic writing requires a specific approach: you’ll need to follow a style guide and write in a way that communicates your ideas clearly and concisely. So if you’ve ever gotten a paper back with a low grade and thought, “I need to improve my writing style,” the six tips below can help you meet your goal.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Hannah Skaggs.
Revised on
December 4, 2024.
Most research papers include an introduction, body text, a conclusion, and a list of references. They also share many formatting basics, such as double spacing and 1-inch margins.
So you’re writing a research paper. Your instructor has likely told you to follow American Psychological Association (APA) style, Modern Language Association (MLA) style, or the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago style or CMOS). But what do these formats look like?
If digging through these style guides sounds daunting, read on. We’ve put together a basic guide to research paper format in general, and APA, MLA, and CMOS formats in particular.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Hannah Skaggs.
Revised on
December 2, 2024.
Having a hard time learning how to write a research paper introduction? Follow these four steps:
Draw readers in.
Zoom in on your topic and its importance.
Explain how you’ll add new knowledge.
Tell readers what they’ll find in your paper.
To understand why a great introduction matters, imagine a friend inviting you to lunch with another friend of hers. You show up at the restaurant and find them waiting for you at the table. You sit down, and her friend says, “So I wanna tell you about my major goal in life.”
Pretty awkward, right? You don’t even know this guy’s name yet, and he’s already diving into the heavy stuff. You’d probably prefer to have your friend introduce him, then spend some time learning about his background and personality before you get into deeper conversation.
Research paper readers need this kind of warmup, too. A good introduction, or intro, lives up to its name—it introduces readers to the topic. It prepares them to care about and understand your research, and it’s more convincing.
NoteAI tools can be useful resources to help you plan the structure of your research paper. However, it’s important to use AI tools responsibly and to not pass generative AI content off as your own research. Universities may detect this offense using an AI checker.
Published on
July 2, 2024
by
Paige Pfeifer, BA.
Revised on
December 10, 2024.
Academic writing is a writing style used by and for people in academic settings.
This type of writing targets readers who attend or work in schools, colleges, universities, and research institutions, such as students, professors, and researchers.
Academic writing is one of the first skills that a student learns after starting school. From elementary through postgraduate school and in academic careers, writing is the major mode of communication. Its goal is to present ideas clearly so that others can learn from and build on them.
