parts of an essay and their meaning

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What are the parts of an essay, how do i write an introduction, how do i write the body of my essay, how do i write the conclusion, how do i create a reference list, how do i improve my essay.

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• Introduction
• Each is made up of one or several paragraphs.
• The purpose of this section is to introduce the topic and why it matters, identify the specific focus of the paper, and indicate how the paper will be organized.
• To keep from being too broad or vague, try to incorporate a keyword from your title in the first sentence.
• For example, you might tell readers that the issue is part of an important debate or provide a statistic explaining how many people are affected.  
• Defining your terms is particularly important if there are several possible meanings or interpretations of the term.
• Try to frame this as a statement of your focus. This is also known as a purpose statement, thesis argument, or hypothesis.
• The purpose of this section is to provide information and arguments that follow logically from the main point you identified in your introduction. 
• Identify the main ideas that support and develop your paper’s main point.
• For longer essays, you may be required to use subheadings to label your sections.
• Point: Provide a topic sentence that identifies the topic of the paragraph.
• Proof: Give evidence or examples that develop and explain the topic (e.g., these may come from your sources).
• Significance: Conclude the paragraph with sentence that tells the reader how your paragraph supports the main point of your essay.
• The purpose of this section is to summarize the main points of the essay and identify the broader significance of the topic or issue.
• Remind the reader of the main point of your essay (without restating it word-for-word).
• Summarize the key ideas that supported your main point. (Note: No new information or evidence should be introduced in the conclusion.) 
• Suggest next steps, future research, or recommendations.
• Answer the question “Why should readers care?” (implications, significance).
• Find out what style guide you are required to follow (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago) and follow the guidelines to create a reference list (may be called a bibliography or works cited).
• Be sure to include citations in the text when you refer to sources within your essay.
• Cite Your Sources - University of Guelph
• Read assignment instructions carefully and refer to them throughout the writing process.
• e.g., describe, evaluate, analyze, explain, argue, trace, outline, synthesize, compare, contrast, critique.
• For longer essays, you may find it helpful to work on a section at a time, approaching each section as a “mini-essay.”
• Make sure every paragraph, example, and sentence directly supports your main point.
• Aim for 5-8 sentences or ¾ page.
• Visit your instructor or TA during office hours to talk about your approach to the assignment.
• Leave yourself time to revise your essay before submitting.
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• Academic essay overview
• The writing process
• Structuring academic essays
• Types of academic essays
• Academic writing overview
• Sentence structure
• Academic writing process
• Improving your academic writing
• Titles and headings
• APA style overview
• APA citation & referencing
• APA structure & sections
• Citation & referencing
• Structure and sections
• APA examples overview
• Commonly used citations
• Other examples
• British English vs. American English
• Chicago style overview
• Chicago citation & referencing
• Chicago structure & sections
• Chicago style examples
• Citing sources overview
• Citation format
• Citation examples
• College essay overview
• Application
• How to write a college essay
• Types of college essays
• Commonly confused words
• Definitions
• Dissertation overview
• Dissertation structure & sections
• Dissertation writing process
• Graduate school overview
• Application & admission
• Study abroad
• Master degree
• Harvard referencing overview
• Language rules overview
• Grammatical rules & structures
• Parts of speech
• Punctuation
• Methodology overview
• Analyzing data
• Experiments
• Observations
• Inductive vs. Deductive
• Qualitative vs. Quantitative
• Types of validity
• Types of reliability
• Sampling methods
• Theories & Concepts
• Types of research studies
• Types of variables
• MLA style overview
• MLA examples
• MLA citation & referencing
• MLA structure & sections
• Plagiarism overview
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• Research bias overview
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• Research process overview
• Problem statement
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• Statistics overview
• Levels of measurment
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• Hypothesis testing
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• Types of distributions
• Correlation
• Effect size
• Hypothesis testing assumptions
• Types of ANOVAs
• Types of chi-square
• Statistical data
• Statistical models
• Spelling mistakes
• Tips overview
• Academic writing tips
• Dissertation tips
• Sources tips
• Working with sources overview
• Evaluating sources
• Finding sources
• Including sources
• Types of sources

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Essay Structure – Format, Layout & Outline With Examples

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At the heart of every essay lies a structured framework that ensures the conveyance of ideas in a coherent and logical manner. The essay structure is the backbone of academic writing , guiding readers through the essay. A well-structured essay helps convey information seamlessly and enhances the reader’s comprehension of the topic. This article will delve into the essential components of essay structure and will answer frequently asked questions about essay structure.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

• 1 Essay structure in a nutshell
• 2 Definition: Essay structure
• 3 Parts of the essay structure
• 4 Essay structure examples
• 5 Different types

Essay structure in a nutshell

An essay structure is the organized way in which the writer’s ideas are presented in writing, ensuring that the reader can follow and understand the main points easily. Think of it like a skeleton that holds and shapes the content of the essay. The parts every essay includes are the introduction, body, and conclusion.

Definition: Essay structure

Essay structure has a lot to do with the way you have presented your thoughts and logic in an academic essay . For instance, you want to ensure that you present one idea at a time, and then support them with facts to convince your readers. A good essay structure should also use an active voice and conclude with thoughts that are focused on summarizing the aforementioned ideas. Furthermore, in the concluding paragraph, let your readers know your ground based on the subject.

To write a strong essay, you need to come up with coherent ideas and use them to create a striking argument. Your essay structure should be one that lures the reader into following what you have to say closely. In this bit, we have shared valuable tips to help you learn and use the right essay structure in your next creative writing.

Imagine you’re telling a friend a story.

• Beginning (introduction) : You set the scene. “Hey, I want to tell you about the time I went camping.”
• Middle (body) : You give the main details and events. “First, we set up the tent. Then, at night, we heard a strange noise…”
• End (conclusion) : You wrap up the story. “So, it turned out to be just a squirrel! But it was a memorable trip.”

The structure of nearly every single essay is simply like this:

• Introduction : Introduce your topic.
• Body : Explain the main points and details.
• Conclusion : Sum up everything you’ve said.

That’s the basic essay structure!

Parts of the essay structure

As mentioned above, the essential parts of a strong essay include the introduction, body, and conclusion. Below you will find a quick overview of the basic structure of an essay along with the content of each part.

Introduction

To give your essay a good introduction, you want to make it broad, but be careful not to go too broad. Moreover, this is the part in which you should share some background information related to the topic. However, you want to be careful not to start your argument just yet. Toward the end of your introduction, drop a thesis statement . This is also called the topic sentence and the most important part of your basic essay structure. Some writers also prefer throwing their thesis in the last sentence, but that relies greatly on your style of writing.

The body is the term used to refer to the paragraphs that come after the introduction but before the conclusion of the essay structure. A well-structured essay should feature multiple academic body paragraphs and include transition words . However, the overall length of the body of your academic essay is determined by the number of ideas you have to share. The details you use to back up your thoughts also have an impact on the overall length of the body of the essay structure. Make sure that you present one idea after the other, and then support them with substantial facts to convince your readers.

Your conclusion might look a bit similar to the introductory paragraph of the essay structure. In this section, make sure to restate your thesis because your readers might have lost it while reading the body. Furthermore, in the conclusion, you need to create a summary of the main points your essay touches. Do not forget to remind the readers of what you think about the entire subject in discussion of the essay structure.

Number of paragraphs

The number of paragraphs in an essay largely depends on the essay’s length, complexity, and specific requirements set by the instructor or the assignment. There is no set requirement for college essays. However, there are some general guidelines.

• Short essays: 500 words or fewer
• Standard college essays: 1,000 to 1,500 words
• Long essays: 1,500 words and above

Note: Be sure to use transition words when writing your paragraphs to enhance the flow and readability of your academic essay.

Essay structure examples

Several methods exist for organizing information in an essay. Typically, your assignment will specify the style to adopt. If uncertain about the appropriate approach, it’s wise to consult your instructor. However, these are all solid essay structures. In the following, you will learn about the basics of essay structure along with templates for essays.

Chronological essay structure

A chronological essay structure is an organization method where a series of events or steps are presented in the order they occurred in time, from the earliest to the latest or vice versa. It’s particularly useful for recounting events, like historical events, narrating stories, or detailing processes.

Note: It’s crucial to provide clear transitions and explanations, so the reader can easily follow the progression and understand the significance of each step or event.

• Introduction 1.1 Hook 1.2 Background 1.3 Thesis statement
• Body 2.1 First Event (the earliest in time) 2.1.1 Discussion 2.1.2 Consequences 2.2 Second Event 2.2.1 Discussion 2.2.2 Consequences
• Conclusion 3.1 Recap 3.2 Significance or impact of the topic 3.3 Closing statement (concluding thoughts or perspectives)

Topic: The development of personal computers over time.

• Introduction 1.1 Hook: From massive room-sized machines to sleek devices that fit in our pockets, personal computers have undergone a radical transformation in just a few decades.” 1.2 Background: Brief history of early computing devices and their initial applications. 1.3 Thesis statement: “The evolution of personal computers, from their inception to the present, has not only revolutionized technology but also drastically altered our daily lives.”
• Body 2.1 First Event (the earliest in time):** Introduction of the first personal computer. 2.1.1 Discussion: Description of the first personal computer, its creators, its design, capabilities, and its reception by the public. 2.1.2 Consequences: How the introduction of this computer paved the way for future technological developments and impacted industries. 2.2 Second Event: The graphical user interface (GUI) and the mouse. 2.2.1 Discussion: Origin of GUI, its integration into personal computers, and the invention of the mouse. 2.2.2 Consequences: The transformation of user experience, making computing more accessible and user-friendly, sparking wider adoption.
• Conclusion 3.1 Recap: A brief overview of the main events discussed in the essay. 3.2 Significance: Reflection on how the evolution of personal computers has affected work, education, communication, and entertainment. 3.3 Closing statement: “As we witness the relentless march of technological progress, it’s vital to appreciate the humble beginnings of personal computers and recognize their profound influence on modern society.”

Problems methods solution essay structure

A problems methods solution essay structure is designed to identify an issue, present a method to address it, and then propose potential solutions. This format is particularly effective for topics that involve challenges or issues that need addressing.

• Introduction 1.1 Introducing the problem 1.2 Background 1.3 Description of solution approach
• Problem 2.1 Precise definition 2.2 Causes 2.3 Effects
• Method 3.1 Previous approaches to the problem 3.2 New approach and why it’s better
• Solution 4.1 Application of the new method to the problem 4.2 Solution after doing so
• Conclusion 5.1 Effectiveness of solution 5.2 Description of implications 5.3 Closing statement

Topic: Plastic pollution in the oceans.

• Introduction 1.1 Problem: “Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is an escalating crisis.” 1.2 Background: Overview of the scale of plastic waste dumped into the ocean annually and its sources 1.3 Description: “By employing innovative waste management and biodegradable alternatives, we may start to reverse this tidal wave of pollution.”
• Problem 2.1 Definition: “Plastic pollution refers to the accumulation of discarded plastic products in marine environments, leading to habitat destruction and harm to marine life.” 2.2 Causes: Indiscriminate disposal of plastic, lack of recycling initiatives, single-use plastic products, and ineffective waste management systems. 2.3 Effects: Entanglement and ingestion by marine animals, disruption of marine ecosystems, microplastics entering the human food chain.
• Method 3.1 Previous approaches: Use of ocean cleanup projects, awareness campaigns, and certain bans on plastic items. 3.2 New approach: “Promoting the mass adoption of biodegradable plastics and enhancing global waste management infrastructure, offering a more holistic and sustainable solution.”
• Solution 4.1 Launch of global initiatives promoting the use of biodegradable plastics, incentives for industries to adopt better waste practices, and establishment of international waste management standards. 4.2 Significant reduction in new plastic waste entering oceans, gradual cleanup of existing pollutants, and restoration of marine ecosystems.
• Conclusion 5.1 Effectiveness: “Early results from regions that have adopted these methods show a 40% reduction in marine plastic waste.” 5.2 Implications: Healthier marine ecosystems, safeguarded marine species, reduced health risks for humans, and a model for addressing other environmental challenges. 5.3 Closing statement: “The battle against oceanic plastic pollution, while daunting, showcases humanity’s capacity to innovate and protect our blue planet.”

Compare-and-contrast essay structure

A compare-and-contrast essay structure is designed to evaluate the similarities and differences between two subjects. This can be a literary analysis essay that compares two texts, but it can also be an argumentative essay that compares the strengths of arguments. This structure helps readers understand and analyze the two subjects in relation to one another.

There are two primary methods of the compare-and-contrast essay structure for organizing a compare-and-contrast essay: the block method and the point-by-point method . The choice of structure often depends on the complexity of the subjects, the length of the essay, and the writer’s preference.

Point-by-point method

In this method of the essay structure, you alternate between points about the first subject and comparable points about the second subject. For example, if comparing cats and dogs, you might discuss the fur of cats, then the fur of dogs, followed by the temperament of cats, then the temperament of dogs, and so on.

• Body 2.1 First point of comparison 2.1.1 Subject 1 2.1.2 Subject 2 2.2 Second point of comparison 2.2.1 Subject 1 2.2.2 Subject 2
• Conclusion 3.1 Summary of arguments (synthesis) 3.2 Relevance of topic 3.3 Closing statement

The topics “traditional schooling” (subject 1) and “online learning” (subject 2) will be compared and contrasted.

• Introduction 1.1 Hook: “In the age of technology, the blackboard, and chalk classroom finds itself competing with screens and keyboards.” 1.2 Background: Brief overview of the rise of online learning platforms and their increasing popularity recently. 1.3 Thesis statement: “While both traditional schooling and online learning offer unique educational experiences, they differ significantly in terms of interaction, flexibility, and learning environment.”
• Body 2.1 First point of comparison: Interaction 2.1.1 Traditional schooling: Emphasizes face-to-face interactions, providing students immediate feedback and promoting social skills through group activities. 2.1.2 Online learning: Relies mostly on digital communication, which might delay feedback but also offers a wider network of international peers. 2.2 Second point of comparison: Flexibility 2.2.1 Traditional schooling: Generally follows a fixed schedule, with set times for classes, which might not cater to everyone’s personal schedule. 2.2.2 Online learning: Often allows for a self-paced learning experience, offering students the flexibility to learn at their preferred times.
• Conclusion 3.1 Synthesis: Both traditional schooling and online learning have their merits, with the former offering a rich interactive experience and the latter granting unparalleled flexibility. 3.2 Relevance: In today’s evolving educational landscape, understanding the pros and cons of both learning methods is vital for educators, parents, and students alike. 3.3 Closing statement: “As the future of education unfolds, the blend of traditional and online methods might just be the key to fostering a holistic learning experience.”

Block method

In the block method of the essay structure, you discuss one subject in its entirety before moving on to the second subject. Using the same example, you’d first discuss cats (fur, temperament, care, etc.) and then move on to discuss dogs.

• Body 2.1 First subject 2.1.1 Point 1 2.1.2 Point 2 2.2 Second subject 2.2.1 Point 1 (compare) 2.2.2 Point 2 (compare)
• Conclusion 3.1 Summary of arguments (synthesis) 3.2 Importance of topic 3.3 Closing statement

The topics “living in the city” (subject 1) and “living in the countryside” (subject 2) will be compared and contrasted.

• Introduction 1.1 Hook: “The hustle and bustle of city streets versus the serenity of open fields—where does one truly find peace?” 1.2 Background: A brief description of urban and rural living and the age-old debate about which is better. 1.3 Thesis statement: “City life and countryside living present contrasting lifestyles, each with its unique benefits and challenges.”
• Body 2.1 First subject: Living in the city 2.1.1 Point 1: Cities offer a plethora of services, entertainment venues, shopping malls, and healthcare facilities right at one’s doorstep. 2.1.2 Point 2: City life is often characterized by its bustling nature, with people always on the move and a never-ending list of things to do. 2.2 Second subject: Living in the countryside 2.2.1 Point 1 (compare): While the countryside might lack some modern facilities, it offers residents a close connection to nature, with fresh air and open spaces. 2.2.2 Point 2 (compare): The countryside provides an escape from the rush of urban areas, with its calm, laid-back lifestyle and fewer distractions.
• Conclusion 3.1 Synthesis: While city life offers modern conveniences and a dynamic environment, the countryside provides tranquility and a deep connection with nature. 3.2 Importance: The decision between city and countryside living can significantly impact one’s quality of life, mental health, and overall well-being. 3.3 Closing statement: “Whether amidst skyscrapers or wheat fields, true contentment lies in finding a balance between modern comforts and nature’s embrace.”

Different types

There are different types of essays. While they could take different formats, the structure remains the same. Your essay, despite its nature, must have an introduction, a body, and a conclusion. Other details might come in, but they should not interfere with the recommended basic essay structure.

Narrative essay

In the narrative essay , the writers communicate to the readers while sharing a real-life experience. Though this might sound straightforward, the students are usually challenged to tell a story about themselves.

Descriptive essay

A descriptive essay is more of painting a picture. It has a close relationship with the narrative essay. In this case, the writers are expected to use words to create clear, descriptive images.

Expository essay

An expository essay is an informative piece that mainly presents a well-balanced analysis of a given topic. In this case, the writer is expected to use facts, examples, and statistics to define a topic.

Persuasive essay

Persuasive essays are a tool used by writers to convince readers to agree with their perspective. Facts and logic must be used strategically in this case.

Argumentative essay

An argumentative essay is a type of writing where the author takes a stance on a particular issue and provides evidence and reasoning to support that position. The main goal is to persuade the reader to agree with the writer’s viewpoint.

What is the basic essay structure?

The general essay structure contains three main parts. These include the introduction, body, and conclusion. Using this format, you can easily write and ensure that your academic essay is perfectly organized. With this basic academic essay structure in mind, you should stick to the topic to guide your ideas and their sequence.

Why is the essay structure important?

The basic essay structure is not only crucial to the writer but also to the readers. It helps them comprehend the logic and flow of your thoughts as a writer. The main intention of the academic essay should be clearly stated in the essay introduction . The readers should get detailed information about the topic in the body of the academic essay. Summarize everything and share your thoughts with your readers in the concluding paragraph.

What are the different types of essay structures?

There are four main types of essay structures . However, the structure stays the same for the most part:

• Expository essays, descriptive essays and narrative essays
• Argumentative essay or persuasive essay
• Compare and contrast essays
• Analysis, or cause and effect essay structures

Each one of these essays will still have an introduction, followed by body paragraphs with a conclusion at the end.

How does an essay structure look at university?

While you learn about the five-paragraph essay in high school, an essay in university is a tad bit more complicated. You should always create an essay outline before you begin writing. The outline also helps you to come up with elaborate arguments. At a minimum, your essay structure should include the three main parts, namely, introduction, body, and conclusion.

How many sentences should you have in each paragraph?

There is no specification for the number of sentences you should have in each of your paragraphs. For neatness and readability, make sure that each paragraph has a maximum of four sentences. You need to ensure that every paragraph is long enough to cover everything, but also short enough to be interesting.

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Parts of an Essay?

Components of an Essay

An essay is a piece of writing that is written to provide information about a certain topic or simply to convince the reader. In every effective essay writing , there are three major parts: introduction , body , and essay conclusion .

• The introduction.  This is where the subject or topic is introduced. The big picture, points, and ideas are briefly written here.
• The body.  All the main ideas, topics, and subject are discussed here in details. This also includes evidence or information that support the essay.
• The conclusion.  The last part of an essay and usually summarizes the overall topic or ideas of an essay.

How to Write the Introduction Essay?

The introduction is the door to the whole essay outline . It must be convincing enough to get the attention of the readers. The following are the guidelines for writing the introduction of the essay.

• It must contain an attention-getter sentence or statement.
• The introduction must sound interesting to capture the attention of the reader.
• You can quote a statement about a topic or something related to the whole point of your essay.
• The intro must move from general to specific.
• At the end, there must be a thesis statement that gives an insight to the author’s evidence.

What Does the Body of an Essay Contain?

The body is the longest part of the essay and commonly highlights all the topics and ideas. The body must include the following:

• The evidence and supporting details of the expository essay in addition to the author’s ideas.
• A topic or sentences that link the discussion back to the thesis statement.
• The logical ordering of the ideas. The chronological of time, ideas, and evidence.
• A set of transition statements or sentences to create a good flow of the essay.
• Sufficient examples, evidence, data, and information that must be relevant to the particular topic of the essay.

The Conclusion of the Essay

The conclusion is the last part of the essay, and should:

• Emphasize on the major takeaways of the essay.
• Wrap up and summarize the essay, as well as the arguments, ideas, and points.
• Restate the main arguments in a simplified and clear manner that must be understood by the reader.
• Guarantee that the reader is left with something to think about, especially the main point of your essay.

The Elements of an Essay

• Thesis statement.  It is the main proposition of an essay. The thesis statement must be arguable that differentiates it from a fact and must be in a persuasive writing style.
• Problem or question.  The problem statements or the important issue of the essay that must be defined and described in the essay.
• Motive.  The reason for writing the essay.
• Evidence.  The facts and data or information that supports the whole essay and prove the main point of the essay.
• Analysis & reflection.  In which the writer turns the evidence into an arguable statement that provides the reader how the evidence supports, develops, or explained the essay’s thesis statement.
• Structure.  The work that the writer does to organize the idea, the series of sub-topics and sections through which it is explained and developed.

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Solution destination to your problems, different parts of an essay.

There are five main parts of an essay. Every essay has three basic parts introduction (the beginning) , body (the middle) and the conclusion along with outlines (optional) and paragraphs (mandatory and sub part of body) . To craft out a good essay one must keep in mind this basic structure. Sometimes in our classes at graduation level a fourth part of essay called outlines is also included on the top of these three basic elements which serves as a road map for writing this essay. Three or more than three paragraphs in the body are also a necessary fifth element of essay.

The introduction

To arrest the immediate attention of readers before they get exhausted writer should present a hook (a sentence might be a surpring question or fact or a bold statement to hook attention of reader) and then put his basic theme or thesis along with background knowledge on which he is going to write essay in first two or three lines. Introduction must be pithy and concise stating complete information about the theme. However for unfolding the theme of the essay there are two approaches i.e for literary essays and student essays. Literary essayist has the choice to treat his theme as he likes. He can start his essay with an epigram, a quotation, a verse, a phrase or story as his main objective is to catch reader's attention. On the other hand for the students it is mandatory to adhere traditional rules of essay writing. They are not to catch examiners' attention.

The middle or Body

Body is one of the most important parts of an essay which consists of paragraphs. Adequate knowledge or information about the theme is necessary to form an argument where a single paragraph presents a single argument. The wider and deeper information will be better to formulate paragraph. Reproduction (repeating the same facts in different words time and again) of thoughts and facts badly affect the health of paragraph. To keep oneself enriched with the uptodate knowledge, one should fly to the reading, as it is a key to the knowledge. Three or more than three paragraphs are necessary for body of an essay. Less than three paragraphs in body would impact the length. With one or two paragraphs essay will not descend upon its definition perfectly. After stating topic sentence in first two lines paragraph can be developed further by giving facts, examples, by narrating incidents, logical reasoning and by drawing comparisons.

A paragraph consists of a topic sentence (indicates the thesis), its supporting details and some valuable information about the theme of essay. After stating topic sentence in first two lines, paragraph can be developed further by giving facts, examples, logical reasoning, by narrating incidents, or by drawing comparisons. A paragraph with solid arguments, facts and figures will satisfy the readers or examiner and rank your essay in their eyes. In other words success or failure of an essay depends on compactness of paragraphs you developed in essay.

The conclusion

Conclusion or final part of the essay requires more attention than all the other parts and it must be constructed in such a way it must leave a lasting impression on the readers. Thesis, topic sentences and all the arguments from body or paragraphs get combined in conclusion. Conclusion cannot accede more than a paragraph, it should and must reflect thesis of the essay as a poor conclusion can spoil whole essay.

Outlines are roadmap for both readers and writer, for readers they provide whole essay at a glance and writer determines his path and order in which he is going to write his essay. Outlines are most important sub-topics going to be discussed throughout the whole essay. No outlines for literary essays are required at all and for college essays they are optional. Outlines are least important part of an essay without them essays are acceptable.

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What is an Essay?

10 May, 2020

11 minutes read

Author:  Tomas White

Well, beyond a jumble of words usually around 2,000 words or so - what is an essay, exactly? Whether you’re taking English, sociology, history, biology, art, or a speech class, it’s likely you’ll have to write an essay or two. So how is an essay different than a research paper or a review? Let’s find out!

Defining the Term – What is an Essay?

The essay is a written piece that is designed to present an idea, propose an argument, express the emotion or initiate debate. It is a tool that is used to present writer’s ideas in a non-fictional way. Multiple applications of this type of writing go way beyond, providing political manifestos and art criticism as well as personal observations and reflections of the author.

An essay can be as short as 500 words, it can also be 5000 words or more.  However, most essays fall somewhere around 1000 to 3000 words ; this word range provides the writer enough space to thoroughly develop an argument and work to convince the reader of the author’s perspective regarding a particular issue.  The topics of essays are boundless: they can range from the best form of government to the benefits of eating peppermint leaves daily. As a professional provider of custom writing, our service has helped thousands of customers to turn in essays in various forms and disciplines.

Origins of the Essay

Over the course of more than six centuries essays were used to question assumptions, argue trivial opinions and to initiate global discussions. Let’s have a closer look into historical progress and various applications of this literary phenomenon to find out exactly what it is.

Today’s modern word “essay” can trace its roots back to the French “essayer” which translates closely to mean “to attempt” .  This is an apt name for this writing form because the essay’s ultimate purpose is to attempt to convince the audience of something.  An essay’s topic can range broadly and include everything from the best of Shakespeare’s plays to the joys of April.

The essay comes in many shapes and sizes; it can focus on a personal experience or a purely academic exploration of a topic.  Essays are classified as a subjective writing form because while they include expository elements, they can rely on personal narratives to support the writer’s viewpoint.  The essay genre includes a diverse array of academic writings ranging from literary criticism to meditations on the natural world.  Most typically, the essay exists as a shorter writing form; essays are rarely the length of a novel.  However, several historic examples, such as John Locke’s seminal work “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” just shows that a well-organized essay can be as long as a novel.

The Essay in Literature

The essay enjoys a long and renowned history in literature.  They first began gaining in popularity in the early 16 th century, and their popularity has continued today both with original writers and ghost writers.  Many readers prefer this short form in which the writer seems to speak directly to the reader, presenting a particular claim and working to defend it through a variety of means.  Not sure if you’ve ever read a great essay? You wouldn’t believe how many pieces of literature are actually nothing less than essays, or evolved into more complex structures from the essay. Check out this list of literary favorites:

• The Book of My Lives by Aleksandar Hemon
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
• Against Interpretation by Susan Sontag
• High-Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now and Never by Barbara Kingsolver
• Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion
• Naked by David Sedaris
• Walden; or, Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau

Pretty much as long as writers have had something to say, they’ve created essays to communicate their viewpoint on pretty much any topic you can think of!

The Essay in Academics

Not only are students required to read a variety of essays during their academic education, but they will likely be required to write several different kinds of essays throughout their scholastic career.  Don’t love to write?  Then consider working with a ghost essay writer !  While all essays require an introduction, body paragraphs in support of the argumentative thesis statement, and a conclusion, academic essays can take several different formats in the way they approach a topic.  Common essays required in high school, college, and post-graduate classes include:

Five paragraph essay

This is the most common type of a formal essay. The type of paper that students are usually exposed to when they first hear about the concept of the essay itself. It follows easy outline structure – an opening introduction paragraph; three body paragraphs to expand the thesis; and conclusion to sum it up.

Argumentative essay

These essays are commonly assigned to explore a controversial issue.  The goal is to identify the major positions on either side and work to support the side the writer agrees with while refuting the opposing side’s potential arguments.

Compare and Contrast essay

This essay compares two items, such as two poems, and works to identify similarities and differences, discussing the strength and weaknesses of each.  This essay can focus on more than just two items, however.  The point of this essay is to reveal new connections the reader may not have considered previously.

Definition essay

This essay has a sole purpose – defining a term or a concept in as much detail as possible. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not quite. The most important part of the process is picking up the word. Before zooming it up under the microscope, make sure to choose something roomy so you can define it under multiple angles. The definition essay outline will reflect those angles and scopes.

Descriptive essay

Perhaps the most fun to write, this essay focuses on describing its subject using all five of the senses.  The writer aims to fully describe the topic; for example, a descriptive essay could aim to describe the ocean to someone who’s never seen it or the job of a teacher.  Descriptive essays rely heavily on detail and the paragraphs can be organized by sense.

Illustration essay

The purpose of this essay is to describe an idea, occasion or a concept with the help of clear and vocal examples. “Illustration” itself is handled in the body paragraphs section. Each of the statements, presented in the essay needs to be supported with several examples. Illustration essay helps the author to connect with his audience by breaking the barriers with real-life examples – clear and indisputable.

Informative Essay

Being one the basic essay types, the informative essay is as easy as it sounds from a technical standpoint. High school is where students usually encounter with informative essay first time. The purpose of this paper is to describe an idea, concept or any other abstract subject with the help of proper research and a generous amount of storytelling.

Narrative essay

This type of essay focuses on describing a certain event or experience, most often chronologically.  It could be a historic event or an ordinary day or month in a regular person’s life. Narrative essay proclaims a free approach to writing it, therefore it does not always require conventional attributes, like the outline. The narrative itself typically unfolds through a personal lens, and is thus considered to be a subjective form of writing.

Persuasive essay

The purpose of the persuasive essay is to provide the audience with a 360-view on the concept idea or certain topic – to persuade the reader to adopt a certain viewpoint. The viewpoints can range widely from why visiting the dentist is important to why dogs make the best pets to why blue is the best color.  Strong, persuasive language is a defining characteristic of this essay type.

The Essay in Art

Several other artistic mediums have adopted the essay as a means of communicating with their audience.  In the visual arts, such as painting or sculpting, the rough sketches of the final product are sometimes deemed essays.  Likewise, directors may opt to create a film essay which is similar to a documentary in that it offers a personal reflection on a relevant issue.  Finally, photographers often create photographic essays in which they use a series of photographs to tell a story, similar to a narrative or a descriptive essay.

Drawing the line – question answered

“What is an Essay?” is quite a polarizing question. On one hand, it can easily be answered in a couple of words. On the other, it is surely the most profound and self-established type of content there ever was. Going back through the history of the last five-six centuries helps us understand where did it come from and how it is being applied ever since.

If you must write an essay, follow these five important steps to works towards earning the “A” you want:

• Understand and review the kind of essay you must write
• Brainstorm your argument
• Find research from reliable sources to support your perspective
• Cite all sources parenthetically within the paper and on the Works Cited page
• Follow all grammatical rules

Generally speaking, when you must write any type of essay, start sooner rather than later!  Don’t procrastinate – give yourself time to develop your perspective and work on crafting a unique and original approach to the topic.  Remember: it’s always a good idea to have another set of eyes (or three) look over your essay before handing in the final draft to your teacher or professor.  Don’t trust your fellow classmates?  Consider hiring an editor or a ghostwriter to help out!

If you are still unsure on whether you can cope with your task – you are in the right place to get help. HandMadeWriting is the perfect answer to the question “Who can write my essay?”

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Ethical Research Paper Topics

Writing a research paper on ethics is not an easy task, especially if you do not possess excellent writing skills and do not like to contemplate controversial questions. But an ethics course is obligatory in all higher education institutions, and students have to look for a way out and be creative. When you find an […]

Art Research Paper Topics

Students obtaining degrees in fine art and art & design programs most commonly need to write a paper on art topics. However, this subject is becoming more popular in educational institutions for expanding students’ horizons. Thus, both groups of receivers of education: those who are into arts and those who only get acquainted with art […]

3 Parts of an Essay

There are three parts of an essay:

The Introduction

The conclusion.

Table of Contents

It should be brief, interesting and should strike the keynote of the subject. The first sentence placed at the beginning of the first paragraph should indicate what is to follow. It should, in fact, express clearly what is the essential theme of the subject.

Sometimes a short quotation, a proverb, a very brief story or a general remark about the subject may serve the purpose. But it is not safe, to begin with, a definition.

This is the main part of the essay. It should contain the necessary facts, ideas, illustrations and reflections of the writer on the given subject. Here one should adhere closely to the outline.

The paragraphs should be well constructed and in their proper sequence. One should not jump from point to point without showing the connection of one with the other.

The ending, like the beginning, should be brief and striking. It should be natural and not abrupt. If that is impossible, the essay should be completed by summarising the main points raised in the body of the essay. The last sentence, above all, should not only be striking but also pleasing to the mind and the ear.

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Types of Essay

Definition of types of essay.

An essay is a short academic composition. The word “essay” is derived from a French word “essai” or “essayer,” which mean “trail.” In composition, however, an essay is a piece of non- fiction writing that talks or discusses a specific topic. Presently, essay is part of every degree program.

Each subject has specific requirements for the essays to be written. Some subjects need longer essays, while others need shorter ones, such as a five-paragraph essay. In composition, the start is made from a five-paragraph essay. Based on the requirements, there are seventeen types of essays.

• Definition Essay As the name suggests, a definition type of essay defines different things, ideas, and perceptions.
• Narrative Essay A narrative essay is a narration like a short story . It is, however, different from a short story in that it is written in an essay format.
• Descriptive Essay A descriptive essay describes something to make readers feel, smell, see, taste, or hear what is described.
• Expository Essay An expository essay exposes things in detail to make readers understand without any complications.
• Persuasive Essay A persuasive essay is meant to convince the target audience to do something or not do something.
• Argumentative Essay An argumentative essay is meant to present arguments in the favor of something. It has an additional fourth body paragraph that is meant to present opposite arguments.
• Analytical Essay An analytical essay analyzes something, such as in literature an analytical essay analyzes a piece of literature from different angles.
• Comparison and Contrast Essay A comparison and contrast essay makes either a comparison, a contrast, or both between two different or similar things.
• Cause and Effect Essay A cause and effect essay makes readers understand the cause of things, and their effects on other things.
• Critical Essay A critical essay is written on literary pieces to evaluate them on the basis of their merits or demerits.
• Process Essay A process essay outlines a process of making or breaking or doing something that readers understand fully and are able to do it after reading it.
• Synthesis Essay A synthesis essay means to synthesize different ideas to make a judgement about their merit and demerits.
• Explicatory Essay An explicatory essay is meant to explain a piece of literature. It is often written about poems , short stories, and novels .
• Rhetorical Analysis Essay A rhetorical analysis essay evaluates a speech or a piece of rhetoric on the basis of rhetorical strategies and devices used in it.
• Review Essay A review essay discusses the merits and demerits of a book and evaluates it through a review.
• Simple Essay A simple essay is just a five-paragraph essay that is written on any topic after it is specified.
• Research Essay A research essay revolves around a research question that is meant to answer some specific question through a research of the relevant literature.

Format of an Essay

Generally, a simple a five-paragraph has five paragraphs including an introduction , three body paragraphs, and a conclusion . An argumentative essay, however, has an additional paragraph which presents counter argument or opposing arguments in the same sequence. However, at the end of this paragraph, both the arguments are weighed in the favor of stronger arguments presented earlier in three body paragraphs.

The format of an argumentative essay is given below:

Function of types of essay.

An essay is a specific discussion or debate on a topic from a specific point of view . A student discusses the topic from his own specific angle. Readers not only get a glimpse of what the other aspect of the topic is, they also come to know about the tone and voice of the student writers to decide whether he has achieved a certain level of capability in writing. In literary essays, a writer becomes discusses the influence that literary piece has upon the readers about a certain point of view. Essays are also useful in winning public approval about certain political ideas.

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• Narrative Essay
• Definition Essay
• Descriptive Essay
• Analytical Essay
• Argumentative Essay
• Cause and Effect Essay
• Critical Essay
• Expository Essay
• Persuasive Essay
• Process Essay
• Explicatory Essay
• An Essay on Man: Epistle I
• Comparison and Contrast Essay

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Elements of a Research Essay

Stephanie Ojeda Ponce

This section is an overview of the elements or parts of a research essay. Scholarly essays are long. There are several different styles of research essays and each have their own structure. For the argument-driven research essay, these are the main elements:

• Purpose or research question
• Your claim or thesis.
• One or more reasons for your thesis.
• Evidence for each reason.
• Others’ objections, counterarguments, or alternative solutions.
• Your acknowledgment of others’ objections, counterarguments, or alternative solutions.
• Your response to others’ objections, counterarguments, or alternative solutions.

The Purpose or Goal

Sometimes your professor will give you the research question, but probably more often you will need to develop your own research topic. Even though you are likely writing an essay for an assignment or as part of a class, you are also developing your own purpose for the research and writing. This part of the essay may not be written down, but it can be helpful to keep in mind a purpose or overall question. That question might even be something you answer through your research, but don’t have

Examples: Purpose and Goal for Research Essays

• How do at least some animals’ bones help control their weight?
• Did the death of his beloved daughter have any effect on the writings of Mark Twain?

Your Claim or Thesis

You write the claim or thesis–it doesn’t come directly from a source. Instead, it is the conclusion you come to in answer to your question after you’ve read/listened to/viewed some sources. So it is a statement, not a question or a hypothesis that you plan to prove or disprove with your research.

After you’ve read/listened to/viewed more sources, you may need to change your thesis. That happens all the time–not because you did anything wrong but because you learned more.

Examples: Claims (or Theses) for Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers

• Bone cells monitor whether more or less weight is pressing down on the skeleton and send biochemical signals to appetite centers in their brains to turn appetite down or up, accordingly.
• Mark Twain wrote more urgently and with less humor during the four years immediately after the death of his daughter.

One or More Reasons

You write what you believe makes your claim or thesis (the answer to your research question) true. That’s your reason or reasons. Each reason is a summary statement of evidence you found in your research. The kinds of evidence considered convincing varies by discipline, so you will be looking at different sources, depending on your discipline. How many reasons you need depends on how complex your thesis and subject matter are, what you found in your sources, and how long your essay or research paper must be. It’s always a good idea to write your reasons in a way that is easy for your audience to understand and be persuaded by.

Examples: Reasons in Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers

• Animals (including humans) have a biological tendency to regain any weight that they lose and lose any weight that they gain, seemingly in an effort to maintain whatever weight they have sustained for some time. Skeletons are logical places where any gains or losses could be noted, and recent studies seem to show that osteocytes (a kind of bone cell) are involved in whether appetites go up or down after weight gain or loss.
• My content analysis and a comparison of publication rates four years before and after Mark Twain’s daughter died indicate that his writing was more urgent and less humorous for four years after. It is reasonable to conclude that her death caused that change.

Evidence for Each Reason

You write this also. This is the evidence you summarized earlier as each reason your thesis is true. You will be directly quoting, paraphrasing, and summarizing your sources to make the case that your answer to your research question is correct, or at least reasonable.

Examples: Evidence for Reasons in Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers

• Report the results of studies about osteocyctes’ possible effect on weight grain or loss.
• Report the results of your comparison of writing content and publication rate before and after Twain’s daughter’s death.

Others’ Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions

Do any of your sources not agree with your thesis? You’ll have to bring those up in your research paper. In addition, put yourself in your readers’ shoes. What might they not find logical in your argument? In other words, which reason(s) and corresponding evidence might they find lacking? Did you find clues to what these could be in your sources? Or maybe you can imagine them thinking some aspect of what you think is evidence doesn’t make sense.

Examples: Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions in Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers

• Imagine that some readers might think: The hormone leptin is released by fat cells when they are added to animals’ bodies so it is leptin that tells appetite centers to turn down when weight is gained.
• Imagine that some readers might think: Computerized content analysis tools are sort of blunt instruments and shouldn’t be used to do precise work like this.

Your Acknowledgement of Others’ Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions

So what will you write to bring up each of those objections, counterarguments, and alternative solutions? Some examples:

• I can imagine skeptics wanting to point out…
• Perhaps some readers would say…
• I think those who come from XYZ would differ with me…

It all depends on what objections, counterarguments, and alternative solutions your audience or your imagination come up with.

Examples: Acknowledgement of Others’ Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions in Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers:

• Some readers may point out that the hormone leptin, which is released by fat cells, signals appetite centers to lower the appetite when weight is gained.
• Readers may think that a computerized content analysis tool cannot do justice to the subtleties of text.

Response to Others’ Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions

You must write your response to each objection, counterargument, or alternative solution brought up or that you’ve thought of. (You’re likely to have found clues for what to say in your sources.) The reason you have to include this is that you can’t very easily convince your audience until you show them how your claim stacks up against the opinions and reasoning of other people who don’t at the moment agree with you.

Examples: Response to Others’ Objections, Counterarguments, or Alternative Solutions in Hypothetical Essays or Term Papers:

• But leptin must not be the entire system, since many animals do keep on the new weight.
• Unlike other content tools, the XYZ Content Analysis Measure is able to take into account an author’s tone.

Adaptations

This page has been adapted from Where you Get the Components from Choosing & Using Sources: A Guide to Academic Research Copyright © 2015 by Teaching & Learning, Ohio State University Libraries. CC BY 4.0 DEED .

Reading and Writing Research for Undergraduates Copyright © 2023 by Stephanie Ojeda Ponce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Whether you are writing a short-answer essay of a few sentences or a take-home exam that may require hours of planning and writing, the vocabulary used in essay examinations is often repetitive regardless of the subject matter or discipline. It is therefore advantageous to have a comprehensive understanding of the terminology, rhetorical strategies, and expectations of essay writing.

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• Knowledge Base
• Parts of speech

The 8 Parts of Speech | Chart, Definition & Examples

A part of speech (also called a word class ) is a category that describes the role a word plays in a sentence. Understanding the different parts of speech can help you analyze how words function in a sentence and improve your writing.

The parts of speech are classified differently in different grammars, but most traditional grammars list eight parts of speech in English: nouns , pronouns , verbs , adjectives , adverbs , prepositions , conjunctions , and interjections . Some modern grammars add others, such as determiners and articles .

Many words can function as different parts of speech depending on how they are used. For example, “laugh” can be a noun (e.g., “I like your laugh”) or a verb (e.g., “don’t laugh”).

Table of contents

• Prepositions
• Conjunctions
• Interjections

Other parts of speech

Interesting language articles, frequently asked questions.

A noun is a word that refers to a person, concept, place, or thing. Nouns can act as the subject of a sentence (i.e., the person or thing performing the action) or as the object of a verb (i.e., the person or thing affected by the action).

There are numerous types of nouns, including common nouns (used to refer to nonspecific people, concepts, places, or things), proper nouns (used to refer to specific people, concepts, places, or things), and collective nouns (used to refer to a group of people or things).

Ella lives in France .

Other types of nouns include countable and uncountable nouns , concrete nouns , abstract nouns , and gerunds .

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A pronoun is a word used in place of a noun. Pronouns typically refer back to an antecedent (a previously mentioned noun) and must demonstrate correct pronoun-antecedent agreement . Like nouns, pronouns can refer to people, places, concepts, and things.

There are numerous types of pronouns, including personal pronouns (used in place of the proper name of a person), demonstrative pronouns (used to refer to specific things and indicate their relative position), and interrogative pronouns (used to introduce questions about things, people, and ownership).

That is a horrible painting!

A verb is a word that describes an action (e.g., “jump”), occurrence (e.g., “become”), or state of being (e.g., “exist”). Verbs indicate what the subject of a sentence is doing. Every complete sentence must contain at least one verb.

Verbs can change form depending on subject (e.g., first person singular), tense (e.g., simple past), mood (e.g., interrogative), and voice (e.g., passive voice ).

Regular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participle are formed by adding“-ed” to the end of the word (or “-d” if the word already ends in “e”). Irregular verbs are verbs whose simple past and past participles are formed in some other way.

“I’ve already checked twice.”

“I heard that you used to sing .”

Other types of verbs include auxiliary verbs , linking verbs , modal verbs , and phrasal verbs .

An adjective is a word that describes a noun or pronoun. Adjectives can be attributive , appearing before a noun (e.g., “a red hat”), or predicative , appearing after a noun with the use of a linking verb like “to be” (e.g., “the hat is red ”).

Adjectives can also have a comparative function. Comparative adjectives compare two or more things. Superlative adjectives describe something as having the most or least of a specific characteristic.

Other types of adjectives include coordinate adjectives , participial adjectives , and denominal adjectives .

An adverb is a word that can modify a verb, adjective, adverb, or sentence. Adverbs are often formed by adding “-ly” to the end of an adjective (e.g., “slow” becomes “slowly”), although not all adverbs have this ending, and not all words with this ending are adverbs.

There are numerous types of adverbs, including adverbs of manner (used to describe how something occurs), adverbs of degree (used to indicate extent or degree), and adverbs of place (used to describe the location of an action or event).

Talia writes quite quickly.

Other types of adverbs include adverbs of frequency , adverbs of purpose , focusing adverbs , and adverbial phrases .

A preposition is a word (e.g., “at”) or phrase (e.g., “on top of”) used to show the relationship between the different parts of a sentence. Prepositions can be used to indicate aspects such as time , place , and direction .

I left the cup on the kitchen counter.

A conjunction is a word used to connect different parts of a sentence (e.g., words, phrases, or clauses).

The main types of conjunctions are coordinating conjunctions (used to connect items that are grammatically equal), subordinating conjunctions (used to introduce a dependent clause), and correlative conjunctions (used in pairs to join grammatically equal parts of a sentence).

You can choose what movie we watch because I chose the last time.

An interjection is a word or phrase used to express a feeling, give a command, or greet someone. Interjections are a grammatically independent part of speech, so they can often be excluded from a sentence without affecting the meaning.

Types of interjections include volitive interjections (used to make a demand or request), emotive interjections (used to express a feeling or reaction), cognitive interjections (used to indicate thoughts), and greetings and parting words (used at the beginning and end of a conversation).

Ouch ! I hurt my arm.

I’m, um , not sure.

The traditional classification of English words into eight parts of speech is by no means the only one or the objective truth. Grammarians have often divided them into more or fewer classes. Other commonly mentioned parts of speech include determiners and articles.

• Determiners

A determiner is a word that describes a noun by indicating quantity, possession, or relative position.

Common types of determiners include demonstrative determiners (used to indicate the relative position of a noun), possessive determiners (used to describe ownership), and quantifiers (used to indicate the quantity of a noun).

My brother is selling his old car.

Other types of determiners include distributive determiners , determiners of difference , and numbers .

An article is a word that modifies a noun by indicating whether it is specific or general.

• The definite article the is used to refer to a specific version of a noun. The can be used with all countable and uncountable nouns (e.g., “the door,” “the energy,” “the mountains”).
• The indefinite articles a and an refer to general or unspecific nouns. The indefinite articles can only be used with singular countable nouns (e.g., “a poster,” “an engine”).

There’s a concert this weekend.

If you want to know more about nouns , pronouns , verbs , and other parts of speech, make sure to check out some of our language articles with explanations and examples.

Nouns & pronouns

• Common nouns
• Proper nouns
• Collective nouns
• Personal pronouns
• Uncountable and countable nouns
• Verb tenses
• Phrasal verbs
• Types of verbs
• Active vs passive voice
• Subject-verb agreement

A is an indefinite article (along with an ). While articles can be classed as their own part of speech, they’re also considered a type of determiner .

The indefinite articles are used to introduce nonspecific countable nouns (e.g., “a dog,” “an island”).

In is primarily classed as a preposition, but it can be classed as various other parts of speech, depending on how it is used:

• Preposition (e.g., “ in the field”)
• Noun (e.g., “I have an in with that company”)
• Adjective (e.g., “Tim is part of the in crowd”)
• Adverb (e.g., “Will you be in this evening?”)

As a part of speech, and is classed as a conjunction . Specifically, it’s a coordinating conjunction .

And can be used to connect grammatically equal parts of a sentence, such as two nouns (e.g., “a cup and plate”), or two adjectives (e.g., “strong and smart”). And can also be used to connect phrases and clauses.

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Part One Academic Writing Essentials

Unit 3 Parts and Characteristics of a Good Paragraph

Learning Objectives

• To identify the parts of a paragraph: title, topic sentence, supporting sentences with details, concluding sentence, and transitions
• To understand how each part relates to one another within a paragraph through multiple examples
• To learn the key characteristics of a paragraph: format, unity, cohesion, and completion through multiple examples
• To practice writing each part of a paragraph with key characteristics through a variety of exercises

Read the paragraph “Missing My Childhood Days” below and do the activities that follow.

Missing My Childhood Days

          Thanks to two people and one place, my childhood was filled with fun. The first special person was my cousin Hector. I was the only child to my mom, and he was the only child to his mom. We were not lonely because we played and enjoyed family trips together. I loved playing hide and seek with him the most. The running, anticipating [1] , shouting, and laughing will always be in my memories. Secondly, I really miss my best friend Lisandra from my elementary school. Our moms were best friends, so it was easier for us to do many things together. For example, we used to explore the resorts and hotels near our homes. We imagined how we could decorate our own houses as elegantly as the hotels. Additionally, Lisandra had a little sister called Lolanda, and we loved to play with her and care for her as if she were our own baby. We fed her and sang songs to her. Even though I lost contact with Lisandra after she switched to a different school, our time together was very precious to me. Lastly, I really miss my childhood home. It was a big house with a patio decorated with pots of beautiful flowers. The house was large enough for me to ride my bike inside. There was also a pool. We had many family parties there. Playing riddles [2] by the poolside was one of the most popular games among us. Nowadays I do not have Hector and Lisandra in my life, and my childhood house has long been sold. However, I am grateful for having them all in my past because they have left me with priceless [3] memories.

By K. P. Checo (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed  with permission.

Discuss in groups:

• What are your most unforgettable childhood memories? Why are they unforgettable?
• What three areas of childhood does the author miss the most?
• What is the main idea of the above paragraph? Where do you find it in the paragraph?
• Where is the title?
• How does the author begin the paragraph?
• What is the spacing between one line to the next?
• Does each new sentence start a new line?
• What do you think a paragraph is?
• What do you like about this paragraph?
• How would you improve the paragraph?
• If you could ask the writer a question, what would you ask?

II. Definition of a Paragraph

A paragraph is a group of sentences about one main idea. The goal of a paragraph is to communicate to the readers what you think of a topic (your main idea) and why you believe this way (your supporting ideas). A paragraph also follows a certain format. Paragraph writing is the foundation [4] for all types of academic writing assignments such as essays and research papers.

III. Paragraph Format

You can see the format of a paragraph from “Missing My Childhood Days”:

• Center the title in the middle of the top line.
• Start the paragraph with indentation (a few open spaces in the beginning).
• Type or write double spaced.
• Each sentence follows the one before it without starting a new line.
• Use font size 12 if you type. (The font size may be hard for you to determine in this web-book.)

IV. Parts of a Paragraph

Understanding each part of a paragraph is an important step to good writing. One way to do this is to identify and color code each part.

Title – pink          Topic sentence – red               Supporting sentences – green

Supporting details – blue           Concluding sentence – red         Transitions – yellow

When you color code the parts, you know that

• you understand the paragraph organization.
• you are not missing any important compone n ts.
• all the parts are in the right order.
• the supporting details ( blue ) should be the longest and the most detailed.

          Thanks to two people and one place, my childhood was filled with fun. The first special person was my cousin Hector. I was the only child to my mom, and he was the only child to his mom. We were not lonely because we played and enjoyed family trips together. I loved playing hide and seek with him the most. The running, anticipating, shouting, and laughing will always be in my memories. Secondly , I really miss my best friend Lisandra from the elementary school. Our moms were best friends, so it was easier for us to do many things together. For example, we used to explore the resorts and hotels near our homes. We imagined how we could decorate our own houses as elegantly as the hotels. Additionally, Lisandra had a little sister called Lolanda, and we loved to play with her and care for her as if she were our own baby. We fed her and sang songs to her. Even though I lost contact with Lisandra after she switched to a different school, our time together was very precious to me. Lastly , I really miss my childhood home. It was a big house with a patio decorated with pots of beautiful flowers. The house was large enough for me to ride my bike inside. There was also a pool. We had many family parties there. Playing riddles by the poolside was one of the most popular games among us. Nowadays I do not have Hector and Lisandra in my life, and my childhood house has long been sold. However, I am grateful for having them all in my past because they have left me with priceless memories.

By K. P. Checo (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

Exercise 1.  Use Paragraph “Missing My Childhood Days” as an example. Read Paragraph “Difficulties in English Writing” and identify the parts with the following colors:

Title – pink          Topic sentence – red           Supporting sentences – green

Supporting details – blue         Concluding sentence – red         Transitions – yellow

Difficulties in English Writing

          For me, writing is one of the most difficult skills to learn  in English. First, w ith writing comes spelling. Many words are pronounced the same but spelt completely differently, like flower and flour, blue and blew. I need extra effort s  to learn and remember how to spell and write them correctly. Another c hallenge I face i n English is sentence structure . There are many types of sentences in English such as  simple, compo und, and complex. Each type has its own punctuation rules. It takes a lot of hard work to understand how to build sentences effectively . Finally, grammar is challenging . My professors emphasize the importance of grammar because it plays a significant role in writing. Unfortunately, it is  also one of  the difficulties for me because  it has many , many rules and exceptions. For example, in  count  and noncount nouns unit , there are many confusing words like police and family . At first, I  thought the word “police” was singular, but in fact it is plural. In contrast, I thought the word “family” was plural, but it is singular in many situations ! Mistakes in singular and plural nouns lead to errors in verbs. Despite all these d ifficulties in spelling, sentence structure, and gramm a r , writing remains to be one of my favorite aspects of learning .

By A. Alsalman (student), ESL Writing III, Harper College. U sed with permission.

Read the above two paragraphs again, and you can see that a good paragraph consists of:

• A title – to show the topic and catch the readers’ interest pink
• A beginning called the topic sentence – to show the main idea  red
• A middle called the supporting sentences and details – supporting sentences to explain the main idea    green ; details to explain the supporting sentences  blue
• Transitions or connecting words – to connect the ideas and guide the readers  yellow
• An ending called the concluding sentence(s) – to finish the paragraph  red

Paragraph Organization – the Hamburger Way

To make a tasty hamburger, you need to take time to get the ingredients ready and stack [5] them up carefully. Planning and organizing your ideas for a good paragraph can be very similar to making a hamburger.

• The sesame seeds on the top piece of bread is what you see as you unwrap a hamburger. It is like the title of a paragraph.
• The top piece of the bread is the first part of the hamburger. It is like the topic sentence .
• The middle part is what makes the hamburger delicious. The more ingredients you add, the tastier the hamburger is. This part is like the supporting sentences with details . More details for the paragraph will make it more interesting to read.
• You also add condiments like mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise to not only make the hamburger juicier but also help the other ingredients like tomato slices and beef patties stick together. Those condiments are like transitions .
• The last piece of the bread makes the hamburger complete. The bread is made with the same ingredients as the top piece but with a different shape. This is like the concluding sentence. It restates the topic sentence but in a different way.

Below, you are going to learn how to write each part.

V. Title of a Paragraph

A title gives the readers information about what you write in the paragraph. It usually states or implies [6] the topic of your writing.

1. A good title is often very short. Sometimes it is only one word or one phrase. It is usually not a complete sentence.

The Best Invention

The Reasons for My Mediterranean Diet

The Characteristics of a Good Boss

2. A good title catches the readers’ interest. It tells the readers about the main topic, but it does not tell everything.

 Why Not Studying Hard?

 A Long-Kept Secret

To Mask or Not to Mask

3. A good title follows capitalization and punctuation rules.

• The first letter of the first word is always capitalized.
• Do not capitalize a short preposition, an article, or a coordinating conjunction unless it is the first word.
• Never capitalize the entire title.
• Do not put a period at the end.
• Do not put quotation marks around the title.
• Do not underline the title.

Discuss each pair of the titles below and notice how the errors are corrected.

the day I arrived in Chicago  X 

The Day I Arrived in Chicago  √

THE MAKING OF A DOCTOR  X

The Making of a Doctor  √

A Very Frustrating Experience.  X

A Very Frustrating Experience  √

“Advice from My Mother”  X

Advice from My Mother  √

The Mysterious Noise   X

The Mysterious Noise  √

For more explanations and examples in capitalization, please refer to Appendix B Capitalization . ( Open Appendix B here.)

Exercise 2.  Here are the titles of some paragraphs. Do they follow the rules? Write the correct title in the box. After you finish all the titles,  you can check your answers by clicking the “Check” button.  You may retry the exercise or see all the answers.

Example : 

From my home to school                                             

Correction: From My Home to School

VI. Topic Sentence

A topic sentence is a sentence that contains the main idea of a paragraph. It is usually put in the beginning of a paragraph. A good topic sentence has two essential parts and one optional part:

• the topic of your paragraph
• the controlling idea – your attitude/opinion about the topic
• (optional but preferred) predictors – the points you are going to explain in the body of the paragraph

In each pair of topic sentences below, one contains the topic and controlling idea. The other has the topic, controlling idea, and predictors. Identify each part and discuss which topic sentence you like better. Explain your reasons.

• My writing class is important in helping me prepare for college study.
• My writing class is important in helping me prepare for college study because I learn how to plan, write, and edit my own writing.
• I enjoy three aspects of my writing class.
• I enjoy three aspects of my writing class: my professor, my classmates, and the course materials.
• Many students feel stressed out in the writing class for three reasons.
• Because of long class periods, daily homework assignments, and lots of tests, many students feel stressed out in the writing class.,
• Writing in English is very different from writing in my native language.
• Writing in English differs from writing in my nature language in style, sentence structure, and punctuation.

Rules for a good topic sentence:

1. It must be a complete sentence that contains a subject and a verb.

•  My interesting writing class (not a complete sentence)  X
•   How to improve writing skills (not a complete sentence)  X
•  My writing class is interesting for three reasons. (a complete sentence)  √
•  In my writing class, I am learning how to improve writing skills in three ways.  (a complete sentence)  √

2. It can be a positive or negative statement, not a question. If you ask a question in the beginning of the paragraph, you should answer it in the next sentence. That second sentence is the topic sentence.

• Why is learning English important? (a question)  X
•  What is the best way to improve writing skills? (a question)  X
•  Why is learning English important? It is so because good English skills benefit people in their study, work, and daily life. (The second part is the topic sentence.)  √
• What is the best way to improve writing skills? I have three suggestions for ESL students to improve writing skills. (The second part is the topic sentence.)  √

3. Narrow down your topic. General topics are difficult to focus on and write.

• Year 2020 was a difficult year for me. (too broad)  X
• The COVID pandemic in Year 2020 made it difficult for me to study. (more specific)  √
• The COVID pandemic in Year 2020 made it difficult for me to study for three reasons: my classes went totally online in March, I could no longer use the college library and the Language Lab, and the poor Internet connection at home often interrupted my study on the course Blackboard site. (more specific)  √

4. Do not make an announcement.

•  In this paragraph, I am going to talk about the disadvantages to online learning.  (an announcement)  X
•  Let me explain the disadvantages to online learning. (an announcement)  X
•  This paragraph is about the disadvantages to online learning. (an announcement)  X
• There are three disadvantages to online learning. (not an announcement)  √
• There are three disadvantages to online learning: no immediate feedback from the professors, no interactions with the classmates, and unstable Internet connection at home. (not an announcement)   √

5. Do not write a fact because your opinion (the controlling idea) is missing.

• Harper College is a community college. (a fact)  X
• My classmates come from twelve different countries. (a fact)  X
• Harper College offers the best ESL programs in Illinois in three aspects: experienced professors, free tutoring, and the Language Lab. (Controlling idea “best” is added.)  √
•  Representing twelve countries, my classmates are great resources for learning different cultures. (Controlling idea “great resources for learning different cultures” is added.)  √

Exercise 3.  Read the following topic sentences. Identify the topic, controlling idea, and predictors.  Type your answers in the boxes. When you complete the entire exercise, you can click “Check” for feedback. You may retry or see all the answers.

I miss my high school life for three reasons: friends, sports, and time for myself.

topic:   my high school life

controlling idea:   miss for three reasons               

predictors:   friends, sports, time for myself

Exercise 4. Are the following good topic sentences? If not, why not? How do you improve them?  Click “True” for good topic sentences and “False” for the wrong ones.  You will receive instant feedback after each sentence. If a topic sentence is wrong, you will see the correction and explanation in blue .

Electric cars

This is not a good topic sentence because it is not a complete sentence and the controlling idea is missing.                  

Correction:  I like electric cars  more than gas-powered cars.

VII. Supporting Ideas and Paragraph Unity

Supporting means “holding up”, just as the bridge is “holding up” the man in the image on the left . Supporting sentences are crucial in “holding up” the main idea while making your paragraphs interesting and convincing [7] . They must support or explain the main idea in the topic sentence.

A good strategy for logical supporting sentences is to predict the question the readers may ask about your topic sentence. The result of this planning is actually the paragraph outline you learned in Unit 2 The Writing Process. (Open Unit 2 here.)

Paragraph Unity

Unity comes from the verb “unite” and means “hold tight, together”. In a paragraph, it means that all the supporting sentences work together to serve the same purpose: explaining the main idea.

Imagine two bouquets of flowers. Both look beautiful and in perfect harmony within themselves. However, if one sunflower is inserted in the middle of the roses, it will look out of place because it breaks the unity of the rose bouquet.

Then how do you tell if your paragraph has unity? There are two easy ways:

• Ask yourself, “Does each supporting sentence explain the controlling idea in the topic sentence?” If yes, your paragraph has unity. If not, you need to delete or change the supporting sentence. It is helpful to circle or underline your controlling idea in the topic sentence for easier checking.
• Always make an outline of the paragraph before you write. If you come up with a new idea while drafting the paragraph, put it in your outline first and ask yourself the first question.

Does the following paragraph outline show unity?

No, it does not show unity.  It contains irrelevant [8] ideas because they do not support the main idea “help college students”.  Here are ways to improve the outline:

• Cross out the irrelevant ideas.
• Add relevant information to support the main idea.
• In the second support, a personal example is also added to make the paragraph more interesting.
• In the third support, the new idea “manage time better” is a repetition of the second support “practice time management skills”. Therefore, it should be deleted. It is important not to repeat the same information that is already explained in other parts of the support.

Exercise 6.  Use the topic sentences below to build relevant supporting ideas. Check to make sure that all the ideas support the main idea in the topic sentence. Share your outline with your partner and discuss each other’s ideas.

Example :   

• Topic sentence: Men can often be better care givers than women.
• Topic sentence: People 18 years and older should serve two years in the military.
• Topic sentence: Chicago is the most romantic city in the U.S.
• Topic sentence: Chicago is the best place for children to visit on the weekend.

Exercise 7.  The following paragraph about a special place does not have unity.  There are four additional sentences to be deleted (not including the example). Type the numbers of the irrelevant sentences in the boxes below. When you complete the entire exercise, you can click “Check” for answers. You may also retry or see all the answers.  Sentence #4 is an example.

Types of Supporting Sentences

Good supporting sentences not only explain the main idea but also include interesting details such as

facts – numbers, general truths, scientific truths…

reasons – logical explanations…

experts’ opinion s – research findings, quotes by experts in the field…

examples – stories of well-known people, personal experiences, personal quotes…

Read Paragraph “Good Roommates” below and discuss how the writer uses the types of details. Color supporting ideas in green and the details in blue .

Good Roommates

          Having good roommates makes lives more enjoyable. First, good roommates understand each other’s need for peace and quiet after a day’s study. 1 They do not make unnecessary noises. For example, my roommate Abia and I have different class schedules. She spends the day at school, and I attend night classes. When I come back to the apartment very tired at 10 pm, she always turns down her music or speaks very softly on the phone with her friends. Moreover, good roommates share useful information. 2 Writer Barbara Dana once said, “A good roommate may be the single most important thing to have when one is away at school.” It is true because Abia’s and my families are far away. I have taken more courses at college, so I give Abia advice about classes, student clubs, and scholarships. She helps me in a different way. While I was looking for a part-time job last year, she told me about the job openings in her workplace. Finally, good roommates respect each other’s differences. 3 As the U.S. is a land of immigrants, it becomes the land of opportunities to learn different cultures and religions. I have learned about the significance of Ramadan for Abia, and she has understood the importance of Easter for me. Together, we have developed a good understanding of each other’s beliefs. In brief, good roommates help each other become more caring, supportive, and tolerant [9] . They make living easier in this complicated world.

In the first supporting details (first blue block marked with 1): personal examples of Abia and me

In the second supporting details (second blue block marked with 2): a quote by an expert, personal examples of Abia and me

In the third supporting details (third blue block marked with 3): general truth, logic, personal examples of Abia and me

Exercise 8.  Use Paragraph “Good Roommates” as an example, read Paragraph “No Capital Punishment” and discuss what types of interesting details the writer uses. Color the supporting ideas in green and the details in blue .

No Capital Punishment [10]

          Capital punishment should be banned [11] because the result cannot be changed, it is killing a life, and it does not stop the crime. First of all, the result of capital punishment is irreversible [12] ; therefore, it is important to be absolutely certain of a person’s guilt. Nevertheless, in some cases, this is simply impossible to prove a person’s guilt with 100% certainty. What if a person is wrongly charged? The death penalty will affect that person and his or her family forever. Next, capital punishment is killing. Killing people for any reason is wrong. Life is sacred, and humans do not have the right to decide the lives of others. Some people believe that capital punishment will stop criminals from committing crimes as they will be afraid to die. However, this is not the reality. Violent cases still occur daily. For instance, on the weekend of July 4 th , 2021, Chicago Sun Times reported that over 100 people were shot in Chicago and 19 of them died. That weekend was considered the deadliest and most violent in the city that year. This shows that putting criminals to death will not reduce the crime. For these reasons, death penalty should not be supported. The people and the government must find a better solution [13] to punishing the law breakers.

https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2021/7/3/22561910/chicago-weekend-shootings-july-2-5-homicide-gun-violence . Last accessed on July 10, 2021.

VIII. Transitions and Paragraph Cohesion

Cohesion focuses on the link between ideas so that they flow naturally from one to the next. When a paragraph has cohesion, ideas progress smoothly to create a connected whole.

Imagine cohesion as a waterfall cascading [14] smoothly and continuously.

There are different ways to achieve cohesion. One of them is by using transitions.

Transitions are also called connecting words . They help the writer organize thoughts and guide the readers in understanding the order of ideas clearly. Transitions are often needed not only between supporting sentences but also within them.

Compare the two paragraphs “Applying for the John & Melanie Frieburg ESL Student Scholarship” below. Which one is better? Why is it better? Underline the transitions in Paragraph 2 that you do not see in Paragraph 1.

Paragraph 1

Applying for the John & Melanie Frieburg ESL Student Scholarship

          Applying for the John & Melanie Frieburg ESL Student Scholarship online is not hard if you follow these steps. Go to the scholarship page on the Harper College website and search for this specific scholarship. Read all the information related to it: the requirements, the deadline, and the amount of the award. Fill out the application form online completely and accurately. There are twelve supplemental [15] questions including your grades and financial situation. Do you have an average grade of C? A paragraph about your educational aspiration is required. Get two recommendation letters from two people who know you well. Be sure to ask them first and give them enough time to write the letters. Proofread your application and submit before the deadline. You can always ask help from the Scholarship Office, the ESL Department, or the One Stop Center. The process is easy to follow and well worth your efforts for this special honor.

Paragraph 2

          Applying for the John & Melanie Frieburg ESL Student Scholarship online is not hard if you follow these steps. First , go to the scholarship page on the Harper College website and search for this specific scholarship. Read all the information related to it, such as the requirements, the deadline, and the amount of the award. When you are ready , fill out the application form online completely and accurately. There are twelve supplemental questions including your grades and financial situation. For example, do you have an average grade of C? A paragraph about your educational aspiration is also required. Another step is to get two recommendation letters from two people who know you well. Be sure to ask them and give them enough time to write the letters. Finally, proofread your application and submit before the deadline. At any stage of your application, you can always ask for help in the Scholarship Office, the ESL Department, or the One Stop Center. As you can see, the process is easy to follow and well worth your efforts for this special honor.

With connecting expressions like “First”, “such as”, “When you are ready”, and other underlined transitions, Paragraph 2 explains the steps much more clearly.

How are the transitions used?

•  The transition for the first supporting idea is often optional.
• “Finally” is usually used to show the last supporting idea in the body of the paragraph. It is not used right before the conclusion.
• The transition before the concluding sentence is optional.  It is actually more common without it.
• After most transitions, there is usually a comma, but this is not always true.  There are different types of transitions with different punctuation rules.  You will learn them step by step throughout the course.
• Do not overuse transitions; otherwise, the paragraph will read very unnatural. As you read and write more, you will gradually develop a sense of when a transition is or is not necessary.

Here are some common transitions:

Study Paragraph “Good Roommates” again. Notice how the three transitions ( first, moreover, finally ) connect the supporting ideas and the transition ( in brief ) is used before the concluding sentences.

Study Paragraph “No Capital Punishment” again. Notice how the transitions ( first of all, therefore, nevertheless, next, however, for instance ) are used to connect ideas between supporting ideas and within them. The transition ( for these reasons ) is placed before the concluding sentence.

Exercise 9.  Choose the appropriate transitions below and type them in the boxes to finish the paragraph about a daughter. There may be more than one correct answer, but type just one. Not all listed transitions are needed. When you complete the entire exercise, you can click “Check” for feedback. You may retry or see all the answers. The first one is an example.

first, second, next, in addition, also, furthermore, moreover, last, finally, for example, to sum up

Exercise 10.  Choose the appropriate transitions below and type them in the boxes to finish the paragraph about a life lesson. There may be more than one correct answer, but type just one. Not all listed transitions are needed. When you complete the entire exercise, you can click “Check” for feedback. You may retry or see all the answers. The first one is an example.

however, on the first Saturday, then, after crying for an hour,  while I was eating breakfast, now, at night, finally, after that, after I arrived

IX. Concluding Sentence(s)

A concluding sentence signals the end of a paragraph.

You can also write two or three sentences in this part with one or

more of the following methods:

• Restates [16] the main idea but in different words or sentence structure.
• Summarize the main points in the body of the paragraph.
• Express an opinion, make a prediction, put forth a recommendation, or ask a question related to the topic.

A conclusion must not bring up a new topic.

×     For those three reasons, I enjoy swimming the most. I will also start playing basketball next week.

Exercise 11.  Compare the pairs of topic sentences and concluding sentences from the paragraphs you have studied in this unit. Then discuss in groups what method the concluding sentences use and how they relate to the topic sentences.

Paragraph “Missing My Childhood Days”

Topic sentence: Thanks to two people and one place, my childhood was filled with fun.

Concluding sentences : Nowadays I do not have Hector and Lisandra in my life, and my childhood house has long been sold. However, I am grateful for having them all in my past because they have left me with priceless memories.

The conclusion restates the main idea (they have left me with priceless memories), summarizes the three supporting points in the body (I do not have Hector and Lisandra in my life, and my childhood house has long been sold), and expresses an opinion (I am grateful for having them all in my past).   The conclusion relates to the topic sentence and explains the controlling idea very well.  

• Paragraph “Difficulties in English Writing”
• Paragraph “My Special Place”
• Paragraph “Good Roommates”
• Paragraph “No Capital Punishment”
• Paragraph “Applying for the John & Melanie Frieburg ESL Student Scholarship”
• Paragraph “My Daughter”
• Paragraph “My Valuable Life Lesson”

X. Paragraph Completion

Each paragraph explains a complete idea and needs to have a clear ending. There are several ways to check if the paragraph is complete:

• Does the paragraph have a title?
• Is the topic sentence there?
• If you have predictors in the topic sentence, are all of them explained in the body of the paragraph?
• Are there details to further explain the supporting ideas?
• Do you have a concluding sentence at the end?
• Are there proper transitions to connect ideas?

If any one part is missing, the paragraph is incomplete.

Read the following paragraph. Is it complete? If not, discuss what is missing and how you can improve the paragraph.

          Jogging is beneficial physically, mentally, and socially. First, jogging makes people physically fit. It not only strengthens the muscles and immune system but also helps to reduce weight. Thirty minutes of jogging will burn about 250 calories. Extra weight causes all kinds of health problems, and a daily run will help shed [17] the extra pounds. Besides, jogging keeps people mentally healthy by reducing their stress. Modern life is full of anxieties. Workers have project deadlines, students take tests, parents deal with family financial challenges, and all people run into relationship issues from time to time. According to many doctors, jogging can act as a stress reliever [18] , boost [19] the feel-good hormone, and distract people from daily worries. Jogging is a simple act of activity that helps people become healthier in many ways.

What is missing?

• There is no title.  Add a title, such as “The Best Exercise” or “The Benefits of Jogging”.
• The third support is missing. From the topic sentence, the readers expect to see support in three areas: physical, mental, and social. However, the writer did not discuss the “social” aspect of jogging. Therefore, the paragraph is incomplete. The writer should add some information about the social benefits of jogging. Ideas could include joining a jogging club and meeting new friends.

Exercise 12.    Use the above paragraph as an example. Is the following new one complete? If not, discuss what is missing and how you can improve the paragraph.

       Unleashed dogs are dangerous to the environment, other living beings, and even to themselves. First of all, dogs do not have minds like humans; therefore, they often do not know what proper behavior is in public. When they are not restricted by a leash, they can run and step on flowers and plants in the parks.  They may also leave their waste there if their owners are unaware of it. What’s more, dogs can frighten the pedestrians on the street. Some of them are afraid of dogs and may experience intense fear when a dog jumps at them. Dogs may also scare drivers. What if they lose control of their vehicles? Other animals like ducks and geese will also find the running and barking “strangers” threatening. Lastly, unleashed dogs are a danger to themselves. There are many hidden holes on the roads and in the parks, and dogs can easily fall into them and hurt themselves. Because dogs can also cause traffic accidents, they may be injured as well. If there is construction nearby with heavy machinery and harmful chemicals, the consequences will be deadly to the dogs.

XI. Unit Review Practice

Exercise 13. Read the following paragraph about online learning. It is based on an outline example you studied earlier in this unit. As you read, do the following:

Color code the paragraph:

Title – pink           Topic sentence – red             Supporting sentences – green  

Supporting details – blue       transitions – yellow       Concluding sentence(s) – red

 Discuss:

• Have you taken an online class? If so, have you had similar experiences as described in this paragraph?
• What types of supporting ideas and details are used to explain the main idea?
• Does the paragraph have unity?
• What types of conclusion are used?
• Is the paragraph complete?
• Is the title centered on the top line? Is the first sentence indented?
• How do you improve the paragraph?

Three Benefits of Online Classes for College Students

          Taking online classes helps college students in three significant ways. First of all, online classes provide many conveniences. Many college students have a job, and some also need to take care of their family.  When the courses are online, the students often do not have a fixed class time. As a result, they can pick any shift available at work, and they can also schedule activities with their loved ones like going to the park or even going on a vacation. For those with small children, childcare is no longer a huge issue. In addition, some college students do not own a car, but their education will not be affected because they can take classes remotely. Secondly, college students improve their time management skills. I have learned to use my time more wisely. For example, during my first semester of online class, I spent a lot of time video chatting with my friends in the beginning. My professor set all the test deadlines by midnight each Sunday, so I postponed my study till Saturday.  However, there was too much reading and practicing then, and I simply could not complete the required study to get a good grade.  In the second half of the semester, I forced myself to make a schedule for daily study time and to be more disciplined [20] in following it. I was able to finish all the materials before the test, and my grade improved. The most important skill through online learning is independent learning. Even though professors are available through office hours, emails, and live sessions, students must learn to solve problems on their own most of the times. They can do so by reading, checking dictionaries, and finding additional online learning resources from YouTube videos or the Khan Academy website. The type of “self help” foster skills in independent learning, which is essential in college study and future profession. Taking online classes is challenging, but these benefits make their experiences worthwhile.

  NSNT Practice

Go to The NSNT Free Writing Approach and Additional Weekly Prompts for Writing in Appendix A. ( Open Appendix A here. ) Choose two topics to practice the steps in the writing process, including writing a paragraph for each. You may start with the NSNT approach and then rewrite the paragraphs. Check to see that the paragraphs have all the necessary parts and that they follow the rules for format, unity, cohesion, and completion.

Vocabulary Review

The words here have appeared in this unit.  The best way to learn them is to guess the meaning of each word from the context.  Then hover your computer mouse over the number beside each word to check its meaning and part of speech. These words are also listed in the footnote area at the end of each unit.

Here, you can use the flashcards below to review these words.

• A paragraph is a group of sentences with one main idea.
• A paragraph must follow a proper format, with the title in the center of the top line and an indent in the beginning of the paragraph. All the sentences should be written/typed double spaced and follow one another without starting a new line.
• A paragraph consists of a title, a topic sentence, several supporting ideas with details, 1-2  concluding sentences, and transitions.
• Each paragraph should have all the above necessary components. If one of them is missing, the paragraph is not complete.
• A title explain the topic of the paragraph or gets the readers interested in the topic. It is centered on the first line and should follow the capitalization rules.
• A topic sentence contains the main idea of a paragraph and is usually put in the beginning. It must have a topic and a controlling idea.  It must be a complete sentence and should not be a fact or an announcement.
• Supporting sentences should be detailed and should help explain the topic sentence. If anything is irrelevant to the main idea, the paragraph will not have unity.
• A concluding sentence restates the main idea and signals the end of the paragraph. It can include an opinion, a suggestion, a recommendation, or a question that is related to the topic.
• Transitions are important in guiding the readers in understanding the information in the paragraph and providing a smooth connection between ideas.  Transitions help maintain the cohesion of a paragraph.

Media Attributions

• a group of children running and laughing outdoors © Photo by MI PHAM on Unsplash
• a hamburger © Photo by amirali mirhashemian on Unsplash
• parts of a hamburger © Photo by Pablo Merchán Montes on Unsplash
• lots of books showing titles on shelves © Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash
• a light bulb surrounded by six circles © Pixabay
• a man sitting on a bridge over a river © Photo by Alex Azabache on Unsplash
• a rose bouquet © Photo by Enrique Avendaño on Unsplash
• a sunflower bouquet © Photo by Farrinni on Unsplash
• a balcony with a table, two chairs, and some plants © Photo by Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu on Unsplash
• waterfall in Yellowstone National Park © Lin Cui is licensed under a CC BY (Attribution) license
• ESL Scholarship winners 2015/2016 © Lin Cui is licensed under a All Rights Reserved license
• words “THE END” on wooden pieces © Photo by Ann H from Pexels
• a checklist and a yellow pencil © Tumisu on Pixabay
• unleashed dogs on beach © Photo by Laura Stanley from Pexels
• a MacBook, a notebook, etc. on a desk © Photo by Nick Morrison on Unsplash
• a pen writing in a notebook © Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
• a page in a dictionary © Pixabay
• anticipate: verb, wait for something to happen ↵
• riddle: noun, a game of guessing the answers ↵
• priceless: adjective, very valuable, cannot be measured by a price ↵
• foundation: noun, basis, groundwork of something more complicated ↵
• stack: verb, to pile or put one on top of another ↵
• imply: verb, say indirectly ↵
• convincing: adjective, make people believe ↵
• irrelevant: adjective, not related, having nothing to do with the main idea ↵
• tolerant: adjective, accepting differences ↵
• capital punishment, noun phrase, a type of punishment to kill a criminal ↵
• ban: verb, stop, not allowed to happen ↵
• irreversible: adjective, cannot go back to the original situation ↵
• solution: noun, the answer to a problem ↵
• cascade: verb, flow from high to low smoothly ↵
• supplemental: adjective, extra, additional ↵
• restate: verb, write again, repeat ↵
• shed: verb, get rid of ↵
• stress reliever: noun phrase, something to reduce or take away stress ↵
• boost: verb, raise, improve ↵
• disciplined: adjective, self-controlled, strict with oneself ↵

Building Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2022 by Cui, Lin is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Emery Evans

What is the difference between a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse?

It almost time! Millions of Americans across the country Monday are preparing to witness the once-in-a-lifetime total solar eclipse as it passes over portions of Mexico, the United States and Canada.

It's a sight to behold and people have now long been eagerly awaiting what will be their only chance until 2044 to witness totality, whereby the moon will completely block the sun's disc, ushering in uncharacteristic darkness.

That being said, many are curious on what makes the solar eclipse special and how is it different from a lunar eclipse.

The total solar eclipse is today: Get the latest forecast and everything you need to know

What is an eclipse?

An eclipse occurs when any celestial object like a moon or a planet passes between two other bodies, obscuring the view of objects like the sun, according to NASA .

What is a solar eclipse?

A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon comes in between the Earth and the sun, blocking its light from reaching our planet, leading to a period of darkness lasting several minutes. The resulting "totality," whereby observers can see the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere, known as the corona, presents a spectacular sight for viewers and confuses animals – causing nocturnal creatures to stir and bird and insects to fall silent.

Partial eclipses, when some part of the sun remains visible, are the most common, making total eclipses a rare sight.

What is a lunar eclipse?

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon and the sun are on exact opposite sides of Earth. When this happens, Earth blocks the sunlight that normally reaches the moon. Instead of that sunlight hitting the moon’s surface, Earth's shadow falls on it.

Lunar eclipses are often also referred to the "blood moon" because when the Earth's shadow covers the moon, it often produces a red color. The coloration happens because a bit of reddish sunlight still reaches the moon's surface, even though it's in Earth's shadow.

Difference between lunar eclipse and solar eclipse

The major difference between the two eclipses is in the positioning of the sun, the moon and the Earth and the longevity of the phenomenon, according to NASA.

A lunar eclipse can last for a few hours, while a solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes. Solar eclipses also rarely occur, while lunar eclipses are comparatively more frequent. While at least two partial lunar eclipses happen every year, total lunar eclipses are still rare, says NASA.

Another major difference between the two is that for lunar eclipses, no special glasses or gizmos are needed to view the spectacle and one can directly stare at the moon. However, for solar eclipses, it is pertinent to wear proper viewing glasses and take the necessary safety precautions because the powerful rays of the sun can burn and damage your retinas.

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, Doyle Rice, USA TODAY