assess essay structure

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

9.3 Organizing Your Writing

Learning objectives.

• Understand how and why organizational techniques help writers and readers stay focused.
• Assess how and when to use chronological order to organize an essay.
• Recognize how and when to use order of importance to organize an essay.
• Determine how and when to use spatial order to organize an essay.

The method of organization you choose for your essay is just as important as its content. Without a clear organizational pattern, your reader could become confused and lose interest. The way you structure your essay helps your readers draw connections between the body and the thesis, and the structure also keeps you focused as you plan and write the essay. Choosing your organizational pattern before you outline ensures that each body paragraph works to support and develop your thesis.

This section covers three ways to organize body paragraphs:

• Chronological order
• Order of importance
• Spatial order

When you begin to draft your essay, your ideas may seem to flow from your mind in a seemingly random manner. Your readers, who bring to the table different backgrounds, viewpoints, and ideas, need you to clearly organize these ideas in order to help process and accept them.

A solid organizational pattern gives your ideas a path that you can follow as you develop your draft. Knowing how you will organize your paragraphs allows you to better express and analyze your thoughts. Planning the structure of your essay before you choose supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and targeted research.

Chronological Order

In Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , you learned that chronological arrangement has the following purposes:

• To explain the history of an event or a topic
• To tell a story or relate an experience
• To explain how to do or to make something
• To explain the steps in a process

Chronological order is mostly used in expository writing , which is a form of writing that narrates, describes, informs, or explains a process. When using chronological order, arrange the events in the order that they actually happened, or will happen if you are giving instructions. This method requires you to use words such as first , second , then , after that , later , and finally . These transition words guide you and your reader through the paper as you expand your thesis.

For example, if you are writing an essay about the history of the airline industry, you would begin with its conception and detail the essential timeline events up until present day. You would follow the chain of events using words such as first , then , next , and so on.

Writing at Work

At some point in your career you may have to file a complaint with your human resources department. Using chronological order is a useful tool in describing the events that led up to your filing the grievance. You would logically lay out the events in the order that they occurred using the key transition words. The more logical your complaint, the more likely you will be well received and helped.

Choose an accomplishment you have achieved in your life. The important moment could be in sports, schooling, or extracurricular activities. On your own sheet of paper, list the steps you took to reach your goal. Try to be as specific as possible with the steps you took. Pay attention to using transition words to focus your writing.

Keep in mind that chronological order is most appropriate for the following purposes:

• Writing essays containing heavy research
• Writing essays with the aim of listing, explaining, or narrating
• Writing essays that analyze literary works such as poems, plays, or books

When using chronological order, your introduction should indicate the information you will cover and in what order, and the introduction should also establish the relevance of the information. Your body paragraphs should then provide clear divisions or steps in chronology. You can divide your paragraphs by time (such as decades, wars, or other historical events) or by the same structure of the work you are examining (such as a line-by-line explication of a poem).

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that describes a process you are familiar with and can do well. Assume that your reader is unfamiliar with the procedure. Remember to use the chronological key words, such as first , second , then , and finally .

Order of Importance

Recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” that order of importance is best used for the following purposes:

• Persuading and convincing
• Ranking items by their importance, benefit, or significance
• Illustrating a situation, problem, or solution

Most essays move from the least to the most important point, and the paragraphs are arranged in an effort to build the essay’s strength. Sometimes, however, it is necessary to begin with your most important supporting point, such as in an essay that contains a thesis that is highly debatable. When writing a persuasive essay, it is best to begin with the most important point because it immediately captivates your readers and compels them to continue reading.

For example, if you were supporting your thesis that homework is detrimental to the education of high school students, you would want to present your most convincing argument first, and then move on to the less important points for your case.

Some key transitional words you should use with this method of organization are most importantly , almost as importantly , just as importantly , and finally .

During your career, you may be required to work on a team that devises a strategy for a specific goal of your company, such as increasing profits. When planning your strategy you should organize your steps in order of importance. This demonstrates the ability to prioritize and plan. Using the order of importance technique also shows that you can create a resolution with logical steps for accomplishing a common goal.

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph that discusses a passion of yours. Your passion could be music, a particular sport, filmmaking, and so on. Your paragraph should be built upon the reasons why you feel so strongly. Briefly discuss your reasons in the order of least to greatest importance.

Spatial Order

As stated in Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , spatial order is best used for the following purposes:

• Helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it
• Evoking a scene using the senses (sight, touch, taste, smell, and sound)
• Writing a descriptive essay

Spatial order means that you explain or describe objects as they are arranged around you in your space, for example in a bedroom. As the writer, you create a picture for your reader, and their perspective is the viewpoint from which you describe what is around you.

The view must move in an orderly, logical progression, giving the reader clear directional signals to follow from place to place. The key to using this method is to choose a specific starting point and then guide the reader to follow your eye as it moves in an orderly trajectory from your starting point.

Pay attention to the following student’s description of her bedroom and how she guides the reader through the viewing process, foot by foot.

Attached to my bedroom wall is a small wooden rack dangling with red and turquoise necklaces that shimmer as you enter. Just to the right of the rack is my window, framed by billowy white curtains. The peace of such an image is a stark contrast to my desk, which sits to the right of the window, layered in textbooks, crumpled papers, coffee cups, and an overflowing ashtray. Turning my head to the right, I see a set of two bare windows that frame the trees outside the glass like a 3D painting. Below the windows is an oak chest from which blankets and scarves are protruding. Against the wall opposite the billowy curtains is an antique dresser, on top of which sits a jewelry box and a few picture frames. A tall mirror attached to the dresser takes up most of the wall, which is the color of lavender.

The paragraph incorporates two objectives you have learned in this chapter: using an implied topic sentence and applying spatial order. Often in a descriptive essay, the two work together.

The following are possible transition words to include when using spatial order:

• Just to the left or just to the right
• On the left or on the right
• Across from
• A little further down
• To the south, to the east, and so on
• A few yards away
• Turning left or turning right

On a separate sheet of paper, write a paragraph using spatial order that describes your commute to work, school, or another location you visit often.

Collaboration

Please share with a classmate and compare your answers.

Key Takeaways

• The way you organize your body paragraphs ensures you and your readers stay focused on and draw connections to, your thesis statement.
• A strong organizational pattern allows you to articulate, analyze, and clarify your thoughts.
• Planning the organizational structure for your essay before you begin to search for supporting evidence helps you conduct more effective and directed research.
• Chronological order is most commonly used in expository writing. It is useful for explaining the history of your subject, for telling a story, or for explaining a process.
• Order of importance is most appropriate in a persuasion paper as well as for essays in which you rank things, people, or events by their significance.
• Spatial order describes things as they are arranged in space and is best for helping readers visualize something as you want them to see it; it creates a dominant impression.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Basic essay structure

Improve your writing

Organise your essays to demonstrate your knowledge, show your research and support your arguments

Essays are usually written in continuous, flowing, paragraphed text and don’t use section headings. This may seem unstructured at first, but good essays are carefully structured.

How your assignment content is structured is your choice. Use the basic pattern below to get started.

Essay structure

An essay consists of three basic parts:, introduction.

The essay itself usually has no section headings. Only the title page, author declaration and reference list are written as headings, along with, for example, appendices. Check any task instructions, and your course or unit handbook, for further details.

Content in assignment introductions can vary widely. In some disciplines you may need to provide a full background and context, whereas other essays may need only a little context, and others may need none.

An introduction to an essay usually has three primary purposes:

• To set the scene
• To tell readers what is important, and why
• To tell the reader what the essay is going to do (signposting)

A standard introduction includes the following five elements:

• A statement that sets out the topic and engages the reader.
• The background and context of the topic.
• Any important definitions, integrated into your text as appropriate.
• An outline of the key points, topic, issues, evidence, ideas, arguments, models, theories, or other information, as appropriate. This may include distinctions or contrasts between different ideas or evidence.
• A final sentence or two which tells the reader your focal points and aims.

You should aim to restrict your introduction to information needed for the topic and only include background and contextual information which helps the reader understand it, or sets the scene for your chosen focal points.

In most essays you will have a considerable range of options for your focus. You will be expected to demonstrate your ability to select the most relevant content to address your focal points.

There are some exceptions. For example, if an assignment brief specifically directs the essay focus or requires you to write broadly about a topic. These are relatively rare or are discipline-specific so you should check your task instructions and discipline and subject area conventions.

Below are examples of an opening statement, a summary of the selected content, and a statement at the end of the introduction which tells the reader what the essay will focus on and how it will be addressed. We've use a fictional essay.

The title of our essay is: 'Cats are better than dogs. Discuss.'

To submit this essay you also would need to add citations as appropriate.

Example of opening statements:

People have shared their lives with cats and dogs for millenia. Which is better depends partly on each animal’s characteristics and partly on the owner’s preferences.

Here is a summary of five specific topics selected for the essay, which would be covered in a little more detail in the introduction:

• In ancient Egypt, cats were treated as sacred and were pampered companions.
• Dogs have for centuries been used for hunting and to guard property. There are many types of working dog, and both dogs and cats are now kept purely as pets.
• They are very different animals, with different care needs, traits and abilities.
• It is a common perception that people are either “cat-lovers” or “dog-lovers”.
• It is a common perception that people tend to have preferences for one, and negative beliefs about and attitudes towards, the other.

Example of closing statements at the end of the introduction:

This essay will examine both cats’ and dogs’ behaviour and abilities, the benefits of keeping them as pets, and whether people’s perceptions of their nature matches current knowledge and understanding.

Main body: paragraphs

The body of the essay should be organised into paragraphs. Each paragraph should deal with a different aspect of the issue, but they should also link in some way to those that precede and follow it. This is not an easy thing to get right, even for experienced writers, partly because there are many ways to successfully structure and use paragraphs. There is no perfect paragraph template.

The theme or topic statement

The first sentence, or sometimes two, tells the reader what the paragraph is going to cover. It may either:

• Begin a new point or topic, or
• Follow on from the previous paragraph, but with a different focus or go into more-specific detail. If this is the case, it should clearly link to the previous paragraph.

The last sentence

It should be clear if the point has come to an end, or if it continues in the next paragraph.

Here is a brief example of flow between two summarised paragraphs which cover the historical perspective:

It is known from hieroglyphs that the Ancient Egyptians believed that cats were sacred. They were also held in high regard, as suggested by their being found mummified and entombed with their owners (Smith, 1969). In addition, cats are portrayed aiding hunters. Therefore, they were both treated as sacred, and were used as intelligent working companions. However, today they are almost entirely owned as pets.

In contrast, dogs have not been regarded as sacred, but they have for centuries been widely used for hunting in Europe. This developed over time and eventually they became domesticated and accepted as pets. Today, they are seen as loyal, loving and protective members of the family, and are widely used as working dogs.

There is never any new information in a conclusion.

The conclusion usually does three things:

• Reminds your readers of what the essay was meant to do.
• Provides an answer, where possible, to the title.
• Reminds your reader how you reached that answer.

The conclusion should usually occupy just one paragraph. It draws together all the key elements of your essay, so you do not need to repeat the fine detail unless you are highlighting something.

A conclusion to our essay about cats and dogs is given below:

Both cats and dogs have been highly-valued for millenia, are affectionate and beneficial to their owners’ wellbeing. However, they are very different animals and each is 'better' than the other regarding care needs and natural traits. Dogs need regular training and exercise but many owners do not train or exercise them enough, resulting in bad behaviour. They also need to be 'boarded' if the owner is away and to have frequent baths to prevent bad odours. In contrast, cats do not need this level of effort and care. Dogs are seen as more intelligent, loyal and attuned to human beings, whereas cats are perceived as aloof and solitary, and as only seeking affection when they want to be fed. However, recent studies have shown that cats are affectionate and loyal and more intelligent than dogs, but it is less obvious and useful. There are, for example, no 'police' or 'assistance' cats, in part because they do not have the kinds of natural instincts which make dogs easy to train. Therefore, which animal is better depends upon personal preference and whether they are required to work. Therefore, although dogs are better as working animals, cats are easier, better pets.

Download our basic essay structure revision sheet

Download this page as a PDF for your essay structure revision notes

Better Essays: Signposting

Paragraphs main body of an assessment

We use cookies to give you the best experience possible. By continuing we’ll assume you’re on board with our cookie policy

• A Research Guide
• Writing Guide
• Essay Writing

How to Write a Critical Analysis Essay

• What is a critical essay
• Critical essay structure
• How to start a critical essay

Types of critical essays

Step-by-step critical essay writing guide.

• Critical essay formatting tips
• Critical essay examples

What is a critical essay?

• To offer an objective vision of the original author.
• To provide a complete analysis of the consistency offered by the original author.
• To thoroughly evaluate original work and discuss the capability to maintain and support primary arguments and concepts.
• To critically analyze in an essay by presenting strengths and weaknesses discovered in an article, a movie, or an academic journal entry.
• To criticize the original author’s work by providing actual examples and explanations.

Critical essay structure and outline rules

How to start a critical essay?

• Take notes about information related to the author and include it in your introduction paragraph.
• Determine the author’s opinion and take on the subject by analyzing available data.
• Seek out examples of evidence as to whether the author proves why it is the right way of thinking.
• Create a strong thesis statement representing 50% of the author’s opinion and 50% of your vision.
• Determine both the strong and weak sides of the author’s style, grammar, accuracy, and structure. Use evaluation and analysis.
• Sociological critique.
• Sociocultural analysis.
• Reader-response criticism.
• Gender-based critical writing.
• Mythological critique.
• Biographical writing.
• History writing analysis.
• Psychoanalytical criticism.
• Formalist criticism and analysis.

Step 1: Know what is expected!

Step 2: take your time to analyze the source material, step 3: taking notes technique, step 4: primary challenges and working in patterns, step 5: author’s solutions, step 6: editing and proofreading, important critical essay formatting tips.

• Keep up with the specified writing style for your citations and the written content.
• Provide basic biography information about the author.
• Include only 1-3 citations per page.
• Provide information in “introduction – quote – analysis” template format.
• Your tone must be formal and analytical unless specified otherwise.
• The bias matters must be clarified with your academic advisor before writing.
• When seeking out the weak points for your critical analysis essay, explain why you think so with a piece of evidence that may include the author’s limitation or evidence taken from an external source.

Helpful critical essay examples

• Critical Reading and Analysis by the University of Queensland. 
• Critical Analysis Template by Thompson Rivers University. 
• Critical Essay Examples by EduBirdie (Our academic writing partner). 
• Critical Essay Samples by Students by James Cook University. 

Receive paper in 3 Hours!

• Choose the number of pages.
• Select your deadline.
• Complete your order.

Number of Pages

550 words (double spaced)

Deadline: 10 days left

By clicking "Log In", you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We'll occasionally send you account related and promo emails.

Sign Up for your FREE account

How to write a critical essay

Part of English Critical essay writing

• It is important to plan your critical essay before you start writing.
• An essay has a clear structure with an introduction, paragraphs with evidence and a conclusion.
• Evidence , in the form of quotations and examples is the foundation of an effective essay and provides proof for your points.

This video can not be played

To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.

Learn how to plan, structure and use evidence in your essays

It is important to plan before you start writing an essay.

The essay question or title should provide a clear focus for your plan. Exploring this will help you make decisions about what points are relevant to the essay. What are you being asked to consider?

Organise your thoughts. Researching, mind mapping and making notes will help sort and prioritise your ideas. If you are writing a critical essay, planning will help you decide which parts of the text to focus on and what points to make.

How to use the passive voice to sound more objective

• count 3 of 3

Assessment types

• essay structure
• Essay quantity guide
• How reports and essay are different
• Report writing basics
• Advanced reports
• Presentation nerves
• Planning, writing & delivering presentations
• LANGUAGE FOR PRESENTATIONS
• HOW TO APPROACH A LITERATURE REVIEW
• WHY WRITE A LITERATURE REVIEW?

essay structure (based on 1000 word essay)

Adapted from  The Little Blue Writing Book: Essays , by J. Dawson. 2007, Curtin University of Technology: The Learning Centre. Copyright 2007 by Curtin University of Technology.

essay parts

• Introduction
• Body paragraphs
• Introduce the topic and provide some context and brief background information
• Optionally, introduce key terms and definitions
• State key areas / main points to be addressed in order
• Introduce the main idea / purpose / argument in the last sentence of the introduction. This is your thesis statement

A thesis statement

• Is a sentence that states the position of the essay, usually the last sentence at the end of the introduction
• States an assertion. If required, as in a persuasive or argumentative essay, the thesis states a position
• Sets limits on the topics; clearly introduces the single, main argument of the paper, and may include all of the major supporting points 

Source: Hall, B. (2017). The night before essay planner. (3rd ed). Xoum Publishing.

Body paragraphs should:

• each have one clear main idea or topic
• have a topic sentence that introduces the information that will follow in the supporting sentences of the paragraph
• build a convincing case for the thesis 
• use evidence and/or examples from credible referenced sources to support the discussion
• end with a linking sentence to the next paragraph’s topic sentence

Click here to see the Quantity Guide  for essays, an approximate guide to work out how many paragraphs are needed in an essay.

• Restate the main position (the thesis statement)
• Summarise and draw together the key points
• comment on the broader significance of the topic
• make a prediction, a recommendation or a caution about the issue
• Do not introduce new material
• << Previous: Essays
• Next: Essay quantity guide >>
• Last Updated: Mar 25, 2024 10:43 AM
• URL: https://libguides.angliss.edu.au/assessmenttypes

Structure is an essential part of writing essays. While every essay will be different (depending on your subject and discipline), the general structure is usually the same. Essays should include an introduction , several body paragraphs , and a conclusion . Most essays will also require a reference list or bibliography.

Sometimes, your lecturer may include specific requirements for structuring an essay. Always check your assignment instructions carefully.

Introductions

Introductions should include:

• Background & context(s): write a sentence or two that shows the reader you understand the context of your assessment topic – this could be historical, social, political, demographic, theoretical or academic.
• Roadmap or preview: give the reader a sense of how your essay is organised, what it will say, and the order it will proceed.
• A clear response to the topic: include a short, direct statement that tells the reader your position regarding the topic. In some essays the response may take the form of an argument or "thesis statement."

Body paragraphs

Essays should have several body paragraphs, and each paragraph should cover one point or idea.

Body paragraphs should include:

• Topic sentence: start with the key idea. This is the sentence that frames the paragraph and acts as a signpost.
• Elaboration or explanation: next, elaborate on the topic. You may include an explanation of the key idea, or definition of important terms.
• Evidence: provide supporting evidence. This may include quotes, paraphrases and summaries. Don’t forget to properly reference  your sources.
• Link: end the paragraph by either linking back to your main topic or to the following paragraph.

Conclusions should include one or more of the following:

• Summary of the main points, findings or argument: remind your reader of the main points. Make sure you paraphrase your ideas so you don’t use the same wording as elsewhere in the assessment.
• Remaining problems and questions: indicate what still needs to be solved. Don’t be afraid to admit that you don't know everything.
• Areas for future research: provide suggestions for future research to address the problem, issue or question.
• A strong final sentence: leave the reader with an overall impression of your views on the topic.

For more information on including a Reference List, see Referencing .

For the full sample essay with annotations see the Word and PDF documents below.

• Sample Essay - Allied Health [PDF 268KB]
• Sample Essay - Allied Health [Word 95KB]
• Sample Essay - Psychology [PDF 250KB]
• Sample Essay - Psychology [Word 104KB]
• Sample Essay - Social Sciences [PDF 190KB]
• Sample Essay - Social Sciences [Word 67KB]

Pathfinder link

Still have questions? Do you want to talk to an expert? Peer Learning Advisors or Academic Skills and Language Advisors  are available.

• << Previous: Instruction words
• Next: Reports >>

Structure and Scoring of the Assessment

The structure of the assessment.

You'll begin by reading a prose passage of 700-1,000 words. This passage will be about as difficult as the readings in first-year courses at UC Berkeley. You'll have up to two hours to read the passage carefully and write an essay in response to a single topic and related questions based on the passage's content. These questions will generally ask you to read thoughtfully and to provide reasoned, concrete, and developed presentations of a specific point of view. Your essay will be evaluated on the basis of your ability to develop your central idea, to express yourself clearly, and to use the conventions of written English. 

Five Qualities of a Well-Written Essay

There is no "correct" response for the topic, but there are some things readers will look for in a strong, well-written essay.

• The writer demonstrates that they understood the passage.
• The writer maintains focus on the task assigned.
• The writer leads readers to understand a point of view, if not to accept it.
• The writer develops a central idea and provides specific examples.
• The writer evaluates the reading passage in light of personal experience, observations, or by testing the author's assumptions against their own.

Scoring is typically completed within three weeks after the assessment date. The readers are UC Berkeley faculty members, primarily from College Writing Programs, though faculty from other related departments, such as English or Comparative Literature might participate as well. 

Your essay will be scored independently by two readers, who will not know your identity. They will measure your essay against a scoring guide. If the two readers have different opinions, then a third reader will assess your essay as well  to help reach a final decision. Each reader will give your essay a score on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 6 (highest). When your two scores are added together, if they are 8 or higher, you satisfy the Entry Level Writing Requirement and may take any 4-unit "R_A" course (first half of the requirement, usually numbered R1A, though sometimes with a different number). If you receive a score less than 8, you should sign up for College Writing R1A, which satisfies both the Entry Level Writing Requirement and the first-semester ("A" part) of the Reading and Composition Requirement.

The Scoring Guide

The Scoring Guide outlines the characteristics typical of essays at six different levels of competence. Readers assign each essay a score according to its main qualities. Readers take into account the fact that the responses are written with two hours of reading and writing, without a longer period of time for drafting and revision.

An essay with a score of 6 may

• command attention because of its insightful development and mature style.
• present a cogent response to the text, elaborating that response with well-chosen  examples and persuasive reasoning. 
• present an organization that reinforces the development of the ideas which are aptly detailed.
• show that its writer can usually choose words well, use sophisticated sentences effectively, and observe the conventions of written English. 

An essay with a score of 5 may

clearly demonstrate competent writing skill. 

present a thoughtful response to the text, elaborating  that response with appropriate examples and sensible reasoning.

present an organization that supports the writer’s ideas, which are developed with greater detail than is typical of an essay scored '4.' 

have a less fluent and complex style than an essay scored '6,' but  shows that the writer can usually choose words accurately, vary sentences effectively, and observe the conventions of written English.  

An essay with a score of 4 may

be just 'satisfactory.'

present an adequate response to  the text, elaborating that response with sufficient examples and acceptable reasoning.

demonstrate an organization that generally supports the writer’s ideas, which are developed with sufficient detail.

use examples and reasoning that are less developed than those in '5'  essays. 

show that its writer can usually choose words of sufficient precision, control sentences of reasonable  variety, and observe the conventions of written English.  

An essay with a score of 3 may

be unsatisfactory in one or more of the following ways:

It may respond to the  text illogically

it may reflect an incomplete understanding of the text or the topic

it may provide insufficient reasoning or lack elaboration with examples,  or the examples provided may not be sufficiently detailed to support claims

it may be inadequately organized 

have prose characterized by at least one of the following:

frequently imprecise word choice

little sentence variety

occasional major errors in grammar and usage, or frequent minor errors  

An essay with a score of 2 may

show weaknesses, ordinarily of several kinds.

present a  simplistic or inappropriate response to the text, one that may suggest some significant misunderstanding of the text or the topic

use organizational strategies that detract from coherence or provide inappropriate or irrelevant detail.

simplistic or inaccurate word choice

monotonous or fragmented sentence structure

many repeated errors in grammar and usage    

An essay with a score of 1 may

show serious weaknesses.

disregard the topic's demands, or it may lack structure or development.

Have an organization that fails to support the essay’s ideas. 

be inappropriately brief. 

have a pattern of errors in word choice, sentence structure, grammar, and usage.

How to Write a Psychology Essay

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

Before you write your essay, it’s important to analyse the task and understand exactly what the essay question is asking. Your lecturer may give you some advice – pay attention to this as it will help you plan your answer.

Next conduct preliminary reading based on your lecture notes. At this stage, it’s not crucial to have a robust understanding of key theories or studies, but you should at least have a general “gist” of the literature.

After reading, plan a response to the task. This plan could be in the form of a mind map, a summary table, or by writing a core statement (which encompasses the entire argument of your essay in just a few sentences).

After writing your plan, conduct supplementary reading, refine your plan, and make it more detailed.

It is tempting to skip these preliminary steps and write the first draft while reading at the same time. However, reading and planning will make the essay writing process easier, quicker, and ensure a higher quality essay is produced.

Components of a Good Essay

Now, let us look at what constitutes a good essay in psychology. There are a number of important features.

• Global Structure – structure the material to allow for a logical sequence of ideas. Each paragraph / statement should follow sensibly from its predecessor. The essay should “flow”. The introduction, main body and conclusion should all be linked.
• Each paragraph should comprise a main theme, which is illustrated and developed through a number of points (supported by evidence).
• Knowledge and Understanding – recognize, recall, and show understanding of a range of scientific material that accurately reflects the main theoretical perspectives.
• Critical Evaluation – arguments should be supported by appropriate evidence and/or theory from the literature. Evidence of independent thinking, insight, and evaluation of the evidence.
• Quality of Written Communication – writing clearly and succinctly with appropriate use of paragraphs, spelling, and grammar. All sources are referenced accurately and in line with APA guidelines.

In the main body of the essay, every paragraph should demonstrate both knowledge and critical evaluation.

There should also be an appropriate balance between these two essay components. Try to aim for about a 60/40 split if possible.

Most students make the mistake of writing too much knowledge and not enough evaluation (which is the difficult bit).

It is best to structure your essay according to key themes. Themes are illustrated and developed through a number of points (supported by evidence).

Choose relevant points only, ones that most reveal the theme or help to make a convincing and interesting argument.

Knowledge and Understanding

Remember that an essay is simply a discussion / argument on paper. Don’t make the mistake of writing all the information you know regarding a particular topic.

You need to be concise, and clearly articulate your argument. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences.

Each paragraph should have a purpose / theme, and make a number of points – which need to be support by high quality evidence. Be clear why each point is is relevant to the argument. It would be useful at the beginning of each paragraph if you explicitly outlined the theme being discussed (.e.g. cognitive development, social development etc.).

Try not to overuse quotations in your essays. It is more appropriate to use original content to demonstrate your understanding.

Psychology is a science so you must support your ideas with evidence (not your own personal opinion). If you are discussing a theory or research study make sure you cite the source of the information.

Note this is not the author of a textbook you have read – but the original source / author(s) of the theory or research study.

For example:

Bowlby (1951) claimed that mothering is almost useless if delayed until after two and a half to three years and, for most children, if delayed till after 12 months, i.e. there is a critical period.

Maslow (1943) stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs. When one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fullfil the next one, and so on.

As a general rule, make sure there is at least one citation (i.e. name of psychologist and date of publication) in each paragraph.

Remember to answer the essay question. Underline the keywords in the essay title. Don’t make the mistake of simply writing everything you know of a particular topic, be selective. Each paragraph in your essay should contribute to answering the essay question.

Critical Evaluation

In simple terms, this means outlining the strengths and limitations of a theory or research study.

There are many ways you can critically evaluate:

Methodological evaluation of research

Is the study valid / reliable ? Is the sample biased, or can we generalize the findings to other populations? What are the strengths and limitations of the method used and data obtained?

Be careful to ensure that any methodological criticisms are justified and not trite.

Rather than hunting for weaknesses in every study; only highlight limitations that make you doubt the conclusions that the authors have drawn – e.g., where an alternative explanation might be equally likely because something hasn’t been adequately controlled.

Compare or contrast different theories

Outline how the theories are similar and how they differ. This could be two (or more) theories of personality / memory / child development etc. Also try to communicate the value of the theory / study.

Debates or perspectives

Refer to debates such as nature or nurture, reductionism vs. holism, or the perspectives in psychology . For example, would they agree or disagree with a theory or the findings of the study?

What are the ethical issues of the research?

Does a study involve ethical issues such as deception, privacy, psychological or physical harm?

Gender bias

If research is biased towards men or women it does not provide a clear view of the behavior that has been studied. A dominantly male perspective is known as an androcentric bias.

Cultural bias

Is the theory / study ethnocentric? Psychology is predominantly a white, Euro-American enterprise. In some texts, over 90% of studies have US participants, who are predominantly white and middle class.

Does the theory or study being discussed judge other cultures by Western standards?

Animal Research

This raises the issue of whether it’s morally and/or scientifically right to use animals. The main criterion is that benefits must outweigh costs. But benefits are almost always to humans and costs to animals.

Animal research also raises the issue of extrapolation. Can we generalize from studies on animals to humans as their anatomy & physiology is different from humans?

The PEC System

It is very important to elaborate on your evaluation. Don’t just write a shopping list of brief (one or two sentence) evaluation points.

Instead, make sure you expand on your points, remember, quality of evaluation is most important than quantity.

When you are writing an evaluation paragraph, use the PEC system.

• Make your P oint.
• E xplain how and why the point is relevant.
• Discuss the C onsequences / implications of the theory or study. Are they positive or negative?

For Example

• Point: It is argued that psychoanalytic therapy is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority.
• Explain: Because psychoanalytic therapy involves talking and gaining insight, and is costly and time-consuming, it is argued that it is only of benefit to an articulate, intelligent, affluent minority. Evidence suggests psychoanalytic therapy works best if the client is motivated and has a positive attitude.
• Consequences: A depressed client’s apathy, flat emotional state, and lack of motivation limit the appropriateness of psychoanalytic therapy for depression.

Furthermore, the levels of dependency of depressed clients mean that transference is more likely to develop.

Using Research Studies in your Essays

Research studies can either be knowledge or evaluation.

• If you refer to the procedures and findings of a study, this shows knowledge and understanding.
• If you comment on what the studies shows, and what it supports and challenges about the theory in question, this shows evaluation.

Writing an Introduction

It is often best to write your introduction when you have finished the main body of the essay, so that you have a good understanding of the topic area.

If there is a word count for your essay try to devote 10% of this to your introduction.

Ideally, the introduction should;

Identify the subject of the essay and define the key terms. Highlight the major issues which “lie behind” the question. Let the reader know how you will focus your essay by identifying the main themes to be discussed. “Signpost” the essay’s key argument, (and, if possible, how this argument is structured).

Introductions are very important as first impressions count and they can create a h alo effect in the mind of the lecturer grading your essay. If you start off well then you are more likely to be forgiven for the odd mistake later one.

Writing a Conclusion

So many students either forget to write a conclusion or fail to give it the attention it deserves.

If there is a word count for your essay try to devote 10% of this to your conclusion.

Ideally the conclusion should summarize the key themes / arguments of your essay. State the take home message – don’t sit on the fence, instead weigh up the evidence presented in the essay and make a decision which side of the argument has more support.

Also, you might like to suggest what future research may need to be conducted and why (read the discussion section of journal articles for this).

Don”t include new information / arguments (only information discussed in the main body of the essay).

If you are unsure of what to write read the essay question and answer it in one paragraph.

Points that unite or embrace several themes can be used to great effect as part of your conclusion.

The Importance of Flow

Obviously, what you write is important, but how you communicate your ideas / arguments has a significant influence on your overall grade. Most students may have similar information / content in their essays, but the better students communicate this information concisely and articulately.

When you have finished the first draft of your essay you must check if it “flows”. This is an important feature of quality of communication (along with spelling and grammar).

This means that the paragraphs follow a logical order (like the chapters in a novel). Have a global structure with themes arranged in a way that allows for a logical sequence of ideas. You might want to rearrange (cut and paste) paragraphs to a different position in your essay if they don”t appear to fit in with the essay structure.

To improve the flow of your essay make sure the last sentence of one paragraph links to first sentence of the next paragraph. This will help the essay flow and make it easier to read.

Finally, only repeat citations when it is unclear which study / theory you are discussing. Repeating citations unnecessarily disrupts the flow of an essay.

Referencing

The reference section is the list of all the sources cited in the essay (in alphabetical order). It is not a bibliography (a list of the books you used).

In simple terms every time you cite/refer to a name (and date) of a psychologist you need to reference the original source of the information.

If you have been using textbooks this is easy as the references are usually at the back of the book and you can just copy them down. If you have been using websites, then you may have a problem as they might not provide a reference section for you to copy.

References need to be set out APA style :

Author, A. A. (year). Title of work . Location: Publisher.

Journal Articles

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year). Article title. Journal Title, volume number (issue number), page numbers

A simple way to write your reference section is use Google scholar . Just type the name and date of the psychologist in the search box and click on the “cite” link.

Next, copy and paste the APA reference into the reference section of your essay.

Once again, remember that references need to be in alphabetical order according to surname.

A Level Philosophy & Religious Studies

OCR Religious Studies A level Essay Structure

Essay structure is very important in OCR as your exams will be completely assessed by essay questions.

The most important thing to say about essay structure is that there are many different types of essay structure that work. As a tutor I’ve seen loads of different types that my student’s teachers have taught them and as an examiner I’ve seen even more.

Ultimately all an essay needs is detailed AO1 explanation/understanding and coherently developed AO2 evaluation/analysis. It needs to detail multiple points of view and come to a reasoned conclusion about which is successful. That’s all an essay needs. How exactly that content is arranged is therefore not the most important thing compared to making sure it is there.

However, there are two essay structures that I think are the best because they really force you to include coherently developed AO2 evaluation and they also work well with structured revision.

Before we get to that you need to understand the difference between general and particular essay questions.

General vs particular essay questions

Some essay questions are general and some are particular.

General questions ask a question about the overall topic. Particular questions focus on a part of the topic.

Example from the Plato topic:

General: Critically assess how we can best make sense of reality. Particular: Assess Plato’s theory of forms’.

Example from the Teleological/design argument topic:

General: Does the universe show evidence of design? Particular: Critically assess Hume’s objections to the design argument

The importance of identifying particular essay questions for AO1 and AO2 marks

The most important thing to understand about this is that for particular questions, you can only get AO1 marks for whatever particular scholar/argument/theory/approach the question is asking you to evaluate.

So, in the Plato question example, you could only get AO1 marks for your explanation of Plato. You absolutely can bring in Aristotle to that essay if you want, but you can only get AO2 marks for that. This is because Aristotle can only be useful to a particular question on Plato to help you evaluate Plato.

This is vitally important. If you do not do well in your AO1 marks, you are limited in the AO2 marks you can get.

For example in the 2022 Philosophy paper there was a particular question on Aquinas’ 5 th way. Students who didn’t remember Aquinas’ 5 th way properly and quickly moved on to Paley who they understood better would have done badly. They could have written a really amazing essay on Paley and even included really amazing evaluations of the design argument, but without properly explaining Aquinas’ 5 th way their AO2 marks would have been severely limited.

Ethics questions are often particular. A question asking you to evaluate Natural Law ethics clearly requires that you explain natural law. The question might have a focus like telos, the four tiers of law or the double effect, and you would have to explain that in detail too. But those are things you should be including in an AO1 explanation of Natural Law anyway!

So, it is vital that you can identify a particular question so you can make sure to get the AO1 explanation of whatever the question is about in as much detail as you can into your essay.

Then the question is where this AO1 knowledge should go in your essay.

If the essay question picks out a particular sub-topic that it wants you to evaluate, then paragraph 1 must start with that topic.

For example, if the question is on religious experience and asks you to evaluate William James, you could bring up other thinkers like Otto and do a paragraph on him, but for it to be relevant to the question you would need to bring him up for the purpose of evaluating James. The purpose would be to see whether Otto’s approach is better or worse than James’. This can only be properly done if you have already explained James’ approach.

I will now explain the two types of essay structures I recommend and then explain what AO2 evaluation requires.

Essay structure type one: split essay

AO1 & AO2 are split into different paragraphs.

This type of essay plan splits up the AO1 and AO2. Paragraph one is just completely pure AO1. The aim is to get all the detailed knowledge you need for your essay completed in paragraph 1. This is simple because you don’t have the unnecessary burden of thinking about how to break up the AO1 into different parts to start each paragraph with.

Both paragraphs 2 and 3 can then be pure AO2 evaluation.

Paragraph 1: pure AO1 explanation. Paragraph 2: AO2 evaluation. Paragraph 3: AO2 evaluation.

You can begin paragraphs 2 and 3 with AO2 criticisms, whether stand-alone or from scholars or scholarly views who disagree with whatever particular AO1 scholar/theory/argument/perecptive was in the question. Those paragraphs can then be developed with back-and-forth defences, counter-defences, etc.

This type of structure works well for particular questions because you can just get the important AO1 out of the way and then focus on evaluation.

Applied ethics questions are also easier to do with this structure. You get the AO1 explanation of the ethical theory and the application of it to the ethical issue(s) out of the way before then evaluating that theory’s application (sometimes by critically comparing it to another theory’s application) in paragraphs 2 and 3.

Essay structure type two: integrated essay

AO1 & AO2 are integrated into all paragraphs.

This type involves putting AO1 and AO2 in the same paragraph. Each paragraph, or at least the first two, will include AO1 and AO2.

Paragraph 1: AO1 explanation and then AO2 evaluation. Paragraph 2: AO1 explanation and then AO2 evaluation. Paragraph 3: AO1 explanation and then AO2 evaluation.

This type of structure works well for general questions. For example, if you have a general question on the soul topic, e.g. “Does the soul exist?” [40] you could do:

Paragraph 1: AO1: Plato’s views on the soul and AO2: criticism of Plato. Paragraph 2: AO1: Aristotle’s views on the soul and AO2: criticism of Aristotle. Paragraph 3: AO1: Dawkins’ views on the soul and AO2: criticism of Dawkins.

AO2 evaluation requires:

Now that we’ve gone over the types of essays you could do, here are some general comments about AO2 evaluation that pply whatever structure you decide to use.

AO2 evaluation requires starting with a strength or a weakness/criticism or an opposing perspective/scholar/scholarly view to whatever view you explained for AO1. Your AO1 will be either in the first paragraph if doing a split essay structure, or at the start of the paragraph if doing an integrated essay structure.

The first sentence of your AO2 is extremely important. It must link to the question. It needs to have with clear evaluative language and introduce both the evaluation point and its relevance to the question.

You will then have given two sides to a debate. It is optional but you could continue to go back and forth. Regardless of whether you do that or not, you then need to end the evaluation with your reasoned judgement as to which side of the debate is right and why. This will involve either:

• Arguing that the previous criticism is successful.
• Offering a defence against the previous criticism to show why it is actually unsuccessful.

It’s often easier and better to do the second option – defending against a criticism – since you can just learn a defence off by heart beforehand and then just plug it in.

It is good to begin the part where you offer your judgement with the phrase “X argument is un/successful because…”.

Then link back to the question using the language of the question and the paragraph is finished.

Introductions

Introductions are not super important for getting marks but should be there and this is a good recipe to follow for structuring them. Ideally one or at most two sentences for each of these points in this order:

• What the general topic is about (and why it matters)
• What the question is asking about within that topic
• Who is on either side of the debate of the essay question
• What you are going to argue and why.

Conclusions

Sum up the evaluative judgements you reached throughout your essay and explain the overall conclusion that follows from them.

Avoid juxtaposition

Whenever using a scholar/perspective/theory for evaluation, whether for a criticism or defence or counter-defence, etc, you then have to avoid juxtaposition. Juxtaposition is when you put two things next to each other. It’s basically like saying “Here’s a view on the question, and here’s an opposing view”. That is not yet evaluation. Evaluation is when you say which side is right and why.

It doesn’t matter how much back and forth you do in your evaluation, whether it’s simply a view on the question and one criticism or a longer chain, the crucial thing is to avoid juxtaposition; avoid ending the evaluation by stating what a scholar’s views are, even if those views are that the original view is wrong. You need to end your evaluation with your judgement on the success/failure of a theory/perspective/scholar’s views, having given a good reason for that judgement.

Evaluation = who is right, and why?

Make sure your evaluative mini-conclusions at the end of each paragraph which link back to the question fit your final conclusion

Always end a paragraph in a way that fits your conclusion. Your intro should say what your concluding answer to the question is going to be. It’s incoherent for you to conclude one side of the debate is correct if you have a paragraph which ends on a criticism of that side. This is because just leaving it like that makes it look like you don’t have an answer to it, which means you haven’t managed to justify your conclusion. However, it is acceptable to conclude a side is correct even if you end a paragraph with the evaluation that one of the points in support of it fails, so long as when ending the paragraph in the link back to the question you make clear that it’s not an essential point. For example, you could agree with Hume that the teleological/design argument fails, even if in one of your paragraphs you end up evaluating that one of his criticisms of it actually fails. So long as he has at least one criticism which you evaluate as successful, then the design argument fails (if that is indeed what the criticism shows).

Linking back to the question is not as simple as it seems. To get the best marks, it’s often not enough simply to end a paragraph with “therefore this side of the question is true/false”. Often, the final AO2 evaluative point you made to end the paragraph doesn’t exactly say that. It’s important that you notice exactly how your evaluative point is helping to justify your conclusion. For example:

It may be that you have merely undermined one of the arguments for one side of a debate, rather than completely proven the other side. For example, imagine the question is “does the soul exist?” and you spend a paragraph evaluating Plato and decide his arguments for the soul fail. It would be wrong of you to link back to the question by saying “Therefore, the soul does not exist”. Really, what your paragraph has actually shown in a deeper more precise sense is “Therefore, Plato’s argument for the soul fails”. If you evaluate all the arguments for the soul as false and the arguments against the soul as true, then in your final conclusion you would be justified in claiming that we have best reason to believe that the soul does not exist.