Structuring your essay
Your work should be set out inparagraphsand each para-
graph will deal with one topic (see Chapter 4). From your
notes you must decide how you can group your points so that
the essay will flow naturally from one paragraph to the next.
How you arrange your plan is up to you but remember to
keep to the point. Use evidence to support what you say and
explain why your quotations or references are relevant.
Remember that you must have anintroductory paragraph
showing what you are intending to do in your essay. The
main body of the essay follows. From your notes pick out the
main points that you will use and organise them under
paragraphheadings. Remember that a paragraph deals with
one main idea but you may be able to group several similar
points together. Theconcluding paragraphsums up the essay
and shows that you have completed what you set out to do.
Decide the best way to approach your essay. This will
depend upon what type of essay you are writing.
◆ Is it going to be a piece of narrative told chronologically?
◆ Will it be a descriptive piece?
◆ Will you be expounding a theory and supporting it with
your research?
◆ Will it be discursive? In this case both sides of an argu-
ment are used and you must write a balanced essay with
evidence supporting both points of view.
WRITING AN ESSAY AND A SHORT STORY / 103