Essay Writing
Purpose of an Essay
Is an essay to inform? Or to entertain? Or to persuade? It can be used for any of these! The most common uses for essays are to inform and to persuade.
Informative essays are often about research that has been conducted. This could be based on a poll, or on scientific experiments, or on observation of behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. An informative essay may contain an idea drawn from that research, but the emphasis is not on the idea, only on conveying new information.
Persuasive essays are about ideas and leading the reader to understand and agree with those ideas. These ideas may be based on an opinion or belief and while they should be supported by research, the research is there to talk about the idea.
Both styles of essay may contain ideas and research. The difference is whether the emphasis is on the idea or on the research. In English classes, we write persuasive essays to learn how to communicate our ideas.
Making a Statement
Every essay begins with a statement of intent. This is where you tell your reader what you’re going to talk about. It’s called a thesis statement because it’s a statement that you put forward for consideration, so that the reader can think about what you’re saying, and have a clear understanding of whether they agree or disagree with you.
Tips and Tools
Essay Structure
Essays are structured so that there’s a lot of repetition. This isn’t because we think the reader is going to forget what you’re saying by the time they get to the next line! This is because by rewording what you’re trying to tell them, you can make it clearer and easier for them to understand. If you’ve just made a whole lot of great points, sometimes the reader can agree with your points individually, but not understand how they go together. By summarising throughout your essay, you show the reader how your point makes sense, and how it works with everything else you’ve said.
Here’s a great resource for you to try out – our own handy essay creator! This will guide you through the parts of an essay as you write one. Try writing in response to one of the prompts below, or by making up your own essay topic. This can help you to understand how an essay works in response to different types of questions.
Should the canteen sell junk food?
Discuss the positives and negatives of having a school uniform.
Which character was most influential in Parvana’s decision to disguise herself as a boy?
Key Word Activity
Key words from your thesis statement should appear throughout your essay. It’s simple to make sure that your thesis statement is being supported by your arguments – you can use your computer’s Find function.
On Microsoft-based computers, press CTRL+F to open the Find
function in any word processor or internet browser.
On Apple computers, press ⌘+F to open the Find function in any
word processor or internet browser.
If your thesis statement is “School uniforms prevent students from being bullied for not having fashionable clothing”, what are your key words that separate your statement from others?
School uniforms prevent students from being bullied for not having fashionable clothing.
If you don’t have these words or words like them (eg. bully, bullies, fashion) in your essay, then is your essay really saying the same thing as your thesis statement? How easy will it be for the reader to know your points agree with your thesis statement?
Essay Map
Essay Map can help you to plan your essay with a visual representation of the essay structure. You can flick between paragraphs and see how what you're writing connects from one place to the next. In order to keep your work you must remember to save it - the website will not remember for you.
Tips around the Internet
The internet has a lot of writing resources to help you with your essays, all the way from the start of high-school right through to University. Here are some websites and videos appropriate for Year 7 and 8 essay writers.