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The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay | Steps & Examples

An academic essay is a focused piece of writing that develops an idea or argument using evidence, analysis, and interpretation.

There are many types of essays you might write as a student. The content and length of an essay depends on your level, subject of study, and course requirements. However, most essays at university level are argumentative — they aim to persuade the reader of a particular position or perspective on a topic.

The essay writing process consists of three main stages:

  • Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline.
  • Writing : Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion.
  • Revision:  Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling, and formatting of your essay.

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Table of contents

Essay writing process, preparation for writing an essay, writing the introduction, writing the main body, writing the conclusion, essay checklist, lecture slides, frequently asked questions about writing an essay.

The writing process of preparation, writing, and revisions applies to every essay or paper, but the time and effort spent on each stage depends on the type of essay .

For example, if you’ve been assigned a five-paragraph expository essay for a high school class, you’ll probably spend the most time on the writing stage; for a college-level argumentative essay , on the other hand, you’ll need to spend more time researching your topic and developing an original argument before you start writing.

1. Preparation 2. Writing 3. Revision
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essay draft assignment

Before you start writing, you should make sure you have a clear idea of what you want to say and how you’re going to say it. There are a few key steps you can follow to make sure you’re prepared:

  • Understand your assignment: What is the goal of this essay? What is the length and deadline of the assignment? Is there anything you need to clarify with your teacher or professor?
  • Define a topic: If you’re allowed to choose your own topic , try to pick something that you already know a bit about and that will hold your interest.
  • Do your research: Read  primary and secondary sources and take notes to help you work out your position and angle on the topic. You’ll use these as evidence for your points.
  • Come up with a thesis:  The thesis is the central point or argument that you want to make. A clear thesis is essential for a focused essay—you should keep referring back to it as you write.
  • Create an outline: Map out the rough structure of your essay in an outline . This makes it easier to start writing and keeps you on track as you go.

Once you’ve got a clear idea of what you want to discuss, in what order, and what evidence you’ll use, you’re ready to start writing.

The introduction sets the tone for your essay. It should grab the reader’s interest and inform them of what to expect. The introduction generally comprises 10–20% of the text.

1. Hook your reader

The first sentence of the introduction should pique your reader’s interest and curiosity. This sentence is sometimes called the hook. It might be an intriguing question, a surprising fact, or a bold statement emphasizing the relevance of the topic.

Let’s say we’re writing an essay about the development of Braille (the raised-dot reading and writing system used by visually impaired people). Our hook can make a strong statement about the topic:

The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.

2. Provide background on your topic

Next, it’s important to give context that will help your reader understand your argument. This might involve providing background information, giving an overview of important academic work or debates on the topic, and explaining difficult terms. Don’t provide too much detail in the introduction—you can elaborate in the body of your essay.

3. Present the thesis statement

Next, you should formulate your thesis statement— the central argument you’re going to make. The thesis statement provides focus and signals your position on the topic. It is usually one or two sentences long. The thesis statement for our essay on Braille could look like this:

As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness.

4. Map the structure

In longer essays, you can end the introduction by briefly describing what will be covered in each part of the essay. This guides the reader through your structure and gives a preview of how your argument will develop.

The invention of Braille marked a major turning point in the history of disability. The writing system of raised dots used by blind and visually impaired people was developed by Louis Braille in nineteenth-century France. In a society that did not value disabled people in general, blindness was particularly stigmatized, and lack of access to reading and writing was a significant barrier to social participation. The idea of tactile reading was not entirely new, but existing methods based on sighted systems were difficult to learn and use. As the first writing system designed for blind people’s needs, Braille was a groundbreaking new accessibility tool. It not only provided practical benefits, but also helped change the cultural status of blindness. This essay begins by discussing the situation of blind people in nineteenth-century Europe. It then describes the invention of Braille and the gradual process of its acceptance within blind education. Subsequently, it explores the wide-ranging effects of this invention on blind people’s social and cultural lives.

Write your essay introduction

The body of your essay is where you make arguments supporting your thesis, provide evidence, and develop your ideas. Its purpose is to present, interpret, and analyze the information and sources you have gathered to support your argument.

Length of the body text

The length of the body depends on the type of essay. On average, the body comprises 60–80% of your essay. For a high school essay, this could be just three paragraphs, but for a graduate school essay of 6,000 words, the body could take up 8–10 pages.

Paragraph structure

To give your essay a clear structure , it is important to organize it into paragraphs . Each paragraph should be centered around one main point or idea.

That idea is introduced in a  topic sentence . The topic sentence should generally lead on from the previous paragraph and introduce the point to be made in this paragraph. Transition words can be used to create clear connections between sentences.

After the topic sentence, present evidence such as data, examples, or quotes from relevant sources. Be sure to interpret and explain the evidence, and show how it helps develop your overall argument.

Lack of access to reading and writing put blind people at a serious disadvantage in nineteenth-century society. Text was one of the primary methods through which people engaged with culture, communicated with others, and accessed information; without a well-developed reading system that did not rely on sight, blind people were excluded from social participation (Weygand, 2009). While disabled people in general suffered from discrimination, blindness was widely viewed as the worst disability, and it was commonly believed that blind people were incapable of pursuing a profession or improving themselves through culture (Weygand, 2009). This demonstrates the importance of reading and writing to social status at the time: without access to text, it was considered impossible to fully participate in society. Blind people were excluded from the sighted world, but also entirely dependent on sighted people for information and education.

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The conclusion is the final paragraph of an essay. It should generally take up no more than 10–15% of the text . A strong essay conclusion :

  • Returns to your thesis
  • Ties together your main points
  • Shows why your argument matters

A great conclusion should finish with a memorable or impactful sentence that leaves the reader with a strong final impression.

What not to include in a conclusion

To make your essay’s conclusion as strong as possible, there are a few things you should avoid. The most common mistakes are:

  • Including new arguments or evidence
  • Undermining your arguments (e.g. “This is just one approach of many”)
  • Using concluding phrases like “To sum up…” or “In conclusion…”

Braille paved the way for dramatic cultural changes in the way blind people were treated and the opportunities available to them. Louis Braille’s innovation was to reimagine existing reading systems from a blind perspective, and the success of this invention required sighted teachers to adapt to their students’ reality instead of the other way around. In this sense, Braille helped drive broader social changes in the status of blindness. New accessibility tools provide practical advantages to those who need them, but they can also change the perspectives and attitudes of those who do not.

Write your essay conclusion

Checklist: Essay

My essay follows the requirements of the assignment (topic and length ).

My introduction sparks the reader’s interest and provides any necessary background information on the topic.

My introduction contains a thesis statement that states the focus and position of the essay.

I use paragraphs to structure the essay.

I use topic sentences to introduce each paragraph.

Each paragraph has a single focus and a clear connection to the thesis statement.

I make clear transitions between paragraphs and ideas.

My conclusion doesn’t just repeat my points, but draws connections between arguments.

I don’t introduce new arguments or evidence in the conclusion.

I have given an in-text citation for every quote or piece of information I got from another source.

I have included a reference page at the end of my essay, listing full details of all my sources.

My citations and references are correctly formatted according to the required citation style .

My essay has an interesting and informative title.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (e.g. font, page numbers, line spacing).

Your essay meets all the most important requirements. Our editors can give it a final check to help you submit with confidence.

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An essay is a focused piece of writing that explains, argues, describes, or narrates.

In high school, you may have to write many different types of essays to develop your writing skills.

Academic essays at college level are usually argumentative : you develop a clear thesis about your topic and make a case for your position using evidence, analysis and interpretation.

The structure of an essay is divided into an introduction that presents your topic and thesis statement , a body containing your in-depth analysis and arguments, and a conclusion wrapping up your ideas.

The structure of the body is flexible, but you should always spend some time thinking about how you can organize your essay to best serve your ideas.

Your essay introduction should include three main things, in this order:

  • An opening hook to catch the reader’s attention.
  • Relevant background information that the reader needs to know.
  • A thesis statement that presents your main point or argument.

The length of each part depends on the length and complexity of your essay .

A thesis statement is a sentence that sums up the central point of your paper or essay . Everything else you write should relate to this key idea.

The thesis statement is essential in any academic essay or research paper for two main reasons:

  • It gives your writing direction and focus.
  • It gives the reader a concise summary of your main point.

Without a clear thesis statement, an essay can end up rambling and unfocused, leaving your reader unsure of exactly what you want to say.

A topic sentence is a sentence that expresses the main point of a paragraph . Everything else in the paragraph should relate to the topic sentence.

At college level, you must properly cite your sources in all essays , research papers , and other academic texts (except exams and in-class exercises).

Add a citation whenever you quote , paraphrase , or summarize information or ideas from a source. You should also give full source details in a bibliography or reference list at the end of your text.

The exact format of your citations depends on which citation style you are instructed to use. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago .

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Steps for Writing a First Draft of an Essay

  • Take a closer look at your assignment and the topic if it was given to you by your instructor. Revise your outline as well. This is needed for your clearer understanding of the tasks you must accomplish within the draft, and to make sure you meet the requirements of the assignment.
  • Sketch out the introduction of your essay. At this point, don’t get stalled on form; introductory part should inform readers about what the topic is, and state your point of view according to this topic. The introduction should also be interesting to read to capture readers’ attention, but this task has more to do with thoughtful and scrupulous writing, and thus should be left for later.
  • Based on your outline, start transferring your ideas to paper. The main task here is to give them the initial form and set a general direction for their further development, and not to write a full paper.
  • Chalk out the summarizing paragraph of your essay. It should not contain any new ideas, but briefly reintroduce those from the main body, and restate your thesis statement.
  • Read through the draft to see if you have included the information you wanted to, but without making any further corrections, since this is a task for the second and final drafts.
  • If you are not sure that you checked everything, send it out for proofreading. Searching through the best essay service reviews, you can get some recommendations of where to look.

Key Points to Consider

  • While an outline is needed to decide on what to write, the first draft is more about answering a question: “How to write?” In the first draft, you shape your ideas out, and not simply name and list them, as you did in an outline.
  • When you start writing your thoughts down, it may happen that one idea or concept sparks new connections, memories, or associations. Be attentive to such sidetracks; choose those of them that might be useful for your writing, and don’t delve in those that are undesirable in terms of the purpose of your paper (academic, showing opinion). A successful piece of writing is focused on its topic, and doesn’t include everything you have to say on a subject.
  • Making notes for yourself in the margins or even in the middle of the text is a useful practice. This can save you time and keep you focused on the essence of your essay without being distracted by secondary details. For example, such notes could look like this: “As documented, the Vietnam War cost the United States about … (search for the exact sum of money and interpret it in terms of modern exchange rates) U. S. dollars.”
  • When you finish crafting your first draft, it is useful to put it aside and completely quit thinking about writing for a certain period of time. Time away will allow you to have a fresh look at your draft when you decide to revise it.

Do and Don’t

Do

Don’t

Common Mistakes When Writing a First Draft of an Essay

– Editing and revising a draft in process of writing. If you stop after each sentence to think it over, you will most likely lose your flow; besides, many people have an internal editor  or critic  who can’t stand it if the material is written imperfectly. Therefore, first you should deal with the whole draft, and only after that proofread and edit it.

– Paying too much attention to secondary arguments, factual material, and other minor peculiarities. The main goal of the first draft is to sketch out your main ideas; you can fill it with details later. If you think you will forget about an important fact or remark, make brief notes in margins.

– Ignoring the role of a first draft in the essay writing process. Though it may seem you are wasting time working on a draft, you are working on the essay itself. You need to understand how your outline works in full written form.

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More from Stages of the Writing Process

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Samples for writing a first draft, parental control as a necessary measure in the upbringing of modern children (part 1) essay sample, example.

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8.3 Drafting

Learning objectives.

  • Identify drafting strategies that improve writing.
  • Use drafting strategies to prepare the first draft of an essay.

Drafting is the stage of the writing process in which you develop a complete first version of a piece of writing.

Even professional writers admit that an empty page scares them because they feel they need to come up with something fresh and original every time they open a blank document on their computers. Because you have completed the first two steps in the writing process, you have already recovered from empty page syndrome. You have hours of prewriting and planning already done. You know what will go on that blank page: what you wrote in your outline.

Getting Started: Strategies For Drafting

Your objective for this portion of Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” is to draft the body paragraphs of a standard five-paragraph essay. A five-paragraph essay contains an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. If you are more comfortable starting on paper than on the computer, you can start on paper and then type it before you revise. You can also use a voice recorder to get yourself started, dictating a paragraph or two to get you thinking. In this lesson, Mariah does all her work on the computer, but you may use pen and paper or the computer to write a rough draft.

Making the Writing Process Work for You

What makes the writing process so beneficial to writers is that it encourages alternatives to standard practices while motivating you to develop your best ideas. For instance, the following approaches, done alone or in combination with others, may improve your writing and help you move forward in the writing process:

  • Begin writing with the part you know the most about. You can start with the third paragraph in your outline if ideas come easily to mind. You can start with the second paragraph or the first paragraph, too. Although paragraphs may vary in length, keep in mind that short paragraphs may contain insufficient support. Readers may also think the writing is abrupt. Long paragraphs may be wordy and may lose your reader’s interest. As a guideline, try to write paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than the length of an entire double-spaced page.
  • Write one paragraph at a time and then stop. As long as you complete the assignment on time, you may choose how many paragraphs you complete in one sitting. Pace yourself. On the other hand, try not to procrastinate. Writers should always meet their deadlines.
  • Take short breaks to refresh your mind. This tip might be most useful if you are writing a multipage report or essay. Still, if you are antsy or cannot concentrate, take a break to let your mind rest. But do not let breaks extend too long. If you spend too much time away from your essay, you may have trouble starting again. You may forget key points or lose momentum. Try setting an alarm to limit your break, and when the time is up, return to your desk to write.
  • Be reasonable with your goals. If you decide to take ten-minute breaks, try to stick to that goal. If you told yourself that you need more facts, then commit to finding them. Holding yourself to your own goals will create successful writing assignments.
  • Keep your audience and purpose in mind as you write. These aspects of writing are just as important when you are writing a single paragraph for your essay as when you are considering the direction of the entire essay.

Of all of these considerations, keeping your purpose and your audience at the front of your mind is the most important key to writing success. If your purpose is to persuade, for example, you will present your facts and details in the most logical and convincing way you can.

Your purpose will guide your mind as you compose your sentences. Your audience will guide word choice. Are you writing for experts, for a general audience, for other college students, or for people who know very little about your topic? Keep asking yourself what your readers, with their background and experience, need to be told in order to understand your ideas. How can you best express your ideas so they are totally clear and your communication is effective?

You may want to identify your purpose and audience on an index card that you clip to your paper (or keep next to your computer). On that card, you may want to write notes to yourself—perhaps about what that audience might not know or what it needs to know—so that you will be sure to address those issues when you write. It may be a good idea to also state exactly what you want to explain to that audience, or to inform them of, or to persuade them about.

Writing at Work

Many of the documents you produce at work target a particular audience for a particular purpose. You may find that it is highly advantageous to know as much as you can about your target audience and to prepare your message to reach that audience, even if the audience is a coworker or your boss. Menu language is a common example. Descriptions like “organic romaine” and “free-range chicken” are intended to appeal to a certain type of customer though perhaps not to the same customer who craves a thick steak. Similarly, mail-order companies research the demographics of the people who buy their merchandise. Successful vendors customize product descriptions in catalogs to appeal to their buyers’ tastes. For example, the product descriptions in a skateboarder catalog will differ from the descriptions in a clothing catalog for mature adults.

Using the topic for the essay that you outlined in Section 8.2 “Outlining” , describe your purpose and your audience as specifically as you can. Use your own sheet of paper to record your responses. Then keep these responses near you during future stages of the writing process.

My purpose: ____________________________________________

____________________________________________

My audience: ____________________________________________

Setting Goals for Your First Draft

A draft is a complete version of a piece of writing, but it is not the final version. The step in the writing process after drafting, as you may remember, is revising. During revising, you will have the opportunity to make changes to your first draft before you put the finishing touches on it during the editing and proofreading stage. A first draft gives you a working version that you can later improve.

Workplace writing in certain environments is done by teams of writers who collaborate on the planning, writing, and revising of documents, such as long reports, technical manuals, and the results of scientific research. Collaborators do not need to be in the same room, the same building, or even the same city. Many collaborations are conducted over the Internet.

In a perfect collaboration, each contributor has the right to add, edit, and delete text. Strong communication skills, in addition to strong writing skills, are important in this kind of writing situation because disagreements over style, content, process, emphasis, and other issues may arise.

The collaborative software, or document management systems, that groups use to work on common projects is sometimes called groupware or workgroup support systems.

The reviewing tool on some word-processing programs also gives you access to a collaborative tool that many smaller workgroups use when they exchange documents. You can also use it to leave comments to yourself.

If you invest some time now to investigate how the reviewing tool in your word processor works, you will be able to use it with confidence during the revision stage of the writing process. Then, when you start to revise, set your reviewing tool to track any changes you make, so you will be able to tinker with text and commit only those final changes you want to keep.

Discovering the Basic Elements of a First Draft

If you have been using the information in this chapter step by step to help you develop an assignment, you already have both a formal topic outline and a formal sentence outline to direct your writing. Knowing what a first draft looks like will help you make the creative leap from the outline to the first draft. A first draft should include the following elements:

  • An introduction that piques the audience’s interest, tells what the essay is about, and motivates readers to keep reading.
  • A thesis statement that presents the main point, or controlling idea, of the entire piece of writing.
  • A topic sentence in each paragraph that states the main idea of the paragraph and implies how that main idea connects to the thesis statement.
  • Supporting sentences in each paragraph that develop or explain the topic sentence. These can be specific facts, examples, anecdotes, or other details that elaborate on the topic sentence.
  • A conclusion that reinforces the thesis statement and leaves the audience with a feeling of completion.

These elements follow the standard five-paragraph essay format, which you probably first encountered in high school. This basic format is valid for most essays you will write in college, even much longer ones. For now, however, Mariah focuses on writing the three body paragraphs from her outline. Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” covers writing introductions and conclusions, and you will read Mariah’s introduction and conclusion in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” .

The Role of Topic Sentences

Topic sentences make the structure of a text and the writer’s basic arguments easy to locate and comprehend. In college writing, using a topic sentence in each paragraph of the essay is the standard rule. However, the topic sentence does not always have to be the first sentence in your paragraph even if it the first item in your formal outline.

When you begin to draft your paragraphs, you should follow your outline fairly closely. After all, you spent valuable time developing those ideas. However, as you begin to express your ideas in complete sentences, it might strike you that the topic sentence might work better at the end of the paragraph or in the middle. Try it. Writing a draft, by its nature, is a good time for experimentation.

The topic sentence can be the first, middle, or final sentence in a paragraph. The assignment’s audience and purpose will often determine where a topic sentence belongs. When the purpose of the assignment is to persuade, for example, the topic sentence should be the first sentence in a paragraph. In a persuasive essay, the writer’s point of view should be clearly expressed at the beginning of each paragraph.

Choosing where to position the topic sentence depends not only on your audience and purpose but also on the essay’s arrangement, or order. When you organize information according to order of importance, the topic sentence may be the final sentence in a paragraph. All the supporting sentences build up to the topic sentence. Chronological order may also position the topic sentence as the final sentence because the controlling idea of the paragraph may make the most sense at the end of a sequence.

When you organize information according to spatial order, a topic sentence may appear as the middle sentence in a paragraph. An essay arranged by spatial order often contains paragraphs that begin with descriptions. A reader may first need a visual in his or her mind before understanding the development of the paragraph. When the topic sentence is in the middle, it unites the details that come before it with the ones that come after it.

As you read critically throughout the writing process, keep topic sentences in mind. You may discover topic sentences that are not always located at the beginning of a paragraph. For example, fiction writers customarily use topic ideas, either expressed or implied, to move readers through their texts. In nonfiction writing, such as popular magazines, topic sentences are often used when the author thinks it is appropriate (based on the audience and the purpose, of course). A single topic sentence might even control the development of a number of paragraphs. For more information on topic sentences, please see Chapter 6 “Writing Paragraphs: Separating Ideas and Shaping Content” .

Developing topic sentences and thinking about their placement in a paragraph will prepare you to write the rest of the paragraph.

The paragraph is the main structural component of an essay as well as other forms of writing. Each paragraph of an essay adds another related main idea to support the writer’s thesis, or controlling idea. Each related main idea is supported and developed with facts, examples, and other details that explain it. By exploring and refining one main idea at a time, writers build a strong case for their thesis.

Paragraph Length

How long should a paragraph be?

One answer to this important question may be “long enough”—long enough for you to address your points and explain your main idea. To grab attention or to present succinct supporting ideas, a paragraph can be fairly short and consist of two to three sentences. A paragraph in a complex essay about some abstract point in philosophy or archaeology can be three-quarters of a page or more in length. As long as the writer maintains close focus on the topic and does not ramble, a long paragraph is acceptable in college-level writing. In general, try to keep the paragraphs longer than one sentence but shorter than one full page of double-spaced text.

Journalistic style often calls for brief two- or three-sentence paragraphs because of how people read the news, both online and in print. Blogs and other online information sources often adopt this paragraphing style, too. Readers often skim the first paragraphs of a great many articles before settling on the handful of stories they want to read in detail.

You may find that a particular paragraph you write may be longer than one that will hold your audience’s interest. In such cases, you should divide the paragraph into two or more shorter paragraphs, adding a topic statement or some kind of transitional word or phrase at the start of the new paragraph. Transition words or phrases show the connection between the two ideas.

In all cases, however, be guided by what you instructor wants and expects to find in your draft. Many instructors will expect you to develop a mature college-level style as you progress through the semester’s assignments.

To build your sense of appropriate paragraph length, use the Internet to find examples of the following items. Copy them into a file, identify your sources, and present them to your instructor with your annotations, or notes.

  • A news article written in short paragraphs. Take notes on, or annotate, your selection with your observations about the effect of combining paragraphs that develop the same topic idea. Explain how effective those paragraphs would be.
  • A long paragraph from a scholarly work that you identify through an academic search engine. Annotate it with your observations about the author’s paragraphing style.

Starting Your First Draft

Now we are finally ready to look over Mariah’s shoulder as she begins to write her essay about digital technology and the confusing choices that consumers face. As she does, you should have in front of you your outline, with its thesis statement and topic sentences, and the notes you wrote earlier in this lesson on your purpose and audience. Reviewing these will put both you and Mariah in the proper mind-set to start.

The following is Mariah’s thesis statement.

Everyone wants the newest and the best digital technology ,but the choices are many, and the specifications are often confusing

Here are the notes that Mariah wrote to herself to characterize her purpose and audience.

Mariah's notes to herself

Mariah chose to begin by writing a quick introduction based on her thesis statement. She knew that she would want to improve her introduction significantly when she revised. Right now, she just wanted to give herself a starting point. You will read her introduction again in Section 8.4 “Revising and Editing” when she revises it.

Remember Mariah’s other options. She could have started directly with any of the body paragraphs.

You will learn more about writing attention-getting introductions and effective conclusions in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” .

With her thesis statement and her purpose and audience notes in front of her, Mariah then looked at her sentence outline. She chose to use that outline because it includes the topic sentences. The following is the portion of her outline for the first body paragraph. The roman numeral II identifies the topic sentence for the paragraph, capital letters indicate supporting details, and arabic numerals label subpoints.

The roman numeral II identifies the topic sentence for the paragraph, capital letters indicate supporting details, and arabic numerals label subpoints.

Mariah then began to expand the ideas in her outline into a paragraph. Notice how the outline helped her guarantee that all her sentences in the body of the paragraph develop the topic sentence.

Outlines help guarantee that all sentences in the body of the paragraph develop the topic sentence.

If you write your first draft on the computer, consider creating a new file folder for each course with a set of subfolders inside the course folders for each assignment you are given. Label the folders clearly with the course names, and label each assignment folder and word processing document with a title that you will easily recognize. The assignment name is a good choice for the document. Then use that subfolder to store all the drafts you create. When you start each new draft, do not just write over the last one. Instead, save the draft with a new tag after the title—draft 1, draft 2, and so on—so that you will have a complete history of drafts in case your instructor wishes you to submit them.

In your documents, observe any formatting requirements—for margins, headers, placement of page numbers, and other layout matters—that your instructor requires.

Study how Mariah made the transition from her sentence outline to her first draft. First, copy her outline onto your own sheet of paper. Leave a few spaces between each part of the outline. Then copy sentences from Mariah’s paragraph to align each sentence with its corresponding entry in her outline.

Continuing the First Draft

Mariah continued writing her essay, moving to the second and third body paragraphs. She had supporting details but no numbered subpoints in her outline, so she had to consult her prewriting notes for specific information to include.

If you decide to take a break between finishing your first body paragraph and starting the next one, do not start writing immediately when you return to your work. Put yourself back in context and in the mood by rereading what you have already written. This is what Mariah did. If she had stopped writing in the middle of writing the paragraph, she could have jotted down some quick notes to herself about what she would write next.

Preceding each body paragraph that Mariah wrote is the appropriate section of her sentence outline. Notice how she expanded roman numeral III from her outline into a first draft of the second body paragraph. As you read, ask yourself how closely she stayed on purpose and how well she paid attention to the needs of her audience.

Outline excerpt

Mariah then began her third and final body paragraph using roman numeral IV from her outline.

Outline excerpt

Reread body paragraphs two and three of the essay that Mariah is writing. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

  • In body paragraph two, Mariah decided to develop her paragraph as a nonfiction narrative. Do you agree with her decision? Explain. How else could she have chosen to develop the paragraph? Why is that better?
  • Compare the writing styles of paragraphs two and three. What evidence do you have that Mariah was getting tired or running out of steam? What advice would you give her? Why?
  • Choose one of these two body paragraphs. Write a version of your own that you think better fits Mariah’s audience and purpose.

Writing a Title

A writer’s best choice for a title is one that alludes to the main point of the entire essay. Like the headline in a newspaper or the big, bold title in a magazine, an essay’s title gives the audience a first peek at the content. If readers like the title, they are likely to keep reading.

Following her outline carefully, Mariah crafted each paragraph of her essay. Moving step by step in the writing process, Mariah finished the draft and even included a brief concluding paragraph (you will read her conclusion in Chapter 9 “Writing Essays: From Start to Finish” ). She then decided, as the final touch for her writing session, to add an engaging title.

Thesis Statement: Everyone wants the newest and the best digital technology, but the choices are many, and the specifications are often confusing. Working Title: Digital Technology: The Newest and the Best at What Price?

Writing Your Own First Draft

Now you may begin your own first draft, if you have not already done so. Follow the suggestions and the guidelines presented in this section.

Key Takeaways

  • Make the writing process work for you. Use any and all of the strategies that help you move forward in the writing process.
  • Always be aware of your purpose for writing and the needs of your audience. Cater to those needs in every sensible way.
  • Remember to include all the key structural parts of an essay: a thesis statement that is part of your introductory paragraph, three or more body paragraphs as described in your outline, and a concluding paragraph. Then add an engaging title to draw in readers.
  • Write paragraphs of an appropriate length for your writing assignment. Paragraphs in college-level writing can be a page long, as long as they cover the main topics in your outline.
  • Use your topic outline or your sentence outline to guide the development of your paragraphs and the elaboration of your ideas. Each main idea, indicated by a roman numeral in your outline, becomes the topic of a new paragraph. Develop it with the supporting details and the subpoints of those details that you included in your outline.
  • Generally speaking, write your introduction and conclusion last, after you have fleshed out the body paragraphs.

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.

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How to Write a Great Essay Draft In College

Table of content.

  • 01. What Makes Essay Drafts Important
  • 02. Four Key Steps WhenWriting the First Draft
  • 03. Do This When Wondering How to Write a Draft Essay
  • 04. Mistakes to Avoid
  • 05. Summary of All Crucial Points
  • 06. Make a Good Draft and Reap Its Benefits

Students grimace at the thought of essay draft whenever they are asked to write one. Sure, some understand its necessity, but most others just wave it off, thinking that drafts are an unnecessary complication professors made up to make their lives more difficult. Who is right and who is wrong here? Let’s find out by establishing what a draft is. It’s a rough version of the final paper where a writer expresses an outline of their ideas, presenting their skeleton and putting some meat on it. 

But just knowing draft essay definition isn’t enough, you also have to fully realize its relevance and ways in which it should be created. Drafts are vital components of academic writing process: they could help students understand how their introduction, body, and conclusion are going to look like before their paper is fully written. They give you chances to catch mistakes and discrepancies before they go too far as with their help, you can correct everything on time. Let us expand on this thought and explain how an effective draft should be created.

What Makes Essay Drafts Important

Students are right to assume that writing a draft takes time. But what they usually dismiss is the fact that after this document is ready, they can submit it for preliminary assessment. Professor will take a look at it, underlining its strong and weak points, and if everything is more or less fine, you’ll get to keep the draft and transform it into the final essay. This way, the time you spent on it won’t disappear into nowhere — your final version will be at least half-done. 

Look at any example of a draft essay — sometimes they resemble a finished work because you can already understand writer’s point, their evidence, the  structure of an essay  and conclusion. You’ll be expanding a draft to make it into an essay, not writing it from scratch. In addition, even if professor tells you that whole thing needs to be redone because you focused on the wrong theme, it’s better to know about it in advance instead of writing an even longer essay and getting a failing grade for it. Look at this file like you would at the sample of final work. This is your opportunity to learn whether you’re moving in the right direction and take actions in case you took a wrong turn.

Four Key Steps WhenWriting the First Draft

What is a first draft? It’s initial try at building a picture of a future essay. Later, it might be sent back to you for revision or expansion, so you could write a second and third draft. If you want to prevent this situation from happening, it’s preferable to do a great job from the first try. These are the steps you should take.

1. Develop an outline

After deciding on what topic you should write about, start planning the points you’ll be exploring. Determine which bits should be mentioned in the body — it is the most important thing. For example, if you’re working on the theme of English postmodernism, indicate which factors represent it. Place one per each paragraph and add a few more details to them. After this skeleton is ready and you can move on toward the next step.  

2. Make a thesis

Thesis is a key statement of students’ paper that plays an equally relevant role in your first draft essay, so be sure to devise it early on. Decide, what is the central argument? What do you plan to prove? Your reader should be able to understand your goal simply by reading  thesis statement , so make this bit count and base your work on it.  

3. Find good sources

You might have to include more sources when working on the final paper, but deciding on key ones is important at this stage. Choose two or three articles or books. Remember that they should be credible and created within the last 5 years. Dedicate each source to a paragraph, determining main ideas you’ll be supporting with their help.

4. Write at least 3-5 sentences about each key point

Everything is prepared, so it is time for actual writing. Focus only on key elements  —  other details should be added in later versions. Craft a short introduction with thesis. Explore every body point from an outline in 3 or 5 sentences; be brief, concise, and don’t deviate from the course you’ve set. Mention sources in support, even if you don’t provide full evidence yet. Conclude essay by adding some more sentences in the final part. Remember about limits: go for expressing all relevant factors, not for expanding your rough file just to increase the word count.

Useful information: Use our  free conclusion generator  is only a few clicks away.

Do This When Wondering How to Write a Draft Essay

In every assignment, there are some considerations that a student should take into consideration. With drafts, at least three could be distinguished. First, remember your goal. Since drafting entails giving shape to different ideas, this process has an unstable structure. Some new ideas might occur; other ideas could disappear. This is a natural occurrence and you shouldn’t be worried about it. Just keep your judgment sound: sometimes new direction could help you reach your goal more effectively, but other times, it only distracts. Keep visualizing it and you’ll be fine.

The second point worth remembering when drafting an essay is taking a break from writing. Walk somewhere, read something else, and then evaluate your draft. This could reveal some missteps that require correcting. The third consideration is your notes. It isn’t obligatory to make them, but at the same time, they could serve as guidelines showing what you intend to work on after draft is returned to you. They are a useful bridge between a draft and a final essay.   

Mistakes to Avoid

Looking through a draft essay example is a great idea for seeing what mistakes people make. If you know it, you can learn in advance what to avoid and how to smoothen rough angles of your work. Here are three most frequent errors everyone should be wary of.

  • Too many details . Common mistake many students make lies in treating a draft like a final essay. They try filling it with all details at once, expressing their opinions fully and not leaving anything out. As a result, they end up with work that equals or exceeds the size of real essay.
  • No  structure . Other students, on the contrary, feel too lazy to bother with this task. What is a draft essay for them? This is an unpleasant necessity. That’s why they create a paragraph or two, jumping between points chaotically and hoping that it would be enough. Work performed in such manner is largely useless, and it won’t help with an essay in the slightest. 
  • Too much editing.  Sure, doing some light editing and  is always good since it allows making sure that your sentences are coherent, but when drafting, it is vital not to overdo it. Some students get too focused on eliminating all technical mistakes, to the point where they forget about everything else. Drafts are training exercise for students, not some final version that must be polished perfectly. Content is far more important.   

Summary of All Crucial Points

Are you still wondering how to draft an essay? We decided on summarizing the points we mentioned and develop our list with best and worst things students could do in the process of their work. Keep them in mind and you’ll stand higher chances of succeeding.

  • Preliminary research.  Conduct thorough research right away. Selecting sources,  making an outline , and figuring out potential scope of future work are vital processes that you should take care of as soon as possible. It’ll come in handy both in a sample version and in an essay itself.
  • Present key essay points in your document.  Through thesis and brainstorming, determine major points of an essay. Describe them in a draft, giving each of them a few sentences. In most cases, their number doesn’t exceed 5, but it depends on an overall size of your planned work.  
  • Leave space for additions.  Remember that professor expects you to flesh out your ideas in a real paper, so present only raw facts in your draft. There should be space for expanding them at some later stage. You’ll use more evidence, ideas, and arguments there — be sure your word count covers it all.

Don’t:

  • Make document too long.  Ideally, draft essay should present about 50-60% of its final version. Students are going to have enough time for expanding paragraphs and fill them with secondary details, so avoid doing it all in one go. Be specific, don’t be detailed.  
  • Treat it as a  final  paper.  Don’t think that your draft is the same thing as a complete essay. That’s not true and it could only confuse you further. These rough essays are exercises, you’re only shaping real paper in them. Time for doing more is going to come afterward.   
  • Think it is unimportant.  Drafts have an absolute importance, and students shouldn’t forget about this fact. By relying on them, you could see how your final essay would look like if you continued pursuing this course. What you invest into it will pay off, so work hard and follow recommendations provided by your teacher.

Make a Good Draft and Reap Its Benefits

Now that you know draft paper definition and the relevance it carries, you shouldn’t have problems with understanding why creating it is so essential. Consider this to be your training ground. Explore ideas, build links between them, think about sources that should be used in their support, and work on making solid conclusion. When everything is done, send final work for your professor’s assessment. They are going to review and express their opinion on your efforts, both strengths and weaknesses included. In turn, you’ll gain an opportunity to  correct the essay  and elaborate on the strong sides of your text.  

Find some great essay draft example in the Internet if you aren’t sure how to write your own. Start brainstorming right after that, noting down different  essay ideas . Work on each part, from introduction to body and conclusion, exploring an outline of the main essay points. Introduce academic sources in every body paragraph, and that’s it! Your draft will inspire your final paper, serving as its strong foundation. 

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Drafting your answer preparing assignments.

This is the creative part of the process! Many people go through a rough three-stage process when drafting assignments.

  • Organise your ideas in a plan.
  • Write the first draft.
  • Write a fully formed second draft.

Writing a plan

It's very easy to stray off course when you are writing assignments, partly because you may get carried away with what you are writing about. You need to keep an overview of the assignment writing process while you are working. By writing a plan (a rough outline of the structure of your assignment) you can start to sort out what’s relevant and shape the structure and progress of your arguments, keeping them pertinent to the question and logically ordered.

I personally would prefer a short concise essay or assignment that actually addresses the real question that you're being asked rather than somebody write pages and pages on the issue. You just won't get marks for that. All the courses are about showing your understanding. Eulina (OU tutor)

Starting to think

Getting going on the first draft can be difficult. If you're stuck and don't know how to start, try the following.

  • Create a  mind map , a useful way of organising your initial thoughts.
  • Brainstorm ideas by challenging any facts or assertions in the title and by thinking of analogies. Concentrate on a word or concept and think of any related points that come to mind.
  • Put your ideas on sticky notes that can be re-ordered later.
  • Record your ideas on audio or video. Listen to your audio and use sticky notes to rework the ideas.
  • Create an outline using your word processor and paste in your notes.
  • Try colour coding your different sets of ideas, using highlighters or coloured sticky notes.

Lynn's advice on using notes for an assignment

essay draft assignment

Lynn (Student): Before I start my assignment I will have done all the work that it tells me to do. All the chapters and I will have made notes right through the whole chapters. As I am making my notes I mark in highlighter or something what I think will be useful for the TMA and I put little post-its all over the page and sticking out the side. And I constantly have my question beside me and the notes. So I sort of really start the assignment as soon as I start making the first notes. And then when it comes to actually doing the assignment and the blank page is there it's just a question of thinking I can do this I have done the notes, I have done the work I can do it. And then you have to focus. Some days it doesn't work. And I have to go away and do something else and come back later. But you have to do it.

Cynthia and Robin's approach to the writing process

essay draft assignment

Cynthia (Student): Keep the question in front of you. I write it on a little card and put it in front of me at all times. And that way I stay focussed on it. But that's as much advice, and he may well have given me more but I can't actually bring any more to mind. It's planning, planning, planning. And mind-mapping. Robin (Student): Well I use mind-maps for everything from the planning stage to collating information to the final delivery. It will all tend to be on one mind-map. And then I'll put it into some sort of formal essay or however it's required. In the format that's required for the assignment.

Your first draft

Look back at the feedback you've had for previous assignments and check if there's anything new you should be doing. Then start to write.

  • Build up from the outline content in your plan.
  • Create the first sentence for each of your main points.
  • Write in paragraphs.
  • Where you need to add evidence, decide where you want to use paraphrasing and where quotes might be better.

As you compose your draft, bear in mind you need to keep your assignment to a certain length. To find out what word count you should work to, consult the information on your module website. For more information about using the Word Count tool in Word see  Using Microsoft Word for study .

James's advice on starting an assignment

essay draft assignment

James (Student): The best piece of advice I think I could give for writing a TMA would be to say, you have to think of it as an argument. What you're writing is a position that you believe in. So write it concisely about "this is what I believe" statements, this, this, this and so it builds up a coherent argument. Best way to do that is to look at the question early on in the context of what you're doing. You can do things like, write it in the centre of the paper - the question - and then kind of divide up your word limits. So 200, for your aim, 200 words. Then 400 for different paragraphs about different areas of the question, because there's usually a couple of areas in the question that you can focus on. Then with 200 words for your conclusion basically. And work it like that. So be quite scientific about, make sure you do it like that I think.

Try to write your first draft quickly. If you have to write yours by hand into an assignment booklet, always use spare paper for your first draft so you can make changes. If you are using a word processor, make sure that cutting and pasting words into different sections hasn't introduced repetition or an illogical ordering of your argument. Add reference information as you go.

Don't spend ages perfecting sentences and ideas at this stage. You may find yourself coming out with a stream of consciousness, if so just get it down on paper. Then read it through and ask yourself some searching questions.

  • Have I answered the question?
  • Are my arguments objective, logical and precise and supported by evidence?
  • Does my essay flow in an understandable way?
  • Have I shown that I understand the module material?
  • Have I referenced my evidence properly?

Your second draft

The aim of a second draft is to improve on what you've already written, rather than do any major restructuring.

  • Add any points that you might have forgotten.
  • Look at your sequence of paragraphs. Do they move logically from one to the other?
  • Check your sentence structure,  grammar and punctuation .
  • Make sure your style of writing and use of vocabulary is appropriate.

Keeping on track

Students often inadvertently misread the question and end up losing marks by answering a completely different question. Contact your fellow students and tutor about your thoughts so far – just to check that you are on the right track.

Useful resources

The OU Library's page on how to cite the original material you refer to in your assignments

Gives advice on writing in your own words

OU Library webpage leading to useful online dictionaries and thesauri, some of which are subject-specific.

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Building the Essay Draft

Building a strong essay draft requires going through a logical progression of stages:, explanation.

Development options

Linking paragraphs

Introductions

Conclusions.

Revising and proofreading the draft

Hints for revising and proofreading

Tip: After you have completed the body of your paper, you can decide what you want to say in your introduction and in your conclusion.

Once you know what you want to talk about and you have written your thesis statement, you are ready to build the body of your essay.

The thesis statement will usually be followed by

  • the body of the paper
  • the paragraphs that develop the thesis by explaining your ideas by backing them up 
  • examples or evidence

Tip: The "examples or evidence" stage is the most important part of the paper, because you are giving your reader a clear idea of what you think and why you think it.

Development Options

  • For each reason you have to support your thesis, remember to state your point clearly and explain it.

Tip: Read your thesis sentence over and ask yourself what questions a reader might ask about it. Then answer those questions, explaining and giving examples or evidence.

Show how one thing is similar to another, and then how the two are different, emphasizing the side that seems more important to you. For example, if your thesis states, "Jazz is a serious art form," you might compare and contrast a jazz composition to a classical one.

Show your reader what the opposition thinks (reasons why some people do not agree with your thesis), and then refute those reasons (show why they are wrong).  On the other hand, if you feel that the opposition isn't entirely wrong, you may say so, (concede), but then explain why your thesis is still the right opinion.

  • Think about the order in which you have made your points. Why have you presented a certain reason that develops your thesis first, another second? If you can't see any particular value in presenting your points in the order you have, reconsider it until you either decide why the order you have is best, or change it to one that makes more sense to you.
  • Does each paragraph develop my thesis?
  • Have I done all the development I wish had been done?
  • Am I still satisfied with my working thesis, or have I developed my body in ways that mean I must adjust my thesis to fit what I have learned, what I believe, and what I have actually discussed?

Linking Paragraphs

It is important to link your paragraphs together, giving your readers cues so that they see the relationship between one idea and the next, and how these ideas develop your thesis.

Your goal is a smooth transition from paragraph A to paragraph B, which explains why cue words that link paragraphs are often called "transitions."

Tip: Your link between paragraphs may not be one word, but several, or even a whole sentence.

Here are some ways of linking paragraphs:

  • To show simply that another idea is coming, use words such as "also," "moreover," or "in addition."
  • To show that the next idea is the logical result of the previous one, use words such as "therefore," "consequently," "thus," or "as a result."
  • To show that the next idea seems to go against the previous one, or is not its logical result, use words such as "however," "nevertheless," or "still."
  • To show you've come to your strongest point, use words such as "most importantly."
  • To show you've come to a change in topic, use words such as "on the other hand."
  • To show you've come to your final point, use words such as "finally."

After you have come up with a thesis and developed it in the body of your paper, you can decide how to introduce your ideas to your reader.

The goals of an introduction are to

  • Get your reader's attention/arouse your reader's curiosity.
  • Provide any necessary background information before you state your thesis (often the last sentence of the introductory paragraph).
  • Establish why you are writing the paper.

Tip: You already know why you are writing, and who your reader is; now present that reason for writing to that reader.

Hints for writing your introduction:

  • Use the Ws of journalism (who, what, when, where, why) to decide what information to give. (Remember that a history teacher doesn't need to be told "George Washington was the first president of the United States." Keep your reader in mind.)
  • Add another "W": Why (why is this paper worth reading)? The answer could be that your topic is new, controversial, or very important.
  • Catch your reader by surprise by starting with a description or narrative that doesn't hint at what your thesis will be. For example, a paper could start, "It is less than a 32nd of an inch long, but it can kill an adult human," to begin a paper about eliminating malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

There can be many different conclusions to the same paper (just as there can be many introductions), depending on who your readers are and where you want to direct them (follow-up you expect of them after they finish your paper). Therefore, restating your thesis and summarizing the main points of your body should not be all that your conclusion does. In fact, most weak conclusions are merely restatements of the thesis and summaries of the body without guiding the reader toward thinking about the implications of the thesis.

Here are some options for writing a strong conclusion:

Make a prediction about the future. You convinced the reader that thermal energy is terrific, but do you think it will become the standard energy source? When?

Give specific advice. If your readers now understand that multicultural education has great advantages, or disadvantages, or both, whatever your opinion might be, what should they do? Whom should they contact?

Put your topic in a larger context. Once you have proven that physical education should be part of every school's curriculum, perhaps readers  should consider other "frill" courses which are actually essential.

Tip: Just as a conclusion should not be just a restatement of your thesis and summary of your body, it also should not be an entirely new topic, a door opened that you barely lead your reader through and leave them there lost. Just as in finding your topic and in forming your thesis, the safe and sane rule in writing a conclusion is this:  neither too little nor too much.

Revising and Proofreading the Draft

Writing is only half the job of writing..

The writing process begins even before you put pen to paper, when you think about your topic. And, once you finish actually writing, the process continues. What you have written is not the finished essay, but a first draft, and you must go over many times to improve it--a second draft, a third draft, and so on until you have as many as necessary to do the job right. Your final draft, edited and proofread, is your essay, ready for your reader's eyes.

A revision is a "re-vision" of your essay--how you see things now, deciding whether your introduction, thesis, body, and conclusion really express your own vision. Revision is global, taking another look at what ideas you have included in your paper and how they are arranged.

Proofreading

Proofreading is checking over a draft to make sure that everything is complete and correct as far as spelling, grammar, sentence structure, punctuation, and other such matters go. It's a necessary, if somewhat tedious and tricky, job one that a friend or computer Spellcheck can help you perform. Proofreading is polishing, one spot at a time.

Tip: Revision should come before proofreading: why polish what you might be changing anyway?

Hints for revising and proofreading:

  • Leave some time--an hour, a day, several day--between writing and revising. You need some distance to switch from writer to editor, some distance between your initial vision and your re-vision.
  • Double-check your writing assignment to be sure you haven't gone off course . It is all right if you've shifted from your original plan, if you know why and are happier with this direction.  Make sure that you are actually following your mentor's assignment.
  • Read aloud slowly . You need to get your eye and your ear to work together. At any point that something seems awkward, read it over again. If you're not sure what's wrong--or even if something is wrong--make a notation in the margin and come back to it later. Watch out for "padding;" tighten your sentences to eliminate excess words that dilute your ideas.
  • Be on the lookout for points that seem vague or incomplete ; these could present opportunities for rethinking, clarifying, and further developing an idea.
  • Get to know what your particular quirks are as a writer. Do you give examples without explaining them, or forget links between paragraphs? Leave time for an extra rereading to look for any weak points.
  • Get someone else into the act. Have others read your draft, or read it to them. Invite questions and ask questions yourself, to see if your points are clear and well-developed. Remember, though, that some well-meaning readers can be too easy (or too hard) on a piece of writing.

Tip: Never change anything unless you are convinced that it should be changed .

  • Keep tools at hand, such as a dictionary, a thesaurus, and a writing handbook.
  • While you're using word processing, remember that computers are wonderful resources for editing and revising.
  • When you feel you've done everything you can, first by revising and then by proofreading, and have a nice clean, final draft, put it aside and return later to re-see the whole essay. There may be some last minute fine-tuning that can make all the difference.

Don't forget--if you would like help with at this point in your assignment or any other type of writing assignment, learning coaches are available to assist you.  Please contact Academic Support by emailing [email protected] ; calling 1-800-847-3000, ext 3008; or calling the main number of the location in your region to schedule an appointment. Use this resource to find more information about Academic Support .

Don't forget--if you would like help with at this point in your assignment or any other type of writing assignment, learning coaches are available to assist you.  Please contact Academic Support by emailing [email protected] ; calling 1-800-847-3000, ext 3008; or calling the main number of the location in your region (click  here for more information) to schedule an appointment.

Need Assistance?

If you would like assistance with any type of writing assignment, learning coaches are available to assist you. Please contact Academic Support by emailing [email protected].

Questions or feedback about SUNY Empire's Writing Support?

Contact us at [email protected] .

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Resources: Discussions and Assignments

Essay assignment: compare/contrast essay—prewriting and draft.

For this assignment, you will work through the prewriting and drafting stages of your writing process in a compare/contrast essay.

Compare/Contrast Essay Prompt

Choose one of the following topics for an essay developed by comparison and contrast. The topic you decide on should be something you care about so that the examples are a means of communicating an  idea;  not an end in themselves. Possible examples include:

  • Two jobs you have held
  • A good and a bad job interview
  • Your relationship with two friends
  • Two relatives

Places and Things

  • A place as it is now and as it was years ago
  • Two towns or cities.
  • Nature in the city and in the country
  • A passive student and an active student

Writing Your Compare/Contrast Essay

STEP 1 : To get started writing, first pick at least one prewriting strategy (brainstorming, rewriting,  journaling, mapping, questioning, sketching) to develop ideas for your essay. Write down what you do, as you’ll need to submit evidence of your prewrite.

STEP 2:  Next, write a draft of your essay.

  • Develop an enticing title.
  • Think of specific, interesting details or events to incorporate into the essay to grab the reader.
  • Let the essay reflect your own voice (is your voice serious, humorous, matter-of-fact?)
  • Organize the essay in a way that may capture the reader, but don’t string the reader along too much with “next, next, next.”
  • To avoid just telling what happens, SHOW us what happened with vivid examples and/or testimony. Make sure you take time to reflect on why this experience is significant.

Assignment Instructions

  • Review the grading rubric as listed on this page.
  • Choose a writing prompt as listed above on this page.
  • Create a prewrite in the style of your choice for the prompt.
  • Minimum of 3 typed, double-spaced pages (about 600–750 words), Times New Roman, 12 pt font size
  • MLA formatting
  • Submit your prewriting and draft as a single file upload.

Requirements

Be sure to:

  • Develop your essay by comparison and contrast.
  • Decide on something you care about so that the narration is a means of communicating an  idea.
  • Include  characters,  conflict,  sensory details  as appropriate to help your essay come alive, if possible.
  • Create a logical sequence for your points of comparison.
  • Use the introduction to establish the situation the essay will address.
  • Avoid addressing the assignment directly (don’t write “I am going to write about…” – this takes the fun out of reading the work!).
  • Let the essay reflect your own voice (Is your voice serious? Humorous? Matter-of-fact?).
  • Avoid “telling” your reader about what happened. Instead, “show” what happens using active verbs and/or concrete and descriptive nouns and details.
  • Make sure you take time to reflect on why your points are significant.

If you developed your prewriting by hand on paper, scan or take a picture of your prewriting, load the image onto your computer, and then insert the image on a separate page after your draft.

Ideas The paper demonstrates outstanding or above average idea development demonstrating comparison and contrast between ideas. The writer sufficiently defines the topic, even though development is still basic or general. __/10 pts
Content The paper demonstrates outstanding or above average evidence of supporting the main point. Paragraphs are well-developed and clear, showing how things are similar or different, and why. The writer demonstrates sufficient support of the main point, but could use more supporting details. __/15 pts
Organization The organization is clear and showcases the central theme. The presentation of information is compelling. The organizational structure is strong enough to move the reader through the text without too much confusion. __/15 pts
Word Choice, Sentence Fluency, Conventions The writer demonstrates an outstanding word choice selection, flow and cadence, with well-built sentences and strong grasp of standard writing conventions. The writer demonstrates sufficient selection of words. The text tends to be more mechanical and contains some errors of standard writing conventions. __/5 pts
Prewrite Attaches a prewrite example showing forethought in developing ideas for the essay. Only partially demonstrate effective prewriting strategy __/5 pts
  • Authored by : Lumen Learning. Located at : http://lumenlearning.com/ . License : CC BY: Attribution
  • Authored by : Daryl Smith O' Hare and Susan C. Hines. Provided by : Chadron State College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution
  • Authored by : Paul Powell. Provided by : Central Community College. Project : Kaleidoscope Open Course Initiative. License : CC BY: Attribution

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Drafting your assignment

Drafting and proofreading your assignment can significantly improve your overall marks but it also provides you with the opportunity to better engage with your topic. Writing and re-writing is itself a way of learning.

Drafting stages

Drafting stages 1-4.

Experienced writers know that good writing doesn’t just happen – it is crafted over time.

After writing your first draft, you will need to revisit your writing several times, refining your ideas and editing your work as you go. The final proofreading of your assignment will ensure that you don’t submit any careless errors that could have been easily avoided.

Between drafts, it is a good idea to take a break and not look at your assignment for a day or two. Some distance can help you to view your work more objectively – and sometimes it is exactly during these breaks when everything finally falls into place!

But to do this, you will need time and to gain time, you will need to plan ahead:

  • Read about some  time management strategies .
  • Use the  Deakin assignment planner .
  • Get some tips on beginning your assignment in  UniStart for undergraduate students or  Preparing to Succeed for postgraduate students.
  • For further tips on drafting and proofreading, drop in on a writing mentor or make an appointment with a Language and Learning adviser.

In these videos, students and staff share some tips on editing and proofreading your own work.

Checklist for drafting and proofreading - Deakin Study Support

Language tips for editing your assignment

When planning and writing your assignment, try to focus on different elements of the assignment at each stage. We suggest four stages for drafting your assignment. In reality, you may do more or less drafts for an assignment – it will depend on the length and type of task, how much time you have to complete the task and how organised you have been!

Drafting stages of assignment

At each stage of the writing process, from planning to proofreading, ask yourself the following questions:

  • Have I directly and fully addressed the assignment question and the assignment criteria?
  • Does the evidence I have selected support my ideas?
  • Have I applied critical thinking in my selection and analysis of these sources?
  • Is there a logical flow to my main points?
  • Do I sound convincing? Does what I am saying make sense?
  • Do I understand the sources I am citing and why I am citing them?
  • What feedback did I get from my previous assignments? How could my writing improve by incorporating this feedback?

Before you begin, review the appropriate guide on your assignment type, for example:  essay ,  report ,  oral presentation or  reflective writing .

For further tips on drafting and proofreading, drop in on a writing mentor or make an appointment with a Language and Learning Adviser . Please note that Study Support will not proofread your assignment.

Draft 1: Developing your ideas

  • Focus on the content of your response to the assignment question and how you will use supporting evidence.
  • Get your ideas on the page – don’t worry too much about grammar and punctuation at this stage!
  • Focus on the main points that make up the body of your assignment, rather than the introduction or conclusion (you can write these in a later draft).
  • Create your  citations from the very first draft, as it may take more time than you think! You can check the fine details of the referencing style later.
  • Share your ideas with classmates, your tutor and even with family and friends. Talking through your ideas can really help you to refine and consolidate them.

Draft 2: Refining the structure

When reading over your assignment to begin your second draft, you may need to review many of the points above. This second review, however, focuses on the following:

  • Is there a clear structure? For example,  essays require a clear introduction, body and conclusion, while different type of  reports have clearly labelled sections.
  • Check the paragraph structure in more detail. Does each paragraph require a topic sentence, supporting ideas, your own analysis and a concluding or linking sentence? How might you better link your ideas/paragraphs to more strongly express what you want to say?
  • Is there a logical flow to the writing that supports your response to the assignment question? Try reading out aloud to yourself to listen for any inconsistencies.
  • Draw a mind map based on this draft to get an overall picture of what you are saying. You can also use this to draft an outline for your introduction.
  • Ensure that each paragraph is supported with examples and explanations, as well as your own analysis.
  • Are the  sources well integrated into the writing with your own critical analysis?

Draft 3: Refining your language

Academic style refers to a broadly accepted style of writing at university, however also be aware that different disciplines have different ideas about what makes good writing style. Remember that the goal in all academic writing is to communicate your evidence-supported ideas clearly and succinctly. In this draft, review the following:

  • Writing should be clear and easy to read. Simple sentence structures are preferable to long complex sentences.
  • Academic writing should be  formal, objective and tentative .
  • Language should be appropriate to your discipline. Look closely at readings recommended by your lecturers for good writing models.
  • Check grammar and punctuation. Read this list of  Common errors (University of Winsconsin) .
  • Check that all  citations are correct . Ensure that you are aware of the difference between a summary, a paraphrase or quotation of a source and your own ideas. Be aware that getting this wrong can lead to accidental plagiarism.

Draft 4: Proofreading

Don’t let a few careless errors lose you any marks! Allow at least one day to proofread your assignment. This needs to be done slowly and carefully. It does not involve making any major changes and should only include minor refinements.

Proofreading tips:

  • Proofreading requires a strong attention to detail over a period of time. Avoid distractions – log out of your email, social media and turn off your phone.
  • Do a spell and grammar check of your document (set to Australian, not US), but remember that a spell checker will not necessarily identify all errors.
  • Print your document – you may find it easier to proofread away from the screen and to mark notes on paper.
  • Use a blank sheet of paper to cover up the lines below the one you are reading. This technique keeps you from skipping ahead and missing possible errors.
  • Read the final draft of your assignment aloud. This is a really effective technique for picking up errors in grammar and flow (readability).
  • Ensure that you have used quotation marks, commas, colons and semicolons correctly. Read the  Rough guide to punctuation (UNSW)
  • Use the  Deakin guide to referencing to check the accuracy of your references. If you still have questions about how to reference, you can  email Study Support and get a reply within one weekday.
  • Ensure that your citations (in-text or footnotes) match your bibliography or reference list.
  • Are there any other formatting requirements for your assignment? e.g. margins, page numbers, sections and heading styles, tables and figures?

You might also like:

  • Organising your studies
  • Researching for your assignment
  • Critical thinking, reading and note taking
  • Academic style
  • Essay writing
  • Report writing

Book an appointment with a language and learning adviser; or First Nations students can book with the First Nations academic support links

  • Book an appointment
  • First Nations Academic Support bookings
  • Email First Nations Academic Support

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  • Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt
  • Asking Analytical Questions
  • Introductions
  • What Do Introductions Across the Disciplines Have in Common?
  • Anatomy of a Body Paragraph
  • Transitions
  • Tips for Organizing Your Essay
  • Counterargument
  • Conclusions
  • Strategies for Essay Writing: Downloadable PDFs
  • Brief Guides to Writing in the Disciplines

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Understanding Writing Assignments

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How to Decipher the Paper Assignment

Many instructors write their assignment prompts differently. By following a few steps, you can better understand the requirements for the assignment. The best way, as always, is to ask the instructor about anything confusing.

  • Read the prompt the entire way through once. This gives you an overall view of what is going on.
  • Underline or circle the portions that you absolutely must know. This information may include due date, research (source) requirements, page length, and format (MLA, APA, CMS).
  • Underline or circle important phrases. You should know your instructor at least a little by now - what phrases do they use in class? Does he repeatedly say a specific word? If these are in the prompt, you know the instructor wants you to use them in the assignment.
  • Think about how you will address the prompt. The prompt contains clues on how to write the assignment. Your instructor will often describe the ideas they want discussed either in questions, in bullet points, or in the text of the prompt. Think about each of these sentences and number them so that you can write a paragraph or section of your essay on that portion if necessary.
  • Rank ideas in descending order, from most important to least important. Instructors may include more questions or talking points than you can cover in your assignment, so rank them in the order you think is more important. One area of the prompt may be more interesting to you than another.
  • Ask your instructor questions if you have any.

After you are finished with these steps, ask yourself the following:

  • What is the purpose of this assignment? Is my purpose to provide information without forming an argument, to construct an argument based on research, or analyze a poem and discuss its imagery?
  • Who is my audience? Is my instructor my only audience? Who else might read this? Will it be posted online? What are my readers' needs and expectations?
  • What resources do I need to begin work? Do I need to conduct literature (hermeneutic or historical) research, or do I need to review important literature on the topic and then conduct empirical research, such as a survey or an observation? How many sources are required?
  • Who - beyond my instructor - can I contact to help me if I have questions? Do you have a writing lab or student service center that offers tutorials in writing?

(Notes on prompts made in blue )

Poster or Song Analysis: Poster or Song? Poster!

Goals : To systematically consider the rhetorical choices made in either a poster or a song. She says that all the time.

Things to Consider: ah- talking points

  • how the poster addresses its audience and is affected by context I'll do this first - 1.
  • general layout, use of color, contours of light and shade, etc.
  • use of contrast, alignment, repetition, and proximity C.A.R.P. They say that, too. I'll do this third - 3.
  • the point of view the viewer is invited to take, poses of figures in the poster, etc. any text that may be present
  • possible cultural ramifications or social issues that have bearing I'll cover this second - 2.
  • ethical implications
  • how the poster affects us emotionally, or what mood it evokes
  • the poster's implicit argument and its effectiveness said that was important in class, so I'll discuss this last - 4.
  • how the song addresses its audience
  • lyrics: how they rhyme, repeat, what they say
  • use of music, tempo, different instruments
  • possible cultural ramifications or social issues that have bearing
  • emotional effects
  • the implicit argument and its effectiveness

These thinking points are not a step-by-step guideline on how to write your paper; instead, they are various means through which you can approach the subject. I do expect to see at least a few of them addressed, and there are other aspects that may be pertinent to your choice that have not been included in these lists. You will want to find a central idea and base your argument around that. Additionally, you must include a copy of the poster or song that you are working with. Really important!

I will be your audience. This is a formal paper, and you should use academic conventions throughout.

Length: 4 pages Format: Typed, double-spaced, 10-12 point Times New Roman, 1 inch margins I need to remember the format stuff. I messed this up last time =(

Academic Argument Essay

5-7 pages, Times New Roman 12 pt. font, 1 inch margins.

Minimum of five cited sources: 3 must be from academic journals or books

  • Design Plan due: Thurs. 10/19
  • Rough Draft due: Monday 10/30
  • Final Draft due: Thurs. 11/9

Remember this! I missed the deadline last time

The design plan is simply a statement of purpose, as described on pages 40-41 of the book, and an outline. The outline may be formal, as we discussed in class, or a printout of an Open Mind project. It must be a minimum of 1 page typed information, plus 1 page outline.

This project is an expansion of your opinion editorial. While you should avoid repeating any of your exact phrases from Project 2, you may reuse some of the same ideas. Your topic should be similar. You must use research to support your position, and you must also demonstrate a fairly thorough knowledge of any opposing position(s). 2 things to do - my position and the opposite.

Your essay should begin with an introduction that encapsulates your topic and indicates 1 the general trajectory of your argument. You need to have a discernable thesis that appears early in your paper. Your conclusion should restate the thesis in different words, 2 and then draw some additional meaningful analysis out of the developments of your argument. Think of this as a "so what" factor. What are some implications for the future, relating to your topic? What does all this (what you have argued) mean for society, or for the section of it to which your argument pertains? A good conclusion moves outside the topic in the paper and deals with a larger issue.

You should spend at least one paragraph acknowledging and describing the opposing position in a manner that is respectful and honestly representative of the opposition’s 3 views. The counterargument does not need to occur in a certain area, but generally begins or ends your argument. Asserting and attempting to prove each aspect of your argument’s structure should comprise the majority of your paper. Ask yourself what your argument assumes and what must be proven in order to validate your claims. Then go step-by-step, paragraph-by-paragraph, addressing each facet of your position. Most important part!

Finally, pay attention to readability . Just because this is a research paper does not mean that it has to be boring. Use examples and allow your opinion to show through word choice and tone. Proofread before you turn in the paper. Your audience is generally the academic community and specifically me, as a representative of that community. Ok, They want this to be easy to read, to contain examples I find, and they want it to be grammatically correct. I can visit the tutoring center if I get stuck, or I can email the OWL Email Tutors short questions if I have any more problems.

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Body Paragraph for an Essay: Purpose, Components, Steps & Tips

Ways to Write Body Paragraph for an Essay

Table of Contents

What Is a Body Paragraph? Its Purpose!

Components of strong body paragraphs, how to write the body of an essay 9 tips, need help for your essay we can help.

Body paragraphs are a common thread that runs through many forms of writing, from journals to academic essays. By learning more about how to write engaging body paragraphs, you can feel more connected to the larger writing community, all while supporting your project's central idea. But many of you find it difficult or get stuck with writing the body of an essay. Not anymore! We, Global Assignment Help, are all set to help you with it in the best way.

Moreover, this blog will help you learn about the meaning and purpose and tips on writing and components. Our experts know what information is crucial for you to write a fantastic body essay. So, go through this till the end and excel in your academic grades. So, let's get started with the definition and purpose.

The body paragraph, a crucial element of a part of the essay, follows the introduction and precedes the conclusion. Here, you illuminate and discuss the main topics, supporting them with logical and proper evidence, strengthening their importance. Furthermore, the body paragraphs in an essay outnumber the other two parts, necessitating a clear and concise explanation. Now, after learning its meaning, let's discuss its purpose.

Purpose of Body Paragraph

  • Go through the points below and understand the purpose of writing a solid body in an essay. Let's begin
  • It elaborates on a specific idea that supports the central essay's main thesis.
  • Here, the body paragraph comes to life with The inclusion of examples, evidence, and counterarguments.
  • These elements deepen the discussion and provide a comprehensive view of the topic.
  • The body paragraph organizes and logically organizes the content of the essay and ensures clarity and coherence.
  • The body paragraph seamlessly connects every thought in the essay by adding transitions. This ensures a smooth and uninterrupted reading experience for the reader.

So, hope you understand what the is body in an essay and its purpose. But is it enough? No! By continuing reading further, you can enhance your understanding of the tips and components of the body paragraph for your essay. Also, if you do not have a deadline, you can use our essay writing services .

Components of strong body paragraph

Knowing the components of a solid body of an essay is crucial so that you can write a fantastic essay. Thus, this is the query of many of you as they do not know about it in detail. Moreover, when writing the middle part, you need to know the proper way to write it to make it the best one. Keeping that in mind, our experts are all set to help you with it. Also, for more clarification, you can also read our essay format  blog. Now, let's get started!

Transitions

To connect your body section with a new paragraph, you must add a few words at the beginning or end of the paragraphs. This is not just a technique but a necessity that creates a coherent flow through the writing, making it more readable and understandable.

Topic Sentence

It is essential to be specific in the topic sentence of each paragraph that states the focus of the paragraph, where you discuss the main idea about your topic. This specificity helps the reader understand the exact point you're discussing, contributing to a clear and focused discussion in your writing.

Reliable Evidences

As the body paragraph is the longest part of an essay, you need to have support for your arguments. There are various types you can use, such as evidence, logic, opinion, or testimonials. These can be further diversified with details, reasons, examples, pools, facts, percentages, and data from reliable sources.

Concluding Statement

As the writer, it is crucial for you to guide your reader in connecting the main idea and the thesis you have discussed above. Therefore, the concluding statement, the last sentence of the body paragraph, is a tool you can use to ensure your reader is actively engaged in understanding your essay's structure.

Follow this component in your writing to excel it as this can help to improve and know how to write the body of an essay. But still, there is a lot more to tell you! Now, moving further you will read about the best tips to write the body of an essay. So, let's delve into the next part.

Do you also face difficulties with writing or knowing how to start the body of an essay? Worry not, as this problem will soon come to an end! Here, you will read and get insightful knowledge about the tips that can help you write a fantastic body. Thus, to avoid all the hassle, you can use our essay typer  and get an instant solution. Now, without any further delay, it is the right time to begin reading the tips for the body part of the essay.

Begin with the Topic Sentence

Kicking off your body paragraph with a strong topic sentence is crucial. This sentence should guide the entire paragraph's content by focusing entirely on specific issues. Also, it must leave room for support and analysis by avoiding the use of direct quotations.

Discuss One Idea at Point

When writing your body essay, it's best to focus on a single aspect at a time. Why? Because if you try to juggle multiple thoughts, you and your reader may become confused. To avoid this, create a clear outline before you start writing. This will help you stay organized to write a body paragraph for an essay.

Break Paragraphs Evenly

Divide your body in the essay evenly to provide clarity to both you and your reader. However, don't forget to use transitions. These are like bridges that connect your paragraphs, making it easier for your reader to follow your train of thought. They also help your writing flow, keeping your reader engaged and interested.

Add Supporting Evidence

It is crucial to include evidence in your body paragraphs to support your thesis. After introducing the main arguments in the introduction, it's important to provide examples that can prove your point in the rest of the paragraph. However, it's equally important that these examples come from reliable sources, as this will give your writing credibility and your reader confidence in your argument.

Use Relevant Details Only

Many of you might get distracted by discussing small information in detail while writing the body of an essay. In addition, this will make you get away from the main topic or arguments and will also make it a difficult task for your reader to understand your point. Thus, it is good to give relevant ideas in your writing but keep it cut short and go back to your primary discussion.

Don't Repeat Information

When choosing the topics, many of you select the one that finds you captivating. Also, some of you don't have enough data to add, and in such cases, they end up repeating the same idea or information. This affects your body part of the essay and makes it waste as this will not be fascinating to read. Thus, try to bring new and unique thoughts into your writing.

Keep it Clear and Concise

Keeping the body of an essay clear and concise will help you stay on track with your writing. If you mix up your thoughts or do not clarify what you need to write, you will end up making a blunder. Moreover, this will have a massive effect on you because you will be unable to score A+ grades.

Ensure Proper Formatting

To understand the role of formatting is crucial in an essay. Thus, if you understand it, half of your stress will go away. However, how to structure it is the big question that revolves around many of your heads.

So, for this, you must read our how-to structure an essay blog and clarify all your doubts in no time. In addition, this will provide you with new ideas for your paper.

Polish and Revise

After writing the body in essay, you might forget or procrastinate to revise and polish your writing. Therefore, this leads to many mistakes in your paper, which can be easily visible to your professor. Moreover, in this case, it is best to proofread it and rectify all the errors before moving forward. This will create the best impression of yours.

Following the tips given above will help you write the body of an essay. Thus, if you follow this, you will never get stuck with how to write the body of an essay, and you can submit an A+ document. Moreover, you might be having more queries related to it or might be having a deadline to meet. So, to get out of it, you can read the next section and learn how our experts can help you out.

After absorbing all the information, you may feel equipped to tack the start of each paragraph. The tips and components we've covered are invaluable when you embark on the writing journey. However, mastering these skills can be overwhelming, especially if you're still learning the basics. The good news is you don't have to navigate this alone. Our experts, with their refined clarity, tone, and conciseness, can guide you. With our assignment help , your writing will be apparent, engaging, and polished, no matter the context.

Our assistance extends beyond essays to all types of papers, all at a competitive price. And rest assured, we don't rely on plagiarism or AI. Each document is crafted from scratch and delivered on time. So, don't miss out on this exceptional opportunity.

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  5. How to Write an Essay: Part 4

  6. Video Essay Draft

COMMENTS

  1. Designing Essay Assignments

    for larger papers, students should write and get response (using the skills vocabulary of the assignment) to a draft—at least an "oral draft" (condensed for delivery to the class); ... Brief Guide to Designing Essay Assignments. A PDF version of the text above. Provides guidance on creating carefully crafted and explicit paper assignments ...

  2. How to Write an Essay Outline

    An essay outline is a way of planning the structure of your essay before you start writing. It involves writing quick summary sentences or phrases for every point you will cover in each paragraph, giving you a picture of how your argument will unfold. You'll sometimes be asked to submit an essay outline as a separate assignment before you ...

  3. The Writing Process

    Table of contents. Step 1: Prewriting. Step 2: Planning and outlining. Step 3: Writing a first draft. Step 4: Redrafting and revising. Step 5: Editing and proofreading. Other interesting articles. Frequently asked questions about the writing process.

  4. The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay

    Come up with a thesis. Create an essay outline. Write the introduction. Write the main body, organized into paragraphs. Write the conclusion. Evaluate the overall organization. Revise the content of each paragraph. Proofread your essay or use a Grammar Checker for language errors. Use a plagiarism checker.

  5. How to Write a First Draft

    The main goal of the first draft is to sketch out your main ideas; you can fill it with details later. If you think you will forget about an important fact or remark, make brief notes in margins. - Ignoring the role of a first draft in the essay writing process. Though it may seem you are wasting time working on a draft, you are working on ...

  6. 8.3 Drafting

    Exercise 1. Using the topic for the essay that you outlined in Section 8.2 "Outlining", describe your purpose and your audience as specifically as you can. Use your own sheet of paper to record your responses. Then keep these responses near you during future stages of the writing process.

  7. Learning Everything About Essay Draft: How and Why to Write It?

    Present key essay points in your document. Through thesis and brainstorming, determine major points of an essay. Describe them in a draft, giving each of them a few sentences. In most cases, their number doesn't exceed 5, but it depends on an overall size of your planned work. Leave space for additions.

  8. How to Write a College Essay Step-by-Step

    Step 2: Pick one of the things you wrote down, flip your paper over, and write it at the top of your paper, like this: This is your thread, or a potential thread. Step 3: Underneath what you wrote down, name 5-6 values you could connect to this. These will serve as the beads of your essay.

  9. PDF Strategies for Essay Writing

    Tips for Reading an Assignment Prompt When you receive a paper assignment, your first step should be to read the assignment prompt carefully to make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. Sometimes your assignment will be open-ended ("write a paper about anything in the course that interests you").

  10. PDF A Brief Guide to Designing Essay Assignments

    they write a draft and get a response to it (even if only a response to a proposal or thesis statement sent by email, or described in class); • for larger papers, students should write and get response (using the skills vocabulary of the assignment) to a draft—at least an "oral draft" (condensed for delivery to the class);

  11. Drafting your answer Preparing assignments

    Then start to write. Build up from the outline content in your plan. Create the first sentence for each of your main points. Write in paragraphs. Where you need to add evidence, decide where you want to use paraphrasing and where quotes might be better. As you compose your draft, bear in mind you need to keep your assignment to a certain length.

  12. Building the Essay Draft

    Please contact Academic Support by emailing [email protected]; calling 1-800-847-3000, ext 3008; or calling the main number of the location in your region to schedule an appointment. Use this resource to find more information about Academic Support. Building the Essay Draft.

  13. Tips for Organizing Your Essay

    Strategy #2: Use subheadings, even if you remove them later. Scientific papers generally include standard subheadings to delineate different sections of the paper, including "introduction," "methods," and "discussion.". Even when you are not required to use subheadings, it can be helpful to put them into an early draft to help you ...

  14. Essay Assignment: Argument Essay—First Draft

    For this assignment, you will work through the drafting stage of your writing process in an argument essay. Assignment Instructions. Review the grading rubric as listed on this page. Choose a topic based on the following prompt: In this assignment choose a specific issue in which two credible parties have documented the following:

  15. Writing the Rough Draft of an Essay

    An essay draft comes after several pre-writing steps. The pre-writing steps are: Topic selection: An essay topic may be assigned, or it may be the student's choice. A topic needs to be specific ...

  16. 5-6 Assignment

    English 123 5-6 Assignment: Persuasive Essay Draft. Robert Gatewood Southern New Hampshire University ENG-123-T Instructor Mary Peterson October 2nd, 2022. Persuasive Essay Draft Regional and Over the Road (OTR) commercial vehicle drivers have a reputation for being well paid. If you choose to base that on a 40-hour work week, which was ...

  17. Essay Assignment: Compare/Contrast Essay—Final Draft

    Work through the revising and proofreading stages of the writing process. Create a final version of your Compare/Contrast Essay according to the following formatting guidelines. Papers submitted that do not meet the requirements will be returned to you ungraded. 3-4 typed, double-spaced pages (about 600-750 words), 12 pt font size, Times ...

  18. Essay Assignment: Compare/Contrast Essay—Prewriting and Draft

    Prewriting. STEP 1: To get started writing, first pick at least one prewriting strategy (brainstorming, rewriting, journaling, mapping, questioning, sketching) to develop ideas for your essay. Write down what you do, as you'll need to submit evidence of your prewrite.

  19. Drafting your assignment

    Drafting stages 1-4. Experienced writers know that good writing doesn't just happen - it is crafted over time. After writing your first draft, you will need to revisit your writing several times, refining your ideas and editing your work as you go. The final proofreading of your assignment will ensure that you don't submit any careless ...

  20. Rough Drafts

    Rough Drafts. In this section of the Excelsior OWL, you have been learning about traditional structures for expository essays (essays that are thesis-based and offer a point-by-point body), but no matter what type of essay you're writing, the rough draft is going to be an important part of your writing process. It's important to remember ...

  21. Strategies for Essay Writing

    Harvard College Writing Center. menu close Menu. Search

  22. Understanding Writing Assignments

    Many instructors write their assignment prompts differently. By following a few steps, you can better understand the requirements for the assignment. The best way, as always, is to ask the instructor about anything confusing. Read the prompt the entire way through once. This gives you an overall view of what is going on.

  23. Persuasive Essay Draft

    ENG 123 5-6 Assignment: Persuasive Essay Draft. Rebeka DePierro Southern New Hampshire University ENG 123-Q Melissa Rohen June 5th, 2022. 5-6 Assignment: Persuasive Essay Draft. What is a mental disorder? The American Psychological Association (2020) defines a mental disorder as "any condition characterized by cognitive and emotional ...

  24. How to Write a Powerful Body Paragraph for an Essay?

    The body paragraph organizes and logically organizes the content of the essay and ensures clarity and coherence. The body paragraph seamlessly connects every thought in the essay by adding transitions. This ensures a smooth and uninterrupted reading experience for the reader. So, hope you understand what the is body in an essay and its purpose.