Essay Writing

The structure of an essay

An essay must have an introduction, a body and a conclusion.

 The introduction is the first paragraph of an essay. It should catch the reader’s attention
and suggest what the essay is about (the topic).

 The longest part of an essay is the body of the essay. It is divided into paragraphs. Each
paragraph usually contains one main idea about the essay topic.

 The last paragraph in an essay is the conclusion. It brings the essay to an end. No new
information or points should be given in the conclusion. However, the conclusion may
sometimes bring together some key points or ideas.

Essay types

1.Narrative essay It tells a story with characters, settings and a plot

2. Descriptive essay
3. Reflective essay
4. Discursive essay
5. Argumentative
6. One Word Essay
It describes an experience, an event, a place or a person
It shows what you think, how you feel about a topic. I shows
your emotions, dreams or hopes.
It shows BOTH sides of an issue or the topic
It must support ONE side of the issue or topic
You write an essay about one word.. Definition, causes,
advantages and disadvantages and effects were possible

STEP 1 - Choosing an essay topic in an exam

1. Read carefully all the essays in your exam paper
2. Read through the topics a second time
3. Cross out the topics that do not interest you
4. Choose the topic you have the most things to write on.
5. Start planning your essay.
6. Decide which type of essay you think is most suitable for the essay topic.
STEP 2 –Plan you essay

1. Plan your essay by writing down your ideas for the content of the essay.
2. The content refers to the main ideas (points or details) in your essay – what it is mainly
about. It must be relevant to the topic.
3. Once you have written down a few ideas, you can organise them by numbering them
4. This will show the order of your paragraphs for the structure of your essay.

NB
 The content should show that you understood the topic
 Your points must be relevant to your essay topic
 Avoid repeating the same idea or point in your essay
 Write a paragraph for each idea or point in the body as per your plan
 Make sure you have correctly identified the essay type, i.e. whether the essay is
narrative, descriptive, argumentative etc.

Example of a plan

Introduction

4. Idea 1. Idea

TOPIC

3. Idea 2. Idea
Conclusion
Narrative Essays
A narrative essay tells a story or describes a sequence of events. It can be written from a
perspective of a first or third person
 First person uses I or We
 Third person uses She, He and They.

A narrative essay can include dialogue (speech between characters in the story) and often
includes interesting descriptions. This helps the reader to imagine what is happening, so the
story comes alive.

Characters People in the story

Plot What happens in the story - Events
Settings When and when the story happens
Theme The main ideas shown in the story
Structure Organisation of paragraphs
Creative use of language Strong language/ Vocabulary

EXAMPLES OF NARRATIVE ESSAYS

1. Write a story that includes the following words:

Suddenly there was absolute silence...
The sentence should be found somewhere in the essay.

2. Write a story that begins with the following words:

It was the greatest day of my life.
These words should be the beginning of the first sentence of your introduction.

3. There was no place to hide

4. She found it very difficult to make a decision

5. That day my parents were so proud of me.

6. As he stepped into the office, fear gripped him

7. It dawned on me that we had been duped.