How to Structure an Essay

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1. 01

   Turn the question into a claim you can argue

   A thesis is a position, not a topic. "The causes of the war" is a subject; "the war was caused less by rivalry than by a set of alliances nobody could withdraw from" is a thesis. Until there is something a reasonable reader could disagree with, there is nothing for the essay to prove, and the paragraphs will drift into summary.

2. 02

   List your reasons and put them in order before writing

   Each reason becomes a paragraph, so the plan is a list of two to five items. Ordering them is a decision worth making deliberately rather than discovering halfway through: build towards the strongest point, or follow whatever sequence the argument itself requires. Writing without this list is why essays wander.

3. 03

   Write the introduction so it narrows to the thesis

   Open with the context a reader needs, then close the paragraph with the thesis itself, so the last sentence a reader meets before the argument begins is the argument. This is why the introduction is easier to write once the plan exists — it has to point somewhere specific.

4. 04

   Give each body paragraph one idea, with evidence and explanation

   A paragraph makes a point, supports it with evidence, explains how that evidence supports the point, and links back to the thesis. The explanation is the part most often left out and the part carrying the marks, because quoting evidence shows you found it while explaining it shows you understood it.

5. 05

   Link between paragraphs so the argument is visible

   A transition tells the reader what the relationship between two paragraphs is — building on the last, qualifying it, or turning against it. Without them a marker sees a list of observations rather than a case, and the difference in grade between those two things is substantial.

6. 06

   Close by readdressing the thesis, not repeating it

   The conclusion returns to the argument in light of the evidence now presented, which is a different sentence from the one in the introduction even though it makes the same claim. Nothing new is introduced here. If a genuinely new point occurs to you at this stage, it belongs in a body paragraph.

01

The thesis does most of the work

Almost every structural problem in a weak essay is a thesis problem. If the central claim is vague, the paragraphs have nothing to attach to and become a tour of the topic. If it is specific, the paragraphs almost order themselves, because each one exists to support a stated position.

A usable thesis is one sentence, appears at the end of the introduction, and could be argued against. Testing it is quick: if no informed reader could reasonably disagree, it is a statement of fact rather than an argument, and the essay will end up summarising rather than persuading.

02

What belongs in a body paragraph

The standard shape taught in British schools is point, evidence, explanation, link, and it holds up because it maps onto what a marker is looking for. One idea per paragraph is the rule underneath it — a paragraph doing two jobs will do both of them partially.

The proportions are worth attention. Students routinely spend most of a paragraph on evidence and a single clause on explanation, when the marks run the other way. The evidence establishes that something is true; the explanation establishes why it matters to the argument, and that is the part being assessed.

• Point — the claim this paragraph will prove, stated first
• Evidence — the quotation, statistic, example or source that supports it
• Explanation — how the evidence supports the point, in your own reasoning
• Link — back to the thesis, and forward to the next paragraph

03

Handling the other side

Acknowledging a serious objection strengthens an argument rather than weakening it, provided the objection is answered. An essay that pretends no counter-case exists reads as though the writer has not looked, and markers at every level reward the writer who has.

The usual placement is a paragraph of its own, late in the body, following the same shape: state the objection fairly, then show why the thesis survives it. Stating it fairly matters — an objection set up weakly so it can be knocked down is more visible to a marker than most students expect.

04

How we teach essay writing

We mark the plan before the essay. A student who submits a thesis and a paragraph list can be redirected in five minutes; the same student who submits a finished essay built on a vague thesis has to rewrite it, and usually will not.

Feedback is on structure first and expression second. A well-written paragraph in the wrong place costs more marks than an awkward sentence in the right one, and reversing that order of attention is the fastest improvement most students make.