Basic format for essay writing
Different people have different reasons for writing an essay. Essays can be written to simply tell a story or an incident or they can be used to state a viewpoint or even spark a debate. But the basic format for writing an essay stays the same irrespective of the purpose for which the essay is written. The thinking process of the person who is writing the essay should be very clear when he sits down to write the essay. This will help in easily deciding the topic on which the essay needs to be written.
Once the topic has been decided, all the ideas, which pertain to this topic, should be noted and this will help in creating the outline for the essay, which needs to be written. Once the outline has been prepared, an attractive and eye catching title needs to be given to the essay. This is otherwise known as the punch line of the essay. Then the actual content or the body of the essay needs to be prepared. The main headings of the essay need to be prepared and this will contain the additional points of the essay.
There are three main parts which constitute the essay and they are the introduction, the matter and the conclusion.
Introduction - This is the paragraph, which comes at the beginning of the essay. This clearly explains the main purpose for which the essay is being written. The introduction should be written in such a way that it would capture the attention of the person who is reading the essay. This helps in providing a brief background about the essay and gives the reader more information about the topic on which the essay has been written.
Matter - This is the main subject of the essay and this is also the most important part of the essay. This portion contains most of the important content of the essay. This part of the essay should also contain examples, which pertain to the topic. This will also help the reader in gaining an easy understanding of the topic. Examples from our everyday life can also be combined along with some famous proverbs and quotations. The main matter of the essay should be followed by another small paragraph, which reaffirms the facts given in the main body of the essay. This also helps in providing a good explanation for the matter of the essay. Connecting words should be used in the right places while creating the supporting paragraph. These help in interlinking the paragraphs properly. Some examples of connecting words are however, in addition to, related to, furthermore, another, also, even though, on the other hand, nevertheless, therefore, thus, consequently, as a result of etc. Every supporting paragraph should contain a topic sentence, a supporting sentence and a summary sentence.
Conclusion - This is also known as the summary of the essay. This comes in the latter part of the essay. This helps in summarizing all the points which are available in the essay and it helps in making the main ideas in the essay more clear to the person who is reading it. The main idea of the essay is properly conveyed through the summary. Any kind of essay is incomplete without its summary paragraph. The personal opinion of the writer can also be included as a part of the summary.