Academic Writing: Essays

By Jon Ginsburg

Once within the post-secondary educational setting, no matter what program you’re studying, you will be asked to write an essay. In the hard sciences, where the lessons are more likely to be experiential and hands on, and learning is demonstrated through experiments and experiment documentation in the form of reports, there is less likely to be a demand for essays, but in the humanities and arts, essays are a key component of almost every class. All students are expected to be able to express themselves and to share their academic knowledge and skills through writing such as reports, essays and research papers.

Essays are not often over 5000 words, and in reality, many, if not most, particularly in introductory classes, are a fraction of that length. The intention of an essay may be to demonstrate understanding of a concept, to share your personal beliefs and opinions, to persuade others to consider a point, or comment on a specified topic. Essays characteristically centre on one main idea or thesis and follow a specific succession of steps, from the introduction of the thesis to exploration or defence of the topic, concluding with a synopsis of the main ideas explored through the essay.

When writing an essay, preparation is vital. Not only is it essential to be clear on the subject and thesis, but also determining the objective of the essay and the style with which you’ll be writing should be done before you start writing; whether it is to be persuasive or argumentative, informative or descriptive. If these rudiments are not fully developed before you begin writing, you will find that writing your essay will be much more challenging, and your reader will likely struggle to follow you as well.

Start your essay by presenting your thesis statement in the first paragraph. From there support your idea with research findings, anecdotal support, or, if you are writing a descriptive or narrative essay, with the narrative itself. Close your essay down by summarizing the main points that you presented through the essay, ending with a closing statement that repeats your thesis. A high-quality essay will flow from your opening statement directly to the conclusion in a simple and clear manner, avoiding tangents that detract from the essay itself.

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