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Before you write your paper it is a good idea to choose what order your ideas will be written in. This will ensure that you answer the whole question, remember all the parts, and that your answer can have a logical flow. An essay is a complicated answer and it is important that all of the parts of the essay (introduction/body paragraphs/conclusion) work together in a way that is easy to read, logical, and that builds together to the conclusion. This can't happen if the parts are jumbled or random. It is important to work out which idea should go first, which ideas are prerequisite to other ideas, etc. What is your most dramatic idea? Which ideas work together to form another, bigger idea? With all of these elements going on, it is important to write down a list of the order you will use. To decide on that order you may have to work out what kind of structure you need first or, if you already know that, you may be able to proceed straight to the plan. (also known as an outline.)
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Structure |
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A good way of thinking about structure is thinking about it as the skeleton which your ideas hang on. With that skeleton and your ideas you get a whole, living essay. The essay as a whole has an overall structure/skeleton, but each of the individual parts of the essay also has its own structure/skeleton. When each part does its own job well and plays its part in the bigger structure of the whole essay, you will have a full, round, strong essay that is a complete, logical, flowing answer to the essay question. The structure of the essay depends on the particular kind of essay that it is. A book report, for instance, may not have the same structure as a full expository essay. For the moment we will discuss the expository essay structure. This is the structure you will usually be expected to use for most college courses unless otherwise advised. See the end of this page for more information on other structures. (See Interpreting Assignments for information on deciding which kind of structure to use.)
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