how does knowing the structure help in writing essay and research

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Before you start to write any document, it is helpful to have a broad plan in mind setting out what information you intend to include, and in what order. This is known as the structure of your document or text.

Developing this structure or framework will save you time as you write. It will ensure that you include all the necessary information, without any unnecessary detail. It will also help to improve the flow of the writing.

This page describes the process of developing a suitable structure for any document. It also provides some examples, although many more exist online and in study guides.

Why Use a Structure?

Developing a structure or framework for your writing will ensure that the most important points are covered at the appropriate point in the writing.

A framework or structure will also allow you to break down the daunting task of writing a longer document into more manageable sections.

For example, being asked to write a 10,000-word report is an intimidating prospect. However, you can use a framework to decide that you will need 500 words in an introduction, 2,000 to explain the methods you used, 2,500 to set out your results, and so on. Writing a 500-word introduction is a much less daunting task than writing a 10,000-word report.

Adhering to your framework will also prevent you from writing too many words for one section and then having to delete these to make enough room for another section.

Developing a Structure

There is no one set structure or framework that covers all possible forms of written communication.

Check Before You Begin!

Your first step in developing a structure is to check whether one already exists.

For example, if you are writing a business document, or something at work, your employer may already have a template for that document. If you are a student, there may be a required structure for each kind of written assignment.

Checking first will save you considerable time developing your own structure, or putting your document into the correct structure later.

If there is no outline structure provided, you will need to develop one.

However, don’t panic, because there are many examples of structures for different forms of writing available on the web and within study guides. You really do not need to reinvent the wheel.

Start by searching for a suitable example using your keywords (for example, ‘factual news article’, or ‘business report’). You can then compare outline structures, and decide which one you think will work.

If you really cannot find a suitable outline, then you will have to develop one.

A Process for Structure Development

There are broadly two options for structuring documents.

‘Chronological’, or the order in which you have developed your thinking.

Academic writing generally takes this form. You start with background and previous research, then describe your methods, results, and conclusions, setting this into the context of previous research. Finally, you put forward proposals for future research.

Non-chronological, which follows the order in which the reader needs the information.

Business writing often takes this form, because executives tend to want to read the conclusions or recommendations first. If they don’t understand or support these, then they want more information about how the ideas were developed. They usually know the background, so that is often included in an appendix, rather than the main text.

Some Tips for Deciding Your Structure:

It is a good idea to start by thinking about your conclusion or recommendations , and decide whether you want those upfront, or at the end. This depends chiefly on your readers’ need.

Consider whether you need to include any background, and if so, how much . To decide this, again consider your reader. You can then decide if you want to include the background early on (because your audience needs this information), or if it can be included as an appendix for anyone who wants to read it later.

Decide when and where to include the arguments supporting your conclusion or recommendations.

This will probably give you enough clues to decide on a chronological or non-chronological structures. Beyond that, you will need to be flexible to decide what is most appropriate for your purposes.

It’s not set in stone!

When you are developing a suitable structure, remember that it is not set in stone. You do not have to use it rigidly. Even within an organisational outline, there will be some flexibility.

The structure is designed to help you and your reader, not to constrain you and make your life difficult.

You will probably have realised by now that perhaps the most important consideration is your audience. There is more about this process of understanding your readers’ needs in our page on Know Your Audience .

Once you have decided whether you are using a chronological or non-chronological structure, set out some possible headings and sub-headings for your document. These should allow you to set out all the necessary information, in a logical order.

Using Your Structure

The next step is to start to populate the structure with notes about what content to include.

Under each heading in the structure, make a note of the required information. You can then start to fill in the sections in more detail.

You will often be able to use the titles of the main sections in your structure as headings and subheadings within the text . These help the reader to navigate through the piece.

However, even if you are not expected to use the section titles in the finished document, they will still help you to structure your writing into the desired framework.

You don’t need to write in the final order

One of the most useful aspects of a structure is that you do not need to write your document in the final order. Instead, you can move about the document, writing different sections to follow your train of thought.

For example, some people find that it is helpful to start with their conclusion or recommendation. This means it is clear in their mind as they write their supporting arguments.

In academic writing, it is common to start with the methods, because this is often the easiest section. The introduction or background may be written early, but will often need much more work once you have developed your conclusions.

Whatever structure you choose to use, you should constantly check that you are adhering to it. If you find that your structure does not work, then revisit it to see whether another structure might be more appropriate.

You should also check the flow of your text as you write. Paragraphs and sections should flow logically from one to the next. Conclude one subject area before introducing another. Hopping from one topic to another with no clear structure confuses the reader and demonstrates a lack of clarity.

Examples of Structures for Written Work

Two examples of common structures for writing different types of communication are provided below . Remember that these are simply examples, and many variations on these frameworks exist.

A Written Report

See also: How to Write a Report

Reports are always presented in sections and subsections, because they contain a lot of information. This needs to be organised in a way that makes sense to the reader.

Sections are often numbered, and long reports generally include a title page and a table of contents.

Example Structure:

• Contents Page (with headings, subheadings and page numbers)
• List of Illustrations (optional)
• Acknowledgements (optional)
• Abstract/Summary/Executive Summary
• Introduction which may be combined with the next section.
• Background/Literature Review
• Research Methods/Methodology
• Findings/Analysis
• Recommendations ( optional; in some business situations, this section may be included at the beginning of the report )
• Further research
• References/Bibliography

A Press Release

See also: How to Write a Press Release

A press release is a written statement to the media. They are used by organisations to try to generate a news story.

Journalists receive numerous press releases every day. The key aim is therefore to capture their interest quickly and show them that you have a good story for them, which will repay their attention.

In this example, the headings and subheadings provided below should not be included within the press release. They are only to help you structure the text.

• Statement “For immediate release” or “Embargoed until (date and time)” as appropriate
• Headline (a short, attention- grabbing summary of the story)
• Photo opportunity (optional)

Paragraph 1 Lead Sentence : Summarise the story - who, what, where, when and why. All key information needs to be in this paragraph. It needs to keep the reader’s interest and follow on from the headline. Paragraph 2 : Include more details to flesh out the story that you outlined in the first paragraph Paragraph 3 : Quotes from someone relevant to the story. Each quote should make one point. If you wish to include more than one point here, use quotes from different people. Paragraph 4 : Any additional relevant information Contact Information Note for Editors (background information; whether you can offer interviews or additional pictures; any additional relevant information)

A final thought

A structure is chiefly useful in ordering your thoughts, and helping your reader to navigate your document.

As you develop your structure, and then use it to write your document, you therefore need to keep these aspects in mind.

Continue to: Common Mistakes in Writing Formal and Informal Writing Style

See also: Spelling | Grammar Top Tips for New Writers to Overcome Their Stress How to Write an Essay

Does my paper flow? Tips for creating a well-structured essay.

by Jessica Diaz

A sure way to improve your paper is to strengthen the way you present your argument. Whether you only have a thesis statement or already have a fully-written essay, these tips can help your paper flow logically from start to finish.

Going from a thesis statement to a first outline

Break down your thesis statement

No matter what you are arguing, your thesis can be broken down into smaller points that need to be backed up with evidence. These claims can often be used to create a ready outline for the rest of your paper, and help you check that you are including all the evidence you should have.

Take the following thesis statement:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements, illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion.

We can break the thesis down into everything that needs to be supported:

Despite the similarities between the documentaries Blackfish and The Cove , the use of excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish allowed it to achieve more tangible success for animal rights movements , illustrating the need for animal rights documentaries to appeal to human emotion .

In the paper, we have to (1) explain and support the similarities between the two documentaries, (2) provide support for excessive anthropomorphism in Blackfish , (3) show that Blackfish achieved more tangible success than The Cove , and (4) demonstrate the importance of human emotion in animal documentaries.

Already, we have four main points that can serve as the backbone for an essay outline, and they are already in an order that makes some intuitive sense for building up the argument.

It is likely that you will need to rearrange, expand, or further break down the outline. For example, in this case we would probably need to add a paragraph that explains anthropomorphism. We also might want to move the section on differences in animal rights success earlier so that it contrasts with the similarities between the films. However, having this starting structure and identifying the main sections of the paper can allow you to go ahead and start writing!

Checking that your argument builds

Reverse outline

While writing, it is often hard to take a step back and assess whether your paper makes sense or reads well. Creating a reverse outline can help you get a zoomed-out picture of what you wrote and helps you see if any paragraphs or ideas need to be rearranged.

To create a reverse outline, go through your paper paragraph-by-paragraph. For each one, read it and summarize the main point of the paragraph in 3-5 words. In most cases, this should align closely with the topic sentence of that paragraph. Once you have gone through the entire paper, you should end up with a list of phrases that, when read in order, walk through your argument.

Does the order make sense? Are the ideas that should go together actually next to each other? Without the extra clutter, the reverse outline helps you answer these questions while looking at your entire structure at once.

Each line of your reverse outline should build on the last one, meaning none of them should make sense in isolation (except the first one). Try pretending you don’t know anything about this topic and read one of your paragraph phrases at random (or read it to someone else!). Does it make sense, or does it need more context? Do the paragraphs that go before it give the context it needs?

The reverse outline method and the line of thinking detailed above help put you in the mind of your reader. Your reader will only encounter your ideas in the order that you give it to them, so it is important to take this step back to make sure that order is the right one.

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Structure: Introduction

To understand why one must think about Structure , it helps to consider the reason academic writers do more than simply state their thesis and leave it at that. Why isn’t it enough to just announce the big idea in clear terms—much the way one is supposed to do in the introduction of an essay, chapter, or article—and count that as a job well done? The answer, of course, is that there is a difference between understanding the broad outlines of a knowledge contribution and really comprehending the nuance and complexity of the knowledge being proposed. Put differently, while a reader can understand an introductory statement quite easily, it takes a lot more to get that reader to have a deep appreciation of the knowable thing that lies behind that statement. For an academic writer, structuring the paragraphs and sections that come after an essay’s introduction has everything to do with the hard work of moving readers beyond a superficial, preliminary understanding of the knowledge being proposed.

Revising your way toward a clear and effective structure is essential because of two inescapable conditions under which your reader is encountering your work:

• Your reader begins from a position of relative ignorance. While readers may come to your piece with some existing knowledge that is relevant, they don’t know nearly as much as you do about the existing scholarly conversation, your original research, the conclusions you’ve reached, the analysis that supports your conclusions, and information you understand to provide necessary context, among other things.
• Your reader can only encounter your work sentence by sentence, paragraph by paragraph, which means that each step has to make sense to them in the absence of all the steps that have not yet taken place in the paper.

As a writer, structural decisions can be challenging because your knowledge contribution makes the most sense to  you when you think about it as a complete picture. Consequently, it can be very hard to figure out the right way to break your presentation into a sequence of steps that “adds up” to a complete understanding for your reader . To better understand the work that structure does, it helps to consider the paired concepts of “plot” and “story” as these terms are used in the field of narrative theory. “Plot” names the sequence of events as they are related to us, an order that often departs from a linear chronology of events in the fictional world being described. In other words, the plot of a movie or novel can begin in the middle of events, then move to a scene that happened earlier. “Story,” by contrast, names the reader’s or viewer’s retroactive reordering of events into their proper chronology. This is often what happens to people who have finished a book or watched a movie; what they remember is and relate to other is not the plot but the story, that is to say, the chronological sequence of events regardless of how the novel or movie might have mixed those events up in their delivery.

The key insight is that readers and viewers tend to remember a novel or movie’s story, but what they experienced was its plot. From a writer’s point of view, making choices about plot is a way to influence a reader’s experience and the thoughts they end up having about the story. For example, someone writing a mystery might relate events that cast suspicion on a particular character, but only because the reader does not yet know until later that this character was doing something else when the crime was being committed. Revision strategies in this section offer ways to distance yourself from the complete understanding in your mind and to better consider the partial and accumulative process of understanding that will be experienced by your reader as a direct result of your draft’s structure.

While the work of revision can be helped by focusing one’s attention specifically on issues of structure, it bears saying that the concerns of structure inevitably involve other aspects of academic writing. In particular, structure holds a close relationship with the concerns of argument. A piece of academic writing exists specifically to argue that a particular knowledge contribution is in fact valid knowledge and does in fact contribute to what we know. Consequently, the structure one follows in academic writing should always be in service of building the most effective case for your proposed knowledge. Often, writers who are struggling with structure are getting caught up in alternative organizing principles (like the chronology of their object) in a way that departs from an argument-oriented sequence.

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Online Guide to Writing and Research

The research process, explore more of umgc.

• Online Guide to Writing

Structuring the Research Paper

Formal research structure.

These are the primary purposes for formal research:

enter the discourse, or conversation, of other writers and scholars in your field

learn how others in your field use primary and secondary resources

find and understand raw data and information

For the formal academic research assignment, consider an organizational pattern typically used for primary academic research.  The pattern includes the following: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations.

Usually, research papers flow from the general to the specific and back to the general in their organization. The introduction uses a general-to-specific movement in its organization, establishing the thesis and setting the context for the conversation. The methods and results sections are more detailed and specific, providing support for the generalizations made in the introduction. The discussion section moves toward an increasingly more general discussion of the subject, leading to the conclusions and recommendations, which then generalize the conversation again.

Sections of a Formal Structure

The introduction section.

Many students will find that writing a structured  introduction  gets them started and gives them the focus needed to significantly improve their entire paper. 

Introductions usually have three parts:

presentation of the problem statement, the topic, or the research inquiry

purpose and focus of your paper

summary or overview of the writer’s position or arguments

In the first part of the introduction—the presentation of the problem or the research inquiry—state the problem or express it so that the question is implied. Then, sketch the background on the problem and review the literature on it to give your readers a context that shows them how your research inquiry fits into the conversation currently ongoing in your subject area. 

In the second part of the introduction, state your purpose and focus. Here, you may even present your actual thesis. Sometimes your purpose statement can take the place of the thesis by letting your reader know your intentions. 

The third part of the introduction, the summary or overview of the paper, briefly leads readers through the discussion, forecasting the main ideas and giving readers a blueprint for the paper. 

The following example provides a blueprint for a well-organized introduction.

Example of an Introduction

Entrepreneurial Marketing: The Critical Difference

In an article in the Harvard Business Review, John A. Welsh and Jerry F. White remind us that “a small business is not a little big business.” An entrepreneur is not a multinational conglomerate but a profit-seeking individual. To survive, he must have a different outlook and must apply different principles to his endeavors than does the president of a large or even medium-sized corporation. Not only does the scale of small and big businesses differ, but small businesses also suffer from what the Harvard Business Review article calls “resource poverty.” This is a problem and opportunity that requires an entirely different approach to marketing. Where large ad budgets are not necessary or feasible, where expensive ad production squanders limited capital, where every marketing dollar must do the work of two dollars, if not five dollars or even ten, where a person’s company, capital, and material well-being are all on the line—that is, where guerrilla marketing can save the day and secure the bottom line (Levinson, 1984, p. 9).

By reviewing the introductions to research articles in the discipline in which you are writing your research paper, you can get an idea of what is considered the norm for that discipline. Study several of these before you begin your paper so that you know what may be expected. If you are unsure of the kind of introduction your paper needs, ask your professor for more information.  The introduction is normally written in present tense.

THE METHODS SECTION

The methods section of your research paper should describe in detail what methodology and special materials if any, you used to think through or perform your research. You should include any materials you used or designed for yourself, such as questionnaires or interview questions, to generate data or information for your research paper. You want to include any methodologies that are specific to your particular field of study, such as lab procedures for a lab experiment or data-gathering instruments for field research. The methods section is usually written in the past tense.

THE RESULTS SECTION

How you present the results of your research depends on what kind of research you did, your subject matter, and your readers’ expectations. 

Quantitative information —data that can be measured—can be presented systematically and economically in tables, charts, and graphs. Quantitative information includes quantities and comparisons of sets of data. 

Qualitative information , which includes brief descriptions, explanations, or instructions, can also be presented in prose tables. This kind of descriptive or explanatory information, however, is often presented in essay-like prose or even lists.

There are specific conventions for creating tables, charts, and graphs and organizing the information they contain. In general, you should use them only when you are sure they will enlighten your readers rather than confuse them. In the accompanying explanation and discussion, always refer to the graphic by number and explain specifically what you are referring to; you can also provide a caption for the graphic. The rule of thumb for presenting a graphic is first to introduce it by name, show it, and then interpret it. The results section is usually written in the past tense.

THE DISCUSSION SECTION

Your discussion section should generalize what you have learned from your research. One way to generalize is to explain the consequences or meaning of your results and then make your points that support and refer back to the statements you made in your introduction. Your discussion should be organized so that it relates directly to your thesis. You want to avoid introducing new ideas here or discussing tangential issues not directly related to the exploration and discovery of your thesis. The discussion section, along with the introduction, is usually written in the present tense.

THE CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS SECTION

Your conclusion ties your research to your thesis, binding together all the main ideas in your thinking and writing. By presenting the logical outcome of your research and thinking, your conclusion answers your research inquiry for your reader. Your conclusions should relate directly to the ideas presented in your introduction section and should not present any new ideas.

You may be asked to present your recommendations separately in your research assignment. If so, you will want to add some elements to your conclusion section. For example, you may be asked to recommend a course of action, make a prediction, propose a solution to a problem, offer a judgment, or speculate on the implications and consequences of your ideas. The conclusions and recommendations section is usually written in the present tense.

Key Takeaways

• For the formal academic research assignment, consider an organizational pattern typically used for primary academic research. 
•  The pattern includes the following: introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations.

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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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4 Research Essay

Jeffrey Kessler

By the end of this chapter, you will be able to do the following:

• Construct a thesis based upon your research
• Use critical reading strategies to analyze your research
• Defend a position in relation to the range of ideas surrounding a topic
• Organize your research essay in order to logically support your thesis

I. Introduction

The goal of this book has been to help demystify research and inquiry through a series of genres that are part of the research process. Each of these writing projects—the annotated bibliography, proposal, literature review, and research essay—builds on each other. Research is an ongoing and evolving process, and each of these projects help you build towards the next.

In your annotated bibliography, you started your inquiry into a topic, reading widely to define the breadth of your inquiry. You recorded this by summarizing and/or evaluating  the first sources you examined. In your proposal, you organized a plan and developed pointed questions to pursue and ideas to research. This provided a good sense of where you might continue to explore. In your literature review, you developed a sense of the larger conversations around your topic and assessed the state of existing research. During each of these writing projects, your knowledge of your topic grew, and you became much more informed about its key issues.

You’ve established a topic and assembled sources in conversation with one another. It’s now time to contribute to that conversation with your own voice. With so much of your research complete, you can now turn your focus to crafting a strong research essay with a clear thesis. Having the extensive knowledge that you have developed across the first three writing projects will allow you to think more about putting the pieces of your research together, rather than trying to do research at the same time that you are writing.

This doesn’t mean that you won’t need to do a little more research. Instead, you might need to focus strategically on one or two key pieces of information to advance your argument, rather than trying to learn about the basics of your topic.

But what about a thesis or argument? You may have developed a clear idea early in the process, or you might have slowly come across an important claim you want to defend or a critique you want to make as you read more into your topic. You might still not be sure what you want to argue. No matter where you are, this chapter will help you navigate the genre of the research essay. We’ll examine the basics of a good thesis and argument, different ways to use sources, and strategies to organize your essay.

While this chapter will focus on the kind of research essay you would write in the college classroom, the skills are broadly applicable. Research takes many different forms in the academic, professional, and public worlds. Depending on the course or discipline, research can mean a semester-long project for a class or a few years’ worth of research for an advanced degree. As you’ll see in the examples below, research can consist of a brief, two-page conclusion or a government report that spans hundreds of pages with an overwhelming amount of original data.

Above all else, good research is engaged with its audience to bring new ideas to light based on existing conversations. A good research essay uses the research of others to advance the conversation around the topic based on relevant facts, analysis, and ideas.

II. Rhetorical Considerations: Contributing to the Conversation

The word “essay” comes from the French word essayer , or “attempt.” In other words, an essay is an attempt—to prove or know or illustrate something. Through writing an essay, your ideas will evolve as you attempt to explore and think through complicated ideas. Some essays are more exploratory or creative, while some are straightforward reports about the kind of original research that happens in laboratories.

Most research essays attempt to argue a point about the material, information, and data that you have collected. That research can come from fieldwork, laboratories, archives, interviews, data mining, or just a lot of reading. No matter the sources you use, the thesis of a research essay is grounded in evidence that is compelling to the reader.

Where you described the conversation in your literature review, in your research essay you are contributing to that conversation with your own argument. Your argument doesn’t have to be an argument in the cable-news-social-media-shouting sense of the word. It doesn’t have to be something that immediately polarizes individuals or divides an issue into black or white. Instead, an argument for a research essay should be a claim, or, more specifically, a claim that requires evidence and analysis to support. This can take many different forms.

Example 4.1: Here are some different types of arguments you might see in a research essay:

• Critiquing a specific idea within a field
• Interrogating an assumption many people hold about an issue
• Examining the cause of an existing problem
• Identifying the effects of a proposed program, law, or concept
• Assessing a historical event in a new way
• Using a new method to evaluate a text or phenomenon
• Proposing a new solution to an existing problem
• Evaluating an existing solution and suggesting improvements

These are only a few examples of the kinds of approaches your argument might take. As you look at the research you have gathered throughout your projects, your ideas will have evolved. This is a natural part of the research process. If you had a fully formed argument before you did any research, then you probably didn’t have an argument based on strong evidence. Your research now informs your position and understanding, allowing you to form a stronger evidence-based argument.

Having a good idea about your thesis and your approach is an important step, but getting the general idea into specific words can be a challenge on its own. This is one of the most common challenges in writing: “I know what I want to say; I just don’t know how to say it.”

Example 4.2: Here are some sample thesis statements. Examine them and think about their arguments.

Whether you agree, disagree, or are just plain unsure about them, you can imagine that these statements require their authors to present evidence, offer context, and explain key details in order to argue their point.

• Artificial intelligence (AI) has the ability to greatly expand the methods and content of higher education, and though there are some transient shortcomings, faculty in STEM should embrace AI as a positive change to the system of student learning. In particular, AI can prove to close the achievement gap often found in larger lecture settings by providing more custom student support.
• I argue that while the current situation for undocumented college students remains tumultuous, there are multiple routes—through financial and social support programs like the Fearless Undocumented Alliance—that both universities and colleges can utilize to support students affected by the reality of DACA’s shortcomings.

While it can be argued that massive reform of the NCAA’s bylaws is needed in the long run, one possible immediate improvement exists in the form of student-athlete name, image, and likeness rights. The NCAA should amend their long-standing definition of amateurism and allow student athletes to pursue financial gains from the use of their names, images, and likenesses, as is the case with amateur Olympic athletes.

Each of these thesis statements identifies a critical conversation around a topic and establishes a position that needs evidence for further support. They each offer a lot to consider, and, as sentences, are constructed in different ways.

Some writing textbooks, like They Say, I Say (2017), offer convenient templates in which to fit your thesis. For example, it suggests a list of sentence constructions like “Although some critics argue X, I will argue Y” and “If we are right to assume X, then we must consider the consequences of Y.”

More Resources 4.1: Templates

Templates can be a productive start for your ideas, but depending on the writing situation (and depending on your audience), you may want to expand your thesis beyond a single sentence (like the examples above) or template. According to Amy Guptill in her book Writing in Col lege (2016) , a good thesis has four main elements (pp. 21-22). A good thesis:

• Makes a non-obvious claim
• Poses something arguable
• Provides well-specified details
• Includes broader implications

Consider the sample thesis statements above. Each one provides a claim that is both non-obvious and arguable. In other words, they present something that needs further evidence to support—that’s where all your research is going to come in. In addition, each thesis identifies specifics, whether these are teaching methods, support programs, or policies. As you will see, when you include those specifics in a thesis statement, they help project a starting point towards organizing your essay.

Finally, according to Guptill, a good thesis includes broader implications. A good thesis not only engages the specific details of its argument, but also leaves room for further consideration. As we have discussed before, research takes place in an ongoing conversation. Your well-developed essay and hard work won’t be the final word on this topic, but one of many contributions among other scholars and writers. It would be impossible to solve every single issue surrounding your topic, but a strong thesis helps us think about the larger picture. Here’s Guptill:

Putting your claims in their broader context makes them more interesting to your reader and more impressive to your professors who, after all, assign topics that they think have enduring significance. Finding that significance for yourself makes the most of both your paper and your learning. (p. 23)

Thinking about the broader implications will also help you write a conclusion that is better than just repeating your thesis (we’ll discuss this more below).

Example 4.3: Let’s look at an example from above:

This thesis makes a key claim about the rights of student athletes (in fact, shortly after this paper was written, NCAA athletes became eligible to profit from their own name, image, and likeness). It provides specific details, rather than just suggesting that student athletes should be able to make money. Furthermore, it provides broader context, even giving a possible model—Olympic athletes—to build an arguable case.

Remember, that just like your entire research project, your thesis will evolve as you write. Don’t be afraid to change some key terms or move some phrases and clauses around to play with the emphasis in your thesis. In fact, doing so implies that you have allowed the research to inform your position.

Example 4.4: Consider these examples about the same topic and general idea. How does playing around with organization shade the argument differently?

• Although William Dowling’s amateur college sports model reminds us that the real stakeholders are the student athletes themselves, he highlights that the true power over student athletes comes from the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches who care more about profits than people.
• While William Dowling’s amateur college sports model reminds us that the real stakeholders in college athletics are not the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, but the students themselves, his plan does not seem feasible because it eliminates the reason many people care about student athletes in the first place: highly lucrative bowl games and March Madness.
• Although William Dowling’s amateur college sports model has student athletes’ best interests in mind, his proposal remains unfeasible because financial stakeholders in college athletics, like athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, refuse to let go of their power.

When you look at the different versions of the thesis statements above, the general ideas remain the same, but you can imagine how they might unfold differently in a paper, and even  how those papers might be structured differently. Even after you have a good version of your thesis, consider how it might evolve by moving ideas around or changing emphasis as you outline and draft your paper.

More Resources 4.2: Thesis Statements

Looking for some additional help on thesis statements? Try these resources:

• How to Write a Thesis Statement
• Writing Effective Thesis Statements. 

Library Referral: Your Voice Matters!

(by Annie R. Armstrong)

If you’re embarking on your first major college research paper, you might be concerned about “getting it right.” How can you possibly jump into a conversation with the authors of books, articles, and more, who are seasoned experts in their topics and disciplines? The way they write might seem advanced, confusing, academic, irritating, and even alienating. Try not to get discouraged. There are techniques for working with scholarly sources to break them down and make them easier to work with (see How to Read a Scholarly Article ). A librarian can work with you to help you find a variety of source types that address your topic in a meaningful way, or that one specific source you may still be trying to track down.

Furthermore, scholarly experts are not the only voices welcome at the research table! This research paper and others to come are an invitation to you to join the conversation; your voice and lived experience give you one-of-a-kind expertise equipping you to make new inquiries and insights into your topic. Sure, you’ll need to wrestle how to interpret difficult academic texts and how to piece them together. That said, your voice is an integral and essential part of the puzzle. All of those scholarly experts started closer to where you are than you might think.

III. The Research Essay Across the Disciplines

Example 4.5: Academic and Professional Examples

These examples are meant to show you how this genre looks in other disciplines and professions. Make sure to follow the requirements for your own class or to seek out specific examples from your instructor in order to address the needs of your own assignment.

As you will see, different disciplines use language very differently, including citation practices, use of footnotes and endnotes, and in-text references. (Review Chapter 3 for citation practices as disciplinary conventions.) You may find some STEM research to be almost unreadable, unless you are already an expert in that field and have a highly developed knowledge of the key terms and ideas in that field. STEM fields often rely on highly technical language and assume a high level of knowledge in the field. Similarly, humanities research can be hard to navigate if you don’t have a significant background in the topic or material.

As we’ve discussed, highly specialized research assumes its readers are other highly specialized researchers. Unless you read something like The Journ al of American Medicine on a regular basis, you usually learn about scientific or medical breakthroughs when they are reported by another news outlet, where a reporter makes the highly technical language of a scientific discovery more accessible for non-specialists.

Even if you are not an expert in multiple disciplines of study, you will find that research essays contain a lot of similarities in their structure and organization. Most research essays have an abstract that summarizes the entire article at the beginning. Introductions provide the necessary setup for the article. Body sections can vary. Some essays include a literature review section that describes the state of research about the topic. Others might provide background or a brief history. Many essays in the sciences will have a methodology section that explains how the research was conducted, including details such as lab procedures, sample sizes, control populations, conditions, and survey questions. Others include long analyses of primary sources, sets of data, or archival documents. Most essays end with conclusions about what further research needs to be completed or what their research further implies.

As you examine some of the different examples, look at the variations in arguments and structures. Just as in reading research about your own topic, you don’t need to read each essay from start to finish. Browse through different sections and see the different uses of language and organization that are possible.

IV. Research Strategies: When is Enough?

At this point, you know a lot about your topic. You’ve done a lot of research to complete your first three writing projects, but when do you have enough sources and information to start writing? Really, it depends.

If you’re writing a dissertation, you may have spent months or years doing research and still feel like you need to do more or to wait a few months until that next new study is published. If you’re writing a research essay for a class, you probably have a schedule of due dates for drafts and workshops. Either way, it’s better to start drafting sooner rather than later. Part of doing research is trying on ideas and discovering things throughout the drafting process.

That’s why you’ve written the other projects along the way instead of just starting with a research essay. You’ve built a foundation of strong research to read about your topic in the annotated bibliography, planned your research in the proposal, and understood the conversations around your topic in the literature review. Now that you are working on your research essay, you are far enough along in the research process where you might need a few more sources, but you will most likely discover this as you are drafting your essay. In other words, get writing and trust that you’ll discover what you need along the way.

V. Reading Strategies: Forwarding and Countering

Using sources is necessary to a research essay, and it is essential to think about how you use them. At this point in your research, you have read, summarized, analyzed, and made connections across many sources. Think back to the literature review. In that genre, you used your sources to illustrate the major issues, topics, and/or concerns among your research. You used those sources to describe and make connections between them.

For your research essay, you are putting those sources to work in a different way: using them in service of supporting your own contribution to the conversation. According to Joseph Harris in his book Rewriting (2017), we read texts in order to respond to them: “drawing from, commenting on, adding to […] the works of others” (p. 2). The act of writing, according to Harris, takes place among the different texts we read and the ways we use them for our own projects. Whether a source provides factual information or complicated concepts, we use sources in different ways. Two key ways to do so for Harris are forwarding and countering .

Forwarding a text means taking the original concept or idea and applying it to a new context. Harris writes: “In forwarding a text you test the strength of its insights and the range and flexibility of its phrasings. You rewrite it through reusing some of its key concepts and phrasings” (pp. 38-39). This is common in a lot of research essays. In fact, Harris identifies different types of forwarding:

• Illustrating: using a source to explain a larger point
• Authorizing: appealing to another source for credibility
• Borrowing: taking a term or concept from one context or discipline and using it in a new one
• Extending: expanding upon a source or its implications

It’s not enough in a research essay to include just sources with which you agree. Countering a text means more than just disagreeing with it, but it allows you to do more with a text that might not initially support your argument. This can include for Harris:

• Arguing the other side: oftentimes called “including a naysayer” or addressing objections
• Uncovering values: examining assumptions within the text that might prove problematic or reveal interesting insights
• Dissenting: finding the problems in or the limits of an argument (p. 58)

While the categories above are merely suggestions, it is worth taking a moment to think a little more about sources with which you might disagree. The whole point of an argument is to offer a claim that needs to be proved and/or defended. Essential to this is addressing possible objections. What might be some of the doubts your reader may have? What questions might a reasonable person have about your argument? You will never convince every single person, but by addressing and acknowledging possible objections, you help build the credibility of your argument by showing how your own voice fits into the larger conversation—if other members of that conversation may disagree.

VI. Writing Strategies: Organizing and Outlining

At this point you likely have a draft of a thesis (or the beginnings of one) and a lot of research, notes, and three writing projects about your topic. How do you get from all of this material to a coherent research essay? The following section will offer a few different ideas about organizing your essay. Depending on your topic, discipline, or assignment, you might need to make some necessary adjustments along the way, depending on your audience. Consider these more as suggestions and prompts to help in the writing and drafting of your research essay.

Sometimes, we tend to turn our research essay into an enthusiastic book report: “Here are all the cool things I read about my topic this semester!” When you’ve spent a long time reading and thinking about a topic, you may feel compelled to include every piece of information you’ve found. This can quickly overwhelm your audience. Other times, we as writers may feel so overwhelmed with all of the things we want to say that we don’t know where to start.

Writers don’t all follow the same processes or strategies. What works for one person may not always work for another, and what worked in one writing situation (or class) may not be as successful in another. Regardless, it’s important to have a plan and to follow a few strategies to get writing. The suggestions below can help get you organized and writing quickly. If you’ve never tried some of these strategies before, it’s worth seeing how they will work for you.

Think in Sections, Not Paragraphs

For smaller papers, you might think about what you want to say in each of the five to seven paragraphs that paper might require. Sometimes writing instructors even tell students what each paragraph should include. For longer essays, it’s much easier to think about a research essay in sections, or as a few connected short papers. In a short essay, you might need a paragraph to provide background information about your topic, but in longer essays—like the ones you have read for your project—you will likely find that you need more than a single paragraph, sometimes a few pages.

You might think about the different types of sections you have encountered in the research you have already gathered. Those types of sections might include: introduction, background, the history of an issue, literature review, causes, effects, solutions, analysis, limits, etc. When you consider possible sections for your paper, ask yourself, “What is the purpose of this section?” Then you can start to think about the best way to organize that information into paragraphs for each section.

Build an Outline

After you have developed what you want to argue with your thesis (or at least a general sense of it), consider how you want to argue it. You know that you need to begin with an introduction (more on that momentarily). Then you’ll likely need a few sections that help lead your reader through your argument.

Your outline can start simple. In what order are you going to divide up your main points? You can slowly build a larger outline to include where you will discuss key sources, as well as what are the main claims or ideas you want to present in each section. It’s much easier to move ideas and sources around when you have a larger structure in place.

Example 4.6: A Sample Outline for a Research Paper

• College athletics is a central part of American culture
• Few of its viewers fully understand the extent to which players are mistreated
• Thesis: While William Dowling’s amateur col lege sports model does not seem feasible to implement in the twenty-first century, his proposal reminds us that the real stakeholders in college athletics are not the athletic directors, TV networks, and coaches, but the students themselves, who deserve th e chance to earn a quality education even more than the chance to play ball.
• While many student athletes are strong students, many D-1 sports programs focus more on elite sports recruits than academic achievement
• Quotes from coaches and athletic directors about revenue and building fan bases (ESPN)
• Lowered admissions standards and fake classes (Sperber)
• Scandals in academic dishonesty (Sperber and Dowling)
• Some elite D-1 athletes are left in a worse place than where they began
• Study about athletes who go pro (Knight Commission, Dowling, Cantral)
• Few studies on after-effects (Knight Commission)
• Dowling imagines an amateur sports program without recruitment, athletic scholarships, or TV contracts
• Without the presence of big money contracts and recruitment, athletics programs would have less temptation to cheat in regards to academic dishonesty
• Knight Commission Report
• Is there any incentive for large-scale reform?
• Is paying student athletes a real possibility?

Some writers don’t think in as linear a fashion as others, and starting with an outline might not be the first strategy to employ. Other writers rely on different organizational strategies, like mind mapping, word clouds, or a reverse outline.

More Resources 4.3: Organizing Strategies

At this point, it’s best to get some writing done, even if writing is just taking more notes and then organizing those notes. Here are a few more links to get your thoughts down in some fun and engaging ways:

• Concept Mapping
• The Mad Lib from Hell: Three Alternatives to Traditional Outlining
• Thinking Outside the Formal Outline
• Mind Mapping in Research
• Reverse Outlining

Start Drafting in the Middle

This may sound odd to some people, but it’s much easier to get started by drafting sections from the middle of your paper instead of starting with the introduction. Sections that provide background or more factual information tend to be more straightforward to write. Sections like these can even be written as you are still finalizing your argument and organizational structure.

If you’ve completed the three previous writing projects, you will likely also funnel some of your work from those projects into the final essay. Don’t just cut and paste entire chunks of those other assignments. That’s called self-plagiarism, and since those assignments serve different purposes in different genres, they won’t fit naturally into your research essay. You’ll want to think about how you are using the sources and ideas from those assignments to serve the needs of your argument. For example, you may have found an interesting source for your literature review paper, but that source may not help advance your final paper.

Draft your Introduction and Conclusion towards the End

Your introduction and conclusion are the bookends of your research essay. They prepare your reader for what’s to come and help your reader process what they have just read. The introduction leads your reader into your paper’s research, and the conclusion helps them look outward towards its implications and significance.

Many students think you should write your introduction at the beginning of the drafting stage because that is where the paper starts. This is not always the best idea. An introduction provides a lot of essential information, including the paper’s method, context, organization, and main argument. You might not have all of these details figured out when you first start drafting your paper. If you wait until much later in the drafting stage, the introduction will be much easier to write. In fact, most academic writers and researchers wait until the rest of their project—a paper, dissertation, or book—is completed before they write the introduction.

A good introduction does not need to be long. In fact, short introductions can impressively communicate a lot of information about a paper when the reader is most receptive to new information. You don’t need to have a long hook or anecdote to catch the reader’s attention, and in many disciplines, big, broad openings are discouraged. Instead, a good introduction to a research essay usually does the following:

• defines the scope of the paper
• indicates its method or approach
• gives some brief context (although more significant background may be saved for a separate section)
• offers a road map

If we think about research as an ongoing conversation, you don’t need to think of your conclusion as the end—or just a repetition of your argument. No matter the topic, you won’t have the final word, and you’re not going to tie up a complicated issue neatly with a bow. As you reach the end of your project, your conclusion can be a good place to reflect about how your research contributes to the larger conversations around your issue.

Think of your conclusion as a place to consider big questions. How does your project address some of the larger issues related to your topic? How might the conversation continue? How might it have changed? You might also address limits to existing research. What else might your readers want to find out? What do we need to research or explore in the future?

You need not answer every question. You’ve contributed to the conversation around your topic, and this is your opportunity to reflect a little about that. Still looking for some additional strategies for introductions and conclusions? Try this additional resource:

More Resources 4.4: Introductions and Conclusions

If you’re a bit stuck on introductions and conclusions, check out these helpful links:

• Introductions & Writing Effective Introductions
• Guide to Writing Introductions and Conclusions
• Conclusions & Writing Effective Conclusions

Putting It All Together

This chapter is meant to help you get all the pieces together. You have a strong foundation with your research and lots of strategies at your disposal. That doesn’t mean you might not still feel overwhelmed. Two useful strategies are making a schedule and writing out a checklist.

You likely have a due date for your final draft, and maybe some additional dates for submitting rough drafts or completing peer review workshops. Consider expanding this schedule for yourself. You might have specific days set aside for writing or for drafting a certain number of words or pages. You can also schedule times to visit office hours, the library, or the writing center (especially if your writing center takes appointments—they fill up quickly at the end of the semester!). The more you fill in specific dates and smaller goals, the more likely you will be to complete them. Even if you miss a day that you set aside to write four hundred words, it’s easier to make that up than saying you’ll write an entire draft over a weekend and not getting much done.

Another useful strategy is assembling a checklist, as you put together all the pieces from your research, citations, key quotes, data, and different sections. This allows you to track what you have done and what you still need to accomplish. You might review your assignment’s requirements and list them out so you know when you’ve hit the things like required sources or minimum length. It also helps remind you towards the end to review things like your works cited and any other key grammar and style issues you might want to revisit.

You’re much closer to completing everything than you think. You have all the research, you have all the pieces, and you have a good foundation. You’ve developed a level of understanding of the many sources you have gathered, along with the writing projects you have written. Time to put it all together and join the conversation.

Key Takeaways

• Your research essay adds to the conversation surrounding your topic.
• Begin drafting your essay and trust that your ideas will continue to develop and evolve.
• As you assemble your essay, rely on what works for you, whether that is outlining, mindmapping, checklists, or anything else.
• You have come far. The end is in sight.

Clemson Libaries. (2016). “Joining the (Scholarly) Conversation.”  YouTube . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79WmzNQvAZY

Fosslien, L. Remember how much progress you’ve made [Image].

Graff, G. & Birkenstein, C. (2017). They Say, I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing . W. W. Norton and Co.

Guptill, A. (2016). Constructing the Thesis and Argument—From the Ground Up : Writing in College . Open SUNY Textbooks.

Harris, Joseph. Rewriting: How to Do Things with Texts . Second Edition. Utah State University Press, 2017.

Writing for Inquiry and Research Copyright © 2023 by Jeffrey Kessler is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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9 A Literature Scholar Teaches Structuring Paragraphs in a Research Essay

Ryan Slesinger

15 min read

ALiteratureScholarTeachesStructuringParagraphs._print

What You Will Learn in this Chapter

This chapter will provide you with a template for structuring effective body paragraphs in a research essay. It will also provide instructions for an easy and organic process to create these paragraphs, and it will discuss the basics of in-text citation for quotations and paraphrases. The goal of this chapter is to help you think about developing your body paragraphs as the primary task of your writing process. Following these instructions will help you think about writing as a process—not a product—and will help you tailor a process-based approach to writing that will work for you throughout college.

• Modular Approach to writing
• Rhetorical Situation
• Close Reading

In this chapter I will propose a method for organizing paragraphs that is built on the foundation of a modular approach to writing essays. By modular approach, I simply mean one that develops the components of the papers as modules, focusing on content development first and on sequencing later. This new way of writing—and thinking about writing—contrasts the mindset that attempts to write an essay straight through from introduction to conclusion. The “straight through” approach suited our needs in high school, but we will find it unsustainable at the college level. In contrast, our new modular approach can be used to write papers of any length and scope.

In this modular approach, paragraphs develop organically out of the loci of your interest identified in your research. I suggest developing all body paragraphs simultaneously from the prewrite stage through to the final draft by first establishing the topics of your paragraphs, then determining your paragraphs’ informational component, and finally moving on to the rhetorical aspect of your paragraphs. This method of constructing paragraphs is meant to help you develop the five components of every good paragraph:

• Topic sentence
• Relate topic back to thesis
• Observation (Can be multiple sentences)
• Analysis (Can be multiple sentences)

Addressing Our New Rhetorical Situation

In high school, the dominant rhetorical situation —the context within which we communicate—that shaped our writing training was the standardized test. When we write for a standardized test, we often create a hasty outline and write straight through the paper from introduction to conclusion. This method suits composition within the time constraints of standardized testing but ultimately sacrifices depth and clarity of elocution as a byproduct. When we make this compromise, we tend to be less satisfied with the work we have created, and sometimes this taints our experience of writing so that we might assume we don’t like to do it. As we shift into a different rhetorical situation—writing research essays in college—we should also shift our approach to fit that new context. The method that I propose here is meant to help us think about the writing process differently, help us organize effective paragraphs in our new rhetorical situation, and—hopefully, as a result—feel more satisfied with our writing.

We can more easily develop an effective body paragraph if we don’t try to write it all at once, straight through from first sentence to last. Effective body paragraphs are constructed so that each component fulfills one of a variety of objectives. As we have seen, there are five primary components that each paragraph should contain. Each of these should achieve its own objective. Our task becomes cumbersome if we try to switch between these five different mindsets continually while we work through our paper from first word to last. Instead, I suggest focusing on one task at a time. The first task of writing any paragraph is to choose what your paragraph will be about. This ordinarily begins with identifying evidence and developing ideas while in the research stage. By writing down this evidence and your ideas you begin to create the informational component of your body paragraphs.

Informational Component

When we write a paragraph, we need to break our overarching task into its constitutive elements. To do so, begin by developing the informational component of your paragraph before moving on to the rhetorical components. The informational component of your paragraph can be broken down into two subcategories: 1. The observation , and 2. The analysis . First, we will address the observational aspect. This observation can be either an original idea, a quotation from the text, or a paraphrase of information found in the text. The process I will outline here is general and meant to apply to paragraphs that include quotations as well as those that do not. Remember that we are building paragraphs from the inside out, so once your body paragraph is completed, this observation (written first) will be found towards the middle of the paragraph. When we build paragraphs from the inside out, around the key observation that you have made, we ensconce that observation at the center of the paragraph.

As mentioned above, the informational component is best developed organically out of prewriting and then outlining. This doesn’t need to be a formal pre-write, but rather a sketch of the loci of your interests identified while researching your topic. When we pay attention to our thoughts, we can notate the ideas that arise organically as we follow the path of our interests through our attention to the material we are studying. Eventually, we will realize our thesis organically by observing the thoughts we think while researching our topic. We can also identify quotations that buttress the ideas we are developing. Documenting both of these categories—1. Our original ideas and 2. Useful quotations/concepts to paraphrase—on our pre-write determines the kernels of our future paragraphs and saves a ton of time in the long run. The time I refer to here is that dreaded time spent staring at a blank page with a flashing cursor. Using this method, one should never have to waste time staring at a blank page with a flashing cursor again.

Now that you’ve sketched out you pre-write, including your thoughts and evidence gathered from the text, I suggest transcribing your observations one at a time into a fresh word document. After each transcribed idea, quotation, or paraphrase, hit enter four or five times. You now have the skeleton of your paper, around which you will develop your paragraphs. Technically, you have created an outline out of your pre-write, but using this method it feels more like an organic evolution than an artificial construction. Starting in this way ensures that each paragraph is organized around one idea. This fresh word document is the foundation of your entire paper. You will notice that working this way entirely circumvents the loathsome blank page with flashing cursor. Write your observation or paraphrase into complete sentences or transcribe your quotation precisely and you have completed your body paragraph’s observational component. Save your word document (here, throughout, and frequently) and step away from your computer for some relaxation. When you return to your computer you will approach your next task, the analytical component of your body paragraphs. We will turn to the analytical component in a moment, but first, let’s address the formal expectations for including a quote or paraphrase as your observation.

A note on embedding quotations and paraphrases: the basics

When the observation in your paragraph takes the form of a quotation or a paraphrase, it is customary to provide a short introduction to the idea that is not your own. To do so, we use a signal phrase that shows your audience that the following idea isn’t yours. The simplest and most effective way to do this is to introduce the creator of that idea. Though this is only necessary in a paragraph that includes a quotation or paraphrase, in those instances it is essential to extend this professional courtesy to the originator of the idea you are discussing. Each quote or paraphrase also needs to include an embedded citation. In the current MLA citation style, that takes the form of a parenthetical citation after the close of the quotation marks—or at the end of the paraphrase—but before the closing punctuation. If you choose not to introduce the originator of the idea you’re quoting, you must include their last name in the parenthesis, along with the page number of the quote. If you have introduced the author, you may omit their name and only include the page number in your parenthesis. Below is an example using the first sentence of this paragraph:

As Ryan Slesinger writes in “A Literature Scholar Teaches Structuring Paragraphs in a Research Essay,” “When the observation in your paragraph takes the form of a quotation or a paraphrase, it is customary to provide a short introduction to the idea that is not your own” (#).

There are different formatting requirements if you choose to include a longer quotation: more than four lines of prose or three lines of poetry. At that length, you would format your quotation as a block quote . To do so, write out your quotation in its entirety, then highlight it and indent it ½ inch from the left margin. The quote remains double spaced like the rest of your essay. Your parenthetical citation occurs outside of the final punctuation in this case. See the below example:

As Ryan Slesinger writes in, “A Literature Scholar Teaches Structuring Paragraphs in a Research Essay,”

When the observation in your paragraph takes the form of a quotation or a paraphrase, it is customary to provide a short introduction to the idea that is not your own. To do so, we use a signal phrase that shows your audience that the following idea isn’t yours. The simplest and most effective way to do this is to introduce the creator of that idea. (#)

Be judicious about your quote selection and try to limit your block quote inclusions. Remember that your audience is more interested in what you have to say about your topic than what your sources have to say. These basics of in-text citation should suffice for the purpose of your composition classes, but there is a lot more to learn about appropriate citation methods, including several other styles in addition to MLA. The Purdue OWL website is the go-to resource for all citation styles. If you need more clarification, owl.purdue.edu should be your first stop.

Analytical Component

The next step is to add your analytical component to each observation. Where the observation in each paragraph anchors that paragraph to the text in question, the analytical component provides commentary on why you’ve chosen to include the observation to support your thesis. Often when studying a text, this analytical component will take the form of what we in literary studies call a “close reading.” Close readings pay special attention to the literary elements of a text, including the word choice, imagery, tone, etc. Depending on the field and focus of your research you should create appropriate analyses. For instance, if you have provided a statistic, perhaps your analytical component will interpret the statistic for a general (non-specialist) audience. Regardless of which field you’re working in, the pattern is the same. The informational aspect of a paragraph is composed of your observation and analysis. No paragraph is complete without both. The proportion of both is important as well.

Our analytical component is the most important part of any body paragraph. But sometimes as writers we assume that our readers are on a wavelength with us and they intuitively understand why we’ve chosen to include our evidence/observation. This is not always the case. As a teacher of first year writing over the last fifteen years, I’ve seen many students fall into this trap. Remember that your audience (and in college, your instructor) cannot read your mind, and is ultimately most interested in what you have to say about your topic. So, when you’re choosing a quote, it should provide important information for your argument, but should not stand alone within the context of your essay. Each paragraph should contain at least as much analysis as observation, and analysis should frequently outweigh observation in each paragraph. These are quantitative measures, but you should try to balance your paragraphs between analysis and observation. If an imbalance occurs, make sure that the scale tilts towards an excess of analysis. Your analysis is really the meat of your paragraph, and thus the meat of your essay.

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Fortunately, our new modular method of composition creates a failsafe that helps us avoid the temptation of dropping in stand-alone quotes: those pepperonis slapped on top of a frozen pizza. When we finished gathering our observational component of the essay, we created a document that serves as the backbone of our essay, including each observation/quote/paraphrase with four to five spaces in between. Our task now is to add our own commentary to that evidence. Move through the outline document adding your original, analytical thoughts to each of your observations, and before you know it, your analytical component will be complete.

Because each observational component is standing alone in this outline document, it is easy to make sure we add analysis to each quotation/paraphrase, and it is easy to make sure our analysis is balanced with—or outweighs—our observational component of each paragraph. We will also find that, since we are focusing on each type of task independently, and we have already completed our research and observations, our analytical thoughts come to us quicker. All we must do is write them down. Once you have added your own original thoughts to each observational component, you have completed the analytical component, and composed the informational component of your body paragraphs. Save the draft and walk away from the computer for a bit. When you return, we will switch gears entirely to the rhetorical component of each paragraph.

Rhetorical Component

Once you’ve added analytical comments to each observation, you have written most of each paragraph. That is, you have covered the informational component. Now it’s time to turn to the rhetorical component. The rhetorical component frames your informational component and serves to contextualize the observations and analysis you have chosen to present to your audience.  As you might expect from my phrase “framing,” the rhetorical component goes before and after the informational. You have three rhetorical tasks to complete in every paragraph:

• Introduce your topic
• Transition to next paragraph

Once composed, the first two rhetorical aspects will be positioned before your informational component and the third will conclude each paragraph. One might notice that these tasks are relatively simple and easy to compose in contrast to the informational component of the paragraphs. However, the rhetorical tasks are crucial for your argument. Think of it this way: the informational component tells what you have to say, and the rhetorical elements tell us why what you’re saying is important for your argument.

When working in our modular system, composing the rhetorical element of body paragraphs is even more accelerated than adding analysis to your observations. Again, I recommend going through these three components one at a time and saving your developing document after each one. First, go to each pairing of observation + analysis and add a topic sentence that informs the reader of the topic being discussed in that pairing. Do this for each paragraph. Then, go through and write sentences that connect that topic to your thesis and suggests its importance. Once you’ve done this your paper is basically written. Put your paragraphs into the order that they will appear in your final draft. Once you’ve done this, your final rhetorical task is simple: add a sentence to the end of each paragraph that creates a transition to the topic discussed in the next paragraph. With these tasks completed, all that’s left to do is compose your introduction, conclusion, revise, and submit your essay.

By clarifying the many constitutive steps that make up the overarching writing process, we find that each step is easier to complete. Focusing on one step at a time, we watch as our essays develop out of our research before our eyes. This method takes the strain out of the way we write and helps us have a more fulfilling experience while composing. You’ll notice that when you inhabit one type of thinking at a time, your thoughts arrive clearer, and your transmission of those thoughts to the page is sharper. The method I’ve presented here is not the only way you might split up the tasks of the writing process but trying it out is a good place to start. Each student is at liberty to follow their own thought process and writing habits to tailor this method to their own needs. We find that with a little discipline and time management we can make the once-dreaded writing assignment a pleasant and fulfilling task. Happy writing!

Discussion Questions

• What are your current writing habits? Do you prefer to multitask, or split up tasks?
• What is your existing strategy for organizing paragraphs?
• What are some of the benefits to a modular, process-based approach to writing?

About the Author

name: Ryan Slesinger

institution: Oklahoma State University

Ryan Slesinger is a Visiting Assistant Professor of English at Oklahoma State University where he enjoys teaching a variety of literature and writing courses. Recently taught courses include, “American Road Narratives,” “Literature of the American Counterculture,” and “Race, Borders, & Intersectional American Identities.” He has published articles on John Steinbeck, Jack Kerouac, and the Grateful Dead, and his current book project addresses the importance of mysticism in the works of twentieth century American novelists Steinbeck, Kerouac, Anaya, Silko, and Morrison.

Who Teaches Writing? Copyright © 2021 by Ryan Slesinger is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Structuring an essay is a lot of work. Allowing an idea to find its own form takes time, trial and error, diligence, and patience. However, even though you can't give writers a formula for each idea, you can offer them strategies that will make developing its form easier.

Bad Habits From High School: The Five-Paragraph Theme

Many writers have been taught in high school that there are very simple formulae for structuring ideas. The most common structure is the five-paragraph theme, or some variation of it. The five-paragraph theme begins with a general introduction; the thesis is always the last sentence in the introductory paragraph; three supporting paragraphs follow, each beginning with a topic sentence that is followed by three to five developing sentences; finally comes the conclusion, which basically restates the introduction. Of course, there can be more than five paragraphs. In fact, some writers produce very long essays that follow this basic structure.

What's wrong with the five-paragraph theme? To start, it's formulaic. Not all ideas fit well into the five-paragraph theme. Imagine, if you will, that a teacher asks you to write an essay on the most important event of your life (or an essay on Hamlet's indecision, for that matter). She requires you to fit your essay into a five-paragraph format, thesis and topic sentences all in their proper places. It seems absurd, no? But when they arrive at college and hear their professors shout, "Death to the five-paragraph theme!" students generally shudder. If not that formula, then which one? And when the professor goes on to say that there is no formula, that in fact each idea must come to find its own form, students collapse in agony. It sounds like a lot of work!

As you know, structuring an essay is a lot of work. Allowing an idea to find its own form takes time, trial and error, diligence, and patience. However, even though you can't give writers a formula for each idea, you can offer them strategies that will make developing its form easier.

The Challenge of Structuring a Paper

The structure of a paper can take a long time to work out. While the idea for a paper can come in a flash, finding the actual form that the idea will take on the page can require hours or even days. How does a writer find a structure?

She can begin by listening very closely to her idea. If it's a good idea, it will suggest its own form. But a writer needs patience, diligence, and practice to "hear" an idea emerging. You can help her. First, read the paper and listen closely. What structure does the idea suggest? If you have trouble seeing a form, it might be that there is a fundamental flaw in the argument, or that the thesis is not strong enough to carry the argument, or that the paragraphs are unraveling into incoherence, or ... well, the list goes on and on. At this point you should probably consider some of these tried-and-true strategies for developing a structure for the essay.

Using Outlines and Diagrams in the Tutoring Session

Most of us use some kind of outline or diagram as we write. But when - and how - should we use an outline or diagram in the tutoring session? Situations that call for outlining typically occur when writers haven't thought out the implications of their argument. The writer may not have discovered yet the "umbrella" point that gathers all the ideas together under the rubric of a single argument. Or the paragraphs may be holding three or four different points, which need to be sorted out. Outlines and diagrams can help in all of these situations.

Generally, it's a good idea in a tutoring session to let the writer do the outlining or diagramming himself. You might ask the writer to reconstruct the thesis and the outline from memory while you are reading the paper. You can then compare what the writer comes up with against the paper you've just read. Often, the problem with structure will be immediately apparent. Ask questions that get the writer to think closely about what he's written, and how it differs from what he wants to convey. Watch closely as he tries to make order out of what is not yet orderly, and suggest connections where you see them.

Remember: an outline or diagram should be understood as a flexible plan, one that can accommodate new discoveries. A writer can use outlines and diagrams to guide him in his writing, but he should also be prepared to discard or to revise the plan at a moment's notice.

Testing the Topic Sentences

Sometimes when a paper's structure seems muddled, the quickest way to check where something's gone wrong is to underline the thesis and all the topic sentences, and then to read them aloud, in sequence, to the tutee. Ask two questions:

• Does what you've just read adequately reflect the argument that the writer was trying to make?  If not, then something is wrong with the structure of the paper. Consider each topic sentence in turn, and see if you can revise so that the sentence more accurately reflects the argument.
• Do the topic sentences string together coherently to support the thesis?  When you put the thesis and all of the topic sentences together, they should read more or less like a coherent paragraph. If they don't, then something is wrong with the structure of the paper. Try to see what went wrong. Is one of the sentences irrelevant? Work with the writer to make it relevant, or discard that idea from the paper. Do the sentences seem to loop back on each other, going nowhere? Rework them so that they form a more linear structure. If you fix the topic sentences so that they work together to create a coherent paragraph, the paper should be coherent, too.

Note: This method of underlining topic sentences can reveal two different types of writing problems: problems with structure and problems with paragraphs. Be sure you've correctly diagnosed the problem before you begin tutoring.

Additional Strategies for Organizing Muddled Ideas

When you tutor, you will need to be as inventive as you can be when approaching strategies for structure. Sometimes it helps to consider the writer's personality or habits of mind before you recommend a strategy.

• Is the writer a scientific thinker? Perhaps you can use scientific models (hypothesis, proof, etc.) to help the writer find a structure.
• Is the writer an order freak? Suggest that she try using note cards - or even different colored note cards - when she researches her ideas. If, on the other hand, she's ordered the life right out of her paper, suggest that she put the note cards aside and freewrite for a few minutes on the matter of the structure of her argument. Sometimes breaking habits are as important as strengthening the skills a writer already has.
• Does the writer work better with technological support? There are software programs that help writers to organize their research and to structure their papers.
• Is the writer an avid reader? Help him to find some short prose models that he can imitate or adapt.
• Is the writer a visual learner? Tell her to use colors when mapping her ideas.

To give you a sense of how helpful these kinds of strategies can be: I once had a student who wrote tremendously insightful papers but who jumbled all of her ideas. Idea A would emerge in paragraph two, re-surface in five, come up again in eight. Ideas B, C, and D were similarly scattered. After several exasperating conferences with this student, I told her to go through the paper with colored magic markers and to "color" yellow every point that related to idea A, to color blue every point that related to idea B, etc. For her, this strategy was a godsend. She wrote very good papers for the rest of the term and was still using this technique when we last spoke.

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Research Paper – Structure, Examples and Writing Guide

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Research Paper

Definition:

Research Paper is a written document that presents the author’s original research, analysis, and interpretation of a specific topic or issue.

It is typically based on Empirical Evidence, and may involve qualitative or quantitative research methods, or a combination of both. The purpose of a research paper is to contribute new knowledge or insights to a particular field of study, and to demonstrate the author’s understanding of the existing literature and theories related to the topic.

Structure of Research Paper

The structure of a research paper typically follows a standard format, consisting of several sections that convey specific information about the research study. The following is a detailed explanation of the structure of a research paper:

The title page contains the title of the paper, the name(s) of the author(s), and the affiliation(s) of the author(s). It also includes the date of submission and possibly, the name of the journal or conference where the paper is to be published.

The abstract is a brief summary of the research paper, typically ranging from 100 to 250 words. It should include the research question, the methods used, the key findings, and the implications of the results. The abstract should be written in a concise and clear manner to allow readers to quickly grasp the essence of the research.

Introduction

The introduction section of a research paper provides background information about the research problem, the research question, and the research objectives. It also outlines the significance of the research, the research gap that it aims to fill, and the approach taken to address the research question. Finally, the introduction section ends with a clear statement of the research hypothesis or research question.

Literature Review

The literature review section of a research paper provides an overview of the existing literature on the topic of study. It includes a critical analysis and synthesis of the literature, highlighting the key concepts, themes, and debates. The literature review should also demonstrate the research gap and how the current study seeks to address it.

The methods section of a research paper describes the research design, the sample selection, the data collection and analysis procedures, and the statistical methods used to analyze the data. This section should provide sufficient detail for other researchers to replicate the study.

The results section presents the findings of the research, using tables, graphs, and figures to illustrate the data. The findings should be presented in a clear and concise manner, with reference to the research question and hypothesis.

The discussion section of a research paper interprets the findings and discusses their implications for the research question, the literature review, and the field of study. It should also address the limitations of the study and suggest future research directions.

The conclusion section summarizes the main findings of the study, restates the research question and hypothesis, and provides a final reflection on the significance of the research.

The references section provides a list of all the sources cited in the paper, following a specific citation style such as APA, MLA or Chicago.

How to Write Research Paper

You can write Research Paper by the following guide:

• Choose a Topic: The first step is to select a topic that interests you and is relevant to your field of study. Brainstorm ideas and narrow down to a research question that is specific and researchable.
• Conduct a Literature Review: The literature review helps you identify the gap in the existing research and provides a basis for your research question. It also helps you to develop a theoretical framework and research hypothesis.
• Develop a Thesis Statement : The thesis statement is the main argument of your research paper. It should be clear, concise and specific to your research question.
• Plan your Research: Develop a research plan that outlines the methods, data sources, and data analysis procedures. This will help you to collect and analyze data effectively.
• Collect and Analyze Data: Collect data using various methods such as surveys, interviews, observations, or experiments. Analyze data using statistical tools or other qualitative methods.
• Organize your Paper : Organize your paper into sections such as Introduction, Literature Review, Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. Ensure that each section is coherent and follows a logical flow.
• Write your Paper : Start by writing the introduction, followed by the literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Ensure that your writing is clear, concise, and follows the required formatting and citation styles.
• Edit and Proofread your Paper: Review your paper for grammar and spelling errors, and ensure that it is well-structured and easy to read. Ask someone else to review your paper to get feedback and suggestions for improvement.
• Cite your Sources: Ensure that you properly cite all sources used in your research paper. This is essential for giving credit to the original authors and avoiding plagiarism.

Research Paper Example

Note : The below example research paper is for illustrative purposes only and is not an actual research paper. Actual research papers may have different structures, contents, and formats depending on the field of study, research question, data collection and analysis methods, and other factors. Students should always consult with their professors or supervisors for specific guidelines and expectations for their research papers.

Research Paper Example sample for Students:

Title: The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health among Young Adults

Abstract: This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults. A literature review was conducted to examine the existing research on the topic. A survey was then administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Introduction: Social media has become an integral part of modern life, particularly among young adults. While social media has many benefits, including increased communication and social connectivity, it has also been associated with negative outcomes, such as addiction, cyberbullying, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on the mental health of young adults.

Literature Review: The literature review highlights the existing research on the impact of social media use on mental health. The review shows that social media use is associated with depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health problems. The review also identifies the factors that contribute to the negative impact of social media, including social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Methods : A survey was administered to 200 university students to collect data on their social media use, mental health status, and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. The survey included questions on social media use, mental health status (measured using the DASS-21), and perceived impact of social media on their mental health. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analysis.

Results : The results showed that social media use is positively associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. The study also found that social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO are significant predictors of mental health problems among young adults.

Discussion : The study’s findings suggest that social media use has a negative impact on the mental health of young adults. The study highlights the need for interventions that address the factors contributing to the negative impact of social media, such as social comparison, cyberbullying, and FOMO.

Conclusion : In conclusion, social media use has a significant impact on the mental health of young adults. The study’s findings underscore the need for interventions that promote healthy social media use and address the negative outcomes associated with social media use. Future research can explore the effectiveness of interventions aimed at reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health. Additionally, longitudinal studies can investigate the long-term effects of social media use on mental health.

Limitations : The study has some limitations, including the use of self-report measures and a cross-sectional design. The use of self-report measures may result in biased responses, and a cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality.

Implications: The study’s findings have implications for mental health professionals, educators, and policymakers. Mental health professionals can use the findings to develop interventions that address the negative impact of social media use on mental health. Educators can incorporate social media literacy into their curriculum to promote healthy social media use among young adults. Policymakers can use the findings to develop policies that protect young adults from the negative outcomes associated with social media use.

References :

• Twenge, J. M., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study. Preventive medicine reports, 15, 100918.
• Primack, B. A., Shensa, A., Escobar-Viera, C. G., Barrett, E. L., Sidani, J. E., Colditz, J. B., … & James, A. E. (2017). Use of multiple social media platforms and symptoms of depression and anxiety: A nationally-representative study among US young adults. Computers in Human Behavior, 69, 1-9.
• Van der Meer, T. G., & Verhoeven, J. W. (2017). Social media and its impact on academic performance of students. Journal of Information Technology Education: Research, 16, 383-398.

Appendix : The survey used in this study is provided below.

Social Media and Mental Health Survey

• How often do you use social media per day?
• Less than 30 minutes
• 30 minutes to 1 hour
• 1 to 2 hours
• 2 to 4 hours
• More than 4 hours
• Which social media platforms do you use?
• Others (Please specify)
• How often do you experience the following on social media?
• Social comparison (comparing yourself to others)
• Cyberbullying
• Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
• Have you ever experienced any of the following mental health problems in the past month?
• Do you think social media use has a positive or negative impact on your mental health?
• Very positive
• Somewhat positive
• Somewhat negative
• Very negative
• In your opinion, which factors contribute to the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Social comparison
• In your opinion, what interventions could be effective in reducing the negative impact of social media on mental health?
• Education on healthy social media use
• Counseling for mental health problems caused by social media
• Social media detox programs
• Regulation of social media use

Thank you for your participation!

Applications of Research Paper

Research papers have several applications in various fields, including:

• Advancing knowledge: Research papers contribute to the advancement of knowledge by generating new insights, theories, and findings that can inform future research and practice. They help to answer important questions, clarify existing knowledge, and identify areas that require further investigation.
• Informing policy: Research papers can inform policy decisions by providing evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. They can help to identify gaps in current policies, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions, and inform the development of new policies and regulations.
• Improving practice: Research papers can improve practice by providing evidence-based guidance for professionals in various fields, including medicine, education, business, and psychology. They can inform the development of best practices, guidelines, and standards of care that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• Educating students : Research papers are often used as teaching tools in universities and colleges to educate students about research methods, data analysis, and academic writing. They help students to develop critical thinking skills, research skills, and communication skills that are essential for success in many careers.
• Fostering collaboration: Research papers can foster collaboration among researchers, practitioners, and policymakers by providing a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas. They can facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations and partnerships that can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems.

When to Write Research Paper

Research papers are typically written when a person has completed a research project or when they have conducted a study and have obtained data or findings that they want to share with the academic or professional community. Research papers are usually written in academic settings, such as universities, but they can also be written in professional settings, such as research organizations, government agencies, or private companies.

Here are some common situations where a person might need to write a research paper:

• For academic purposes: Students in universities and colleges are often required to write research papers as part of their coursework, particularly in the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities. Writing research papers helps students to develop research skills, critical thinking skills, and academic writing skills.
• For publication: Researchers often write research papers to publish their findings in academic journals or to present their work at academic conferences. Publishing research papers is an important way to disseminate research findings to the academic community and to establish oneself as an expert in a particular field.
• To inform policy or practice : Researchers may write research papers to inform policy decisions or to improve practice in various fields. Research findings can be used to inform the development of policies, guidelines, and best practices that can improve outcomes for individuals and organizations.
• To share new insights or ideas: Researchers may write research papers to share new insights or ideas with the academic or professional community. They may present new theories, propose new research methods, or challenge existing paradigms in their field.

Purpose of Research Paper

The purpose of a research paper is to present the results of a study or investigation in a clear, concise, and structured manner. Research papers are written to communicate new knowledge, ideas, or findings to a specific audience, such as researchers, scholars, practitioners, or policymakers. The primary purposes of a research paper are:

• To contribute to the body of knowledge : Research papers aim to add new knowledge or insights to a particular field or discipline. They do this by reporting the results of empirical studies, reviewing and synthesizing existing literature, proposing new theories, or providing new perspectives on a topic.
• To inform or persuade: Research papers are written to inform or persuade the reader about a particular issue, topic, or phenomenon. They present evidence and arguments to support their claims and seek to persuade the reader of the validity of their findings or recommendations.
• To advance the field: Research papers seek to advance the field or discipline by identifying gaps in knowledge, proposing new research questions or approaches, or challenging existing assumptions or paradigms. They aim to contribute to ongoing debates and discussions within a field and to stimulate further research and inquiry.
• To demonstrate research skills: Research papers demonstrate the author’s research skills, including their ability to design and conduct a study, collect and analyze data, and interpret and communicate findings. They also demonstrate the author’s ability to critically evaluate existing literature, synthesize information from multiple sources, and write in a clear and structured manner.

Characteristics of Research Paper

Research papers have several characteristics that distinguish them from other forms of academic or professional writing. Here are some common characteristics of research papers:

• Evidence-based: Research papers are based on empirical evidence, which is collected through rigorous research methods such as experiments, surveys, observations, or interviews. They rely on objective data and facts to support their claims and conclusions.
• Structured and organized: Research papers have a clear and logical structure, with sections such as introduction, literature review, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. They are organized in a way that helps the reader to follow the argument and understand the findings.
• Formal and objective: Research papers are written in a formal and objective tone, with an emphasis on clarity, precision, and accuracy. They avoid subjective language or personal opinions and instead rely on objective data and analysis to support their arguments.
• Citations and references: Research papers include citations and references to acknowledge the sources of information and ideas used in the paper. They use a specific citation style, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, to ensure consistency and accuracy.
• Peer-reviewed: Research papers are often peer-reviewed, which means they are evaluated by other experts in the field before they are published. Peer-review ensures that the research is of high quality, meets ethical standards, and contributes to the advancement of knowledge in the field.
• Objective and unbiased: Research papers strive to be objective and unbiased in their presentation of the findings. They avoid personal biases or preconceptions and instead rely on the data and analysis to draw conclusions.

Advantages of Research Paper

Research papers have many advantages, both for the individual researcher and for the broader academic and professional community. Here are some advantages of research papers:

• Contribution to knowledge: Research papers contribute to the body of knowledge in a particular field or discipline. They add new information, insights, and perspectives to existing literature and help advance the understanding of a particular phenomenon or issue.
• Opportunity for intellectual growth: Research papers provide an opportunity for intellectual growth for the researcher. They require critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity, which can help develop the researcher’s skills and knowledge.
• Career advancement: Research papers can help advance the researcher’s career by demonstrating their expertise and contributions to the field. They can also lead to new research opportunities, collaborations, and funding.
• Academic recognition: Research papers can lead to academic recognition in the form of awards, grants, or invitations to speak at conferences or events. They can also contribute to the researcher’s reputation and standing in the field.
• Impact on policy and practice: Research papers can have a significant impact on policy and practice. They can inform policy decisions, guide practice, and lead to changes in laws, regulations, or procedures.
• Advancement of society: Research papers can contribute to the advancement of society by addressing important issues, identifying solutions to problems, and promoting social justice and equality.

Limitations of Research Paper

Research papers also have some limitations that should be considered when interpreting their findings or implications. Here are some common limitations of research papers:

• Limited generalizability: Research findings may not be generalizable to other populations, settings, or contexts. Studies often use specific samples or conditions that may not reflect the broader population or real-world situations.
• Potential for bias : Research papers may be biased due to factors such as sample selection, measurement errors, or researcher biases. It is important to evaluate the quality of the research design and methods used to ensure that the findings are valid and reliable.
• Ethical concerns: Research papers may raise ethical concerns, such as the use of vulnerable populations or invasive procedures. Researchers must adhere to ethical guidelines and obtain informed consent from participants to ensure that the research is conducted in a responsible and respectful manner.
• Limitations of methodology: Research papers may be limited by the methodology used to collect and analyze data. For example, certain research methods may not capture the complexity or nuance of a particular phenomenon, or may not be appropriate for certain research questions.
• Publication bias: Research papers may be subject to publication bias, where positive or significant findings are more likely to be published than negative or non-significant findings. This can skew the overall findings of a particular area of research.
• Time and resource constraints: Research papers may be limited by time and resource constraints, which can affect the quality and scope of the research. Researchers may not have access to certain data or resources, or may be unable to conduct long-term studies due to practical limitations.

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Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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11.1 The Purpose of Research Writing

Learning objectives.

• Identify reasons to research writing projects.
• Outline the steps of the research writing process.

Why was the Great Wall of China built? What have scientists learned about the possibility of life on Mars? What roles did women play in the American Revolution? How does the human brain create, store, and retrieve memories? Who invented the game of football, and how has it changed over the years?

You may know the answers to these questions off the top of your head. If you are like most people, however, you find answers to tough questions like these by searching the Internet, visiting the library, or asking others for information. To put it simply, you perform research.

Whether you are a scientist, an artist, a paralegal, or a parent, you probably perform research in your everyday life. When your boss, your instructor, or a family member asks you a question that you do not know the answer to, you locate relevant information, analyze your findings, and share your results. Locating, analyzing, and sharing information are key steps in the research process, and in this chapter, you will learn more about each step. By developing your research writing skills, you will prepare yourself to answer any question no matter how challenging.

Reasons for Research

When you perform research, you are essentially trying to solve a mystery—you want to know how something works or why something happened. In other words, you want to answer a question that you (and other people) have about the world. This is one of the most basic reasons for performing research.

But the research process does not end when you have solved your mystery. Imagine what would happen if a detective collected enough evidence to solve a criminal case, but she never shared her solution with the authorities. Presenting what you have learned from research can be just as important as performing the research. Research results can be presented in a variety of ways, but one of the most popular—and effective—presentation forms is the research paper . A research paper presents an original thesis, or purpose statement, about a topic and develops that thesis with information gathered from a variety of sources.

If you are curious about the possibility of life on Mars, for example, you might choose to research the topic. What will you do, though, when your research is complete? You will need a way to put your thoughts together in a logical, coherent manner. You may want to use the facts you have learned to create a narrative or to support an argument. And you may want to show the results of your research to your friends, your teachers, or even the editors of magazines and journals. Writing a research paper is an ideal way to organize thoughts, craft narratives or make arguments based on research, and share your newfound knowledge with the world.

Write a paragraph about a time when you used research in your everyday life. Did you look for the cheapest way to travel from Houston to Denver? Did you search for a way to remove gum from the bottom of your shoe? In your paragraph, explain what you wanted to research, how you performed the research, and what you learned as a result.

Research Writing and the Academic Paper

No matter what field of study you are interested in, you will most likely be asked to write a research paper during your academic career. For example, a student in an art history course might write a research paper about an artist’s work. Similarly, a student in a psychology course might write a research paper about current findings in childhood development.

Having to write a research paper may feel intimidating at first. After all, researching and writing a long paper requires a lot of time, effort, and organization. However, writing a research paper can also be a great opportunity to explore a topic that is particularly interesting to you. The research process allows you to gain expertise on a topic of your choice, and the writing process helps you remember what you have learned and understand it on a deeper level.

Research Writing at Work

Knowing how to write a good research paper is a valuable skill that will serve you well throughout your career. Whether you are developing a new product, studying the best way to perform a procedure, or learning about challenges and opportunities in your field of employment, you will use research techniques to guide your exploration. You may even need to create a written report of your findings. And because effective communication is essential to any company, employers seek to hire people who can write clearly and professionally.

Writing at Work

Take a few minutes to think about each of the following careers. How might each of these professionals use researching and research writing skills on the job?

• Medical laboratory technician
• Small business owner
• Information technology professional
• Freelance magazine writer

A medical laboratory technician or information technology professional might do research to learn about the latest technological developments in either of these fields. A small business owner might conduct research to learn about the latest trends in his or her industry. A freelance magazine writer may need to research a given topic to write an informed, up-to-date article.

Think about the job of your dreams. How might you use research writing skills to perform that job? Create a list of ways in which strong researching, organizing, writing, and critical thinking skills could help you succeed at your dream job. How might these skills help you obtain that job?

Steps of the Research Writing Process

How does a research paper grow from a folder of brainstormed notes to a polished final draft? No two projects are identical, but most projects follow a series of six basic steps.

These are the steps in the research writing process:

• Choose a topic.
• Plan and schedule time to research and write.
• Conduct research.
• Organize research and ideas.
• Draft your paper.
• Revise and edit your paper.

Each of these steps will be discussed in more detail later in this chapter. For now, though, we will take a brief look at what each step involves.

Step 1: Choosing a Topic

As you may recall from Chapter 8 “The Writing Process: How Do I Begin?” , to narrow the focus of your topic, you may try freewriting exercises, such as brainstorming. You may also need to ask a specific research question —a broad, open-ended question that will guide your research—as well as propose a possible answer, or a working thesis . You may use your research question and your working thesis to create a research proposal . In a research proposal, you present your main research question, any related subquestions you plan to explore, and your working thesis.

Step 2: Planning and Scheduling

Before you start researching your topic, take time to plan your researching and writing schedule. Research projects can take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Creating a schedule is a good way to ensure that you do not end up being overwhelmed by all the work you have to do as the deadline approaches.

During this step of the process, it is also a good idea to plan the resources and organizational tools you will use to keep yourself on track throughout the project. Flowcharts, calendars, and checklists can all help you stick to your schedule. See Chapter 11 “Writing from Research: What Will I Learn?” , Section 11.2 “Steps in Developing a Research Proposal” for an example of a research schedule.

Step 3: Conducting Research

When going about your research, you will likely use a variety of sources—anything from books and periodicals to video presentations and in-person interviews.

Your sources will include both primary sources and secondary sources . Primary sources provide firsthand information or raw data. For example, surveys, in-person interviews, and historical documents are primary sources. Secondary sources, such as biographies, literary reviews, or magazine articles, include some analysis or interpretation of the information presented. As you conduct research, you will take detailed, careful notes about your discoveries. You will also evaluate the reliability of each source you find.

Step 4: Organizing Research and the Writer’s Ideas

When your research is complete, you will organize your findings and decide which sources to cite in your paper. You will also have an opportunity to evaluate the evidence you have collected and determine whether it supports your thesis, or the focus of your paper. You may decide to adjust your thesis or conduct additional research to ensure that your thesis is well supported.

Remember, your working thesis is not set in stone. You can and should change your working thesis throughout the research writing process if the evidence you find does not support your original thesis. Never try to force evidence to fit your argument. For example, your working thesis is “Mars cannot support life-forms.” Yet, a week into researching your topic, you find an article in the New York Times detailing new findings of bacteria under the Martian surface. Instead of trying to argue that bacteria are not life forms, you might instead alter your thesis to “Mars cannot support complex life-forms.”

Step 5: Drafting Your Paper

Now you are ready to combine your research findings with your critical analysis of the results in a rough draft. You will incorporate source materials into your paper and discuss each source thoughtfully in relation to your thesis or purpose statement.

When you cite your reference sources, it is important to pay close attention to standard conventions for citing sources in order to avoid plagiarism , or the practice of using someone else’s words without acknowledging the source. Later in this chapter, you will learn how to incorporate sources in your paper and avoid some of the most common pitfalls of attributing information.

Step 6: Revising and Editing Your Paper

In the final step of the research writing process, you will revise and polish your paper. You might reorganize your paper’s structure or revise for unity and cohesion, ensuring that each element in your paper flows into the next logically and naturally. You will also make sure that your paper uses an appropriate and consistent tone.

Once you feel confident in the strength of your writing, you will edit your paper for proper spelling, grammar, punctuation, mechanics, and formatting. When you complete this final step, you will have transformed a simple idea or question into a thoroughly researched and well-written paper you can be proud of!

Review the steps of the research writing process. Then answer the questions on your own sheet of paper.

• In which steps of the research writing process are you allowed to change your thesis?
• In step 2, which types of information should you include in your project schedule?
• What might happen if you eliminated step 4 from the research writing process?

Key Takeaways

• People undertake research projects throughout their academic and professional careers in order to answer specific questions, share their findings with others, increase their understanding of challenging topics, and strengthen their researching, writing, and analytical skills.
• The research writing process generally comprises six steps: choosing a topic, scheduling and planning time for research and writing, conducting research, organizing research and ideas, drafting a paper, and revising and editing the paper.

Writing for Success Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

How to Research: Get Started Writing/ Paragraph structure

• Library Tutorials
• Selecting a Topic/ Thesis
• Library Resources for Research
• Primary vs. Secondary Sources
• Get Started Researching
• Find Articles
• Annotated Bibliography
• Evaluating Websites
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Get Started Writing/ Paragraph structure
• Images & Multimedia
• Write & Cite This link opens in a new window

Structure of a Paragraph

Point= The main point, or idea, you are making in the paragraph. Also known as a Topic Sentence.

Information= The specific fact or example which supports the point you are trying to make. It must be specific and will usually be concrete (numbers, statistic, quote, etc.). Also known as Evidence.

Explanation= An explanation in your own words of how the example supports the point you are trying to make and how this idea supports the main idea of the essay as a whole. Also known as Analysis/ Evaluation.

This structure is most effective when the reader can tell the difference between these three parts.

Hartwig, Jennifer. "P.I.E. Recipe for Paragraphs."  YouTube . YouTube, 02 Aug. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

The Writing Process

Before You Write:

Know your purpose for writing. Is it to persuade, to compare, to describe?

Know your audience . Is it your peers or the instructor?  The tone and formality of the writing should reflect the audience you are trying to reach.  

Steps of the Writing Process:

Brainstorming - during this stage, you want to generate as many ideas as possible without critique.  This is the time to be creative and come up with many ideas. 

Drafting-  it is important during drafting to be open to feedback and change.  Ask a peer or visit a writing tutor for objective feedback. Ask them to evaluate your writing in the following areas:  Ideas- are they clear and well-organized; thesis- is the main point you are making clear; evidence- do you have ample evidence that supports the point you are making; research- are your sources valid and authoritative, and do you cite them correctly; language/ word choice- is the work well edited and vocabulary appropriate to the topic and audience.

Revision-   After seeking feedback and rereading your own work, rewrite your paper to address any areas of concern or expand on areas of strength.  Good writers revise many times, knowing this process improves the final quality of the work.

Editing-   You should be editing throughout the writing process, but make sure you do a final edit.  It can help to read your work aloud. 

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How to Structure Your Writing for Maximum Impact (With Help From AI)

Table of contents

Laura Jane Bradbury

A teacher once told me, “The most effective writing is always prepared with a plan.”  

A plan provides a clear structure and roadmap to follow. This helps you to avoid getting stuck in the middle of the writing process because you have guidance to fall back on. 

As well as saving time, you will improve your work if you consider how to structure your writing before you begin. Planning your basic structure can ensure that your argument, article, or story is easy to follow and digest. Without doing so, you may forget to include certain information or your piece may become disjointed and incoherent.

I’ve been a professional writer for six years, and I’ve produced many forms of writing for different clients. In particular, I often create detailed blog posts using different writing structures.

In this article, I’ll explain why structure is essential to the writing process. I’ll also provide tips to help you choose which structure your piece of writing should follow.

Nail your writing structure with this free AI tool > Nail your writing structure with this free AI tool >

What is writing structure?

Structure in writing refers to the arrangement of words, sentences, and paragraphs to create a logical flow of ideas. It provides a framework for you to organize your thoughts around so your writing flows from one point to the next, making it easy for your readers to understand .

For example, the basics of essay structure consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion. This structure helps you separate your content into digestible sections. It also helps you to plan your content: you can consider what you need to set up in the introduction before moving onto the main body of your essay, and then what you will need to summarise in the conclusion.

Structure also includes elements such as sentence length, headings, and transitions. These help readers digest key points within your text.

There are many types of structures you can use, and some content requires a particular type. Press releases , for example, have a format that adheres to industry standards and usually include contact information at the end. On the other hand, a story’s structure can include different variations.

As I’ll demonstrate throughout this article, it’s crucial to find a suitable structure for the content you’re creating. 

Why is writing structure important?

Structure acts as a solid foundation for your text. It tells you how to logically lay out your ideas and arguments.

For example, let’s say I’m writing an entire post on the pros and cons of social media. With a structure, I can plan my arguments and look at how to present them. I could structure the pros together and then the cons. Alternatively, I could go back-and-forth between the two opposing sides.

Without this structure, my essay would be confusing and difficult to read. If I don’t plan my essay, I may forget key points, insert information at inappropriate times, or create a confusing flow. 

In addition to guiding our ideas, structure can break up our writing briefs to make word counts less daunting.

For instance, a 5,000 word essay is less intimidating if you separate it into different parts. You could start with a 300-word introduction, for example, followed by a 200-word overview of the topic you’re discussing.

Types of writing structures and how to use them

Now you know the importance of structure, let’s look at some different types of writing — such as essays and stories — and the structure that best applies to them.

Linear writing structure

Linear structure — otherwise known as chronological structure — is when writing follows a logical sequence, with each point connecting to the next. A linear structure lists events in the order they happened or will occur.

Recipes, for example, follow linear structures. This is because it makes sense to read cooking instructions in a chronological order. After all, you can’t start at step 5 and combine your ingredients if you haven’t yet added them to the bowl!

As well as recipes, step-by-step instructions, how-to guides, and the relaying of an event or subject are best served by chronological order.

If you’re following a guide on how to do something, for example, you don’t want to skip steps and work backwards to find out what’s next. Likewise, if you’re researching the build-up to a historical event, you’ll struggle to understand what actually happened if it’s not written in chronological order.

Before choosing a linear structure for your writing, ask yourself if a non-chronological structure would confuse your readers. Do people need to know what happened in chronological order to understand your content?

Narrative structures: Storytelling through writing

Narrative structure is a way of organizing a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It is often used in creative writing and includes a plot, characters, and setting, as well as a conflict that the protagonist must resolve. 

With a narrative or story structure, it can be difficult to decide how to structure your writing. This is because even though there are common structures, there is ultimately no right or wrong way to lay out your story — it depends on what structure will make your story feel most exciting and engaging.

Here are five key narrative structures to consider:

• Linear : As mentioned, this puts the story in chronological order.
• Nonlinear : This is a way of telling your story non-chronologically. For instance, your story could involve flashbacks to different time periods.
• Circular: This structure gives the sense that the end of your story takes you back to where it started. For example, your story could begin and end in a particular location, or with a character feeling exactly as they did at the start of the story by the end of it.
• Parallel: This is when two or more separate stories are told at the same time. The stories are usually linked by a character, an event, or a theme. As an example, you could show the perspectives of two different people in the same city looking for love. 
• Interactive: This type of storytelling enables readers to interact with and influence the story’s course. One way to do this is to ask readers to make a decision and then turn to a specific page to continue the story based on the outcome they chose.

Imagine your story in each narrative structure. Plan out how each could work and how this impacts your story — this will help with your understanding of story structure. For example, when planning a circular structure, consider if your ending is powerful enough to also be mirrored at the beginning.

Or, when looking at a parallel structure, decide if your characters or themes are strong enough to have separate storylines.

Scene writing structure: Crafting a setting for your story

A story scene can show how a character is feeling, what is happening in the plot, and how the narrative is progressing. It can also be used to create tension and suspense, or to illustrate a moral lesson.

When creating a scene structure, plan for the overall purpose. What do you want your scene to achieve and how do you want readers to feel?

Scene structures consist of a beginning, middle, and end. So, within one singular scene, you have three separate parts to focus on. The first part (the beginning) sets up the objective — what is your character trying to achieve? For instance, do they need to meet a deadline at work?

The middle part is typically an obstacle — something happens that impacts the character’s goal. Based on my previous example, maybe the character receives a phone call that their child is ill and must be picked up from school.

The end of your scene is the conclusion — what is the outcome for the character? Will they overcome their obstacle or run into further issues which extend into the next scene? 

Once you have the structure of your scene, you can craft your setting. While the obvious example for my character is to place them in an office, I could use a mind map to explore further scenarios. Perhaps they work from home for instance, or they are heading towards their office to complete their tasks.

Logical structures: Building blocks of writing

Logical structures are used to organize information in a way that makes sense and is effective. The building blocks of logical writing include clear and concise language, rational arguments, and well-researched evidence. Using these elements together creates a convincing argument that is easy to follow and understand.

Here are some examples of logical structures:

• Cause and effect : This typically follows a pattern of introducing the cause, providing supporting evidence, discussing the effect, and then providing further evidence to support the effect. 
• Comparison and contrast : Compares two or more things and highlights their similarities and differences. It usually begins with an introduction that outlines the main points of comparison, followed by body paragraphs that discuss each subject in turn. 
• Chronological order : As mentioned earlier, chronological order outlines events or content in the order in which they occur. For instance, step-by-step instructions are written in a chronological order, from the first step to the last.
• Problem and solution : This is when you present a problem and offer potential solutions. You may also explain why certain solutions work.

A logical structure, such as the ones described above, makes it easier to organize your essay or article. This is because it specifies what to focus on in each paragraph. To decide which logical structure to use, reflect on your argument. Is your aim to provide solutions, to compare something, or are you looking to highlight the impact of an issue such as global warming, which would be aided by a cause and effect structure?

To ensure your language is clear, direct, and conveys a strong argument, use Wordtune . When you type text into the editor, you can receive Editor’s Notes which point out spelling and grammar mistakes. Additionally, the Editor can suggest alternative sentences and words to make your text more concise.

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Academic writing structures: Crafting an argument

Academic writing typically follows this classic structure:

• Introduction : Tells the reader about your topic and provides a thesis statement .
• Body : Conveys key points, theories, and arguments related to your thesis.
• Conclusion : Summarizes your argument and ties your points together.

While the introduction and conclusion often follow a typical format, the body of an argument can be structured in several ways.

An argumentative structure, for instance, usually follows a five-paragraph structure: an introduction, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion. The body paragraphs should each make a point that supports the main argument. The body paragraphs should also include a topic sentence — usually at the beginning. This briefly explains the main point or idea of a paragraph.

On the other hand, an explanatory essay could have a cause and effect structure. This structure can be used to explain why something happened and its consequences. As an example, you could use a cause and effect structure to explain how the increased use of social media has impacted how we communicate with each other. 

The structure largely depends on the type of essay being written. For instance, if you are crafting an argument to persuade the reader of a certain point of view, an argumentative essay structure is ideal. But if your essay’s purpose is to tell a story, a narrative structure is more appropriate.

Pro Tip: Use Wordtune’s AI technology to craft a persuasive argument. Wordtune’s “ Spices ” feature can generate text to explain your points and provide examples. 

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Module 4: Writing in College

Introduction to writing essays, what you’ll learn to do: examine characteristics of common essay assignments.

High school writing often emphasizes formulaic structure, such as the five-paragraph theme or the three-point essay. Those structures are appropriate as an introduction to academic writing because they teach writers to make a point and use evidence to support it in an organized way. Those structures are especially useful when responding to standardized tests under time pressure.

In college, though, you’ll be writing in a wide variety of disciplines for many different purposes. You’ll need to move beyond formulaic structures and learn how to develop and organize your ideas more organically. Even when you organize your ideas organically, however, you can follow common rhetorical patterns. For example, essays that ask you to compare or contrast two ideas are often formatted following a consistent pattern. Similarly, narrative essays, argumentative essays, or process essays are often structured in similar ways. In this module, you’ll learn about some of these main rhetorical structures.

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