Writing an essay is complex and daunting process for many students, but this is pretty straight- forward and simple. Many students get confused about what the key elements are which are required in a good essay and how a teacher marks an essay. An essay is not treated as a whole but this is divided in some basic components and examiners give equal marks to all components and these are;
1. Structure 20
2. Content 20
3. Expression 20
4. Grammar 20
5. Argument 20
However; most of students do not know all this and they put their maximum effort on content without knowing expression, grammar and structure (number of sentences and ideas) of a paragraph and even structure of a sentence.
Structure
The process of organizing and putting sentences and paragraphs together is known as structure of the essay. It is an overall arrangement of sentences and paragraphs in the essay. But it is noticed that most of the CSS/PMS students’ essays are frequently organized either by repetition or by illogical pattern. A good argument proceeds in a logical way, but also develops the implications of a thesis more deeply as the essay progresses. The reader should understand how each new section
Outline, introduction, body paragraphs and conclusion – starts and extends the arguments that come before and prepares for the argument that is still to come. Students must remember that every section of the structure has its own requirements.
In simple words this is a way/plan in which different parts of an essay are combined together. It has three parts:
1. Outline 5%
2. Unusual paragraph ( introduction and conclusion) 20%
3. Usual paragraph ( all body paragraphs) 75%
It can be mapped in the following way.
The structure is basically the way about how students compose and combine sentences and paragraphs that will make an effective essay. Therefore it is essential to define outline and unusual and usual paragraphs that are the basic building blocks of the structure.