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How to Write a Short Essay

Last Updated: January 17, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 108,294 times.

Essay writing is a common assignment in high school or college courses, especially within the humanities. You’ll also be asked to write essays for college admissions and scholarships. In a short essay (250-500 words), you will need to provide an introduction with a thesis, a body, and a conclusion, as you would with a longer essay. Depending on the essay requirements, you may also need to do academic or online research to find sources to back up your claims.

Picking a Topic and Gathering Research

  • If you have any questions about the topic, ask your instructor. If your essay doesn't respond to the prompt, you likely won't receive full credit.

Step 2 Choose a single arguable point for your brief essay.

  • If you're writing an essay for an in-class test or for an application, tailor the essay to the given prompt and topic. Quickly brainstorm a few ideas; for example, think of positive things you can say about yourself for a college-entrance essay.
  • For example, the topic “depression in American literature” is far too broad. Narrow down your topic to something like “Willie Loman’s depression in Death of a Salesman .”
  • Or, you could write about a narrow topic like “the increase in the USA’s national debt in the 1950s” rather than a broad topic like “the American economy in the 20th century.”

Step 3 Find 1-2 appropriate secondary sources in an online research database.

  • Depending on the field in which you’re writing the essay—e.g., hard sciences, sociology, humanities, etc.—your instructor will direct you towards appropriate databases. For example, if you’re writing a high-school or college-level essay for your English class, visit online literary databases like JSTOR, LION, and the MLA Bibliography.
  • If you're writing the essay for a college or graduate-school application, it's unlikely that you'll need to include any secondary sources.
  • If you're writing a timed or in-class essay, you may not be able to find research articles. But, still do draw information from texts and sources you've studied both in and out of class, and build from points made in any provided reading passages.

Step 4 Use an article...

  • If you’re writing about current events or journalism topics, read articles from well-known news sites like CNN or the BBC.
  • Avoid citing unreliable websites like blogs or any sites that have a clear bias about the topic they’re reporting on.

Composing the Essay

Step 1 Create an outline...

  • If you write the essay without outlining, the essay will be poorly organized.

Step 2 Write a convincing,...

  • This thesis statement is far too weak: “ Death of a Salesman shows the difficulty of living in America after WWII.”
  • Instead, hone your thesis to something like: “Arthur Miller uses Death of a Salesman to show that the American Dream is materialist and impractical.”

Step 3 Use your introduction paragraph to explain the essay’s topic.

  • So, avoid beginning the paragraph by writing something like, “Since the beginning of time, all people have been consumed with the desire for their father’s approval.”
  • Instead, write something like, “In the play Death of a Salesman , Willie Loman’s sons compete for their father’s approval through various masculine displays."
  • Then, you can say, "To examine this topic, I will perform a close reading of several key passages of the play and present analyses by noted Arthur Miller scholars."

Step 4 Keep the introduction and conclusion under 75 words each.

  • In a short essay, the conclusion should do nothing more than briefly restate your main claim and remind readers of the evidence you provided.

Step 5 Use body paragraphs to prove various aspects of your central argument.

  • So, take the example about Death of a Salesman . The first body paragraph could discuss the ways in which Willie’s sons try to impress him.
  • The second body paragraph could dive into Willie’s hopelessness and despair, and the third paragraph could discuss how Miller uses his characters to show the flaws in their understanding of the American Dream.

Step 6 Add information from your research sources to strengthen claims.

  • Always cite your sources so you avoid charges of plagiarism. Check with your instructor (or the essay prompt) and find out what citation style you should use.
  • For example, if you’re summarizing the inflation of the American dollar during the 1930s, provide 2 or 3 years and inflation-rate percentages. Don’t provide a full-paragraph summary of the economic decline.
  • If you're writing an in-class essay and don't have time to perform any research, you don't need to incorporate outside sources. But, it will impress your teacher if you quote from a reading passage or bring up pertinent knowledge you may have gained during the class.

Step 7 Ask someone else to read your first draft.

  • If no one agrees to read the essay, read over your own first draft and look for errors or spots where you could clarify your meaning. Reading the essay out loud often helps, as you’ll be able to hear sentences that aren’t quite coherent.
  • This step does not apply to essays written during a timed or in-class exam, as you won't be able to ask peers to read your work.

Step 8 Revise the first draft into the final essay.

  • It’s always a mistake to submit an unrevised first draft, whether for a grade, for admissions, or for a scholarship essay.
  • However, if you're writing an essay for a timed exam, it's okay if you don't have enough time to combine multiple drafts before the time runs out.

Condensing Your Essay

Step 1 Quote only from secondary sources that are related to your topic.

  • So, if you’re writing about Death of a Salesman , an article about symbolism in Arthur Miller’s plays would be useful. But, an article about the average cost of Midwestern hotels in the 1940s would be irrelevant.
  • If you’re writing a scholarship essay, double-check the instructions to clarify what types of sources you’re allowed to use.

Step 2 Remove verbiage to keep your essay under the word count.

  • A common cliche you might find in an essay is a statement like, "I'm the hardest working student at my school."
  • For example, this sentence is too verbose: “I have been a relentlessly stellar student throughout my entire high school career since I am a seriously dedicated reader and thoroughly apply myself to every assignment I receive in class.”
  • Shortened, it could read: “I was a stellar student throughout my high school career since I was a dedicated reader and applied myself to every assignment I received.”

Step 3 Write short sentences...

  • Avoid writing something like, “Willie Loman can be seen as having achieved little through his life because he is not respected by his sons and is not valued by his co-workers.”
  • Instead, write, “Arthur Miller shows readers that Willie’s life accomplishments have amounted to little. Willie’s sons do not look up to him, and his co-workers treat him without respect.”

Step 4 Present only the most relevant argument in your essay.

  • For example, if you’re trying to prove that WWII pulled the USA out of the Great Depression, focus strictly on an economic argument.
  • Avoid bringing in other, less convincing topics. For example, don’t dedicate a paragraph to discussing how much it cost the USA to build fighter jets in 1944.

Short Essay Template and Example

structure of a mini essay

Expert Q&A

  • When composing the text of your essay, resist the temptation to pull words from a thesaurus in an attempt to sound academic or intelligent. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
  • If your high school or college has an online or in-person writing center, schedule an appointment. Taking advantage of this type of service can improve your essay and help you recognize structural or grammatical problems you would not have noticed otherwise. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

structure of a mini essay

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Write an Essay

  • ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/research_papers/choosing_a_topic.html
  • ↑ https://monroecollege.libguides.com/c.php?g=589208&p=4072926
  • ↑ https://www.utep.edu/extendeduniversity/utepconnect/blog/march-2017/4-ways-to-differentiate-a-good-source-from-a-bad-source.html
  • ↑ https://www.grammarly.com/blog/essay-outline/
  • ↑ https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/thesis-statements/
  • ↑ https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/how-to-write-an-essay/essay-introduction
  • ↑ https://lsa.umich.edu/sweetland/undergraduates/writing-guides/how-do-i-write-an-intro--conclusion----body-paragraph.html
  • ↑ https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/writingsuccess/chapter/8-3-drafting/
  • ↑ https://www.trentu.ca/academicskills/how-guides/how-write-university/how-approach-any-assignment/writing-english-essay/using-secondary
  • ↑ https://patch.com/michigan/berkley/bp--how-to-shorten-your-college-essay-without-ruining-it
  • ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/style/ccs_activevoice/
  • ↑ https://wordcounter.net/blog/2016/01/26/101025_how-to-reduce-essay-word-count.html

About This Article

Christopher Taylor, PhD

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Structuring written work

  • Grammar, spelling and vocabulary
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Some assignments have a standard format, such as lab reports or case studies, and these will normally be explained in your course materials. For other assignments, you will have to come up with your own structure.

Your structure might be guided by:

  • the assignment question. For example, it may list topics or use wording such as ‘compare and contrast’
  • the subject matter itself, which may suggest a structure based on chronology, process or location
  • your interpretation of the subject matter. For example, problem/solution, argument/counter-argument or sub-topics in order of importance
  • the structure of other texts you’ve read in your discipline. Look at how the information is organised and sequenced. Make sure you modify the structure to suit your purpose to avoid plagiarism.

Essays are a very common form of academic writing. Like most of the texts you write at university, all essays have the same basic three-part structure: introduction, main body and conclusion. However, the main body can be structured in many different ways.

To write a good essay:

  • know if you’re expected to write an analytical, persuasive or critical essay
  • clearly structure your main body and paragraphs
  • use appropriate referencing
  • use academic language .

Reports generally have the same basic structure as essays, with an introduction, body and conclusion. However, the main body structure can vary widely, as the term ‘report’ is used for many types of texts and purposes in different disciplines.

Find out as much as possible about what type of report is expected.

How to plan your structure

There are many ways to come up with a structure for your work. If you’re not sure how to approach it, try some of the strategies below.

During and after reading your sources, take notes and start thinking about ways to structure the ideas and facts into groups. For example:

  • look for similarities, differences, patterns, themes or other ways of grouping and dividing the ideas under headings. This could include advantages, disadvantages, causes, effects, problems, solutions or types of theory
  • use coloured highlighters or symbols to tag themes or categories of information in your readings or notes
  • cut and paste notes in a document
  • physically group your readings or notes into piles.

It’s a good idea to brainstorm a few different ways of structuring your assignment once you have a rough idea of the main issues. Do this in outline form before you start writing – it’s much easier to re-structure an outline than a half-finished essay. For example:

  • draw some tree diagrams, mind-maps or flowcharts showing which ideas, facts and references would be included under each heading
  • discard ideas that don't fit into your overall purpose, and facts or references that are not useful for what you want to discuss
  • if you have a lot of information, such as for a thesis or dissertation, create some tables to show how each theory or reading relates to each heading (this is often called a 'synthesis grid')
  • plan the number of paragraphs you need, the topic heading for each one, and dot points for each piece of information and reference needed
  • try a few different possible structures until you find the one that works best.

Eventually, you’ll have a plan that is detailed enough for you to start writing. You’ll know which ideas go into each section and, ideally, each paragraph. You will also know where to find evidence for those ideas in your notes and the sources of that evidence.

If you’re having difficulties with the process of planning the structure of your assignment, consider trying a different strategy for grouping and organising your information.

Making the structure clear

Your writing will be clear and logical to read if it’s easy to see the structure and how it fits together. You can achieve this in several ways.

  • Use the end of the introduction to show the reader what structure to expect.
  • Use headings and sub-headings to clearly mark the sections (if these are acceptable for your discipline and assignment type).
  • Use topic sentences at the beginning of each paragraph , to show the reader what the main idea is, and to link back to the introduction and/or headings and sub-headings.
  • Show the connections between sentences. The beginning of each sentence should link back to the main idea of the paragraph or a previous sentence.
  • Use conjunctions and linking words to show the structure of relationships between ideas. Examples of conjunctions include: however, similarly, in contrast, for this reason, as a result and moreover.

Introductions

Most of the types of texts you write for university need to have an introduction. Its purpose is to clearly tell the reader the topic, purpose and structure of the paper.

As a rough guide, an introduction might be between 10 and 20 percent of the length of the whole paper and has three main parts.

  • The most general information, such as background and/or definitions.
  • The core of the introduction, where you show the overall topic, purpose, your point of view, hypotheses and/or research questions (depending on what kind of paper it is).
  • The most specific information, describing the scope and structure of your paper.

If the main body of your paper follows a predictable template, such as the method, results and discussion stages of a report in the sciences, you generally don’t need to include a guide to the structure in your introduction.

You should write your introduction after you know both your overall point of view (if it is a persuasive paper) and the whole structure of your paper. You should then revise the introduction when you have completed the main body.

Most academic writing is structured into paragraphs. It is helpful to think about each paragraph as a mini essay with a three-part structure:

  • topic sentence (also known as introductory sentence)
  • body of the paragraph
  • concluding sentence (necessary for long paragraphs but otherwise optional).

The topic sentence introduces a general overview of the topic and the purpose of the paragraph. Depending on the length of the paragraph, this may be more than one sentence. The topic sentence answers the question 'what's the paragraph about?'.

The body of the paragraph develops this topic. It may elaborate directly on the topic sentence by giving definitions, classifications, explanations, contrasts, examples and evidence.

The final sentence in many, but not all, paragraphs is the concluding sentence. It does not present new information, but often either summarises or comments on the paragraph content. It can also provide a link, by showing how the paragraph links to the topic sentence of the next paragraph. The concluding sentence often answers the question ‘so what?’, by explaining how this paragraph relates back to the main topic.

You don’t have to write all your paragraphs using this structure. For example, there are paragraphs with no topic sentence, or the topic is mentioned near the end of the paragraph. However, this is a clear and common structure that makes it easy for the reader to follow.

Conclusions

The conclusion is closely related to the introduction and is often described as its ‘mirror image’. This means that if the introduction begins with general information and ends with specific information, the conclusion moves in the opposite direction.

The conclusion usually:

  • begins by briefly summarising the main scope or structure of the paper
  • confirms the topic that was given in the introduction. This may take the form of the aims of the paper, a thesis statement (point of view) or a research question/hypothesis and its answer/outcome.
  • ends with a more general statement about how this topic relates to its context. This may take the form of an evaluation of the importance of the topic, implications for future research or a recommendation about theory or practice.

This material was developed by the the Learning Hub (Academic Language and Learning), which offers workshops, face-to-face consultations and resources to support your learning. Find out more about how they can help you develop your communication, research and study skills .

See our Writing skills handouts .

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structure of a mini essay

  • What is an essay? 

What makes a good essay?

Typical essay structure, 7 steps to writing a good essay, a step-by-step guide to writing a good essay.

Whether you are gearing up for your GCSE coursework submissions or looking to brush up on your A-level writing skills, we have the perfect essay-writing guide for you. 💯

Staring at a blank page before writing an essay can feel a little daunting . Where do you start? What should your introduction say? And how should you structure your arguments? They are all fair questions and we have the answers! Take the stress out of essay writing with this step-by-step guide – you’ll be typing away in no time. 👩‍💻

student-writing

What is an essay?

Generally speaking, an essay designates a literary work in which the author defends a point of view or a personal conviction, using logical arguments and literary devices in order to inform and convince the reader.

So – although essays can be broadly split into four categories: argumentative, expository, narrative, and descriptive – an essay can simply be described as a focused piece of writing designed to inform or persuade. 🤔

The purpose of an essay is to present a coherent argument in response to a stimulus or question and to persuade the reader that your position is credible, believable and reasonable. 👌

So, a ‘good’ essay relies on a confident writing style – it’s clear, well-substantiated, focussed, explanatory and descriptive . The structure follows a logical progression and above all, the body of the essay clearly correlates to the tile – answering the question where one has been posed. 

But, how do you go about making sure that you tick all these boxes and keep within a specified word count? Read on for the answer as well as an example essay structure to follow and a handy step-by-step guide to writing the perfect essay – hooray. 🙌

Sometimes, it is helpful to think about your essay like it is a well-balanced argument or a speech – it needs to have a logical structure, with all your points coming together to answer the question in a coherent manner. ⚖️

Of course, essays can vary significantly in length but besides that, they all follow a fairly strict pattern or structure made up of three sections. Lean into this predictability because it will keep you on track and help you make your point clearly. Let’s take a look at the typical essay structure:  

#1 Introduction

Start your introduction with the central claim of your essay. Let the reader know exactly what you intend to say with this essay. Communicate what you’re going to argue, and in what order. The final part of your introduction should also say what conclusions you’re going to draw – it sounds counter-intuitive but it’s not – more on that below. 1️⃣

Make your point, evidence it and explain it. This part of the essay – generally made up of three or more paragraphs depending on the length of your essay – is where you present your argument. The first sentence of each paragraph – much like an introduction to an essay – should summarise what your paragraph intends to explain in more detail. 2️⃣

#3 Conclusion

This is where you affirm your argument – remind the reader what you just proved in your essay and how you did it. This section will sound quite similar to your introduction but – having written the essay – you’ll be summarising rather than setting out your stall. 3️⃣

No essay is the same but your approach to writing them can be. As well as some best practice tips, we have gathered our favourite advice from expert essay-writers and compiled the following 7-step guide to writing a good essay every time. 👍

#1 Make sure you understand the question

#2 complete background reading.

#3 Make a detailed plan 

#4 Write your opening sentences 

#5 flesh out your essay in a rough draft, #6 evidence your opinion, #7 final proofread and edit.

Now that you have familiarised yourself with the 7 steps standing between you and the perfect essay, let’s take a closer look at each of those stages so that you can get on with crafting your written arguments with confidence . 

This is the most crucial stage in essay writing – r ead the essay prompt carefully and understand the question. Highlight the keywords – like ‘compare,’ ‘contrast’ ‘discuss,’ ‘explain’ or ‘evaluate’ – and let it sink in before your mind starts racing . There is nothing worse than writing 500 words before realising you have entirely missed the brief . 🧐

Unless you are writing under exam conditions , you will most likely have been working towards this essay for some time, by doing thorough background reading. Re-read relevant chapters and sections, highlight pertinent material and maybe even stray outside the designated reading list, this shows genuine interest and extended knowledge. 📚

#3 Make a detailed plan

Following the handy structure we shared with you above, now is the time to create the ‘skeleton structure’ or essay plan. Working from your essay title, plot out what you want your paragraphs to cover and how that information is going to flow. You don’t need to start writing any full sentences yet but it might be useful to think about the various quotes you plan to use to substantiate each section. 📝

Having mapped out the overall trajectory of your essay, you can start to drill down into the detail. First, write the opening sentence for each of the paragraphs in the body section of your essay. Remember – each paragraph is like a mini-essay – the opening sentence should summarise what the paragraph will then go on to explain in more detail. 🖊️

Next, it's time to write the bulk of your words and flesh out your arguments. Follow the ‘point, evidence, explain’ method. The opening sentences – already written – should introduce your ‘points’, so now you need to ‘evidence’ them with corroborating research and ‘explain’ how the evidence you’ve presented proves the point you’re trying to make. ✍️

With a rough draft in front of you, you can take a moment to read what you have written so far. Are there any sections that require further substantiation? Have you managed to include the most relevant material you originally highlighted in your background reading? Now is the time to make sure you have evidenced all your opinions and claims with the strongest quotes, citations and material. 📗

This is your final chance to re-read your essay and go over it with a fine-toothed comb before pressing ‘submit’. We highly recommend leaving a day or two between finishing your essay and the final proofread if possible – you’ll be amazed at the difference this makes, allowing you to return with a fresh pair of eyes and a more discerning judgment. 🤓

If you are looking for advice and support with your own essay-writing adventures, why not t ry a free trial lesson with GoStudent? Our tutors are experts at boosting academic success and having fun along the way. Get in touch and see how it can work for you today. 🎒

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The Art of the Travel Essay EGL 145, Winter 2007 Jonah Willihnganz Stanford University

The condition of motion produces a structure of experience with its own logic and order; distinct from the logic and order of place.                                                                                                      —Eric Leed

Guidelines for Writing the Mini Essay / Scene

The purpose of this initial writing assignment is to have you practice distinguishing and putting into relation two separate components that appear in nearly all essays—(a) a vividly rendered, concrete encounter and (b) a careful, acute exploration of an question or issue it raises for you. There are several reasons why, after we do some prewriting /brainstorming , it is helpful to break down an essay into these two components. One reason is that each requires a different kind of attention (wonder vs. examination) and writing (dramatization vs. analysis)

Write a scene that dramatizes and reflects on a moment when an opinion of yours changed. The scene should be an encounter with something/someone new to you, whether far-away or near-by. The changed opinion can be about a particular place or people but this usually has limited appeal. Aim instead for an insight that is occasioned by the encounter but which is itself more general. As we will see in the essays we read, the insight or changed mind is not about the place/people itself. For example, you might describe and reflect on a moment on a camping trip when you realize that the idea of "nature" you have been carrying around in your head is inaccurate. Or you might describe and reflect on a moment in a Japanese subway station when you realize that your sense of body space has conditioned how you interact in the world.

Please write about 2-3 pages, double-spaced (500-750 words or so). This is not much space, so every sentence counts.

A little help:

(1) Remember that your essay is an occasion to take the reader along on a journey of some discovery that may interest him/her and that what tends to most interest us is the subjective (vs. objective) knowledge that is produces by this journey.

(2) There are many, many ways to describe a scene. Choose a manner that will help you dramatize—make us feel—the experience that you have had. You can refer to the list of ways to describe something in the Course Materials section.

(3) In class we will discuss 15 principles of writing strong dramatization. These principles can help you render your scene powerfully. The list of these is also in the Course Materials section.

Informative Essay — Purpose, Structure, and Examples

Daniel Bal

What is informative writing?

Informative writing educates the reader about a certain topic. An informative essay may explain new information, describe a process, or clarify a concept. The provided information is objective, meaning the writing focuses on presentation of fact and should not contain personal opinion or bias.

Informative writing includes description, process, cause and effect, comparison, and problems and possible solutions:

Describes a person, place, thing, or event using descriptive language that appeals to readers’ senses

Explains the process to do something or how something was created

Discusses the relationship between two things, determining how one ( cause ) leads to the other ( effect ); the effect needs to be based on fact and not an assumption

Identifies the similarities and differences between two things; does not indicate that one is better than the other

Details a problem and presents various possible solutions ; the writer does not suggest one solution is more effective than the others

What is informative writing?

Purpose of informative writing

The purpose of an informative essay depends upon the writer’s motivation, but may be to share new information, describe a process, clarify a concept, explain why or how, or detail a topic’s intricacies.

Informative essays may introduce readers to new information .

Summarizing a scientific/technological study

Outlining the various aspects of a religion

Providing information on a historical period

Describe a process or give step-by-step details of a procedure.

How to write an informational essay

How to construct an argument

How to apply for a job

Clarify a concept and offer details about complex ideas.

Purpose of informative essays

Explain why or how something works the way that it does.

Describe how the stock market impacts the economy

Illustrate why there are high and low tides

Detail how the heart functions

Offer information on the smaller aspects or intricacies of a larger topic.

Identify the importance of the individual bones in the body

Outlining the Dust Bowl in the context of the Great Depression

Explaining how bees impact the environment

How to write an informative essay

Regardless of the type of information, the informative essay structure typically consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion.

Introduction

Background information

Explanation of evidence

Restated thesis

Review of main ideas

Closing statement

Informative essay structure

Informative essay introduction

When composing the introductory paragraph(s) of an informative paper, include a hook, introduce the topic, provide background information, and develop a good thesis statement.

If the hook or introduction creates interest in the first paragraph, it will draw the readers’ attention and make them more receptive to the essay writer's ideas. Some of the most common techniques to accomplish this include the following:

Emphasize the topic’s importance by explaining the current interest in the topic or by indicating that the subject is influential.

Use pertinent statistics to give the paper an air of authority.

A surprising statement can be shocking; sometimes it is disgusting; sometimes it is joyful; sometimes it is surprising because of who said it.

An interesting incident or anecdote can act as a teaser to lure the reader into the remainder of the essay. Be sure that the device is appropriate for the informative essay topic and focus on what is to follow.

Informative essay hooks

Directly introduce the topic of the essay.

Provide the reader with the background information necessary to understand the topic. Don’t repeat this information in the body of the essay; it should help the reader understand what follows.

Identify the overall purpose of the essay with the thesis (purpose statement). Writers can also include their support directly in the thesis, which outlines the structure of the essay for the reader.

Informative essay body paragraphs

Each body paragraph should contain a topic sentence, evidence, explanation of evidence, and a transition sentence.

Informative essay body paragraphs

A good topic sentence should identify what information the reader should expect in the paragraph and how it connects to the main purpose identified in the thesis.

Provide evidence that details the main point of the paragraph. This includes paraphrasing, summarizing, and directly quoting facts, statistics, and statements.

Explain how the evidence connects to the main purpose of the essay.

Place transitions at the end of each body paragraph, except the last. There is no need to transition from the last support to the conclusion. A transition should accomplish three goals:

Tell the reader where you were (current support)

Tell the reader where you are going (next support)

Relate the paper’s purpose

Informative essay conclusion

Incorporate a rephrased thesis, summary, and closing statement into the conclusion of an informative essay.

Rephrase the purpose of the essay. Do not just repeat the purpose statement from the thesis.

Summarize the main idea found in each body paragraph by rephrasing each topic sentence.

End with a clincher or closing statement that helps readers answer the question “so what?” What should the reader take away from the information provided in the essay? Why should they care about the topic?

Informative essay example

The following example illustrates a good informative essay format:

Informative essay format

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Teaching Writing with Mini Lessons: A How-to

Teaching Writing with Mini Lessons: A How-to

Every year, teachers are asked to do more–close the gap, make learning fun, use technology, encourage independence, provide quality feedback, collaborate, and so on. It’s not easy finding a class structure that perfectly meets the needs of students, administrators, and classroom evaluators. When it comes to teaching writing with mini lessons, however, you can get pretty close.

How I Discovered Mini Lessons

During my first year of teaching, I tried really hard to create long, dynamic lectures. My favorite teacher in high school had been able to lecture for hours at a time without losing my interest; I wanted to be able to do the same.

But no matter how interesting or well-planned I thought my lessons were, my students always eventually lost interest. Plus, they didn’t have any time in class to put their new knowledge to use. And I was spending a ton of time outside of class grading and providing comments.

When I discovered mini lessons, many of these issues disappeared!

Mini lessons are now one of my favorite structures for lesson planning (especially for creative writing ). When done well, I believe they lead to more independence and confidence in students and they get this introverted teacher out of the spotlight–wins all around. 

In this post, I’ll cover the benefits of using mini lessons, especially for writing, and how to structure your own.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I personally use and love, or think my readers will find useful.

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What are Mini Lessons?

If you pick up any number of professional development books on mini lessons, you’ll find many definitions.

Some say that mini lessons have to cover a certain topic or content areas.

Others give strict requirements for time limits.

Here, I’ll give you my own definition of mini lessons.

Mini lessons are exactly what they sound like–short (mini) lessons or lectures. Those little lectures are followed by activities that let students immediately implement what they’ve learned. 

A mini lesson includes a short period of direct instruction followed by independent practice for students. Within this framework, the direct instruction and practice components can vary greatly, but this will be our general working definition for now. 

How “Mini” is Mini?

The term “mini” will vary depending on your class structure and time . I teach in ninety-minute blocks, so my mini lessons can go on for up to forty-five minutes sometimes. 

A teacher with a forty-five minute class time, however, will probably find that fifteen to twenty minutes for direct instruction is the sweet spot. 

The independent practice portion can be anything from a worksheet to working on a project. Typically, mini lessons involve more creative thinking activities–writing, 

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Why Use Mini Lessons When Teaching Writing?

There are many reasons that mini lessons are effective. Mini lessons provide:

  • Direct instruction
  • Gradual release of responsibility

Scaffolding

  • Guided practice

There are benefits for the instructor, as well. 

Direct Instruction

Direct instruction is an essential part of teaching. I think it gets a bad rap–there’s always a new activity, a new fad, or new technology that tries to replace it.

But sometimes in order to teach, you just have to get up there and, well, teach .

Mini lessons allow for direct instruction, but limit the instruction time to prevent lectures from becoming stale, boring, or losing students.

Gradual Release of Responsibility

My students tend to be very dependent. They wait for me to go over the answer, approve of a response before they write it down, or ask questions they already know the answer too.

For some, it’s laziness. For others, it’s the fear of getting it wrong or disappointing their teacher. With mini lessons, students are eased into working on their own.

Cover of It's Lit Teaching Product: Creative Writing Workshop and Mini Lesson for Showing, Not Telling in Writing

This might not be true with every mini lesson from every teacher, but it’s how I run my mini lessons usually. For example, in my “Show. Don’t Tell” mini lesson , I give examples on how to turn a telling sentence into a showing paragraph.

Then, we work as a whole class to turn a telling sentence into a showing paragraph.

Students randomly draw a telling sentence. They brainstorm details that could show rather than tell than sentence.

And then, finally, they write a showing paragraph.

Each step is built to build the student’s confidence. By the time we get to the activity, the know the expectations and what success will look like. They don’t need my approval.

Scaffolding ties in with the gradual release of responsibility. It is the scaffolding that allows for the release.

Again, this isn’t true of every mini lesson from every teacher, but I think it’s easy to build scaffolding into a lesson. Usually, you show an example and you do some modeling.

You may also provide a graphic organizer, a handout, or some other support for students to use as they work.

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I do this in my tone mini lesson .

In this lesson, students randomly pick a strip of paper with a neutral situation on it like “eating in the cafeteria” and then they pick a random strip with a tone word like “humorous”. They would have to combine the two to write a paragraph about eating in the cafeteria in a humorous tone.

But before that, they write shorter practice situations that aren’t random. I also give them a tone handout, should they forget what tone is in the process.

Here’s more about scaffolding techniques in another post . I also talk about scaffolding specifically for creative writing classes here .

Guided Practice

This, to me, is the biggest instructional benefit to using mini lessons.

If I only teach for, say, twenty minutes, that gives students more time to actually do the work, practice, critique one another, get feedback, and make revisions.

When students are working on a writing activity, I always walk around the room. Sometimes, I’m aimless and wander, giving unsolicited feedback.

Other times, I let students work for a bit before purposely sitting and chatting with each student about their writing so far.

What is important, however, is that students get immediate, in-the-moment feedback. They can quickly course correct or revise. That’s where the learning happens.

Additional Benefits

Personally, as an introverted teacher, I love mini lessons because they take the focus away from me. I do my thing for just a short amount of time, and then the focus is on the students. Walking around, checking in, and giving one-on-one feedback is way better than trying to entertain twenty teenagers at a time. 

I believe my students prefer shorter lectures, too. I see so much learning happening while students grapple during independent practice. 

When students are able to engage in guided practice, they’re forced to try new skills. Instead of bailing out when concepts become challenging–like they might be tempted to do with homework–I’m there to help them get unstuck. 

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How Do You Structure Writing Mini Lessons? 

Again, every instructor will have his or her own style for mini lessons. This is how I do mine.

Structuring Writing Mini Lessons Step 1: Identify the Goal

First, you need to know what you’re teaching of course. I love mini lessons for teaching or reinforcing skills. I love mini lessons for grammar and writing especially. 

It’s important to narrow down your focus. One of the hardest parts about creating a mini lesson is keeping it, well, mini .

Writing an essay is way too much content for a mini lesson. How to write a thesis statement, however, is perfect. 

When planning your class, it’s nice to know what your end goals are. Are students writing a speech? A short story? A poem? Use that end goal and work backwards, breaking apart the skills students will need to be successful. 

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Structuring Writing Mini Lessons Step 2: Choose the Student Task

Wait, wait! Why plan the student task before I map out the lesson? Isn’t that backwards?

Well, yes it is! I love backwards design!

Knowing what we want students to be able to do by the end of class or by the end of the lesson will force us to really concentrate our short lesson on only what students absolutely need to know. 

You don’t have to do it this way–you could certainly plan your lesson first and then create an assignment to go with it. I’d be lying if I said I haven’t done that, too. But I do think working backwards almost always yields better results. 

So, what kind of task would you like students to perform? 

structure of a mini essay

Notice that I used the work “task”. We want students to do or create something here. That rules out quizzes and worksheets as the end goal. 

(You can totally use quizzes and worksheets! I use these as an intermediary step sometimes, like in my dialogue mini lesson . But ultimately, students should have a small performance task.)

Earlier, I used the example of a mini lessons on writing thesis statements. If that was your topic, you’d obviously want to students to write a thesis statement by the end of class. 

If you want to teach students how to properly punctuate and construct a dialogue between characters, you’ll probably want them to actually write a conversation between two characters. 

Keep these tasks short . They’re practice, after all, not a major assessment. 

Structuring Writing Mini Lessons Step 3: Create Your Lesson

You know the end goal. You know what students are going to have to complete by the end of class.

Now, what will the need to know in order to do task?

My mini lessons are usually pretty straightforward presentations. When the lesson is short, you don’t have to do as much to keep students engaged. 

Generally, my lessons follow the same structure:

  • Introduce the topic, along with any need-to-know definitions or terms
  • Provide or model an example
  • Do an example with the class
  • Go over the assignment

For our thesis creation example, you can see how this would work. You’d first tell students what a thesis statement is and why we’d use it. You would show students an example of one and talk about it. 

Then, you might work with the class to create a thesis for an example question. 

Lastly, you’d have students write a thesis statement for their own papers. As they work, you’d walk around, checking on their work, and offering feedback. 

In my “Show. Don’t Tell” mini lesson , I have students select a random “telling” sentence and then turn it into a “showing” paragraph. (It’s a really fun activity!)

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Teaching the Mini Lesson

Once you have your goal, your lesson, and the student task all worked out, you’re good to go! I do have some tips for you, though. 

First, there is an art to the mini lesson. The first time I teach any mini lesson, I usually end up running long. It’s way, way too easy to create a lesson that is just too long. 

If you find that your mini lesson is not-so-mini, that’s ok! Take note and adjust for next time. 

I recommend having students do at least some practice in class immediately after the mini lesson. That way you can help them course correct if they don’t understand the skill or concept at first. 

But in a pinch, if your lesson runs long you can always assign the task as homework or leave it for the next day. 

Giving Feedback

I also recommend touching base with each student as they work, if possible. While students work, walk around and look over their shoulders. Give lots of praise for work well done or concepts mastered. Give gentle suggestions to students who haven’t quite mastered the skill yet. 

I love my walking feedback. Not only does it help students learn and make corrections in the moment, but it gives me time to make connections with them, too. I’ll often note some cool new shoes or ask about their weekends while passing by. 

You’ll have to be careful, of course, to make sure conversation doesn’t dominate the whole class, but getting some casual conversation going sometimes encourages my students to talk to another about the assignment. 

I might remark on a student’s creative approach to a poem, which will then lead another student to ask to read the poem. They end up trading work and giving one another feedback–all without much from me. 

For this alone, I love mini lessons. It takes instruction out of my hands and puts it back into the students. I prefer being a facilitator and a coach than a boss.

Learn More About Mini Lessons

I use mini lessons routinely in my classroom, but I’m no expert! 

I mention several times in this post that every teacher’s style of mini lesson is going to vary. If you’re truly interested in diving deep into mini lessons, there are some fantastic professional development books on this topic.

Mini lessons are a must-have in your teaching arsenal! They include a little bit of everything–direct instruction, guided practice, and opportunities for meaningful feedback. 

Plus, they keep you from talking nonstop for eight hours, which my voice box totally appreciates. 

I have some great mini lessons right here if you’d like to save time by using someone else’s!

I also encourage you to grab this FREE Mood and Tone Student Handout to help you with any future mini lessons on those topics.

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The Elusive Mini-IRAC

September 29, 2014 By Ariel Salzer 6 Comments

Ivelin Radkov

Take negligence, for example. You probably learned in the first few weeks of Torts class that negligence is comprised of four essential elements: Duty, Breach, Causation, and Damage. That sounds pretty easy to IRAC, right? The issue is whether the defendant was negligent, the rule is basically just the four elements listed above, you analyze a little bit and then conclude . Sounds like an easy A!? Not quite.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Cramming a negligence essay into a structure built from just these four headers and the basic rule probably isn’t going to be organized and analytical enough to get you the grade you’re looking for. Remember, the analysis portions of an essay exam are probably where your Professor has allocated the bulk of the available points. That means your analysis needs to be comprehensive and set you apart from the competition. You may already know that you should write concisely, use headers, and argue both sides wherever the facts permit. But, once you sit down to IRAC negligence, for example, you may start wondering where the hypothetical reasonable person should be wedging himself into this framework. How about amorphous concepts like foreseeability? Should you analyze that under duty, causation or both?

As you can see, sometimes a topic that may seem relatively simple when you’re listening to a lecture about it, can get pretty convoluted when you actually try to type it up. A similar phenomenon can occur with deceptively tricky subjects such as personal jurisdiction in Civil Procedure, or homicide in Criminal Law. So, how do you organize, make your essay easy to grade, and scoop up as many points as possible? That’s where the mini-IRAC comes in.

The Mini-IRAC

A mini-IRAC (“irac”) is a strategy for separating the main, overarching IRAC (e.g. for negligence) into smaller, less overwhelming puzzle pieces. Hopefully, on an exam, the headers and sub-headers you employ in your IRAC and mini-IRAC(s) will mirror those in your attack plans (which is another great reason to get organized now and start practicing and memorizing early!).

Below is an exemplar IRAC for negligence with mini-IRACs built in for various potential sub-issues. Each red parenthetical letter represents the IRAC (or irac) step, and the italicized text offers pointers about what to consider when writing your own essay exams and practice hypos. Keep in mind, there are multiple strategies for formulating a negligence analysis, and you can word these rules differently. The rules I’ve referenced for the purpose of this illustration may not be precisely the same as the ones your Professor is focusing on. So, as always, if you’ve learned something different from your case book or lectures, follow that!

NEGLIGENCE (I)

The issue is whether D is liable to P for negligence. An action for negligence requires P to prove four elements: (1) duty, (2) breach, (3) causation, and (4) damage. (R)

          Duty (i) (mini-IRAC—indentation of this header calls out to the grader that this is a sub-issue)

Every person owes a general duty not to pose an unreasonable risk of harm to others. The claimant must be a foreseeable plaintiff. (r)

* Bring up the Cardozo vs. Andrews distinctions for who is a foreseeable plaintiff and the “zone of danger” test under your rule here if you learned about these.

Here, … (a)

[ANALYSIS] Apply the law to the facts you’ve been given and say whether this plaintiff would be foreseeable or not. “Here” is a great buzzword to kick off your analysis paragraph. Use “because” to make sure you are spelling out why certain facts are legally significant.

Thus, … (c)

Conclude as to whether there is a duty or not. “Thus” or “therefore” is a good way to signal that you’re concluding. Keep this part short and sweet. You should have already written everything you wanted to say about why you’re concluding this way in your analysis section above, so no reason to repeat it here.

Assuming the court finds that D owed a duty to P, the next question is what duty D owed and what standard of care will be applied.

                              Standard of Care (i) (mini-sub-IRAC) (another level of indentation for sub-sub-issues)

The general standard of care is that of a reasonable and prudent person under the same or similar circumstances. This is an objective test. (r)

* Note: Additions or nuances to this rule may apply if you are dealing with children, professionals, mental or physical disabilities, licensees, invitees, special relationships, etc.). If any of these apply, you should consider pulling out a sub-section with its own header depending on how big the issue is and how many facts you have about it.

[ANALYSIS] Apply the law to your facts and determine which standard of care applies .

Conclude on what the standard of care is going to be.

          Breach (i)

Breach occurs when D’s conduct falls short of the level required by the applicable standard of care. (r)

* Consider any tests for breach you may have learned about, such as res ipsa loquitur or learned hand, and pull out a sub-section with a header if they apply.

[ANALYSIS] Analyze by applying law to fact. Discuss whether the D has lived up to the standard. Argue back and forth if there are facts to support each side of the argument.

Therefore, … (c)

Say whether the breach element has been met.

          Causation (i)

There must be a causal link between the D’s breach and the P’s damage. Both actual and proximate cause are required. (r)

                              Actual Cause (i)

Actual causation is satisfied if “but for” D’s breach, P would not have suffered the harm. (r)

Here, …

[ANALYSIS] Tie the law to the facts. Use “because” to say whether the but for test has been met. (a), (c)

                              Proximate Cause (i)

The harm to P must be a foreseeable consequence of D’s actions. (r)

[ANALYSIS] Apply law to fact and argue both sides to the extent possible.

* Consider any tests for causation you may have learned, such as the substantial factor test.

* Ask yourself whether there are any superseding cause issues that might cut off the chain of liability.

* If you learned about foreseeability of the type, manner, or degree of harm, discuss those here.

Conclude on whether proximate cause (and the causation element generally) has been met

          Damage (i)

P must prove damage in the form of actual harm or injury. (r)  

Here, … (a), (c)

Apply law to fact and discuss what P’s damages are, if any.

* Consider whether there are eggshell skull plaintiff issues triggered by your fact pattern.

The court would likely find/not find the D n this case liable to P for negligence because… (C) (overarching “C” from the big IRAC)

Again, keep this brief. You’ve already done the heavy lifting above. No need to reiterate all of your mini-conclusions here.

Well, there it is, a comprehensive IRAC for negligence! Hopefully, you are writing lots of practice hypos and grappling with these kinds of nuanced structural issues months in advance of your final exams. Lots of law students don’t start asking themselves the tough questions about how to break down a topic or struggle through the material with the required depth and precision on their own until they’re actually in the exam room. This can have disastrous consequences!

If you haven’t been teaching yourself the law at this level of intricacy, or if you haven’t tried writing out practice hypos yet, now is the time! Chances are, none of your Professors are going to sit you down and tell you how to do this. It’s up to you to come up with a strategy. And, it’s not easy! Don’t be alarmed if synthesizing all of your lecture notes, case briefs etc. into a format like the one above takes a while.

You may need to spend hours figuring out which piece fits where, and that’s ok! This extra time spent actively struggling through the material (rather than just passively re-reading or flash-carding it) is often what separates the As from the Bs or Cs. Keep in mind, the goal is to make your blueprints now so when the proctor says “go!” you can jump into a fast-paced process with a clear road map that you have already practiced applying many times before.

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And check out these helpful posts:

  • Two Ways Your Law School Exam Answers Went Wrong
  • Should Your Law School Essay be Wearing Sweatpants or a Suit?
  • Need More Time? Study Smart Before Your Law School Class
  • Do You Need to Write Out Practice Exams?

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About Ariel Salzer

Ariel Salzer is a tutor and mentor tutor for Law School Toolbox and Bar Exam Toolbox. Ariel has taught everything from conjunctions to calculus on four different continents. A primary and secondary school educator in the U.S. and abroad before law school, Ariel has always had penchant for teaching and editing. As a student at the University of San Francisco School of Law, Ariel tutored Torts and led 1L workshops on time management, exam preparation, legal writing, and outlining. As the chief Technical Editor on the Executive Board of the USF Law Review, Ariel was in charge of ensuring the accuracy of thousands of legal citations, and has become a Bluebook expert. She also served as a Case Counsel for the USF Moot Court program, and received CALI awards for high-scoring two classes, including Legal Research and Writing. After practicing law as a product liability litigator in California for a number of years, Ariel found her way back to teaching and now enjoys helping students find success in their law school classes and on the bar exam.

Reader Interactions

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Thank you for explaining mini-irac in a way that I can understand.

You’re welcome. Happy to help!

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Hi. Thank you for the mini irac post for Torts. My question is, do ALL the subjects break down into mini iracs? For example, Business Orgs/ Corporations?

Hi s, Whether you break into mini-IRACs will depend on (1) how many facts you have that correspond with the given issue, and (2) how much time you have on your exam. The issues that have the most facts in the fact pattern are usually worth the most points and should therefore get more attention (and possibly break into mini-IRACs). Assuming you have enough time, things like the different kinds of authority/agency can break into mini-RACs, so can topics like piercing the corporate veil. That said, every prof is different, so you should check with your prof about what he/she wants to see on exams. Best of luck!

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this is the most useful piece of information on multiple issues/sub-issues that I have come across over the entire Y. Thank you

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We’re so glad to hear it was useful!

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structure of a mini essay

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How to Write a Research Paper | A Beginner's Guide

A research paper is a piece of academic writing that provides analysis, interpretation, and argument based on in-depth independent research.

Research papers are similar to academic essays , but they are usually longer and more detailed assignments, designed to assess not only your writing skills but also your skills in scholarly research. Writing a research paper requires you to demonstrate a strong knowledge of your topic, engage with a variety of sources, and make an original contribution to the debate.

This step-by-step guide takes you through the entire writing process, from understanding your assignment to proofreading your final draft.

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Table of contents

Understand the assignment, choose a research paper topic, conduct preliminary research, develop a thesis statement, create a research paper outline, write a first draft of the research paper, write the introduction, write a compelling body of text, write the conclusion, the second draft, the revision process, research paper checklist, free lecture slides.

Completing a research paper successfully means accomplishing the specific tasks set out for you. Before you start, make sure you thoroughly understanding the assignment task sheet:

  • Read it carefully, looking for anything confusing you might need to clarify with your professor.
  • Identify the assignment goal, deadline, length specifications, formatting, and submission method.
  • Make a bulleted list of the key points, then go back and cross completed items off as you’re writing.

Carefully consider your timeframe and word limit: be realistic, and plan enough time to research, write, and edit.

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Professional editors proofread and edit your paper by focusing on:

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structure of a mini essay

There are many ways to generate an idea for a research paper, from brainstorming with pen and paper to talking it through with a fellow student or professor.

You can try free writing, which involves taking a broad topic and writing continuously for two or three minutes to identify absolutely anything relevant that could be interesting.

You can also gain inspiration from other research. The discussion or recommendations sections of research papers often include ideas for other specific topics that require further examination.

Once you have a broad subject area, narrow it down to choose a topic that interests you, m eets the criteria of your assignment, and i s possible to research. Aim for ideas that are both original and specific:

  • A paper following the chronology of World War II would not be original or specific enough.
  • A paper on the experience of Danish citizens living close to the German border during World War II would be specific and could be original enough.

Note any discussions that seem important to the topic, and try to find an issue that you can focus your paper around. Use a variety of sources , including journals, books, and reliable websites, to ensure you do not miss anything glaring.

Do not only verify the ideas you have in mind, but look for sources that contradict your point of view.

  • Is there anything people seem to overlook in the sources you research?
  • Are there any heated debates you can address?
  • Do you have a unique take on your topic?
  • Have there been some recent developments that build on the extant research?

In this stage, you might find it helpful to formulate some research questions to help guide you. To write research questions, try to finish the following sentence: “I want to know how/what/why…”

A thesis statement is a statement of your central argument — it establishes the purpose and position of your paper. If you started with a research question, the thesis statement should answer it. It should also show what evidence and reasoning you’ll use to support that answer.

The thesis statement should be concise, contentious, and coherent. That means it should briefly summarize your argument in a sentence or two, make a claim that requires further evidence or analysis, and make a coherent point that relates to every part of the paper.

You will probably revise and refine the thesis statement as you do more research, but it can serve as a guide throughout the writing process. Every paragraph should aim to support and develop this central claim.

A research paper outline is essentially a list of the key topics, arguments, and evidence you want to include, divided into sections with headings so that you know roughly what the paper will look like before you start writing.

A structure outline can help make the writing process much more efficient, so it’s worth dedicating some time to create one.

Your first draft won’t be perfect — you can polish later on. Your priorities at this stage are as follows:

  • Maintaining forward momentum — write now, perfect later.
  • Paying attention to clear organization and logical ordering of paragraphs and sentences, which will help when you come to the second draft.
  • Expressing your ideas as clearly as possible, so you know what you were trying to say when you come back to the text.

You do not need to start by writing the introduction. Begin where it feels most natural for you — some prefer to finish the most difficult sections first, while others choose to start with the easiest part. If you created an outline, use it as a map while you work.

Do not delete large sections of text. If you begin to dislike something you have written or find it doesn’t quite fit, move it to a different document, but don’t lose it completely — you never know if it might come in useful later.

Paragraph structure

Paragraphs are the basic building blocks of research papers. Each one should focus on a single claim or idea that helps to establish the overall argument or purpose of the paper.

Example paragraph

George Orwell’s 1946 essay “Politics and the English Language” has had an enduring impact on thought about the relationship between politics and language. This impact is particularly obvious in light of the various critical review articles that have recently referenced the essay. For example, consider Mark Falcoff’s 2009 article in The National Review Online, “The Perversion of Language; or, Orwell Revisited,” in which he analyzes several common words (“activist,” “civil-rights leader,” “diversity,” and more). Falcoff’s close analysis of the ambiguity built into political language intentionally mirrors Orwell’s own point-by-point analysis of the political language of his day. Even 63 years after its publication, Orwell’s essay is emulated by contemporary thinkers.

Citing sources

It’s also important to keep track of citations at this stage to avoid accidental plagiarism . Each time you use a source, make sure to take note of where the information came from.

You can use our free citation generators to automatically create citations and save your reference list as you go.

APA Citation Generator MLA Citation Generator

The research paper introduction should address three questions: What, why, and how? After finishing the introduction, the reader should know what the paper is about, why it is worth reading, and how you’ll build your arguments.

What? Be specific about the topic of the paper, introduce the background, and define key terms or concepts.

Why? This is the most important, but also the most difficult, part of the introduction. Try to provide brief answers to the following questions: What new material or insight are you offering? What important issues does your essay help define or answer?

How? To let the reader know what to expect from the rest of the paper, the introduction should include a “map” of what will be discussed, briefly presenting the key elements of the paper in chronological order.

The major struggle faced by most writers is how to organize the information presented in the paper, which is one reason an outline is so useful. However, remember that the outline is only a guide and, when writing, you can be flexible with the order in which the information and arguments are presented.

One way to stay on track is to use your thesis statement and topic sentences . Check:

  • topic sentences against the thesis statement;
  • topic sentences against each other, for similarities and logical ordering;
  • and each sentence against the topic sentence of that paragraph.

Be aware of paragraphs that seem to cover the same things. If two paragraphs discuss something similar, they must approach that topic in different ways. Aim to create smooth transitions between sentences, paragraphs, and sections.

The research paper conclusion is designed to help your reader out of the paper’s argument, giving them a sense of finality.

Trace the course of the paper, emphasizing how it all comes together to prove your thesis statement. Give the paper a sense of finality by making sure the reader understands how you’ve settled the issues raised in the introduction.

You might also discuss the more general consequences of the argument, outline what the paper offers to future students of the topic, and suggest any questions the paper’s argument raises but cannot or does not try to answer.

You should not :

  • Offer new arguments or essential information
  • Take up any more space than necessary
  • Begin with stock phrases that signal you are ending the paper (e.g. “In conclusion”)

There are four main considerations when it comes to the second draft.

  • Check how your vision of the paper lines up with the first draft and, more importantly, that your paper still answers the assignment.
  • Identify any assumptions that might require (more substantial) justification, keeping your reader’s perspective foremost in mind. Remove these points if you cannot substantiate them further.
  • Be open to rearranging your ideas. Check whether any sections feel out of place and whether your ideas could be better organized.
  • If you find that old ideas do not fit as well as you anticipated, you should cut them out or condense them. You might also find that new and well-suited ideas occurred to you during the writing of the first draft — now is the time to make them part of the paper.

The goal during the revision and proofreading process is to ensure you have completed all the necessary tasks and that the paper is as well-articulated as possible. You can speed up the proofreading process by using the AI proofreader .

Global concerns

  • Confirm that your paper completes every task specified in your assignment sheet.
  • Check for logical organization and flow of paragraphs.
  • Check paragraphs against the introduction and thesis statement.

Fine-grained details

Check the content of each paragraph, making sure that:

  • each sentence helps support the topic sentence.
  • no unnecessary or irrelevant information is present.
  • all technical terms your audience might not know are identified.

Next, think about sentence structure , grammatical errors, and formatting . Check that you have correctly used transition words and phrases to show the connections between your ideas. Look for typos, cut unnecessary words, and check for consistency in aspects such as heading formatting and spellings .

Finally, you need to make sure your paper is correctly formatted according to the rules of the citation style you are using. For example, you might need to include an MLA heading  or create an APA title page .

Scribbr’s professional editors can help with the revision process with our award-winning proofreading services.

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Checklist: Research paper

I have followed all instructions in the assignment sheet.

My introduction presents my topic in an engaging way and provides necessary background information.

My introduction presents a clear, focused research problem and/or thesis statement .

My paper is logically organized using paragraphs and (if relevant) section headings .

Each paragraph is clearly focused on one central idea, expressed in a clear topic sentence .

Each paragraph is relevant to my research problem or thesis statement.

I have used appropriate transitions  to clarify the connections between sections, paragraphs, and sentences.

My conclusion provides a concise answer to the research question or emphasizes how the thesis has been supported.

My conclusion shows how my research has contributed to knowledge or understanding of my topic.

My conclusion does not present any new points or information essential to my argument.

I have provided an in-text citation every time I refer to ideas or information from a source.

I have included a reference list at the end of my paper, consistently formatted according to a specific citation style .

I have thoroughly revised my paper and addressed any feedback from my professor or supervisor.

I have followed all formatting guidelines (page numbers, headers, spacing, etc.).

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