Uuurgh! Another essay? So you think to yourself as you stare at your laptop bored and not knowing where to start.
We’ve all been there, and Yes, I know you can spend hours beating around the bush trying to figure out where to start writing your essay which is probably due in the next few hours.
Spoiler Alert!!! You can order a custom essay freshly written by one of our professionals here:
In this guide, you will learn how to write an academic essay following a specific procedure that precisely showcases the 5 parts of an essay.
Whether you’re in highschool or college, it is very important that you’re able to write strong and efficient essays that meet expected academic standards if you want to score good grades.
In order to write essays that will score good grades, you must know how to structure an essay properly. This guide will give an outline on the 5 parts of an essay in the form of a template so that you can only focus on the meat (argument and evidence) of your essay.
Uuurgh! Another essay? So you think to yourself as you stare at your laptop bored and not knowing where to start.
We’ve all been there, and Yes, I know you can spend hours beating around the bush trying to figure out where to start writing your essay which is probably due in the next few hours.
Spoiler Alert!!! You can order a custom essay freshly written by one of our professionals here:
In this guide, you will learn how to write an academic essay following a specific procedure that precisely showcases the 5 parts of an essay.
Whether you’re in highschool or college, it is very important that you’re able to write strong and efficient essays that meet expected academic standards if you want to score good grades.
In order to write essays that will score good grades, you must know how to structure an essay properly. This guide will give an outline on the 5 parts of an essay in the form of a template so that you can only focus on the meat (argument and evidence) of your essay.
The following 5 parts of an essay can be used as a guideline to write essays no matter what topic you’re writing about:
Table of Contents
5 Parts of an Essay: General Guidelines.
Have you ever wondered what the point of writing an essay is? Well, here is the answer. Academic essays help the student in enhancing analytical skills, reflecting, critical thinking and sharpening writing skills.
The 5 parts of an essay also enhance the communication skills of a student. Depending on whatever course one is taking, there are different types of essays to be written including: comparative essays, persuasive essays, argumentative essays, expository essays and narrative essays among others.
Mostly, your instructor will give you essay instructions depending on the type of essay they want you to write or let you choose for yourself.
Most essays that are written follow a 3-part basic structure which is the introduction, body and conclusion but in this guideline we go further to learn about a 5-part essay structure that will help you write more content on any topic and earn you more points in your essay writing assignments.
The main sections of a 5-part essay are: an introduction, 3-body paragraphs covering the support details, and the conclusion. The 5 parts of an essay are often written when writing an argumentative essay in the following manner: Introduction, 3-body paragraphs (argument, counter argument and rebuttal) and conclusion.
Essay Outline
Basic essay structure:
- Introduction
- Body
- conclusion
Argumentative essay structure:
- Introduction
- Argument
- Counter Argument
- Rebuttal
- Conclusion
When asked to write a 500 word essay on any given topic, you’ll probably want to stick to the basic essay structure. However, if asked to write an argumentative essay, you’ll have to be more detailed and follow the 5 parts of an essay step-by-step guide below:
Step by Step Guide: How to Write the 5 Parts of an Essay
It is very important to note that when writing an argumentative essay, each part has to contain unique content based on relevance. However, all content written should be relevant to the main topic.
For example, if the writer is asked to write about traditional drug therapies, the introduction should explain about what traditional drug therapies are and give examples.In the argument section, the writer should state and explain the benefits of traditional drug therapies and in the counter argument section, state and explain the case against traditional drug therapies both citing research evidence.The rebuttal section should challenge the ideas raised in the counter argument section and the conclusion should confirm the writer’s stand on traditional drug therapies.
Part 1: Introduction.
The beginning. This is where you introduce the topic and summarize the points you’re going to talk about in the next section (body) of the essay. These 3 things are very important when introducing your essay: a catchy introduction to capture the attention of the reader, make sure your message is contextualized, and you’ve made the intention of the essay clear. The introduction comprises a hook, background information and a thesis statement.
A. Hook
The main purpose of the hook is to arouse curiosity into the reader’s mind. Here, you want to grab the reader’s attention and by curating a powerful, eye-catching statement that will make the reader interested in engaging with your content. A hook, may be a joke, notable figure, controversial statement, or a research finding. You want to keep the reader engaged from the word go!
B. Background Information
Background information a.k.a the topic’s context is crucial in keeping the reader engaged. You don’t want to dive straight into claims and evidence of the topic without giving the reader a background story of the topic. We all love stories, right?
Assuming you’re working on our earlier topic “traditional drug therapies”, you can briefly introduce the debate on the topic and case examples arguing for or against traditional drug therapies.
Remember to keep this section “short and sweet!”.
C. Thesis Statement
Thesis statement is the point you’re making which makes this section the most important part of an essay.
Thesis statement should be clear and firm exemplifying the point that you stand for. Some pointers would be avoiding use of words like ‘possibly could’ or ‘seems to’. Such words make you look like you’re not confident with your thesis statement.
Considering the topic in the introduction, the thesis statement can be, ‘considering the in-depth research conducted by scientists, traditional drug therapies advantages further outweigh their disadvantages.’
In one concise sentence, your thesis will ground your stand concerning the topic. It’s good to think of it as a summary of your essay.
Part 2: Arguments
This is where you begin writing the body of your essay. In this section, you will focus on supporting your thesis statement with facts and evidence.
The first part of the 5 parts of an essay, you (the writer) will focus on providing evidence that supports your claim about the topic. Since we’re for traditional drug therapies, we will support our claim by providing credible and science based evidence that prove this to be true.
Sources of evidence include: official publications, books, and peer-reviewed journal articles.
A. Writer’s Claim
When writing an argumentative essay, the main content in body paragraphs contain the claim. You will offer claims supporting the thesis statement in the first part of this section. You have to back up the claims using scholarly readings to provide evidence.
Tip: As much as you may want to provide scholarly evidence, make sure you don’t lack your voice while writing this section. In every claim you make, support it with scholarly evidence but use your own interpretation. This way, the professor will know that you understand the meaning of the claims you are making.
B. Evidence
When researching a topic, you’ll find facts and statistics that you will represent in this section. Use credible scholarly sources, and some of the ways you’ll know how to identify credible sources is by making sure that the authors of the sources have notable academic credentials like PhD,MD…published books and journal articles, and written in formal language…not slang or jargon.
Part 3: Counter Argument
Well…everything that has a good side has a bad side right? This is what this section of the 5 parts of an essay is all about. As much as you’re in favor of a certain topic, you have to recognize the divergent issues surrounding it.
In this section, you will mention the critics made by scholars that challenge your thesis statement. Make sure you cite scholarly evidence in this section to balance up the paper.
Part 4: Rebuttal
This is where you refute the previous section which is the counter argument. This constitutes the fourth section of the 5 parts of an argumentative essay. In other words, you will challenge the counter arguments and convince the reader why your claim a.k.a thesis statement is valid.
Again…don’t forget to use academic sources to support your refutations. I know…I know it sounds like we’re repeating ourselves but this is what academic writing is all about… evidence!
In the rebuttal section you intend to convince the reader that despite the counter argument, the thesis statement stands to be more weighty.
Persuasive Paragraphs
The main tone when writing the 5 parts of an essay should be persuasive. This is done by starting off each section: argument, counter argument and rebuttal with a topic sentence. A topic sentence establishes the focus concerning a topic in a paragraph.
Tip: Make sure that all topic sentences are related to the thesis statement.
Consequently, a concluding sentence should be used at the end of each paragraph. Evidence, analysis and interpretation creates the meat in between the topic sentences.
Part 5: Conclusion
This is the part where you summarize all the sections and lay the matter to rest in a logical manner. The truth of the matter is that your reader might have lost the bearing due to contradicting facts so this is where you make the final verdict in support of the thesis statement.
Tip: Make a summary of the claims, counter arguments and the rebuttals then convince the reader of your stand despite the critics. Moreso, offer the readers with the perspectives of how things would turn out if your thesis statement is implemented.
Finish off by emphasizing the practical implications of your arguments.
Summary: 5 Parts of an Essay
Essay writing is essential in order to develop your persuasive skills, analytical skills, critical thinking skills and writing skills. You should focus on finding sufficient content in the form of credible academic sources when writing essays.
Tips to keep in mind when writing 5 parts of an essay:
- Use formal academic language. Avoid slang and/or jargon.
- Back up your claims with evidence from scholarly sources.
- Use a strong thesis statement to close your introductory paragraph.
- Use a topic sentence to introduce and a closing topic to conclude each body paragraph