Academic projects such as essays or theses are often complex for students who do not have enough experience or time. In the article, we are going to tell you what it is, what it is for, what its characteristics are, how it is structured, as well as tips and recommendations to help you write an essay. Read on for more details!
What is an essay?
An essay is a text written in prose, of character subjective. This means that it has a certain narrative function or one associated with the narrative..
In addition, it is usually brief, of no more than 20 pages. However, it is true that there are entire books that are predominantly in this genre and could be considered a long essay.
In relation to its content, the author or author will present their point of view on a specific and specific topic. From the arguments that she uses, she will try to convince her readers from your perspective.
Therefore, we could say that their goal is to persuade others. And it will not only do so by presenting clear and consistent arguments, but will also have at its disposal all the stylistic, rhetorical and discursive strategies linked to creativity.
For this very reason, the essay is considered one of the freest genres. That is, where the imaginative capacity takes the lead over the mere argument.
With respect to the topics it addresses, these can be multiple and diverse. From an essay on soccer, a literary work, a political event and even current issues, health, among others.
How is an essay structured?
As with all research work, the essay also has a general structure that you must respect despite its freer and more creative nature.
In this sense, the key is that you can organize the information in different sections. Each of these fulfills a main function and guides the outline of the content. Next, we help you with what are the parts that make up an essay and what each one consists of.
essay title
It is recommended that, in a few words, you can express and condense the general theme. The clearer and more attractive it is, the better its reception and interest in continuing to read.
Summary
This section serves so that the reader can locate himself in relation to the subject and the fundamental arguments. It is characterized by being concise. Therefore, we recommend that you do not have more than 200-300 words.
However, it is not always necessary that you include it. It will depend on whether you want to capture the reader from the beginning of the text or use other alternative discursive tactics.
Introduction
It is the opening of the essay itself. In it, the author or the author will offer the theme, why he will approach it, the problems or difficulties that he raises, a preview of where he will aim with his exposition. Consequently, here you have to condense the greatest amount of information without overloading it with data or details.
You may also be interested in: Tips for writing the introduction of an academic essay.
content or development
It is constituted from the arguments put forward based on the perspective that will be presented. In general terms, it is the textual body or the heart of the text, to the extent that it contains the main development that will support your essay. In this part, all the creative and rhetorical strategies aimed at reinforcing the arguments and the position that will be defended will be deployed.
Conclusions or final considerations
This last section presents the most important findings of the process. In addition, the author or the author emphasizes her personal and critical opinion. Also, it usually incorporates some attractive element to finish. For example, a literary fragment from a well-known author that supports the central point of view.
Tips and recommendations for writing your essay
It is not that there is a single formula that will help you write your essay. However, some habits and tips can help you put it into practice. We explain step by step how to get started:
Choosing a topic that interests us will be of great help to put batteries into our essay.
Investigate it thoroughly, consulting and selecting all the sources that allow us to present our point of view.
Write the thesis of our essay, clearly and concisely. Once we know what it is, we can break it down and argue it throughout the text.
Write several titles that condense the topic and the thesis until you find the most appropriate one.
Reread or read literary works that we have liked or essays by other authors. This practice will allow us to have more style resources when writing.
Write the introduction synthesizing the most important elements that we will develop later. That is, the thesis, a synthesis of the arguments, how the issue will be addressed, etc.
Visualize what our conclusion will be. Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849), one of the greatest fiction writers, said that he could not write a story if he did not know beforehand how it would end. In this sense, if we have an idea in advance of how we will close our text, we will reach the end more easily and coherently. This tip is infallible to help your essay!
Distinguish and separate each of the arguments by paragraphs, with their consequent development.
Choose the appropriate discursive and stylistic strategies for each case. For example, if we want to establish a comparison, we can use an analogy.
In this way, you can understand that, when you sit down to write your essay, it is essential to be able to count on these previous steps to do it correctly.
We give you sample essays
Let’s go a little further. It is time to put into practice everything you have learned throughout this article. We want your essay to be unique and, therefore, it is important that you receive all the necessary advice.
Our general recommendation is that you start looking for essay examples that will help you materialize yours. In general, you can find sections dedicated to essays in newspapers (for example, sections on culture) and in specialized magazines.
At this point, it’s crucial that you have at least some idea of what it might be about. It is not necessary that you already have everything clear, but only in which more general theme it will be inscribed. In this way, it will be easier for you to know what type of essays you have to aim for with your reading.
Next, we are going to give you some specific essay examples that can be of great help to you. On the one hand, they will allow you to approach essay writing from different authors and thematic axes. On the other hand, you will be able to identify how they are organized and what their fundamental arguments are.
Also, at the end of this article you will find the complete essays available virtually, in the bibliographical references section. If you use one for yours, don’t forget to cite it properly.
So let’s exercise! Let’s see the aids that we give you as examples for your essay.
First Aid: Korean Culture Essay
1988. A group of five friends from a slum in northern Seoul experience the changes of adolescence as the country democratizes after 30 years of authoritarian rule and prepares for the Summer Olympics. […] Outside the stadiums, protests by workers and students fill the streets of Seoul. They denounce political corruption and labor exploitation in a country that still does not even know the pension system.
In the midst of poverty and the solidarity of the neighborhood’s residents, the five friends practice fashion choreography and read Dragon Ball manga, fall in love, choose universities and some join the protests. Chilsu and Mansu opens in theaters […], a film that shows for the first time and in a massive way the contradiction of exponential economic growth and the gaps in social inequality that were beginning to consolidate. Neighborhood friends watch the pirated movie on a VHS in the living room of the guy with the best TV.
All these scenes are from Reply 1988, a 20-episode K-drama that premiered in 2015 and broke audience records, with a narrative […] of a pivotal moment in the history of South Korea. This -1988- is the year of the initial kick in the search for an international narrative that positions it as a powerful country, a policy that will take shape in the nineties with Hallyu or the Korean wave. Thirty-three years later, Netflix premieres The Squid Game. In a few weeks it becomes the most watched series in the history of the platform.
Korean export culture is on the crest of the wave today. A country that seems to be able to tell itself through its dramas. (Cirelli, nd, para. 1-4).
Second help: Essay on the series “The Kingdom” (2021)
The kingdom, Netflix original series and written by Claudia Piñeiro and Marcelo Piñeyro, raises the temperature of an audience that was already heated by the confrontation between green and light blue scarves for the decriminalization of abortion.
The series caused a stir in evangelical communities (or Protestants, the term refers to the same thing) and produced public interventions to explain “what evangelicals really are like.” The church appears as a luxurious upper room that hides millions of dollars in its walls, exorcisms are performed on false demoniacs who are bare-chested (in a ritual that refers more to a satanic sect than to a Protestant church). The pastor (Diego Peretti) and the pastor (Mercedes Morán) are shadowy beings, they hide secrets and are authoritarian even with the members of their congregation. A true pastor is never authoritarian, I know this because I grew up in an evangelical community. On the contrary: he is nice, he organizes barbecues and makes jokes if he won Independiente. If he hides something he doesn’t reveal it in his look. On the other hand, in The Kingdom, Pastor Emilio says things like: “I have no answer for so much hatred.” (Nardi, sf, para. 1-2).
Third Help: Essay on Simone de Beauvoir
It is, more or less, famous the phrase with which Sartre summons her to Beauvoir shortly after meeting –when both have just passed their exam at the Sorbonne–: «From now on, I take it in my hands» (Beauvoir, 1989, p. 345). This promise, being at the same time a mandate, which Simone chooses not to live as a threat but tensely as destiny, is articulated in the autobiography –which she began to publish at the end of the fifties– as a closure of the initial stage of her life (first volume) and opening of the next (second volume).
The Memoirs of a formal young woman (1958) will be continued by the force of age(1960) and the force of things (1963) and, in another way, by end of accounts (1972) but also for the essay old age (1970), The goodbye ceremony (1981) and Letters to the Beaver (1983), later. (Mizraje, sf, para. 4-5).
Bibliographic references
Cirelli, N. (sf). Seoul is not a K-drama. amphibian.
Mizraje, MG (nd). He takes himself in his hands. amphibian.
Nardi, P. (nd). The kingdom: the devil is politics. amphibian.
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