Essay Format Tips Steps to Follow
Introduction
Essay writing is one of the tasks that begins with your childhood and does not leave your side till you graduate or even after that. Essay writing has a valuable contribution to your whole career as it allows you to transfer information in a logical and coherent manner. It also develops argumentative, narrative, descriptive and persuasive skills in a human being. Moreover, students who master the skills of essay writing also develop critical thinking and analytical skills as they have the ability to analyze various topics belonging to different categories and genres. Learn more about essay format tips.
Definition
In order to present your ideas in a coherent manner to your audience, an essay writer needs the skills to write an essay strategically. This talent can only be achieved when the writer knows how to format the essay in an ideal manner. The format of an essay is the structure followed by the writer to get his/her point across. Very few writers crack the code of formulating an effective essay, so even though majority of us can write expressively and effectively, we still fail to prove our point due to the construction of the essays. If the structure is not relevant and lacks clarity the audience miss the mark of your whole essay. In this article let us discuss the tips and tricks to format your essays in such a way that they leave their mark on the readers’ heart endlessly.
Main Body
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Introduction
First impressions are most often the last ones, so build it in a way that it grabs the reader’s attention and makes him/her curious about what you have in store for them. A well-formatted essay commences with an introduction. Introduction is the part of every essay which gives the readers a little teaser about what they are headed to. The introduction should comprise of a three point thesis statement which indicates the main three points around which your essay will revolve. A thesis statement should make it evident and outline what the essay is going to prove as you walk through it. The thesis statement should engage the readers by providing them a glance of how the essay will unfold. A strong thesis statement should also be able to explain your point of view in a sentence or two.
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Table of Contents
This table provides a list of topics included in the essay. These parts include introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion, appendices and bibliography respectively. Each part should be mentioned along with the page number as it will help a reader to navigate through your essay swiftly.
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Margins and Font Size
Set your margin to 1 inch on all sides. Usually the margins are set to 1 inch ideally and if the instructor has instructed some other margin setting, choose that from ‘Page layout’ in MS Word. Another important step is to choose a standardized font and font size which is Times New Roman, Font 12. This is considered the ideal font size as it is easily readable worldwide.
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Body Paragraphs
This is the part of the essay which is loaded with all the information explained in three paragraphs. The three point thesis statement leads to the three body paragraphs. The format of body paragraph is that each body paragraph should begin with a topic sentence. The topic sentence should be followed by some supporting details as well as elaboration of the main topic sentence. Each paragraph should only act as an elaboration of its topic sentence, so try not to include any additional information which may detract the topic sentence. Furthermore, body paragraphs are given the most importance as they support the main point with sufficient details, these are the paragraphs on which the whole essay is built. Quotations used to provide evidence to the topic sentenced should be cited or quoted relevantly following any style of formatting (APA, Chicago, MLA etc.) in order to give credit to the author. One of the arguments present in the body paragraphs should be indestructible, whereas the other one should be less convincing so it gives the reader some free space to think about it. Moreover, transition to the next paragraphs should be made carefully and smoothly. Transition words should be used while starting a new paragraph rather than starting a paragraph abruptly. This will create coherence among the paragraphs and will help the writer to create a link among the thoughts of the writer.
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Conclude Effectively
This is the part of the essay which should leave an ever-lasting impression on the reader. Format the conclusion in such a way that it does not rephrase the thesis statement but provides a meaningful ending to the whole point discussed in the essay. This can be achieved by including a brief summary of the essay, restating the thesis and should be based on two to three sentences. Another separate paragraph for conclusion is structured as it provides the reader with something to think about after they are done with your essay.
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Bibliography
Format the list of authors used as a source following any of the formatting styles which contain APA, MLA, Harvard etc. The names of the sources and authors should be written down in alphabetical order. Bibliographies should include the names, dates, locations and titles of the research pieces you have consulted as sources to formulate your essay.
Conclusion
As of now you have navigated through an effective guide which is filled with the key ideas to format an essay in such a way that it creates a strong link and presents ideas in a coherent form. As most of the instructors follow a standardized essay formatting, by following the guide given above any student can secure decent grades or a college admission, most of which have a major section based on essay writing. Formatting the essays in the above mentioned style will give your essay a professional touch. Moreover, formatting the essays makes them comprehensible. The formatted essays are easier to interpret so by following this guide, the writer will be able to communicate his/her ideas expressively and reach the audience effortlessly.
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