Basic Guide to Essay Writing

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Topic
Outline
Thesis
Body
Introduction
Conclusion
Finish
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Guide to Writing a Basic Essay

An essay can have many purposes, but the basic structure is the same no matter what. You may be writing an essay to argue for a particular point of view or to explain the steps necessary to complete a task.

Either way, your essay will have the same basic format.

If you follow a few simple steps, you will find that the essay almost writes itself. You will be responsible only for supplying ideas, which are the important part of the essay anyway.

Don't let the thought of putting pen to paper daunt you.

Get started!

These simple steps will guide you through the essay writing process:

Decide on your topic.

Prepare an outline or diagram of your ideas.

Write your thesis statement.

Write the body.

Write the main points.
Write the subpoints.
Elaborate on the subpoints.
Write the introduction.
Write the conclusion.
Add the finishing touches.

You may download a .pdf formatted file containing these instructions which can then be easily printed.

Please freely duplicate this material for personal use or for non-commercial classroom purposes. Any use of this material for other than non-commercial personal or classroom purposes is expressly forbidden without the prior written consent of the author.

If you do not have the free .pdf viewer from Adobe, download it.

Download a copy to print out.

View a sample basic essay.

You may find that you have questions about writing an essay that this site does not answer. Many other sites have additional information about writing an essay, including information about more complex issues such as handling citations and bibliographies.

View links to additional essay resource sites.

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