You must be ready to come up with whatever essay structure helps you to convince your reader of the validity of your position.

The simple three-point essay taught in high school is far too restrictive for the complexities of most university assignments. Most university essays are argumentative, and there is no set pattern for the shape of an argumentative essay. Understanding genre can take you only so far. Read the assignment question carefully for guidance. Different professors will define the features of a genre differently. And of course it will be up to you to come up with actual strengths and weaknesses.īe aware that genres are not fixed. It is up to you to decide the order of the two subparts-whether to analyze strengths or weaknesses first. The second and most substantial part will likely break down into two sub-parts. These typical features of a book review lead you to consider dividing your outline into three parts: (1) summary (2) discussion of strengths and weaknesses (3) overall evaluation. They may conclude with an overall assessment of the value of the book. They then often move on to a critical discussion of the book’s strengths and weaknesses. Knowing the patterns of reasoning associated with a genre can help you to structure your essay.įor example, book reviews typically begin with a summary of the book you’re reviewing. When you begin planning, ask the following questions: What type of essay am I going to be writing? Does it belong to a specific genre? In university, you may be asked to write, say, a book review, a lab report, a document study, or a compare-and-contrast essay.

Moreover, it allows you to pay more attention to sentence-level issues when you sit down to write your paper. A well-thought-out plan can save you from having to do a lot of reorganizing when the first draft is completed. The best time to think about how to organize your paper is during the pre-writing stage, not the writing or revising stage.

How to organize your life on paper