April+12+-+ORGANIZING+ESSAYS


 * Helpful Hints for WRITING ESSAYS**:

Organization is one of the most important elements of writing well. It is the responsibility of the writer to make sure her ideas are set out in a way that makes them easy to understand.

How you organize your essay depends on the type of essay you are writing. Here is a list of the most common types of academic essays and the organizational structure that best suits each type of essay.


 * Narrative Essay **
 * This is an essay that **tells a story**.
 * The best way to organize this type of essay is __chronologically__, meaning according to time. Start at the beginning and work forward in time until the end. If you change the natural or historical order of the story then your reader will get confused.


 * Descriptive Essay **
 * This is an essay that **describes** a person, place, or event so that the reader gets a clear picture the topic.
 * The best way to organize this type of essay is __according to importance__. When you make notes about the thing you are describing you should number your key points to remind yourself which things are most important. The “question words” (who, what, when, where, why and how) can help you get started but the final organization should be based on importance.


 * Exposition Essay **
 * This is an essay that **explains** something. Generally you write this type of essay to show how much you know about a topic or teach your reader about your topic.
 * The best way to organize this essay is __according to the “question words”:__ who, what, when, where, why and how (if how is important). By answering the questions you will give your reader all the details she needs to understand your explanation.


 * Compare and Contrast Essay **
 * This is an essay that shows the **similarities and differences** between two things.
 * There are two ways to organize this type of essay:
 * __Point by point:__ in each sentence you show a similarity of a difference.
 * Comparison example: Both Petra and Madin Saleh are historical settlements that were carved in stone.
 * Contrast example: The historical site Petra is located in Jordan but Madin Saleh is located in Saudi Arabia.
 * __Similarities first, then differences:__ first you write a paragraph or two about how the two things are the same, then you write a paragraph or two about how they are different.
 * In both cases you generally organize the individual similarities and differences in __order of importance__.


 * Cause and Effect **
 * This type of essay **explains or describes a situation, its cause and the resulting effect or effects**.
 * The best way to organize this type of essay is __clearly explain the cause and then its effect__.
 * If there is more than one cause or more than one effect you organize them in __order of importance__.


 * Discursive/Argumentative/Persuasive Essay **
 * (also known as a Research Essay) **
 * This type of essay **explains the position or opinion of the author on a specific topic**. The most important thing about this type of essay is that the author’s opinion must be clearly explained and supported by information and examples from other sources. That means you can’t just write what you think. **You must explain what you think, why you think it and how your thinking relates to the rest of the world.** The goal of this essay is to **convince your reader to agree with you**.
 * The two main ways to organize this type of essay are according to the __importance of the points__ being explained or according to the points with the __most information and support from your research__.
 * **__Note:__** you will learn more about research essays when you get to university.