Back to: Academic and Professional Writing Unit 2
Illustrate the structure of an academic essay.
An academic essay refers to a piece of tasks or work which enables the learners to demonstrate and practise their acquired learning while enabling the instructors to learn how much the students have learned. An academic writing refers to a piece of writing which is done to complete the requirements of an educational institution. Any assignment which is given in an academic setting can be referred to as academic writing. Academic writing can be found in sources such as books, essays, translations, research papers, academic journals, conference papers, and the like.
Purpose of an Academic Essay
The main purpose of an academic essay is as follows:
To Persuade:
Academic essay is done to persuade people about certain things. Academic writing may be proposing a certain theory or idea which it may seek to be influential to more people. Professional writing is geared towards persuading an audience to act in a certain way or to obtain a certain belief.
To Analyse or Synthesise:
Academic writing also aims to gain a deeper insight into the concerned topic so that it can be analysed and broken down into pieces for better understanding. This enables the researcher to come up with a new theory related to the topic.
To Inform:
The main idea behind academic writing is to inform the audience about a new discovery or about an information where people need to shed more light on. Through writing, learners aim to bring the same into highlight.
Structure of an Academic Essay
The structure of an academic essay is as follows:
Introduction:
This is the starting paragraph of an essay which introduces the basic ideas of the essay. It provides the thesis statement of the essay and should grab the reader’s attention.
Body:
The body of an essay should start with a new paragraph which includes transition. Phrases such as Firstly, next important point, and the like must be incorporated. Each sentence in the body should address the topic sentence as well as the thesis statement. It has three parts:
a. First Point
b. Second Point
c. Third Point
Conclusion:
Conclusion forms the last part of the essay completing its structure. It gives the reader a brief reminder of all the ideas and things that have been discussed in the entire essay. It is a concise summary of the essay presented in a simpler form.
An effective academic essay must comprise all these three constituent parts of an essay or it will be considered as incomplete and lacking depth. Academic essays are highly important for persuading and informing the audience and voice can be used for introducing and highlighting the ideas of the writer.
