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Essay Mapping Tool

Instructions.

Effective writing at university is a process:

Analyse the task → Gather content → Plan → Draft → Edit

This tool may help you to bridge from planning to drafting by helping you arrange your sentences in a logical order. It also provides tips for each component of an essay – the introduction, body, and conclusion. It can be used to improve your understanding of essay writing in general or as a planning tool for one of your university assignments.

Because this tool is for your personal use only, you may decide to write in bullet points, but we recommend full sentences. Once you have filled in each section, a complete essay overview will be generated which can be printed.

1. Introduction

Three paragraphs planning spaces have been provided for you. You can add or delete as necessary.

The purpose of the body is to logically develop the points made in your thesis and outline statements. There are no rules about the number of paragraphs required in assignment, but in general, you are advised to develop one idea per paragraph. This is done with a clear and coherent structure which introduces the topic in a topic sentence, defines or clarifies which aspect of the topic you are going to discuss, develops and supports your discussion and (optionally) concludes your discussion.

A topic sentence generally has two parts. You may refer to the overall essay topic and also introduce the specific aspect you plan to discuss in this paragraph. This is referred to as topic + controlling idea . You can also use a topic sentence to link to or contrast with the previous paragraph. This is an effective strategy to use with the second body paragraph onwards. You may choose to conclude the paragraph with a summary sentence; however, you are advised not to overuse this type of sentence as it may seem repetitious.

Cohesion and coherence refer to how effectively sentences are connected and how smoothly the writing flows. This is not simply achieved by following a logical paragraph structure, but also by using linking words (e.g. however/furthermore/consequently ) and referring words (e.g. this/that/these/those )

When you develop your argument, remember to use a range of support. You can use examples, logical reasoning, speculation, statistics and citations

Paragraph 1

Write the topic and controlling idea (one sentence).

Support your controlling idea using evidence, examples, elaboration or explanations. Do not go off topic. Do use in-text references.

Sum up the paragraph and link to your thesis OR link to the next paragraph (one sentence).

Paragraph 2

Paragraph 3, 3. conclusion.

The purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the key points you have discussed; however, it often contains a paraphrase of the thesis statement. This helps link the whole essay together. A conclusion may also contain a statement which links the essay to the broader topic or suggests a future action.

You can begin with the phrase ' In conclusion, ' but there are other phrases you could consider: In summary/This assignment has…/In this essay, I have… . Avoid Finally/Briefly/

Remember to reference any sources you have used. Refer to CDU Library for more information on referencing.

Introduction

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University of Newcastle

How to plan an essay: Essay Planning

  • What's in this guide
  • Essay Planning
  • Additional resources

How to plan an essay

Essay planning is an important step in academic essay writing.

Proper planning helps you write your essay faster, and focus more on the exact question.  As you draft and write your essay, record any changes on the plan as well as in the essay itself, so they develop side by side.

One way to start planning an essay is with a ‘box plan’.

First, decide how many stages you want in your argument – how many important points do you want to make? Then, divide a box into an introduction + one paragraph for each stage + a conclusion.

Next, figure out how many words per paragraph you'll need.

Usually, the introduction and conclusion are each about 10% of the word count. This leaves about 80% of the word count for the body - for your real argument. Find how many words that is, and divide it by the number of body paragraphs you want. That tells you about how many words each paragraph can have.

Remember, each body paragraph discusses one main point, so make sure each paragraph's long enough to discuss the point properly (flexible, but usually at least 150 words).

For example, say the assignment is

Fill in the table as follows:

Next, record each paragraph's main argument, as either a heading or  topic sentence (a sentence to start that paragraph, to immediately make its point clear).

Finally, use dot points to list useful information or ideas from your research notes for each paragraph. Remember to include references so you can connect each point to your reading.

The other useful document for essay planning is the marking rubric .

This indicates what the lecturer is looking for, and helps you make sure all the necessary elements are there.

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  • Last Updated: Feb 15, 2024 1:23 PM
  • URL: https://libguides.newcastle.edu.au/essay_planning

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Build a strong foundation with our essay plan template

No shaky arguments here. Whether it’s a class assignment, personal statement, or a missive on the company blog, FigJam’s essay writing plan will help you construct a stronger essay outline from the ground up.

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Essay plan template

Share ideas, hone arguments, and refine your writing with our collaborative essay plan template.

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Nail down your message

Organize evidence, strengthen supporting arguments, and hammer your main point home with our essay planning sheet.

Create flow: Maintain a cohesive writing process with an essay planning template that clarifies how one section leads to the next.

Evaluate your argument from all sides: Crystallize your claim and test it out from new angles in a visual format.

Do your research: Fact check your work and sources before writing by laying out supporting evidence on an easy-to-read outline.

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How to write an essay plan?

If you’re wondering how to plan an essay or how to write an effective essay plan with important points and supporting details, just tap into our free essay plan example to get started. From there, you’ll be prompted to break your essay down into the following sections:

  • Introduction
  • Body paragraph #1
  • Body paragraph #2
  • Body paragraph #3

Fill in each of these sections with relevant information and credible sources. Then, share it with your trusted collaborators and peers to make sure your argument sings.

What are the 5 aspects of planning an essay?

The 5 aspects of planning an essay correspond to the 5 main sections of your essay: the introduction, the 3 body paragraphs, and the conclusion.

  • Introduction – Planning an introduction involves writing a thesis statement and a brief list that outlines the order of your supporting arguments.
  • Body paragraphs (3) – As you plan your 3 body paragraphs, you’ll collect evidence—from credible sources—that backs up any supporting detail, arguments, and thesis.
  • Conclusion – While you conceptualize this final section, consider how you can open up the floor for further conversation after the essay ends. Are there any related questions you wished you’d asked? What makes this a relevant topic—today? Jot down all of your ideas on a planning sheet for essays.

What is a good structure in an essay?

Many essays follow the classic 5-part structure—the introduction that states your main argument, the 3 points supporting that claim, and the conclusion that wraps everything up.

Keep in mind, however, that you don't have to follow this essay planning example exactly. Some of the best essays break the mold—so don’t be afraid to customize your essay planning sheet or collaborate on a creative structure as you outline.

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7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan

7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

Learn about our Editorial Process

Have you ever started writing an essay then realized you have run out of ideas to talk about?

This can make you feel deflated and you start to hate your essay!

How to write an Essay Plan

The best way to avoid this mid-essay disaster is to plan ahead: you need to write an Essay Plan!

Essay planning is one of the most important skills I teach my students. When I have one-to-one tutorials with my students, I always send them off with an essay plan and clear goals about what to write.

Essay Planning isn’t as dull as you think. In fact, it really does only take a short amount of time and can make you feel oh so relieved that you know what you’re doing!

Here’s my 7-Step method that I encourage you to use for your next essay:

The 7-Step Guide on How to write an Essay Plan

  • Figure out your Essay Topic (5 minutes)
  • Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes (20 minutes)
  • Brainstorm using a Mind-Map (10 minutes)
  • Arrange your Topics (2 minutes)
  • Write your topic Sentences (5 minutes)
  • Write a No-Pressure Draft in 3 Hours (3 hours)
  • Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission (30 minutes)

I’ve been using this 7-Step essay planning strategy since I was in my undergraduate degree. Now, I’ve completed a PhD and written over 20 academic journal articles and dozens of blog posts using this method – and it still works!

Let’s go through my 7 steps for how to write an essay plan.

Prefer to Watch than Read? Here’s our video on writing an Essay Plan.

how to write an essay plan

1. figure out your essay topic. here’s how..

Where did your teacher provide you with your assessment details?

Find it. This is where you begin.

Now, far, far, far too many students end up writing essays that aren’t relevant to the essay question given to you by your teacher. So print out your essay question and any other advice or guidelines provided by your teacher.

Here’s some things that your assessment details page might include:

  • The essay question;
  • The marking criteria;
  • Suggested sources to read;
  • Some background information on the topic

The essay question is really important. Once you’ve printed it I want you to do one thing:

Highlight the key phrases in the essay question.

Here’s some essay questions and the key phrases you’d want to highlight:

This strategy helps you to hone in on exactly what you want to talk about. These are the key phrases you’re going to use frequently in your writing and use when you look for sources to cite in your essay!

The other top thing to look at is the marking criteria. Some teachers don’t provide this, but if they do then make sure you pay attention to the marking criteria !

Here’s an example of a marking criteria sheet:

Sample Essay Topic: Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?

Now, if you have a marking criteria you really need to pay attention to this. You have to make sure you’ve ticked off all the key criteria that you will be marked on. For the example above, your essay is going to have to make sure it:

  • Takes a position about whether climate change is a serious challenge for human kind;
  • Discusses multiple different people’s views on the topic;
  • Explores examples and case studies (‘practical situations’);
  • Uses referencing to back up your points.

The reason you need to be really careful to pay attention to this marking criteria is because it is your cheat sheet: it tells you what to talk about!

Step 1 only takes you five minutes and helps you to clearly clarify what you’re going to be talking about! Now your mind is tuned in and you can start doing some preliminary research.

2. Gather your Sources and take Quick Notes. Here’s how.

Now that you know what your focus is, you can start finding some information to discuss. You don’t want to just write things from the top of your head. If you want top marks, you want some deep, detailed and specific pieces of information.

Fortunately, your teacher has probably made this easy for you.

The top source for finding information will be the resources your teacher provided. These resources were hand picked by your teacher because they believed these were the best sources available our there on the topic. Here are the most common resources teachers provide:

  • Lecture Slides;
  • Assigned Readings.

The lecture slides are one of the best resources for you to access. Lecture slides are usually provided online for you. Download them, save them on your computer, and dig them up when it’s time to write the essay plan.

Find the lecture slides most relevant to your topic. To take the example of our climate change essay, maybe climate change is only discussed in three of the weeks in your course. Those are the three weeks’ lecture slides you want to hone-in on.

Flick through those lecture slides and take quick notes on a piece of paper – what are the most important topics and statistics that are relevant to your essay question?

Now, move on to the assigned readings . Your teacher will have selected some readings for you to do for homework through the semester. They may be eBooks, Textbooks or Journal Articles.

These assigned readings were assigned for a reason: because they have very important information to read ! Scan through them and see if there’s any more points you can add to your list of statistics and key ideas to discuss.

Next, try to find a few more sources using Google Scholar. This is a great resource for finding more academic articles that you can read to find even more details and ideas to add to your essay.

Here’s my notes that I researched for the essay question “Is Climate Change the Greatest Moral Challenge of our Generation?” As you can see, it doesn’t have to be beautiful #Studygram notes! It’s just rough notes to get all the important information down:

sample of rough notes scrawled on paper

Once you’ve read the assigned lecture slides and readings, you should have a good preliminary list of ideas, topics, statistics and even quotes that you can use in step 3.

3. Brainstorm using a Mind-Map. Here’s how.

Do your initial notes look a little disorganized?

That’s okay. The point of Step 2 was to gather information. Now it’s time to start sorting these ideas in your mind.

The best way to organize thoughts is to create a Mind-Map. Here’s how Mind-Maps often look:

sample blank mind-map

For your essay plan Mind-Map, write the essay question in the middle of the page and draw a circle around it.

mind-map with essay question written in center

Then, select the biggest and most important key ideas that you think are worth discussing in the essay. To decide on these, you might want to look back at the notes you took in Step 2.

Each key idea will take up around about 200 – 350 words (1 to 2 sentences).

Here’s a rough guide for how many key ideas you’ll want depending on your essay length:

  • 1000-word essay: 3 to 4 key ideas
  • 1500-word essay: 5 to 7 key ideas
  • 2000-word essay: 6 to 8 key ideas
  • 3000-word essay: 9 to 12 key ideas

Once you’ve selected your key ideas you can list them in a circle around the essay question, just like this:

mind map with essay question and key ideas filled-in

Last, we need to add detail and depth to each key idea. So, draw more lines out from each key ideas and list:

  • Two sources that you will cite for each key idea;
  • A statistic or example that you will provide for each key idea;
  • Any additional interesting facts for each key idea

Here’s how it might look once you’re done:

completed mind-map

4. Arrange your Topics. Here’s how.

You’re well and truly on your way to getting your essay down on paper now.

There’s one last thing to do before you start getting words down on the manuscript that you will submit. You need to arrange your topics to decide which to write first, second, third, fourth, and last!

Here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Start and end with your strongest points;
  • Ensure the points logically flow.

To ensure your points logically flow, think about how you’re going to transition from one idea to the next . Does one key point need to be made first so that the other ones make sense?

Do two key points seem to fit next to one another? If so, make sure you list them side-by-side.

Have a play around with the order you want to discuss the ideas until you’re comfortable. Then, list them in order. Here’s my order for my Climate Change essay:

Each of these key ideas is going to turn into a paragraph or two (probably two) in the essay.

5. Write your topic Sentences in just 5 minutes. Here’s how.

All good essays have clear paragraphs that start with a topic sentence . To turn these brainstormed key points into an essay, you need to get that list you wrote in Step 5 and turn each point into a topic sentence for a paragraph.

It’s important that the first sentence of each paragraph clearly states the paragraph’s topic. Your marker is going to want to know exactly what your paragraph is about immediately. You don’t want your marker to wait until the 3 rd , 4 th or 5 th line of a paragraph before they figure out what you’re talking about in the paragraph.

So, you need to state what your key idea is in the first sentence of the paragraph.

Let’s have a go at turning each of our key ideas into a topic sentence:

6. Write a No-Pressure Essay Draft in just 3 Hours. Here’s how.

Okay, now the rubber hits the road. Let’s get writing!

When you write your first draft, don’t put pressure on yourself. Remind yourself that this is the first of several attempts at creating a great essay, so it doesn’t need to be perfect right away. The important thing is that you get words down on paper.

To write the draft, have a go at adding to each of your topic sentences to turn them into full paragraphs. Follow the information you wrote down in your notes and Mind-Map to get some great details down on paper.

Forget about the introduction and conclusion for now. You can write them last.

Let’s have a go at one together. I’m going to choose the paragraph on my key idea “Is climate change caused by humans?”

I’ve already got my first sentence and my brainstormed ideas. Let’s build on them to write a draft paragraph:

screenshot of a section of a mind map displaying key ideas for the essay

  • “Most scientists believe climate change is caused by humans. In fact, according to the IPCC, over 98% of climate change scientists accept the scientific data that climate change is caused by humans (IPCC, 2018). This figure is very high, signalling overwhelming expert consensus. This consensus holds that the emission of carbon from burning of fossil fuels in the 20 th Century is trapping heat into the atmosphere. However, a minority of dissenting scientists continue to claim that this carbon build-up is mostly the fault of natural forces such as volcanoes which emit enormous amounts of carbon into the atmosphere (Bier, 2013).”

Your turn – have a go at your own draft paragraphs based on your Mind-Map for your essay topic! If you hit a rut or have some trouble, don’t forget to check out our article on how to write perfect paragraphs .

Once you’ve written all your paragraphs, make sure you write an introduction and conclusion .

Gone over the word count? Check out our article on how to reduce your word count.

7. Edit your Draft Once every Few Days until Submission. Check out this simple approach:

Okay, hopefully after your three hour essay drafting session you’ve got all your words down on paper. Congratulations!

However, we’re not done yet.

The best students finish their drafts early on so they have a good three or four weeks to come back and re-read their draft and edit it every few days.

When coming back to edit your draft , here’s a few things to look out for:

  • Make sure all the paragraph and sentence structure makes sense. Feel free to change words around until things sound right. You might find that the first time you edit something it sounds great, but next time you realize it’s not as good as you thought. That’s why we do multiple rounds of edits over the course of a few weeks;
  • Check for spelling, grammar and punctuation errors;
  • Print out your draft and read it on paper. You notice more mistakes when you read a printed-out version;
  • Work on adding any more details and academic sources from online sources like Google Scholar to increase your chance of getting a top grade. Here’s our ultimate guide on finding scholarly sources online – it might be helpful for this step!

Before you go – Here’s the Actionable Essay Plan Tips Summed up for you

Phew! That essay was tough. But with this essay plan, you can get through any essay and do a stellar job! Essay planning is a great way to ensure your essays make sense, have a clear and compelling argument, and don’t go off-topic.

I never write an essay without one.

To sum up, here are the 7 steps to essay planning one more time:

The 7-Step Guide for How to Write an Essay Plan

Chris

  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 10 Reasons you’re Perpetually Single
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 20 Montessori Toddler Bedrooms (Design Inspiration)
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 21 Montessori Homeschool Setups
  • Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd-2/ 101 Hidden Talents Examples

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How to structure and plan an essay

This page will help you to organise and plan an academic essay by outlining clear initial stages to follow, and will introduce you to a model for organising a typical academic essay.

What is an essay? 

An essay is a focused, academic discussion of a particular question, problem or issue.

Many of you have been writing essays for years, and are probably good at it. That's great, and everything you look at here will build on and develop those skills.

But it's worth asking: are there different things expected of a university essay from those for school, college, or other contexts?

The obvious answer is yes, and it takes time and effort to learn the range of writing skills needed to produce university essays effectively.

There are all sorts of reasons why essays are common forms of assessment. They allow you to explore a problem in-depth, express yourself concisely and precisely, and debate other people's published opinions on a topic.

They're also a good warm-up for traditional forms of academic publication, such as a journal article.

Academic essays usually follow an established organisational structure that helps the writer to express their ideas clearly and the reader to follow the thread of their argument.

An essay's structure is guided by its content and argument so every essay question will pose unique structural challenges.

Planning stages

Essay writing is a process with many stages, from topic selection, planning and reading around, through to drafting, revising and proofreading.

Breaking the task down and creating a clear plan with milestones and intermediate deadlines will allow you to focus attention more fully on the writing process itself when you put your plan into action either as part of an assignment or an exam.

1. Understand the question

  • Is the question open-ended or closed? If it is open-ended you will need to narrow it down. Explain how and why you have decided to limit it in the introduction to your essay, so the reader knows you appreciate the wider issues, but that you can also be selective.
  • If it is a closed question, your answer must refer to and stay within the limits of the question (ie specific dates, texts, or countries).
  • What can you infer from the title about the structure of the essay?

2. Brainstorm for ideas

  • What you know about the topic – from lectures, reading etc
  • What you don't know about the topic, but need to find out to answer the question
  • Possible responses or answers to the question – any ideas about your conclusion.
  • Consider using a mind map to organise your thoughts…

3. Make a plan

  • Planning your essay makes it more likely that you have a coherent argument
  • It enables you to work out a logical structure and an endpoint for your argument before you start writing
  • It means you don't have to do this type of complex thinking at the same time as trying to find the right words to express your ideas
  • It helps you to commit yourself to sticking to the point!

Have a look at this Glossary of Essay Instruction Words (PDF, 100KB) , or watch this short Study Skills Hacks video on identifying the tasks in a question to help you identify what is required.

The Hourglass essay

If you're stuck on an overall structure for your essay, try this simple model for organising a typical academic essay. An hourglass essay introduces a broad area, before narrowing the focus towards the specific question that you are answering. It finishes by placing that narrow area back into a wider context. 

Introduction: the funnel of the hourglass

Set the scene and lead your reader into your essay by introducing the broad area of interest and then narrowing towards your specific focus:

  • Start broad with a hook to catch the reader's attention
  • Provide some context for the hook. What does your project add to it?
  • Focus on the narrow area of your essay: can you summarise it in a single sentence mission statement?

Body: the stem of the hourglass

The body of your essay should be as narrow and focused as possible. Body paragraphs will take one sub-topic at a time and provide a logical flow of ideas for your reader:

  • Start each paragraph with a topic sentence to tell your reader what it will cover
  • Fill your paragraph with a range of supporting evidence and examples
  • Finish your paragraph with a final wrapping-up sentence to summarise and/or link ahead

Conclusion: the base of the hourglass

Your chance to reinforce your key messages and go out with a bang:

  • Revisit your mission statement: how have you addressed it?
  • Summarise the main points of your argument or findings
  • Finish with a broader scope, explaining how your topic might inform future research or practice, or where gaps remain

Have a go at using this template (google doc) to plan a structure for your essay, paying particular attention to the ways in which you have broken down the topic into sub-themes for your body paragraphs.

Come along to an Essay Structure and Planning workshop, which will outline how to analyse your essay question, discuss approaches logically structure all your ideas, help you make your introductions and conclusions more effective, and teach how to link your ideas and ensure all essay content flows logically from the introduction.

Book an Essay Structure and Planning Workshop place here

Book workshop on writing Writing Persuasive Introductions, Conclusions and Discussions and Writing Effective Thesis Statements and Topic Sentences which explore both features and linguistic structures.

More information

  • Start planning early, leave your plan for a couple of days, and then come back to it. This may give you a fresh perspective.
  • It is often easiest to write the introduction last, but when you are planning your essay structure make sure you have your mission statement.
  • A good plan will make it much easier to write a good essay. Invest the time in making a plan that works.
  • Check what your tutor wants, but it is often best to focus on one element in great detail, rather than discuss several aspects superficially.
  • Make sure you allow time to proofread your work before submission!
  • How to structure a paragraph
  • How to paraphrase and quote
  • How to write in an academic style

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Essay Planner Template

Essay Planner Template

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About the Essay Planner Template

  • Prompts of introduction
  • Prompts of the main body
  • Conclusion prompts
  • Visual assistance tools

Why should you use the essay planner template?

How to use our essay planner template.

  • First of all, you need to choose whatever template you like. So first, go to the homepage and choose the create a new option. There you find the dashboard and the library to choose the templates present there.
  • Secondly, start to open the template. Most of the sample examples will already be there to help you to write. Start writing the main idea and brief the subject of the essay by clicking on the menu of the dashboard. Now you will be presented with multiple options to change the sizing and outlook of your writing. You can change the colors, add emojis, and format as well.
  • Now start with the introduction segment and use the mind map option on the dashboard. There you would find branches that can help you map the essay and specify the vision of the essay's introduction section. This is where you want to ask the following questions: What is the main goal of this segment of the essay? Or what is the desired outcome? Use the other branches to specify the goal of the essay. Make sure that it is brief. This would be the main argument of the essay. If you want to get into more detail, you can choose the subbranches as well. With those, you can add up various quotes and other data to back up your argument.
  • When it comes to mind maps, make sure that the sentences are not long and stuffy because stuffy sentences can overwhelm the readers. At this point, you can add up various other things such As pictures, comments, sidenotes, points, etc. If you want to add up things to your mind map, you can go towards the menu of options and choose whatever you desire to add. Choose the file and add it.
  • Now that the body line of your essay is ready, can you have filled up all their content within the essay? You need to write the conclusion now. While working on the conclusion, make sure to make it as short as it can while making sure all the important points are added into it according to the research in data. In few cases, conclusions are not that visible and hard to write; however, you can just summarize what you have written in the essay and come up with the best conclusion. You can edit the conclusion with the additional options in the dashboard to make it seem more professional.
  • Now it is time to write the final draft of the essay since you have come up with all the technical structure of the essay. Now gather all the branches you have come up with and change them into essay content and paragraphs. Finally, open your mind maps on the side so you can be on track.

Essay Planning & Writing Tips

  • The thesis statement should be captivating and comprehensive: it is important to create a captivating PC statement as it provides the purpose and need of the topic of your essay. It is the core of the essay that holds all the scopes and limitations of your writing skills. You need to make sure it is short and up to that topic's need.
  • Every paragraph must have a topic sentence: a topic sentence is important to guide the scheme of sentences. A topic sentence can also be an argument or just an idea statement. Once you state the topic sentence, all you need to do is provide evidence in that paragraph to support it.
  • Create a brief and effective conclusion: the conclusion should be well structured and planned because it is important, as it encompasses all the data within the context. There should be the addition of important points with brief closing lines. This way, your piece would be professional-looking and strategically right.

Related Templates

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IMAGES

  1. Download Printable Essay Planner Template PDF

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  2. Essay Planner Printable for Students Essay Writing Template

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  4. Essay Planner Printable, Essay Template, Essay Plan, Essay Rough Draft

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  6. Simple Essay Planner Printable Set Essay Writing Template

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COMMENTS

  1. Essay Mapping Tool

    A tool to help you plan and draft your essays by arranging your sentences in a logical order. It provides tips for each component of an essay - introduction, body and conclusion - and generates an overview that you can print or save as a PDF.

  2. How to Structure an Essay

    Learn how to organize your essay into introduction, body, and conclusion, and choose the best structure for your argument. Find useful templates and tips for different types of essays, such as chronological, compare-and-contrast, and problems-methods-solutions.

  3. How to plan an essay: Essay Planning

    Essay planning is an important step in academic essay writing. Proper planning helps you write your essay faster, and focus more on the exact question. As you draft and write your essay, record any changes on the plan as well as in the essay itself, so they develop side by side. One way to start planning an essay is with a 'box plan'.

  4. Essay Plan Template

    Organize evidence, strengthen supporting arguments, and hammer your main point home with our essay planning sheet. Create flow: Maintain a cohesive writing process with an essay planning template that clarifies how one section leads to the next. Evaluate your argument from all sides: Crystallize your claim and test it out from new angles in a ...

  5. How to Write an Essay Outline

    Learn how to plan the structure of your essay before you start writing with an essay outline. Find out how to organize your material, present your points, and see examples of different types of essays.

  6. 7 Steps for Writing an Essay Plan

    Learn a simple and effective method to plan your essays with this 7-step guide. Find out how to clarify your topic, gather sources, brainstorm ideas, arrange topics, write topic sentences, draft and edit your essay.

  7. Essay Outline Generator

    Efficiency in Planning: With just the basic input of your essay prompt, the tool swiftly creates a comprehensive outline, saving precious time and effort in the initial planning stage. Enhanced Organisation: The tool systematically organises main ideas, supporting arguments, and conclusions, ensuring your essay has a logical flow and strong structure from the start.

  8. The Beginner's Guide to Writing an Essay

    The essay writing process consists of three main stages: Preparation: Decide on your topic, do your research, and create an essay outline. Writing: Set out your argument in the introduction, develop it with evidence in the main body, and wrap it up with a conclusion. Revision: Check your essay on the content, organization, grammar, spelling ...

  9. How to structure and plan an essay

    2. Brainstorm for ideas. What you know about the topic - from lectures, reading etc. What you don't know about the topic, but need to find out to answer the question. Possible responses or answers to the question - any ideas about your conclusion. Consider using a mind map to organise your thoughts…. 3. Make a plan.

  10. Free Essay Planner Template

    An essay planner template assists you with the help of providing easy-to-understand guidelines for writing an essay. These guidelines will help you map the content of the essay so you can get a kick start. There are a lot of ways these templates can be used, such as making notes of the main information such as numeric data, hyperlinks, and ...