Name : Rofi Istiyani

Class : A, Extensi 2018

Academic Essay
Academic writing is clear, concise, focused, structured and backed up by evidence. Its
purpose is to aid the reader’s understanding. It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex
and does not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary. The characteristics
of academic writing is planned and focused. It is mean that academic writing answers the
question and demonstrates an understanding of the subject. Structured means academic writing
is coherent, written in a logical order, and bring together related points and material. Evidenced
means demonstrates knowledge of the subject area, supports opinions and arguments with
evidence, and is referenced accurately. And academic writing is formal in tone and style means
uses appropriate language and tenses, and is clear, concise and balanced.

An academic essay is the most common assignment you will be asked to write in the
university. To show how well you have understood the question and how well you are able to
answer it. Assessment of how much you have learned and thought about a topic for your course
work. It has certain features content, organization, language, academic conventions to
acknowledge sources.

There are seven steps to write a good essay. At first you must analyse your prompt.
Define your purpose, analyse the key words in the prompt, and consider the important words in
the prompt. Second step is gather your information by research and reading. At third note where
your information comes from. Fourth is think of your thesis. Fifth is how to organize your
material. Template for a discursive essay, template for an argumentative essay. Sixth, draft your
essay. And last, seventh is revise your essay. Two step of revising are editing and proofreading.

A well-established structure can help the writer organize their thoughts in a perfectly
clear way, using the thesis and evidence to back them up. Therefore, to have an excellent and
coherent essay, the author should organize their thoughts and ideas into a plan in advance, thus
making the writing process easier and ensuring that no information is omitted. Be sure to follow
the below steps, and you will be able to improve your skills in writing an academic essay:
Gather all information about the question. You have to be competent in the issue you are
discussing in your paper. For example, if you're interested in medical issues and want to bring
them up in an essay, you have to read different books and articles about medicine. You can even
interview a doctor, which will make the essay more informative and persuasive.

Use a mind map. It can help you structure your information. Sometimes, disorderly thoughts
appear in our head, making us want to write about this and that. Only a mind map is the best
solution in this case.

Think ahead. Before writing an essay, it is worth making a plan because it helps to structure the
information and set the priorities.

At the very least, every type of writing assignment needs to have the introduction, body
paragraphs, conclusion, and references (if you use different sources). The academic essay
structure is no exception, so let us learn more about it.

The introduction is the first thing a person will read in your essay. Therefore, it should
arouse the reader's interest and draw their attention. It is the 'face' of your essay that shows what
goal you wanted to reach by writing it. It is vital to have an excellent beginning, so here are some
tips that might really help you improve the first paragraph:

 Give general information about the topic and then pose a question you are going
to answer.

 Show the steps you are planning to follow.

 Explain why it is important to explore your idea.

The introduction should always include the purpose of the essay and show the reader the
value of your work.

Body Paragraphs. It is evident that the most voluminous part of an essay is its body
paragraphs because they include all the information and evidence. Here, you analyze your thesis
statement. That is why it is the central part of the essay. Let's go into more detail and find out
how you can improve the quality of your body paragraphs:

 Search for controversial information from different sources, compare it and show
that you understand all the possible sides of the issue you're talking about.

 Express your opinion and back it up with evidence.

 Cite various examples and famous quotations.

The conclusion. Any essay or research paper should include a conclusion because
otherwise, the whole thing will be incomplete. In the conclusion, you sum up all data and finalize
your writing. Therefore, to make your essay clear, show the result of your research and prove the
importance of your goal. While writing the last paragraph of your paper you should:

 Be brief and clear;

 Sum up the essay;

 Explain why your topic and research is so important.

References. While reading different sources, you may come across some smart-sounding
things that can motivate you to write something and come up with new ideas. It is, therefore,
worthwhile to read other people's works because you can broaden your outlook and improve
your writing skills. Scientific sources can also help you find a massive amount of evidence, so do
not neglect to search for solid references.

In this section You will

Introduction  Give brief background to the topic

 Address definition of key words and issues
 State your thesis
 Outline your main points
 Provide transition into body paragraphs
Body Paragraph  Provide a topic sentences which says what the main
point of each paragraph is
 Provide supporting details for your topic sentences
(based on your research)
 Synthesise what you have read; that is, show what
different people think about the same point
 Show some critical thinking; that is, tell the readers
what you think of what you have read, and
 Provide in-text citations for your information

Conclusion  Recap your main points

 Reiterate your thesis
 Ive your final word, if any

References  List the references for each of your in-the text citations
References.

Bestcustomwriting. 2018. “Academic Essay Writing Guide”.

https://www.bestcustomwriting.com/blog/academic-essay-writing, di akses pada 12 November
2018.

Kain, Patricia. 1999. “Beginning The Academic Essay”.

https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/beginning-academic-essay, di akses pada 12
November 2018.

Shields, Munling. 2010. Essay Writing: A Student’s Guide. London: Inggris. SAGE.