DESCRIBING THE PROCESS AND STRUCTURE OF AN EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC PAPER

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Academic essay refers to any form of a piece of written English addressing a specific issue given out after research and understanding of the topic of discussion. An academic essay must be formal in nature. An academic essay has some objectives to be achieved after writing it like it must have a thesis. It must outline out some argument on the topic of discussion. An academic essay must also include evidence based facts and information by providing very relevant and clear examples where necessary. Basically an academic essay is genre of writing with some set norms, conventions, and rules that must be followed to the latter.

PURPOSE OF AN ACADEMIC ESSAY

Any given academic essay has main aims and purposes. Academic essay must answer a task or a given topic of discussion. The major purpose of an academic essay is the persuasion of the reader using reasoned facts. Academic essays are also used by scholars among themselves as a tool of increasing and advancing in their ideas. Academic essays give students room for thinking critically and having an open mind boosting their critical thinking skills. Academic essay ensures that results are gotten out of a clear reasoned argument that can be justified using a particular line of reasoning. Academic essay serves as a tool of testing to confirm the student’s ability on a given topic. It helps in testing the students’ knowledge by assessing their analysis and arguments as per the given course of discussion. An academic essay helps in showing the students preparation. Academic essays boost the knowledge on real life events. It boosts correct grammar and understanding of the language that one can use outside the field of academia such as writing a business proposal an application letters. It also increases the ability of being a team player in any given field.

STRUCTURE OF AN ACADEMIC ESSAY AND ITS ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS

An academic essay must have an introduction, the body and the conclusion.

Introduction

It must have explained the topic of discussion and its clear purpose. It also gives highlights on major points to be expected in the real essay. Introduction gives the importance of the topic of discussion. The major functions of the introduction part of an academic essay are to the theoretical framework that guides the analysis and outlining the thesis statement which organizes the entire paper work. Giving a thesis statement in the introduction is very much important as it shows how the rest of the essay will be organized and looks like.

The Body

This is the most vital part of an essay as it entails a lot. All the major points explaining the topic of discussion are explained therefore expected in the main body bit of an academic essay. The body has an organizational structure that allows essay readers to follow the academic work understand the main points and analyze the entire work. The main points in an academic essay should be organized in paragraphs whereby connected points are expected in one given paragraph. Arranging the points in paragraph forms allow for easier understanding of the academic essay as it gives out flowing points. The body of the paper must communicate an argument to get the clear view of the topic of discussion. This in the entire end gives a boost and reinforces thesis statement that is the topic and the purpose of the essay. The body part of the essay must have a transition bit which have transitional words that form sentences which their main work is to the various body parts of the academic essay to come up with one particular academic writing at the end of the day. Giving out something that can be read and reasoned out. Paragraphs in the body part should form sentences that are not less than three. The body of an essay must have an established criterion where the thesis statement made in the introduction must be introduced and be proven with facts that have been confirmed. After establishing criteria in the body, the criteria must be met. This is done by the writer by ensuring that the body has relates the analysis with the terms and concepts of an established criteria. The body also is the part of the essay that must address the already established criteria. The criteria must be fully addressed to fulfill the logical requirements that are necessary to persuade the reader to understand the topic of discussion. The body of an academic essay must also have a clear description on the analysis.

The Conclusion

An academic essay must have a conclusion which emphasizes the thesis statement that is on the topic of discussion and the purpose of an essay. It gives out the ideologies and opinions particularly of the writer on the given topic of discussion. It is also the part of the essay that gives challenges to the readers to find out whether the presented work on the given topic is the truth or there other perspectives on the same. It also gives reviews on the major points discussed in the main body of the essay. Majorly the work of conclusion part of an academic essay is to relate the thesis statement to the criteria that has been established. Relating the two helps in fulfilling the all the logical requirements of an academic essay. The conclusion gives out the final observations of the writer on the given topic of discussion.

All the academic essays are put under particular group depending on the style and formatting used. APA format or style for example has rules such as: separating the title page with the title paper. Specific details such as students name, course, date of submission and faculty name must be included. The work should appear in double-space, font size twelve and times new roman used. Sources must be included with citations.An academic essay must not have plagiarism in it. This can be avoided by not copy pasting somebody’s work from somewhere then presenting as your own idea.

THE POSSIBLE OUTCOMES IF ACADEMIC FORMAT IS NOT FOLLOWED

Chances of not giving out the clear description and argument on the topic of discussion are high. The essay shall not have qualified as an academic essay because the academic norms are not followed. The possibility of having plagiarism in the whole academic work would stand high hence risking being nullified out of lack of authenticity. The essay may not have a clear flow of the major points that are meant to support the thesis statement that is the topic of discussion and purpose of the essay. The academic essay whereby the skill of academic writing is not fully followed stands a chance of not addressing the topic of discussion well hence risk being difficult to read, understand and analyze to get the results which are reasoned and evident based.

Reference

Soles, D. (2010). The essentials of academic writing. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning Houghton Mifflin.

Flowerdew, J., & Peacock, M. (2001). Research perspectives on English for academic purposes. Cambridge [u.a.: Cambridge Univ. Press.

Belcher, D. D., & Braine, G. (1995). Academic writing in a second language: Essays on research and pedagogy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Pub. Corp.

Davis, L., & McKay, S. (1996). Structures and strategies: An introduction to academic writing. South Melbourne: Macmillan Education Australia.