Essay as a Form of Academic Writing

Abstract

Academic writing has always been of primary importance for post-graduate students. Writing is the basis of study, so developing the skills of writing in English opens higher opportunities for them. The paper considers different types of an academic essay, outlines requirements which are necessary for effective writing, analyses structure and functions of its constituent elements and examines compositional structure of paragraphs.

The structure of an academic essay consists of introduction that includes thesis statement defining the content of the main part; body that presents argumentation of the problem. This part also includes compilation of other points of view and presentation of  the own theory.  Conclusion is the final part that summarizes the topics in the paragraphs and gives final commentary or recommendations of the writer. Compositional structure of a paragraph normally starts with the topic sentence identifying its main idea. It is  followed with supporting sentences developing the main idea and giving details, facts or examples, and the last sentence (concluding) which refers to the topic at the beginning of the paragraph or links the information with that coming up in the next paragraph. Such paragraph composition allows conveying information in the most effective way. Linking words and phrases (logical connectors) are normally used in the texts of academic essay and are classified on their functional purpose in the text. They realize coherent links between sentences and paragraphs and help students to convey their understanding best.  Academic writing, namely essays, teaches students to analyze and choose useful information for further research, to look at the ideas from a different prospective and to convey concepts and obtained results best to their target readers. An essay can be considered an effective form of different language skills control.