Establishing a good essay structure is one of the critical factors that all writers should consider.  Providing a good essay structure promotes the coherence of ideas in an essay. It should be noted that essay are linear in nature and a writer should aim at providing coherent and logical ideas to make the essay flow and easy to understand.  Furthermore, an easy with a good structure gives the reader easy time to depict main ideas and the writer's point of view and perspective. In most cases, a normal essay includes the introduction, body and conclusion.

The Parts of an Essay

The structure in which an essay is outlined indicates and dictates how the readers will receive the information provided. Despite this, there are those who argue that an essay does not have a specific set formula especially towards its structure and layout.  However, it should be noted that a typical easy should include different sections. For example, a good essay should have the introductory part, the body as well as a conclusion. There are various sections in the body of the essay and these may include the analysis of data part, counter-argument part as well as the evidence part. Although introduction and conclusion have fixed places in the essay, it should be noted that the others parts are flexible and can feature in any part of the body of the essay.  The introduction is the first paragraph of an essay while the conclusion is mostly the final paragraph of an essay. On the other hand, arguments and counter-argument sections may appear either within the second paragraph or at the second last paragraph of the essay.

There are also those who argue that background material section including the historical and biographical information about the topic in the essay also featured in the body of the essay.  Other major section of the essay includes the summary section of various theories and models used in the essay as well as the definition of terms section. In most cases, the executive summary section and the definition of terms section usually appears at the beginning of the essay especially between the introduction and the first analytical section of the essay. However, there are also some cases where the executive summary and the definition of terms section appear before the introduction part of the essay.

Consequently, while writing an essay the writer should have the target audience or reader in mind. The writer should consider the various questions, feelings and thoughts that the reader will have while reading the essay.  Therefore, the writer should consider answering various questions in the essay including What, How, and Why while figuring the reader or the target audience. 

In answering what question, the writer should provide a number of data in the essay that will support the truthful nature of its claims and arguments.  The writer is just a reporter and he or she should aim at providing honest and truthful information.  The essay should also be well balanced in include counter arguments that support the claims given.

However, in answering the how question, the writer should consider various counter-arguments that will support his claim. This will allow the reader to see things based on the writer's viewpoint and perspective.

Finally, there is need for considering the why question.  Considering the why question will allow the writer to include and cover several interpretations of his ideas. It also gives the main aim of the essay and should convince the reader to adopt the writer’s claims. 

Final Thoughts

Therefore, it is true that essay structure provides a guideline on how the reader will receive the information provided.  A good essay structure should include background information, counter-argument as well as analysis of different sources and evidence provided.  It is also true that a good essay should have an introduction, the body as well as the conclusion part summarizing the major points discussed in the essay. Through proper structuring of the essay, the author can achieve its objective in the essay. In most cases, the main aim of the writer is to educate, convince as well as expand the knowledge of the reader. In that sense, the writer should consider the readers perspectives and feelings while structuring the essay.  A good essay structure should have a logical flow and should indicate coherence of information provided.  However, it should be noted that affordable essays do not have set structure formula and the structure style adopted depend on the main aim and objective of the writer. 

References

Abrams, Elizabeth (2000). Harvard University Writing Center.

The Five-Paragraph Essay (2016)

How is an essay structured? (2016)