Most essays can be brought down to a single general format, with some parts being optional in some essay types. The proper essay format goes Introduction -> Main Body -> Conclusion. A summary essay may not have a conclusion and some other types vary in size rate between the parts, but in general, they all look the same.
Conclusion is what you want the readers to remember for themselves after having read your essay. It is usually short and contains a paragraph that summarizes the main body.
Just for you to have a better understanding of this logical structuring pattern, let’s have a short example for some essay types, a comprehensive essay structure template.
The introduction is a part of an essay that “sells” the whole text to the reader. Like a personal card, which tells you if a person is interesting to you or not, introduction hooks the audience’s attention and shows if the whole essay is a good read. It should consist of 1-3 paragraphs and bring the reader around the environment, where the idea of your essay dwells. For example, if you’re writing about a historical event, the introduction should contain a short summary of what preceded it.
What the proper essay format is
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Expository: Upon getting an assignment for a personal narrative (problem), I decided to browse the Internet and learn everything about personal essay format that I could find (solution). Doing so helped me write a great paper and improve my GPA (result).
Main body is where you have the most freedom, unless it is a summary essay, of course. It usually consists of 3-6 paragraphs and here’s when you bring up all the ideas in detail – the evidence, the facts, the emotions, depending on the essay type. The first paragraph of the main body should have a clear link with the introduction, so that the reader’s attention just flows through the text without any troubles.
- Problem. In any part of an essay, regardless of type, there is an issue to be exposed to the reader and it is typically called “the problem”. The funny thing here is that it may not even be something bad, but rather a challenge, a goal or a plan – something you have to work for or grow to achieve.
- Solution. This part of the logical structure of an essay is your way of achievement of the goal or overcoming of the issue. It goes right after the “problem” and specifies the ways that it is “solved” through, whatever the essay is about. The solution is typically bigger than the statement of the issue.
- Result. Call it as you please – the lesson learned, the gain, the benefit. Basically, it’s a way to summarize what exactly the meaning of the solution is.
If needed, add the main point as one sentence in the beginning.
– Parents often make bad career counselors because they are driven by selfish yet unconscious motivations. Their desire for status and security backfires when their children change careers and take a pay cut to gain higher job satisfaction.
In this step, you want to make some final edits and make this summary exemplary. To do that, execute the following potential tweaks:
– She is an example of when parental career advice works out well. However, most people can’t expect to turn out like she did.
Raw Summary
When you’re doing this procedure for each paragraph, you’re creating a list of short paragraph summaries that together will eventually summarize the entire article.
Also, by the time you’re done reading the article this way, you will have a pretty good idea of its overall message.
Note that if your summary goal is to write three or more paragraphs, then you should probably write more than two sentences per summarized paragraph in the second step here.
After organizing your summary from general to specific, you may (or may not) notice that your most general statement still does not include the whole main idea of the article. If that’s the case, then put one together and state it as the first sentence of the summary.
Reading the text before the writing process will help you grasp the main idea of the work without going into specific details.
Now the thesis statement can be used as the first sentence of your summary, and the other supporting points will go into the body paragraphs. Don’t forget to include some transition words to maintain the effective flow of information in your summary.
After reading and taking notes, it is time to organize them. Take your time and find a way to organize the notes, as it will become a reference when you begin the actual writing process. Don’t forget to elaborate on the noted information and clarify any point difficult to understand.
If you want to learn summary writing, work through this blog, and understand what steps are required for writing a perfect summary.
Reread and Take Notes
- The length of a summary can range from two sentences to even several pages. In any case, write complete sentences to describe the main points of the author.
- To summarize the author’s argument, use the present tense.
- Do not include information that is not in the original text. Also, do not include your own opinion or ideas.
- It is important to refer to several source materials, especially for research summaries. So, information can be considered to present and explain the main idea to a number of references discussing the same subject.
- If you are using the author’s original words, don’t forget to put quotation marks to show that the quoted information does not belong to you.
If you are writing a summary for the first time, there are several questions that might stick to your mind, such as:
Writing a summary demonstrates that you have clearly understood the text, and now you can communicate that understanding to your readers. However, summary writing is not an easy task. In fact, it is quite a difficult academic skill to learn. As with any other skill, especially for writing, students explicitly need to learn this skill.
As you go through the article, you may notice it is broken up into different sections. Take the time to summarize each of these sections before moving on to summarize the next. Also keep in mind as you are summarizing that you should try to include as much information as possible about the content through paraphrasing without actively copying the work. This will ensure that you are giving credit to the original author while still actively avoiding plagiarizing the article.
The first thing you want to do in your summary is make the connection between your essay and the article that you’re summarizing. You can do this by including the thesis of the article and explaining how it helps support your essay or the similarities that it has with your essay.
Even though you are writing a summary, you should still provide some sort of bibliographic information. The bibliography you write will depend on the style of writing that you’re using, but to be on the safe side you should always mention the full title of the article, the author’s name, and the date of publication. If you can’t find a way to bring up this information in the article itself, you can still at least mention it in your references page.
How you summarize an article is dependent on a few factors. If the article is important to what you’re writing, you may want to summarize it with a bit more detail. If the article has a small connection to your work though, you can get away with summarizing a small piece of it.
Properly Summarize Each Section of the Article
Knowing how to summarize an article is just one aspect of writing, but you will use it a lot either academically or professionally. If you become really skilled at summarizing articles, then you may be able to write your own for a career.
When you want to summarize an article, of course you will have to read it. Before you actually read the article entire though, you should scan through it. Highlight some of the important points of the article. Make sure that you identify the thesis statement and the supporting points throughout. Try to get a good understanding of what the article is discussing.
When you’re writing your own article, an essay, or even a school paper, you will probably be faced with writing a summary of an article. Creating a summary of an article means quickly telling the reader what the article is about. This summarization can be a few words or it can be an entire paragraph dedicated to the article.
Below, we suggest easy steps to come up with a paper about current events that will be helpful if you do not want to turn to the research paper service.
When you are assigned to compose a current events paper, it means that your task is to write a summary describing the event that has recently happened. The special feature of such papers is that relevant information is not yet published in books. Therefore, you should look for data in magazines, newspapers, and the Internet.
Write down a list of the five Ws (What, Who, Why, When, and Where) and H (How). These should match the details of the chosen article. This list will help you in creating connections between the key point of the article and its elements that make up the story. It is vital to provide specific details for every point of this list.
Start with the topic sentence that must reflect the article’s key point and explain the reader what your essay is about. Further, this paragraph has to sum up the events presented in the news article. Come up with an outline of the article, concentrating on the five Ws and H. You should tell the story in a logical manner. You can rearrange the order of your five Ws and H if you feel like it is necessary. The last sentence of this section has to restate the article’s main idea. You can simply reword the topic sentence.
Choose a news article
Write down your thoughts about the article. In this paragraph, try to make connections between the initial article and the community in general. Highlight the significance of this information. Think about how it can be connected to your community, or your state, or the country. Consider also connecting it to your class. Probably, you have talked about some issues that are somehow related to this article.
Select a recent article. Your task is to write about a current event
The first sentence of this section has to explain the reader what you will be discussing further. Then, support your standpoint with specific examples from the news article. Conclude with a summary, or with a statement about the final impact of this story.