11 Essays

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The purpose of an essay is to:

  • present a coherent argument in response to a statement or question, and
  • to persuade the reader that your position is credible (i.e. believable and reasonable).

In other words, you need to think about the task, research the topic, decide on your position, and then convince the reader by presenting a reasoned response supported by evidence from the sources that you have found.

Essays are structured into an introduction, body, conclusion and reference list.

Use the table below to find out more about the different parts of an essay and plan your own.

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Academic Skills Pocketbook Copyright © 2023 by Richard Scharges; Ashleigh Watson; Linda Thornely; and Susan McGlynn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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