How to plan an essay

Before you think about your answer, figure out exactly what the prompt asks. Underline the task word, the topic and any rules about sources or length. Many low essay grades come from answering a slightly different question than the one asked.

Here is the sample prompt this guide uses: “Some schools have moved their start time later in the morning. Using the two articles, take a position on whether your school should start later, and support it with evidence.”

The task word is “take a position,” so this is an argument essay. The topic is a later start time at your school. The rule is that the evidence has to come from the two articles.

Do not lock in an answer in the first minute. Spend a few minutes writing down every idea you have, even messy ones. Short phrases are fine. You are looking for the side you can support best, not the one that came to mind first.

• List reasons for each side of the question.
• Go back through the sources and jot down facts, numbers or quotes that could help either side.
• Ask yourself who is affected and how: students, teachers, families, bus schedules, sports.
• Circle the two or three reasons that have the strongest evidence behind them.

Your thesis is the one or two sentences that answer the prompt. A strong thesis takes a clear position that someone could disagree with, and it hints at the reasons you will use. A weak thesis just repeats the topic or states a fact nobody would argue with.

A useful shape is: your position, because of reason one and reason two. The examples below only show that shape. Your own thesis should come from your own brainstorm.

Each body paragraph should prove one reason from your thesis. A simple and reliable structure has three parts: a point, the evidence for it, and your explanation of how that evidence proves the point. Students often skip the explanation, but it is where most of the thinking, and most of the grade, lives.

• Point: one sentence stating the reason this paragraph proves.
• Evidence: a fact, example or short quote from a source, with where it came from.
• Explanation: two or three sentences on why the evidence supports your point. Ask yourself “so what?” until the link is clear.
• Link: a closing line that ties the paragraph back to your thesis.

In an argument essay, showing that you understand the other side makes your own side stronger. Pick the best objection someone could raise, state it fairly, and then answer it. You can concede that part of it is true and still show why your position holds up.

This often works as its own paragraph near the end, or as a few sentences inside a body paragraph. Do not pick a weak objection just because it is easy to knock down. Readers notice.

Put the plan together in a short outline. Use phrases, not full sentences, so it stays quick to write and easy to change. Here is the shape for a five-paragraph argument essay. Every bracket is a spot for your own idea.

Before you write a single paragraph, hold your outline up next to the prompt. Fixing a plan takes a minute. Fixing a finished essay can take an hour.

1. Does the thesis answer the exact question in the prompt, using its task word?
2. Does every body point support the thesis, and none of them wander off topic?
3. Does each body point have real evidence, from the sources if the prompt requires it?
4. Is there an explanation planned for every piece of evidence?
5. If it is an argument, is there a counterargument with a response?
6. Will it fit the length and time limit?

Once the plan holds up, writing goes much faster because you always know what comes next. Write the body paragraphs first if the introduction feels hard. It is easier to introduce an essay once you know what it says. Keep your outline next to you and check off each part as you write it.

The words in the essay should be yours. Planning tools, teachers and friends can ask you good questions and point out gaps, but the thinking and the sentences are what you are being graded on.