Structuring the components
Another important prewriting task is concerned with the preparation needed
to achieve a well-structured piece of written work. Essentially, there are two
aspects to this task, namely, understanding structure in written work, and applying
that understanding to the formulation of a tentative structure for your written
assignment. Note that we are suggesting that the structure is tentative at this
stage. The formulation of a structure makes more efficient the planning of, and
researching for, your written work. It is tentative, however, because it can and
should be modified and improved as you become better informed about the essay
or assignment topic, its components, and their relatedness.
So, first, what are the important things to know about the structure of a piece
of written work?
Understanding structure in written work
A well written essay or any other piece of written work is well organised.
A well written essay also has a good structure. At the broadest level, a written
text has three sections, namely, an Introduction, a Body, and a Conclusion. Each
section has a different purpose, and each uses different writing strategies to
achieve that purpose. Below is a suggested plan for capturing the purpose of each
section and the ways their purpose might be achieved.
1. The purpose of the Introduction is
- to tell the reader what the piece of written work is going to be about
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2. The writer achieves the purpose of the Introduction by
- providing a brief overview by way of background to the topic
- stating the purpose of the essay
- outlining the main point, or the proposition or thesis (claim or argument)
- identifying the principal stages of the essay
- stating the scope of the essay (or its limits)
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3. The purpose of the Body of the text is
- to tell the reader what the piece of written work is about
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4. The writer achieves the purpose of the Body
- by providing a logical structure that makes the essay easier to understand
- by identifying the main points that are to be made
- by providing a succinct or concise statement of the first main point
- by elaborating on the main point by providing a couple
of examples to illustrate or highlight the first main point,
- by summarising what has been said about the first main point
- by taking the second and any subsequent main points that
are to be made, and repeating the steps identified above for the first main point
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5. The purpose of the Conclusion is
- to tell the reader what the piece of written work has been about
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6. The writer achieves the purpose of the Conclusion
- by stating clearly and concisely what has been said in relation to each
of the main points outlined in the Body of the essay
- by outlining the stages of development in the body of
the text
- by reiterating the main thesis or argument
- by providing a concluding statement or position that
draws together the ideas
- presented within the Body of the essay
- by highlighting the particular focus of the thesis in
the essay
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Formulating your tentative structure
Bearing in mind the different sections in a well-structured piece of written
work and their respective functions or purposes, your task is to decide how the
components you identified in your essay or assignment topic are best arranged
within these broad sections.
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Consider the essay question,
In his theory of personality development, how did Freud assume the personality
differences between boys and girls come about?
Let’s start by thinking about the Body of your essay.
Remember that the purpose of the Body of the written work is to provide a logical
structure that makes the essay easier to understand. A tentative structure for
the essay, "In his theory of personality development, how did Freud assume
the personality differences between boys and girls come about?" might be
- The first main point might start by providing an overview of the major sources
of, and influences on Freud’s theory, highlighting their relevance to a sound
understanding of the important features of his theory of personality development.
- The second main point would then outline Freud’s conception of personality,
its components and their interrelatedness.
- The third main point would need to be a description of the stages of personality
development, according to Freud’s theory.
- The next main point, an important one in this essay, would explain in detail
how and where within Freud’s stage-based theory boys’ and girls’
personality development were assumed to differ, making explicit the consequences
for the personalities of boys and of girls of the differences.
Having formulated a tentative structure for the main text or Body of your essay,
you can then decide how the remainder of the essay might be structured.
So, in the Introduction to this essay, you would plan to provide a brief
overview of the topic, Freud’s theory of personality development, state that
the purpose of the essay is to consider the way Freud’s theory assumed the
personality differences between boys and girls come about, and outline the main
proposition that the divergence was assumed by Freud to occur in the phallic stage.
The tentative plan for the Introduction would be to identify the principal
stages of the essay, namely, a brief overview of the sources of, and influences
on Freud’s theory, his understanding of personality, the stages in personality
development, according to Freud, and then a description of the divergence in boys’
and girls’ personality development.
The Conclusion would re-state clearly and concisely the key issues covered
in each of the main points in the Body of the text, and provide a concluding statement
that integrates the ideas presented there.
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Having formulated your tentative plan of your piece of written work, you are
now ready to collect the information that will be most useful for the writing
task.
Acknowledgement: In preparing this document, "Organising
and planning the essay" from "The Academic Preparation Program"
of The Learning Centre
UNSW provided a useful starting point.
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