Essays are an essential part of every student's life. It tests their knowledge of different topics, assesses their writing skills, and increases their grades. It is, therefore, crucial for students to put their best foot forward when writing essays.
However, writing an essay can be a stressful task. Apart from the skillfulness required, all essays are different and have specific purposes. The rules for writing a type of essay might not apply to some. Hence, students must know the differences between these essays to make the best of their writing.
For example, writing an informative essay requires specific guidelines to follow. These include instructions on the structure and format that the essay must have. Missing these guidelines might entirely change the essay's purpose, which may attract penalties such as a reduction in grades.
Also, the similarities between these essays make it even more difficult for students to differentiate between them. Hence, they must understand the requirements of each type of essay adequately.
An informative essay requires gathering accurate information and data related to the chosen topic and organizing and sorting it logically. In an informative essay, the purpose is to provide information and explain obscure aspects of the subject.
Students need a simple plan and detailed guidelines to reduce the stress of writing informative essays. A prepared format and structure will help them present their information coherently and save time. This article will provide a step-by-step guide to writing an informative essay to achieve a significant result.
Knowing an informative essay definition will help students understand how to write one. An informative essay is a type of writing that aims to educate readers about a person, situation, or event.
To write this type of essay successfully, students must assume that their readers have no prior knowledge of the topic. Therefore, they define the topic in simple terms before writing about it in detail.
For example, if you have an informative essay writing on racism. Start by defining racism, even though the topic seems simple and relatable. Following the definition, provide adequate information about how racism started and its impact on society.
In writing informative essays, the aim is to provide necessary information about a topic. Hence, there are two things to note.
Informative essays come in many forms. They can compare, contrast, analyze data, or define a term. This leads us to discuss the many types of informative essays, including:
These different informative essays have the same goal: to provide credible information about a topic. Knowing this will help you understand how to do an informative essay excellently.
An informative essay is also similar to other types of essays, such as narrative and expository essays. Hence the need to understand its structure.
If you want to know how to start an informative essay, then you must know its structure.
The structure of an informative essay is simple and easy to follow. Just like a standard essay structure, it is divided into an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
The introduction of the essay briefly describes your topic. It plays a vital role in catching the reader's attention. Therefore, it must start with an exciting opening sentence called "a hook." This hook can be a fact or a question.
After the opening sentence, write your thesis statement. Your thesis statement is a clear message about the significance of your topic and defines the focus of your essay. The rest of your essay will aim to prove this point by providing supporting evidence.
The body is the second and most significant part of the essay. Here, writers present their main points and explain them. To establish the arguments presented in the body, you must back them up with facts and statistics from credible sources.
While arranging your arguments, ensure your points are cohesive and structured according to their significance. Also, try to avoid fillers and make your writing enjoyable to read. After presenting all your arguments, then you can proceed to the conclusion.
The conclusion is the ending part of your essay. It summarizes what you have written in a few sentences. When writing your conclusion, restate your thesis and share your final thoughts. Last, avoid bringing in anything new from what is in the body of your essay.
Students often ask, 'how long is an informative essay?' The informative essay format is explained below.
Apart from structure, the format of your essay is another crucial aspect to note. Most students need clarification about how to make an informative essay format. The format of an informative essay describes its length and content. Depending on your topic and your supervisor's specifications, this might vary.
However, if there are no specific instructions about the essay format, students should have at least five paragraphs. Using a five-paragraph essay format, here is what an informative essay should look like:
Although, the body of an informative essay is not limited to three paragraphs. Based on the length of the essay, students might have over three.
An information essay should be about five to seven pages long. The introduction and conclusion should be on one page each, while the body occupies the other pages.
Specific tips are needed to develop good informative essay writing.
Below are some helpful, informative essay tips you can adopt.
While writing, you will come across unique examples of informative essays. Only consider professional topics that your readers will find interesting. Here is an informative essay example
If there is one thing the pandemic year brought into the academic system, it is a change in the learning system. According to statistics, about 93% of American households with school children experienced distance learning in 2020. Even though schools have resumed physically, there has been a drastic increase in students using online learning platforms. Unlike classroom learning, this new method has improved learning outcomes and is here to stay. So which of these learning platforms is a better system of learning?
Here are some observations on both systems.
The classroom learning system helps active participation. This setting encourages debates and social interaction between students, which also helps develop their listening and communication skills.
On the other hand, remote learning aids flexibility in studying. Statistics show that most graduate students prefer remote learning to a classroom setting. This is because remote learning proves to be efficient in managing studies with work. In addition, this system gives students control over their time. Hence they can study at their own pace.
While we might consider flexibility, the affordability of gadgets for online learning might be a limitation for students in countries with poor economic growth. This narrative changes in developed countries. Because of the increased travel costs, remote learning might seem more affordable for students in these places.
In conclusion, which of these two learning systems proves better should be a personal decision. Each system has its benefits and disadvantages. Therefore, neither system is a better learning option. It all depends on the learner's perspective and preferences.
