Introduction:
An informative essay is a form of an academic paper and descriptive content written by students at school and college levels to define and explain a particular thing, subject, or phenomenon. It can take the form of an explanatory essay and academic paper use to define certain things and ideas in detail.
The student should utilize his personal information and writing skills to define these things. He should consider the readers naïve to the concepts and phenomena he is presenting to them. Therefore, the informative essay must follow some rules and patterns of essay writing pertinent to an easy understanding of the topic and an underlying question (Davidson, 2016).
The informative essay cannot be written as a personal opinion; rather, it should be in an informative form where the main purpose of the writer is to educate the audience. Therefore, the purpose of these essays is not to change their opinions but to educate or inform others.
Things to consider before writing an informative essay:
An informative essay should be interesting in a way that it grabs the attention of the readers. However, you cannot be biased towards the facts for making them interesting and charming.
The students can add their opinion in a neutral way, which has nothing to do with the overall narrative of a fact or a phenomenon. Nevertheless, they should not use a persuasive tone, which can be a biased element and diverts the readers. Besides, the student should realize that their essay should:
- Inform readers about something they are not aware of.
- Explain the importance and notable features of that thing.
- Describe something with the latest research and updated content.
- Compare different points of view on varying topics.
- Define the relationship between the different phenomenon
Structure of an informative essay:
An informative essay does not follow a particular structure. However, the basic elements of an essay need to be added to maintain a flow of concepts, ideas, and thoughts. Besides, following an appropriate structure helps readers to understand the main idea and essence.
The length of the essay depends on the requirements set by the instructor. A detailed essay should be within 4-5 pages in length; however, we cannot set it as a general parameter or rule to the followed for essay writing (Newell, 2013).
The informative essay should be written in a formal academic writing style following a simple pattern which entails necessary details related to the topic. The major elements include the introduction, the body, and the conclusion.
The Beginning paragraph:
The introduction is the starting point, which sets the tone of the essay. It should be written to provide an overview of what is included in the essay and how the writer is going to discuss it. The students should avoid putting lengthy sentences and explanations in the introductory part.
It should be a specific and to-the-point approach to grab the attention of the reader and increases his interest and curiosity to read the whole essay. The students should try to be specific and provide some background information related to the topic while introducing the major ideas and thoughts discussed it the essay. Other than this, they are also supposed to write a thesis statement that defines a comparative viewpoint in case there is a controversial topic.
The introductory paragraphs follow the same pattern as other paragraphs. However, the introduction must be precise and short enough to support the main argument or piece of information along with its general overview. Furthermore, no charts, graphs, and statistics should be used in the introductory paragraphs. These analytics are not allowed throughout the essay as they do not comply with the format (Davidson, 2016).
Body paragraphs:
The body of the informative essay should include the details and explanatory material that the student has researched or prepared for the topic. This part is the most descriptive one, and it includes all the necessary information which should be provided to the reader through the essay.
However, the student must stick to some rules which are necessary to write a comprehensive essay entailing all the relevant facts and details. The students should use different sources based on accurate facts and figures.
The authenticity of sources matters as the information should be correct to the core to facilitate the reader. Therefore, a well-written informative essay should be based on true facts based on extensive research (Newell, 2013).
Each body paragraph must address one issue or explain a fact. A strong coherence should be found between the body paragraphs to engage the readers. Besides, the student must prepare an outline of body paragraphs based on the relevant facts which are to be discussed in the essay.
The headings are not allowed in an informative essay. Therefore, the outline should be presented on a separate page before the start of the essay or the introductory paragraph. In addition to this, the student can also make a rough outline of there are no mandatory requirements for an outline.
The concluding paragraph:
In the concluding paragraph, the students should summarize the facts against the thesis statement. The conclusion is based on your final thoughts and ideas about the issue or a concept. Therefore, you can also include recommendations in the conclusion portion to accentuate the underlying facts.
However, the conclusion must have attractive words and thoughtful facts that relate to the readers in one way or the other. Besides, you cannot introduce a new fact or idea in the concluding paragraph as it is the last part of the essay, and you must try to consolidate your thoughts reaching there (Davidson, 2016).
Conclusion:
Essay writing is an art that can be mastered following simple steps of writing. The informative essays are also written in the same pattern as any other essay. However, there is a difference in writing style and the information which is intended to be delivered to the reader in a particular way.
Therefore, the students must follow the aforementioned rules before writing an excellent informative essay.
