Topic sentence, introductory paragraph, supporting paragraphs, conclusion. The final outcome being, say, that Ahab in Moby Dick was a Christ-like figure.
The essential obvious difference between real essays plus the things one has to write in school is the fact that real essays are not exclusively about English literature. Certainly schools should teach students how to write. But as a result of a number of historical accidents the teaching of writing has gotten mixed with the scholarly study of literature. And thus from coast to coast students are writing not regarding how a baseball team with a budget that is small compete with the Yankees, or the role of color in style, or what constitutes a beneficial dessert, but about symbolism in Dickens.
Utilizing the result that writing is built to seem boring and pointless. Who cares about symbolism in Dickens? Dickens himself would be interested in an essay about baseball or color. Continue reading Remember the essays you had to write in high school?