Research Essay Organization
Take the time to do a rough outline of your essay early in the research process (see Creating an Effective Outline for tips on how to outline your essay). Eventually you will want an outline that reflects the end result of your research, organizing the actual points and details you wish to include. An essay, however, is not just a body of information; it has a definite purpose that supplies shape and meaning. Before you begin putting the details of your essay into place, it is useful, therefore, to step back and consider what you are trying to create. Do you want to make a comparison? describe a process? evaluate a report? The location of details will depend on how these questions about general structure are answered.
In Janice Lauer's Four Worlds of Writing, she and her co-writers present four different ways of approaching a paper, each suited to a different purpose, namely: description, narration, classification, and evaluation.1 Consider each method carefully; by identifying which is the most appropriate for the particular concept or argument you wish to explore, you will find it easier to break your essay down into relevant sections.
1. Janice Lauer et al., Four Worlds of Writing, 2nd ed. (New York: Harper and Row, 1991).