Essays
What is an essay?
An essay presents a discussion or argument about a topic, using evidence to present the author’s perspective on the topic.
Essay Structure
INTRODUCTION
The introduction provides your reader with some background information to the topic and explains why it is important. It also provides an overview of how you will answer the question.
BODY
- In the body, you need to respond directly to the essay question.
- This part of your assignment needs to be carefully structured to ensure you provide the details to support your response.
- You usually need to discuss various viewpoints, which means integrating many different ideas from different sources.
CONCLUSION
- The conclusion restates the topic of the essay, and gives an overall description of the main points raised in the essay.
- You may also be required to give recommendations, or briefly state possible implications of what you have claimed in your essay.
REFERENCES
- The reference list gives all of the sources that you cited throughout your essay.
- It is always on a separate page.
Essay Introduction
The introduction usually starts with a broad overview of the topic, including a small amount of background information and a brief explanation of why this topic is important enough for us to pay attention to it. It then provides an overview of how you will answer the question, often by telling the reader what your perspective is on the topic, and then outlining what the structure of the essay will be.
Please click on the arrow for the example.
Example essay introduction
Assignment question: “Culture is a tool used by management to limit resistance”. Consider this statement in relation to how we understand and make sense of power in the post-bureaucratic era.
[Opening sentence] Due to factors such as the expansion of the services industry, managerial practices of organisations have shifted away from the traditional bureaucratic style. Consequently, different types of control have been implemented by managers in order to maintain power, such as focusing on the organisational culture. [Topic sentence] This essay will argue that culture is certainly used as a tool by management to maintain control and hence limit resistance. [Final sentence] The positive and negative implications of this type of control will be analysed, using specific examples from a variety of organisations.
| Opening sentence | The opening sentences introduce the topic, starting with the broad topic of organisational management and then narrowing down to the specific issue of exerting power through organisational culture. |
|---|---|
| Topic sentence |
The thesis statement tells us what the writer’s perspective on this topic is. |
| Final sentence | The final sentence outlines the structure of the essay, explaining how the writer will support their perspective. |
Essay Body
The body is comprised of many paragraphs, each discussing one main idea that relates to the overall assignment question. In the body you usually need to discuss various viewpoints, which means integrating many different ideas from different sources.
In the example paragraph below, the topic is the disadvantages of having a strict organisational culture, and the writer has referred to several different experts throughout the paragraph to support their analysis of this topic.
Please click on the arrow for the example.
Example essay paragraph
[Topic sentence] Enforcing organisational culture too heavily can have adverse effects on the organisation, increasing employees’ resistance (Kärreman & Alvesson, 2004). [Supplementary sentences] In many cases, employees feel trapped by the intense focus placed on culture within their organisation. In order to maintain a certain level of personal identity, employees may become internally hostile, their loyalty to the organisation becoming only an act (Brewis, 2007). This behaviour often stems from employees with strong personal identity and individuality. Although these employees may enjoy the work they do, they also tend to distance themselves from organisational ideology (Lopez, 2017). [Concluding sentence] It is clear that an environment that combines strict culture with employees who already maintain strong identities of their own, can cause rebellious attitudes to arise. Therefore, it is much more difficult for an organisation to maintain power in the post-bureaucratic era.
| Topic sentence | The topic sentence makes clear the main focus of this paragraph, which in this case is an analysis of some of the negative aspects of organisational culture as a management tool. |
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| SUPPLEMENTARY sentenceS | The following three sentences cite expert sources to provide evidence to support the claim made in the topic sentence. |
| Concluding sentence | The concluding sentences of this paragraph provide the writer’s own opinion about this aspect of the topic, based on the evidence provided earlier in the paragraph. |
Essay Conclusion
The conclusion restates the topic and gives an overall summary of the main points raised in the essay. You may also be required to give recommendations, or briefly state possible implications of what you have claimed in your essay. The conclusion never introduces new information and rarely refers to the research or ideas of others, as this should already have been covered in the body of the essay.
Please click on the arrow for the example.
Example essay conclusion
[First sentence] By examining the different aspects of organisational culture in the post-bureaucratic era, it is evident that culture can be used as a tool to limit staff resistance. [Following sentence] When done well, it can lead to a more stable and consistent organisation, while also providing a sense of identity and comfort to employees. However, this management technique is not always effective, as it can lead to rebelliousness from employees with strong personal identities, and may also allow management to abuse their power. [Final sentence] The most effective way of reducing staff resistance is to encourage them to actively help shape the organisation’s culture. Therefore, managers should seek to use a variety of methods to allow their staff to influence the culture of their organisation.
| First sentence | The first sentence summarises the student’s thesis, or evidence-based perspective on the topic. |
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| Following sentence | The following two sentences summarise the main arguments that were discussed in the essay, which in this case was an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of using this approach to management. |
| Concluding sentence | The final sentences give some suggestions for how managers of organisations should approach this issue. |
More examples of real UTS essays from a range of different disciplines are available here.
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