Wize Core English Textbook > English Writing Overview

Overview of Essay Structure
Most writing for school will be in the form of some sort of essay. 
There are different types of essays, but just as every narrative has a beginning, middle, and end, every essay has an introduction, body, and conclusion. 
There are key things that English-language writers and readers expect to find in certain places. 

Example: 
The thesis statement is expected to be in the introductory paragraph. 
Quoted evidence to support major ideas are supposed to be in the body paragraphs.
A summation of the key points should appear in the conclusion. 
Wize Concept
Each paragraph does not need to be of equal length, but paragraphs should always be organized around a coherent topic.

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Compare/Contrast Essays
A compare/contrast essay is one of the most common forms of essays that you will encounter in your writing career. 
It is important to understand that a compare/contrast essay is a juxtaposition of two concepts that must have both similarities and differences and through the comparison of them, something becomes more clear about either/both. 
There are two ways of organizing these types of essays. 
One is where all the similarities/differences of subject A are grouped together, followed by the similarities of subject B and so on. 
The other method is to provide a similarity for subject A followed by that same idea in its expression for subject B, and so on.
Wize Concept
A juxtaposition is the act or the instance of placing two (or more) things side by side often to compare/contrast

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Close Reading Essays
Close reading essays or providing a close reading analysis within a larger essay is a key skill you will need in any English class. 

Close reading means that you can read text and analyze it on a variety of levels: 
content/ideas
structure/form
stylistic elements

Wize Concept
Being able to analyze any text in these three categories will lead you to be able to provide evidence of the insights that emerge from your analysis of a text.

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Persuasive or Argumentative Essay
Most academic writing takes the form of a persuasive/argumentative essay. 

Some essays may be explanatory in their method of persuasion (which is sometimes called an expository essay), but most often, you are raising ideas to convince a reader of something, some insight that is yours.