Informative essays

Contents

School or college students often have to write an informative essay on diverse subjects. You can have an assigned topic or, perhaps, your teacher can give you freedom concerning it. Yet, if the issue is not clear or is new to you, you may face specific challenges while writing a paper. This article offers some insights regarding this essay type so that you manage it with ease.

Whether you're struggling with structuring your informative essay, conducting in-depth research, or synthesizing data into easily understandable prose, StudyMoose can offer timely and effective support.

The purpose of informative writing is to explore a particular incident, personality, or object and present a piece of information to a reader. A writer should go deeper into the topic and examine it in detail to ensure that readers get enough data and facts regarding the subject matter.

It is critical to understand that such an essay is informatory yet does not puzzle readers with complex terminology. It is your task to deliver information using simple words and an easy-to-read format. The only exception is when the topic demands the usage of a specific vocabulary.

Write an informative essay like a pro

You may think that the first thing to do after receiving your task is to start typing the first sentence. However, you should take some time and do substantial preparation. Most people use plans for their writing assignments, and you should take up the lead. Below, you will see other things that would help you to start working on the paper:

  • Brainstorming to get excellent ideas: if your tutor lets you decide on the topic, you will have to find the one that will be interesting for both you and your reader. You can choose among so many options. Remember, however, that the topic should not be too broad.
  • When you finally pick the most attractive topic, you will also need to mull over the constituents — subtopics — for your essay. Here is where brainstorming can help you. You must note everything that pops up in your mind to select later the remarks that can become a part of your outline.
  • Do research: research presupposes that you spend some time on the Internet or in a library to collect the most appropriate and credible material. Notably, there should be not only primary but secondary sources as well, the supporting ones. The latter include any credible articles and works written on the related topic. Simultaneously, the primary ones have the physical pieces with solid evidence on your chosen topic.
  • Skip any source that is not reliable: some sources like Wikipedia can be very luring, as they are secondary. No professor will compliment you for using them You must validate every material you are going to use for your written assignment.

Informative essay outline

Even if it is the first time you need to write an outline, there is nothing scary. An informative essay outline is similar to any other essay plan. These are the standard components of the outline:

  • An introductory paragraph with a strong thesis statement. The thesis allows you to present your argument to a reader.
  • Body paragraphs. Traditionally, there should be at least three paragraphs in the main body. However, you can add several more if you need to cover more points in your work.
  • The conclusion. The last sentence or two is for summarizing the entire essay. Here, you can restate the thesis and highlight the importance of the essay’s topic.
  • Now that you know the elements of informative writing, you can get some more information on these.

Introduction

Imagine that you want to tell a story to your friend. Will you start with some cold facts and boring statistics? Surely, no! There must be some hook in your first paragraph. The point is to attract the attention of a reader, make him want to go on reading. If you are not aware of what a hook is, it can be a joke, rhetorical question, or personal story.

After you trigger the interest of a reader, you can go on sharing some background information. This paragraph is relatively concise and must introduce the readers to the topic; however, you must not unfold everything. You must clearly explain the subject of the following essay and drive the readers to your thesis.

Thesis statement

Your thesis statement should be up to a point, laconic, and engaging. Even though it is the work’s main sentence, it is not good to add some symbolic speech or pompous words. The thesis in this type of essay sums up your key ideas:

  • It will highlight the aim of your work without any specification of the further statements.
  • Try to make it comprehensive to an average reader.
  • Just as a hook makes a reader want to read the text, the thesis should do the same and remain in readers’ memory as they will read the essay.

Arguable thesis means that it can be argued. It must either state or refute an argument about your topic. To be debateable, a thesis must have some possibility of being true. However, the thesis should not be universally accepted as true. Instead, it should be something that people can disagree with. A thesis can be both an observation or an opinion.

observation + opinion (the "why") = thesis

Seeing if your thesis creates a powerful antithesis is an excellent approach to determine how strong it is.

Common thesis pitfalls:

  • A thesis in the form of a fragment.
  • A thesis that is overly broad.
  • A thesis that is phrased as a question. (The thesis is usually derived from the solution to the question.)
  • Extraneous information is included in a thesis.
  • A thesis that begins with the words "I believe" or "In my opinion."

Body paragraphs

The body paragraph consists of several parts that include evidence. In other words, it would be fair to name it the body of evidence for your thesis statement. Considering this, you must realize at the very beginning that your sources must be top-notch. Whatever statement you make in the main body, the following sentences must include a robust and reliable backup by means of a primary source.

The structure of all the paragraphs is the same. The first sentence is referred to as a ’topic’ sentence and offers the point you will discuss in this paragraph. Note that this sentence must correlate with the thesis statement. Any reliable point you provide in your essay must have supporting detail.

Such detail should come from a source that can prove your argument. That is what people call evidence. Whatever argument you make, you must present the proof of your words. By doing so, you raise your essay’s trustworthiness, and a reader can see that your informative paper is based on actual facts.

The informative essays often include some quotes, either direct or paraphrased. You can take these from periodicals, journals, books, or bibliographies. Remember that if you cannot back up your claim, then you do not use it. After you underpin the argument, you provide the readers with some explanation to demonstrate your understanding and insight into the subject.

The concluding sentence of every paragraph represents the summary of the argument in this particular part. The closing sentence will show a reader that you define the claim and explain what it means in the context of the thesis statement. When the body part is ready, each body part will have several strong claims — explained and proved.

Conclusion

Your paper is almost ready. The only part left is your conclusion. Now you can wrap up all your arguments and put them into several summarizing sentences. The last paragraph of the entire essay will have a paraphrased thesis and final thoughts on your ideas. There should be some transitions between the claims to keep it smooth.

You should organize the summary so that you can mention every claim concerning the thesis statement. Besides, the last paragraph must highlight every argument’s essential roles in the context of your topic. You may even end the paragraph with something that will keep the readers thinking about the issue even after they finish the text.

Informative Essay Examples

  • Informative Essay on Stress

Informative Essay on Stress

  • Writing an Informative Essay about Heroic Qualities

Writing an Informative Essay about Heroic Qualities

  • Importance of Agriculture Informative Speech

Importance of Agriculture Informative Speech

Post-writing tips

You put a period after the last word, and your informative essay is ready. However, is it really so? The truth is that there are some things for you to do even after you complete your paper. Specifically, some post-writing recommendations regarding proofreading and revision will come in handy:

  • Is your vocabulary good enough? While writing an essay, everything may seem perfect to you. You will notice only at the proofreading stage that you used the phrases or words that you will never put in a specific sentence at other times. Read your essay. You can pass to another step after your vocabulary satisfies you completely.
  • Check your grammar. To save the teacher’s time and raise your chances to get the highest mark, you must double-check grammar. If you feel that your attention is somewhere away after hours of writing, you may want to check some grammar check sites or applications. If not, then fix the mistakes on your own. Also, keep in mind that reading out loud can help you here as well.
  • Coherency maters. While revising your work, you may see that some parts undermine the text’s coherency. You should consider some rearrangement if only this does not destroy the structure of your work.
  • Peer editing. To make sure everything is excellent. If you can give your essay to another person (sibling or classmate), it would be perfect! Another person can validate your paper and give you a third-party opinion that can be very helpful. Do not take criticism personally, though.
  • The final touch. Yes, it is indeed the final touch. Your task is to turn your essay with all the fixed mistakes and changed wording into a complete and full-fledged informative paper. And that is it.

List of Informative Essay Topics

  1. Worldwide poverty
  2. Domestic violence
  3. Anorexia
  4. Procrastination
  5. Homelessness
  6. Pregnancy in college
  7. Racism
  8. Cybersecurity
  9. Bullying in college
  10. Violence in video games
  11. Organic food tendency
  12. Community services positively influence college students
  13. Summer classes are half productive compared to the autumn ones
  14. How long should be the comfort college weekend?
  15. Summer vacation is not for studying
  16. College dress code improves the academic efficiency of students
  17. Video games influence students' behavior
  18. How video games hurt students' grades?
  19. Video gaming and academic performance
  20. Reading a map in the woods
  21. Effective ways to get the best grades
  22. Spending last summer days on a beach
  23. Who has invented homework
  24. How to be a successful student
  25. How to do homework fast
  26. How movies affect children
  27. The history of school uniform
  28. How drugs affect health
  29. What is vegetarianism
  30. The best country to live in
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FAQ about Informative essays

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