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EnglishYear 9 English: literary study, response and academic writing30 min★★★ difficulty

Writing the formal academic essay

An academic essay is an argument, organised so a reader can follow it without effort. The skill is not long words; it is structure, evidence and control.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Write formal and academic essays as well as personal and creative writing, summarising and organising material, and supporting ideas and arguments with any necessary factual detail

Key learning points

  • • Start with a thesis
  • • Organising the material
  • • Formality and register
  • • Editing to strengthen

This lesson at a glance

  • 30 minutes
  • 19 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

formalacademicessayspersonalcreative

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 19 · Discover5%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 19

Watch first

Writing the formal academic essay

An English teaching video on this topic from The Learning Hive Academy. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Write formal and academic essays as well as personal and creative writing, summarising and organising material, and supporting ideas and arguments with any necessary factual detail

2

What you already know

Part 2 of 19

Before we start

What you already know

You should already be able to write a clear paragraph with a point and supporting evidence.

Recap: Context, audience and literary tradition
3

Key words

Part 3 of 19

Key words

Words you'll need today

Thesis
The single argument the whole essay defends.
Topic sentence
The opening sentence stating a paragraph's point.
Register
How formal the language is.
Synthesis
Pulling several sources or ideas into one line of argument.
4

Learning cycle

Part 4 of 19

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Planning an argument

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

5

Explore the idea

Part 5 of 19

Learn

Start with a thesis

Before writing, put your whole answer in one sentence. If that sentence is vague, the essay will wander. A thesis takes a position: not 'this essay will explore the theme of power', but 'the novel presents power as inherited rather than earned, and punishes characters who assume otherwise'. Every paragraph then exists to support that claim.

6

Explore the idea

Part 6 of 19

Learn

Organising the material

Group your evidence into three or four points that build, rather than repeating in different words. Each paragraph opens with a topic sentence naming its point, develops with brief evidence, explains the effect, and links forward. Sequence matters: put the point that needs the most groundwork after the one that supplies it.

7

Quick check

Part 7 of 19

Quick check

A thesis is...

8

Quick check

Part 8 of 19

Quick check

A topic sentence should...

9

Reset break

Part 9 of 19

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
10

Learning cycle

Part 10 of 19

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Drafting with control

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

11

Explore the idea

Part 11 of 19

Learn

Formality and register

Academic register means avoiding contractions, slang and 'I think', and preferring precise verbs to intensifiers. It does not mean long, tangled sentences. Hedged claims — 'suggests', 'implies', 'arguably' — are more accurate than absolutes and are read as more confident, because they show the writer knows what the evidence supports.

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 19

Learn

Editing to strengthen

Redrafting is where marks are gained. Check that every paragraph answers the question, cut sentences that only restate, replace vague evidence with precise quotation, and read the topic sentences alone to see whether they tell the argument on their own. Proof-read last, for punctuation of quotations, spelling of names and consistent tense.

13

Quick check

Part 13 of 19

Quick check

Which is appropriate academic register?

14

Quick check

Part 14 of 19

Quick check

Reading only your topic sentences checks...

15

Common mix-ups

Part 15 of 19

Common mix-ups

Things people often get wrong

  • People often think formal writing means long words. Precision matters more than vocabulary size.
  • People often write a conclusion that only repeats the introduction. It should state what the argument has established.
16

Challenge round

Part 16 of 19

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

17

Challenge round

Part 17 of 19

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ register means avoiding contractions, slang and 'I think', and preferring precise verbs to intensifiers.

18

Mastery quiz

Part 18 of 19

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Writing the formal academic essay

6 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. The strongest essay plan groups evidence into...

  2. 2. 'Arguably' is useful because it...

  3. 3. A conclusion should...

  4. 4. Evidence in an academic essay should be...

  5. 5. Editing should happen...

  6. 6. Synthesis means...

19

Lesson round-up

Part 19 of 19

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Extract

The last bus

The bus shelter smelled of wet coats. Mira pressed her timetable flat against the glass, as though staring at the numbers might make the 9:42 appear. Rain tapped the roof in small, impatient fingers. Somewhere behind her, a shop shutter came down with a sound like a full stop.

She had been brave all day. She had been brave in the corridor, brave at lunch, brave when the register reached her name and nobody looked up. Being brave, she decided, was mostly a matter of keeping your face still.

Headlights swung around the corner and lit the puddles gold. Mira picked up her bag. Tomorrow she would say something. Tonight she would simply go home.

Original extract written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Find two words or phrases that show how Mira is feeling, and explain what each one suggests.
  2. How does the writer use the weather and the sounds to build the mood? Use a short quotation.
  3. Write the next paragraph in the same style, keeping the writer's short sentences at the moments that matter.

  • Reading response

    Reading

    Read the extract again, then write about how the writer makes you feel that way. Use a short quotation and explain your choice of words.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Write your piece in full, then redraft the opening so it hooks the reader.

    250–350 words

  • Reading log

    Reading

    Note the book, the pages you read and one thing you noticed about the writing.

    20 minutes' reading

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 19 · Watch & discover

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