Basic Guidelines for Writing a 4-Page Essay

You can think of a four-page essay as just an overgrown paragraph - an overgrown paragraph with room to make more points and room for more elaboration on your points. If you want to write a giant paragraph, you’re going to want to be organized. If you want to be organized, you’re going to want to make an outline and so on. Below, you will find some basic guidelines for writing a great four-page essay from essay writers.

• INTRODUCTION - Most essays, regardless of length, start with an introduction. In your introduction, you’re going to need a thesis or topic sentence or something along those lines. Your thesis/topic sentence should present a clear position that you will continue to support throughout the rest of your essay. You can come up with this sentence while writing the outline, or you can wait until you begin to write. If you’re having trouble with the introduction, skip right to the body paragraphs. By writing them first, you’ll probably get some idea of what you should say in your intro.


• BODY - Your body paragraphs are what you are going to fill up your next three or four pages with. If you want to think back to elementary school, they’re the “meat” in the hamburger model. In your outline, you should jot down each of the points you want to make. Consolidate all of the information you’re going to include in your paper into a series of main ideas/topic sentences. A good plan would be to dedicate one paragraph to each point. Use the body paragraphs to elaborate on your arguments, explain them to your reader, and present evidence to support them. It’s also important to include transitions between your paragraphs to make sure that they flow smoothly and form a coherent statement, instead of sounding like individual, smaller papers. In your outline, make sure you organize your body paragraphs into a logical order.


• CONCLUSION - Your conclusion, the last paragraph, should wrap up your points and leave the reader with something to think about. Examples of ways to do this include reminding your reader of the importance of your topic, giving them your opinion, or expressing some personal thoughts or hopes for the future. However, be sure not to try to squeeze any new ideas into your conclusion, as you’ve had four pages’ worth of space to do that.

Remember that all essays contain the same basic parts. Therefore writing one that’s four pages long really is no different than writing one that’s four paragraphs. They’ll both still include an introduction, body paragraphs, and a concluding paragraph - the difference is that when your essay is four pages long, you simply have more room for these parts. Hopefully, these basic guidelines will help!