How to write a basic essay with ease: the Soap method
When I write an essay, I learned a long time ago to divide it into parts. The normal essay should have an introduction, at least 3 body paragraphs, and a conclusion. But when you’re not used to this, even writing the introduction can seem like an impossible task. That’s where the SOAP method comes into play. This is an extremely useful tool for anyone who needs to write an essay. What the SOAP method does is it breaks down your essay so that you can figure out what your thesis is, because every essay needs a thesis. Once you have your thesis, the essay can be easily formed.
S-subject
Think about the topic you are writing about. For example, suppose I’m writing about the benefits of ballroom dancing. My topic would be the benefits of ballroom dancing.
O-Used
What is the occasion you are going to write about? Why are you writing the essay in the first place? Using my last example, I would say that the occasion of my essay is to inform readers about the health benefits of ballroom dancing.
an audience
Who are you writing your essay for? Who do you want to read it? This plays an important role in your essay because if you don’t know who you are writing to, it will be quite difficult to decide what to write. In my example, my audience is anyone wondering how to lose weight and also anyone interested in ballroom dancing. When you know who you’re writing to, you can determine what kind of tone to take with your essay.
Q Purpose
What is the purpose of your essay? Are you trying to persuade someone, simply inform someone, or describe something? If you don’t know the purpose of your essay, you can easily get confused and lost. In my example, I’m trying to persuade readers to use dancing to lose weight. That is my purpose.
Once you have completed these 5 things, you will have effectively discovered your thesis. With your thesis, you can start writing your essay. In my example, using this, I could do my introduction, and in the three body paragraphs I could explain three benefits of ballroom dancing, and then write my conclusion. Pretty simple, right?