44 Wrap Up

When you write a discussion essay, you can use a predictable pattern: first one side of an issue, then the other side of the issue. If you include our opinion, it comes at the end and is based only on the evidence in the essay. It is more for observation than persuasion.

You can also use more complex vocabulary and grammar — such as modal verbs for hedging as well as gerunds and infinitives for identifying big ideas — to make your writing more concise, precise, and academic.

Composition strategies, such as using and citing information from outside sources, help your readers to understand issues and can serve to strengthen your writing with interesting and useful details.

By now, you are probably feeling very comfortable writing in the style of a traditional academic essay. That’s great! It’s a good foundation on which to build more organic writing in future courses. As they say, you have to know the rules before you can break the rules. And now you do!