Informative Essay Guide: Topics, Outline, Examples, Tips
When writing an informative essay, you must understand what source of argumentation it stems from. Additionally, you must follow an informative essay format, which has its own peculiarities. You may be familiar with expository essays where the author must investigate and evaluate various evidence. Moreover, the author must provide the argumentation for the stated idea as well.
What Is an Informative Essay?
An informative essay is an academic paper written by high school and college students. This kind of informative writing aims to inform the target audience about a particular object, person, situation, or phenomenon. The purpose is to respond to the main question by explaining the topic in detail. When writing in an informational essay format, imagine the readers do not know anything about the topic in front of them. If possible, use professional terms to explain the topic, but remember to provide meaningful explanations. The definition of informative writing is as follows: The piece must be informative and based on facts. It is not supposed to sway the reader into changing their beliefs or give an opinion.
Informative writing:
- based on cold facts, statistics, and scientific evidence;
- not supposed to give the author’s opinion.
Example: When writing an informative essay about marketing for the audience of students who have no idea of startups and business, try to express the main idea with the help of special words. Great words to use are brainstorming, A/B testing, target audience, customer research, copywriting, etc. Give professional definitions. In some cases, use specific examples to explain the meaning of words.
Informative Essay Outline
If you don’t know how to write an informative essay outline, don’t worry. It looks much like most of the academic papers. There are three parts in it: an introduction, the body paragraphs, and a conclusion. Also, do not forget to include a list of references at the end of the work. The number of body paragraphs may vary based on your topic, so choose it carefully. In the conclusion of your informational essay, remind the reader of the main idea. Instead of providing a thesis statement in the shape of an argument, you can stress the importance of the issue under consideration. The purpose of an outline for an informative essay is to determine what you are going to talk about and organize your thoughts.
Example: Imagine that the topic of the informative essay is “The effectiveness of exercising on coping with stress.”
Your informative essay outline should look like this:
- Origin of the problem. This is the main idea of the essay, focusing on the ways exercising helps dealing with stress. Feel free to go into the history of the problem, and in this case, it is especially important to have a thorough introduction. This will let the reader know what is going on and help understand the information you will provide later in the body of the essay.
- Process. Write about the ways researchers detect what type of exercises help and why. Describe how exactly does it work.
- Benefits. Describe the advantages of regular exercise using examples from real life.
Informative Essay Introduction
In this part of the essay, take the time to introduce the problem you are going to discuss. The introduction should not be very long; however, in some cases, there are exceptions, especially if the problem you are discussing is complex and not well known to the general public. The main objective of this section is to provide a background of the topic, write your thesis, and let the essay smoothly transition into the next part, the body.
Informative Essay Body
Use the body part to inform the target audience about the peculiarities of the topic. You have got three paragraphs that you can use to share some interesting facts with your audience. Go into the little known details, or reflect on common knowledge in a new light to intrigue readers. The three integral elements of each body paragraph you must absolutely have are the claim, supporting evidence, and explanation. The principle here is simple, state something and explain why it is so by backing it up with evidence. Be as detailed in your explanation as you can and remember to stay on point.
Informative Essay Thesis Statement
Decide on the clear message your essay will have. Address reasons why the specific problem is important and how to let your audience know about the issue’s significance. Professionals from different writing services agree that a good informative essay thesis should contain a clear message that you can later prove with evidence. Make it in such a way that you can later easily support it. An example of a good thesis is: “Smoking causes three health problems that lead to gradual health deterioration by the age of 40”. To support this thesis, you will have to list the three health disorders and provide information on how each one of them harms people’s health.
Informative Essay Conclusion
As a rule, in conclusion for informative essay, just like for a descriptive essay, you should summarize everything that was mentioned in the text. Sum up all information in the essay and give a short rundown of what you have talked about. This will help the reader to solidify what they have just read in their mind and link all the pieces of your essay together.
Make sure your conclusion is not far-fetched and does not come “out of nowhere”. Finish your essay by providing a summary of the main points listed in the body of your informative essay. Avoid adding any new information and questions; this may steer your essay off the topic and confuse the reader. Besides, you should have provided all the needed information in the body section of the essay. End your essay in a way that maintains the reader’s interest in the topic you discussed and encourages its further exploration.
Informative Essay Topics
You can find good informative essay examples online on various platforms. In turn, we want to offer you a list of informative essay ideas and topics you can choose from compiled by the writers from our paper writing service.
Social Issues Topics
Here are some topic ideas on social issues:
- The negative effects of gambling on one’s personal and social life.
- What are the main triggers of eating disorders in humans?
- The issue of censorship in modern society, arts, and media.
- The key causes resulting in water pollution.
- What effects did the global pandemic have on the world and economy?
- The importance of education in the 21st century.
- The problem of bullying in today’s schools.
- Is there a way to prevent and minimize child abuse?
- The effects of the environmental degradation.
- The main causes and effects of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Educational Topics
Find below ten great topic ideas for inspiration for writing your own informative essay on education:
- Higher education in the world’s top universities.
- The effects of excessive video game use on students’ academic performances.
- Sports as an integral part of an effective educational program.
- The role of books in academic research in the 21st century.
- The key skills that affect a student’s academic progress.
- How does standardized testing negatively affect a student’s overall performance?
- Homework during summer vacation.
- The role of leadership in the classroom.
- The standard grading system should be eliminated.
- Summer classes are not as productive as the autumn ones.
Historical Topics
Here are some engaging historical topics for an A-level informative essay:
- Discuss the concepts of ethics in terms of the Vietnam War.
- The history and roots of slavery in the United States of America.
- The key causes of the Civil War.
- What cultural impact did native Americans have on our society?
- Analysis of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
- How did the Declaration of Independence change the course of US history?
- The effects of the Civil Rights Movement.
- The key controversial points in the 21st-century US foreign policy.
- Analysis of the interwar period.
- The influence of industrialization on American social movements.
Business Topics
To craft a compelling informative essay on business, feel free to consider the following relevant topic ideas:
- The role of consumerism in modern business.
- Marketing and branding as the key triggers for sales.
- How did e-commerce influence business development in the 21st century?
- The effects of demonetization.
- What is the role of human resources in today’s business landscape?
- Data as the main asset for decision making in business.
- Is there such a thing as socio-economic inequality?
- Key methods used in economics today.
- The influence of COVID-19 on the economic crisis of 2020.
- The role of industrial corridors in economy and business.
Religion Topics
Here are a few great ideas for an essay on religion:
- What is religion and what role does it play in society?
- Common religion dogmas in the modern world.
- How do technology and religion coexist in the 21st century?
- The influence of religion and church on our personalities.
- History and roots of Christianity.
- New movements in religion that can be observed today.
- What is the role of religion in the political field?
- Is there still a place for any confrontation between science and religion?
- The role of religion in the workplace.
- How did religion and church affect the evolution of humanity?
Tips on Writing an Informative Essay
The most frequent mistake that students make is attempting to write right away, without the proper research and a lack of an informative essay structure plan. Such an attitude is especially unproductive when writing an informative essay since it needs a lot of effort put into the synthesis of information. Therefore, it is best to have a structured plan that you can follow. Having a blueprint of your essay speeds up the writing process. Make sure to follow the plan and deliver the information in the best possible way you can. The audience must learn something new by the end of the piece.
Here is a basic plan you can follow when writing your informative essay:
- Brainstorming
- Research
- Outline
- Introduction
- Body-paragraphs
- Conclusion
Brainstorming
First of all, you must understand that the topic you choose for your informative essay cannot be too vast or too specific. A good student will always write about an area they have yet to explore. Think of it as an exercise, you are expanding your pool of knowledge, and try to stick to something you care about. Visualize the route you will take with your paper; you may refer to the list of provided topics and see if anything tickles your curiosity.
Research
The most important part is the research. Familiarize yourself with several sources, and save them for later. You will need to refer to them, and perhaps even cite them if your educator wants you to do so. Archiving knowledge will improve the retention of that material and will help during the writing process. Do not limit yourself to only primary sources. Evaluate the secondary ones as well and make sure they are legible and relevant.
How to Write an Informative Essay?
Before you start working on your informative essay outline, remember that the most common way of writing an informative essay is a five-paragraph format. You start off with an introduction, follow with three body paragraphs, and finish with a conclusion. Your intro serves to present the main idea of your article. The three body paragraphs of your article will mainly expand on the thesis statement you have created in your intro. Your conclusion will sum everything up and present the significance of your topic.
How to Write an Informative Essay Introduction?
The introduction to your informative essay should be something that will grab your reader's attention. Include an essay hook, a thesis statement, and a transition sentence (usually the same sentence) to make sure everything moves smoothly.
Let’s take one of our topics as an example - showcasing art on a factual basis. The critical thing is to avoid sentiment. Suppose your theme is based on the context behind the album “Kid A” by Radiohead. To explain it, you would have to delve into the band’s prior history and experience and explain why Kid A turned out the way it did base on interviews and reviews.
An example of an attention grabber: The tunes on the radio head in a different direction nowadays.
An example like that is a bit ridiculous, but it is an extreme example of the job that an essay hook needs to perform. Hopefully, a play on words will make the reader grin in this case.
An example of a thesis statement:To what extent has Kid A’s deviation from the norm been influenced by the band’s prior experiences?
How to Write an Informative Essay Body?
The goal of the body paragraphs is to support the thesis statement with evidence or examples. Continuing with our example:
1st body paragraph - Kid A’s deviance in style
- Kid A’s deviance in style
- Exhausting touring schedule
2d body paragraph - Exhausting Touring Schedule after “OK Computer” album
- Heavy Themes in Artwork
- Themes in Music (and why)
3d body paragraph - Lyrical Meaning
- Use of sarcasm, irony
- Threatening messages delivered very softly
How to Write Informative Essay Conclusion?
The goal of the conclusion is, to sum up, everything that was stated in body paragraphs. Implement your thesis and provide significance. Explain why the topic you chose is valuable, giving it importance in the real world. This step can be very subjective, so that is entirely up to you.
Informative Essay Examples
Is traditional education better than remote learning?
Just a couple of years ago, could you think that you will have to deal with remote learning? In fact, the outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in some dramatic changes in the field of education. Although countries across the globe faced different infection rates, one of the primary anti-COVID measures integrated by global governments was a switch to the remote learning model of education. According to stats, over 1.2 billion children across 186 countries ended up being out of the classroom at the peak of the pandemic. This fact led to a significant rise in e-learning. As a result, billions of students and teachers across the world have experienced remote education. And, according to specialists, the new model of learning has demonstrated a significant improvement in learning outcomes, suggesting that the changes caused by COVID-19 might be here to stay. So, is traditional education still better than remote learning?
Unlike traditional education that implies face-to-face interaction between students and teachers, remote (or distance) learning is a different educational model that implies acquiring knowledge without going to school. At the heart of such learning lies technology. And, while the outbreak of COVID-19 has forced many children to experience this form of education, there are still doubts on whether it can replace traditional schooling.
On the one hand, remote learning saves time and energy for both students and teachers. This schooling method eliminates the necessity to rush from one class to another and enables students to study in a comfortable environment. Therefore, this model is associated with less anxiety and stress.
On the other hand, traditional education offers more motivation. It implies physical interaction of students with their peers, as well as teachers, which results in higher levels of engagement and motivation in the classroom. Whereas remote learning can’t offer that.
Another point for remote learning is flexibility. In this model of schooling, students typically can study at their own pace, without the necessity to stick to a strict schedule. This enables them to fit in time for other things rather than studying. But, while this will offer plenty of benefits for certain groups of students, such as those with health restrictions or part-time students, it can have an opposite effect for the rest. Namely, such flexibility can result in students falling behind the program.
Another advantage of traditional education over remote learning is the lack of technical challenges. Online education brings along a wide range of issues. And while this may not be a problem for most students, who are technology natives, it can imply multiple challenges for teachers and families. To confirm this, the stats indicate that at least one-third of teachers struggle with technology, and only 90% of families in the US have access to the Internet. That is, e-learning is not accessible for everyone.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that studies show that the overall efficiency of traditional and remote schooling is about the same. Thus, in terms of academic outcomes, both educational models can offer benefits. Nevertheless, remote learning does imply more challenges, especially tech-related. What is more, it doesn’t help students develop vital oral and social skills, as it rules out face-to-face interactions. And, since education is not only about gaining knowledge but also about developing social skills, there are quite a few reasons to say that traditional learning is more beneficial. Nevertheless, both methods have positive and negative aspects. Thus, we can conclude that each model can be right or wrong based on specific students’ situations and needs.
To Sum Up
Informative writing is assessed on the specific criteria that show the writer’s ability to implement them in their essay. The following is a foundation you need to base the piece on. Run through these questions to make sure that your essay is the best it can be: Does the thesis statement adequately unify all subtopics presented in the essay? Does the introduction engage the reader, and does it explain the forthcoming content? Are there enough details for the reader to understand the subject matter fully? Does the concluding paragraph effectively unify the essay? Does it make a point of the importance of the stated idea?
Informative essays are very tedious by definition. The amount of research that goes into them can seem a little too much to handle. If you feel like you have difficulties completing such a task yourself, we have a team of essay writers at your disposal to help you accomplish it. You can hire a writer to proofread your writing and help you make it perfect or pay for an essay on our website. You can also order a custom essay written from scratch or based on your outline for a very affordable price. Don’t hesitate to ask for essay help and improve your grades now!
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