Paragraph Structure: A Short Guide

Signposting in an introduction

The signposts in your introductory paragraphs should indicate:

• What the overall aim of your essay is ('This essay intends to...')
• What ideas or factors will be discussed and in what order ('Firstly... secondly... finally...').

You may also wish to:

• Justify why you have chosen to focus on certain aspects of a topic ('For this reason... will be the main focus of the essay.')
• Quantify your aims or the content of your essay ('This essay will discuss three approaches to the issue of...')
   

Signposting throughout an essay

Throughout an essay you will probably use two types of signposting in your paragraphs: small and large scale.

1. Large scale signposting tells the reader specifics about what is to come or what has gone before, for example:

'Having discussed the arguments in favour of the Third Way, it is also necessary to consider its limitations'. 

2. Small scale signposts are individual words or short phrases which help to signal direction, such as:

• Consequently
• As a result
• Alternatively
• However
• Additionally

Signposting in a conclusion

This is where you want to reiterate your argument succinctly but emphatically, and ensure that you communicate clearly what it is that you have put forward. Most obviously, we might make use of signposting phrases like:

• In conclusion
• Therefore
• To summarise
• In short
• Overall

Take the main points of your essay, and use signposting to demonstrate the conclusions that you are drawing as a result of this.