An academic essay is a structured presentation of your ideas, based on the referenced
ideas and opinions of other people and your own analysis and thinking, which gives your
opinion (or argument) to others. The main ideas of an essay are to: 1. show your argument –
that is, what you think about a particular topic; 2. show others that you have read and
understood a lot of information and ideas about the topic, and; 3. present your ideas and
examples in a logical way that shows your own thoughts clearly so that others will agree with
your argument.