How to write an essay

Hi guys,
Here is a brief guide of how to write an essay.
An essay consists of 3 parts, the introduction, body and conclusion.
I will explain it using a question as an example.

Eg: With close reference to the play, discuss the significance of Richard's death.

First, identify the keywords in the question. For this question, the keywords are:
Close reference
Discuss
Significance
Death

"Close reference" requires you to provide specific examples and quotes from the play itself.
"Discuss" means that you have to have a 2-sided answer, providing both good and bad points about Richard's Death
"Significance" is how Richard's Death affects the story/characters/themes


Introduction
-Overview / understanding of [Richard]
-Who is [Richard]
-What is [Richard's] status
-How, where, when did [Richard] die
This is a brief introduction of the character mentioned in an essay question, which should take up about 6-8 lines roughly.

Body
The body should consist of about 3 points, each points having explanation, elaboration and examples.

For example, point 1 of this question:
-How did [Richard] die?
-Why did he suicide?
-What led to his death? Problems? Status issue? Expectations? Relationship? Independence? All these must be elaborated further, and of course with close reference to the play, including quotes in your answer.

Then you can proceed to point 2 and 3.

Conclusion
The conclusion would be just a summary of all your points. A link back to the question is required.

Quoting in an essay
There is a specific and recommended way of quoting in an essay. Examples are given to show to right ways of quoting,.

-Richard is "the eldest son of the eldest son", therefore putting him in a very important position in... (correct)
-The line: "eldest son of the eldest son" shows us that... (wrong)

-In society at that time, girls are expected to stay home and be the "devil" of... (correct)
-The word: "devil" tells us that in society at that time... (wrong)

If quotes happen to be on a different paragraph or different page but on the same topic, they can be joined together by a [/] or [...].
Eg: "Blah blah blah / blah blah blah"
or
"Blah blah blah... blah blah blah"
If there is a change in tense in the quote to suit your sentence structure, the change should be enclosed in a square bracket.
Eg: "He was a..."
"He [is] a..." (change from 'was' to 'is')

Hope this helps!
Cleon