You may hear the terms structure and organization used interchangeably when it comes to essay writing.  Both are important aspects, but they do have an important distinction.

Structure refers to the function a particular piece of your essay serves in the essay.  Elements like introductions, body paragraphs, and conclusions are structural components of an essay. It’s similar to the structure of a house: certain spaces are designated as a bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and so forth.

As we know, houses appear in many different shapes and sizes, even though they contain all of these similar features.  You might say that the structure of a house can be organized in many different ways.  In writing, organization is where your unique approach as an author comes into play.  In what particular order are body paragraphs placed? Why?

In short, structure is the what, and organization is the why.

As a writer, you’ll identify what pieces are necessary for your essay to include.  Then you’ll determine what order those pieces will appear in, and how they connect together.

Reference

This chapter includes information taken from:

Lumen Learning. (n.d.). Organizing. In Basic reading and writing. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-basicreadingwriting/chapter/outcome-organizing/. CC BY 4.0.

Media Attributions

Image of modern white house by noona11 is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Image of brown house by Selbe Lynn is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Image of small green house by Dale Cruse is licensed under CC BY 4.0

Image of stucco house with palms by David Sawyer is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0