How do I structure my essays?

You could either structure them chronologically for example when discussing a piece of poetry or a short story you could take the beginning, middle and end of the text and analyse these sections in depth, focussing on the formal literary aspects of the text, trying not to simply re tell the story. On the other hand you could pick three major themes from said text and take these themes as headers for your three main paragraphs. With either method your introduction should outline briefly what you are going to write to give a general idea of your answer to the question given. Your conclusion, on the other hand, should sum up your essay, whilst leaving the examiner with a lasting thought, perhaps some context to the text?/ a quote from the author that supports your argument?