How to Write a Change-Over-Time Essay

Change-over-time essays deal with global issues and how they either change or effect change on the environment. Timelines are important in change-over-time essays. The writer will typically synthesize a large portion of a timeline, using significant events to anchor the content in the essay. A change-over-time essay is not a research paper; it is a paper that supports a thesis with sound analysis rather than a rehash of an article in an encyclopedia.

Find a topic to address. Change-over-time essays follow the same basic rules as writing comparative essays. They deal with change that has occurred in an area such as technology, trade, culture, migrations or religious influence. Choose a period of time that best illustrates the change that has occurred.

Create a thesis statement. This should include the date range or time period that will be covered, the region or country affected by the change, and what the actual change was.

Support the thesis statement by the content of the essay. Do the research and use more than just obvious similarities and differences exhibited during the period of time chosen.

Use the acronym "SPRITE" when reviewing the essay to be sure all aspects of the thesis have been covered. "SPRITE" stands for "Social, Political, Religious, Intellectual, Technological, Economic."

Write the conclusion of the essay in much the same way as a conclusion for a comparison essay is written. Include the premise stated in the thesis and summarize what the content revealed about the statement.