The third level of a three-book series, Great Essays introduces students to the process of writing and teaches them to use logic for creating, organizing, and supporting their ideas. Students become familiar with process, development, and revision through relevant practice, while learning reading and writing skills and grammar and language usage. Twenty-five sample essays provide a range of rhetorical styles, examples of essay organization and cohesion, as well as a starting point for comprehension questions and discussion.

Each model essay includes brief pre- and post-reading questions that focus on features such as structure and rhetorical patterns. Sentence-level work helps students understand different lengths and types of construction and gives them practice combining shorter sentences into longer, cohesive ones. In addition, Language Focus sections help students learn to make accurate word choices and use writing devices such as transitional words and modals. At the end of every unit, students practice rhetorical modes with Original Writing assignments on a variety of topics.

• Writer's Notes present brief strategies that help students write effectively.
• Analyzing an Essay takes students through a series of questions that help them fully understand the different elements of an essay.
• Completing an Outline sections offer practice exercises to help develop organizational and supporting detail skills.
• Completing a Sample Essay asks students to finish an essay using their own ideas.
• Peer Editing Sheets use specific questions to guide students through their classmates' work and teach them how to constructively comment and offer suggestions for improvement.
• Web activity icons indicate additional exercises on the Internet that are directly related to information students are learning in the text and provide reinforcement of the concepts presented.