Please see the link below for another answer.

An essay must have the following main features:

1. An introduction.  In an introduction, you give the reader an idea of what your essay will be about.  You should have a thesis statement that does this.  If your essay is to be persuasive, you should tell the reader what point you will be trying to make.

2. A body.  In this part of the essay, you give the evidence to support the point you are trying to make.  Or, if you are just writing to convey information rather than to persuade, you cover the major information that needs to be presented to the reader.

3. A conclusion.  This part of your essay should wrap up your argument.  You can restate the gist of your argument, or you can suggest further topics for research, or you can issue a call for action -- it depends on what sort of essay you're writing.

The first link below has information on how to write various kinds of essays.  Scroll down toward the bottom to find these.

The second link is to the essay writing group here on enotes.  There's lots of information there about, no surprise, writing essays.

Please discuss the salient features of an essay.

The word essay originates from the French verb essayer, to try.  The French writer, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, first used the word in his brief, personal meditations in prose, Essais.

So, an essay is an attempt on the part of the writer to communicate ideas, and communicate these ideas effectively enough that the reader is convinced of their values. 

• A salient feature of the essay is a singleness of idea (thesis) that has
• adequate support in order to be convincing (supporting details in the body). 
• Added to these two essential components is the confirmation of the idea at the conclusion of the essay,
• with a thought-provoking observation that piques further the interest of the reader ("clincher") and extends the concepts to relevant ideas, works, etc. that this reader will ponder further.  With the reader thus affected by the essay, the writer's attempt is, then, successful.

Reference to the "how-to" sites below may be helpful.