Since Pages is a Microsoft Word clone, it should have almost every feature you need to do a proper essay. And to be blunt, I hope you pull it off. Because it would show just how far micro-computers have come.
Perhaps try Evernote. You can sync all your notes/docs to your computer too so you can stop off right where you left off and move from device to device. Hmm.. this must be super last minute work. And props to you if you can pull it off
+ 1 on Pages. I use it it on my iPad and iPod. Syncs docs to both devices. Works great.
I have written reports, quality improvement reports along with reference pages without issue. Work fine when sent to a PC running Microsoft office. No problems with me!
Evernotes, Pages or Office^2. All easy to use, all of them have sharing capabilities and all. Just a matter of pricing. Personally I'd go for Pages and Office until the official MS Office comes to iOS next year