Rites in the form of essays (5)
I believe the answer is:
tries
'essays' is the definition.
(essay can mean to try or attempt something)
'rites in the form' is the wordplay.
'rites' can be anagrammed to 'TRIES'.
But, I am not sure how the anagram is indicated.
'of' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for tries that I've seen before include "Attempts" , "Scoring moves in rugby" .)