ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE OF AN INFORMATIONAL TEXT

What does structure mean? Structuring your informative essay is basically deciding on how you need to organize your paper based on the prompt you are being asked. Think of it as an outline.

Introduction paragraph (including thesis sentence) Compare paragraph Examples If your prompt asks you to “compare and contrast”, your outline may look like this: Introduction paragraph (including thesis sentence) Compare paragraph Contrast paragraph Conclusion

examples If your writing prompt asks you to “explain” something or “define” something or why a person does what he or she does, your structure may look like this: Introduction (including thesis) Body paragraph 1: Who the person/thing is Body paragraph 2: What/why the person did what he or she did Body paragraph 3: Any additional information the writing prompt asks Conclusion

Writing prompt Writing prompt: You have just read the article “The Civil War in American History”. How did the civil war change Americans views on freedom? Write an Informative Essay comparing and contrasting the North and South’s ideas on slavery.

bad examples Introduction Compare and contrast Conclusion If you organized your paper just like this, a few things could happen. 1. You could forget to include your thesis statement in your introduction paragraph 2. Your body paragraph may not include all the information you need to answer the prompt, OR you could include two much information in the paragraph and it could be confusing to readers. 3. You did not answer one part of the prompt: How did the civil war change Americans views on freedom?

Writing Prompt Writing prompt: You have just read the article “The Civil War in American History”. How did the civil war change Americans views on freedom? Write an Informative Essay comparing and contrasting the North and South’s ideas on slavery.

Good Examples Introduction: Thesis: The Civil War was a tragic time in American History that forever changed Americans views on freedom; the North saw the war as a chance to fight for freedom for all people while the South viewed slavery as a way to boost their economy. Compare paragraph: Contrast paragraph: How it changed American’s views on freedom Conclusion By Structuring your essay this way, you will not forget what you need to include in your essay, and while you read the passage, you will know what information needs to go where.

Writing Prompt You have just read the article “The Civil War in American History”. How did the civil war change Americans views on freedom? Write an Informative Essay explaining the reasons The North and South gave for fighting the Civil War.

Bad Example Introduction Body Paragraph 1 Body Paragraph 2 Conclusion If you just do your outline or structure like this, a few things could go wrong: 1. You do not have a clear idea what your paper is going to be about because you do not have a thesis 2. You do not know what your body paragraphs are going to be about, so while you read finding evidence may be difficult

Writing Prompt You have just read the article “The Civil War in American History”. How did the civil war change Americans views on freedom? Write an Informative Essay explaining the reasons The North and South gave for fighting the Civil War.

Body paragraph 1: The reasons the North and South fought Good examples Introduction- Thesis: The Civil War was fought between the North and the South, and it changed how Americans viewed freedom forever. Body paragraph 1: The reasons the North and South fought Body paragraph 2: How it changed Americans views on freedom Conclusion