A Helpful Quick-Reference for Essay Writing Essay-Writing Basics A Helpful Quick-Reference for Essay Writing

The Parts of an Essay Every essay, regardless of subject matter, should follow this basic pattern: Introduction / Introductory Paragraph Body Paragraphs Conclusion Works Cited (If your essay has any outside information / quotes) The following slides will go into each of these, in turn.

The Introduction Your introduction should do three basic things: Hook the reader: Get the reader’s attention / interest. Use an interesting quote from the material. Describe an interesting scene. Use an interesting fact or statistic. You might even ask a thought provoking question. Introduce the Topic (From Broad to Narrow): Start with the biggest, broadest part of what you’re talking about, then work your way to the specifics. Thesis Statement: This is your claim, your main point, your assertion. You aren’t asking a question, you are stating something as if it were true, as if you were certain. If you aren’t, pretend. Keep it to one or two sentences, and keep it at the END of the introduction. It is often good to use what’s called a “blue-printed thesis statement” – one that forecasts where the essay is going. Thesis Examples: Sandwiches are the most versatile type of food: they may be served hot or cold; they may contain sweet or savory items; they may be served for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even dessert. Maintaining a budget is a wise decision as it allows one to know how the bills are getting paid, reduces wasteful spending, and allows one to save money for the future. Claim A is true because of supporting points X, Y, and Z. Notice how each example makes it’s point, then lists how/why. Each item listed to support the main point will be the topics of the body paragraphs, in that order. If you find yourself writing the body paragraphs in a different order than that of your thesis, you can always switch the order of the paragraphs or, if you prefer, switch the order of the ideas in your thesis statement.

Body Paragraphs The body is the meat of the essay. Everything you say here is to show / prove / elaborate on the thesis statement in some way. Each body paragraph should focus on one idea and its supports / details. The layout of a simple body paragraph goes as follows: Topic Sentence: Write a sentence that shows what the paragraph will be about, but still connects to the thesis. Example: Sandwiches’ versatility, in part, comes from being able to serve them hot or cold. (Notice, this connects to the previous sample thesis on the versatility of sandwiches, but shows this paragraph will focus specifically on how they may be served hot or cold, NOT on sweet and savory or on the different meals of the day – those would be focused on in other body paragraphs). Provide an example / quote from the text (from the book, song, etc, that your essay is about). Make sure to cite your quotes and facts like so (Last name page number). Example: According to the text, “If you don’t maintain a budget, you’ll dread going to the mail box every day” (Lastnamicus 6). Discuss the example: Explain how your example shows the main idea of the paragraph. Example: As bills pile up, so do fear and anxiety. As Professor Lastnamicus suggests, this can lead to dreading simple activities as going to the mail box or even checking email. Repeat the last two steps: Use another example, quote, cite, and discuss. Keep doing this until you have a nice beefy paragraph. Follow these steps for each paragraph and your essay will have a solid body.

Conclusion The conclusion of any essay should do two basic things: Summarize: Sum up what you’ve said so far in a few sentences. Reflect: Give some parting thoughts on what you’ve said so far. This portion can be difficult / challenging for some. Try pretending that you’ve read your essay aloud to a friend – everything you’ve written so far. Then, imagine your friend asks you, “Okay, so what?” How would you answer your friend? What’s the significance of all this? What’s the point? As you form an answer to your friend, you can use that answer to help with this last part of the essay, as well.

Things to avoid. Avoid first and second person in most essays, unless your instructor tells you otherwise: Avoid I, me, we, us, our, ours, my, mine, you, your, yours, you’re. Avoid phrases like “In my paper I will show you that,” “You can see,” etc., etc. If you find yourself writing a statement like “In my paper, I will show you that Young Goodman Brown’s journey is an allegory in that his name, Brown, represents every man; his wife represents his faith; and the Old Man, the devil” just go and remove everything from “In” to “That.” What you have left is a decent thesis statement. Avoid mixing two supporting ideas in one body paragraph. Let’s say you’re writing an essay claiming “Beowulf is an epic hero because he’s strong, brave, and loyal.” Your body paragraphs, in order, would be about strength, bravery, and loyalty, respectively. You would NOT discuss strength, then bravery, then strength again, then loyalty AND strength. Don’t mix them around. Stick with one idea until you’re done, then move on to the next. Do NOT mount a new supporting idea in the conclusion. The conclusion is for summing up and reflecting on what you’ve already written. For example: In the Beowulf essay above, if your body paragraphs discussed strength, courage, and loyalty, you would not mount a whole new argument about Beowulf being generous in the conclusion. That’s a new supporting idea – great for the body of the essay, but not the conclusion.

If you’re having trouble. Outline. Outlining is a good way to plan what you’re going to say before you say it. It reduces massive amounts of text and ideas to just a few points on a page. It can be formal (I. II. III. A. B. C. etc), but it doesn’t have to be – as long as it works for you. If you find yourself lost in what you’re saying, you can always return to the outline to get your bearings.