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Essay organization Introduction Paragraphs [ usually 3 ] Conclusion When you write an essay, you must know about its structure, and that is: Introduction Paragraphs [ usually 3 ] Conclusion

Introduction The introduction has a very important role when it comes to grabing the reader’s attention, so it must be written in a way that will make a very good first impression on the reader. Also, it gives the general idea of what the essay is going to be about.

The introduction consists mainly of three parts: The Hook General Comments Thesis Statement

The “Hook” It’s the first sentence of the essay, and its purpose is to catch the reader’s attention or interest. “Television is not reflecting the world, but the world is reflecting television” (Brady, 1992, p. 50).

General Comments Their purpose is to give interesting background information about the topic. "Television is the widespread medium that brings violence to our youngsters and, as a matter of fact, it is not hard to imagine how many ways TV violence affects children. But it is difficult to determine the level of responsibility television has for their aggressive behavior. Some researchers say that the relationship is direct, while others maintain that children copy it form their home environment. However, most parents who are really concerned about the increase of violence in their children are the ones who do not have violent behavior in their homes. They ask themselves, “Where is the child learning this, if we are not giving him or her the example?”

Thesis Statement It’s the last sentence of the introduction. It’s the most important part of the introduction, for it specifies the topic of the essay. “From recent studies we know that violent television programs do affect children’s behavior.”

Paragraph Development What exactly is a paragraph? A paragraph is a group of sentences that supports the thesis statement. In one paragraph we can find one topic sentence, which is the controler of the rest of the paragraph. What do we need in a paragraph? TOPIC SENTENCE: The topic sentence is related to the thesis statement and is the skeleton of your paragraph. COHESION: All sentences of the paragraph must be arranged in a logical manner. WELL-DEVELOPMENT: Every idea discussed in the paragraph should be explained in a way that it stays clear to the reader that the idea supports the topic sentence.

Overall main idea of an article An essay usually has from three to four paragraphs, all of them with the same structure. Overall main idea of an article Paragraph 1 MAIN IDEA Paragraph 2 MAIN IDEA Paragraph 3 MAIN IDEA Details Facts Examples Paragraph 4 MAIN IDEA Details Facts Examples Details Facts Examples Details Facts Examples

EXAMPLE: [ Television causes children to change their creative spirit for an imitative desire that may include violent behavior. ] - TOPIC SENTENCE [ They learn to dress, act, and even think like their TV idols. For example, as a child, I used to act, talk, and even run as the “Bionic Man”. I always tried to copy and learn from him as much as I could. In this same way, a child may choose a violent character and think of this character as himself, and then want to learn and copy his or her violent thoughts and ideas. In addition, the programs themselves promote imitative play by selling right to make program toys. Some of these toys are violent characters. Together, the child with the specially designed toy will try to imitate the TV characters as best as possible. In addition, we hear children saying, “Let’s play war”. Is that a real game? They just have the smooth idea television gives them about war and they want to imitate what they have seen. ] - DETAILS, FACTS, EXAMPLES

What are TRANSITIONS? Transitions are words or expressions that indicate for the reader different ideas of logical relationship. EXAMPLES: Exception/Contrast (but, however...), Emphasis (even, in fact...), Conclusion/Summary (finally, in conclusion...)‏ [ Along with imitative play, ] - TRANSITION EXPRESSION violent programs can teach children to use bad language […]

Conclusion The conclusion is the close of your essay. It should be the best part f your paper, because it is what a reader remembers best. To write a good conclusion you must keep in mind that the most important purpose of the last paragraph is to return to the main idea presented in the introduction.

Your conclusion should: return to the issues you have raised; summarize your thoughts; make the reader conscious about the importance of your ideas; give to the reader a new point of view of the subject you wrote about, so that he or she can have an own opinion about it.

There are some strategies you can use to write a good conclusion, which are: Echoing the introduction: it brings the reader full- circle. For example, if you begin by describing a scenario, you can end with the same scenario. Challenging the reader: if you write a challenging sentence, you are helping the readers to redirect the information in the paper, so that they can apply it to their own lives.

Looking to the future: it can emphasize the importance of your paper Looking to the future: it can emphasize the importance of your paper. It may help the readers apply the new information to their lives or see things more globally. Posing questions: it may help your readers gain a new perspective on the topic, which they may not have held before reading your conclusion. It may also bring your main ideas together to create a new meaning. 15

The introduction consists of three parts Ideas of the thesis statement Comments (summary, evaluation, opinion)‏ Final statement

EXAMPLE: [ “Within one generation, the world as a place to raise children has changed dramatically ] – IDEAS OF THE THESIS STATEMENT: first sentence of the conclusion [ One wonders how yesterday’s parents would have dealt with today’s problems. Could the Anderson have kept Bud away from MTV? Could the Nelsons have shielded little Ricky from sexually explicit material? Could the Cleavers have protected Beaver from drugs and alcohol? ] - COMMENTS [Parents must be aware of all these distractions and dangers, yet be willing to give their children the freedom they need to become responsible adults. It is not an easy task.” ] FINAL STATEMENT: the closing idea of the paper. 17