Essay Writing Terms

Title- the name of your essay; should capture your audience ’ s interest Introduction- the first paragraph of an essay; includes grabber, focus statement, and thesis statement Grabber- the first sentence of an essay; should grab the reader ’ s attention; can be a question, exclamation, or powerful statement

Focus Statement- the topic or subject of your essay in complete sentence form; must be written in the form of a statement Thesis Statement- your opinion on the topic; must be written in the form of a statement Thesis Support a brief phrase that supports your thesis; used in the planning stages; eventually become topic sentences for body paragraphs

Body Paragraph- a paragraph of support for the thesis; must have topic sentence and details and/or examples Topic Sentence- thesis support in sentence form; the first sentence of a body paragraph; introduces the focus of the body paragraph Details- facts, statistics, sensory details, incidents, anecdotes, and examples that support the topic sentence of a body paragraph

Conclusion- the last paragraph of an essay; includes a modified focus, modified thesis and a challenge to the reader Modified Focus- a restated focus statement in the concluding paragraph; should remind readers of the original topic Modified Thesis- a restated thesis statement; should remind readers of your opinion on the topic

Challenge- a provocative question, quotation, vivid image, call for action, warning, or suggestion to the reader; leaves reader thinking about your essay Bridge- a transition word, phrase, or sentence connecting paragraphs; designed to help essay flow smoothly Audience- the reader(s) of your essay

Formality- determined by the audience, the level by which you choose your words for an essay Tone- the attitude of the essay; word choice and word arrangement determine the tone Purpose the reason you are writing your essay (to express yourself, to inform your readers, to entertain, to describe, to analyze, etc.)

Organization- the order in which your paragraphs and/or details are arranged Flow- the efficiency of an essay; good flow means that the essay is easy to read and paragraphs and ideas are well-connected