1. Chapter 14: Structural Revision
ENG 113: Composition I

2. The Five-Paragraph Essay
Five-Paragraph Essay = Training Wheels
Teaches important lessons = form, structure
An essay should have an introduction, body, and conclusion
The purpose should be listed at the end of the introduction
The body should link to the thesis, which should break into three subtopics
Not every topic is suitable for a five-paragraph essay
Time to move on!

3. Essay Structure? Form Follows Function
Structure depends on the essay’s purpose
Purpose includes:
The context you’re writing in
The topic you’re writing about
Your approach to that topic
The audience you’re writing for
The structure will be determined by the purpose!

4. Structure Your Draft
Find the most effective way to support your thesis
Reshape, or re-form, your essay in response to the desired function of the essay
Every piece of expository or argumentative writing requires a specific structure
It must succeed logically, ethically, and emotionally

5. Structure Your Draft
“Tell them what you’re going to tell them, tell them, and then tell them what you told them”
Academic writing needs:
A beginning = introduction
A middle = body
An ending = conclusion

6. Structure Your Draft Inductive Organization
Begins with a question or topic to be explored
Presents information from which a conclusion is to be drawn
Evaluates that information
Formulates a conclusion
Answers a question posed at the beginning by providing facts that lead up to the thesis, which appears at the end of the essay

7. Structure Your Essay Deductive Organization
Begins with a statement to be proven
Provides support for this statement
Evaluates the support
Concludes by demonstrating that the thesis has been proven valid
A deductive essay uses the thesis as both a point of departure and a destination
The reader is led away from the thesis and then returns to it at the end

8. Inductive vs. Deductive Structure
Inductive Essay Structure
Deductive Essay Structure
The Introduction….
…presents the question to be answered by the thesis
…presents the thesis
The Body…..
…presents and analyzes the evidence
…presents and develops support for the thesis
The Conclusion…….
…synthesizes the evidence and answers the question by presenting the thesis
…reasserts the validity of the thesis

9. Inductive vs. Deductive Structure
Is your topic likely to be familiar to your reader?
Are you confident about your main point (thesis)?
Is your main point (thesis) relatively uncontroversial?
YES = deductive structure will serve well
NO = inductive structure might work best

10. Effective Body Paragraphs
Purpose of the Essay’s Body
To develop the content of the essay
To provide evidence in support of the essay’s ideas
To fulfill the promise of the essay’s introduction

11. Effective Body Paragraphs
What happens if the point you planned to make when you started writing isn’t the point you made by the end of the essay?
Revise your thesis statement or
Revise your support
The thesis is like a promise to the reader, and if at the end of the essay the thesis is not supported or the essay has veered off topic, the reader will be disappointed

12. Effective Body Paragraphs
Deductive = subsections of your thesis
Inductive = steps leading up to the thesis
The subsections or steps are organized around minor claims highlighting their function as components of the paper’s thesis
Revising the body means addressing individual paragraphs based on:
The purpose
The ordering
The internal organization

13. Effective Body Paragraphs
Purpose
Do any paragraphs need to be rethought?
Are they off task?
Do they begin with one idea but veer into another?
Fixes:
Change the point of the paragraph
Take the paragraph out
Make the argument in the paragraph stronger

14. Effective Body Paragraphs
Ordering
Begin with weakest point and end with strongest
Other ordering:
Chronological
Spatial
Climatic
Fix:
Reorder to best flow

15. Effective Body Paragraphs
Internal Organization
Structure:
Topic sentence
Body
Clincher or closing statement
Quality:
Unity
Development
Organization
Coherence

16. Effective Body Paragraphs
Does each paragraph:
Have a clear topic sentence?
Have a clear main point?
Achieve unity by sticking to the established topic?
Demonstrate sufficient development?
Provide sufficient analysis?
Follow a clear organizational pattern or mode of rhetoric?
Achieve coherence?
Have a clear clincher?
Appear in the best possible order for the essay’s purpose?

17. Specialty Paragraphs: The Introduction
The introduction should:
Engage the reader’s interest
Set the tone of the essay
Introduce the essay’s main point
V-Shaped Introductions
Opening: Broad, but not too broad
Body: Specific, engaging detail to narrow the scope of the opening
The essay’s main point
Opening
Body
Main
Point

18. Specialty Paragraphs: The Introduction
The Essay’s Main Point
Deductive = explicitly state the thesis statement in the introduction
Example: Thesis statements are important because they express the main idea of the essay.
Inductive = the introduction should end with the central question that your essay will seek to answer
Direct question: Why are thesis statements so important?
Indirect question: This leads to the question of why thesis statements are so important

19. Specialty Paragraphs: The Conclusion
The conclusion should:
Resolve the essay’s content without leaving loose ends
Make a truly re-vised statement about the essay’s main point
Invite the reader to think further
The conclusion does:
Sum up your argument
Provide a sense of resolution
Reconfirm the validity of the thesis

20. Specialty Paragraphs: The Conclusion
The conclusion should NOT:
Announce itself with “In conclusion…”
Bring up new information
Be a simple reiteration of a previously stated thesis
The conclusion is NOT:
Redundant
Repetitive
Boring

21. Revising for Structure
Does the essay clearly present either an inductive or deductive thesis placement?
Does the organization of the body support the inductive or deductive thesis structure?
Is each body paragraph fully developed with sufficient detail?
Does the introduction effectively fulfill all of its functions?
Does each body paragraph present useful evidence that fulfills the promise of the introduction?
Does the conclusion effectively fulfill all of its functions while avoiding common pitfalls?