1. The
thesis sentence

2. What is a thesis sentence?
Most important sentence in an essay
The ruling idea that you will support
Plan for the writer
"Road Map" for the reader
Essentially, a contract between you and the reader - the writer promises to prove the thesis!

3. It is the writer's opinion. It will be limited in topic.
It must have an opinion word.
"The Red-Headed League" is a short story.
"The Red-Headed League" is a good short story.

4. fascinating characters
****Usually indicates the number of paragraphs by indicating specific components
"The Red-Headed League" is a good short story because of (____________________) and (_____________________).
the suspenseful plot
fascinating characters
Every Blank = An Essay Component = A Body Paragraph
Used by permission from the Oklahoma Writing Project by Sandra Effinger