Excerpt from my book Formulas for Composition ISBN 978-0757566370

1. © 2000-2011 Vicki Lague
ISBN-13: 978-0757566370

2. Essay = Introduction + Body + Conclusion
X= + +

3.  Introduce the topic
 Set the context
 Get the reader interested
 Lead up to the thesis statement
 State the thesis

4.  Lead-in
Why should someone
read the essay?
 Thesis
What point is being
made in the paper?

5.  Develop ideas that support the thesis
statement
 Provide concrete and specific details for
each supporting idea

6.  Minimum Length
At least one body
paragraph!
 Best Length
As many paragraphs
as it takes to explain
the thesis well!

7. Each body paragraph should include:
› A topic sentence
› Body sentences: facts, examples,
statistics, description
› As many body paragraphs as needed
› New paragraphs: change of time, change
of place, logical spot to break up too-
long paragraphs

8.  Add more supporting ideas
 Develop additional body paragraphs for
one idea
Note: When developing additional body
paragraphs for one idea, a topic
sentence is needed only for the first
paragraph of the group.

9.  All topic sentences support the thesis.
 All body sentences support the
paragraph’s topic sentence.

10.  Elements of Coherence:
› Transitional words and phrases
› Transitional sentences
› Synonyms
› Repeated important words
› Pronouns

11.  Purpose: bring essay to logical close
 Length: at least two sentences

12. THE END
It’s not really the end! There’s a lot more
information on basic essay structure in
Chapter 2 of Formulas for Composition.
.