Basic Essay Structure If you think of an essay as a body,
Basic Essay Structure
If you think of an essay as a body, then the outline is the skeleton. Without a good skeleton, the body is going to have problems. Here’s the basic form for a good essay:
Introduction Paragraph
Introduce the Topic
Provide Context
Thesis Statement
Your Point
Your Reasons
Body Paragraph 1
Topic Sentence
Context
Evidence / Quote
Analysis – 50%
Transition
Body Paragraph 2
Topic Sentence
Context
Evidence / Quote
Analysis – 50%
Transition
Body Paragraph 3
Topic Sentence
Context
Evidence / Quote
Analysis – 50%
Transition
Concluding Paragraph
Brief Summary of Main Ideas (Your Reasons from the Intro)
Restate Thesis In Light of New Evidence Presented
Final Thought / Call to Action
Obviously when you’re writing longer essays, you’ll have more than three body paragraphs. Please note that the order in which those elements are arranged are very specific. It wouldn’t make any sense to begin a body paragraph with a transition, and the purpose of your analysis is to explain the quote / evidence you’re using to support your idea, so it wouldn’t make any sense for the analysis to come before the quote. Every body paragraph should have all of those elements in that order. The only exception is that you really don’t need a transition in your final body paragraph.
Also, you’ll notice that analysis has a 50% next to it. This is because approximately half of your body paragraph should be analysis. Try to shoot for a minimum of 3-4 sentences of analysis, and that should be good (you can always add more, I’ll never be upset about more analysis).
Correct essay structure is crucial to doing well in this class, and in any future classes where you have to write essays (which is most of them). For example:
If your body paragraphs end with a quote instead of a transition, then that means your grade will take a hit for not having transitions, but it also means your grade will take a hit for a lack of analysis. This is because your analysis should always come before your quote and not after. Sometimes it’s helpful to think of a body paragraph as a sandwich. I’ll illustrate, but let’s start with the five parts of a body paragraph:
Topic Statement
Context / Background
Evidence (Quote)
Analysis
Transition
Okay, with that in mind, try to think of the evidence as the meat. Here, take a look at the least appetizing burger on earth:
I made that myself with my weak Photoshop skills. Anyway, continuing with this sandwich metaphor, no one orders a burger without the meat. Even vegetarians wouldn’t order a burger without a veggie patty. It’s all about the patty in the middle. Which isn’t to say the bun isn’t important. You don’t want the bun to fall apart while you’re eating it right? So you have to make sure the top bun is establishing what you’re going to be talking about, and providing a little background information, and you have to make sure that the bottom bun explains how the evidence supports the topic statement (which you do with your analysis), and then transitions away to the next idea. But at the middle is the burger patty / evidence, which is supporting what you’re writing about. Every body paragraph should look like this. Every body paragraph should have all five of these elements.