The Essay Structure

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The Essay Structure

• Worth Weller, W131

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Paper Format

• Unless your prof says otherwise, follow standard
  MLA guidelines for the format of your paper. Use
  a very normal looking font, 12 pt., no bold, no
  ALL CAPS, indent your first line of each
  paragraph 1/2, and double space the entire
  paper. Do not use a cover sheet. Instead, in the
  top left hand corner do this
• Your name
• Professor Lastname
• Basketweaving 101
• XX Monthspelledout 200X

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Use a Header

• On the top right should be a header (which
  Microsoft Word will do automatically for you). It
  should be lastname space pagenumber. You can find
  an example at this website
• http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  mla.html

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Heres What An Essay Looks Like

• Title
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraph
• Topic sentence
• Supporting details
• Body paragraph
• Topic sentence
• Supporting details
• Conclusion

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Title

• This can be catchy, cute, creative or just to the
  point.
• A Day at Disney World
• Spaced Out in Space Mountain
• How to Wait in Line All Day and Not Lose Your
  Mind
• Captured by Pirates
• I Met My Maker on Toads Wild Ride
• The Most Expensive Junk Food in the World
• Postmodernism Meets Late Capitalism

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But notice

• The title indicates, at least in some fashion,
  what the essay is about.
• Sometimes, after youve done some freewriting,
  clustering, and general research and thinking
  about your topic, writing the title first helps
  you focus.
• You can always change the title later.

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Introduction

• Your first or introductory paragraph should both
  explain your topic and stimulate your audiences
  interest.
• Well have an entire lesson on this later, but
  your introductory paragraph (or paragraphs)
  somewhere contains a thesis statement that helps
  your reader focus on what exactly you are going
  to talk about in the upcoming body paragraphs.

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Visual Representation
1. Broad sentence that sets the stage
2., 3. narrower sentences that provide some
details or a greater degree of specificity
4. Very specific sentence that focuses on exactly
what you are going to say in the following essay
Thesis statement
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Body Paragraphs

• Body paragraphs support and explain the essays
  thesis.
• The more the merrier, for several reasons
• They are reader friendly
• They help make the essay look organized.
• And, of course, they help you meet your papers
  page-length requirement.

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Some Guidelines

• Each paragraph is a complete thought.
• As soon as you start to change thoughts, or go a
  new direction, start a new paragraph.
• Dont be afraid of having too many paragraphs.
• I like to see at least three indents on a page

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• Generally a paragraph starts with a topic
  sentence, that tells what the paragraph is about,
  
• and the other sentences provide details and
  support.

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• You can have as many or as few sentences to a
  paragraph as you want,
• and in fact it makes your paper more readable,
  creates a better rhythm, if you vary the
  paragraph length.

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The Golden Rule

• Dont let a paragraph wander keep it to one
  central thought.
• When you feel your mind changing gears, its time
  to change paragraphs!

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Conclusions

• A concluding paragraph is the final paragraph in
  your essay
• It presents a philosophical summary of the essay,
  linking directly back to the intro
• And (sorry) it does NOT start with In
  conclusion