The Essay Structure

Worth Weller, W131

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 nameProfessor LastnameBasketweaving 101XX Monthspelledout 200X

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

Here’s What An Essay “Looks” Like:

• Title• Introduction

• Thesis statement

• Body paragraph• Topic sentence• Supporting details

• Body paragraph…• Topic sentence• Supporting details

• Conclusion

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 Toad’s Wild Ride• The Most Expensive Junk Food in the World• Postmodernism Meets Late Capitalism

But notice…

• The title indicates, at least in some fashion, what the essay is about.

• Sometimes, after you’ve 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.

Introduction• Your first or introductory paragraph

should both explain your topic and stimulate your audience’s interest.

• We’ll 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.

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

Body Paragraphs

• Body paragraphs support and explain the essay’s 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

paper’s page-length requirement.

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.

• Don’t be afraid of having “too many paragraphs.”

• I like to see at least three indents on a page

• Generally a paragraph starts with a topic sentence, that tells what the paragraph is about,

• and the other sentences provide details and support.

• 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.

The Golden Rule:

• Don’t let a paragraph wander – keep it to one central thought.

• When you feel your mind changing gears, it’s time to change paragraphs!

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…”