English/Essays
- What is an essay?
- The Thesis
- The Paragraphs
How To Write An Essay
What is an Essay?
What is an essay? Everyone has a different stance on that. I think of an essay as a short research paper. Problem is, though, that you don't always have the luxury of research. An essay has three definate parts. In those three parts are other parts that will be discussed. The three important parts of the essay are the Introduction, the Body, and the Conclusion. The Introdution contains the Thesis, which is the argument of your essay. The introduction also states how you intend to prove your thesis. The Body contains at least three paragraphs that prove your thesis. The Conclusion sums up the entire essay and restates, concisely, the points you have covered.
The Thesis
There are two kinds of thesis. There is the opinion and the answer.
The Answer Thesis
When you take tests, there are the occasions when you are asked to answer that question in essay form. Whether writing a 5-Paragraph essay or and essay response, the form is the same. The thesis for an essay written in response to a question is the answer. For example, if you were ask this, "In essay form: Why was the Revolusionary War significant?" In response to that your thesis would be, "The Revolusionary War was significant because The United states won their freedom from England." You would then go on to explain this in the essay.
The Opinion Thesis
The other form of thesis is the Opinion. You would use this thesis when you are writing an essay after being givin a prompt. For example, if you were told to write an essay about your position on Chocolate, you would have an opinion one way or the other. Now, this is where a thesis gets tricky. When writing an essay, you NEVER mention yourself. You don't use I, me, we, in my opinion; nothing. You must always write essays as if it is stone cold fact. If you think that chocolate sucks you essays thesis will be, "Chocolate sucks." Then you explain why.
The Paragraphs
Intrduction
The Introduction is where you state your thesis. The Introduction, also, contains what I call the grabber sentence. The grabber sentence is the first sentence of your essay. it's what makes the reader want to KEEP reading after the first sentence. I have used three:
- The Anecdote: The anecdote is a story about yourself or someone you know, that pertains to the subject of the essay. Often if you tell the right anecdote, the reader will finish reading your essay.
- The Question: Sometimes if you ask the reader a question, he/she will want to know the answer and thus will finish reading.
- The Thesis: If all else fails, use the thesis. Nothing grabs a reader like an opinion. If your opinion is contrary to the readers, the reader will want to see how you proved your opinion. If the reader has the same opinion, they will want to see how YOU prove your opinion. It's a Win/Win tactic.
In your Introduction it is, also, prudent to state how you intend to prove your thesis. For example, "In order to prove that chocolate sucks...."
The Body
There should be at least three Body paragraphs in an Essay. The Body Paragraph should contain at least five sentences. The first sentence of a Body paragraph should be a substancial fact that supports your thesis. The rest of the paragraph should be your words explaining WHY this fact supports your thesis.
The Conclusion
The Conclusion paragraph does exactly that, it concludes the essay. The best way, I have found, to conclude an essay is to, breifly, state your thesis, summarize your facts, thus proving the thesis. For example, "Chocolate sucks because, (FACT),(FACT), and (FACT)."
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