ESSAYSAn Overview

GENERAL ESSAY GUIDELINES

The following three slides will describe a general outline for most essays.

All guidelines for this, and other essays, are just that, guidelines. In reality, there are many, many different genres and ways to write an essay.

Some instructors may want you to write more towards or less towards a specific genre. Sometimes they may also ask that you follow specific “rules” for their essay.

INTRODUCTION

Attention grabber: Interesting facts, personal story, interesting question, define a key word, interesting quote, a

small piece of the ending or lesson

Transition sentence: Help the reader smoothly move from the attention grabber to the main idea/thesis

Main Idea and/or Thesis: The section explains what you will be writing about in your essay.

BODY PARAGRAPH(S)

Topic Sentence: Explains to the reader what this body paragraph will be about

Evidence: Specific details or facts that help prove your point

Response and Analysis: Explain to the reader how your evidence helps prove your point, why you selected that

evidence, or how it relates to the larger picture of your essay.

Repeat the Evidence and Response if you have more that go with this paragraph/topic

Summary Section: Sometimes it’s a good idea to reinforce what your paragraph was about by restating the main points

CONCLUSION

Summary: Summarize your main points or overall ideas

Examine from alternate perspectives: What lessons should be learned? What other viewpoints might be thought of?

Wrapping it up: There are lots of possibilities here. You might point back to something from the introduction. You might further examine lessons learned/ morals found. You might

offer solutions to problems or suggest further questions. What do you want the reader to be left with after they finish reading

your essay?