ESSAY

3 basic types of essay papers:

● Analytical - An analytical essay paper breaks down an idea or issue into its its key
components. It evaluates the issue or idea by presenting analysis of the breakdown
and/or components to the the reader.
● Expository - Also known as explanatory essays, expositories provide explanations of
something.
● Argumentative - These type of essays, also known as persuasive essays, make a
specific claim about a topic and then provide evidence and arguments to support the
claim. The claim set forth in argumentative (persuasive) essays may be an opinion, an
evaluation, an interpretation, cause-effect statement or a policy proposal. The purpose of
argumentative essays is to convince or persuade the reader that a claim is valid.

Organize Your Ideas Using a Diagram or Outline

Some students get scared to start writing. They want to make sure they have all their thoughts
organized in their head before they put anything down on paper. Creating a diagram or outline
allows you to put pen to paper and start organizing your ideas. Don't worry or agonize over
organization at this point, just create a moderately organized format for your information.

Diagram- the following are useful steps for developing a diagram to organize ideas for
your essay.
● Get started by drawing a circle in the middle of a paper just big enough to write in.
● Inside your circle, write your essay topic.
● Now draw three or four lines out from your circle.
● At the end of each of lines, draw another circle just slightly smaller than the circle in the
middle of the page.
● In each smaller circle, write a main idea about your topic, or point you want to make. If
this is persuasive (argumentative) essay, then write down your arguments. If the object
of the essay is to explain a process (expository), then write down a step in each circle. If
your essay is intended to be informative or explain (analytical), write the major
categories into which information can be divided.
● Now draw three more lines out from each circle containing a main idea.
● At the end of each of these lines, draw another circle.
● Finally, in each of these circles write down facts or information that help support the
main idea.

Outline - the following are useful steps for developing an outline to organize ideas for your
essay.
● Take a page of paper and write your topic at the top.
● Now, down the left side of the page, under the topic, write Roman numerals I, II, and III,
sequentially.
● Next to each Roman numeral, write the main points, or ideas, about your essay topic. If
this is persuasive essay, write your arguments. If this an essay to inform, write the major
 categories into which information will be divided. If the purpose of your essay is to
explain a process, write down each step of the process.
● Next, under each Roman numeral, write A, B, and C down the left hand side of the page.
● Finally, next to each letter, under each Roman numeral, write the information and/or
facts that support the main point or idea.

Develop a Thesis Statement

A thesis statement states or outlines what you intend to prove in your essay. A good thesis
statement should be clear, concise, specific, and takes a position. A thesis statement (1) tells
the reader what the essay is about and (2) what points you'll be making. A thesis statement has
two key components. The first component is the topic, and the second is the point(s) of the
essay.

● The following is an example of an expository (explanatory) thesis statement:

The life of a child raised in Pena Blanca is characterized by little playing, a lot of hard work and
extreme poverty.
● An example of an analytical thesis statement:
An analysis of the loan application process for citizens of third world countries reveals one
major obstacle: applicants must already have money in order to qualify for a loan.

● An example of an argumentative (persuasive) thesis statement:

Instead of sending tax money overseas to buoy struggling governments and economies, U.S.
residents should be offered tax incentives for donating to companies that provide micro loans
directly to the citizens of third world countries.

Introduction
The introduction is the first paragraph of the essay. It introduces the reader to the idea that the
essay will address. It is also intended to capture the reader's attention and interest. The first
sentence of the introduction paragraph should be as captivating and interesting as possible. The
sentences that follow should clarify your opening statement. Conclude the introduction
paragraph with your thesis statement.

Body
The body of your essay is where you explain, describe or argue the topic you've chosen. Each
of the main ideas you included in your outline or diagram will become of the body paragraphs. If
you wrote down four main ideas in your outline or diagram, then you'll have four body
paragraphs.

Each paragraph will address one main idea that supports the thesis statement. The first
paragraph of the body should put forth your strongest argument to support your thesis. Start the
paragraph out by stating the supporting idea. Then follow up with additional sentences that
contain supporting information, facts, evidence or examples – as shown in your diagram or
outline. The concluding sentence should sum up what you've discussed in the paragraph.

The second body paragraph will follow the same format as the first body paragraph. This
paragraph should put forth your second strongest argument supporting your thesis statement.
Likewise, the third and fourth body paragraphs, like the first and second, will contain your third
and fourth strongest arguments supporting your thesis statement. Again, the last sentence of
both the third and fourth paragraphs should sum up what you've discussed in each paragraph
and indicate to the reader that the paragraph contains the final supporting argument.

Conclusion
The final paragraph of the essay provides the conclusion. This paragraph should restate your
thesis statement using slightly different wording than employed in your introduction. The
paragraph should summarize the arguments presented in the body of the essay. The last
sentence in the conclusion paragraph should communicate that your essay has come to and
end. Your concluding paragraph should communicate to the reader that you're confident that
you've proven the idea as set forth in your thesis statement.