4.

ESSAY ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

INTRODUCTION AND HOOK:

The purpose of the introduction is to give your reader a clear idea of what your essay will cover. It
should provide some background information on the specific problem or issue you are addressing
and should clearly outline your answer. A good introduction paragraph is an essential part of any
academic essay. It sets up your argument and tells the reader what to expect.
The introduction paragraph should have a hook in it. A Hook of the essay should set the tone of
the whole essay.
The hook should lead the reader into your essay, giving a sense of the topic you’re writing about
and why it’s interesting. Avoid long, dense sentences—start with something clear, concise, and
catchy that will spark your reader’s curiosity.
Examples: Writing a good hook
Take a look at these examples of weak hooks and learn how to improve them.
 Braille was an extremely important invention. (X)
 The invention of Braille was a major turning point in the history of disability.
The first sentence is a dry fact; the second sentence is more interesting, making a bold claim
about exactly why the topic is important.
 The internet is defined as “a global computer network providing a variety of information and
communication facilities.” (X)
 The spread of the internet has had a world-changing effect, not least on the world of
education.
Avoid using a dictionary definition as your hook, especially if it’s an obvious term that everyone
knows. The improved example here is still broad, but it gives us a much clearer sense of what the
essay will be about.
 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is a famous book from the nineteenth century. (X)
 Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is often read as a crude cautionary tale about the dangers of
scientific advancement.
Instead of just stating a fact that the reader already knows, the improved hook here tells us about
the mainstream interpretation of the book, implying that this essay will offer a different
interpretation.

BODY PARAGRPHS:
Body paragraphs are units of text that offer supporting evidence to back up the thesis statement of
an essay, report, or story. A good body paragraph contains three main sections: a topic sentence
(or key sentence), relevant supporting sentences, and a closing (or transition) sentence.
A typical academic body paragraph is between five and eight sentences, and it should follow this
format:
Basic Parts of a Body Paragraph
 Topic sentence.
 Evidence cycle (Assertion, evidence, commentary)
 Concluding statement.
 Transition.

1. Topic Sentence: It is important to have a strong, declarative topic sentence. This will help to
organize your thoughts and guide your reader easily through your argument. It allows the
reader a preview so they’re prepared for the evidence to come.
Evidence Cycle
Next comes the support, which is the main bulk of the paragraph. This three-prong system
repeats again and again until the paragraph is complete. In this paragraph, we have identified
two different evidence cycles for you.
Assertation
The assertion introduces or provides context for the evidence you are about to give your
reader. From the paragraph above there are two assertions.
First assertion: “Also, we are given a taste of the pain Emit is going through as he thinks he is
about to die.”
Second assertion: “We are soon exposed to the whole reason why Emit is racing around
asking for forgiveness.”
In these two examples from the above paragraph, we get a preview about this more specific
point.
Evidence
The evidence is the actual example or detail you will use, usually from a source of some kind.
The first piece of evidence from the sample paragraph above is:
“Emit confesses his love for Rena in a way where one can tell he screwed up somewhere in
the past. Then, we see him telling off his professor saying his teaching sucks and his lectures
are stupid.”
The second piece of evidence is:
“He has taken some pills that his buddy claims will kill him within minutes.”
These two examples are specific moments from the short film that the author is using to prove
the point posed in the topic sentence, and which builds on the argument made in the thesis
statement.
Commentary
The commentary follows through on the evidence presented with the author’s own ideas or
analysis. The first example of commentary from the above sample paragraph is:
“With this, one can tell that Emit has a lot of anger built up inside of him.”
The second example of commentary from the above sample paragraph is:
 “This is a prank but quite a life changing one. Without the use of subtitles, we would not be
exposed to the plot correctly. We would just see this guy running around frantically. This may
have caused people to see this story as comedic rather than serious like it is supposed to be.”
These examples of commentary provide further information to tie the details more fully and
exactly to the argument of the paragraph and, thus, the paper as a whole.
Concluding Statement
Before moving on to the next paragraph, a body paragraph should end with some sort of
concluding statement that provides closure to the main idea of that paragraph. The concluding
statement from the above sample paragraph is:
“Through the use of subtitles as an alternative dialogue, we are able to understand what is
truly important to Emit when he is put at the face of death and how he got in this position in the
first place.”
With this sentence, the reader fully understands the point of the body paragraph and is ready
to learn more and become more convinced by the information in the next body paragraph.
Transition Placement
Transitions can be placed either at the end of a body paragraph to preview the next or at the
beginning of the next body paragraph to connect it to the previous. If you’re unsure which you
should use, check with your instructor to see if they have any particular preference.
The transition also does not have to be a separate sentence—sometimes the topic sentence
and concluding statements can also do the work of the transition sentence.

6 Steps for Writing an Effective Body Paragraph

Step 1: Write a Topic Sentence. Consider the first sentence in a body paragraph a mini-thesis
statement for that paragraph. ...
Step 2: Unpack the Topic Sentence. ...
Step 3: Give Evidence. ...
Step 4: Analyze the Evidence. ...
Step 5: Prove Your Objective. ...
Step 6: Provide a Transition.

CONCLUSION:
The conclusion is a very important part of your essay. Although it is sometimes treated as a
roundup of all of the bits that didn’t fit into the paper earlier, it deserves better treatment than
that! It's the last thing the reader will see, so it tends to stick in the reader's memory. It's also a
great place to remind the reader exactly why your topic is important. A conclusion is more than
just "the last paragraph"—it's a working part of the paper. This is the place to push your reader
to think about the consequences of your topic for the wider world or for the reader's own life!
A good conclusion should do a few things:
 Restate your thesis
 Synthesize or summarize your major points
 Make the context of your argument clear
Restating Your Thesis
You've already spent time and energy crafting a solid thesis statement for your introduction,
and if you've done your job right, your whole paper focuses on that thesis statement. That's
why it's so important to address the thesis in your conclusion! Many writers choose to begin the
conclusion by restating the thesis, but you can put your thesis into the conclusion anywhere—
the first sentence of the paragraph, the last sentence, or in between. Here are a few tips for
rephrasing your thesis:
 Remind the reader that you've proven this thesis over the course of your paper. For
example, if you're arguing that your readers should get their pets from animal shelters
rather than pet stores, you might say, "If you were considering that puppy in the pet-shop
window, remember that your purchase will support 'puppy mills' instead of rescuing a needy
dog, and consider selecting your new friend at your local animal shelter." This example
gives the reader not only the thesis of the paper, but a reminder of the most powerful point
in the argument!
 Revise the thesis statement so that it reflects the relationship you've developed with the
reader during the paper. For example, if you've written a paper that targets parents of
young children, you can find a way to phrase your thesis to capitalize on that—maybe by
beginning your thesis statement with, "As a parent of a young child…"
 Don’t repeat your thesis word for word—make sure that your new statement is an
independent, fresh sentence!
Summary or Synthesis
This section of the conclusion might come before the thesis statement or after it. Your
conclusion should remind the reader of what your paper actually says! The best conclusion will
include a synthesis, not just a summary—instead of a mere list of your major points, the best
conclusion will draw those points together and relate them to one another so that your reader
can apply the information given in the essay. Here are a couple of ways to do that:
 Give a list of the major arguments for your thesis (usually, these are the topic sentences of
the parts of your essay).
 Explain how these parts are connected. For example, in the animal-shelter essay, you
might point out that adopting a shelter dog helps more animals because your adoption fee
supports the shelter, which makes your choice more socially responsible.
Context
One of the most important functions of the conclusion is to provide context for your argument.
Your reader may finish your essay without a problem and understand your argument without
understanding why that argument is important. Your introduction might point out the reason
your topic matters, but your conclusion should also tackle these questions. Here are some
strategies for making your reader see why the topic is important:
 Tell the reader what you want him or her to do. Is your essay a call to action? If so, remind
the reader of what he/she should do. If not, remember that asking the reader to think a
certain way is an action in itself. (In the above examples, the essay asks the reader to
adopt a shelter dog—a specific action.)
 Explain why this topic is timely or important. For example, the animal-shelter essay might
end with a statistic about the number of pets in shelters waiting for adoption.
 Remind the readers of why the topic matters to them personally. For example, it doesn’t
matter much if you believe in the mission of animal shelters, if you're not planning to get a
dog; however, once you're looking for a dog, it is much more important. The conclusion of
this essay might say, "Since you’re in the market for a dog, you have a major decision to
make where to get one." This will remind the reader that the argument is personally
important!

ENSURING COHESION & COHERENEC:

Paragraphs are often read independently, but paragraph transitions may help readers see
how they connect, make references, and build upon one another to make a bigger
message. Coherent essays are identified by relevance to the central topic. They
communicate a meaningful message to a specific audience and maintain pertinence to the
 main focus. In a coherent essay, the sentences and ideas flow smoothly and, as a result,
the reader can follow the ideas developed without any issues.
To achieve coherence in an essay, writers use lexical and grammatical cohesive devices.
Examples of these cohesive devices are repetition, synonymy, antonymy, meronymy (a term that
denotes part of something but is used to refer to the whole of it, e.g. faces when used to mean
people in I see several familiar faces present), substitutions, and anaphoric or cataphoric relations
between sentences.
Cohesion is commonly defined as the grammatical and lexical connections that tie a text together,
contributing to its meaning (i.e. coherence.)
While coherence is related to the macro-level features of a text, cohesion is concerned with its
micro-level – the words, the phrases, and the sentences and how they are connected to form a
whole.

Parts of the
Content
essay
Introduces the topic.
Introduction Provides background information
Presents the thesis statement of the essay
The body of the essay is made up of several paragraphs depending on the
complexity of your argument and the points you want to discuss.
Each paragraph discusses one main point.
Body
Each paragraph includes a topic sentence, supporting details, and a
concluding sentence.
All paragraphs must relate to the thesis.
The conclusion summarizes the main points of the essay.
It must not include new ideas.
Conclusion It draws a final decision or judgment about the issues you have been
discussing.
May connect the essay to larger topics or areas of further study.

Coherent essays are identified by relevance to the thesis statement. The ideas and sentences of
coherent essays flow smoothly. One can follow the ideas discussed without any problems. Lexical
and grammatical cohesive devices are used to achieve coherence. However, these devices are
not sufficient. To maintain relevance to the main focus of the text, there is a need for a whole
process of collecting ideas, outlining, reviewing, and editing to create a coherent whole.