By now you know how much I love the student essay. But how to go about teaching or writing one? I’m so glad you asked! Traditionally, the first essay a student learns how to write is the five paragraph essay. From there, he or she can learn to write a longer essay by expanding where needed, perhaps adding section headings, and maybe even breaking one of the following cardinal rules here and there. . . though only for very good reason!

But for the classic Five Paragraph structure, a good essay follows these structural rules.

INTRODUCTION

• The introduction starts with an exciting HOOK.
• The introduction provides BACKGROUND information (for example, the title and author, historical context, information about the story or themes, a brief discussion of the topic at hand…) that will be needed to understand the rest of the essay. Assume the reader of your essay has read the book before, but maybe a long time ago.
• The last sentence in the introduction (traditionally) is the thesis statement. The thesis has a strong OPINION.  That means someone could argue with it!

THREE BODY PARAGRAPHS

• Every paragraph is its own idea with no overlap, and each is of course at least five sentences (though often more).
• Each paragraph starts with a topic sentence that INTRODUCES that idea.
• Each has a QUOTE that proves the thesis. See below for formatting help.
• The author explains HOW the evidence proves the thesis.
• The evidence is also used as a vehicle for ANALYSIS. In other words, using the evidence to get a bit philosophical about the topic.

CONCLUSION

• The conclusion sums up the main ideas of the essay in a NEW way.
• The conclusion end with a SO WHAT.  In other words, why should I care?  What does this tell us about the point of the novel?  About the author’s opinions?  About the character’s world?  About our world?  Do you agree or disagree?  You get the picture.

QUOTATION BASICS

• A quote is a lonely creature. Ideally, our words introduce the quote and explain the quote in the SAME SENTENCE to keep it company. 
• The quote is CITED correctly with a page number in parenthesis at the end of the sentence.

Though it is true that “Little Miss Muffet sat on a tuffet,” that tuffet did not provide her any comfort when the spider arrived ( Goose 1).

Need more in-text citation help? Have an odd source you don’t know how to reference? OWL-Purdue has got you covered in much more detail.

One last piece of advice. DO NOT USE “I” OR “YOU” when writing an essay unless it is a personal essay. Rather, state ideas as fact without any pesky phrases like “I think” or “I believe” to better achieve a clean, confident voice. In other words . . .

The spider acts as a formidable antagonist, frightening Miss Muffet from both her meal and resting place.

. . . sounds (somewhat) better than . . .

I think the spider seems like a formidable antagonist, as he frightens Miss Muffet from both her meal and resting place.

It is a good basic practice and easy enough to implement.

Hopefully this was a quick and dirty introduction to the form. If you would like more detailed explanations or support on any of the above, please make use of the following resources. Godspeed and enjoy!

For more help on Thesis Statements, see here.

For more help on Body Paragraphs and Evidence, see here.

For help incorporating literary criticism, see here.

For my favorite Essay Rubric, see here.

Finally a handout to support writing an Outline.