Last Name 1
Name
Instructor
Class
Date
Centered Essay Title (use something from last paragraph)
Introduction. Tell the subject of your paper in the Introduction, and you should have
established your thesis by the end of the first paragraph. The thesis might even be the first line of
your paper as well.
 Tell a story (use narration)
 Establish yourself as someone knowledgeable about the subject
 Provide helpful background information (but not too much back-story)
 Explain why your topic is important
Example: I think Pop Music is less about the music and more about popular culture.
Body paragraphs. Provide at least THREE supporting paragraphs that all speak to your thesis,
giving further evidence that your thesis idea is right. There are 2 parts to each paragraph:
 Part 1 of paragraph: expresses the paragraphs main idea or the point the paragraph will
develop to help support or explain the thesis. This is called the topic sentence.
 Part 2 of paragraph: Includes all the points you make to support, explain, or clarify the
topic sentence. These are supporting details. Thoroughly explain yourself.
Examples:
 Body paragraph #1: Talk about how America’s Top 40 songs don’t really stay with us
like classics. They do, however, reflect what’s happening in our culture right now.
 Body paragraph #2: Use examples of real-life singers and performers to show how
they’re all about fashion, hairstyles and Hollywood.
 Body paragraph #3: Suggest that really Pop Singers reflect our culture by setting the
trends for fashion, lifestyle and values or our lack of values.
Conclusion. Finish with a conclusion that flows directly from your last body paragraph and
reinforces (though doesn’t restate) the thesis in your introduction.
 Draw a conclusion from body paragraphs (avoid writing “In conclusion…”)
 Present the final, most important point
 Offer a solution/resolution
 Look into future
 Leave reader with final impression
 Bring the essay to a satisfying close
 Leave the reader with a positive final impression
Example: Pop Music is not really the soundtrack of real life, but what we think we want life to
be.
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BEFORE SUBMISSION, BE SURE TO:
 Change to double space throughout the entire document.
 Perform a spelling/grammar check to look for fragments, comma splices and run-on
sentences.
 Verify that there is only one space after each period.
 Check to ensure each new paragraph is indented using the “tab” key (5 spaces)