WRITING PARAGRAPHS FOR SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
Each paragraph expresses one main thought or idea and discusses it.
Each paragraph should begin with a thesis statement that expresses the main idea.
At the end of your thesis—your main idea, ask yourself “Why is this statement the best answer to the questoin?” Your supporting
sentences will answer “why.”
Remember—write in complete sentences!
THESIS SENTENCE
This is your main point—you don’t need to offer any words of justification for it—just state it.
Examples:
 “The British government’s approach to colonialism differed in important ways from the approaches of both Spain and
France.”

“The American Revolution represented a radical change in modern world history.”

“The Civil War resulted in the devastation of the American South.”
SUPPORTING SENTENCE(S)
Each supporting sentence provides justification for your main point. There will probably be at least two or three in your paragraph. It
is with these sentences that you answer the question, “why?” It is also here that you will include specific factual details and evidence.
Examples (continued):
 “Both Spain and France emphasized tight control over their colonies while the British government allowed a high degree
of self-rule for their colonists. By the time all thirteen colonies had been established, each colony had its own colonial
legislature that exercised considerable powers.”

“The world in 1776 was largely dominated by nations and cultures ruled by some form of monarchy. When Americans
established a representative republic based on John Locke’s ideas of a social contract and when the ideas of equality
and natural rights were offered as a rationale for revolution, an new energy driving political change was unleashed in
both America and the rest of the world.

“Since almost all the fighting during the Civil War took place in the Southern states, most war destruction also occurred
there. The industrial might of the North insured the Union’s success at invading the South with large, well-equipped
armies that adopted a policy of total war. Sherman’s orders to his men to destroy everything standing as his army
moved through Georgia and then South Carolina illustrated the sweeping devastation this policy determined.”
CONCLUDING SENTENCE
The concluding sentence will not offer anything new. It provides the opportunity to sum up, very briefly, your main point and
support.
Examples (continued):
 “Due to Britain’s lax rule over her colonies, her colonists practiced self-rule for decades and then won independence
long before the Spanish and French colonies earned their freedom from colonial rule .”


“The ideas about government established by the American Revolution initiated radical changes as they spread from
America to Europe and then to other parts of the world as increasingly people demanded freedom from authoritarian
rulers.”
“At the end of the Civil War, Southerners--white and black--were left with a land whose economy and physical
resources lay destroyed.”
SAMPLE PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE FOR SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS
STRUCTURE
REMEMBER TO:
State Your Main Idea
Write in complete sentences.
Explanation
Check your spelling.
Evidence/Proof
Use the third person.
Insight
Write legibly and neatly but large enough to be read easily.
GETTING STARTED
Each paragraph expresses one main idea or point (the answer) and discusses it.
Each paragraph should begin with a statement that expresses your main idea and directly answers the question being asked.
After writing the main idea, ask “why?” Your explanation will answer the question “why.”
After writing your explanation, ask “how do I know?” Your evidence/proof will answer “how do I know.”
After writing the evidence/proof, ask “so what?” Your insight will provide an answer to “so what.”
ANSWER TO THE QUESTION: EXPLAIN WHY JAMES K. POLK IS CONSIDERED BY AMERICAN HISTORIANS TO BE ONE OF THE
COUNTRY’S MOST EFFECTIVE PRESIDENTS.
State your answer—your main idea—you don’t need to offer any words of justification for it—just state it directly.
Example:
James K. Polk is considered to be one of the country’s most effective presidents because, quite simply, he followed through on all his
campaign promises.
EXPLANATION(S)
Each explanation provides justification for your answer. It is with these sentences that you begin to answer the question, “why?” by
providing one or more reasons for your answer.
Example (continued):
He ran on an expansionist platform, pledging, all within one presidential term, to increase American territory in the West and to
resolve differences over the border of the Oregon Territory. By the end of his presidential term as he retired, he had fully
accomplished these promises and established the continental borders of the United States.
EVIDENCE/PROOF
For each explanation, you must offer evidence or proof in order to be convincing. It is with these sentences that you answer the
question, “how do you know?” by providing factual details that provide proof for your explanation.
Example (continued):
Not planning to fight a war with Great Britain, Polk still waged an aggressive foreign policy in dealing with a dispute with that
country over the border of the Oregon Territory. While not achieving a line as far north as some Americans wanted, he did negotiate
a treaty that permanently settled the border between the U.S. and Canada at the 49th parallel. Especially interested in acquiring
California, his negotiations with Mexico to purchase this area failed, but eventually war between the two countries led to Mexico’s
being forced in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo to cede all the territories in the American southwest and California to the U.S.
and to recognize the Rio Grande River as the legitimate border between herself and Texas.
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INSIGHT
This is your opportunity to tell the reader what he/she should learn from what you have written. Your insight will answer the
question, “so what?”
Example (continued):
In just four years, Polk’s policies shaped the final borders of the U.S. into a continental nation between two great oceans and insured
the eventual settlement by millions of Americans in the West and the nation’s continued economic growth as the new territories were
developed. The unintended consequence of Polk’s effectiveness was the power struggle that was re-ignited between the free and
slave-holding states over these new lands in the middle of the 19 th century.