Essay Writing Outline
I. Introduction
• Elements needed in introduction:
• Hook/Grabber Sentence
• General Background information on topic
• Thesis statement
Hook/Grabber
• need to grab the reader’s attention within the first 1-3 lines of your
essay.
• Types of Hooks/Grabbers:
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Anecdote
Rhetorical Questions
Fact
Statistic
Quote
Dialogue
Anecdote
• Up to 3 sentence short story that relates to the overall topic of your
paper.
• Example: Johnny was walking home from work when he noticed, in the
distance, a great blazing fire. As he sprinted towards they action, he began to
smell the burning of paper. He began to question what could they be burning
books for?
Rhetorical Questions
• 3 questions that you pose to the reader, but that no answer is
expected.
• Example: Have you ever wondered what it would be like to never have an
original thought again? Would that bring you happiness or fear? Would you
even miss the thoughts?
Fact/Statistic/Quote
• Use one of these when you know you have time to research the
information.
• Avoid using in timed writing pieces.
• Fact
• Example: Throughout the Holocaust, Adolf Hitler demanded the Nazis burn
books written by any Jewish author.
• Quote:
• said by someone that relates to topic (should not be from the prompt or any
type of support you plan to use in your body paragraphs)
Dialogue
• up to 3 changes in speaker that are about your essay topic.
• Example:
“Man, I wish Ms. Schiff would stop assigning us so much reading” Johnny
complained to Bobby as they were walking home from school.
“Yeah, but just think about what life would be like if we never read again,”
Bobby responding.
“That would be great!” Bobby exclaimed as he began to get lost in thought
about life without reading.
General Background about Topic
• 2-3 sentences of information you know about the topic.
• Information will act as a transition from your hook into your thesis
statement.
• Example: While book burning is a scary thought to some people, it is not a
new concept to the world. Throughout German during the Holocaust, Hitler
demanded that books that did not preach the German lifestyle be burned.
Book burning not only took place in Europe, but in America as well during the
McCarthy Era. In both Europe and America, book burning was used as a way
to censor groups of people, and maintain control over societies.
Thesis Statement
• ONE SENTENCE ONLY!
• Very last sentence of your Introduction
• Must include:
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Restatement of the prompt
Title(s) and author(s)
Claim
Reasons (number will depend on paragraph expectation)
• Example: Ray Bradbury, author of the novel Fahrenheit 451 would agree with Alfred
Whitney Griswold, author or Essays on Education that “books won’t stay banned”
because every society has “rebels” that will reject ideas they see as unfit as
demonstrated through the protagonist, Guy Montag.
Body Paragraphs
• Elements needed include:
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Topic Sentence
Detail 1
Commentary
Detail 2
Commentary
Concluding/Transitional Sentence
Topic Sentence
• Overall point of your paragraph
• Example: One reason that “books won’t stay banned” can be seen through
Guy Montag and his constant questioning of whether books will lead to
individual happiness.
Detail 1
• Direct Quote (proper cited), Paraphrase, specific Example
• Example: Montag demonstrates his desire to explore the knowledge
contained in books when he says, “there must be something in books, things
we can’t imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be
something there. You don’t stay for nothing” (Bradbury 48).
Commentary
• 2-4 sentences describing your quote and how it proves your topic
sentence.
• Example: It is clear to see that Montag does not fit in his dystopian society,
because he is jeopardizing himself and his wife all for the sake of exploring
what is in books. By understanding that the woman would rather burn herself
to death than give up her books, leads him to feel he needs to understand the
knowledge that comes along with the reading. This also proves Griswold’s
statement that “books won’t stay burned” because in every society there are
people that are able to see beyond what is expected and try to make a
change. Guy acts as a type of “rebel” collecting forbidden books all with the
hope of understanding their power, which would result in a potential change
in society.
Concluding Sentence
• Transition into your next paragraph while wrapping up your
paragraph.
• Example: It is through Montag’s noble efforts that one can clearly see that
within society, rules can never last for long.
Conclusion
• Elements needed include:
• Restatement of thesis
• Wrap up of ideas/connection to hook
• Call to action
Restatement of Thesis
• new words, same order as introduction
• After reading Part 1 of Bradbury’s novel, Fahrenheit 451 it is clear that
because of Montag’s rebellious attitude and refusal to conform to societies
book burning ways, that Bradbury would agree with Alfred Whitney Griswold
that “books won’t stay banned.”
Wrap up of Ideas/Hook
• Example:
“I can’t believe that Beatty and the gang actually showed up at Montag’s
house!” exclaimed Johnny as he was walking home from school the next day.
“I know, it really made me think, what if society turned on me? I would want to
be just like Montag, a rebel that is capable of having thoughts outside of
society” retorted Bobby.
“Yeah, it’s a good thing we don’t burn books today. I don’t think I could be
happy without my OWN thoughts.”
Call to Action
• encourage the reader of your paper to do something with the
information you have provided them with.
• Example: While society functions because we have a set of rules, ask yourself,
are these rules helping or hurting our society?
Color Coding your Essay:
• Red- Hook/ Wrap up
• Yellow- Background information
• Green- Thesis Statement/Restatement
• Blue- Topic Sentence
• Purple- Detail
• Pink- Commentary
• Orange- Concluding Sentence
• Gray- Call to Action