Essay Organization: Parts of an Essay.
Each Part
Parts of the Essay
Purpose of Each Part
Should Include:
Introductory Paragraph
Lead in sentence or
sentences
Thesis statement
Three or more
supporting
paragraphs
Topic sentences for
Body Paragraphs
1, 2,3, or more
each paragraph—
each paragraph
should focus on a
distinct point
Paragraphs provide
evidence to support
the thesis statement
Introduce your topic
Capture the reader's
interest
State your thesis—
the main point you
want to make about
your topic
Set the tone
Provide evidence to
support and/or to
explain your thesis
statement
Include examples,
facts, descriptions,
statistics, etc.—
whatever helps
support your thesis
Linking sentence
reiterating your
thesis.
Concluding
Paragraph
A reference to the
thesis statement but
not an exact
restatement.
A summary
statement, question,
suggestion, etc., to
wrap up the essay
Leave your reader
with a clear
impression of the
main idea of your
essay
A closer look at body paragraph development
-Each body paragraph must have a distinct, organized structure; a beginning, middle and
end. –A precise and relatively short beginning and end, and a big chunk in the middle.
e.g.
Topic Sentence (Beginning)
1
2
3
Explanation/Evidence/Explanation
(Middle)
Linking Sentence (End)
*Remember when we talked about making 2-3 points in each paragraph to support that
paragraph’s overall contention? Here’s an even closer look at how to go about that:
Topic Sentence (Beginning)
1
2
3
i -Indicate you are going to present one bit of evidence showing the
topic sentence is true.
ii -Introduce the first bit of evidence.
iii -Present the first bit of evidence.
iv –Explain the significance of the first bit of evidence.
i - Indicate you are going to present the second bit of evidence
showing the topic sentence is true.
ii –Introduce the second bit of evidence.
iii- Present the second bit of evidence.
iv- Explain the significance of the second bit of evidence.
i- Indicate you are going to present the third bit of evidence
showing the topic sentence is true.
ii – Indicate you are going to present the third bit of evidence.
iii- Present the third bit of evidence.
iv - Explain the significance of the first bit of evidence.
Linking Sentence (End)
**The most important thing to be mindful of is that you need to repeat this pattern in each
body paragraph.
Style and purpose
Expository
to inform or explain
Persuasive
to persuade or
influence
Forms
Audience
Language
Essay
Depends on context –
usually educated adult
readers.
Authoritative,
moderate; usually in
third person.
News story
Newspaper/magazine
readers
Detached tone for
objective account,
third-person
Research piece
Readers with a special
interest in the subject.
Formal, serious,
specialized vocabulary
Personal letter
One reader well known
to the writer.
Personal tone,
descriptive.
Depends on contextusually educated adult
readers
All newspaper readers
Authoritative,
moderate, third-person
Essay
Letter to the editor
All newspaper readers
Editorial
Speech
Opinion piece
Imaginative
to entertain;
stimulate thoughts
and feelings
Any of the above forms
when a fictional
situation and/or
persona is chosen
Short story
Play or film script
Depends on context –
usually listeners
affected by the issue
Readers with a special
interest in the issue
Various- depends on
context and form
selected
Various- can be for
children, young adult
or adult or general
mainstream audience
(e.g. Hollywood
cinema)
Varies; tone is often
personal, can use firstperson
Objective,
authoritative, formal;
often uses inclusive
language
Clear, simple sentences
and expressions to
engage the audience
Can use sarcasm,
humour; tone can be
moderate or highly
emotive
Various – depends on
context and form
selected
Written in prose;
describes characters
and situations to draw
in the reader
Written as dialogue;
some stage directions
(play) or description of
cinematography (film)
Expository writing
Expository writing explains or informs the reader about a particular topic.
Expository writing can include narration, description, reasoning and definitions. It can be
fictional or non-fictional.
Forms of expository writing
Types of expository writing include:





Essays; analytical, informative, reflective.
Newspaper and magazine reports, e.g. a news story
Research articles, e.g. a paper presenting research findings and published in a journal
Personal letters, e.g. to family or friends describing travels or explaining new
circumstances
Biographies and autobiographies
Presenting a viewpoint:
*If you are given a prompt, your main contention is your response to it.
Expository writing puts a point of view without pressuring the reader to agree, but rather
to consider.
Incorporating ideas from a set text
 Compare and contrast ideas: if a text’s point of view is the same as (or
different) from that of the prompt, explore similarities and/or differences in
the body paragraphs of an essay. –You can choose to compare/contrast two
different texts, historical events, characters etc.

Focus on one key idea relevant to the prompt: show in two or more
paragraphs how that idea is explored in the text as a whole. Explain how the
text treats the idea to support your discussion of the prompt.

Examine a key scene and/or characters: to show close knowledge of the text.
Write one or two paragraphs explaining how an idea from the context is
presented in this scene or by the characters.
Expository writing in imaginative responses:



A news report written from a location in the text
A personal letter written by one character to another
An editorial referring to circumstances in the text and commenting on a
central idea.
Let’s test drive this...
Prompt: The future is one where people are denied full humanity by the restrictions
imposed on their life.
You have several options in approaching this task. Remember that you are not restricted
to drawing on ideas solely from Gattaca. You may refer to other texts, history, facts etc to
discuss your point. The idea is that you refer to each text/historical reference in its own
paragraph. A kind of mix-and-match ordeal;
1. Comparing the ‘future worlds’ presented in 3 different texts to support your
contention.
e.g. Paragraph 1: Gattaca
Paragraph 2: The Book Thief
Paragraph 3: To Kill a Mockingbird.
2. Comparing three characters (all 3 from Gattaca, one from Gattaca/history/another
text etc)
3. Comparing 3 different historical examples.
e.g. P1: Nazi Germany
P2: Australia; British Settlement
P3: America: Civil Rights
Paragraph #1: **Consider: How is this true in the world of Gattaca? E.g. The world of
Gattaca is aiming to generate the perfect human race, a system which is flawed by that there
exist valids and invalids. Although the valids are the elites and supposedly perfect and
engineered to do whatever they please, they find themselves restricted just as the invalids
are also.
Invalids: Are restricted from fulfilling their dreams because society has labelled them as
inadequate.
Vincent is not genetically engineered. He is predicted or predestined to be restricted from
achieving anything. He dreams about going into space but is told that the closest he will
ever get to that spaceship is by cleaning the inside.
Valids: Morrow (Jude Law) embodies perfection. He represents the model citizen/being.
The problem with genetic engineering is that only the physical and intellectual qualities are
enhanced. The emotions are not enhanced. It is emotions that make us humans and
individuals.
**Determination is also a human trait. So when a person is engineered to succeed no matter
what, there’s no point in trying, dreaming, aiming. The engineered being is turned into a
machine. They do things because that’s how they are wired.
Invalids (Vincent) still have that drive, they still dream and make an effort. They have
personality. The determination makes them able to go further; Vincent: “My heart is 30,000
beats overdue.”
Valids are also restricted in their own way; they do not feel much, or cannot deal with
emotions. They are bland, personality wise. Eugene Morrow commits suicide when, even in
his perfection, he fails (comes second in the race)
Paragraph #2: How is the prompt true to the ‘future’ beheld by New Australians after
1901 Federation with the WAP and Assimilation Laws passed?
Reference to history: 1901- Federation. Australia comes together as one nation.
In its debut as a nation, the future was bright for Australia; it was quick to establish its
national identity which was restrictive in itself, stripping the population of its humanity in
various ways.
-The White Australia Policy restricted the future of the new Australian culture and
population by determining who could enter the country based on their race (genes!!? Hence
the parallel to Gattaca). **Dictation tests were set in foreign languages so that people would
not pass them and be granted access into the country.
Assimilation/Integration laws were passed which forced non-English speaking migrants
(Italians, Greeks, Polish etc) to be something that they are not.
Consider how many cultures were lost, how many languages, identities etc.
*Research the extent of the racism that took place in the mid-20th Century in Australia.
Paragraph #3: British Colonisation.
Britain was once an empire that extended its boundaries by colonising ‘unclaimed’ territory.
Upon finding Indigenous on the various lands they colonised, they took it upon themselves
to invite these “savages” into the future by ‘civilizing’ them.
Consider the treatment of the Aborigines and the Stolen Generation. How were they
restricted by the self acclaimed superior race? How were they stripped of their humanity?
Note: Refer to previous essay structure notes for assistance with formulating/structuring
your introduction and conclusion. 