The Essay Structure
Worth Weller, W131
Paper Format
• Unless your prof says otherwise, follow standard MLA
guidelines for the format of your paper. Use a very
normal looking font, 12 pt., no bold, no ALL CAPS,
indent your first line of each paragraph 1/2”, and
double space the entire paper. Do not use a cover
sheet. Instead, in the top left hand corner do this:
Your name
Professor Lastname
Basketweaving 101
XX Monthspelledout 200X
Use a Header
• On the top right should be a header
(which Microsoft Word will do
automatically for you). It should be
lastname space pagenumber. You can
find an example at this website:
• http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/r
esearch/r_mla.html
Here’s What An Essay “Looks”
Like:
• Title
• Introduction
• Thesis statement
• Body paragraph
• Topic sentence
• Supporting details
• Body paragraph…
• Topic sentence
• Supporting details
• Conclusion
Title
• This can be catchy, cute, creative or
just to the point.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
A Day at Disney World
Spaced Out in Space Mountain
How to Wait in Line All Day and Not Lose Your Mind
Captured by Pirates
I Met My Maker on Toad’s Wild Ride
The Most Expensive Junk Food in the World
Postmodernism Meets Late Capitalism
But notice…
• The title indicates, at least in some fashion,
what the essay is about.
• Sometimes, after you’ve done some
freewriting, clustering, and general research
and thinking about your topic, writing the title
first helps you focus.
• You can always change the title later.
Introduction
• Your first or introductory paragraph should
both explain your topic and stimulate your
audience’s interest.
• We’ll have an entire lesson on this later, but
your introductory paragraph (or paragraphs)
somewhere contains a thesis statement that
helps your reader focus on what exactly you
are going to talk about in the upcoming body
paragraphs.
Visual Representation
1. Broad sentence that sets the stage
2., 3. narrower sentences that provide
some details or a greater degree
of specificity
4. Very specific sentence
that focuses on exactly
what you are going to say
in the following essay
Thesis
statement
Body Paragraphs
• Body paragraphs support and explain the
essay’s thesis.
• The more the merrier, for several reasons:
• They are reader friendly
• They help make the essay look organized.
• And, of course, they help you meet your
paper’s page-length requirement.
Some Guidelines
• Each paragraph is a complete thought.
• As soon as you start to change thoughts, or
go a new direction, start a new paragraph.
• Don’t be afraid of having “too many
paragraphs.”
• I like to see at least three indents on a page
• Generally a paragraph starts with a
topic sentence, that tells what the
paragraph is about,
• and the other sentences provide details
and support.
• You can have as many or as few sentences
to a paragraph as you want,
• and in fact it makes your paper more
readable, creates a better rhythm, if you vary
the paragraph length.
The Golden Rule:
• Don’t let a paragraph wander – keep it
to one central thought.
• When you feel your mind changing
gears, it’s time to change paragraphs!
Conclusions
• A concluding paragraph is the final
paragraph in your essay
• It presents a philosophical summary of
the essay, linking directly back to the
intro
• And (sorry) it does NOT start with “In
conclusion…”