The first essay I format I teach my students is the simple argument. If they can get this format down in middle school, they will soar through high school and even college writing assignments because it is so foundational.
The essay structure itself consists of three parts, which support a single thesis statement through deductive writing, meaning it begins with the thesis statement and then moves on to support it.
PART ONE – THE INTRODUCTION AND THESIS STATEMENT
The opening paragraph of the essay introduces the topic to be discussed and presents the thesis statement. I instruct students to limit themselves to approximately 3-5 sentences. The brevity of the opening paragraph is one of its strengths and should not be compromised by extraneous information.
This paragraph consists of three parts. The first is the opening sentence itself. This should typically consist of a simple statement of fact, especially for students who are just learning to write an essay for the first time. More “provocative” openings like questions or startling facts are a lot harder to pull off, and I recommend new writers avoid them.
The second part of the opening paragraph offers transitional background information and justification for why the topic is relevant.
Well-done transitional sentences pave the way for the final part of the opening, which is the one-sentence thesis itself, or the position the essay takes. I always remind students that the thesis should be something debatable much like an opinion. In other words, it is not simply a fact.
PART TWO – THE BODY
The body provides three pieces of evidence to support the thesis statement. I teach my students to use only one paragraph for the body. It, too, is divided into three parts.
The first part is the topic sentence, which introduces the evidence. The second part of the body paragraph presents three pieces of evidence and so is the longest. Though there is no set number of sentences for students to follow, I tell them that good evidence needs to be clear enough for an outside reader to get the picture. The third part of the body paragraph is simply a concluding sentence or two that ties the evidence together.
As students mature in their writing, they will likely expand the body of their essay from one to three paragraphs. Each piece of evidence would then stand alone as a full, well-developed paragraph.
PART THREE – THE CONCLUSION
The concluding paragraph is often the hardest for students to write. Its purpose is to drive home the thesis statement by casting its relevance more broadly than what was initially presented in the introduction.
Beginning writers often erroneously think of a conclusion as a restatement of what has already been said. Though this might work on a basic level, it represents only a superficial understanding of the key purpose of the conclusion and tends to be boring.
I find it helpful to refer to the conclusion as the “so what” part of the essay. We often think of it in terms of the broad lessons we learned in class. I tell the students that the conclusion is their chance to explain why what they have to say matters to the world of ideas.
In a sense, it “closes” the argument yet “opens” a new, related idea at the same time.
The conclusion should be divided into three parts, inversely mirroring the introduction. It, too, should be relatively short but powerful.
The first part of the conclusion recalls the thesis but presents it in a new way. I refer to this as a “thesis with a twist.” The second part provides transitional information on the connection between the thesis and the world more generally. The final part is broader still, typically consisting of only one or two sentences, and should fully open the door to a new idea about the thesis.
A “SIMPLE” MISNOMER
For new writers, there is nothing “simple” about this essay format. It frequently takes many attempts to write a good one.
Some classical educators require students to continually rewrite an essay until it is “perfect,” but I do not. I think it is far better to give a fresh opportunity to work with a new thesis. With practice, students learn how to logically, persuasively, and even beautifully express their argument.
Once they do, they are ready to learn the classical argument, which I discuss in the next post.
Image courtesy of The National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.