What is Standard Essay Structure?

1. What is Standard Essay Structure? Brad Hutchinson

2. What is standard essay structure? Standard essay structure is a specific essay form that has a clear introduction, body and conclusion. Even though the structure can have more than five paragraphs, it is often called a five-paragraph essay. Each main piece of support needs its own body paragraph.

3. Types of Essays There are three main types of essays: • Narrative essays—essays that tell a story • Persuasive or argumentative essays—essays that attempt to convince the audience to believe, think or do something • Expository essays—essays that define, explain, or analyze.

4. Types of Essays Many essays use techniques or structures from two or all three of the main types of essays. The basic structure of all essays has three sections: the introduction, the body and the conclusion

5. Introduction The introduction serves two main functions: 1. To engage the reader—catch the reader’s interest 2. To introduce the main idea

6. Introduction There are six main ways to engage your audience: 1. Ask a question (the weakest of the methods) 2. Tell an anecdote 3. Provide a relevant quotation 4. Share some dialogue 5. Reveal a startling or unusual fact 6. Paint a vivid description (use sensory detail)

7. Introduction There are five main ways to introduce your main idea: 1. State the problem 2. Present the information you are going to compare/contrast 3. Give background for your story 4. State your thesis 5. Introduce the idea/object/process person/place that you are going to describe

8. Body In the body, the writer presents at least three paragraphs. Each paragraph has a main supporting idea that directly relates to the thesis, main idea or topic of the paper as presented in the introduction. For these main supporting ideas, the writer supplies additional details explanations and proof related to the supporting main ideas.

9. Body Goal—the body serves one or more of the following purposes: 1. Tell your story in a narrative essay 2. Compare and contrast your information in an expository essay 3. Describe your idea/object/process/person/ place in an expository essay 4. Prove your point or thesis in an argumentative essay 5. Explain your solution to a problem in an argumentative essay

10. Body Use a specific order or orders in the body of an essay: 1. Spatial order—order based on location—use for descriptions 2. Chronological order—order based on time—use for events in a narrative essay

11. Body 3. Logical order—order based on ways of thinking—use for cause/effect, problem/solution, main idea/support in argumentative and expository essays 4. Order of Importance—order based on most important information to least important/ least important to most important—use in argumentative and expository essays

12. Conclusion The goal of the conclusion is to signal to the audience that the piece is complete

13. Conclusion There are nine basic ways to write a conclusion: 1. Restate (put in new words) the main idea— show chain of main ideas 2. Answer a question from the body or introduction 3. Ask an additional question that extends your main idea 4. Make a call to action

14. Conclusion 5. Make a suggestion 6. Make a prediction 7. Explain the importance of the information in the piece 8. In a narrative, end with the last event 9. Extend the specific to the general and/or universal

15. However! Remember, this is not exhaustive. If you can figure out a way to organize or present your piece that grows out of the information itself, use that.