ORGANIZING AN ESSAY: BASIC FORM 

Part One: Attention “getter.” Broad idea, context or attention getting device. Warm your reader up to your main point.
EXAMPLE: The animal kingdom is filled with many amazing species. There are creatures which fly, swim, run, crawl and slither. Some are vicious, dangerous or destructive, while others are friendly, helpful or useful. Part Two: Transition

EXAMPLE: It would be hard to select a favorite kind of animal.
Part Three: THESIS STATEMENT: Your main point (Or answer to the question at hand.)

EXAMPLE: Of all the animals in the world, my favorite animal is a dog.
Part Four: Your plan of development. One sentence which gives approximately three reasons supporting your thesis statement.

EXAMPLE: Dogs are loyal, trainable and fun.

Part One: Topic Sentence-states the main idea of the paragraph and is usually derived from the plan of development.
Example: Dogs are unusually loyal, standing by their master at every turn.

Part Two: An example with a detail. Evidence. A quotation or a statistic.
Example: Dr. Soso writes, “Dogs are the most loyal of all creatures.” When I was sick in bed, my dog Spot stayed right by my side the entire time.

Part Three: Wrap up. Either hook to the next paragraph or reveal how the paragraph supports your thesis statement.

Concluding Paragraph:

Summarize what you have told us, adding any new understanding that you hope your reader will achieve having read your essay. For this paragraph, start with your smaller points and build to a general conclusion. Attention “Leaver”