ESSAY WRITING

Important points to
remember when
writing a good
essay

An essay consists of paragraphs

The essays you write
in this course will
generally consist of
five paragraphs

The first paragraph is called an

introduction

It must be interesting,
explain the background
and
contain a thesis statement

The most important sentence in the

introduction is the thesis statement
It provides the purpose
of your essay and
outlines an essay map

The middle paragraphs are referred to

as the body
A body paragraph
is a group of sentences
about one topic

The most important sentence in a

body paragraph is the topic sentence

This sentence tells the reader what

the paragraph is about.
The topic sentence should
state the focus and topic of the
paragraph

You always need to support your topic

sentences with supporting sentences
These sentences support
the topic sentence by
providing reasons, details and
examples

Supporting sentences in body

paragraphs are usually followed by a
concluding sentence
The concluding sentence
summarises the ideas
in that paragraph

In addition to a clear topic sentence

and adequate support, a good body
paragraph must also have a single
focus and logical order
A paragraph has a single focus
if all supporting details
and the concluding sentence
relate to the topic sentence

The last paragraph is called the

conclusion

The conclusion
summarises the essay
and
restates the thesis statement