Essay Formula Package

Thesis Paragraph:
Thesis statement: A good thesis statement tells your reader in an interesting way what the
topic of your essay is, and also what your argument or stance on that topic is. The key is to
do this eloquently and not simply state it.
It is commonly believed that the rehabilitation process offered by the Government of
Ontario will cure criminals of their innate evilness.
Stance (optional): If you choose to use the first line or so to simply state your topic, you
may have a stance sentence. This means that in this sentence you can agree or disagree
with the argument/topic you have described above. The point here is to make sure that
your reader knows where you stand in the argument you are going to discuss.
This assumption is not based on any statistics, rather it is a common misconception that
society has of our justice system.
Filler Sentence: This is where you would provide your reader with a little background
knowledge about your topic, or any key texts you will be using in your essay. For
example, you could provide here the name of texts, authors, or contentious theories that
you will be examining in the body of your essay. Really you are just going to provide your
reader with some background information.
Statistics Canada has an extensive collection of data that addresses this exact issue, and
which provides figures that directly contradict this societal perception.
Line of Approach (LOA): In your LOA you are going to tell your reader what arguments
you are going to use to approach or prove your argument. You will usually have three
arguments and you will then end up assigning one argument to each subsequent body
paragraph.
By examining cases of repeat offenders, inmate and prosecutor testimonials it will
become clear that
Conclusion sentence: In this sentence you will signal the end of your thesis paragraph by
telling the reader what you hope to prove at the end of the essay.
the common belief that Canadas rehabilitation is in need of rehabilitation.

Body Paragraph Structure:

Topic sentence: This is where you introduce your topic for this body paragraph in a
general way. Save your specific arguments or opinions for later on in the body paragraph.

 Although the common perception of Canadas rehabilitation appears to confirm its

effectiveness, Statistics Canadas 2006-2007 survey of repeat offender cases seems
to suggest otherwise.
Introduction to Fact 1: You want to set your reader up to be able to understand your
quote. In this sentence(s), you are going to explain to your reader what the context behind
the quote is. Do not summarize the quote here, they are going to read it, so you dont need
to summarize it.
In the August of 2006, Arthur Jameson, a convict of Kingston Penitentiary in Kinston,
Ontario found himself in handcuffs after being released the previous year on criminal
charges.
State Quote: I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I dunnoI dunno about our
system being rehabilatory, I guess its more of a lifestyle than anything else (Statistics
Canada, 2006-2007)
Explanation of Fact 1: Here you will explain the relevance of this quote to the topic for
the paragraph as well as to your overall argument for the essay.
The above example is a good illustration of
Introduction to Fact 2 State Quote Explanation of Fact 2 (Simply repeat steps
again)
Conclusion/Leading Sentence: After you have listed your second fact, you need to
conclude and lead your reader seamlessly into your next body paragraph where you will
repeat all of these steps again. You must remember to conclude that you have proven your
argument in this essay:
For these reasons I believe that
And you must remember to lead your reader to your next topic:
as well as testimonials from inmates which further prove that
Repeat these steps two more times for Body Paragraph 2 and 3.

Conclusion Paragraph:
Cut and Paste your introduction/thesis paragraph. Reword and rephrase it, keeping its
logical order. Make sure that your claims are passive and not active because you are
assuming you have proven your argument.
Examination of these facts illustrates that Canadas rehabilitation system really is in
need of a rehabilitation of its own.

Essay Skeleton Sheet:

Thesis:
Thesis statement ( )
Stance ( )
Filler ( )
LOA ( )
Conclusion ( )
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.

Body Paragraph 1:
Topic Sentence:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Fact 1:

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

Conclusion/Leading Sentence to next paragraph:

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Body Paragraph 2:
Topic Sentence:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Conclusion/Leading Sentence to next paragraph:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.

Body Paragraph 3:

Topic Sentence:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.
Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 1:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Intro to Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________.
Explanation of Fact 2:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Conclusion/Leading Sentence to next paragraph:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________.
Conclusion Paragraph:
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________.