ESSAY DEVELOPMENT

Adapted from:
Harris B Leonhard, Discoveries in Academic Writing, Thomson Heinle
Publishers, 2002
Smalley,Ruetten and Kozyrev, Refining Composition Skills Rhetoric and
Grammar, Heinle & Heinle Publishers, 2002
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Learning Outcomes
By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

 identify the parts of an essay in academic writing

 manage and organize materials for academic writing
 write an effective introduction, body and concluding paragraph and
essay
 support opinions with factual details by using
quotations and statistics
 reinforce factual statements with additional factual details

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 Overview of Essay Development
 An essay has more than one paragraph and has three major parts:

 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion

 Introduction – Hook, Thesis Statement, MAPS

 Body – Topic Sentence, Types Of Order in Body Paragraphs
 Conclusion – Complete conclusion, effective conclusion

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 Introduction

 The introduction usually contains:

 background information or “hook”

 a thesis (which limits the topic and states a precise opinion)
 a list of subtopics or MAP* points for the body paragraph
* (MAP = Message, Audience and Purpose)

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 INTRODUCTION
Hook
question hook
asking questions will cause
the reader to think about
the topic, limit to one
question, too may will
confuse the reader
quotation hook
quoting an expert will give
the discussion credibility;
cite sources correctly
dramatic hook
describing a scene or telling
a story provides drama
funnel hook
stating general points as
background for your limited
subject presents a funnel
like progression from
general to specific
refutation hook
in this kind of hook,
summarize an opponents’
point of view or opinion. In
the thesis however, state
your point of view.
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 INTRODUCTION
Thesis Statement

 most important element of an essay

 contains the writer’s limited subject, opinion or attitude and
possibly a MAP

An Effective Thesis Statement:

1. is a complete, grammatical statement.

2. is not too specific or general.
3. is on one limited subject
4. contains the writers’ precise opinion

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 INTRODUCTION
A Complete Thesis Statement

 contains limited essay topic

 is arguable
 shows the method of the paper
 show the audience of the paper
 show the purpose of the paper
 contains the MAP points for the paper (optional)

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 INTRODUCTION
MAP – Message, Audience, Purpose
 is the list of main points which you will discuss in the essay.
 each MAP item will become a paragraph topic.

 Example:

 However, there are several problems, with forcing children to

comply. (thesis statement) Forcing children to comply can cause
a breakdown in communication between the children and the
parents, rebellion and failure in schools. (MAP)

 a breakdown in communication between the children and the

parents (one paragraph)
 Rebellion (one paragraph)
 failure in schools (one paragraph)

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 BODY

 The body paragraphs contain:

 topic sentences which follow the MAP points in the thesis

 transition introducing each sub-topic
 repetition of the essay topic and precise opinion from the thesis
 relevant and generous convincing supporting details and
coherence
 a closing remark showing the relevance of the support

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 BODY
TOPIC SENTENCES
 Complete topic sentences include the following:

1. A transition signal or phrase eg first, second, finally.

2. A restatement of the essay topic. Use synonyms, different word
order and different word forms
– Example: (Limited Essay Topic) – Discuss three reasons
you chose your major.
One reason I chose engineering is _____________.
Another reason for my choice of major is ________.
Finally, I decided on engineering because _______.
3. Include a MAP point
– Example: One reason I chose engineering is due to it
marketability.
4. Topic sentences recall the precise opinion from the thesis.
– Example: Culture shock has three main stages: excitement,
frustration and humor. (the writer explains the three stages,
not two or four)
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 BODY
TOPIC SENTENCES

5. Method of development should be clearly stated in the topic

sentences.

Method Terms
Cause Reason
Classification Category, Kind, Type
Compare Similarity
Effect Effect, Benefit, Influence
Difference Difference
Process Way, stage, step, phase

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 BODY
USE OF CONTENT WORDS TO
DEVELOP SENTENCES
6. Unless the essay topic is personal, use content words (not
pronouns) in the thesis statement, topic sentences, sub-topic
sentences and conclusion.
Example:

Thesis: Living In the Dorm Benefits Non-native speakers in Three

Ways

First, by living in the dorm non-native speakers (not they) can

make friends with native speakers (topic sentence)

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 BODY
SUPPORTING DETAILS

 Support topic sentences with appropriate supporting facts/opinions.

 Ideas and opinions are supported with facts, statistics, quotations

and similar kinds of information.

 These can be obtained from external sources such as books,

magazines, newspapers, websites, personal interviews, etc.

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 BODY
SUPPORTING DETAILS

 Facts are objective statements of truths.

 E.g. “At sea level, water boils at 100 degree celcius”.
 E.g. “Women live longer than men.”
 E.g. “Lung cancer among women is increasing.”

 Opinions are subjective statements based on a person’s beliefs or

attitudes.
 E.g. “Men are better drivers than women.”
 E.g. “Engineering students do not need to take a lot of English
courses.”
 E.g. “Malaysians are only superficially friendly.”
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 BODY
SUPPORTING DETAILS
 However, opinions must be supported with factual details so as to
convince the audience.

 Sometimes, even statements that are considered facts need further

support.

 Use reporting verbs when using information from external sources to

support opinions.
 “say”, “quote”, “state”, “assert”, “claim”, etc
 E.g.
…Soft sensors or inferentials must be working properly. (As
quoted from one of the senior APC engineers: “Otherwise
your life will be miserable – talking from experience.”) (p46)
Source: Oshima & Hogue, 2006 15
 BODY
SUPPORTING DETAILS
FACTS AND OPINION EXAMPLE

 TGA plots in Figure 4 indicated that the crystallinity of the CNTs

grown on Ni catalysts was slightly better than CNTs grown on nickel,
with the least crystalline structure shown by CNTs grown on cobalt.
This result supported the observation made by HRTEM above.
(Platform Volume 4, no. 2, July – December 2004, p.101)

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 BODY
ORDER OF BODY PARAGRAPHS

Types Of Order in Body Paragraphs

1. Chronological Order: Process and Time

2. Order of Importance: Ranking
3. Order of Familiarity

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 BODY
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Process Order

•You begin with the first stage or phase and end with the last stage or phase

Example: (MAP item): Culture shock has three main stages: excitement,
frustration and humor.
Topic sentence 1: In the first stage, everything in the host culture is
exciting and new.
Topic sentence 2: In the frustration stage, the visitors start having
problems.
Topic sentence 3: After the frustration stage, the ….

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 BODY
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Time Order

•Begin with the first event and proceed logically in time until you get
to the most recent event i.e. from past to present.

Thesis: To fully appreciate the essence of Malaysia and her

people, it is necessary to look back to the fifteenth century or even
earlier...
oTopic Sentence 1: In 1400’s, the Portuguese arrived at the
shores of Malacca…
oTopic Sentence 2: Then In the 1500’s, the Dutch took over and
conquered the Portuguese…
oTopic Sentence 3: Later in the 1700’s the Dutch handed over
Malacca to the British…
oTopic Sentence 4: Finally, in 1957, Malaya obtained her
independence from the British… 19

oConcluding Paragraph: In conclusion,....

 BODY
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE
Ranking
 This involves ranking the MAP points based on the order of importance:
equal order, descending order and ascending order, order of familiarity

i. Equal order: No best – shows that each MAP point is equal in value

 Thesis: Living In the Dorm Benefits Non-native speakers in Three Ways

Topic Sentence1: First, by living in the dorm non-native speakers can
make friends with native speakers.
Topic Sentence 2: Second, non-native speakers can practice their
English in the dorm
Topic Sentence 3: Third, non-native speakers can learn about the
customs in the host country.

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 BODY
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE
Ranking
ii. Descending order: Best first

 Begin with the most important (largest or strongest) and end with the
least important (smallest or weakest) point.
 Usually to make the reader realize the gravity of an issue, placing the
most important point at the very last adds a dramatic effect.

 Thesis: Life In Taiwan has been greatly influenced by US culture in the

foods, the leisure time activities and the holidays.
Topic Sentence1: The first and most important influence the US has
had on Taiwan…
Topic Sentence 2: Second, …..
Topic Sentence 3: In addition to the foods and the hobbies,…

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 BODY
ORDER OF IMPORTANCE
Ranking
iii. Ascending order: Best last

 Begin with the with the least important (smallest or weakest)

point to the most important (largest or strongest) point.

 Thesis: Tornadoes are classified according to the severity of the

tornadic storm as defined on the Fujita Wind–Damage Scale: weak,
strong, violent.
Topic Sentence1: The weakest tornadoes classified as F0 and F1
cause light to moderate damage.
Topic Sentence 2: Next, in rank of severity are F2 and F3 (strong)
which cause significant to severe damage.
Topic Sentence 3: The most dangerous and frightening tornadoes are
the violent F4 and F5 tornadoes, or killer tornadoes, which cause
devastating to incredible damage.

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 BODY
ORDER OF FAMILIARITY

Points are ordered according to how well known, familiar or

common they are.

 It is to describe familiar ideas before you go to unfamiliar ones.

 Thesis: Tornadoes are classified according to the severity of the

tornadic storm as defined on the Fujita Wind–Damage Scale: weak,
strong, violent.
Topic Sentence1: The most common tornadoes are the weak ones,
classified as F0 and F1 which cause light to moderate damage.
Topic Sentence 2: Next, in terms of frequency are F2 and F3 (strong)
tornadoes which cause significant to severe damage.
Topic Sentence 3: The least common yet most dangerous and
frightening tornadoes are the violent F4 and F5 tornadoes, or killer
tornadoes, which cause devastating to incredible damage.

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 WRITING THE CONCLUSION

 A complete concluding paragraph contains:

 a paraphrase of the thesis

 a summary of the main points
 a closing remark (final comment)

 Rules for effective conclusion:

 follow the essay logically

 do not bring up new MAP points
 recognize all MAP points in the summary

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The End

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