Introduction

Your introduction tells your reader what your essay is going to be about. It should have a few key elements:

• A hook to grab the reader's attention. This should be the first one or two sentences of your paper. It can be a question, a statistic, or an interesting fact.
  • Example: There are hidden killers lurking in nearly every kitchen in America, and many people do not even know they are there.
• Some background information, if needed.
  • Example: Pesticides are chemical substances manufactured to kill insects, rodents, and other pests. They gained widespread use in the twentieth century, and can be found in most crops in the United States today.
• Your thesis statement: one sentence that states what your paper is going to be about. This should clearly show your point-of-view on the topic.
  • Example: While genetically modified organisms gain a lot of news coverage today, pesticides are a much more urgent problem, as they have been scientifically linked to serious health problems, pollution, and damage to ecosystems worldwide.
    • (Notice how the above thesis statement maps out three specific examples: health problems, pollution, and damage to ecosystems. Each of these three can be the topic of its own body paragraph.)

Body Paragraphs

This is the real substance of your paper. Each paragraph should contain the following:

• A claim (sometimes called a topic sentence). The claim should support your thesis.
• 2-3 concrete details (evidence to support your claim).
• Explanation of how each concrete detail supports your claim.

*Note that your second and third body paragraphs should begin with a transition sentence to let your reader know you are switching topics. Your transition sentence can come before your claim, or be part of it.

Example transition: While the health problems posed by pesticides are serious, another important side effect of pesticide use is pollution.

Conclusion

Your conclusion paragraph wraps up your whole paper. It should:

• Restate your thesis using different wording
• Briefly remind your readers of your three (or more) main points
• Leave the reader with a powerful statement about your topic