Basic Elements of the

Essay
 The Introductory Paragraph
The basic elements of the introductory paragraph
consists of the following elements:
The “wow” or “hook” sentence—the purpose of
this sentence is to capture the reader’s attention.
There are six ways to write a hook sentence:
 Rhetorical Question Quotation
 Analogy Anecdote
 Description Provocative assertion
 The Introductory Paragraph
continued
The thesis statement—the purpose of this
statement is to tell the reader what they
should expect to learn, understand, or
agree with while reading the essay.
The plan of action—is a brief listing of the
main points the essay will cover. This is
not the place to include specific details
or facts.
Transition sentence—leads the reader into
the body of the essay.
 The Body Paragraph
(the “chunk” of a paragraph)
The “chunk” of a paragraph is a basic
paragraph structure that is found in most
essays and articles. This structure
consists of four parts.
1. The topic sentence (TS)—is the main
idea (or topic) for that particular
paragraph.
Ex: The latest craze in telephone technology
is the I-Phone.
 The Body Paragraph
(the “chunk” of a paragraph) cont.
2. Supporting detail 1(SD-1)—is one fact that is
directly related to the topic sentence. It
provides more detail or description about the
topic sentence.
Ex: One of the coolest features of the I-phone is
the way it looks.
3. Example/Explanation 1 (EE-1)—is comments,
description, details, and information that adds
to SD-1 and provides additional information
about the topic sentence.
 The Body Paragraph
(the “chunk” of a paragraph) cont.
4. Example/Explanation 2 (EE-2)—are
additional explanations, comments,
descriptions, and information that adds to and
provides additional information about the topic
sentence. EE-2 also contains the transition
sentence.
Body paragraphs can have unlimited
“chunks” as long as they are related to
the topic sentence.
Each body paragraph repeats the same
“chunk” of a paragraph pattern.
 The Transition Sentence
The transition sentence serves the purpose of
connecting the current paragraph to the
following paragraph.
It does this by providing a one sentence hint as
to the topic of the next paragraph.
Ex: In addition to having a cool look, the I-phone
also has lightning fast Internet features.
As the example topic sentence suggests, the
next paragraph is going to explain the Internet
features of the I-phone.
 The Transition Sentence
A little practice---
If the next paragraph of the I-phone essay is
going to reveal it’s game features, how
would you develop a great transition
sentence?